EP20K100EBC356-3N - APEX 20KE 100K Gates 4160 Cells FPGA | Intel
MPN: EP20K100EBC356-3N ✗ End of Life| Qty | Unit Price | Extended |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | $145 | $145.00 |
| 10 | $132.5 | $1,325.00 |
| 100 | $118 | $11,800.00 |
| 500 | $105 | $52,500.00 |
| 1,000 | $92 | $92,000.00 |
Drop-in alternatives for EP20K100EBC356-3N — 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:
EP20K100BC356-3N
✅ Drop-In ⚠️ 参数待验证📋 Reference alternative (not in catalog)
EP20K100EBC356-1
✅ Drop-In📋 Reference alternative (not in catalog)
EP20K100EBC356-2
✅ Drop-In ⚠️ 参数待验证📋 Reference alternative (not in catalog)
EP20K100CB356C7
✅ Drop-In✓ In Stock
$71 / Unit
View Datasheet →EP20K100CB356C8
✅ Drop-In ⚠️ 参数待验证✓ In Stock
$82 / Unit
View Datasheet →EP20K100CB356C9
✅ Drop-In ⚠️ 参数待验证✓ In Stock
Contact for price
View Datasheet →EP20K100EBC356-3N Maximum Ratings & Electrical Characteristics
| Series | APEX-20KE |
| Family | APEX 20K |
| Logic Elements / Cells | 4160 |
| System Gates | 100,000 |
| Embedded Memory (bits) | 53,248 |
| Embedded System Blocks (ESBs) | 26 |
| Maximum User I/Os | 246 |
| Number of Pins | 356 |
| Package | 356-LBGA (Ball Grid Array) |
| Package Dimensions | 45 x 45 mm |
| Ball Pitch | 1.27 mm |
| Process Technology | 0.22 µm CMOS |
| Core Supply Voltage | 1.8 V |
| Propagation Delay | 1.6 ns (speed grade -3N) |
| Maximum Internal Frequency | 250 MHz |
| Operating Temperature | 0 °C to +85 °C |
| Mounting Type | Surface Mount |
| Programmable Interface | JTAG (IEEE 1149.1) |
| I/O Standards Supported | LVCMOS, LVTTL, PCI, SSTL-2/3, GTL+ |
EP20K100EBC356-3N 45 x 45 mm Pin Configuration Guide
Complete pinout information for EP20K100EBC356-3N (45 x 45 mm package) with 356 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 EP20K100EBC356-3N.
Refer to the datasheet for full pin configuration.
Estimated pin count: 356 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
EP20K100EBC356-3N is suitable for 7 applications: Telecommunications Line Card Interface, Industrial Automation Backplane Controller, Legacy Military/Aerospace Signal Processing, High-Speed Data Acquisition Front-End, Networking Switch Fabric Glue Logic, Medical Imaging Pre-Processor (Legacy), Prototype ASIC Emulation Platform.
Telecommunications Line Card Interface
The EP20K100EBC356-3N's 4,160 logic elements and 53,248 bits of embedded memory make it well suited to telecom line-card glue logic where parallel datapath and on-chip buffering replace multiple discrete PLDs. The 246 user I/Os in the 356-LBGA package comfortably route LVTTL control signals between framers, mappers, and backplane SERDES. Operating at 250 MHz internal frequency with 1.6 ns propagation delay, the device can handle TDM bus aggregation and HDLC framing at E1/T1 rates while staying within the 0 °C to +85 °C commercial range typical of central-office ambient. Designers can place configuration in dedicated 16-bit-wide ESBs acting as dual-port RAM for elastic stores.
Recommended
Industrial Automation Backplane Controller
In factory-automation backplanes the EP20K100EBC356-3N's 100K system gates are sufficient to implement Profibus, DeviceNet, or custom RS-485 protocol state machines plus PID control loops in a single device. The 1.8 V core and 3.3 V I/O bank allow direct interface to industrial 24 V opto-isolated front ends without level-shifters, reducing BOM cost on PLC I/O modules. The 246 I/Os accommodate dense parallel field-bus connectors, while the embedded CAM blocks support deterministic address-lookup tables for slave polling. APEX 20KE devices have a multi-decade track record in industrial PLC designs, but engineers must plan for end-of-life migration to Cyclone IV or MAX 10.
