MIPI makes market push for I3C sensor interface

This is an important interface upgrade to the long-established I2C technology.

Joel Huloux, chairman of MIPI Alliance

MIPI I3C, initially released to the MIPI Alliance member community in January 2017, is the next generation interface for sensor networks currently using I2C and SPI.

Companies, including those not currently members of MIPI Alliance, can now have access to the MIPI I3C v1.0 specification for evaluation.

Joel Huloux, chairman of MIPI Alliance, writes:

“Extending access helps MIPI members as well, because it supports greater adoption and interoperability, strengthens the ecosystem and provides for a richer development environment.”

MIPI Alliance has also published a technical introduction to MIPI I3C along with guidelines for implementation and interoperability testing.

Called MIPI I3CSM, it is chip-level interface which it is hoped can unify the multiple sensor interface approaches currently being adopted for IoT devices such as health monitors and other wearable mobile devices.

It is implemented on a standard CMOS I/O using two wires, and the specification achieves clock rates up to 12.5MHz.

MIPI claims it can provide higher bandwidths than I2C and lower power levels.

Sensor form factor, pin count and energy consumption are areas which the MIPI Alliance says will benefit from the standard interface.

MIPI Alliance is also planning new specifications that implement MIPI I3C that will be released in 2018.

These specifications include: MIPI I3C Host Controller Interface (HCI), a forthcoming specification that enables a single software driver to support MIPI I3C hardware from various vendors; MIPI Touch, MIPI Debug for I3C, MIPI DisCo for I3C and MIPI CSI-2 v2.1.

Ken Foust, chair of the MIPI Alliance Sensor Working Group, writes:

“We want to collaborate with developers in industry and academia on potential MIPI I3C applications and believe access to the specification will be a great help in these efforts.”