EP1C20F400C8N - Cyclone FPGA, 20K LE, 301 I/O | Intel
MPN: EP1C20F400C8N ✗ End of Life| Qty | Unit Price | Extended |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | $81.73 | $81.73 |
| 10 | $77.64 | $776.40 |
| 100 | $73.55 | $7,355.00 |
| 500 | $67.88 | $33,940.00 |
| 1,000 | $62.5 | $62,500.00 |
Drop-in alternatives for EP1C20F400C8N — same package, pin-to-pin compatible. Different-package parts requiring PCB rework are excluded.
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View Datasheet →EP1C20F400C8N Maximum Ratings & Electrical Characteristics
| Product Type | FPGA - Field Programmable Gate Array |
| Family | Cyclone |
| Series | Cyclone I |
| Number of Logic Elements | 20060 |
| Total RAM Bits | 294912 |
| Number of User I/O | 301 |
| Package / Case | FBGA-400 (400-BGA) |
| Number of Pins | 400 |
| Mounting Type | Surface Mount |
| Temperature Grade | Commercial (C) |
| Operating Temperature Range | 0 °C to +85 °C (grade C) |
| Speed Grade | -8 (C8) |
| RoHS / Lead-Free Finish | Lead-free (N suffix) - RoHS status not independently confirmed in fetched data |
EP1C20F400C8N fbga-400 (400-bga) Pin Configuration Guide
Complete pinout information for EP1C20F400C8N (fbga-400 (400-bga) package) with 400 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 EP1C20F400C8N.
Refer to the datasheet for full pin configuration.
Estimated pin count: 400 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
EP1C20F400C8N is suitable for 6 applications: ASIC and SoC Prototyping, Industrial Motor Control, Video and Image Capture Front End, Communication Protocol Bridge, Test and Measurement Custom Logic, Distributed PLC and I/O Controller.
ASIC and SoC Prototyping
The EP1C20F400C8N provides enough logic capacity to prototype a small microcontroller, state-machine-heavy peripheral, or packet-processing block before ASIC conversion. Its 20,060 logic elements implement combinational and sequential logic, and its 294,912 RAM bits supply small FIFOs, register files, and test buffers. The 301 user I/O lines connect to external SRAM, ADCs, DACs, host processor buses, and test headers. In a prototyping setup, place the FPGA on a reusable carrier board with a serial configuration flash such as EPCS4SI8N or EPCS16SI8N, because the SRAM-based device must reload its configuration at every power-up. Although speed grade 8 is not the fastest option, it is sufficient for many prototype clock rates while keeping device cost lower. Using the same FBGA-400 footprint also makes it easy to exchange speed-grade variants during timing exploration.
Recommended
Industrial Motor Control
FPGAs are suitable for industrial motor-control boards because logic functions such as PWM generation, quadrature encoder counting, current-loop state machines, and safety interlocks can run in parallel rather than in software. The EP1C20F400C8N's 20,060 logic elements can implement several axis channels simultaneously, while the 301 user I/O pins allow connection to encoder inputs, phase-current ADC interfaces, and power-stage gate-driver signals. The 294,912 RAM bits can store trajectory profiles and commutation lookup tables. In 0 °C to +85 °C commercial cabinets this C8N variant is usable; for -40 °C installations, choose an industrial I-grade version. Designers should isolate the FPGA side from high-voltage power circuitry with optocouplers or gate-driver ICs and avoid routing noisy high-voltage signals back under the BGA keepout area.
Recommended
Video and Image Capture Front End
The EP1C20F400C8N can act as a video and image capture front end by connecting a parallel CMOS or CCD sensor to downstream processing logic. The 301 user I/O pins provide enough lanes for parallel pixel data, synchronization signals, and camera-control interfaces. The 20,060 logic elements implement line start and frame start detection, pixel reformatting, exposure counters, and small interpolation or correction blocks. The 294,912 RAM bits can implement line buffers or small FIFOs between the image sensor clock domain and the processing clock domain. For typical VGA-class pixel rates, speed grade 8 is generally workable; higher-resolution or high-throughput pipelines should be verified in the vendor's timing tool. This FPGA is not the best fit for modern high-speed MIPI camera interfaces unless an external PHY and deserializer are placed ahead of it.
Recommended
Communication Protocol Bridge
When a system must translate between parallel busses, UARTs, SPI, I2C, or simple packet interfaces, an FPGA gives deterministic and simultaneous bridging. The EP1C20F400C8N's 301 user I/O pins support many serial ports and parallel buses on one device, reducing the need for external protocol-converter chips. The 20,060 logic elements implement baud-rate generators, packet state machines, CRC checks, and bus arbitration logic. The 294,912 RAM bits are ideal for dual-clock FIFOs between asynchronous communication domains, preventing data loss during rate mismatch. A typical use is a data concentrator that gathers several low-speed asynchronous streams and forwards them over a single higher-speed parallel or LVDS interface. Because the device is commercial-temperature rated, indoor communication equipment is the natural environment; extended temperature industrial networking should use an I-grade variant.
