Royal Philips Electronics has introduced I2C logic devices based on the Fast-mode Plus (Fm+) specification.  The new I2C Fast-mode Plus specification goes up to a frequency of 1 MHz (1 Mbps) – more than twice the frequency of previous I2C-bus speed specifications – and is backward compatible with existing Fast-mode and Standard-mode devices.  In addition, Fm+ increases the total possible capacitance by a factor of 10, enabling longer distance transmission at slower bus speeds without requiring buffers. This allows engineers to create more flexible system designs at higher speeds when more bandwidth is needed, or use larger buses for emerging applications in LED and architectural lighting and gaming, which require a larger number of components on a single bus. The new Fast-mode Plus specification, scheduled to be released at the end of second quarter, takes I2C to the next level and will mark the first major update to the specification since 2000.

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Philips invented the I2C bus in the early 1980s and continues to drive innovation in I2C technology. The I2C bus – now the de facto standard for system control – is an elegant two-wire bus with a software-defined protocol that provides the communications link between integrated circuits in a system.  With I2C, designers can easily and reliably add devices and functions to an existing bus, saving space and lowering overall costs. Fm+ goes up to a frequency of 1MHz, versus 400 kHz with Fast-mode, simply by tightening the tolerances and bus timing requirements.

The initial wave of Philips products that will support the 1-MHz Fm+ interface include:

• PCA9633: 4-bit I2C LED controllers optimized for RGBA color mixing 
• PCA9698: Advanced 40-bit I2C I/O expander.  
• PCA9665: Fast-mode Plus parallel bus to I2C-bus controllers.  

The PCA9633 and PCA9698 are available now, and samples of the PCA9665 are available today.  The Fast-mode plus devices range from $0.55 to $2.05 in quantities of 10,000
http://www.philips.com/i2c