EP1M120B484C8A - 120 LE Mercury FPGA 484-BGA | Altera
MPN: EP1M120B484C8A ✗ End of Life| Qty | Unit Price | Extended |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | $95 | $95.00 |
| 10 | $88 | $880.00 |
| 100 | $78 | $7,800.00 |
| 500 | $70 | $35,000.00 |
| 1,000 | $62 | $62,000.00 |
Drop-in alternatives for EP1M120B484C8A — same package, pin-to-pin compatible. Different-package parts requiring PCB rework are excluded.
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View Datasheet →EP1M120B484C8A Maximum Ratings & Electrical Characteristics
| Family | Mercury (EP1M) |
| Logic Elements (approx.) | 120 |
| Package | 484-ball FineLine BGA |
| Pin Count | 484 |
| Speed Grade | 8 |
| Temperature Grade | Commercial (C) |
| Peak Reflow Temperature | 220 C (per JEDEC J-STD-020) |
| Mounting Type | Surface Mount (BGA) |
EP1M120B484C8A 484-ball fineline bga Pin Configuration Guide
Complete pinout information for EP1M120B484C8A (484-ball fineline bga package) with 484 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 EP1M120B484C8A.
Refer to the datasheet for full pin configuration.
Estimated pin count: 484 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
EP1M120B484C8A is suitable for 6 applications: Legacy Industrial Control Logic, Telecom Interface Bridge Logic, ASIC Prototyping and Design Validation, Custom Datapath Acceleration, Test and Measurement Instrumentation, Aerospace and Defense Legacy Avionics.
Legacy Industrial Control Logic
The EP1M120B484C8A fits legacy industrial control boards because its Mercury architecture was originally designed for glue logic and datapath processing in factory automation equipment. With approximately 120 logic elements in a 484-ball BGA, the device provides enough programmable logic for state machines, encoder/decoder functions, and motor-control peripheral bridging used in PLC backplanes and field-bus interfaces. The commercial temperature grade and 220C peak reflow rating allow standard SMT assembly on existing control PCBs. Engineers maintaining legacy Allen-Bradley, Siemens, or proprietary controllers commonly deploy this Mercury part for board repairs where redesign is impractical. The wide 484-ball BGA also exposes many user I/O channels, useful for parallel bus interfaces to industrial sensors. Because the device is listed as obsolete, sourcing is broker-driven, but the same Mercury silicon is still supported by legacy Quartus II software versions.
Recommended
Telecom Interface Bridge Logic
Telecom interface cards historically used Mercury FPGAs for bridging between parallel backplanes and high-speed serial links, and the EP1M120B484C8A continues to appear in legacy T1/E1, SONET, and SDH board designs. Its high-pin-count 484-ball BGA accommodates the many parallel data buses and clock distribution traces common in telecom line cards. The Mercury device family's high-speed I/O capability suits serializer/deserializer glue functions and framing logic. While modern designs use Cyclone IV/V or Stratix families, the EP1M120B484C8A remains a viable repair or maintenance part for field-deployed telecom equipment that cannot be redesigned without service interruption. The 220C peak reflow rating matches lead-free assembly lines used in telecom manufacturing. Engineers should verify timing closure against the legacy Mercury timing model in Quartus II.
Recommended
ASIC Prototyping and Design Validation
The EP1M120B484C8A was used by ASIC designers to prototype glue logic and verify block-level interfaces before committing to mask sets. With approximately 120 logic elements in the Mercury family, the device fits small-to-medium control-plane prototypes where the goal is RTL validation rather than throughput. The 484-ball BGA exposes enough I/O to mimic the pin count of typical ASIC packages, helping ASIC teams verify signal-integrity and timing-margin behavior on real PCBs. Modern ASIC prototyping typically uses larger FPGAs, but legacy teams with stable Quartus II flows continue to deploy Mercury devices for low-cost prototypes. The device also supports iterative RTL changes during system bring-up, reducing the cost of respins in early development. Engineers should treat the obsolete lifecycle status as a planning signal to migrate to the Cyclone family for ongoing programs.
Recommended
Custom Datapath Acceleration
The EP1M120B484C8A targets custom datapath functions such as CRC engines, packet classifiers, and bit-manipulation pipelines in legacy networking and storage equipment. Although the device has only about 120 logic elements, the Mercury architecture's high-speed I/O elements and interconnect fabric support multi-megahertz datapath rates suitable for low-to-mid throughput channels. The 484-ball BGA package allows dense PCB routing for parallel datapath buses and clock trees. Many legacy RAID controllers, fabric switches, and protocol bridges used Mercury FPGAs as coprocessors that offloaded bit-level work from the main CPU. Engineers maintaining such systems continue to specify the EP1M120B484C8A in BOMs, sourcing from broker inventory. For new designs requiring higher throughput, consider Cyclone III or Cyclone IV with embedded multipliers and more logic.
