EP1C20F324C8 - Cyclone FPGA 20K LE, 233 IO | Altera
MPN: EP1C20F324C8 ✓ Active| Qty | Unit Price | Extended |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | $49.8 | $49.80 |
| 10 | $44.6 | $446.00 |
| 100 | $38.4 | $3,840.00 |
| 500 | $35.2 | $17,600.00 |
| 1,000 | $32 | $32,000.00 |
Drop-in alternatives for EP1C20F324C8 — same package, pin-to-pin compatible. Different-package parts requiring PCB rework are excluded.
Quick Comparison Tool — Select alternative parts for side-by-side comparison:
EP1C20F324C8N
✅ Drop-In✓ In Stock
$42.36 / Unit
View Datasheet →EP1C20F324C7N
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$56.04 / Unit
View Datasheet →EP1C20F324C7
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$17.95 / Unit
View Datasheet →EP1C20F324C6N
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View Datasheet →EP1C20F324C6
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View Datasheet →EP1C20F324C8 Maximum Ratings & Electrical Characteristics
| Part Number | EP1C20F324C8 |
| Product Family | Cyclone I |
| Number of Logic Elements | 20,060 |
| Number of LABs / CLBs | 2,006 |
| Total RAM Bits | 294,912 |
| Number of User I/Os | 233 |
| Package / Case | 324-FBGA |
| Total Pins / Balls | 324 |
| Core Supply Voltage | 1.5 V |
| Process Technology | 130 nm |
| Maximum Clock Frequency | 275.03 MHz |
| Speed Grade | 8 |
| Temperature Grade | C (commercial) |
| Operating Temperature Range | 0°C to 85°C (per C suffix) |
| Mounting Type | Surface Mount |
| Transceivers | None (hard transceivers not present on Cyclone I) |
| Configuration Memory | External EPCS serial configuration device recommended |
| AEC-Q100 | Not applicable (FPGA not AEC-Q100 listed) |
EP1C20F324C8 324-fbga Pin Configuration Guide
Complete pinout information for EP1C20F324C8 (324-fbga package) with 324 pins. 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 EP1C20F324C8.
Refer to the datasheet for full pin configuration.
Estimated pin count: 324 pins (digital package)
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
EP1C20F324C8 is suitable for 6 applications: Industrial Motor Control, Factory Automation I/O and PLC Expansion, Video and Image Pre-Processing, Protocol Bridging and Parallel Bus Conversion, Custom DSP and Signal Conditioning Front End, Legacy FPGA Migration and Pin-Compatible Density Upgrade.
Industrial Motor Control
The EP1C20F324C8 fits multi-axis motor control applications where an FPGA implements PWM generation, dead-time insertion, quadrature encoder decoding, and fault management in parallel. Its 20,060 logic elements are enough for several servo or stepper axis cores, while 233 user I/Os connect to gate drivers, current-sense ADCs, and encoder interfaces without external CPLD glue. The 1.5 V core reduces switching power compared with older programmable logic, and the 275.03 MHz-class fabric supports fast current-loop update rates in the tens of kilohertz range. Place an EPCS configuration device on the SPI header so the motor-control bitstream loads immediately at power-up. The main trade-off is that Cyclone I lacks a hardened processor or high-speed transceiver, so communication stacks usually run on an external MCU.
Recommended
Factory Automation I/O and PLC Expansion
EP1C20F324C8 is well suited to PLC I/O expansion modules and factory-automation backplanes because its 233 user I/Os can implement parallel bus interfaces, field-bus protocol logic, and many discrete input/output channels in one device. The 20,060 logic elements allow creation of soft peripherals such as UARTs, SPI masters, timer blocks, and interrupt controllers with substantial margin. Having 294,912 RAM bits supports small frame buffers and lookup tables. Designers often configure the FPGA from a host processor or an EPCS flash to allow field updates. The commercial 0°C to 85°C temperature grade limits use to indoor/controlled factory environments; industrial-grade Altera variants should be chosen for wider-temperature cabinets.
Recommended
Video and Image Pre-Processing
In image-capture and pre-processing pipelines, the EP1C20F324C8 provides an inexpensive logic platform for line buffering, pixel formatting, color-space conversion, and simple thresholding. The 294,912 RAM bits create line buffers or small ROI memories, while 233 user I/Os connect to CMOS image sensors, parallel ADCs, LCD controllers, or SRAM. The 275.03 MHz fabric speed is appropriate for moderate-resolution video rates when the pipeline uses wide parallel buses. Since Cyclone I does not include hardened multipliers or DSP blocks, designers should implement only lightweight arithmetic or use external DSP-assisted processing. The FPGA can also serve as the timing generator for the image sensor, reducing external glue logic.
Recommended
Protocol Bridging and Parallel Bus Conversion
EP1C20F324C8 is commonly chosen for protocol bridging because the FPGA can translate between SPI, I2C, UART, parallel SRAM-like buses, and custom processor interfaces without additional glue logic. The 233 I/Os give the board designer flexibility to connect one or more MCUs, DSPs, ADCs, DACs, and SRAM banks. The 20,060 logic elements accommodate soft FIFOs, state machines, and latency-matching logic, while the 294,912 RAM bits buffer packets or samples. The 1.5 V core simplifies the digital supply design if the board already uses other modern 1.5 V-logic FPGAs. One practical note is that all I/O standards and bank voltages must be checked in the Cyclone family datasheet and pin planner, because the specific I/O standards were not enumerated in the source snippet.
