
Digital interfaces
L3G4200DH
20/28
Doc ID 17300 Rev 1
4.1.1
I2C operation
The transaction on the bus is started through a START (ST) signal. A START condition is
defined as a HIGH to LOW transition on the data line while the SCL line is held HIGH. After
this has been transmitted by the master, the bus is considered busy. The next byte of data
transmitted after the start condition contains the address of the slave in the first 7 bits and
the eighth bit tells whether the master is receiving data from the slave or transmitting data to
the slave. When an address is sent, each device in the system compares the first 7 bits after
a start condition with its address. If they match, the device considers itself addressed by the
master.
The slave address (SAD) associated with the L3G4200DH is 110100xb. The SDO pin can
be used to modify the least significant bit (LSb) of the device address. If the SDO pin is
connected to voltage supply, LSb is ‘1’ (address 1101001b). Otherwise if the SDO pin is
connected to ground, the LSb value is ‘0’ (address 1101000b). This solution permits the
connection and addressing of two different gyroscopes to the same I2C bus.
Data transfer with acknowledge is mandatory. The transmitter must release the SDA line
during the acknowledge pulse. The receiver must then pull the data line LOW so that it
remains stable low during the HIGH period of the acknowledge clock pulse. A receiver which
has been addressed is obliged to generate an acknowledge after each byte of data
received.
The I2C embedded in the L3G4200DH behaves like a slave device, and the following
protocol must be adhered to. After the START (ST) condition, a slave address is sent. Once
a slave acknowledge (SAK) has been returned, an 8-bit sub-address is transmitted. The 7
LSb represent the actual register address while the MSB enables address auto-increment. If
the MSb of the SUB field is 1, the SUB (register address) is automatically incremented to
allow multiple data read/write.
The slave address is completed with a read/write bit. If the bit was ‘1’ (read), a REPEATED
START (SR) condition must be issued after the two sub-address bytes; if the bit is ‘0’ (write)
the master transmits to the slave with direction unchanged.
SAD+read/write bit pattern is composed, listing all the possible configurations.
Table 12.
SAD+read/write patterns
Command
SAD[6:1]
SAD[0] = SDO
R/W
SAD+R/W
Read
110100
0
1
11010001 (D1h)
Write
110100
0
11010000 (D0h)
Read
110100
1
11010011 (D3h)
Write
110100
1
0
11010010 (D2h)
Table 13.
Transfer when master is writing one byte to slave
Master
ST
SAD + W
SUB
DATA
SP
Slave
SAK