Application Note AC324

SPI-to-I2C Interface Design Example

Contents

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
I2C and SPI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Design Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
SPI Message Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
SPI-to-I2C Top-Level I/O Description. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Utilization Details . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Testing Scheme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Introduction
This application note provides a design example for an interface between the standard SPI of a host and a
serial I2C bus. The I2C is a two-wire bus used to enable communication between two or more devices that
are normally on the same board. The speed is 100 Kbps or 400 Kbps for normal devices and 1 Mbps for fast
devices.
SPI is a serial bus and is very common in the embedded world. SPI supports full duplex communication
with higher throughput than I2C. Many embedded systems have only SPI interfaces, making them difficult
to connect with I2C peripheral devices. You can modify the connections, but the resulting system is not
efficient. One of the best ways to deal with this problem is to create an SPI-to-I2C interface and implement
it in an Actel IGLOO device, such as an IGLOO/e, IGLOO nano, or IGLOO PLUS device. This provides design
flexibility as well as power flexibility. In addition, IGLOO FPGAs are reprogrammable and designed to meet
the demanding power and area requirements of today's portable and power-conscious electronics. This
application note provides a design example implemented in the Actel IGLOO FPGA.

I2C and SPI

I2C, a serial bus invented by Philips, is used to communicate with low-speed peripherals. It uses two
bidirectional open-drain lines: Serial Data (SDA) and Serial Clock (SCL). The master initially sends a start
bit, followed by the 7-bit address of the slave it wishes to communicate with, which is finally followed by
a single bit representing whether it wishes to write (0) to or read (1) from the slave. If the slave exists on
the bus, it will respond with an ACK bit (active low for acknowledged) for that address. The master then

April 2009 1
2009 Actel Corporation
SPI-to-I2C Interface Design Example

continues in either transmit or receive mode, and the slave continues in its complementary mode. Every
data byte put on the SDA line must be 8-bits long. Figure 1 shows the I2C communication scheme.

Figure 1 I2C Communication

SPI, on the other hand, is a synchronous serial data link standard named by Motorola that operates in full
duplex mode. In addition, SPI is not limited to 8-bit words, so you can send any message size with arbitrary
content and purpose. Figure 2 shows the SPI communication scheme. Multiple slave devices are connected
to a single master with individual slave select (chip select) lines. The master pulls the slave select low for
the desired chip. The master then issues clock cycles. During each SPI clock cycle, a full duplex data
transmission occurs:
Master sends a bit on the MOSI line; the slave reads it from that same line.
Slave sends a bit on the MISO line; the master reads it from that same line.
The two clock parameters, CPOL and CPHA, set the clock polarity and clock phase.

Figure 2 SPI Communication

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 SPI-to-I2C Interface Design Example

Design Description
The SPI-to-I2C interface design has three main blocks: the SPI Slave, SPI_I2C Controller, and I2C Master.
Figure 3 shows the block diagram of the design.

byte_cnt
sclk slave_addr
mosi r_wrn
SDA
miso command_data_now data_in
SCLK
ss next_addr
SPI slv_add_row SPI_I2c I2C
Slave Controller read_now Master
spi_tx_data
pclk data_out
data_valid_int
preset_n
done i2c_status

FPGA
TOP_SPI_I2C

Figure 3 SPI-to-I2C Interface Top-Level Block Diagram

1. SPI Slave block: This is the SPI slave. This is a 32-bit SPI slave, which can operate with different CPOL
and CPHA settings. The top-level generic sets the CPOL and CPHA settings. The default settings are
CPOL = 0 and CPHA = 0. The SPI slave receives a command from the external SPI master and passes it
to SPI_I2C controller. It also sends the data read from the external I2C slave and status of I2C master
back to the external SPI master through the MISO port.
2. SPI_I2C Controller block: This is the main block that performs the SPI-to-I2C function. The SPI slave
receives the command from an external SPI master and passes it to this block. The SPI_I2C controller
decodes the command and takes appropriate action. The four MSB of the signal from the SPI
master (MOSI) defines the message, as shown in Table 1 on page 3. For a write or read operation to
the I2C slave, the SPI_I2C controller configures the I2C master to send the I2C slave address, and
then sends or receives data to or from the external I2C slave. During the "Send the read data back
to external SPI master" and "Read the status of I2C master" commands, the SPI_I2C controller sends
the data or status back to the SPI master through the SPI slave block.
Table 1 SPI Commands
Command Message
0001 Write one or two bytes to I2C slave
0010 Read one or two bytes from I2C slave
0100 Send the read data back to external SPI master
1000 Read the status of I2C Master

