COMMUNICATION

INTERFACE
Used to communicate with various subsystems of
the embedded system and to the external world.
Two types: On-Board (Device or Board Level)
communication interface, External (Product Level)
communication interface.
The communication channel which interconnects
the various components within the given embedded
product onboard communication interface.
The communication channel which interconnects
various embedded systems with various external
devices external communication interface; May be
wired or wireless.

ONBOARD
COMMUNICATION
INTERFACE

1. I2C (Inter-Integrated
Circuit) Bus

Synchronous, bidirectional, half duplex & two

wire serial interface bus.
Developed by PHILIPS SEMICONDUCTORS.
Consists of two buses: SCL(serial clock)responsible for generation of synchronization
clock, SDA(serial data)- responsible for
transmitting serial data.
Devices connected to this bus act either as a
Master(responsible for controlling the initiation
and termination of data transfer, sending data
and synchronization clock) or as a Slave (waits
and respond upon the reception of commands).

1. I2C (Inter-Integrated
Circuit) Bus

Both the master and slave devices can receive or

transmit.
But synchronization clock is only generated from
the transmitter side.
Supports multi-master environment; MSB is
always transmitted first.
Built around input buffer and an open drain
transistor; if the bus is in idle state, then the
transistor floats (i.e) the SCL and SDA high
impedance state.
Supports 3 data rates: Standard Mode(100 kbps);
Fast Mode(400 kbps); High Speed Mode(3.4 Mbps).

1. I2C (Inter-Integrated
Circuit) Bus

1. I2C (Inter-Integrated
Circuit) Bus

Sequence of operations:
The master pulls the SCL line HIGH and
SDA line LOW (Start of Operation).
Master sends the address of the slave to
which it wants to communicate with over SDA
line; and also the Read or Write bit (Bit Value=
1/0- Read/Write) according to the requirement.
Slave compares the address received with
the address assigned to them; Master waits for
acknowledgement signal from the slave
device.

1. I2C (Inter-Integrated
Circuit) Bus

Cntd..
The slave with the address requested by the
master responds by sending an
acknowledgement signal over SDA line.
Upon receiving the acknowledgement signal;
the master will send data over SDA line to slave
if write operation is requested or slave will send
data over SDA line if read operation is requested.
After the completion of data transfer, the
master/ slave sends acknowledgement in
read/write mode.
SCL=1 & SDA=1 the operation stops.

2. SPI (Serial Peripheral

Interface) Bus

Synchronous, bidirectional, full duplex,

four wire serial interface bus.
Introduced by Motorola.
Single Master Multi Slave System.
In the given network; more than one
masters may be available; but only one
will be active at the given time.
Four Signals: Master Out Slave In (MOSI);
Master In Slave Out (MISO); Serial Clock
(SCLK); Slave Select (SS).

2. SPI (Serial Peripheral

Interface) Bus

2. SPI (Serial Peripheral

Interface)
Bus
Master generates SCLK & selects Slave.
SPI devices contain a serial peripheral register which
holds various parameters like master/slave selection,
baud rate selection, clock signal control etc;
Status register holds the status of various conditions
for transmission and reception.
SPI works on the principle of Shift registers; master
and slave contain a special shift register.
Size is device dependent.
During transmission the data is shifted out from
MOSI pin of master; and shifted into the MISO pin of
slave.

2. SPI (Serial Peripheral

Interface) Bus

Whether MSB or LSB needs to be send

first is also configurable.
It doesnt support ACK mechanism.
Suitable for application requiring data
transfer in streams.

3. UART (Universal
Asynchronous Receiver
Transmitter)
Asynchronousdoesnt need a clock signal.
The serial communication parameters for
both the transmitter and receiver should be
identical.
Start and stop of communication is indicated
by special bits in data stream called start and
stop bits.
If the parity is enabled, the transmitter adds
a parity bit to the stream; which is compared
and error checked at the receiver.
LSB is transmitted first.

3. UART (Universal
Asynchronous Receiver
Transmitter)

3. UART (Universal
Asynchronous Receiver
Transmitter)
UART provides
hardware handshake
signal support for controlling the data flow.
National semiconductors 8250 UART chip
standard chip in use worldwide.

