Systems and methods to transfer master duties to a slave on a communication bus are disclosed. A master of a communication bus determines that one or more slaves are capable of serving as a sub-master, including providing a clock signal and owning control information bits. Once that determination is made, the master may determine that processing within the master is not required for a particular activity on the bus. The master then alerts one such capable slave to prepare to assume sub-master duties. Once the slave confirms that the slave is ready to assume the sub-master duties, the master may transmit a handover frame on the bus, and the slave begins acting as a sub-master. The master may then enter a low-power state, which may promote power savings, reduce heat generation, and provide other advantages.