EP1C6Q240I7N - Cyclone FPGA 5980 Cells 185 I/O QFP240 | Altera
MPN: EP1C6Q240I7N ⚠ Last Time Buy| Qty | Unit Price | Extended |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | $38.5 | $38.50 |
| 10 | $34.2 | $342.00 |
| 100 | $28.95 | $2,895.00 |
| 500 | $24.5 | $12,250.00 |
| 1,000 | $21.75 | $21,750.00 |
Drop-in alternatives for EP1C6Q240I7N — same package, pin-to-pin compatible. Different-package parts requiring PCB rework are excluded.
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View Datasheet →EP1C12Q240I7N
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View Datasheet →EP1C6Q240I7N Maximum Ratings & Electrical Characteristics
| Series | Cyclone I |
| Manufacturer | Altera (Intel) |
| Family | Cyclone FPGA |
| Logic Elements (LEs) | 5,980 |
| Total RAM Bits | 92,160 |
| Number of LABs/CLBs | 598 |
| User I/O Count | 185 |
| Number of PLLs | 2 |
| Operating Temperature Grade | Industrial (-40C to +85C) |
| Process Technology | 130 nm SRAM |
| Core Voltage | 1.5 V |
| Package Type | 240-BFQFP (Plastic QFP) |
| Mounting Type | Surface Mount |
| Configuration Method | SRAM - volatile (external config device required) |
| I/O Standards Supported | LVTTL, LVCMOS, PCI, SSTL-II, LVDS |
EP1C6Q240I7N 240-bfqfp (plastic qfp) Pin Configuration Guide
Complete pinout information for EP1C6Q240I7N (240-bfqfp (plastic qfp) 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 EP1C6Q240I7N.
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
EP1C6Q240I7N is suitable for 6 applications: Industrial Control and Factory Automation, Telecommunications Line Cards and Bridges, Automotive Body Electronics, Consumer Audio and Video Processing, Embedded DSP and Motor Control, Test and Measurement Instrumentation.
Industrial Control and Factory Automation
The EP1C6Q240I7N is well-suited to industrial control and factory-automation applications requiring custom glue logic, real-time I/O expansion, or protocol bridging. Its 5,980 logic elements comfortably host medium-complexity state machines, soft processors (such as the Altera Nios II/e or Nios II/s), and standard industrial protocols such as Modbus RTU, CAN, or RS-485 framing. The industrial temperature grade (-40C to +85C) and 185 user I/Os are sufficient for connecting to multiple sensor/actuator buses, HMI displays, and motor-driver feedback lines in a typical PLC or distributed I/O node. Two integrated PLLs allow deterministic clock synthesis for time-critical encoder or fieldbus interfaces without external clock-generation ICs.
Recommended
Telecommunications Line Cards and Bridges
Telecom line cards and protocol-bridge designs leverage the EP1C6Q240I7N for TDM/serial aggregation, low-density packet processing, and clock-domain crossing between line-side and backplane interfaces. The 92,160 embedded RAM bits accommodate small FIFOs and lookup tables for traffic shaping or protocol conversion, while the dual PLLs can recover clocks from multiple serial bitstreams (E1/T1, SPI, I2S). LVDS support enables direct connection to high-speed serializers on legacy backplanes without external transceivers. The QFP-240 package simplifies rework and prototype bring-up compared to BGA alternatives, which is valuable in low-volume telecom equipment and field upgrades.
Recommended
Automotive Body Electronics
Automotive body-electronics modules use the EP1C6Q240I7N for consolidating multiple low-speed body-control functions such as lighting controllers, door-module logic, and HVAC interfaces into a single programmable device. The 185 user I/Os and I/O-bank flexibility allow direct interfacing with 12V automotive buses through external level shifters and high-side drivers. The industrial temperature grade covers most passenger-compartment environments, though under-hood applications typically require AEC-Q100-qualified parts. Built-in multipliers are useful for sensor-signal conditioning of wheel-speed, throttle-position, or temperature-sensor inputs.
Recommended
Consumer Audio and Video Processing
Consumer audio/video equipment such as A/V receivers, set-top boxes, and digital signage controllers use the EP1C6Q240I7N to implement HDMI/DVI bridge logic, audio-sample-rate conversion, video scaling pipelines, and custom OSD overlays. The embedded M4K memory blocks serve as line buffers for video upscaling/downscaling, while the dedicated multiplier blocks accelerate FIR filters and audio DSP operations. The low static-power design of Cyclone I fits consumer-electronics thermal constraints, and the QFP-240 package accommodates hand-rework during prototype development. JTAG-based configuration supports field firmware updates.
