EP1C20F324C6 - Cyclone FPGA 20060 LE, 324-FBGA | Altera / Intel
MPN: EP1C20F324C6 ✗ End of Life| Qty | Unit Price | Extended |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | $130.9 | $130.90 |
| 10 | $125 | $1,250.00 |
| 100 | $118.5 | $11,850.00 |
| 500 | $112 | $56,000.00 |
| 1,000 | $105 | $105,000.00 |
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View Datasheet →EP1C20F324C6 Maximum Ratings & Electrical Characteristics
| Family | Cyclone |
| Logic Elements (LE) | 20,060 |
| Embedded RAM Bits | 294,912 bits (64 M4K blocks × 4,608 bits) |
| User I/O Count | 233 |
| Process Technology | 130 nm CMOS |
| Core Voltage (VCCINT) | 1.5 V |
| I/O Voltage Standards | LVCMOS / LVTTL (3.3 V, 2.5 V, 1.8 V, 1.5 V), LVDS |
| PLLs | 4 |
| Maximum Internal Frequency | 405.2 MHz |
| LVDS Data Rate (per pair) | Up to 640 Mbps |
| Memory Interfaces | DDR SDRAM, QDR SRAM, SDR SDRAM |
| Package | 324-ball FBGA (FineLine BGA) |
| Temperature Grade | Commercial (0 °C to +85 °C) |
| Speed Grade | 6 |
| Configuration Modes | Active Serial (AS), Passive Serial (PS), JTAG |
EP1C20F324C6 324-ball fbga (fineline bga) Pin Configuration Guide
Complete pinout information for EP1C20F324C6 (324-ball fbga (fineline bga) package). 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 EP1C20F324C6.
Refer to the datasheet for full pin configuration.
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
EP1C20F324C6 is suitable for 6 applications: Industrial Control & Motor Drive Glue Logic, Video Processing & Image-Capture Front-End, Telecom Line-Card Bridging & Aggregation, Low-Cost ASIC Prototyping Platform, UART/SPI/I2C Bus Bridge & Interface Aggregator, Automotive Aftermarket Infotainment Add-On.
Industrial Control & Motor Drive Glue Logic
The EP1C20F324C6 fits industrial-control boards because its 20,060 LE and 233 user I/O provide ample room for encoder decoding, PWM generation, commutation timing, and CAN/RS-485 protocol bridging in a single chip. The four on-chip PLLs synthesize independent clock domains for the motor-control PWM (often 20 kHz to 100 kHz) and the host MCU bus (often 50 MHz to 100 MHz) without external oscillators. Industrial users benefit from the commercial 0 °C to +85 °C rating for cabinet-mounted equipment and the LVDS I/O support for noise-immune encoder feedback. Versus a discrete CPLD solution, the Cyclone absorbs soft-core CPU instances (Nios II) for sequencing logic.
Recommended
Video Processing & Image-Capture Front-End
In video-pipeline front-ends the EP1C20F324C6 serves as a parallel-to-parallel format converter, deinterlacer, or chroma-key engine sitting between a CMOS image sensor and a back-end processor. Its 294,912 embedded RAM bits absorb multiple line buffers at common resolutions (1024 × 768 × 8 bits ≈ 786 kbits is tight, but 640 × 480 fits comfortably), and 405 MHz internal Fmax supports pixel-clock conversion up to ~150 MHz. The 233 I/O banks accept wide 24/30-bit RGB buses from the sensor and drive LVDS pairs to downstream ASICs. Cyclone is preferred over an MCU for parallel pixel manipulation where instruction cycles are insufficient.
Recommended
Telecom Line-Card Bridging & Aggregation
Telecom line cards use the EP1C20F324C6 to aggregate low-speed TDM/E1 streams onto higher-speed backplanes, performing framing, HDLC encoding, and clock-domain crossing in hardware. The four PLLs generate the multiple backplane reference clocks required for TDM synchronization, and the abundant LVDS I/O pairs handle 622 Mbps backplane links. Designers appreciate the DDR SDRAM controller IP for elastic store buffering and the JTAG-based in-system upgrade path for field reprogramming. Its commercial temperature rating suits central-office (CO) environments with controlled HVAC, while industrial -40 °C variants cover outdoor DSLAM cabinets.
