EP1S20F780I5N - Stratix FPGA 18,460 Cells 500MHz FC-FBGA-780 | Intel
MPN: EP1S20F780I5N ✗ End of Life| Qty | Unit Price | Extended |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | $245 | $245.00 |
| 10 | $215 | $2,150.00 |
| 100 | $185 | $18,500.00 |
| 500 | $165 | $82,500.00 |
| 1,000 | $150 | $150,000.00 |
Drop-in alternatives for EP1S20F780I5N — same package, pin-to-pin compatible. Different-package parts requiring PCB rework are excluded.
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EP1S20F780I6N
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View Datasheet →EP1S20F780I5N Maximum Ratings & Electrical Characteristics
| Manufacturer | Intel (formerly Altera) |
| Series | Stratix |
| Device Family | EP1S20 |
| Logic Elements / Cells | 18,460 |
| Configurable Logic Blocks (CLBs) | 1,846 |
| Number of I/O Pins | 586 |
| Voltage - Supply (Core) | 1.5 V nominal (1.425 V to 1.575 V) |
| Operating Temperature | -40C to +100C |
| Mounting Type | Surface Mount |
| Package / Case | 780-BGA (FC-FBGA, 28x28 mm, 0.4 mm pitch) |
| Process Technology | 130 nm CMOS |
| Maximum Internal Clock Frequency | 500 MHz |
| Speed Grade | -I5 (industrial, medium speed) |
| Configuration Method | Passive Serial (PS), Fast Passive Parallel (FPP), JTAG |
EP1S20F780I5N Pin Configuration
| Pin A1 | I/O — User I/O (586 of 780 balls are user I/O; remaining are power/ground/configuration) |
| Pin A28 | I/O — User I/O |
| Pin AB1 | I/O — User I/O |
| Pin AB28 | I/O — User I/O |
| Pin AG1 | I/O — User I/O |
| Pin AG28 | I/O — User I/O |
| Pin VCC | VCC — Core supply 1.5 V (multiple balls) |
| Pin VCCIO | VCCIO — I/O supply (banked, 1.5/1.8/2.5/3.3 V) |
| Pin GND | GND — Ground (multiple balls) |
| Pin CONFIG | CONFIG — Configuration mode select pins (MSEL[0..3]) |
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
EP1S20F780I5N is suitable for 6 applications: Telecommunications Line Cards, High-Performance DSP Pipelines, ASIC Prototyping Platforms, Industrial Motion Control, Medical Imaging Systems, Test and Measurement Instrumentation.
Telecommunications Line Cards
The EP1S20F780I5N is well suited to telecommunications line cards where 18,460 logic elements and embedded multipliers enable multi-channel Forward Error Correction (FEC), Reed-Solomon encoding, and ATM/SONET framer implementations. Its 586 user I/O pins route parallel UTOPIA/SPI-4.2 interfaces to network processors without external bus switches, and the 1.5 V core plus industrial -40C to +100C range handles central-office thermal envelopes. The 130 nm process provides the timing margin required for 622 Mbps POS-PHY and 2.5 Gbps SERDES interfacing via dedicated high-speed transceivers, while the 780-ball FC-FBGA keeps the BOM compact for dense line-card slot mechanics.
Recommended
High-Performance DSP Pipelines
The Stratix EP1S20F780I5N's embedded hardware multiplier blocks and TriMatrix memory deliver sustained throughput for DSP pipelines including FIR filters, FFT cores, and video codecs. With 18,460 logic elements plus dedicated 18x18 multipliers, the device can implement 64-tap FIR filters at 200 MHz sample rate per channel while leaving headroom for I/O framing. The 500 MHz internal Fmax enables multi-stage decimation chains in software-defined radio receivers, and 586 I/O pins comfortably route 16-bit parallel ADC/DAC buses. The industrial -40C to +100C temperature range lets the same silicon serve outdoor base-station and military radio deployments where consumer-grade parts would fail.
Recommended
ASIC Prototyping Platforms
The EP1S20F780I5N is a workhorse for ASIC prototyping because the 18,460 logic elements can map medium-complexity ASICs (PCIe controllers, Ethernet MACs, memory controllers) onto a single Stratix device. The 586 I/O pins provide abundant off-chip connectivity for prototyping daughter-cards, and the 780-ball FC-FBGA exposes multiple LVDS channels for high-speed prototyping of serializer/deserializer ASIC IP. Configuration via JTAG lets designers iterate bitstreams in seconds, while EPC16 PROMs hold golden images for power-on verification. The industrial temperature grade means the same prototype board can be used for both lab bring-up and field trials.
Recommended
Industrial Motion Control
Industrial motion controllers benefit from the EP1S20F780I5N's parallel I/O width (586 pins), hardware multiplier blocks, and industrial -40C to +100C rating. The FPGA can simultaneously drive six-axis PWM control, quadrature encoder inputs, and EtherCAT or SERCOS fiber-optic links, replacing multiple MCUs and DSPs with a single deterministic device. Its 500 MHz internal Fmax supports sub-microsecond current-loop sample rates critical for field-oriented control (FOC) of permanent-magnet motors. Embedded RAM blocks implement encoder history buffers and vibration FFT analysis, while Quartus II supports the IEC 61131-3 languages through soft-IP cores that target the Stratix architecture.
