Protocols
LPC (Low Pin Count)
A legacy bus protocol using few pins for low-speed peripheral communication, common in PC motherboards.
Detailed Explanation
LPC replaced ISA bus with a multiplexed 4-bit interface, dramatically reducing pin count. It carries I/O cycles, memory cycles, and DMA transfers over the same pins. Timing is synchronous to a 33MHz clock.
The protocol uses start/stop framing, cycle type encoding, and wait states for slow peripherals. LPC connects TPM (Trusted Platform Module), SuperI/O chips, and BIOS flash to the chipset.