What is I2C (Inter-Integrated Circuit) and how does it work at a basic level?

What is i2c with  basic or fundemantal explanation?

There are lots of tutorials out there. In its most basic its a way of communicating between devices using only two wires. One wire serves as the clock (SCL) which "coordinates" or times communication and one as the data line (SDA) which is used to send the actual data. Beyond that it uses a system of addressing and protocol to ensure proper communication is done with the device of interest.

https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/i2c

http://www.robot-electronics.co.uk/i2c-tutorial

An Inter-IC bus is often used to communicate across circuit-board distances. Here's a primer on the protocol. I2C provides good support for communication with various slow, on-board peripheral devices that are accessed intermittently, while being extremely modest in its hardware resource needs. It is a simple, low-bandwidth, short-distance protocol. Most available I2C devices operate at speeds up to 400Kbps, with some venturing up into the low megahertz range. I2C is easy to use to link multiple devices together since it has a built-in addressing scheme.

The I2C Software Protocol
The first thing that will happen is that the master will send out a start sequence. This will alert all the slave devices on the bus that a transaction is starting and they should listen in incase it is for them. Next the master will send out the device address. The slave that matches this address will continue with the transaction, any others will ignore the rest of this transaction and wait for the next. Having addressed the slave device the master must now send out the internal location or register number inside the slave that it wishes to write to or read from. This number is obviously dependant on what the slave actually is and how many internal registers it has. Some very simple devices do not have any, but most do, including all of our modules. Our CMPS03 has 16 locations numbered 0-15. The SRF08 has 36. Having sent the I2C address and the internal register address the master can now send the data byte (or bytes, it doesn't have to be just one). The master can continue to send data bytes to the slave and these will normally be placed in the following registers because the slave will automatically increment the internal register address after each byte. When the master has finished writing all data to the slave, it sends a stop sequence which completes the transaction. So to write to a slave device:
1. Send a start sequence
2. Send the I2C address of the slave with the R/W bit low (even address)
3. Send the internal register number you want to write to
4. Send the data byte
5. [Optionally, send any further data bytes]
6. Send the stop sequence.