NXP’s specialized interfaces deliver high performance, security, and reliability, making them ideal for demanding applications that require custom or advanced data exchange solutions. They include serial communication with various technological interfaces such as I²C, I3C, SPI, and UART. NXP’s leadership position in these interfaces offers a vast portfolio to address all design needs.
The I²C, SPI, and I3C interface device families include bus controllers and bridge ICs, enabling designers to connect devices using different serial buses. These devices include DIP switches, GPIO, LED drivers, multiplexers/switches, real-time clocks, repeaters, hubs and extenders, temperature sensors, serial peripheral interface devices (SPI), and I3C interface devices. DIP switches replace mechanical switches. GPIO drives LEDs and monitors switches without using microprocessor pins. LED drivers enable blinking, dimming, and color mixing. Multiplexers/switches connect upstream I²C buses to downstream I²C buses. Real-time clocks provide accurate timekeeping and noise immunity. SPI devices offer a full-duplex synchronous serial interface for high-speed communications, and bridge ICs provide compact, low-power protocol converters for simpler designs and reduced software overhead.
The I²C-bus uses a simple two-wire format to carry data one bit at a time. It performs inter-chip addressing, selection, control, and data transfer. Speeds reach up to 400 kHz (fast mode), 1 MHz (fast mode plus), 3.4 MHz (high-speed mode), or 5 MHz (ultra-fast mode). New 12.5 MHz I3C controllers with backward compatibility to I²C are emerging, competing with the higher speeds of the SPI bus. The I²C-bus portfolio includes LED controllers, voltage translators, RTCs, GPIO expanders, LCD drivers, temperature sensors, I²C multiplexers and switches, and buffers.
MIPI I3C (Basic) provides a scalable, medium-speed utility and control bus for connecting peripherals to an application processor. Its design incorporates key attributes from both the I²C-bus and serial peripheral interfaces, offering a unified, high-performance, low-power interface solution that delivers a flexible upgrade path for I²C-bus and SPI implementers. Notable features include Single Data Rate (SDR) throughput of up to 12.5 Mbps, in-band interrupt (IBI), dynamic address assignment, and I²C backward compatibility.
SPI is a full-duplex synchronous serial interface consisting of four signals (SCLK, COTI, CITO, TS) used for short-distance, high-speed communications. The SPI bus operates with a single controller device and one or more target devices. Data rates range from 5 to 20 Mbps, significantly higher than the I²C-bus rate, similar to the new I3C-bus.
The I²C-Bus Controller and Bridge ICs include PCA9564PW, PCA9665APW, and PCF8584T/2. The DIP Switch Portfolio includes PCA8550, PCA9559, PCA9560, and PCA9561. The P3S0210BQ offers a dual bidirectional I3C-bus 1:2 and 2:1 switch and voltage level translator for open-drain and push-pull applications. The P3S0200GM connects an upstream I²C-bus to any combination of downstream I²C buses. I3C products P3T1035, P3T1085, and P3T1755 provide high-resolution solutions for thermal management, process control, and computing applications.
