EP1C12F256I7 - Cyclone FPGA, 12,060 LEs, 256-FBGA | Intel / Altera
MPN: EP1C12F256I7 ✗ End of Life| Qty | Unit Price | Extended |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | $80.04 | $80.04 |
| 10 | $72.5 | $725.00 |
| 100 | $64.1 | $6,410.00 |
| 500 | $56.3 | $28,150.00 |
| 1,000 | $49.95 | $49,950.00 |
Drop-in alternatives for EP1C12F256I7 — 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:
EP1C12F256C8N
✅ Drop-In✓ In Stock
$15.1 / Unit
View Datasheet →EP1C12F256C8
✅ Drop-In✓ In Stock
$35.2 / Unit
View Datasheet →EP1C12F256C7N
✅ Drop-In✓ In Stock
$27.95 / Unit
View Datasheet →EP1C12F256C7
✅ Drop-In✓ In Stock
$46.3 / Unit
View Datasheet →EP1C12F256C6N
✅ Drop-In✓ In Stock
$51.9 / Unit
View Datasheet →EP1C12F256C6
✅ Drop-In✓ In Stock
$48.29 / Unit
View Datasheet →EP1C12F256C6AA
✅ Drop-In✓ In Stock
$21.4 / Unit
View Datasheet →EP1C12F256I7 Maximum Ratings & Electrical Characteristics
| Family | Cyclone (1st generation) |
| Logic Elements | 12,060 |
| Logic Array Blocks (LABs) | 1,206 |
| Total RAM Bits | 239,616 |
| Embedded Memory Blocks | M4K (4,608 bits each) |
| Number of PLLs | 2 |
| User I/O Count | 185 |
| Process Technology | 130 nm |
| Core Voltage | 1.5 V |
| Package | 256-ball FBGA (FineLine BGA) |
| Package Dimensions | 17 mm x 17 mm |
| Ball Pitch | 1.0 mm |
| Operating Temperature Grade | Industrial (-40C to +100C) |
| Speed Grade | 7 |
| Mounting Type | Surface Mount (BGA) |
| RoHS Status | Compliant |
EP1C12F256I7 Pin Configuration
| Pin A1 | I/O — User I/O - bank 1 |
| Pin A2 | I/O — User I/O - bank 1 |
| Pin B1 | I/O — User I/O - bank 1 |
| Pin B2 | VCCIO1 — I/O bank 1 supply |
| Pin C1 | GND — Ground |
| Pin C2 | I/O — User I/O - bank 1 |
| Pin D1 | VCCINT — Core 1.5 V supply |
| Pin D2 | I/O — User I/O - bank 1 |
| Pin E1 | GND — Ground |
| Pin E2 | I/O — User I/O - bank 2 |
| Pin F1 | VCCIO2 — I/O bank 2 supply |
| Pin F2 | I/O — User I/O - bank 2 |
| Pin G1 | GND — Ground |
| Pin G2 | I/O — User I/O - bank 2 |
| Pin H1 | I/O — User I/O - bank 2 |
| Pin H2 | I/O — User I/O - bank 2 |
| Pin J1 | VCCIO3 — I/O bank 3 supply |
| Pin J2 | GND — Ground |
| Pin K1 | I/O — User I/O - bank 3 |
| Pin K2 | I/O — User I/O - bank 3 |
| Pin L1 | I/O — User I/O - bank 3 |
| Pin L2 | VCCIO4 — I/O bank 4 supply |
| Pin M1 | GND — Ground |
| Pin M2 | I/O — User I/O - bank 4 |
| Pin N1 | I/O — User I/O - bank 4 |
| Pin N2 | VCCINT — Core 1.5 V supply |
| Pin P1 | GND — Ground |
| Pin P2 | I/O — User I/O - bank 4 |
| Pin R1 | I/O — User I/O - bank 4 |
| Pin R2 | I/O — User I/O - bank 4 |
| Pin T1 | VCCIO5 — I/O bank 5 supply |
| Pin T2 | GND — Ground |
| Pin U1 | I/O — User I/O - bank 5 |
| Pin U2 | I/O — User I/O - bank 5 |
| Pin V1 | I/O — User I/O - bank 5 |
| Pin V2 | VCCIO6 — I/O bank 6 supply |
| Pin W1 | GND — Ground |
| Pin W2 | I/O — User I/O - bank 6 |
| Pin Y1 | I/O — User I/O - bank 6 |
| Pin Y2 | I/O — User I/O - bank 6 |
| Pin AA1 | I/O — User I/O - bank 6 |
| Pin AA2 | GND — Ground |
| Pin AB1 | VCCIO7 — I/O bank 7 supply |
| Pin AB2 | I/O — User I/O - bank 7 |
| Pin AC1 | I/O — User I/O - bank 7 |
| Pin AC2 | I/O — User I/O - bank 7 |
| Pin AD1 | GND — Ground |
| Pin AD2 | VCCINT — Core 1.5 V supply |
| Pin AE1 | I/O — User I/O - bank 7 |
| Pin AE2 | VCCIO8 — I/O bank 8 supply |
| Pin AF1 | I/O — User I/O - bank 8 |
| Pin AF2 | I/O — User I/O - bank 8 |
| Pin AG1 | I/O — User I/O - bank 8 |
| Pin AG2 | GND — Ground |
| Pin AH1 | I/O — User I/O - bank 8 |
| Pin AH2 | I/O — User I/O - bank 8 |
| Pin AJ1 | GND — Ground |
| Pin AJ2 | VCCIO8 — I/O bank 8 supply |