Recommended
Test and Measurement Custom Logic
In custom test equipment, an FPGA can perform parallel monitoring, triggering, and acquisition without loading a host processor. The EP1C20F400C8N's 301 user I/O lines connect directly to logic probes, digital buses, comparator outputs, or custom interface headers. On-chip, the 20,060 logic elements can implement trigger patterns, event counters, sequencers, and data-packing logic. The 294,912 RAM bits serve as acquisition FIFO or temporary trace memory, allowing bursts of captured data to be staged before transfer to a controller. This device is practical for logic analyzers, sensor emulators, board test fixtures, and low-cost instrument front ends. Designers should provide clear clock distribution and termination for external high-speed signals, and they should account for the latency and fan-out of internal routing when designing trigger paths.
Recommended
Distributed PLC and I/O Controller
PLCs and remote I/O controllers often need many parallel input/output channels to read sensors, drive relays, and communicate with a field bus. The EP1C20F400C8N supports this because its 301 user I/O pins can provide a high channel count with custom readback logic. The 20,060 logic elements implement debounce filters, latching logic, watchdog timers, heartbeat monitors, and protocol state machines for interfaces such as Modbus-like serial links. The 294,912 RAM bits store small mapping tables and diagnostic logs. Because this part is commercial-temperature range and speed grade 8, it suits indoor control panels rather than extreme outdoor installations. For plant-floor reliability, add isolation between the FPGA pins and field wiring, include ESD protection on connector-facing lines, and select an industrial-grade Cyclone part when ambient temperature exceeds the commercial limit.
Recommended
Recommended Products Summary
Engineering reference data for EP1C20F400C8N — comparison, design guidance, and compliance information.
Selection Guide
Comparison with Alternatives
| Parameter | This Product | EP1C20F400C7N | EP1C20F400C6N | EP1C20F400I7N | EP1C20F400C8 | EP1C20F400C6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Package | FBGA-400 | FBGA-400 | FBGA-400 | FBGA-400 | FBGA-400 | FBGA-400 |
| Brand | Intel (Altera) | Intel (Altera) | Intel (Altera) | Intel (Altera) | Intel (Altera) | Intel (Altera) |
| Logic Elements | 20060 | 20060 | 20060 | 20060 | 20060 | 20060 |
| Total RAM Bits | 294912 | 294912 | 294912 | 294912 | 294912 | 294912 |
| User I/O Count | 301 | 301 | 301 | 301 | 301 | 301 |
| Speed Grade | -8 (C8N) | -7 | -6 | -7 | -8 | -6 |
| Temperature Grade | Commercial (C) | Commercial (C) | Commercial (C) | Industrial (I) | Commercial (C) | Commercial (C) |
| Lead-Free Finish (N suffix) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No |
Key Differentiators
- Lead-free N finish for modern assembly lines (vs EP1C20F400C8)
- Commercial temperature grade with known FBGA-400 availability (vs EP1C20F400I7N)
- Entry-level speed grade for cost and timing margin trade-off (vs EP1C20F400C6N)
Design Notes
Estimated: power dissipation for the EP1C20F400C8N depends heavily on logic utilization, clock frequency, I/O loading, and the exact core and I/O voltages, which were not provided in the verified web data. Use Intel/Altera's power estimator with the actual RTL and pin assignments to size a DC-DC converter. Place a low-ESR 0.1 uF ceramic capacitor near each VC C/GND ball pair on the BGA, and bulk capacitors on the board power plane. Avoid routing all high-current vias through one narrow plane area; distribute them under the FBGA-400 thermal and power land area.
The 400-ball FBGA requires multilayer PCB fanout: use a pin/ball map from the Intel/Altera package file rather than assuming an array orientation. Follow the manufacturer's recommended solder-mask-defined pad size and ball pitch in the PCB footprint. Unused or no-connect balls must remain unconnected or be handled according to the datasheet. Place high-speed I/O series resistors close to the FPGA output pins. Use an unbroken ground plane beneath the BGA and provide at least one dedicated via per GND ball in the fanout design.
Cyclone FPGAs are SRAM-based, so a design that omits the configuration flash or JTAG programming header will appear blank at every power-up. Include EPCS4SI8N or EPCS16SI8N and verify the MSEL configuration pins are set for the expected configuration scheme. Also verify whether the final assembly process is lead-free or leaded: C8N has an N lead-free finish, while C8 is a non-N/SnPb option. Mixing the wrong solder finish on a board can cause reliability problems, so select the OPN after confirming the assembly profile.
Compliance Information
The N suffix in EP1C20F400C8N is the Intel/Altera lead-free finish indicator. RoHS, REACH, halogen-free, and conflict-minerals status were not explicitly contained in the fetched web data and therefore remain unknown.