Recommended
Custom DSP and Signal Conditioning Front End
For moderate throughput custom digital signal processing, the EP1C20F324C8 can implement preamble detection, decimation filters, demodulation logic, and data formatting in programmable logic. Although Cyclone I does not include hardened hardware multipliers, the 20,060 logic elements allow small multiplier structures built from logic fabric for low-rate DSP. The 294,912 RAM bits support coefficient tables, channel buffers, and ping-pong FIFOs. The 233 user I/Os connect multiple ADC and DAC parallel ports, making the FPGA useful as a signal-conditioning front end for test instruments and software-defined radio baseband prototypes. The 275.03 MHz fabric is adequate for sample rates in the low-MHz range when using wide data words. External configuration memory is essential for autonomous operation after power cycling.
Recommended
Legacy FPGA Migration and Pin-Compatible Density Upgrade
The EP1C20F324C8 is valuable for designs already using logic from the Altera Cyclone family because the 324-FBGA footprint supports speed-grade second sources. With 20,060 logic elements, the device also provides a larger logic target than the lower-density Cyclone parts in the same package family, allowing a design to absorb extra logic without changing the PCB. Since C7N, C6N, and other speed-grade variants are pin-compatible, an engineer can qualify the slower C8 device for cost-sensitive production and later insert a faster variant for performance upgrades. The main caveat is that 324 individual BGA ball assignments must be verified from official Quartus pin files; only the user I/O count and package are confirmed by the distributor snippets.
Recommended
Recommended Products Summary
Engineering reference data for EP1C20F324C8 — comparison, design guidance, and compliance information.
Selection Guide
Comparison with Alternatives
| Parameter | This Product | EP1C20F324C8N | EP1C20F324C7N | EP1C20F324C7 | EP1C20F324C6N | EP1C20F324C6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brand | Altera | Altera | Altera | Altera | Altera | Altera |
| Package | 324-FBGA | 324-FBGA | 324-FBGA | 324-FBGA | 324-FBGA | 324-FBGA |
| Number of Pins/Balls | 324 | 324 | 324 | 324 | 324 | 324 |
| Logic Elements | 20,060 | 20,060 | 20,060 | 20,060 | 20,060 | 20,060 |
| Total RAM Bits | 294,912 | 294,912 | 294,912 | 294,912 | 294,912 | 294,912 |
| Number of User I/Os | 233 | 233 | 233 | 233 | 233 | 233 |
| Core Supply Voltage | 1.5 V | 1.5 V | 1.5 V | 1.5 V | 1.5 V | 1.5 V |
| Process Technology | 130 nm | 130 nm | 130 nm | 130 nm | 130 nm | 130 nm |
| Speed Grade | 8 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 |
| RoHS / Lead-Free Finish | Unknown for non-N C8 | Lead-free N-suffix variant | Lead-free N-suffix variant | Non-N legacy finish | Lead-free N-suffix variant | Non-N legacy finish |
Key Differentiators
- Cost-effective baseline speed grade with identical device resources (vs EP1C20F324C6N)
- Density and package compatibility across speed-grade family (vs EP1C20F324C7N)
- Non-N legacy-finish sourcing option for older assembly lines (vs EP1C20F324C8N)
Design Notes
Estimated: power dissipation is dominated by the 1.5 V core current and I/O bank currents. For an initial estimate, use P = 1.5 V * ICC_INT plus the product of each I/O rail voltage and its dynamic/static current. Because the verified data does not include a specific ICC_INT number, calculate from the Cyclone FPGA family datasheet power tables rather than guessing. Provide separate 1.5 V core and I/O bank supplies and place a 100 nF ceramic capacitor near every power ball cluster to maintain low impedance across the switching band.
The 324-ball FBGA package requires careful BGA fanout. Work from the official Cyclone .pin and Quartus Pin Planner files because many of the 324 balls are dedicated to configuration, clock, JTAG, and power. If migrating across speed-grade variants in the same F324 package, the PCB footprint and routing remain identical; only timing constraints and date-code qualification change. Do not assume all balls that are unused in one density are NC on every Cyclone I package variant; verify with the device pin file before routing.
Cyclone I FPGAs are SRAM-based and have no non-volatile configuration storage. A common pitfall is forgetting to add an EPCS serial configuration device or host-controlled configuration path, causing the FPGA to appear unconfigured after every power cycle. Also, review the JTAG and configuration pin assignments during layout: pull-up or pull-down requirements vary by configuration scheme. Because the C8 non-N part may not be RoHS marked in the verified data, use the N-suffix variant for lead-free assembly unless the purchase specification explicitly permits legacy finish.
Compliance Information
No explicit compliance status for the non-N EP1C20F324C8 appears in the Verified Web Data. The N-suffix variants such as EP1C20F324C8N are commonly lead-free/RoHS-marked counterparts; confirm the actual finish and compliance certificate from the official Intel/Altera literature before assembly.