Recommended
Medical Imaging Systems
The EP1S20F780I5N serves medical imaging systems including ultrasound front-ends, endoscopy processors, and patient-monitoring signal chains where deterministic latency and parallel DSP are required. The 18,460 logic elements can implement 32-channel beamforming pipelines at 40 MHz sample rate, while the embedded multipliers execute apodization and Hilbert transforms in real time. The 586 I/O pins accept parallel LVDS data from multiple 12/14-bit ADCs at rates up to 80 MSPS without external bus multiplexers. Industrial -40C to +100C operation allows the FPGA to be located adjacent to imaging transducers, reducing analog trace length and improving SNR. Designers should validate compliance with IEC 60601-1 at the system level.
Recommended
Test and Measurement Instrumentation
Test and measurement instruments such as logic analyzers, protocol analyzers, and bit-error-rate testers benefit from the EP1S20F780I5N's high I/O count and embedded memory bandwidth. The 586 user I/O pins can sample 32 channels of 1 Gbps LVDS data simultaneously using the FPGA's internal SERDES, while the 130 nm CMOS logic provides sub-nanosecond setup/hold margins for accurate timing analysis. TriMatrix memory blocks implement deep capture buffers for protocol trace, and the 500 MHz Fmax supports inline CRC checking at 10 Gbps aggregated rates. Industrial temperature rating ensures reliable operation in production-line environmental chambers from -40C to +100C.
Recommended
Recommended Products Summary
Engineering reference data for EP1S20F780I5N — comparison, design guidance, and compliance information.
Selection Guide
Comparison with Alternatives
| Parameter | This Product | EP1S20F780I6N | EP1S20F780C7N | EP1S20F780C6N | EP1S20F780C5N | EP1S10F780I6N |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Package | 780-BGA FC-FBGA (28x28 mm) | 780-BGA FC-FBGA (28x28 mm) - same | 780-BGA FC-FBGA (28x28 mm) - same | 780-BGA FC-FBGA (28x28 mm) - same | 780-BGA FC-FBGA (28x28 mm) - same | 780-BGA FC-FBGA (28x28 mm) - same |
| Brand | Intel (formerly Altera) | Intel | Intel | Intel | Intel | Intel |
| Logic Elements | 18,460 | 18,460 | 18,460 | 18,460 | 18,460 | 10,570 (-43%) |
| Speed Grade | -I5 | -I6 (~15% lower Fmax) | -C7 (faster, commercial temp) | -C6 (commercial temp) | -C5 (commercial temp) | -I6 |
| Operating Temperature | -40C to +100C (Industrial) | -40C to +100C (Industrial) | 0C to +85C (Commercial) | 0C to +85C (Commercial) | 0C to +85C (Commercial) | -40C to +100C (Industrial) |
| Core Voltage | 1.5 V | 1.5 V | 1.5 V | 1.5 V | 1.5 V | 1.5 V |
| User I/O Pins | 586 | 586 | 586 | 586 | 586 | 426 |
| Process Technology | 130 nm CMOS | 130 nm CMOS | 130 nm CMOS | 130 nm CMOS | 130 nm CMOS | 130 nm CMOS |
Key Differentiators
- Fastest industrial-grade Stratix EP1S20 speed grade (vs EP1S20F780I6N)
- Industrial -40C to +100C temperature range with 500 MHz Fmax (vs EP1S20F780C7N)
- Full 18,460 logic-element density in 780-ball FC-FBGA (vs EP1S10F780I6N)
Design Notes
Estimated: a Stratix EP1S20 running at 80% utilization with 50% toggle rate at 1.5 V core consumes approximately 4-6 W. Provide a 1.5 V regulator rated for at least 8 W (e.g., TI TPS54350 or equivalent) with bulk capacitance of 4 x 220 uF polymer plus 20 x 100 nF ceramic distributed around the BGA. Use a separate 1.0 V/1.2 V auxiliary for PLL analog supply (VCCPD) to minimize jitter.
The 780-ball FC-FBGA has a typical junction-to-ambient theta-JA of 12 C/W with a 4-layer JEDEC test board. At 5 W dissipation the junction rises 60C above ambient; at 8 W it rises 96C. For industrial -40C to +100C operation budget the worst-case ambient at 85C inside a sealed enclosure, which limits steady-state dissipation to approximately 1.5 W without a heatsink. Attach a 30 x 30 x 10 mm aluminum heatsink with thermal interface material when dissipation exceeds 3 W.
Use an 8-layer or 10-layer PCB stack-up with two dedicated ground planes adjacent to the BGA breakout layer. Microvia-to-BGA pitch routing at 0.4 mm requires laser-drilled microvias with 75 um pad and 25 um capture. Escape the inner rows with via-in-pad or dog-bone fanout; route LVDS pairs on the same layer with 100 ohm differential impedance and length-match within 150 ps to avoid setup/hold skew.
Stratix VREF pins for each I/O bank require 0.1 uF decoupling within 100 mils and a quiet analog reference plane; do not route switching signals over VREF. Group high-speed LVDS outputs on outer banks, leaving inner banks for slower control signals to simplify length matching. Configuration mode pins (MSEL[3:0]) must be tied to VCC or GND through 1 kohm resistors; floating MSEL pins cause configuration failure.
Do not exceed 1.575 V on VCCINT - permanent damage occurs above 1.65 V. Always assert nCONFIG low during power-up and release only after VCCINT and VCCPD are stable. JTAG chain failures are commonly caused by incorrect TCK termination; place a 10 kohm pull-up on TCK and TDI, and a 10 kohm pull-down on TMS. For remote updates, configure a factory image in flash plus an application image, and implement watchdog timer reset for soft-lockup recovery.
Compliance Information
RoHS and REACH compliance status for the EP1S20F780I5N is not explicitly stated in the verified web data; consult Intel's product declaration for confirmation. Lead-free per the Altera/Intel package specification. AEC-Q100 is not applicable as this is a logic device, not an automotive-grade IC.
