EP1C12F324I7N - Cyclone FPGA 12,060 LE 324-FBGA | Intel | Industrial
MPN: EP1C12F324I7N ✗ End of Life| Qty | Unit Price | Extended |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | $78.5 | $78.50 |
| 10 | $71.2 | $712.00 |
| 100 | $64.85 | $6,485.00 |
| 500 | $58.4 | $29,200.00 |
| 1,000 | $52.1 | $52,100.00 |
Drop-in alternatives for EP1C12F324I7N — same package, pin-to-pin compatible. Different-package parts requiring PCB rework are excluded.
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EP1C12F324C8N
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View Datasheet →EP1C12F324I7N Maximum Ratings & Electrical Characteristics
| Family | Cyclone I |
| Logic Elements (LE) | 12,060 |
| Total RAM Bits | 239,616 |
| Embedded Memory Blocks | 52 x M4K (4,608 bits each) |
| User I/O Count | 249 |
| PLLs | 2 |
| Global Clocks | 8 |
| Process Technology | 130 nm |
| Core Voltage | 1.5 V (typ) |
| I/O Voltage Standards | LVTTL, LVCMOS, SSTL, HSTL |
| Operating Temperature | -40C to +100C (Industrial) |
| Package | 324-ball FBGA (FineLine BGA) |
| Package Code Suffix | F324 |
| Speed Grade | 7 (industrial, performance) |
EP1C12F324I7N f324 Pin Configuration Guide
Complete pinout information for EP1C12F324I7N (f324 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 EP1C12F324I7N.
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
EP1C12F324I7N is suitable for 7 applications: Industrial Motor Control, Video Surveillance and Image Processing, Telecom Line Card Bridging, Automotive Infotainment Prototyping, Low-Cost DSP Front-End, Print Engine Controller, Test and Measurement Front-End.
Industrial Motor Control
The EP1C12F324I7N is well suited to multi-axis industrial motor drives, where its 12,060 logic elements handle encoder decoding, PWM generation, and field-oriented control (FOC) state machines while leaving headroom for safety logic. The 249 user I/Os permit direct interfacing to multiple quadrature encoders, resolver-to-digital converters, and gate-driver ICs without external muxing. Two on-chip PLLs synthesize motor-control frequencies from a single external crystal, eliminating discrete timing components. The industrial -40C to +100C temperature grade tolerates factory-floor ambient swings, and the 324-ball FBGA's thermal pad enables conduction-cooling attach to a chassis heatsink for sustained high-utilization workloads.
Recommended
Video Surveillance and Image Processing
The EP1C12F324I7N's 12,060 LEs and 52 M4K block RAM blocks provide the parallelism needed for real-time video preprocessing tasks such as Bayer demosaicing, motion detection, and JPEG/MJPEG compression at CIF/D1 resolutions. The 249 user I/Os accept parallel ITU-R BT.656 video buses and LVDS channels from megapixel CMOS sensors, while the on-chip block RAM serves as line buffers without requiring external SDRAM for low-resolution streams. The industrial temperature grade supports outdoor IP-camera deployments. Compared with microcontrollers, the FPGA delivers 5-10x throughput on per-pixel pipelines, and it is well supported by the Quartus II DSP Builder flow for color-space conversion.
Recommended
Telecom Line Card Bridging
The EP1C12F324I7N is frequently deployed on legacy telecom line cards for protocol bridging between E1/T1 framers, HDLC controllers, and backplane SERDES. Its 12,060 LEs absorb hundreds of state-machine cells and parallel datapath registers, while 249 user I/Os handle TDM bus fan-out without external buffers. Two PLLs synthesize 1.544/2.048/4.096/8.192 MHz clock domains required for T1/E1/ISDN-PRI interfaces. The industrial temperature rating is appropriate for central-office and outdoor-cabinet deployments. For new designs, the Cyclone IV E family offers lower 1.2 V core operation and longer product life, but the existing Cyclone I ecosystem keeps the EP1C12 in service for legacy upgrades.
Recommended
Automotive Infotainment Prototyping
The EP1C12F324I7N supports rapid prototyping of automotive infotainment systems including CAN/LIN gateway logic, audio routing, and display controllers. Its 12,060 LEs are sufficient for soft IP cores such as the Nios II embedded processor running AUTOSAR-classic stacks, plus CAN 2.0B controllers and I2S audio bridges. The 249 user I/Os are enough to fan out to multiple CAN transceivers, MOST or LVDS display interfaces, and PCM audio codecs. Industrial temperature grade covers cabin environments, but engine-bay applications require AEC-Q100 qualified variants. Engineers moving to production should migrate to Cyclone IV or Cyclone V Auto grade parts for AEC-Q100 conformance and longer supply.
Recommended
Low-Cost DSP Front-End
The EP1C12F324I7N functions as a low-cost DSP front-end for instrumentation, software-defined radio (SDR) baseband, and ultrasonic flow-meter designs. Although Cyclone I lacks hard DSP blocks, the FPGA's parallel LE fabric implements multiplier-accumulator arrays efficiently at audio and low-IF sample rates. The 249 user I/Os connect directly to 16-bit ADCs such as the AD7606 and high-speed DACs without external logic. Two PLLs derive ADC sampling clocks and DAC update clocks from a single reference. Block RAM serves as FIFO buffering between ADC bursts and downstream processor. For higher DSP throughput, upgrade to Cyclone IV E or Cyclone V with dedicated DSP blocks.
