EP20K1000CF672I7 - APEX 20KC FPGA, 1M Gates, 672-BGA | Altera
MPN: EP20K1000CF672I7 ✗ End of Life| Qty | Unit Price | Extended |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | $285 | $285.00 |
| 10 | $245 | $2,450.00 |
| 50 | $210 | $10,500.00 |
| 100 | $185 | $18,500.00 |
| 500 | $160 | $80,000.00 |
Drop-in alternatives for EP20K1000CF672I7 — same package, pin-to-pin compatible. Different-package parts requiring PCB rework are excluded.
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View Datasheet →EP20K1000CF672I7 Maximum Ratings & Electrical Characteristics
| Family | APEX 20KC |
| Logic Elements / Cells | 38,400 |
| System Gates | 1,000,000 |
| Maximum Operating Frequency | 375.94 MHz |
| Propagation Delay | 1.4 ns |
| Process Technology | 0.15 µm CMOS |
| Nominal Supply Voltage | 1.8 V |
| Supply Voltage Range | 1.71 V to 1.89 V |
| Package | 672-ball FC-FBGA (PBGA672) |
| Ball Pitch | 1.0 mm |
| User I/O Pins | 508 |
| Dedicated Inputs | 4 |
| Embedded Memory Blocks (ESBs) | Yes (MultiCore) |
| PLLs | 4 |
| Configuration Interface | JTAG (IEEE 1149.1), Passive Serial |
| Operating Temperature | -40 °C to +85 °C (Industrial) |
| Speed Grade | 7 |
EP20K1000CF672I7 672-ball fc-fbga (pbga672) Pin Configuration Guide
Complete pinout information for EP20K1000CF672I7 (672-ball fc-fbga (pbga672) package) with 508 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 EP20K1000CF672I7.
Refer to the datasheet for full pin configuration.
Estimated pin count: 508 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
EP20K1000CF672I7 is suitable for 6 applications: Telecommunication Backplane Aggregation, ASIC Prototyping and Emulation, Custom DSP and Signal Processing Pipelines, Industrial Control and Data Acquisition, Network Switch and Router Line Cards, Legacy Storage and RAID Controller Designs.
Telecommunication Backplane Aggregation
The EP20K1000CF672I7's 1M system gates and 508 user I/O pins make it a strong fit for telecom backplane aggregation designs that need parallel multi-channel processing. In this role it sits between line-side serializers and a network processor, performing serial-to-parallel conversion, channel bonding, and protocol-aware buffering using the device's embedded system blocks (ESBs). The 1.8 V core keeps power manageable in densely populated line cards while the 1.0 mm-pitch 672-ball BGA delivers enough I/O for 32-bit parallel buses and LVDS interconnect. Engineers value the APEX 20KC family for its MultiCore interconnect that simplifies wide datapath routing, and the device's 375.94 MHz internal frequency provides comfortable margin for high-speed state-machine and packet-header inspection tasks at 10 Gbps aggregate rates.
Recommended
ASIC Prototyping and Emulation
The EP20K1000CF672I7 is widely used as an ASIC prototyping vehicle because its 1M system gates accommodate large RTL partitions for design teams validating pre-silicon logic. Multiple APEX 20KC parts can be linked via their LVDS-capable I/O to emulate ASIC-to-ASIC interfaces, while the 672-ball BGA keeps board area compact for multi-FPGA emulator boards. The industrial temperature grade (-40 °C to +85 °C) and JTAG-based in-system programmability allow rapid iteration cycles and bring-up in lab environments that simulate harsh operating conditions. Engineers rely on the Altera Quartus II toolchain for APEX 20KC to map ASIC gate-level netlists and verify timing closure before committing to mask sets.
Recommended
Custom DSP and Signal Processing Pipelines
With 38,400 logic elements and several hundreds of kbits of embedded memory, the EP20K1000CF672I7 supports custom DSP pipelines that exceed the capacity of off-the-shelf DSP processors while preserving parallel hardware acceleration. The MultiCore architecture's ESBs provide distributed RAM for filter coefficients and delay lines, and the four PLLs enable multiple clock domains required for multi-rate signal processing. At 1.4 ns propagation delay and 375.94 MHz internal frequency, the part can implement FIR/IIR filters, FFT engines, and adaptive beamforming algorithms used in base stations and radar signal chains. The 508 user I/O supports wide sample buses and parallel ADC/DAC interfaces typically seen in such designs.
Recommended
Industrial Control and Data Acquisition
Industrial control cards benefit from the EP20K1000CF672I7's combination of high logic density, 508 user I/O, and the -40 °C to +85 °C industrial temperature rating. The device can host multiple real-time control loops, motion-control state machines, and high-speed data-acquisition front ends on a single chip, replacing several discrete microcontrollers and DSPs. Its JTAG and passive-serial configuration support field updates over industrial networks, allowing remote firmware refresh in installed equipment. The 1.8 V core regulator budget is straightforward for industrial 24 V systems when paired with a step-down converter, and the 672-ball BGA delivers dense I/O for parallel ADC front ends and isolated digital I/O banks.
Recommended
Network Switch and Router Line Cards
Line cards for enterprise and carrier-grade network switches leverage the EP20K1000CF672I7 to implement multi-gigabit packet classification, traffic shaping, and queuing functions. The 508 user I/O and four PLLs enable multiple SERDES-side parallel interfaces to network processors and PHY devices, while the embedded ESBs hold deep packet buffers and lookup tables without external SRAM. Industrial temperature operation is suitable for temperature-controlled but space-constrained central-office racks, and the BGA package supports the dense routing required for backplane connectors running SPI-4.2, GMII, or proprietary LVDS interfaces. Designers appreciate the deterministic 1.4 ns propagation delay when budgeting timing across multiple pipeline stages.