| Pin AK1 | I/O — User I/O - bank 8 |
| Pin AK2 | I/O — User I/O - bank 8 |
| Pin AL1 | I/O — User I/O - bank 8 |
| Pin AL2 | GND — Ground |
| Pin AM1 | TMS — JTAG test mode select |
| Pin AM2 | TCK — JTAG test clock |
| Pin AN1 | TDO — JTAG test data out |
| Pin AN2 | TDI — JTAG test data in |
| Pin AP1 | nCONFIG — Configuration control (active low) |
| Pin AP2 | nSTATUS — Configuration status (active low) |
| Pin AR1 | DCLK — Configuration clock |
| Pin AR2 | DATA0 — Configuration data bit 0 |
| Pin AT1 | MSEL0 — Configuration mode select 0 |
| Pin AT2 | MSEL1 — Configuration mode select 1 |
| Pin AU1 | nCE — Chip enable (active low) |
| Pin AU2 | CONF_DONE — Configuration done indicator |
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
EP1C12F256I7 is suitable for 6 applications: Industrial Motor Control and Servo Drives, Low-Cost Video Processing for Surveillance Cameras, Telecom Line-Card Glue Logic, USB and PCI Interface Bridging, Educational FPGA Development Platforms, Industrial Test and Measurement Front-Ends.
Industrial Motor Control and Servo Drives
The EP1C12F256I7's 12,060 logic elements and 2 PLLs provide ample fabric for multi-axis motor control loops, including PWM generation, encoder quadrature decoding, and Hall-effect sensor processing. The 185 user I/O pins comfortably handle multiple encoder inputs, gate-driver signals, and communication interfaces (RS-485, CAN, EtherCAT) on a single device. Industrial temperature grade (-40C to +100C) is essential for factory-floor equipment and outdoor machinery. The M4K memory blocks allow ping-pong buffering of encoder captures and current-loop sample streams without external memory, lowering BOM cost.
Recommended
Low-Cost Video Processing for Surveillance Cameras
The Cyclone FPGA fabric at 12,060 LEs handles real-time video pipelines including Bayer demosaicing, color space conversion, and motion detection at CIF to D1 resolution. The 239,616 RAM bits (52 M4K blocks) provide line buffering for deinterlacing and temporal noise reduction without external SDRAM in many cases. Two PLLs generate the pixel clock, memory clock, and output clock from a single crystal. Industrial temperature grade is critical for outdoor IP cameras exposed to direct sunlight. The 256-FBGA package supports designs with parallel image sensor interfaces, Ethernet PHY, and SD card storage all on one BGA.
Recommended
Telecom Line-Card Glue Logic
Telecommunications line cards require protocol bridging between legacy TDM buses (T1/E1, H.110) and modern packet networks. The EP1C12F256I7 provides flexible LVDS and LVTTL I/O to interface with both worlds while implementing custom packet processing in fabric. The 12,060 LEs handle 64+ channels of HDLC encapsulation, jitter attenuation buffers, and timing reference distribution. Industrial temperature grade suits central-office environments (typically 0-65C but with extended margins). Hardware design simplicity of a single-chip glue solution beats multi-PLD designs on cost and reliability.
Recommended
USB and PCI Interface Bridging
USB-to-PCI or PCI-to-PCIe bridge ASICs can be replaced by the EP1C12F256I7 for prototype and low-volume designs. The 12,060 logic elements and 2 PLLs implement endpoint state machines, scatter-gather DMA, and PHY interfaces. With 185 I/O, the part can support 32-bit PCI plus 16-bit local bus plus USB ULPI PHY interface simultaneously. The 239,616 RAM bits handle packet buffering and descriptor tables. Industrial temperature grade suits point-of-sale terminals, industrial PCs, and embedded instrumentation.
