A54SX32-CQ208BX181 - SX FPGA 48K Gates 208-CQFP | Microchip
MPN: A54SX32-CQ208BX181 ✗ End of Life| Qty | Unit Price | Extended |
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| 1 | $0 | $0.00 |
| 10 | $0 | $0.00 |
| 100 | $0 | $0.00 |
| 500 | $0 | $0.00 |
| 1,000 | $0 | $0.00 |
Drop-in alternatives for A54SX32-CQ208BX181 — same package, pin-to-pin compatible. Different-package parts requiring PCB rework are excluded.
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A54SX32-CQ208B
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View Datasheet →A54SX32-CQ208M
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View Datasheet →A54SX32-1CQ208
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View Datasheet →A54SX32-1CQ208B
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$138.75 / Unit
View Datasheet →A54SX32-1CQ208M
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$55.75 / Unit
View Datasheet →A54SX16-CQ208B
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View Datasheet →A54SX32-CQ208BX181 Maximum Ratings & Electrical Characteristics
| Family | SX (Actel/Microchip antifuse FPGA) |
| System Gates | 48000 gates |
| Logic Modules | 2880 modules |
| Usable I/O | 174 I/O |
| Internal Performance | 320 MHz |
| Clock-to-Out (pin-to-pin) | 3.7 ns |
| Input Set-Up Time | 0.1 ns |
| Clock Skew | 0.25 ns |
| PCI Compliance | 66 MHz PCI |
| Supply Voltage (core/IO) | 3 V to 3.6 V |
| Supply Voltage (secondary) | 4.75 V to 5.25 V |
| Programming Technology | Antifuse (one-time programmable, non-volatile) |
| Package | 208-pin CQFP (BFCQFP with tie bar) |
| Mounting Type | Surface Mount |
| Configuration | Live at power-up, no external configuration device |
A54SX32-CQ208BX181 208-pin cqfp (bfcqfp with tie bar) Pin Configuration Guide
Complete pinout information for A54SX32-CQ208BX181 (208-pin cqfp (bfcqfp with tie bar) package). This digital IC includes GPIO, communication interfaces (UART, SPI, I2C), and power pins. Refer to the manufacturer datasheet for alternate pin functions and configuration options. Essential for embedded system design and PCB layout.
No detailed pinout data available for A54SX32-CQ208BX181.
Refer to the datasheet for full pin configuration.
Safe Operating Area (SOA) & Thermal Characteristics
No official SOA curve available for this digital IC. Always operate within absolute maximum ratings specified in the datasheet. Ensure adequate cooling and derate as needed.
Typical Applications
A54SX32-CQ208BX181 is suitable for 6 applications: High-Reliability Industrial Control, Avionics and Defense Legacy Sustainment, Communications Infrastructure Glue Logic, Test and Measurement Instrumentation, Mixed-Voltage System Bridging, ASIC Prototyping and Low-Volume Emulation.
High-Reliability Industrial Control
In industrial automation controllers, the A54SX32-CQ208BX181 consolidates glue logic, bus decoding, and sequencer functions that would otherwise occupy dozens of 74-series devices. Its 48,000 system gates and 174 usable I/O provide ample integration for backplane interfaces, while the 66 MHz PCI compliance supports standard industrial bus bridges. The antifuse fabric is live at power-up with 0.1 ns setup timing and no configuration device, so the controller never experiences a configuration window during brown-out events. The ceramic CQFP package tolerates the wider temperature and vibration environments of factory equipment better than plastic packages, and the dual 3.3 V/5.0 V supply scheme lets it interface directly with legacy 5 V PLC I/O without level translators.
Recommended
Avionics and Defense Legacy Sustainment
Defense and avionics platforms specified the Actel SX family for its one-time-programmable antifuse fabric, which cannot be corrupted in flight and presents no configuration-stream vulnerability. The A54SX32-CQ208BX181's ceramic CQFP package with tie bar supports hermetic, high-reliability assembly flows, and M-screening suffix variants (such as A54SX32-CQ208M and A54SX32-1CQ208M) align with military screening requirements. With 320 MHz internal performance and 0.25 ns clock skew, the device closes timing on radar interface and telemetry logic without pipelining overhead. For programs sustaining deployed hardware, same-family 208-pin CQFP variants enable drop-in replenishment with no PCB redesign, and the design is simply reprogrammed into the replacement device.
Recommended
Communications Infrastructure Glue Logic
Telecom line cards and backplane adapters frequently used the A54SX32 to bridge standard buses, implement framer interfaces, and manage card-level arbitration. The device's 3.7 ns pin-to-pin clock-to-out and 66 MHz PCI compliance allow it to sit directly on a PCI segment as a single-chip interface solution, while 174 usable I/O cover wide parallel data paths that modern small FPGAs cannot match without high-pin BGA packages. Because the antifuse fabric draws no configuration current and exhibits low switching noise inherent to the antifuse routing technology, supply integrity on dense line cards is easier to maintain. The dual 3.3 V/5.0 V supplies interface with both legacy 5 V PHY devices and 3.3 V logic on the same board.
Recommended
Test and Measurement Instrumentation
Bench instruments and ATE modules use the A54SX32-CQ208BX181 for timing generators, trigger logic, and parallel instrument buses. The 0.1 ns input setup and 0.25 ns clock skew specifications allow multi-channel sampling logic to run coherently across the 2,880 modules, and 320 MHz internal performance supports counters and pattern generators at high rates. The CQFP's exposed tie-bar lead frame gives test engineers accessible probe points on every pin during board bring-up, an advantage over BGA alternatives. Since antifuse programming is permanent, calibration and trigger state machines behave deterministically across power cycles - a meaningful benefit in metrology equipment where a configuration reload event would invalidate a measurement session.