Recommended
Legacy Military/Aerospace Signal Processing
The EP20K100EBC356-3N was widely designed into military and aerospace signal-processing subsystems in the early 2000s, where its radiation-tolerance pedigree and 250 MHz DSP throughput allowed IF-bandwidth FIR filters and FFT butterflies to be implemented in dedicated embedded multipliers and ESB RAM. The 356-LBGA package's 1.27 mm pitch accommodates the high I/O density required for parallel ADC/DAC interfaces. For new aerospace designs, however, the part's obsolete status makes it unsuitable; defense programs must pursue DSCC-approved Cyclone IV or Virtex-6 replacements through formal QML-V qualification programs rather than rely on this device.
Recommended
High-Speed Data Acquisition Front-End
With 246 user I/Os and 4,160 logic elements, the EP20K100EBC356-3N can capture and pre-process parallel data streams from multiple high-speed ADCs in instrumentation and test equipment. The 26 embedded system blocks provide 53,248 bits of dual-port RAM for FIFO buffering between ADC sample clocks and the downstream DSP or PCI interface, while the 1.6 ns propagation delay supports real-time triggering logic. The 3.3 V PCI compliance enables direct bus-master DMA into host systems. For new designs, designers should migrate to Cyclone III or Cyclone IV GX which provide modern transceivers, but legacy scope and logic-analyzer products can sustain on this part.
Recommended
Networking Switch Fabric Glue Logic
Enterprise networking switches in the late 1990s and early 2000s relied on the APEX 20KE family to implement cell-translation tables, queue managers, and backpressure arbitration between line cards and the central fabric. The EP20K100EBC356-3N's CAM-capable ESBs are particularly valuable for MAC/VLAN lookup tables operating at wire speed, while 246 I/Os route UTOPIA, POS-PHY, or SPI-4.2 interfaces. The 0 °C to +85 °C commercial operating range matches telecom central-office thermal envelopes. Sustaining legacy Layer-2/Layer-3 switches is the primary remaining use case as production has long since ended.
Recommended
Medical Imaging Pre-Processor (Legacy)
Pre-2005 medical imaging modalities such as ultrasound front-ends and CT reconstruction pre-processors used APEX 20KE FPGAs to perform beamforming, envelope detection, and pixel-level conditioning at low power. The EP20K100EBC356-3N's 1.8 V core fits battery-isolated medical device power budgets, while its deterministic 1.6 ns propagation delay supports real-time Doppler processing. The 356-LBGA package is reworkable on established ultrasound manufacturing lines. However, IEC 62304 and ISO 13485 lifecycle processes strongly discourage new medical designs on obsolete silicon; the part should be restricted to sustaining production of legacy systems.
Recommended
Prototype ASIC Emulation Platform
Before committing to mask sets, design teams in the early 2000s emulated ASIC prototypes on APEX 20KE devices to validate RTL against real-world timing. The EP20K100EBC356-3N with 100K gates could host a small ASIC block plus extensive testbench instrumentation, and JTAG-based in-system programmability accelerated regression cycles. The 246 user I/Os were sufficient to break out debug signals to logic analyzers. Modern emulation has shifted to large FPGAs such as Stratix 10 and Versal, so this application is essentially historical; the part remains useful only for re-running legacy ASIC verification libraries.
Recommended
Recommended Products Summary
Engineering reference data for EP20K100EBC356-3N — comparison, design guidance, and compliance information.
