I²C (Inter-Integrated Circuit) is a bi-directional two wires and serial data transmission communication protocol developed by Philips (Now NXP Semiconductor) in 1982. I2C is a Half-duplex communication protocol – (I2c can’t send and receive same time in the bus-data line). Multi-master can communicate with multi-salve. (Note: Communication is restricted between two masters; however, a single master can communicate with either a single slave or multiple slaves.) I2C is a Level Triggering. A device that sends data onto the bus is defined as a transmitter, and a device receiving data is defined as a receiver.
The bus must be controlled by a master device, responsible for generating the Start and Stop conditions. In contrast, certain devices such as LCDs, EEPROMs, and RTCs function as slaves. It’s important to note that both master and slave devices can operate as either transmitters or receivers. However, the master device plays a pivotal role in determining which mode is activated.