Recommended
Test and Measurement Instrumentation
Legacy test and measurement instruments used Mercury FPGAs for stimulus generation, response capture, and protocol decoding. The EP1M120B484C8A fits these applications because its 484-ball BGA provides many user I/O for parallel interface to ADC/DAC front ends and the commercial temperature grade is suitable for laboratory environments. With approximately 120 logic elements, the device can implement waveform sequencers, pattern generators, and protocol state machines used in oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, and BERT testers. The 220C peak reflow rating supports lead-free SMT assembly on instrument PCBs. While newer instrumentation uses larger FPGAs with high-speed transceivers, legacy instruments in the field still depend on Mercury silicon for spares and repairs. Engineers should verify timing closure against legacy Quartus II software.
Recommended
Aerospace and Defense Legacy Avionics
Some long-lifecycle aerospace and defense programs designed with Mercury FPGAs continue to specify the EP1M120B484C8A for avionics subsystems where redesign risk outweighs the cost of broker-sourced legacy parts. The 484-ball BGA provides ample I/O for ARINC 429, MIL-STD-1553, and discrete-signal interfaces used in flight-control and navigation computers. With approximately 120 logic elements, the device supports interface glue and discrete logic replacement for legacy avionics LRUs. The commercial temperature grade is acceptable for cabin and cockpit equipment; engineers should verify against program-specific derating for unpressurized sections. Note that this part is not qualified to AEC-Q100 or military QML; programs needing new certifications should use radiation-hardened or QML-listed parts. The device's continued availability through authorized brokers keeps legacy fleets flying.
Recommended
Recommended Products Summary
Engineering reference data for EP1M120B484C8A — comparison, design guidance, and compliance information.
Selection Guide
Comparison with Alternatives
| Parameter | This Product | EP1M120B484C7A | EP1M120B484C7 | EP1M120B484C6 | EP1M120B484C5 | EP1M120F484C8A |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brand | Altera | Altera | Altera | Altera | Altera | Altera |
| Package | BGA-484 | BGA-484 - same | BGA-484 - same | BGA-484 - same | BGA-484 - same | BGA-484 (FineLine F-variant) |
| Logic Family | Mercury (EP1M) | Mercury (EP1M) | Mercury (EP1M) | Mercury (EP1M) | Mercury (EP1M) | Mercury (EP1M) |
| Logic Elements (approx.) | 120 | 120 | 120 | 120 | 120 | 120 |
| Speed Grade | 8 | 7 (-12.5% timing margin) | 7 (-12.5% timing margin) | 6 (-25% timing margin) | 5 (-37.5% timing margin) | 8 (same) |
| Temperature Grade | Commercial | Commercial | Commercial | Commercial | Commercial | Commercial |
| Pin Count | 484 | 484 | 484 | 484 | 484 | 484 |
| Lifecycle Status | Obsolete | Obsolete | Obsolete | Obsolete | Obsolete | Obsolete |
| Peak Reflow | 220 C | 220 C | 220 C | 220 C | 220 C | 220 C |
Key Differentiators
- Same-package same-family speed grade variants for design margin tuning (vs EP1M120B484C6)
- Higher speed grade (8) than typical Mercury stock variants (vs EP1M120B484C5)
- BGA-484 standard pinout vs FineLine F-variant (vs EP1M120F484C8A)
Design Notes
The EP1M120B484C8A is listed as obsolete across major distributors, so do not design it into new products without a long-term sourcing plan. The Mercury device family is supported only by legacy Quartus II software versions, so engineers should verify that their current Quartus install still recognizes the EP1M device before starting a design. Mistakenly targeting an unsupported device family will cause synthesis failures and wasted engineering effort.
The 484-ball FineLine BGA requires a controlled-impedance PCB stack-up with via-in-pad or microvia technology for reliable assembly. Use NSMD (non-solder mask defined) pads with a solder mask opening about 0.05 mm larger than the pad diameter to reduce solder joint stress. Plan for X-ray inspection of BGA solder quality after reflow, since visual inspection is impossible underneath the package.
Estimated: at typical Mercury device core power of 0.5-1 W and 484-ball BGA thermal resistance theta_JA around 15-20 C/W with standard JEDEC PCB, junction temperature rise is roughly 10-20 C above ambient. The commercial temperature grade (typically 0 C to +85 C) is sufficient for most indoor industrial and commercial designs, but derate for enclosed or high-altitude enclosures.
Decoupling: place 0.1 uF and 10 uF ceramic capacitors as close as possible to every VCCINT and VCCIO pin of the EP1M120B484C8A. Use a power plane for VCCINT and a separate plane for VCCIO. Keep high-speed I/O traces matched in length within a tolerance suitable for the selected I/O standard (typically +/- 50 mil for LVTTL, +/- 25 mil for LVDS).
Do not confuse the EP1M120B484C8A (Mercury, ~120 LE) with the EP1K100FC484-2 (Cyclone, ~1000 LE) - they share the 484-ball BGA footprint but are not drop-in compatible because the configuration bitstream, I/O standard list, and Quartus device support files differ. Migrating from Mercury to Cyclone requires re-synthesis and re-validation.
Compliance Information
Compliance status not provided in the verified distributor catalog data. Engineer should request the RoHS/REACH certificate from the supplier when sourcing from broker inventory because Mercury-family devices were produced across both leaded and lead-free assembly eras. AEC-Q100 not applicable - this is a programmable logic IC, not an automotive-grade qualified part. Aerospace/defense use requires program-specific qualification rather than commercial AEC-Q100.
