EP1C20F400 - Cyclone FPGA 20,060 LEs 400-BGA | Altera / Intel
MPN: EP1C20F400 ✓ Active| Qty | Unit Price | Extended |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | $85 | $85.00 |
| 10 | $76.5 | $765.00 |
| 100 | $68 | $6,800.00 |
| 500 | $62.4 | $31,200.00 |
| 1,000 | $58.9 | $58,900.00 |
Drop-in alternatives for EP1C20F400 — 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:
EP1C20F400C8N
✅ Drop-In✓ In Stock
$62.5 / Unit
View Datasheet →EP1C20F400C7N
✅ Drop-In✓ In Stock
$65.8 / Unit
View Datasheet →EP1C20F400C6N
✅ Drop-In✓ In Stock
$53.1 / Unit
View Datasheet →EP1C20F400I7N
✅ Drop-In ⚠️ 参数待验证✓ In Stock
$76.9 / Unit
View Datasheet →EP1C12F400C8N
✅ Drop-In📋 Reference alternative (not in catalog)
EP1C20F400 Maximum Ratings & Electrical Characteristics
| Family | Cyclone |
| Manufacturer | Altera (now Intel) |
| Logic Elements (LEs) | 20,060 |
| Embedded RAM Bits | 294,912 bits |
| M4K RAM Blocks (4 Kbit + parity) | 301 |
| Embedded 18×18 Multipliers | 20 |
| Phase-Locked Loops (PLLs) | 8 |
| Maximum User I/O Pins | 301 |
| Package | 400-ball FineLine BGA (F400) |
| Process Technology | 0.13 µm SRAM |
| Core Voltage (VCCINT) | 1.5 V (typical) |
| I/O Bank Voltage (VCCIO) | 1.5 V / 1.8 V / 2.5 V / 3.3 V (bank-dependent) |
| LVDS Data Rate | up to 840 Mbps |
| Single-Ended I/O Standard Support | LVTTL, LVCMOS, PCI, SSTL, LVDS |
| Configuration Modes | Passive Serial (PS), Active Serial (AS), JTAG |
| Operating Junction Temperature | -40 °C to +100 °C (commercial/industrial grades) |
| Mounting Type | Surface Mount (BGA) |
EP1C20F400 400-ball fineline bga (f400) Pin Configuration Guide
Complete pinout information for EP1C20F400 (400-ball fineline bga (f400) package) with 301 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 EP1C20F400.
Refer to the datasheet for full pin configuration.
Estimated pin count: 301 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
EP1C20F400 is suitable for 6 applications: Industrial Control and Motor Drive Front-End, Video Processing and Image-Capture Front-End, Telecom Line-Card Glue Logic and Protocol Bridging, Software-Defined Radio Baseband and DSP Prototyping, University FPGA Teaching and Lab Platform, Legacy Industrial Migration and Long-Life-Cycle Designs.
Industrial Control and Motor Drive Front-End
The EP1C20F400 fits industrial control front-ends because its 20 embedded 18×18 multipliers and 301 M4K RAM blocks deliver the DSP and buffering headroom required for closed-loop field-oriented control. Its 8 PLLs simplify generation of the multiple switching frequencies used by IGBT/MOSFET gate drivers, and the 1.5 V core with separate VCCIO banks allows direct interface to 3.3 V Hall sensors and 5 V optocoupler feedback. The 0.13 µm process tolerates the -40 °C to +100 °C industrial junction range, and the 301 user I/Os accommodate the many PWM outputs and encoder inputs of multi-axis drives.
Recommended
Video Processing and Image-Capture Front-End
The EP1C20F400's 294,912 bits of embedded RAM buffer full D1 video frames line-by-line, while the 20 dedicated 18×18 multipliers accelerate 2D filter, scaling, and chroma-conversion kernels in real time. Its support for LVDS up to 840 Mbps enables direct interfacing to high-speed image sensors and flat-panel display controllers, and the 301 user I/Os drive wide parallel video buses without external bus switches. Quartus II's DSP Builder and the Cyclone I LVDS IP cores shorten time-to-market for streaming-video designs in security, machine-vision, and medical imaging.
Recommended
Telecom Line-Card Glue Logic and Protocol Bridging
The EP1C20F400 acts as a flexible protocol bridge on telecom line cards by aggregating low-speed serial links (T1/E1, HDLC, I²C, SPI) into a single backplane interface, using the 8 PLLs to synthesize all the required reference clocks. Its 20,060 logic elements implement deep state machines for protocol translation, while the 301 user I/Os fan out to many downstream PHYs without external bus expanders. The Cyclone I LVDS capability (up to 840 Mbps) supports inter-board backplane links at typical telecom backplane rates, and the JTAG interface eases board-level boundary-scan test in production.
Recommended
Software-Defined Radio Baseband and DSP Prototyping
In SDR baseband prototypes the EP1C20F400's 20 hardware 18×18 multipliers implement digital down/up-converters, FIR/IIR filters, and CORDIC rotator blocks at baseband sample rates of tens of MSPS. The 294,912 bits of RAM hold sample buffers and FFT working memory, while the 8 PLLs generate the multiple clock domains required by ADC interfaces and DSP pipelines. The LVDS I/O (up to 840 Mbps) connects directly to modern high-speed ADCs and DACs, and the Quartus II DSP IP library accelerates development of fully custom baseband chains for educational and pre-production SDR platforms.