3. I2C Master Block: The I2C master uses a custom I2C core. Refer to "Appendix A: Custom I2C Core"
on page 10 for more information on this core. This IP core has four generics that are used to
configure different modes of operation.
SYNC_BE: This is used to configure the output signals from the core. If '0', the output signals are
synchronous to the SCLK clock and valid for an entire SCLK clock. If '1', the output signals are
synchronous to the input clock.
MODE: This is used to specify the speed of the I2C transactions. If '0', the STD speed (100 Kbps) is
selected and if '1', the FAST speed (400 Kbps) is selected. This generic and REFCLK_SPEED are used
to configure the clock rate for the mode desired.
REFCLK_SPEED: This is used to specify the frequency input to the reference clock input.
BC_WIDTH: This is used to specify the width of the byte counter in the master core. Valid values are
any integer from 2 through 10.

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SPI-to-I2C Interface Design Example

Figure 4 shows the status register bit definitions for a generic BC_WIDTH setting of 4. The status bit (3:0)
keeps track of the number of data written to I2C slave or read from the I2C slave. By reading the I2C status
and comparing against the SPI command, you can decide whether to repeat the last command or not. This
is useful when theI2C slave does not send an acknowledgement and the transmission stops without any
write or read phase.

Figure 4 I2C Master Status Register

Files for this design example can be downloaded from the Actel website:
www.actel.com/download/rsc/?f=SPI_I2C_Interface_DF.

SPI Message Format

The following section explains SPI messages and operation of the SPI-to-I2C interface in detail.

Write 2 Bytes to I2C Slave Device

0001
0001 Slave Address
N um ber of D ata1 null
C om m and + 0
Bytes

Start Slave Address W A D ata 1 A/ Stop

Figure 5 Write 2 Bytes to I2C Slave Device

The SPI host issues the write command by sending a "0001" command followed by the total number of
data bytes to be sent ("0010" for 2 bytes) and the address of the I2C slave followed by the data bytes,
beginning with the first byte and ending with the second byte. Note that there is a redundant zero bit
after the address, which has no effect on the read or write command. After receiving the message, the SPI-
to-I2C interface accesses the I2C bus and begins sending the I2C bus signal. The interface sends the start bit
followed by the I2C slave address and I2C write command. It waits for an acknowledgement from the
slave and sends the data bytes using the standard I2C protocol. If the I2C slave does not send an
acknowledgement, the interface sends a stop and ends the transmission. When the I2C bus write
transaction has successfully finished, it asserts the done signal for one clock cycle.

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 SPI-to-I2C Interface Design Example

Write 1 Byte to I2C Slave Device

0001
0001 Slave Address
N um ber of D ata1 null
C om m and + 0
Bytes

Start Slave Address W A D ata 1 A/ Stop

Figure 6 Write 1 Byte to I2C Slave Device

The SPI host issues the write command by sending a "0001" command followed by the total number of
data bytes to be sent ("0001" for 1 bytes) and the address of the I2C slave followed by the data bytes.
After receiving the message, the SPI-to-I2C interface accesses the I2C and begins sending the I2C bus
signal. It sends the start bit followed by the I2C slave address and I2C write command. It waits for an
acknowledgement from the slave and sends the data byte using the standard I2C protocol. When the I2C
bus write transaction has successfully finished, it asserts the done signal for one clock cycle.