4. 1-wire Interface
Asynchronous, half duplex & uses a single wire
called DQ; follows master-slave model.
Developed by MAXIM DALLAS SEMICONDUCTOR.
Also known as Dallas 1-Wire Protocol.
It allows power to be sent along the signal wire.
Slave has internal capacitors to power itself from
the signal line.
Multi-slave model is possible; where each slave
has unique identifier of 64 bits long with three
parts: 1. An 8-bit family code; 2. A 48-bit serial
number; 3. 8-bit CRC computed from first 56 bits.

4. 1-wire Interface

4. 1-wire Interface
Sequence of Operation:
Master send Reset pulse.
Slave if present responds with Presence
pulse.
Master sends a ROM command (Net Address
Command followed by 64-bit identifier) which
addresses the particular slave.
Master sends a read/write function
command to slave.
Master initiates the read/write operation.

4. 1-wire Interface
Communication is master initiated one.
Communication is divided into timeslots of 60
microseconds.
For initiating the communication; the Master
asserts RESET pulse (Active LOW) for at least 8
time slots which resets all the slaves present.
Any slave device, if present, shows that it exists
with a "presence" pulse; it holds the bus low for at
least 60s after the master releases the bus.
To send a 1", the bus master sends a very brief
(115 s) low pulse. To send a "0", the master
sends a 60s low pulse.

5. Parallel Interface
The host processor/controller contains the
parallel bus and the device which supports
parallel bus can directly connect to it.
The control signals for communication includes
Read/Write signal and device select signal.
The direction of data transfer can be controlled
by Read/Write signal.
An address decoder is used to select the device.
This communication is host processor initiated
one; if a device wants to initiate communication
then itll provide some interrupts.

5. Parallel Interface

5. Parallel Interface
The width of the parallel interface is
determined by the width of the data bus of
the host processor.
It offers the highest speed for data
transfer.

EXTERNAL
COMMUNICATION
INTERFACE

1. RS-232 C & RS-485 (Recommended

Standard Number Revision C)
RS-232 C is a full duplex, wired, asynchronous
serial communication interface.
Developed by EIA (Electronics Industries
Association).
It extends UART communication signals for
external data communication.
Supports point-to-point communication only.
Here, logic 0 is represented with voltage
between +3 to +25V; logic 1 is represented
with voltage between -3 to -25V.
Logic 0 Space; Logic 1 Mark.

1. RS-232 C & RS-485

Supports two different types of
connectors: DB-9; DB-25.

1. RS-232 C & RS-485

1. RS-232 C & RS-485

Devices involved in RS-232 DTE & DCE
(Data Terminal Equipment & Data
Communication Equipment).
DTE Computer terminal; DCE Modem.
RXD pin of DCE should be connected to
the TXD pin of DTE and vice versa.
Supports baud rate up to 19.2Kbps.
Common baud rates: 300bps, 1200bps,
2400bps, 9600bps, 11.52Kbps.
Maximum operating distance 50 feet.

1. RS-232 C & RS-485

1. RS-232 C & RS-485

RS-422 is another serial interface
standard which supports speed of 100Kbps
and supports distance of 400ft.
It supports multi-drop communication
where a transmitter can connect up to
10devices.
RS-485 is an enhanced version of RS-422
which supports upto 32 receivers and 32
transmitters on the bus.

2. USB (UNIVERSAL SERIAL

BUS)
Wired high speed serial bus.
Developed by USB core group.
Follows star topology with host at the
centre and one or more host or peripherals
connected to it.

2. USB (UNIVERSAL SERIAL

BUS)
Physical connection between host and
peripheral is made through USB cable
which can be 5metres long.
Two types of connector: Type-A connector
(Connection with host) & Type-B Connector
(Connection with peripheral).
Type-A is found in systems now-a-days.
Type-A & Type-B contain 4 pins for
communication:

2. USB (UNIVERSAL SERIAL

BUS)
It has the ability to carry and supply power
upto 500mA at 5V to the peripherals.
Each USB has a Product ID(PID) & a Vendor
ID(VID) which are embedded in chip.
It supports four different kinds of data
transfer:
1. Control Transfer: To configure and issue
commands to USB device.
2. Bulk Transfer: Sending a block of data to
the device; It supports error checking. (Eg.
Printer)

2. USB (UNIVERSAL SERIAL

BUS)
3. Isochronous Transfer: Data is
transmitted in streams. It doesnt supports
error checking. (Eg: Audio devices)
4. Interrupt Transfer: Transmits a few
amount of data by using polling
mechanism. (Eg: Mouse)
Supports four data rates: USB 1.0: Low
speed (1.5Mbps), Full speed (12Mbps),
USB 2.0: High speed (480Mbps), USB
3.0: Super speed (4.8Gbps).