Recommended
Low-Cost ASIC Prototyping Platform
The EP1C20F324C6 is a long-standing prototyping workhorse for ASIC and ASSP design teams who need real-world I/O, memory interfaces, and moderate logic capacity to validate RTL before tape-out. Quartus II's incremental compile flow lets teams reuse the same bitstream across revisions, and the 324-FBGA is well-supported by low-cost breakout boards for bring-up. Compared to high-end Virtex or Stratix prototyping platforms, the Cyclone costs roughly 10x less, accepts the same HDL source, and exercises true external memory and LVDS paths. Designers moving to production often re-target the same RTL to a hard ASIC or to Cyclone II/IV.
Recommended
UART/SPI/I2C Bus Bridge & Interface Aggregator
The EP1C20F324C6 is commonly deployed as a multi-protocol bridge that fans out a single high-speed upstream port (PCI, USB, or Ethernet) into dozens of slower UART, SPI, and I2C peripherals for instrumentation backplanes. Its 233 I/O pins easily host 8-16 UART lines plus header connectors, while the M4K RAM blocks provide FIFO buffering per channel. Embedded Nios II cores or custom state machines handle the per-channel protocol state, freeing the host processor from interrupt storms. The 1.5 V core with 3.3 V-tolerant I/O allows direct interface to legacy 5 V-tolerant transceivers through external resistive dividers.
Recommended
Automotive Aftermarket Infotainment Add-On
While the EP1C20F324C6 is commercial-grade (0 °C to +85 °C), it is used in dashboard-mounted aftermarket infotainment accessories such as OBD-II loggers, dash-cam image processors, and head-unit adapters where the device sits inside the cabin (not under-hood). The 405 MHz internal Fmax supports H.264 baseline decode of D1 (720 × 480) resolution, and the LVDS pairs drive automotive-grade LCD panels. Designers appreciate the EPCS configuration flash for field-upgradeable firmware over CAN or USB. For under-hood or AEC-Q100 requirements, migrate to the industrial Cyclone IV (EP4CE) family instead - the EP1C20 itself is not AEC-Q100 qualified.
Recommended
Recommended Products Summary
Engineering reference data for EP1C20F324C6 — comparison, design guidance, and compliance information.
Selection Guide
Comparison with Alternatives
| Parameter | This Product | EP1C20F324C7 | EP1C20F324C8 | EP1C12F324C8N | EP1C12F324C8 | EP1C12F324C7N |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Package | 324-ball FBGA | 324-ball FBGA (same) | 324-ball FBGA (same) | 324-ball FBGA (same) | 324-ball FBGA (same) | 324-ball FBGA (same) |
| Brand | Altera (Intel) | Altera (Intel) | Altera (Intel) | Altera (Intel) | Altera (Intel) | Altera (Intel) |
| Logic Elements | 20,060 LE | 20,060 LE (same) | 20,060 LE (same) | 12,060 LE (-40%) | 12,060 LE (-40%) | 12,060 LE (-40%) |
| Speed Grade | 6 | 7 (faster) | 8 (slower) | 8 (slower) | 8 (slower) | 7 (faster) |
| Embedded RAM | 294,912 bits | 294,912 bits (same) | 294,912 bits (same) | 239,616 bits (-19%) | 239,616 bits (-19%) | 239,616 bits (-19%) |
| User I/O | 233 | 233 (same) | 233 (same) | 233 (same footprint, fewer bonded) | 233 (same footprint, fewer bonded) | 233 (same footprint, fewer bonded) |
| PLLs | 4 | 4 (same) | 4 (same) | 2 (-50%) | 2 (-50%) | 2 (-50%) |
| Core Voltage | 1.5 V | 1.5 V (same) | 1.5 V (same) | 1.5 V (same) | 1.5 V (same) | 1.5 V (same) |
| Lifecycle | NRND | NRND | NRND | NRND | NRND | NRND |
Key Differentiators
- Highest logic density in 324-FBGA Cyclone family (vs EP1C12F324C8N)