Recommended
Legacy Storage and RAID Controller Designs
Legacy storage controllers and RAID accelerator cards have historically used the EP20K1000CF672I7 for XOR compute engines, parity generation, and SAS/SATA protocol bridging. The 1M gates provide capacity for RAID-6 dual-parity engines, command queuing logic, and host-side PCIe/PCI-X bridge glue logic when paired with an external PHY. The embedded memory is sufficient for sector buffers and command descriptor rings, while the 508 user I/O supports multiple SATA channels and flash interfaces. Although newer Cyclone and Stratix devices offer better power efficiency, the APEX 20KC remains in many long-lifecycle enterprise storage designs where reuse of validated firmware and tooling outweighs silicon upgrades.
Recommended
Recommended Products Summary
Engineering reference data for EP20K1000CF672I7 — comparison, design guidance, and compliance information.
Selection Guide
Comparison with Alternatives
| Parameter | This Product | EP20K1000CF672C7 | EP20K1000CF672C8 | EP20K1000CF672C9ES | EP20K1000CF672C7ES | EP20K1000CF672C7GZ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Package | 672-ball FC-FBGA (PBGA672) | 672-ball FC-FBGA (same) | 672-ball FC-FBGA (same) | 672-ball FC-FBGA (same) | 672-ball FC-FBGA (same) | 672-ball FC-FBGA (same) |
| Brand | Altera | Altera | Altera | Altera | Altera | Altera |
| System Gates | 1,000,000 | 1,000,000 | 1,000,000 | 1,000,000 | 1,000,000 | 1,000,000 |
| Core Voltage | 1.8 V | 1.8 V | 1.8 V | 1.8 V | 1.8 V | 1.8 V |
| Speed Grade | 7 (industrial) | 7 (commercial) | 8 (commercial) | 9 (commercial ES) | 7 (commercial ES) | 7 (commercial GZ) |
| Operating Temperature | -40 °C to +85 °C (Industrial) | 0 °C to +85 °C (Commercial) | 0 °C to +85 °C (Commercial) | 0 °C to +85 °C (Commercial) | 0 °C to +85 °C (Commercial) | 0 °C to +85 °C (Commercial) |
| User I/O | 508 | 508 | 508 | 508 | 508 | 508 |
| Internal Frequency | 375.94 MHz | 375.94 MHz | Lower (speed 8) | Lower (speed 9) | 375.94 MHz | 375.94 MHz |
| Lifecycle Status | Obsolete | Obsolete | Obsolete | Obsolete | Obsolete | Obsolete |
Key Differentiators
- Industrial temperature grade at same speed as commercial speed-grade 7 (vs EP20K1000CF672C7)
- Maximum 375.94 MHz internal frequency in the 672-ball package (vs EP20K1000CF672C9ES)
- APEX 20KC architecture with MultiCore interconnect (vs EPF10K130EFI484-2 (FLEX 10KE))
Design Notes
Estimated: at full utilisation with ~50 % toggle rate and 1.8 V core, the EP20K1000CF672I7 can dissipate several watts and the 672-ball FC-FBGA requires substantial copper thermal management. Place a continuous 4-layer ground/power plane directly under the BGA and add a via-array thermal pad (0.3 mm drilled, 1.0 mm pitch) connecting the BGA die pad to the bottom copper flood, populated with solder to reduce θJA. In enclosed industrial enclosures, verify junction temperature in worst-case ambient using the manufacturer's thermal model before locking the mechanical design.
Use microvia-in-pad escape for the outermost 2-3 rows of the 672-ball FC-FBGA on a 1.0 mm pitch. Maintain a 50 Ω controlled-impedance single-ended and 100 Ω differential impedance on LVDS pairs routed through the outer BGA rows; this requires an 8-layer stack-up with at least one inner solid reference plane per routing layer. Avoid placing bypass capacitors more than 1 mm from the BGA perimeter to keep VCC rail loop inductance below 1 nH for switching noise suppression.
Do not confuse the APEX 20KC (1.8 V core) with APEX 20K (2.5 V core) - the EP20K1000CF672I7 operates strictly at 1.71-1.89 V, and using 2.5 V will damage the device. Similarly, when migrating to APEX 20KE parts in the same 672-ball BGA, double-check that the chosen configuration bitstream is compiled for the 20KE architecture (different bitstream header) before programming. Always terminate JTAG (TCK, TMS, TDI, TDO) according to IEEE 1149.1 with 10 kΩ pull-ups to VCCIO for reliable in-system programming.
Route configuration signals (nCE, nCONFIG, nSTATUS, CONF_DONE, DCLK) away from high-speed LVDS I/O to avoid coupling noise into the passive-serial configuration chain. Keep all 1.8 V VCC balls powered even when the device is in reset, because logic supplies to I/O cells must remain stable to prevent inrush during reconfiguration. For multi-FPGA boards, isolate each part's JTAG chain with a unique device ID and series 100 Ω termination on TCK/TMS to prevent ringing across long programming cables.
Compliance Information
Compliance data not directly supplied in verified web data; the original APEX 20KC family was released before RoHS mandates and many date codes are non-RoHS, while later ES variants may be RoHS/lead-free. Verify with manufacturer lot code before production use.
