EP1M120F484C8ES - 120K Logic Elements FPGA, 484-FBGA | Intel
MPN: EP1M120F484C8ES ✗ End of Life| Qty | Unit Price | Extended |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | $185 | $185.00 |
| 10 | $165.5 | $1,655.00 |
| 100 | $142 | $14,200.00 |
| 250 | $128.75 | $32,187.50 |
| 500 | $119.4 | $59,700.00 |
Drop-in alternatives for EP1M120F484C8ES — same package, pin-to-pin compatible. Different-package parts requiring PCB rework are excluded.
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EP1M120F484C8
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View Datasheet →EP1M120F484C8ES Maximum Ratings & Electrical Characteristics
| Family | ACEX 1M |
| Manufacturer | Intel (formerly Altera) |
| Logic Elements / Gates | 120,000 (120K gates) |
| Embedded Logic Cells (EABs) | 4,800 |
| User I/O Pins | 303 |
| Package | 484-ball FineLine BGA |
| Speed Grade | C8 (-8 speed bin) |
| Sample Grade | ES (Engineering Sample) |
| Process Technology | 0.18 µm CMOS, SRAM-based |
| Embedded RAM | ~104 Kbits across 12 RAM blocks |
| PLLs | 4 enhanced PLLs |
| I/O Standards | LVTTL, LVCMOS, True-LVDS, PCI |
| MultiVolt I/O Support | 1.5 V / 2.5 V / 3.3 V / 5.0 V tolerant |
| Configuration Method | SRAM bitstream, JTAG/serial |
| Mounting Type | Surface Mount (BGA) |
EP1M120F484C8ES 484-ball fineline bga Pin Configuration Guide
Complete pinout information for EP1M120F484C8ES (484-ball fineline bga package) with 303 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 EP1M120F484C8ES.
Refer to the datasheet for full pin configuration.
Estimated pin count: 303 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
EP1M120F484C8ES is suitable for 7 applications: Telecommunications Line-Card Glue Logic, ASIC Prototyping and Emulation, Industrial Motor-Control DSP Pipelines, Video Capture and Display Pipeline, PCI / PCI-X Bridge Implementation, Communications Protocol Bridge and Translation, Pre-Compliance EMC and Validation Testing.
Telecommunications Line-Card Glue Logic
The EP1M120F484C8ES fits telecommunications line-card glue-logic applications through its 120,000 logic elements and 303 user I/Os, which consolidate protocol bridges, framing, and aggregation functions onto a single FPGA. The four enhanced PLLs generate the multiple clock domains required for TDM/SONET/SDH line rates, while the 12 embedded RAM blocks deliver the elastic buffers and look-up tables needed for cell/packet reassembly. MultiVolt I/O supports 3.3 V and 5.0 V buses commonly used in legacy telecom backplanes. With the C8 speed grade, typical path delays are ~30% faster than the C7 grade, supporting OC-48/STM-16 aggregation at full rate.
Recommended
ASIC Prototyping and Emulation
Designers use the EP1M120F484C8ES for ASIC prototyping and in-circuit emulation because 120K logic elements provide enough capacity to map mid-complexity ASICs with reasonable partition granularity. The SRAM-based configuration supports rapid bitstream reloads for iterative bring-up, while the 303 user I/Os allow real-world ASIC pin multiplexing through breakout headers. Embedded array blocks map efficiently to wide datapath functions (FIFOs, dual-port RAM, ROM tables) typical of ASIC subsystems. The Engineering Sample grade lowers the upfront NRE for prototype-only builds and shortens the procurement cycle relative to fully qualified parts.
Recommended
Industrial Motor-Control DSP Pipelines
The EP1M120F484C8ES integrates industrial motor-control DSP pipelines by combining LUT-based logic for PWM generation and current-loop math with embedded RAM blocks for sine tables and observer state storage. Its 303 user I/Os handle multi-axis encoder inputs (QEP, Hall, resolver feedback), gate-driver interfaces, and CAN/RS-485 communications, while the four PLLs derive the switching frequencies and ADC sample clocks from a single crystal reference. Industrial motor control firmware typically consumes 25–40% of available logic, leaving headroom for safety logic and field-oriented control (FOC) extensions on the C8 speed grade.
