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
START
Master A Loses
Arbitration, SDAA SDA
SDA from
Master A
SDA from
Master B
SDA Line
Synchronized
SCL Line
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.
210
ATmega48/88/168
2545E–AVR–02/05
MICROCHIP [ MICROCHIP ]