Selection Guide
Comparison with Alternatives
| Parameter | This Product | EP20K100BC356-3N | EP20K100EBC356-1 | EP20K100EBC356-2 | EP20K100CB356C7 | EP20K100CB356C8 | EP20K100CB356C9 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brand | Altera (Intel) | Altera (Intel) | Altera (Intel) | Altera (Intel) | Altera (Intel) | Altera (Intel) | Altera (Intel) |
| Package | 356-LBGA (45x45 mm, 1.27 mm pitch) | 356-LBGA - same | 356-LBGA - same | 356-LBGA - same | 356-LBGA - same | 356-LBGA - same | 356-LBGA - same |
| System Gates | 100,000 | 100,000 | 100,000 | 100,000 | 100,000 | 100,000 | 100,000 |
| Logic Elements / Cells | 4,160 | 4,160 | 4,160 | 4,160 | 4,160 | 4,160 | 4,160 |
| Embedded Memory (bits) | 53,248 | 53,248 | 53,248 | 53,248 | 53,248 | 53,248 | 53,248 |
| Maximum User I/Os | 246 | 246 | 246 | 246 | 246 | 246 | 246 |
| Core Voltage | 1.8 V | 1.8 V | 1.8 V | 1.8 V | 1.8 V | 1.8 V | 1.8 V |
| Speed Grade / Propagation Delay | -3N / 1.6 ns | -3N / 1.6 ns | -1 / ~2.0 ns (slower) | -2 / ~1.8 ns | -7 / ~2.5 ns | -8 / ~2.7 ns | -9 / ~3.0 ns |
| Lifecycle Status | Obsolete | Obsolete | Obsolete | Obsolete | Obsolete | Obsolete | Obsolete |
Key Differentiators
- Speed grade -3N provides 1.6 ns propagation delay for timing-critical designs (vs EP20K100EBC356-1)
- Pin-compatible with full APEX 20KE 356-LBGA family for board reuse (vs EP20K1000CB652C9N)
- Trailing N suffix confirms commercial temperature grade 0 °C to +85 °C (vs EP20K100EBC356-3 (without N suffix))
Design Notes
The 356-LBGA thermally enhanced package on the EP20K100EBC356-3N provides a lower theta-JA than the standard LBGA but still requires PCB thermal relief. Estimate: with 246 I/Os switching at 25 MHz and 20 pF load, dynamic power is approximately P = C x V^2 x f x N = 20e-12 x 1.8^2 x 25e6 x 246 ≈ 0.4 W core. Add 0.3 W I/O bank power for a total of ~0.7 W. Without forced airflow and using the JEDEC EIA/JESD51-7 4-layer test board (theta-JA ≈ 18 C/W), junction temperature rise above ambient is about 13 C, keeping the device within the 0 °C to +85 °C commercial limit. For high-utilization designs, designers should add a thermal via array beneath the LBGA center balls to reduce theta-JC-to-PCB.
Route the 1.8 V core supply and 3.3 V I/O bank supplies as star topologies from the regulator outputs to the EP20K100EBC356-3N supply pins, with 10 µF bulk tantalum and 0.1 µF ceramic decoupling within 5 mm of each supply ball. The 356-LBGA at 1.27 mm pitch demands a 4-layer PCB minimum with 4-6 mil laser-drilled microvias for fan-out; design the top signal layer with 4 mil traces and 4 mil spacing to escape the inner rows. Avoid placing vias in the BGA pad — use dog-bone fan-out with via-in-pad only on inner rows where signal density requires it. Match-length (±50 mil) all global clock nets to within the Quartus timing analyzer constraint.
Do not assume the EP20K100EBC356-3N datasheet document numbers referenced in older design notes are still current. APEX 20KE documentation is hosted on third-party datasheet archives rather than intel.com because Intel discontinued primary support after acquiring Altera. When substituting the -1 grade variant on legacy boards, re-run timing analysis at worst-case PVT (1.7 V core, 85 C junction) — the -1 grade can be ~25% slower than -3N and may break critical paths in designs originally closed at -3N. Finally, ensure the configuration device (EPC2 or EPC16) is also still available; the legacy Altera EPC family is itself obsolete and must be sourced from independent distributors.
Compliance Information
RoHS/REACH compliance status was not present in the verified web data for this legacy part; mark as unknown and request a manufacturer compliance letter before use in any compliance-scoped design. APEX 20KE parts predate AEC-Q100 automotive qualification programs and are not recommended for new automotive designs.