Recommended
Embedded DSP and Motor Control
Motor-control and embedded DSP applications such as BLDC driver controllers, servo amplifiers, and power-converter digital controllers use the EP1C6Q240I7N to implement PWM generation, PID loops, field-oriented control (FOC), and ADC sampling synchronization. The 92 Kbits of embedded RAM accommodate lookup tables for sine/cosine and SVPWM, while the hardware multiplier blocks accelerate Clarke and Park transforms. Two PLLs provide precise switching-frequency synthesis and ADC-clock alignment for current-sense sampling. The 185 user I/Os connect to multiple gate-driver channels, encoder inputs, and analog-front-end signals.
Recommended
Test and Measurement Instrumentation
Test and measurement instruments such as bench-top oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, data-acquisition systems, and protocol analyzers use the EP1C6Q240I7N for timing control, trigger sequencing, custom display rendering, and protocol-decoding pipelines. The dual PLLs can be locked to multiple reference clocks for synchronized sampling of asynchronous signals, and the LVDS I/O capability interfaces directly with high-speed ADCs. The 5,980 logic elements support a soft processor (Nios II) for instrument control and human-interface logic, while the 92 Kbits of RAM buffer pre-trigger acquisition data. The QFP-240 package is well-suited to low-volume, hand-reworkable instrumentation designs.
Recommended
Recommended Products Summary
Engineering reference data for EP1C6Q240I7N — comparison, design guidance, and compliance information.
Selection Guide
Comparison with Alternatives
| Parameter | This Product | EP1C6Q240I7 | EP1C6Q240C8N | EP1C6Q240C7N | EP1C6Q240C6N | EP1C12Q240I7N | EP1C6Q2408N |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brand | Altera (Intel) | Altera (Intel) | Altera (Intel) | Altera (Intel) | Altera (Intel) | Altera (Intel) | Altera (Intel) |
| Package | 240-BFQFP | 240-BFQFP - same | 240-BFQFP - same | 240-BFQFP - same | 240-BFQFP - same | 240-BFQFP - same | 240-BFQFP - same |
| Logic Elements | 5,980 | 5,980 | 5,980 | 5,980 | 5,980 | 12,060 | 5,980 |
| User I/Os | 185 | 185 | 185 | 185 | 185 | 185 | 185 |
| Operating Temperature | Industrial (-40C to +85C) | Industrial (-40C to +85C) | Commercial (0C to +85C) | Commercial (0C to +85C) | Commercial (0C to +85C) | Industrial (-40C to +85C) | Industrial (-40C to +85C) |
| Speed Grade | 7 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 6 (faster) | 7 | 8 |
| RoHS Compliance | Yes (N suffix) | No (non-RoHS) | Yes (N suffix) | Yes (N suffix) | Yes (N suffix) | Yes (N suffix) | Yes (N suffix) |
| Family | Cyclone I | Cyclone I | Cyclone I | Cyclone I | Cyclone I | Cyclone II | Cyclone I |
| Core Voltage | 1.5 V | 1.5 V | 1.5 V | 1.5 V | 1.5 V | 1.2 V | 1.5 V |
Key Differentiators
- Industrial temperature grade in the QFP-240 package (vs EP1C6Q240C8N)
- Faster speed grade 7 within the same Cyclone I family (vs EP1C6Q2408N)
- RoHS-compliant N-suffix variant (vs EP1C6Q240I7)
Design Notes
The EP1C6Q240I7N core operates at 1.5V and requires a low-noise regulator such as a dedicated LDO (e.g., LT1963 or TPS7A45) for the VCORE rail. I/O bank supplies (VCCIO) can be set independently per bank in the 1.5V-3.3V range; use separate decoupling capacitors (0.1 uF ceramic plus 10 uF bulk) on each VCCIO pin and the VCORE pin. Estimated quiescent current is typically 100-300 mA depending on logic utilization and switching activity; for accurate budgeting use the PowerPlay Early Power Estimator in Quartus II before final layout.
Place configuration device (EPCS or EPCQ serial flash) within 2 inches of the FPGA DATA0/DCLK/nCONFIG/nCS pins and route the configuration traces with matched lengths to minimize skew. Keep JTAG TCK, TMS, TDI, TDO away from clock and high-speed I/O traces to avoid coupling. Use a continuous ground plane on layer 2 directly under the QFP-240 to provide a low-impedance return path; route all single-ended signals over this plane. Leave at least 4 vias in the central exposed pad area if migrating to BGA-256 variants in the same family.
Do not assume Cyclone I is supported in the latest Quartus Prime releases - it requires Quartus II 13.0sp1 or 13.1 service packs as the final supporting version. When migrating from Cyclone I to Cyclone II (e.g., EP1C6Q240I7N to EP1C12Q240I7N) the core voltage drops from 1.5V to 1.2V, requiring a regulator change; verify power-rail tolerance before reusing the PCB. Also confirm configuration-device compatibility: Cyclone I uses EPCS1/EPCS4 while Cyclone II requires EPCS16 or larger depending on bitstream size.
Compliance Information
RoHS compliance inferred from N suffix in MPN per Altera/Intel ordering information. Other compliance fields not present in verified web data and should be verified with the supplier before qualification-sensitive applications.