3. IEEE 1394
Wired, isochronous high speed serial
communication bus.
Also known as HPSB (High Performance Serial
Bus).
Implementation of IEEE 1394 by APPLE INC
Firewire; by SONY i.LINK; by Texas Lynx.
Supports point to multipoint communication of
63 devices for a distance of 15 feet.
Data rate: 400-3200 Mbps.
Uses differential data transfer for noise
immunity.

3. IEEE 1394
3types of interface cables supported: 4pin, 6-pin(alpha), 9-pin(beta).
They can carry power. (24-30V)

3. IEEE 1394
Signal line TPB Send data; TPA- Receive
data.
Both are differential lines; A+ is
connected with B+ and vice versa.
Used to connect camcorder, digital
camera and scanners.
It doesnt need host; i.e printer can be
directly connected to scanner.

4. IrDA (Infrared)
Serial, half duplex, LOS based wireless
technology.
Eg: Remote for TV, AC etc;
Supports point to point and point to
multipoint communication.
Distance- 10cm to 1m.
Data rate: 9.6Kbps to 16Mbps.
Types: Serial IR (SIR)- 9.6Kbps to 115.2Kbps;
Medium IR (MIR)- 0.576 to 1.152 Mbps; Fast IR
(FIR)- 4Mbps; Very Fast IR (VFIR)- 16Mbps;
Ultra Fast IR (UFIR)- 100Mbps.

4. IrDA (Infrared)
IR LED acts as transmitter; and a
photodiode acts as the receiver.
IrDA communication has two essential
parts: a physical link part (for physical
transmission of data) and a protocol part
(to define rules).
Physical link defines the characteristics of
communication.

5. Bluetooth (BT)
Low power, short range wireless technology
for data and voice communication.
Proposed by ERICSSON.
Data rate: 1Mbps; Distance: 30 feet.
Operates at 2.4GHZ of radio frequency
spectrum and used Frequency Hopping
Spread Spectrum technique.
BT communication has two essential parts:
a physical link part (for physical transmission
of data) and a protocol part (to define rules).

5. Bluetooth (BT)
Each BT device has a unique identification
code.
Packet based data transfer.
Supports point to point and point to
multipoint communication (PICONET). (Follows
master-slave concept)
PICONET supports upto 7slaves.
BT profiles:
GAP Generic Access Profile defines the
requirement for detecting a BT device and
establishing connection.

5. Bluetooth (BT)
SPP Serial Port Profile- serial data
communication.
FTP File Transfer Profile- file transfer
between devices.

6. Wi-Fi
Wireless technology used in networks.
Follows IEEE 802.11 Standard; supports IP based
communication.
Wi-Fi router (intermediate agent) is responsible
for assigning IP to devices, allowing and restricting
the access, routing the data packets to intended
devices.
Wi-Fi enabled devices consists of a Wi-Fi radio.
Operates at 2.4GHZ or 5GHZ radio spectrum.
If a devices Wi-Fi is turned ON, it will show the
SSID (Service Set Identifier) of the available
networks.

6. Wi-Fi
If the network is security enabled, it will
ask for a security code.
Security mechanisms in Wi-Fi
WEP(Wired Equivalency Privacy),
WPA(Wireless Protected Access) etc;
Data Rate: 1-150 Mbps.
Range of access: 100-300 feet.

7. Zigbee
Wireless network protocol based on IEEE
802.15.4-2006 Standard.
Targeted for low power, secure
applications for WPAN (Wireless Personal
Area Networking).
Support mesh networking.

7. Zigbee
Highly reliable.
Band: Radio Spectrum- 2.4 to 2.484 GHZ;
902 to 928 MHZ; 868 to 868.6 MHZ.
Data rate: 250Kbps
Range of access: 100metres
Zigbee device category:
1. ZC(Zigbee Coordinator): Root;
Responsible for initiating the network and
can store information about network.

7. Zigbee
2. Zigbee Router (ZR) or Full Function
Device (FFD): Responsible for passing
information from one device to another
device.
3. Zigbee End Device (ZED) or Reduced
Function Device (RFD): It is the end device;
can talk only with ZC or ZR; Cant able to act
as mediator to pass data.
Applications:
Industrial/home automation, sensor
networks, RFID, environment control etc;