Read 2 Bytes from I2C Slave Device

SPI Message

0010
0010 Slave Address
Number of null
Command +0
Bytes

I2C Bus

Start Slave Address R A Data1 A Data2 A/ Stop

Figure 7 Read 2 Bytes from I2C Slave Device

The SPI host issues the read command by sending a "0010" command followed by the total number of
data bytes to be read ("0010" for 2 bytes) and the address of the I2C slave. Note that there is a redundant
zero bit after the address, which has no effect on the read or write command. After receiving the
message, the SPI-to-I2C interface accesses the I2C and begins sending the I2C bus signal. It sends the start
bit followed by the I2C slave address and I2C read command. It waits for an acknowledgement from the
slave and reads the data bytes using the standard I2C protocol. If the I2C slave does not send an
acknowledgement, it sends a stop and ends the transmission. When the I2C bus read transaction has
successfully finished, it asserts the done signal for one clock cycle.

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SPI-to-I2C Interface Design Example

Read 1 Bytes from I2C Slave Device

SPI Message

0001
0010 Slave Address
Number of null
Command +0
Bytes

I2C Bus

Start Slave Address R A Data1 A/ Stop

Figure 8 Read 1 Bytes from I2C Slave Device

The SPI host issues the read command by sending a "0010" command followed by the total number of
data bytes to be sent ("0001" for 1 bytes) and the address of the I2C slave followed by the data bytes.
After receiving the message, the SPI-to-I2C interface accesses the I2C and begins sending I2C bus signal
and I2C read command. It sends the start bit followed by the I2C slave address. It waits for an
acknowledgement from the slave and reads the data byte using the standard I2C protocol. If the I2C slave
does not send an acknowledgement, it sends a stop and ends the transmission. When the I2C bus read
transaction has successfully finished, an interrupt is generated on the done pin.
When the I2C bus read transaction has successfully finished, it asserts the done signal for one clock cycle.

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 SPI-to-I2C Interface Design Example

Send the Read Data Back to External SPI Master

SPI Message

0010
0100
Number of null
Command
Bytes

SPI Message

0001
0100
Number of null
Command
Bytes

Figure 9 Send the Read Back Data (2 bytes or 1 byte) to External SPI Master

The SPI host issues the "Send the read data back to external SPI master" command by sending a "0100"
command followed by the total number of data bytes to be read ("0010" for 2 bytes, "0001" for 1 bytes).
The SPI-to-I2C interface block sends the data back using the MISO pin. This occurs in the same transaction
cycle.

Read the Status of the I2C Master

SPI Message

1000
null
Command

Figure 10 Send the Status of I2C Master

The SPI host issues "Read the status of I2C master" command by sending a "1000" command. The SPI-to-
I2C interface block sends the status back using the MISO pin. This occurs in the same transaction cycle.

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SPI-to-I2C Interface Design Example

SPI-to-I2C Top-Level I/O Description

Table 2 shows descriptions for the top-level ports for the SPI-to-I2C interface design.
Table 2 Ports Description of SPI-to-I2C Interface Design
Port Direction Description
sclk Input Input Clock from the SPI master. Frequency depends upon the SPI master.
MOSI Input SPI data input from SPI master
MISO Output SPI data output to SPI master from SPI_I2C interface
ss Input Active low slave select output signal
PCLK Input Input clock (20 Mhz)
PRESET_N Input Active low reset signal
done Output Active high signal indicates the I2C transaction is complete
SDA Input I2C Serial Data
SCL Output I2C Serial Clock

Utilization Details
This design is targeted to Actel's AGLP125V2-CS289 device. The utilization details are given in Table 3.
Table 3 SPI-to-I2C Interface Design Utilization
Resource Utilized Total Percentage
Core 474 3,120 15.19%
I/Os 9 212 4.25%
Global (Chip + 3 18 16.67%
Quadrant)
PLL 0 1 0.00%
RAM/FIFO 0 8 0.00%
Low Static ICC 0 1 0.00%
FlashROM 0 1 0.00%
User JTAG 0 1 0.00%

Testing Scheme
Verification of the core is done by simulation in ModelSim. Hardware validation is done on Actel's IGLOO
PLUS development board. In simulation verification, the testbench creates a system with an SPI master, SPI-
to-I2C interface design, and an I2C slave. The SPI master signals are generated using CPOL = 0 and CPHA =
0 settings. However, you can easily modify the testbench for other CPOL and CPHA settings. The backend

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 SPI-to-I2C Interface Design Example

I2C slave uses a custom I2C slave block. The Simulation results for the write and read cycle are illustrated in
Figure 11 and Figure 12 on page 9.

