PCA9641: 2-channel I2C-bus master arbiter

The PCA9641 is a 2-to-1 I²C master demultiplexer with an arbiter function. It is designed for high reliability dual master I²C-bus applications where correct system operation is required, even when two I²C-bus masters issue their commands at the same time. The arbiter will select a winner and let it work uninterrupted, and the losing master will take control of the I²C-bus after the winner has finished. The arbiter also allows for queued requests where a master requests the downstream bus while the other master has control.

A race condition occurs when two masters try to access the downstream I²C-bus at almost the same time. The PCA9641 intelligently selects one winning master and the losing master gains control of the bus after the winning master gives up the bus or the reserve time has expired.

Multiple transactions can be done without interruption. The time needed for multiple transactions on the downstream bus can be reserved by programming the Reserve Time register. During the reserve time, the downstream bus cannot be lost.

Software reset allows a master to send a reset through the I²C-bus to put the PCA9641’s registers into the power-on reset condition.

The Device ID of the PCA9641 can be read by the master and includes manufacturer, device type and revision.

When there is no activity on the downstream I²C-bus over 100 ms, optionally the PCA9641 will disconnect the downstream bus to both masters to avoid a lock-up on the I²C-bus.

The interrupt outputs are used to provide an indication of which master has control of the bus, and which master has lost the downstream bus. One interrupt input (INT_IN) collects downstream information and propagates it to the two upstream I²C-buses (INT0 and INT1) if enabled. INT0 and INT1 are also used to let the master know if the shared mail box has any new mail or if the outgoing mail has not been read by the other master. Those interrupts can be disabled and will not generate an interrupt if the masking option is set.

The pass gates of the switches are constructed such that the VDD pin can be used to limit the maximum high voltage, which will be passed by the PCA9641. This allows the use of different bus voltages on each pair, so that 1.8 V, 2.5 V, or 3.3 V devices can communicate with 3.3 V devices without any additional protection.

The PCA9641 does not isolate the capacitive loading on either side of the device, so the designer must take into account all trace and device capacitances on both sides of the device, and pull-up resistors must be used on all channels.

External pull-up resistors pull the bus to the desired voltage level for each channel. All I/O pins are 3.6 V tolerant.

An active LOW reset input allows the PCA9641A to be initialized. Pulling the RESET pin LOW resets the I²C-bus state machine and configures the device to its default state as does the internal Power-On Reset (POR) function.

Outline 3d SOT403-1
Data Sheets (1)
Name/DescriptionModified Date
2-channel I2C-bus master arbiter (REV 2.1) PDF (1.7 MB) PCA964127 Oct 2015
Application Notes (1)
Name/DescriptionModified Date
How to design in and program the PCA9641 I2C arbiter (REV 1.0) PDF (962.0 kB) AN1159324 Oct 2014
Brochures (1)
Name/DescriptionModified Date
The first smart I2C bus multiplexer (REV 1.0) PDF (515.0 kB) 7501760113 Jan 2015
Package Information (2)
Name/DescriptionModified Date
plastic thin shrink small outline package; 16 leads; body width 4.4 mm (REV 1.0) PDF (300.0 kB) SOT403-108 Feb 2016
plastic thermal enhanced very thin quad flat package; no leads; 16 terminals; body 3 x 3 x 0.85 mm (REV 1.0) PDF (201.0 kB) SOT758-108 Feb 2016
Packing (2)
Name/DescriptionModified Date
HVQFN16; Reel pack; SMD, 13" Q1/T1 Standard product orientation Orderable part number ending ,118 or... (REV 2.0) PDF (262.0 kB) SOT758-1_11818 Apr 2013
TSSOP16; Reel pack; SMD, 13" Q1/T1 Standard product orientation Orderable part number ending ,118 or... (REV 1.0) PDF (218.0 kB) SOT403-1_11808 Apr 2013
Supporting Information (1)
Name/DescriptionModified Date
Footprint for wave soldering (REV 1.0) PDF (16.0 kB) SSOP-TSSOP-VSO-WAVE08 Oct 2009
Design Support
Ordering Information
ProductStatusStatusBudgetary Price excluding tax(US$)Package Type and Termination CountGPIOsQualification Tier
PCA9641PWActive
PCA9641BSActive
Package Information
Product IDPackage DescriptionOutline VersionReflow/Wave SolderingPackingProduct StatusPart NumberOrdering code(12NC)MarkingChemical ContentRoHS / Pb Free / RHFLeadFree Conversion DateMSLMSL LF
PCA9641BSSOT758-1Reel 13" Q2/T3ActivePCA9641BSHP (9353 036 75128)Standard MarkingPCA9641BSAlways Pb-free11
PCA9641PWSOT403-1SSOP-TSSOP-VSO-WAVEReel 13" Q1/T1ActivePCA9641PWJ (9353 036 76118)Standard MarkingPCA9641PWAlways Pb-free11
2-channel I2C-bus master arbiter pca9641
The first smart I2C bus multiplexer pca9641
HVQFN16; Reel pack; SMD, 13" Q1/T1 Standard product orientation Orderable part number ending ,118 or... PCF2123
plastic thermal enhanced very thin quad flat package; no leads; 16 terminals; body 3 x 3 x 0.85 mm PCF7900VHN
Footprint for reflow soldering SOT758-1 PCF7900VHN
TSSOP16; Reel pack; SMD, 13"; Q1 Standard product orientation; Orderable part number ending, 623 or HL; Ordering code (12NC) end PCA9633
Reel 13" Q1/T1 LPC812M101JDH16
SSOP-TSSOP-VSO-WAVE LPC1114FDH28
TSSOP16; Reel pack; SMD, 13", Turned Q4/T2 180 deg product orientation Orderable part number ending ,128 or HP ... sc18im700ipw
Footprint for reflow soldering SOT403-1 PCA9633
TSSOP16; Reel pack; SMD, 13"; Q1 Standard product orientation; Orderable part number ending, 653 or HL; Ordering code (12NC) end PCA9633
plastic thin shrink small outline package; 16 leads; body width 4.4 mm PCA9633
Expert mode sample code PCA9641 PCA9641