ATmega88 datasheet(207/340 Pages) ATMEL

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7530H–AVR–02/09

ATmega48/88/168 Automotive

Arbitration is carried out by all masters continuously monitoring the SDA line after outputting

data. If the value read from the SDA line does not match the value the Master had output, it has

lost the arbitration. Note that a Master can only lose arbitration when it outputs a high SDA value

while another Master outputs a low value. The losing Master should immediately go to Slave

mode, checking if it is being addressed by the winning Master. The SDA line should be left high,

but losing masters are allowed to generate a clock signal until the end of the current data or

address packet. Arbitration will continue until only one Master remains, and this may take many

bits. If several masters are trying to address the same Slave, arbitration will continue into the

data packet.

Figure 19-8. Arbitration Between Two Masters

Note that arbitration is not allowed between:

• A REPEATED START condition and a data bit.

• A STOP condition and a data bit.

• A REPEATED START and a STOP condition.

It is the user software’s responsibility to ensure that these illegal arbitration conditions never

occur. This implies that in multi-master systems, all data transfers must use the same composi-

tion of SLA+R/W and data packets. In other words: All transmissions must contain the same

number of data packets, otherwise the result of the arbitration is undefined.

SDA from

Master A

SDA from

Master B

SDA Line

Synchronized

SCL Line

START

Master A Loses

Arbitration, SDA

SDA

ATmega88 Datasheet(PDF) 207 Page - ATMEL Corporation