Recommended
University FPGA Teaching and Lab Platform
The EP1C20F400 has been widely adopted in university digital-design labs because its 20,060 logic elements and 294,912 bits of RAM give students enough headroom to implement processor cores, graphics pipelines, and custom peripherals on a single chip. The 400-ball FineLine BGA exposes enough I/O for VGA, PS/2, audio CODEC, and SDRAM interfaces found on classic Altera DE2-class boards, and the 8 PLLs teach clock-domain design. Quartus II's free Web Edition supports the EP1C20 family, lowering the entry barrier for student labs and open-hardware projects.
Recommended
Legacy Industrial Migration and Long-Life-Cycle Designs
The EP1C20F400 remains in active production for industrial customers with installed bases that need exact bitstream-compatible replacements for legacy systems. Its -40 °C to +100 °C industrial-grade option (EP1C20F400I7N) is qualified for long-life designs where requalification cost outweighs the price premium of migrating to Cyclone IV. The 400-ball FineLine BGA footprint is also widely supported by long-term PCB fabrication partners, making the EP1C20F400 a practical choice when re-spinning a board is more expensive than carrying a legacy component in the BOM.
Recommended
Recommended Products Summary
Engineering reference data for EP1C20F400 — comparison, design guidance, and compliance information.
Selection Guide
Comparison with Alternatives
| Parameter | This Product | EP1C20F400C8N | EP1C20F400C7N | EP1C20F400C6N | EP1C20F400I7N | EP1C12F400C8N |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Package | 400-ball FineLine BGA | 400-ball FineLine BGA - same | 400-ball FineLine BGA - same | 400-ball FineLine BGA - same | 400-ball FineLine BGA - same | 400-ball FineLine BGA - same |
| Brand | Altera (Intel) | Altera (Intel) - same | Altera (Intel) - same | Altera (Intel) - same | Altera (Intel) - same | Altera (Intel) - same |
| Logic Elements | 20,060 | 20,060 | 20,060 | 20,060 | 20,060 | 12,060 (-40%) |
| Embedded RAM Bits | 294,912 bits | 294,912 bits | 294,912 bits | 294,912 bits | 294,912 bits | 239,616 bits (-19%) |
| M4K RAM Blocks | 301 | 301 | 301 | 301 | 301 | 244 (-19%) |
| Embedded 18×18 Multipliers | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 12 (-40%) |
| PLLs | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 |
| Speed Grade | base (speed grade unspecified) | C8 (8 ns) | C7 (7 ns) | C6 (6 ns, fastest) | I7 (industrial temp, 7 ns) | C8 (8 ns) |
| Operating Temperature | Commercial (0 °C to +85 °C) typical | Commercial | Commercial | Commercial | Industrial (-40 °C to +100 °C) | Commercial |
| User I/O (max) | 301 | 301 | 301 | 301 | 301 | 301 (same package, density reduced) |
Key Differentiators
- Highest logic-element density in the 400-ball FineLine BGA of the Cyclone I family (vs EP1C12F400C8N)
- Industrial-temperature grade option in the same 400-FBGA footprint (vs EP1C20F400C8N (commercial))
- Fastest commercial speed grade available (vs EP1C20F400C8N (C8 speed grade))
Design Notes
The EP1C20F400 uses a 1.5 V core (VCCINT) plus per-bank VCCIO rails that may be set to 1.5 V, 1.8 V, 2.5 V, or 3.3 V depending on the I/O standard. Place one 0.1 µF decoupling capacitor directly adjacent to every VCCINT and VCCIO pin, plus bulk 100 µF tantalum or ceramic capacitors on each supply rail. Estimated: at 100% logic utilization with 50% toggle rate, expect 500–800 mA on VCCINT (1.5 V) — verify with the Quartus II PowerPlay early-power estimator before locking the BOM. The PLL analog supply (VCCA_PLL) must be filtered with a ferrite bead and decoupled with 0.1 µF and 10 µF capacitors per PLL.
The 400-ball FineLine BGA uses 1.00 mm ball pitch, so PCB fabrication must support microvia or 4–6 mil laser-drilled vias. Fan-out every VCCINT/VCCIO/GND ball to its own via, never share vias between balls. Use a 4–6 layer stack-up with dedicated GND and VCCINT planes directly under the BGA, and route LVDS pairs with 100 Ω differential impedance and length matching within ±150 mil. The JTAG TDI/TDO/TMS/TCK chain should be guarded by ground traces and not branch into stub loads; place a 10 kΩ pull-up on TCK and TMS per the Cyclone family datasheet.
Do not assume the EP1C20F400 bitstream is forward-compatible with Cyclone II/III/IV — the configuration bit format, JTAG instructions, and timing models differ. If migrating, plan for a full Quartus recompile and timing-closure re-run. Also, never leave CONFIG_DONE floating; pull it high with a 4.7 kΩ resistor so the FPGA clearly indicates configuration status. Finally, respect the MSEL[2:0] pin strapping: incorrect MSEL values put the device in an unsupported configuration mode and the EPCS device will not boot.
Place the EPCS serial configuration device within 50 mm of the FPGA DCLK/DATA/nCS pins to keep signal integrity margins healthy; route DCLK as a 50 Ω controlled-impedance trace and DATA with a 4.7 kΩ pull-up. Use the Altera USB-Blaster or a compatible JTAG programmer and ensure JTAG connector pinout matches the 10-pin Altera standard. For high-utilization designs, enable the Quartus II Design Assistant and run the Chip Planner early to catch routing congestion in the 400-ball BGA fan-out before committing to layout.
Compliance Information
Cyclone I family predates the broad RoHS mandate adoption; the EP1C20F400 RoHS/lead-free status was not stated in the verified web data and is marked [DATA_NEEDED]. The part is not AEC-Q100 qualified. Confirm compliance with the franchised distributor or Intel FPGA support before committing to RoHS-critical designs.