Figure 11 Write Cycle

Figure 12 Read Cycle

Conclusion
In the portable electronics market, the final product must be as small as possible. In addition, it must be
power friendly. The SPI-to-I2C interface in IGLOO family FPGAs is a very good fit for this application.

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SPI-to-I2C Interface Design Example

Appendix A: Custom I2C Core

This custom core is compliant to the I2C specification v2.1 and meets all AC timing specifications. It
supports single-master multiple-slave systems. Figure 13 shows the architecture of the custom master core.
The filter block on the SDA and SCL inputs filter out glitches and noise that may be present on these
inputs so that clean edge transitions are presented to the state machine block for processing. The SDA
logic block controls the assertion and release of the SDA line for the transmission of data and ACKs to the
slave I2C block.

Clock Generator

SCL Filter Logic

Backend
Logic
State Machine
SCA
Logic Filter

Status

Figure 13 Custom I2C Master Architecture

Table 4 I/O Descriptions for Custom I2C Core

Signal Direction Description
Go Input HI active pulse that initiates an I2C operation controlled by Master
Restart Input HI active level that is used to continue a transaction with an addressed slave
or address a new slave without having to STOP and then START again.
Data_in(7:0) Input Data input to be transmitted to the slave during a master write operation
Slave_addr(6:0) Input 7-bit value assigned to the I2C slave resourceusually hardwired
R_WRN Input 0=write to slave; 1=read from slave
1
Byte_cnt(X:0) Input Any non-zero value is used by the master to determine the number of bytes
to send or receive from the master before issuing a NACK (master read
from slave) or STOP (master write to slave) to complete the transfer
Refclk Input Reference clock can be from 2 Mhz to 64 Mhz based on whether STD or
FAST mode I2C is desired. See below for valid frequencies of REFCLK.
Reset_n Input Lo active asynchronous clear signal for all internal registers
SCL Bidi I2C serial clock
SDA Bidi I2C serial data
Data_out(7:0) Output Data output received from the master during a write to slave operation
Data_valid Output HI active pulse indicating data_out is valid
Next_addr(X:0)1 Output Next address for data to be stored/transmitted
Read_now Output HI active pulse to request next data word; Only valid during a read from
slave
I2C_status(Y:0)2 Output 8-bit status register indicating the state of the I2C master core.
Notes:
1. The X value is defined by as BC_WIDTH-1
2. The Y value is defined by as 4+BC_WIDTH-1

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 SPI-to-I2C Interface Design Example

Figure 14 shows the state transitions of the state machine block. Once the GO signal is asserted to the
master core, the SLAVE_ADDRESS and R_WRN are sampled and shifted out onto the I2C bus to address the
slave device of interest. For a data transfer from the slave (READ), the master will issue ACKs until the
value of BYTE_CNT (BC) is reached. The value of BC is used by the master to determine when to generate
a NACK to the slave thereby completing the data transfer. For a write of data from the master to the slave
(WRITE), the BC value is used to determine when the master is to expect a NACK from the slave and if
none is received, then the master issues a STOP bus condition.

IDLE

GO=1

ACK ADDR NACK

RW=0 RW=1

WRITE READ

Figure 14 State Machine Diagram

The backend logic block is used to simplify interfacing to the I2C master core. The NEXT_ADDR signal can
be used to address registers or RAM outside the core for retrieval and storage of I2C bus transactions.
When starting an I2C, the GO, R_WRN, and SLAVE_ADDR signals must be present at the I2C core 20.0 ns
before the rising edge of the SCL clock.

Figure 15 Starting an I2C Transaction

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SPI-to-I2C Interface Design Example

During the I2C write, READ_NOW pulses to request the next data word. The SCL signal is used to capture
the data presented by the backend on the DATA_IN bus.

Figure 16 Timing Diagram for I2C Master Write Operation

For a read operation from the slave, the DATA_VALID signal indicates to the backend when a valid data
byte has been received by the I2C master core. DATA_VALID is valid for 10 s in STD speed mode and 2.5
s in FAST speed mode. The DATA_OUT bus is valid for 20 s in STD speed mode and 5.0 s in FAST speed
mode.

Figure 17 Timing Diagram for I2C Master Read Operation

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