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20.9 Multi-master Systems and Arbitration
If multiple masters are connected to the same bus, transmissions may be initiated simulta-
neously by one or more of them. The TWI standard ensures that such situations are handled in
such a way that one of the masters will be allowed to proceed with the transfer, and that no data
will be lost in the process. An example of an arbitration situation is depicted below, where two
masters are trying to transmit data to a Slave Receiver.
Figure 20-21. An Arbitration Example
VCC
Device 1
MASTER
TRANSMITTER
Device 3
SLAVE
RECEIVER
Device 2
MASTER
TRANSMITTER
Device n
R1
R2
........
SDA
SCL
Several different scenarios may arise during arbitration, as described below:
• Two or more masters are performing identical communication with the same Slave. In this
case, neither the Slave nor any of the masters will know about the bus contention.
• Two or more masters are accessing the same Slave with different data or direction bit. In this
case, arbitration will occur, either in the READ/WRITE bit or in the data bits. The masters
trying to output a one on SDA while another Master outputs a zero will lose the arbitration.
Losing masters will switch to not addressed Slave mode or wait until the bus is free and
transmit a new START condition, depending on application software action.
• Two or more masters are accessing different slaves. In this case, arbitration will occur in the
SLA bits. Masters trying to output a one on SDA while another Master outputs a zero will lose
the arbitration. Masters losing arbitration in SLA will switch to Slave mode to check if they are
being addressed by the winning Master. If addressed, they will switch to SR or ST mode,
depending on the value of the READ/WRITE bit. If they are not being addressed, they will
switch to not addressed Slave mode or wait until the bus is free and transmit a new START
condition, depending on application software action.
This is summarized in Figure 20-22. Possible status values are given in circles.
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7593A–AVR–02/06
ATMEL [ ATMEL ]
