NXP Semiconductors UM10204

I2C-bus specification and user manual

7. Electrical connections of I2C-bus devices to the bus lines

7.1 Pull-up resistor sizing

The bus capacitance is the total capacitance of wire, connections and pins. This
capacitance limits the maximum value of Rp due to the specified rise time. Figure 41
shows Rp(max) as a function of bus capacitance.

Consider the VDD related input threshold of VIH = 0.7VDD and VIL = 0.3VDD for the
purposes of RC time constant calculation. Then V(t) = VDD (1 − e−t / RC), where t is the
time since the charging started and RC is the time constant.

V(t1) = 0.3 × VDD = VDD (1 − e−t1 / RC); then t1 = 0.3566749 × RC

V(t2) = 0.7 × VDD = VDD (1 − e−t2 / RC); then t2 = 1.2039729 × RC
T = t2 − t1 = 0.8473 × RC

Figure 41 and Equation 1 shows maximum Rp as a function of bus capacitance for

Standard-, Fast- and Fast-mode Plus. For each mode, the Rp(max) is a function of the
rise time maximum (tr) from Table 10 and the estimated bus capacitance (Cb):
tr
R p(max) = ---------------------------- (1)
0.8473 × C
b

aaa-012677 aaa-012678
120 5
Rp(min)
Rp(max) (kΩ) 3 mA
(kΩ) 4

(1)
80
3
2
40
(2)
(1)
(3)
20 mA
(2)
0 0
0 200 400 600 0 4 8 12 16 20

Cb (pF) VDD (V)

(1) Standard-mode (1) Fast-mode and Standard-mode

(2) Fast-mode (2) Fast-mode Plus
(3) Fast-mode Plus
Fig 41. Rp(max) as a function of bus capacitance Fig 42. Rp(min) as a function of VDD

The supply voltage limits the minimum value of resistor Rp due to the specified minimum
sink current of 3 mA for Standard-mode and Fast-mode, or 20 mA for Fast-mode Plus.
Rp(min) as a function of VDD is shown in Figure 42. The traces are calculated using
Equation 2:

VDD – VOL(max)
R p(min) = ------------- ----------------- (2)
I

--------
OL
UM10204 All information provided in this document is subject to legal disclaimers. © NXP Semiconductors N.V. 2014. All rights reserved.

User manual Rev. 6 — 4 April 2014 55 of 64