EP1M120F484C5 - Mercury FPGA 480 LABs 303 I/O FBGA | Intel
MPN: EP1M120F484C5 ✗ End of Life| Qty | Unit Price | Extended |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | $185 | $185.00 |
| 10 | $165 | $1,650.00 |
| 100 | $145 | $14,500.00 |
| 500 | $125 | $62,500.00 |
| 1,000 | $110 | $110,000.00 |
Drop-in alternatives for EP1M120F484C5 — 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:
EP1M120F484C6
✅ Drop-In✓ In Stock
$198 / Unit
View Datasheet →EP1M120F48416
✅ Drop-In✓ In Stock
$97.4 / Unit
View Datasheet →EP1M120F484-I6
✅ Drop-In✓ In Stock
$98.5 / Unit
View Datasheet →EP1M120F484-6
✅ Drop-In✓ In Stock
$53.1 / Unit
View Datasheet →EP1M120F484
✅ Drop-In✓ In Stock
$92 / Unit
View Datasheet →EP1M120B484C5
✅ Drop-In✓ In Stock
$65 / Unit
View Datasheet →EP1M120F484C5 Maximum Ratings & Electrical Characteristics
| Family | Mercury Device Family |
| Device Type | FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) |
| Logic Array Blocks (LABs) | 480 |
| User I/O Count | 303 |
| Core Supply Voltage | 1.8 V |
| Transceiver Data Rate | 1.25 Gbps (CDR-capable) |
| Package | 484-ball FineLine BGA (FBGA-484) |
| Grade Suffix | C (Commercial, 0 C to +85 C) |
| Speed Grade | -5 |
| Architecture | LUT-based, optimized for high performance |
| Mounting Type | Surface Mount |
| Operating Temperature | 0 C to +85 C (Commercial) |
EP1M120F484C5 484-ball fineline bga (fbga-484) Pin Configuration Guide
Complete pinout information for EP1M120F484C5 (484-ball fineline bga (fbga-484) package) with 48 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 EP1M120F484C5.
Refer to the datasheet for full pin configuration.
Estimated pin count: 48 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
EP1M120F484C5 is suitable for 6 applications: Telecommunications Line-Card Interfaces, Data-Acquisition Front Ends, Low-Density Protocol Bridging, Embedded Instrumentation and Test Equipment, Memory-Rich Co-Processing, Legacy System Sustainment.
Telecommunications Line-Card Interfaces
The EP1M120F484C5's 1.25 Gbps CDR-capable transceivers and 303 user I/Os make it well suited to telecom line cards that must aggregate multiple lower-speed links into a higher-speed backplane. The 480 LABs provide the fabric for PCS-layer logic, framing, and error monitoring, while the 484-ball FBGA-484 footprint exposes enough pins for parallel bus interfaces to network processors or framer ASICs. Compared with a CPLD-based glue-logic solution, the Mercury FPGA delivers multi-gigabit serial capability and in-system reconfigurability for protocol updates without board rework.
Recommended
Data-Acquisition Front Ends
The 303 I/O count of the EP1M120F484C5 enables direct parallel capture from multi-channel ADCs and sensors, while the 1.25 Gbps transceivers serialize the processed data onto a high-speed uplink for downstream recording or DSP. With 480 LABs of LUT fabric, designers can implement on-chip digital filtering, decimation, and triggering without an external processor. The commercial 0 C to +85 C temperature range covers laboratory and bench-top instrumentation, and the FBGA-484 footprint supports dense mixed-signal board layouts.
Recommended
Low-Density Protocol Bridging
The Mercury family architecture lets the EP1M120F484C5 act as a flexible bridge between legacy parallel buses (e.g., TTL or LVDS) and modern serial protocols at gigabit rates. The 480 LABs absorb glue logic and protocol-state machines, while the integrated transceivers handle the SERDES side, reducing the need for an external PHY. This combination is ideal for industrial gateways, test-equipment backplanes, and embedded telecom modules that must translate between proprietary and standard interfaces.
Recommended
Embedded Instrumentation and Test Equipment
Engineers building custom test platforms can leverage the EP1M120F484C5's parallel I/O density to drive multiple stimulus channels while reading back DUT responses at gigabit serial rates. The reprogrammability of the LUT fabric makes it straightforward to add or revise test patterns without respinning the PCB, which is a major advantage over ASIC-based test platforms. Combined with the commercial temperature range and FBGA-484 package, the part slots into bench-top and rack-mount instrument designs.
Recommended
Memory-Rich Co-Processing
With 480 LABs and 303 I/Os, the EP1M120F484C5 can be paired with external DDR or QDR SRAM to form a high-bandwidth co-processor for DSP or packet-processing workloads. The transceivers carry processed data to a host CPU or backplane, while the parallel I/Os interface to memory banks and control planes. Designers benefit from the FBGA-484 pin budget to route wide memory buses without muxing compromises.