Recommended
Mixed-Voltage System Bridging
Systems combining legacy 5 V TTL logic with modern 3.3 V subsystems benefit directly from the A54SX32's dual-supply operation: 3.0-3.6 V and 4.75-5.25 V per the Microchip USA product data. The FPGA acts as the voltage-translation domain boundary, with 174 usable I/O absorbing the 5 V-side signals while internal logic runs from the 3.3 V rail. This eliminates banks of discrete level translators and their associated propagation delay, keeping the 3.7 ns pin-to-pin clock-to-out figure intact across domains. In upgrade programs where a 5 V backplane must survive alongside new 3.3 V processing cards, the A54SX32-CQ208BX181 provides a single-chip, permanently programmed bridge that is live before the microprocessors complete reset.
Recommended
ASIC Prototyping and Low-Volume Emulation
Before taping out an ASIC, engineering teams used SX-family antifuse FPGAs such as the A54SX32 to emulate control logic at speed. The sea-of-modules architecture's 320 MHz internal clocking and 0.25 ns clock skew let prototype boards emulate multi-MHz ASIC behavior more faithfully than slower SRAM FPGAs of the era, and the permanently programmed fabric eliminated configuration-load stalls during long emulation runs. With 48,000 gates per device, several A54SX32-CQ208BX181 units partition a mid-size design across a prototyping board. Although modern prototyping uses larger SRAM devices, legacy test fixtures already designed around this part continue to be maintained with same-family 208-pin CQFP replenishment parts reprogrammed with updated netlists.
Recommended
Recommended Products Summary
Engineering reference data for A54SX32-CQ208BX181 — comparison, design guidance, and compliance information.
Selection Guide
Comparison with Alternatives
| Parameter | This Product | A54SX32-CQ208B | A54SX32-1CQ208B | A54SX32-1CQ208M | A54SX16-CQ208B |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Package | 208-CQFP (with tie bar) | 208-CQFP - same | 208-CQFP - same | 208-CQFP - same | 208-CQFP - same |
| Brand | Microchip Technology (Actel) | Microchip Technology (Actel) | Microchip Technology (Actel) | Microchip Technology (Actel) | Microchip Technology (Actel) |
| System Gates | 48000 gates | 48000 gates | 48000 gates | 48000 gates | 16000 gates |
| Logic Modules | 2880 | 2880 | 2880 | 2880 | 928 |
| Speed Grade | Standard (per BX181 suffix designation) | Standard | -1 (faster) | -1 (faster), M screening | Standard |
| Supply Voltage | 3.0-3.6 V and 4.75-5.25 V | 3.0-3.6 V and 4.75-5.25 V | 3.0-3.6 V and 4.75-5.25 V | 3.0-3.6 V and 4.75-5.25 V | 3.0-3.6 V and 4.75-5.25 V |
| Programming Technology | Antifuse (OTP) | Antifuse (OTP) | Antifuse (OTP) | Antifuse (OTP) | Antifuse (OTP) |
| Usable I/O | 174 | 174 | 174 | 174 | [DATA_NEEDED] |
| Lifecycle Status | Legacy / EOL (open market) | Active listings via distributor/open market | Active listings via distributor/open market | Open market | Active listings via distributor/open market |
Key Differentiators
- Highest-capacity SX device in the 208-pin CQFP socket (vs A54SX16-CQ208B)
- Faster speed grades available in the identical footprint (vs A54SX32-CQ208B)
- Hermetic ceramic CQFP with tie bar (vs A54SX32-PQG208)
- Configuration-free power-up (vs SRAM FPGAs (e.g., A3PE600-2FGG484))
Design Notes
Design the 3.3 V and 5.0 V rails independently with local decoupling: 0.1 uF ceramic at every VCC pin pair within 2-3 mm, plus 10 uF bulk per rail. Because the antifuse fabric needs no configuration device, there is no configuration inrush, but simultaneous I/O switching on 174 outputs can cause ground bounce - keep the CQFP ground pins tied to a solid plane and respect the datasheet's power-up sequencing between the 3.3 V and 5 V rails to avoid latch-up.
Antifuse FPGAs are one-time programmable: the design must be fully verified in simulation and (ideally) in an SRAM-based prototype before programming production A54SX32 devices. A post-programming logic bug cannot be fixed in-place - plan for spare programmed devices and retain the original Actel/Microchip Designer programming file. Also confirm the exact meaning of the BX181 ordering suffix against the datasheet ordering-information table before qualifying a different suffix for the same socket.
The 5.0 V supply rail tolerates legacy 5 V TTL inputs, but 5 V-tolerant I/O banks switch large currents that stress return paths. Route 66 MHz PCI and fast parallel buses with controlled impedance and adjacent ground references; keep stub lengths short on the CQFP leads. For mixed 3.3 V/5 V domains, verify the datasheet's I/O structure per bank - do not assume every pin is 5 V tolerant, and series-terminate long 5 V interconnects to damp reflections.
Compliance Information
Compliance data not present in retrieved web data. Hermetic ceramic CQFP parts of this era often rely on lead/pb exemptions; verify with Microchip product compliance documentation before procurement.
