Effectively expand the capabilities of your I2C bus using TCA9546A and STM32F103RB
Switch and multiplex signals with ease
Published Oct 08, 2024
Click board™
I2C MUX Click
Dev Board
Nucleo 64 with STM32F103RB MCU
Compiler
NECTO Studio
MCU
STM32F103RB
Our I2C multiplexer is designed to enhance and simplify your I2C communication by providing seamless control over multiple I2C devices, allowing you to efficiently manage address conflicts and streamline data exchange
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Hardware Overview
How does it work?
I2C MUX Click is based on the TCA9546A, a quad bidirectional translating switch controlled via the I2C bus from texas instruments. The SCL/SDA upstream pair fans out to four downstream pairs, or channels. Any individual SCn/SDn channel or combination of channels can be selected, determined by the contents of the programmable control register. An active-low reset (RESET) input allows the TCA9546A to recover from a situation in which one of the downstream I2C buses is stuck in a low state. Pulling RESET low resets the I2C state machine and causes all the channels to be deselected, as does the internal power-on reset function. The pass gates of the switches are constructed such that the VCC pin can be used to limit the maximum high voltage, which will be passed by the TCA9546A. This allows the use of different bus voltages on each pair, so that 1.8-V, 2.5-V, or 3.3-V parts can communicate with 5-V parts without any additional protection. The slave
devices can be connected to four headers located on the top of the I2C MUX click. The TCA9546A supports Standard-Mode (100 kHz) and Fast-Mode (400 kHz) operation. This way, the bus can be used to manage a single 8-bit control register in which the four least significant bits control the enabling and disabling of the 4 switch channels of I2C data flow. The I2C bus is for two-way two-line communication between different ICs or modules. The two lines are a serial data line (SDA) and a serial clock line (SCL). Both lines must be connected to a positive supply via a pullup resistor when connected to the output stages of a device. Data transfer can be initiated only when the bus is not busy. One data bit is transferred during each clock pulse. The data on the SDA line must remain stable during the high period of the clock pulse, as changes in the data line at this time are interpreted as control signals. Applications of the TCA9546A contains an I2C (or SMBus) master
device and up to four I2C slave devices. The downstream channels are ideally used to resolve the I2C slave address conflicts. For example, if four identical digital temperature sensors are needed in the application, one sensor can be connected at each channel: 0, 1, 2, and 3. When the temperature at a specific location needs to be read, the appropriate channel can be enabled and all other channels switched off, the data can be retrieved, and the I2C master can move on and read the next channel. This Click board™ can operate with either 3.3V or 5V logic voltage levels selected via the VCC SEL jumper. This way, both 3.3V and 5V capable MCUs can use the communication lines properly. Also, this Click board™ comes equipped with a library containing easy-to-use functions and an example code that can be used as a reference for further development.
Features overview
Development board
Nucleo-64 with STM32F103RB MCU offers a cost-effective and adaptable platform for developers to explore new ideas and prototype their designs. This board harnesses the versatility of the STM32 microcontroller, enabling users to select the optimal balance of performance and power consumption for their projects. It accommodates the STM32 microcontroller in the LQFP64 package and includes essential components such as a user LED, which doubles as an ARDUINO® signal, alongside user and reset push-buttons, and a 32.768kHz crystal oscillator for precise timing operations. Designed with expansion and flexibility in mind, the Nucleo-64 board features an ARDUINO® Uno V3 expansion connector and ST morpho extension pin
headers, granting complete access to the STM32's I/Os for comprehensive project integration. Power supply options are adaptable, supporting ST-LINK USB VBUS or external power sources, ensuring adaptability in various development environments. The board also has an on-board ST-LINK debugger/programmer with USB re-enumeration capability, simplifying the programming and debugging process. Moreover, the board is designed to simplify advanced development with its external SMPS for efficient Vcore logic supply, support for USB Device full speed or USB SNK/UFP full speed, and built-in cryptographic features, enhancing both the power efficiency and security of projects. Additional connectivity is
provided through dedicated connectors for external SMPS experimentation, a USB connector for the ST-LINK, and a MIPI® debug connector, expanding the possibilities for hardware interfacing and experimentation. Developers will find extensive support through comprehensive free software libraries and examples, courtesy of the STM32Cube MCU Package. This, combined with compatibility with a wide array of Integrated Development Environments (IDEs), including IAR Embedded Workbench®, MDK-ARM, and STM32CubeIDE, ensures a smooth and efficient development experience, allowing users to fully leverage the capabilities of the Nucleo-64 board in their projects.
Microcontroller Overview
MCU Card / MCU
Architecture
ARM Cortex-M3
MCU Memory (KB)
128
Silicon Vendor
STMicroelectronics
Pin count
64
RAM (Bytes)
20480
You complete me!