Recommended
Video Capture and Display Pipeline
Video capture and display pipelines leverage the EP1M120F484C8ES because its 12 embedded RAM blocks deliver the line buffers required for deinterlacing, scaling, and color-space conversion, while the LUT fabric implements the pixel-pipeline datapath at rates up to 148 MHz on the C8 grade. The 303 I/Os accommodate parallel ITU-R BT.656/BT.1120 buses, LVDS display links, and I2C/SPI control channels simultaneously, eliminating external bus expanders. The True-LVDS support simplifies direct connection to flat-panel display drivers. As a result, one ACEX 1M device replaces two or three mid-density CPLDs that legacy designs would require.
Recommended
PCI / PCI-X Bridge Implementation
The EP1M120F484C8ES is well suited to PCI/PCI-X bridge applications because its 303 user I/Os accommodate the full 32-bit/64-bit PCI bus plus secondary-side peripherals without external transceivers, and its MultiVolt I/O bank supports the 3.3 V PCI signaling standard natively. The 12 embedded RAM blocks deliver the transaction-queue and posted-write buffer storage required by PCI-X 133 MHz bridges, while the four PLLs derive the 33/66/133 MHz PCI clocks from a single reference. The C8 speed grade meets the 133 MHz PCI-X setup/hold budget with margin for backplane loading.
Recommended
Communications Protocol Bridge and Translation
The EP1M120F484C8ES supports communications protocol bridge and translation tasks by mapping multiple serial protocols (UART, SPI, I2C, CAN, HDLC) onto a single reconfigurable fabric, with embedded RAM blocks providing the FIFO depth required for asynchronous rate matching. Its 303 user I/Os allow direct connection to multiple physical interfaces without external bus switches, while the four PLLs derive each protocol's baud-rate reference from a common system clock. Engineering Sample grade lowers the upfront cost for evaluation builds, and Quartus II 13.1 supports the full ACEX 1M IP library for Ethernet MAC, HDLC, and UART cores.
Recommended
Pre-Compliance EMC and Validation Testing
Engineering samples such as the EP1M120F484C8ES are widely used for pre-compliance EMC and validation testing because they allow design teams to exercise real silicon in radiated/conducted emissions chambers, ESD gun sweeps, and surge tests without committing to fully qualified parts. The 120K logic-element capacity lets the validation team load representative production bitstreams that exercise worst-case toggle patterns, while the 303 user I/Os drive the full peripheral complement. Pre-compliance chambers can identify PCB layout issues 3–6 months before formal certification, saving $50K–$150K in re-test costs. ES parts must not ship to end customers.
Recommended
Recommended Products Summary
Engineering reference data for EP1M120F484C8ES — comparison, design guidance, and compliance information.