- Mid-tier speed grade offering balance of cost and performance (vs EP1C20F324C7)
- Original Cyclone vs Cyclone II successor (vs EP2C20F324C6)
- Best-in-class total I/O count at 233 user pins (vs EP1C20Q240C6)
Design Notes
The EP1C20F324C6 core runs at VCCINT = 1.5 V ±5%, with up to 8 I/O banks each requiring a separate VCCIO rail (3.3 V, 2.5 V, 1.8 V, or 1.5 V) and a PLL analog supply VCC_PLL at 1.5 V from a pi-filter (ferrite bead + caps). Decouple each VCCINT pin with 0.1 µF X7R placed within 3 mm, and add at least one 100 µF bulk cap per voltage domain. Power-on sequence requirement: VCCINT must rise monotonically to 1.5 V before any VCCIO bank; failure to sequence properly can trigger POR (power-on-reset) glitches and configuration corruption. Use a TI TPS7A4701 or Linear LT3023 LDO for clean VCCINT supply - the ~3 A peak inrush during configuration demands a regulator with soft-start and foldback current limit.
The 324-ball FineLine BGA uses a 1.0 mm ball pitch; escape routing requires either microvia (HDI) stack-up with 4-6 layers or a dog-bone fan-out on 8 layers. Per Altera AN 433, route all DDR DQS signals with matched-length ±25 mils and 50 Ω single-ended (100 Ω differential) impedance to the memory. Place the EPCS configuration flash within 50 mm of the FPGA DATA0/DCLK/ASDO/nCSO pins and route with 50 Ω controlled impedance - keep nCSO and DCLK length-matched to within 100 mils to avoid configuration failure. Provide at least 4 ground-return vias adjacent to each differential pair to maintain return-path continuity.
Estimated: at 100% toggle rate of 20,060 LE driven at 200 MHz on a 4-layer JEDEC EIA/JESD51 test board, the EP1C20F324C6 dissipates ~1.8 W (Cyclone PowerPlay early-power estimate, typical corner). The 324-FBGA package has θJA ≈ 15 °C/W with adequate thermal vias under the die, yielding a junction-to-ambient rise of ~27 °C. For enclosed enclosures with limited airflow, place a copper heatsink or coin-shaped thermal pad directly over the BGA and stitch at least 25 thermal vias (0.3 mm drill, 1.0 mm pitch) under the die to a 2 oz internal ground plane to keep Tj below 85 °C.
LVDS pairs on the EP1C20F324C6 require 100 Ω differential termination within 7 mm of the receiver balls - use a 0402-size resistor pack to keep stubs short. Cyclone LVDS supports up to 640 Mbps per pair but only on banks that are powered at 2.5 V VCCIO with the LVDS enable bit set in the Quartus pin planner; 3.3 V VCCIO banks cannot drive LVDS and only support LVCMOS/LVTTL. Series-termination resistors (33 Ω to 68 Ω) on high-speed LVCMOS outputs (>100 MHz) reduce overshoot caused by the FBGA-package inductance; place them within 5 mm of the FPGA pin.
Do not leave the MSEL[2:0] pins floating - they select configuration mode (AS=000, PS=010, JTAG=101) and a floating input can pick up noise and corrupt configuration. Always pull-up or pull-down each MSEL pin with a 4.7 kΩ resistor to a known logic level. A second common pitfall is omitting the 25 Ω series damping resistor on the JTAG TCK line - long JTAG chains ring badly without it. Finally, do not forget the POR (Power-On-Reset) delay capacitor: a 1 nF on nCONFIG ensures clean configuration startup after power ramps; without it, the FPGA may enter an undefined state if VCCINT ramps too slowly (<50 µs).
Compliance Information
RoHS and lead-free per Altera/Intel legacy product declaration; AEC-Q100 not qualified (commercial-grade 0-85 °C); halogen-free status not stated in public datasheet - confirm with manufacturer for green-premium requirements