Accessories
Click Shield for Nucleo-64 comes equipped with two proprietary mikroBUS™ sockets, allowing all the Click board™ devices to be interfaced with the STM32 Nucleo-64 board with no effort. This way, Mikroe allows its users to add any functionality from our ever-growing range of Click boards™, such as WiFi, GSM, GPS, Bluetooth, ZigBee, environmental sensors, LEDs, speech recognition, motor control, movement sensors, and many more. More than 1537 Click boards™, which can be stacked and integrated, are at your disposal. The STM32 Nucleo-64 boards are based on the microcontrollers in 64-pin packages, a 32-bit MCU with an ARM Cortex M4 processor operating at 84MHz, 512Kb Flash, and 96KB SRAM, divided into two regions where the top section represents the ST-Link/V2 debugger and programmer while the bottom section of the board is an actual development board. These boards are controlled and powered conveniently through a USB connection to program and efficiently debug the Nucleo-64 board out of the box, with an additional USB cable connected to the USB mini port on the board. Most of the STM32 microcontroller pins are brought to the IO pins on the left and right edge of the board, which are then connected to two existing mikroBUS™ sockets. This Click Shield also has several switches that perform functions such as selecting the logic levels of analog signals on mikroBUS™ sockets and selecting logic voltage levels of the mikroBUS™ sockets themselves. Besides, the user is offered the possibility of using any Click board™ with the help of existing bidirectional level-shifting voltage translators, regardless of whether the Click board™ operates at a 3.3V or 5V logic voltage level. Once you connect the STM32 Nucleo-64 board with our Click Shield for Nucleo-64, you can access hundreds of Click boards™, working with 3.3V or 5V logic voltage levels.
Used MCU Pins
mikroBUS™ mapper
Take a closer look
Schematic
Step by step
Project assembly
Start by selecting your development board and Click board™. Begin with the Nucleo 64 with STM32F103RB MCU as your development board.
Track your results in real time
Application Output via Debug Mode
1. Once the code example is loaded, pressing the "DEBUG" button initiates the build process, programs it on the created setup, and enters Debug mode.
2. After the programming is completed, a header with buttons for various actions within the IDE becomes visible. Clicking the green "PLAY" button starts reading the results achieved with the Click board™. The achieved results are displayed in the Application Output tab.
Software Support
Library Description
This library contains API for I2C MUX Click driver.
Key functions:
i2cmux_hw_reset- This function resets I2C MUX 2 click board by clearing the RST pin for 100msi2cmux_set_channel- This function sets channel of the I2C MUX click boardi2cmux_generic_read- This function reads data from the desired register.
Open Source
Code example
This example can be found in NECTO Studio. Feel free to download the code, or you can copy the code below.
/*!
* \file
* \brief I2cMux Click example
*
* # Description
* This example demonstrates the use of I2C MUX Click board.
*
* The demo application is composed of two sections :
*
* ## Application Init
* Initalizes the driver, preforms hardware reset, then enables channel 0 and
* makes an initial log.
*
* ## Application Task
* Reads the device ID of a Spectrometer click (dev ID: 0x24) and displays it
* on the USB UART each second.
*
* \author MikroE Team
*
*/
// ------------------------------------------------------------------- INCLUDES
#include "board.h"
#include "log.h"
#include "i2cmux.h"
// ------------------------------------------------------------------ VARIABLES
static i2cmux_t i2cmux;
static log_t logger;
// ------------------------------------------------------ APPLICATION FUNCTIONS
void application_init ( void )
{
log_cfg_t log_cfg;
i2cmux_cfg_t cfg;
/**
* Logger initialization.
* Default baud rate: 115200
* Default log level: LOG_LEVEL_DEBUG
* @note If USB_UART_RX and USB_UART_TX
* are defined as HAL_PIN_NC, you will
* need to define them manually for log to work.
* See @b LOG_MAP_USB_UART macro definition for detailed explanation.
*/
LOG_MAP_USB_UART( log_cfg );
log_init( &logger, &log_cfg );
log_info( &logger, "---- Application Init ----" );
// Click initialization.
i2cmux_cfg_setup( &cfg );
I2CMUX_MAP_MIKROBUS( cfg, MIKROBUS_1 );
i2cmux_init( &i2cmux, &cfg );
Delay_ms( 100 );
i2cmux_hw_reset( &i2cmux );
Delay_ms( 100 );
i2cmux_set_channel( &i2cmux, I2CMUX_CMD_SET_CH_0, 0x39 );
log_printf( &logger, " Please connect a Spectrometer click to channel 0\r\n" );
log_printf( &logger, "-------------------------------\r\n" );
Delay_ms( 2000 );
}
void application_task ( void )
{
uint8_t rx_data;
i2cmux_generic_read( &i2cmux, 0x92, &rx_data, 1 );
log_printf( &logger, " The click device ID is: 0x%.2X\r\n", ( uint16_t ) rx_data );
log_printf( &logger, "-------------------------------\r\n" );
Delay_ms( 1000 );
}
void main ( void )
{
application_init( );
for ( ; ; )
{
application_task( );
}
}
// ------------------------------------------------------------------------ END