Recommended
Print Engine Controller
The EP1C12F324I7N serves as the print-engine controller in commercial and industrial printers, driving stepper motors, laser-beam polygon mirrors, and high-speed serializer-deserializer channels to print heads. Its 249 user I/Os support multiple motors and high-resolution data lanes, while the 12,060 LEs absorb page-description-language (PDL) interpreters and raster image processors for moderate page-per-minute rates. Two PLLs synthesize the polygon-motor reference clock and the high-frequency LVDS clocking for the print head. Industrial temperature rating covers the elevated ambient inside printer enclosures. For higher-volume throughput, migrate to Cyclone IV E with more block RAM and DSP blocks.
Recommended
Test and Measurement Front-End
The EP1C12F324I7N's 249 user I/Os and 12,060 LEs make it a flexible front-end for test and measurement instruments such as logic analyzers, protocol analyzers, and arbitrary waveform generators. Its logic-array block fabric allows engineers to instantiate custom capture macros for SPI, I2C, UART, and parallel buses without dedicated peripherals. The on-chip block RAM stores captured traces before uploading to host PC via USB or Ethernet bridge. Two PLLs synthesize multiple test-clock domains from a single reference. Industrial temperature grade supports benchtop and laboratory deployment. For multi-GHz analysis, migrate to Cyclone V or Cyclone 10 with transceivers.
Recommended
Recommended Products Summary
Engineering reference data for EP1C12F324I7N — comparison, design guidance, and compliance information.
Selection Guide
Comparison with Alternatives
| Parameter | This Product | EP1C12F324C8N | EP1C12F324I7 | EP1C12F324C7N | EP1C12F324C6N |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brand | Intel | Intel | Intel | Intel | Intel |
| Package | 324-ball FBGA (F324) | 324-ball FBGA (F324) - same | 324-ball FBGA (F324) - same | 324-ball FBGA (F324) - same | 324-ball FBGA (F324) - same |
| Logic Elements | 12,060 | 12,060 (same) | 12,060 (same) | 12,060 (same) | 12,060 (same) |
| Total RAM Bits | 239,616 | 239,616 (same) | 239,616 (same) | 239,616 (same) | 239,616 (same) |
| User I/O Count | 249 | 249 (same) | 249 (same) | 249 (same) | 249 (same) |
| Operating Temperature | -40C to +100C (Industrial) | 0C to +85C (Commercial) | -40C to +100C (Industrial) | 0C to +85C (Commercial) | 0C to +85C (Commercial) |
| Speed Grade | 7 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 6 |
| Pb-Free (N suffix) | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| Lifecycle Status | NRND | NRND | NRND | NRND | NRND |
| Process Technology | 130 nm | 130 nm (same) | 130 nm (same) | 130 nm (same) | 130 nm (same) |
Key Differentiators
- Industrial temperature grade for harsh environments (vs EP1C12F324C8N)
- Speed grade 7 balances fMAX and power (vs EP1C12F324C6N)
- Lead-free (Pb-free) N-suffix for RoHS markets (vs EP1C12F324C8)
- 249 user I/Os maximize peripheral integration (vs EP1C12F256I7N)
Design Notes
The 324-ball FBGA package has a thermal resistance theta_JA of approximately 16-19 C/W with a standard 4-layer JEDEC PCB and adequate thermal via array under the die flag. At maximum toggle rate (all 12,060 LEs active at 320 MHz), worst-case power dissipation is roughly 1.5-2 W. For enclosed industrial enclosures with ambient up to +85C, conduction-cooling to a chassis heatsink via thermal pad is recommended. Reference the Cyclone Device Handbook, chapter on packaging and thermal characteristics, for theta_JC and recommended PCB via patterns.
The 324-ball FBGA uses 1.0 mm ball pitch and a JEDEC MS-034 compliant land pattern with 0.55 mm pad diameter. A 4-layer PCB with continuous VCCINT/GND planes directly under the BGA and a 5x5 thermal-via array (0.3 mm drill, 1.0 mm pitch) below the die flag is required. Route all signal traces on outer layers with microvia-in-pad escape routing for inner-row balls. Reference Cyclone Handbook chapter on PCB layout and Quartus II pin planner to optimize pin assignment before layout.
Configuration mode selection (AS, PS, JTAG) must match the chosen EPCS serial configuration device; mismatched MSEL pins lock the FPGA into an unknown state at power-up. The 1.5 V VCCINT and 3.3 V VCCIO banks require separate power rails with independent 0.1 uF + 10 uF decoupling per pin group. Do not leave JTAG TCK floating during normal operation - tie to GND through 1 kohm to prevent spurious configuration. LVDS inputs require 100 ohm termination across the pair. Cyclone I has no on-chip termination, so external resistor networks are mandatory.
Cyclone I PLL analog supply (VCCA_P3L) must be filtered through a ferrite bead and decoupled with 10 uF + 0.1 uF close to the PLL pin; noise on VCCA causes jitter degradation. The 8 global clock inputs are on dedicated pins - assign high-fanout clocks to these pins during pin planning. DDR interfaces require manual 90-degree phase shifting via PLL outputs; Quartus II altmemphy IP supports this with manual calibration. Reference Cyclone Device Handbook chapter on PLL usage and clock network.
Estimated: with 249 user I/Os on a 19x19 mm FBGA, average pin-to-pin spacing is approximately 0.85 mm. Trace impedance of 50 ohm single-ended (microstrip on FR-4 with 4-mil dielectric) is achievable; for LVDS use 100 ohm differential. For toggle rates above 100 MHz, use the Quartus II Signal Integrity analysis to identify over-driven or under-terminated nets before sign-off. SSO (Simultaneous Switching Output) noise on banks of >16 switching outputs requires de-population of those banks to limit ground bounce.
Compliance Information
Pb-free N-suffix denotes RoHS compliance. Not AEC-Q100 qualified - for engine-bay automotive, choose AEC-Q100 qualified Cyclone IV Auto or Cyclone V Auto grade parts. Halogen-free status not stated in datasheet snippet; verify with Intel product compliance team.
