Cutting off OneWire/SDA line with transistors

Question

I am developing a pcb for a design I am working on and I need to share a pin to be used by a ds18b20 (onewire) and some possible I2C sensors. There would be just one of each at a time.

I was thinking about using a couple of transistors. One would cut or enable ds18b20 data line and the other one, the same for SDA line. So I would enable the first one and disable the second one or viceversa.

Do you think this is possible? I don't have transistors right now to test it. I have to order some of them. I was thinking about a bd228. Would this add some errors/delays/whatever in signal information? A kind of distorsion I mean. Or should it work?

EDIT: I will try to explain a bit my project.

My idea is to have a box with 5 sockets. Each one of them will be a different data input. They should be able to use a wide variety of sensors, ds18b20, dht22, open/close door (1 or 0 signal)... Also I would want to include some I2C sensors.

I was thinking about BME280 for example.

My idea is that the user could set which sensor is connected each time so the arduino can switch transistor behaviour to allow the connectivity to the digital pin or the I2C SDA (or SCL) pin.

I was thinking about using an I2C multiplexer to allow multiple BME280 to be at the same time so the first line would go to the socket1, second line socket 2...

Answer 1

For multiple I2C busses, it is allowed to share a single SCL and have a separate SDA line for each I2C bus. That means that as long as the SDA is inactive (high), you can do with the SCL whatever you want.

It might even be possible to share the SCL signal for I2C and 1-Wire, and use both. The SCL signal would then also be the 1-Wire signal. The I2C pulses are probably shorter than the start pulse of the 1-Wire. You would also have to do it right in the software to switch the function of the pins. As far as I know that has never been done, so you might get into a lot of trouble.

Transistors are not the right choice to multiplex signals, and the BD228 is definitely not okay. The I2C bus is a open-collector or open-drain bus with a current of maximum 3mA. The 1-Wire bus is roughly the same. It is possible with mosfets or with multiplexers (see: Nick Gammon about multiplexers). However, if you are going to add extra hardware there are probably better solution than combining I2C with 1-Wire.

Have you thought about the voltage levels ? Are you using a 5V Arduino board ? Most sensors are 3.3V. The DS18B20 will work with voltages as low as 3.0V, so 3.3V is no problem for the DS18B20.

Tell us what else is connected to your Arduino board. I'm sure there are better solutions.

Could you better specifiy what it is that you want to achieve ? When there is only I2C sensors or only 1-Wire sensors connected, you could run a i2c-scanner to check for I2C sensors. If nothing is found, do a Wire.end() and start the OneWire using the SCL pin. That could be done during startup and then you don't need extra hardware.

How long are the wires ? The 1-Wire bus can have long wires, but the I2C bus can only have short wires.