> It's true, the I2C stuff built into the PIC's is
> ABSOLUTLY worthless for master mode operation. I think
> that this was a real error on MCHIP's part and have never
> heard an explanation of why they did it this way.
>

Might it be related to Philip's copyrights on I2C ?  They used to insist
(perhaps they still do) that any use of the I2C protocol required that
at least one device manufactured under a licensing agreement with
Philips should be used on the bus.

I seem to remember that Microchip had a disagreement regarding their
I2C EEPROMS - if/when it was resolved, perhaps Philips insisted that
Microchip keep away from hardware I2C master implementations ?


Going a bit off-topic, is there any news of a PIC with USB ? The USB
web page seems to indicate that some microcontroller manufacturers are
likely to offer on-chip USB interfaces, and PICs are popular in the
desktop peripheral market so it seems likely that Microchip would
want to be in on it.

Anybody got views on the likelyhood of USB's success ?


-adrian

ps .. for anyone who hasn't seen the hype, USB is a microsoft/intel
supported serial bus for use on desktops .. mice, printers, modems, VR
peripherals etc. It's single-master, 12Mb/s, multiple star topology.
Further details (including a technical spec) at http://www.teleport.com/~usb/.