Selection Guide
Comparison with Alternatives
| Parameter | This Product | EP1M120F484C8 | EP1M120F484C8A | EP1M120F484C7ES | EP1M120F484C7AES | EP1M120F48416 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brand | Intel | Intel | Intel | Intel | Intel | Intel |
| Package | 484-ball FineLine BGA | 484-ball FineLine BGA - same | 484-ball FineLine BGA - same | 484-ball FineLine BGA - same | 484-ball FineLine BGA - same | 484-ball FineLine BGA - same |
| Logic Elements | 120,000 | 120,000 | 120,000 | 120,000 | 120,000 | 120,000 |
| User I/Os | 303 | 303 | 303 | 303 | 303 | 303 |
| Speed Grade | C8 | C8 (production) | C8 (industrial) | C7 (ES) | C7 (industrial ES) | -16 |
| Sample Grade | ES (Engineering Sample) | Production | Production | ES | ES | Production |
| Temperature Range | Commercial (0C to +70C) | Commercial | Industrial (-40C to +100C) | Commercial | Industrial (-40C to +100C) | [DATA_NEEDED] |
| Lifecycle Status | Obsolete (Engineering Sample) | Obsolete (production) | Obsolete (industrial) | Obsolete (ES) | Obsolete (ES) | Obsolete |
| Toolchain | Quartus II 13.1 | Quartus II 13.1 | Quartus II 13.1 | Quartus II 13.1 | Quartus II 13.1 | Quartus II 13.1 |
| Approx. Unit Price (USD, qty-1) | 185.00 | 210.00 (broker, as of 2026-09-07) | 245.00 (broker, as of 2026-09-07) | 155.00 (broker, as of 2026-09-07) | 175.00 (broker, as of 2026-09-07) | 120.00 (broker, as of 2026-09-07) |
Key Differentiators
- Engineering Sample grade provides lowest-cost entry to ACEX 1M silicon (vs EP1M120F484C8 (production grade))
- Fastest available speed grade in the ACEX 1M family at 484-FBGA (vs EP1M120F484C7ES (C7 speed grade))
- Drop-in compatibility within the same 484-FBGA package family (vs Cyclone IV E (EP4CE115F29I7N))
Design Notes
The 484-ball FineLine BGA uses a 1.0 mm ball pitch with a staggered pattern. Route signals on inner layers with 0.10 mm (4 mil) trace/space and escape the perimeter balls using dog-bone fanouts; for inner rows, use via-in-pad or microvia technology on a 4- to 6-layer stackup. Maintain a continuous ground plane beneath the package to control impedance and to provide a low-inductance return path for the four PLL analog supply pins (VCCA_PLL). Decouple each VCC with a 0.1 µF X7R ceramic within 100 mils of the ball, plus a 10 µF tantalum bulk capacitor per supply rail. Keep all PLL analog supply traces short and isolated from switching digital traces by at least 20 mil to minimize jitter coupling.
ACEX 1M devices draw up to 1.5 A on the 1.8 V VCCINT rail at 100% toggle utilization. Provide a star-topology power distribution network with at least four VCCINT and four VSS ball pairs carrying equal current; do not daisy-chain power pins. Sequence the 1.8 V VCCINT, 3.3 V VCCIO, and 1.5 V VCCA_PLL rails such that core power comes up first and decays last on power-down, with monotonic rise times faster than 1 ms. Add a 10 kΩ pull-up on nCONFIG and a 1 kΩ pull-up on nSTATUS to ensure clean configuration startup after a brownout event.
Do not use ES-grade parts in any production-bound BOM: ACEX 1M ES samples are not lot-traceable and lack the reliability data required for ISO 9001 quality systems. The 'ES' suffix also indicates pre-production silicon that may exhibit minor parametric shifts versus the production die revision, which can cause timing-margin variance between prototype and production builds. Plan a transition to the production EP1M120F484C8 (commercial temp) or EP1M120F484C8A (industrial temp) immediately after design validation. ES parts should be allocated only to design/prototype/EMC pre-compliance activities.
ACEX 1M C8 speed-grade I/O drivers have rise times around 1 ns, which can excite transmission-line effects on PCB traces longer than 50 mm. Apply series 33 Ω damping resistors at the FPGA-end of each LVTTL/LVCMOS output driving external cables or backplane connectors to suppress reflections. For True-LVDS outputs targeting 100-Ω differential pairs, maintain 100 Ω differential impedance and keep intra-pair skew below 50 ps by matching trace lengths to ±0.5 mm. Use IBIS simulations (available in Quartus II 13.1) to validate signal integrity before PCB fab, especially for PCI-X 133 MHz interfaces.
Compliance Information
Compliance data not present in the verified distributor or manufacturer documentation. Intel ACEX 1M ES samples are pre-production parts and are typically exempt from full compliance certification; production-grade EP1M120F484C8 should be verified for RoHS/REACH compliance before deployment. AEC-Q100 not applicable: ACEX 1M is not an automotive-qualified product line.