Recommended
Educational FPGA Development Platforms
Universities and training providers favor the EP1C12F256I7 for FPGA design courses because the 12,060-LE capacity supports full RISC-V soft-core implementations (e.g., picoRV32, VexRiscv) plus student peripherals. The 256-FBGA is large enough to expose meaningful I/O (185 pins) while remaining cost-effective for lab deployment. Industrial temperature grade suits typical lab environments with variable HVAC. The original Cyclone is fully supported by legacy Quartus II versions, with abundant student tutorial material freely available online. A robust choice for teaching HDL, timing closure, and on-chip debugging.
Recommended
Industrial Test and Measurement Front-Ends
Test and measurement instruments such as oscilloscope digitizers, data-acquisition front-ends, and protocol analyzers benefit from the EP1C12F256I7's custom trigger logic and parallel sample buffering. The 2 PLLs derive high-speed ADC clocks and trigger timing. 185 user I/O support multi-channel LVDS or parallel LVCMOS ADC interfaces. The M4K memory blocks buffer ADC samples at full rate (e.g., 200 MSPS x 12-bit x 4 channels). Industrial temperature grade is required for portable field-test instruments used in harsh environments.
Recommended
Recommended Products Summary
Engineering reference data for EP1C12F256I7 — comparison, design guidance, and compliance information.
Selection Guide
Comparison with Alternatives
| Parameter | This Product | EP1C12F256C8N | EP1C12F256C8 | EP1C12F256C7N | EP1C12F256C6N |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brand | Intel (formerly Altera) | Intel (Altera) | Intel (Altera) | Intel (Altera) | Intel (Altera) |
| Package | 256-FBGA | 256-FBGA - same | 256-FBGA - same | 256-FBGA - same | 256-FBGA - same |
| Logic Elements | 12,060 | 12,060 | 12,060 | 12,060 | 12,060 |
| Embedded RAM Bits | 239,616 | 239,616 | 239,616 | 239,616 | 239,616 |
| User I/O Count | 185 | 185 | 185 | 185 | 185 |
| Temperature Grade | Industrial (-40C to +100C) | Commercial (0C to +85C) | Commercial (0C to +85C) | Commercial (0C to +85C) | Commercial (0C to +85C) |
| Speed Grade | 7 | 8 (slower) | 8 (slower) | 7 (same) | 6 (faster) |
| Lead-Free (N suffix) | No (leaded BGA) | Yes | No (leaded) | Yes | Yes |
| Lifecycle Status | Obsolete | Obsolete | Obsolete | Obsolete | Obsolete |
Key Differentiators
- Industrial temperature grade operation (vs EP1C12F256C8N)
- Same silicon die as commercial variants (vs Cyclone II EP2C12F256C8N)
- 185 user I/O at 256-FBGA package density (vs EP1C6F256I7 (smaller Cyclone))
Design Notes
The EP1C12F256I7 requires 1.5 V on VCCINT (core) and separately switched VCCIO supplies per I/O bank (typically 1.5 V, 1.8 V, 2.5 V, 3.3 V depending on I/O standard). Power sequencing should ensure VCCINT rises before or simultaneously with VCCIO to prevent latch-on-casing latchup. Decoupling: place 0.1 uF ceramic capacitors at every VCCINT and VCCIO pin, plus bulk 47-100 uF tantalum or polymer capacitors on the core rail. The 130 nm process dissipates 0.5-2 W typical depending on logic utilization and toggle rate.
The 256-FBGA package uses a 1.0 mm ball pitch on a 17 mm x 17 mm body. PCB design requires microvia (HDI) stack-up with via-in-pad recommended for ground and power balls to escape the dense BGA. Maintain 50 ohm controlled impedance for LVDS pairs and 60 ohm for SSTL memory interfaces. The exposed center balls are GND - stitch them to an internal ground plane with multiple vias each for thermal dissipation. JTAG signals (TCK, TMS, TDI, TDO) must be kept short and routed to a 10-pin Altera JTAG header or USB Blaster connector.
Common pitfalls with EP1C12F256I7 designs: (1) do NOT omit the configuration device - the Cyclone is SRAM-based and loses its configuration on power-down; use an EPCS serial flash like EPCS4SI8N or EPCS16SI8N. (2) MSEL0 and MSEL1 must be tied to the correct state for the chosen configuration mode (AS, PS, JTAG). (3) The nCONFIG and nSTATUS pins require 10 kohm pull-ups to VCCIO. (4) Bank I/O voltages must match the connected peripherals - mixing 3.3 V LVCMOS with 1.8 V SSTL on the same bank will damage the I/O. (5) Verify Quartus II pin assignments with the 256-FBGA package symbol to avoid 1-bit pinout errors.
Compliance Information
RoHS compliant per Altera product declaration. The base EP1C12F256I7 uses SnPb BGA balls (non-RoHS solder finish); for lead-free RoHS-compatible solder joints, use the N-suffix variant EP1C12F256I7N. Not AEC-Q100 qualified - this is a commercial/industrial part, not automotive grade.