Recommended
Legacy System Sustainment
Many defense, aerospace, and industrial OEMs rely on the EP1M120F484C5 to sustain long-lifecycle programs where re-qualification of new silicon is cost-prohibitive. The Mercury FPGA's mature Quartus II toolchain and stable bitstream behavior make it a low-risk drop-in when replacing worn-out boards in fielded systems. Inventory specialists list this part alongside its speed- and temperature-grade siblings so that sustainment programs can source identical-functionality silicon for decades.
Recommended
Recommended Products Summary
Engineering reference data for EP1M120F484C5 — comparison, design guidance, and compliance information.
Selection Guide
Comparison with Alternatives
| Parameter | This Product | EP1M120F484C6 | EP1M120F48416 | EP1M120F484-I6 | EP1M120F484-6 | EP1M120F484 | EP1M120B484C5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brand | Intel (Altera) | Intel (Altera) | Intel (Altera) | Intel (Altera) | Intel (Altera) | Intel (Altera) | Intel (Altera) |
| Package | FBGA-484 | FBGA-484 - same | FBGA-484 - same | FBGA-484 - same | FBGA-484 - same | FBGA-484 - same | FBGA-484 - same |
| Family | Mercury (full feature) | Mercury (full feature) | Mercury (full feature) | Mercury (full feature) | Mercury (full feature) | Mercury (full feature) | Mercury (baseline) |
| LABs | 480 | 480 | 480 | 480 | 480 | 480 | 480 (baseline variant) |
| User I/O | 303 | 303 | 303 | 303 | 303 | 303 | 303 |
| Temperature Range | 0 C to +85 C (Commercial) | 0 C to +85 C (Commercial) | -40 C to +100 C (Industrial) | -40 C to +100 C (Industrial) | [DATA_NEEDED] | [DATA_NEEDED] | 0 C to +85 C (Commercial) |
| Speed Grade | -5 | -6 (faster) | [DATA_NEEDED] | -6 | -6 | [DATA_NEEDED] | -5 |
| Transceiver Rate | 1.25 Gbps (CDR) | 1.25 Gbps (CDR) | 1.25 Gbps (CDR) | 1.25 Gbps (CDR) | 1.25 Gbps (CDR) | 1.25 Gbps (CDR) | [DATA_NEEDED: reduced] |
| Lifecycle | NRND | NRND | NRND | NRND | NRND | NRND | NRND |
Key Differentiators
- Drop-in speed-grade upgrade without PCB rework (vs EP1M120F484C6)
- Industrial temperature option on the same die (vs EP1M120F484-I6)
- Baseline Mercury variant available in the same package (vs EP1M120B484C5)
Design Notes
The FBGA-484 package of the EP1M120F484C5 requires a controlled-impedance PCB footprint with microvia or via-in-pad technology to maintain signal integrity on the 1.25 Gbps transceiver channels. Place solid power and ground planes directly under the BGA, and stitch the perimeter with grounded vias every lambda/10 to suppress package resonance. All high-speed serial lanes should be routed as 50 ohm single-ended or 100 ohm differential pairs with matched lengths within the tolerance specified by the Mercury datasheet PCS section.
The EP1M120F484C5 operates from a 1.8 V core supply per the Mercury Device Family specification, with separate analog supply rails for the transceiver PLLs and CDR blocks. Decouple each supply pin with a 0.1 uF ceramic capacitor placed as close to the ball as possible, and bulk-decouple each rail with a low-ESR 10 uF to 22 uF tantalum or polymer capacitor. Designers must respect the power-up sequencing recommended in the Mercury datasheet to avoid latch-up or inrush damage to the PLL analog blocks.
Estimated: the FBGA-484 footprint on the EP1M120F484C5 has 0.8 mm or 1.0 mm ball pitch depending on the package option, so verify the exact pitch from the package outline drawing before laying out the PCB. Do not assume pin compatibility with the EP1M120B484 baseline variant without reviewing the feature-set datasheet, because the B variant has reduced transceiver and memory resources. Because the Mercury family is NRND, always source from authorized distributors with traceability and avoid broker parts that may be counterfeit.
Estimated: route all 1.25 Gbps transceiver channels on the top PCB layer or stripline on inner layers referenced to a continuous ground plane, and keep the total length of each lane as short as practical (typically under 150 mm) to minimize jitter. Provide AC-coupling capacitors on each transmit lane per the Mercury datasheet SERDES section. Avoid routing parallel bus signals across the transceiver region, and place the reference clock source within 25 mm of the relevant clock-input ball to minimize reference-clock jitter.
Compliance Information
Compliance fields were not present in the Verified Web Data and have been marked unknown. The Mercury Device Family was launched before RoHS was mandatory in many regions, so older date-code parts may not be RoHS compliant; verify the date code and the manufacturer declaration of conformity before use in RoHS-restricted designs.
