I2C device addressing - why 4 MSB are fixed?

[nareshgtr]

I2C device addressing

Hi,
In I2C compliant devices why 4 Most significant bits are fixed. Example All EEPROMs address start with 1010 and next three bits are A2A1A0. I am assuming to reduce the address decoding logic. Is there is any specific reason.
Regards
V. Naresh Kumar

 

[ChrisC]

I2C device addressing

More likely to keep the package size to a minimum - on an 8-pin EEPROM you need 2 pins for power, 2 for the I2C bus, and usually 1 for write protection, which leaves 3 for addressing. Giving up write protection just to gain an extra address bit probably isn't a good idea, so realistically the only way to add more user-definable address bits would be to go up to the next largest package type.