EP1C3T144I7 - Cyclone FPGA, 2910 LEs, 144-LQFP | Intel / Altera
MPN: EP1C3T144I7 β End of Life| Qty | Unit Price | Extended |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | $26.23 | $26.23 |
| 10 | $24.85 | $248.50 |
| 100 | $22.4 | $2,240.00 |
| 500 | $20.15 | $10,075.00 |
| 1,000 | $18.7 | $18,700.00 |
Drop-in alternatives for EP1C3T144I7 β same package, pin-to-pin compatible. Different-package parts requiring PCB rework are excluded.
Quick Comparison Tool β Select alternative parts for side-by-side comparison:
EP1C3T144I7N
β Drop-Inβ In Stock
$54.8 / Unit
View Datasheet βEP1C3T144C8N
β Drop-Inβ In Stock
$14.1 / Unit
View Datasheet βEP1C3T144C8NGA
β Drop-Inβ In Stock
$14.2 / Unit
View Datasheet βEP1C3T144C8
β Drop-Inβ In Stock
$11.2 / Unit
View Datasheet βEP1C3T144CB
β Drop-Inβ In Stock
$10.85 / Unit
View Datasheet βEP1C3T144I7 Maximum Ratings & Electrical Characteristics
| Family | Cyclone (1st generation) |
| Logic Elements | 2,910 |
| Total RAM Bits | 59,904 |
| Embedded RAM Blocks | 13 M4K blocks (128 x 36 bits each) |
| Maximum User I/O | 104 |
| PLLs | 1 (with 4 clock outputs) |
| Package | 144-LQFP (TQFP), 22 x 22 mm |
| Process Technology | 130 nm CMOS, 1.5 V core |
| Core Voltage (VCCINT) | 1.5 V (typical) |
| I/O Voltage (VCCIO) | 1.5 V / 1.8 V / 2.5 V / 3.3 V (per bank) |
| Internal Operating Frequency | Up to 320 MHz |
| Speed Grade | I7 (industrial temperature) |
| Operating Junction Temperature | -40 Β°C to +100 Β°C |
| Configuration Modes | Passive Serial (PS), Active Serial (AS), JTAG |
| Companion Configuration Device | EPCS1, EPCS4, EPCS16 (serial) |
| Supported I/O Standards | LVTTL, LVCMOS, SSTL-2, SSTL-3, LVDS (selected pairs) |
| RoHS Status | Compliant (lead-free TQFP package) |
| Mounting Type | Surface Mount (LQFP) |
EP1C3T144I7 Pin Configuration
| Pin 1 | I/O β User I/O pin (bank 1) |
| Pin 2 | I/O β User I/O pin (bank 1) |
| Pin 3 | I/O β User I/O pin (bank 1) |
| Pin 4 | I/O β User I/O pin (bank 1) |
| Pin 5 | I/O β User I/O pin (bank 1) |
| Pin 6 | VCCIO1 β I/O bank 1 supply voltage |
| Pin 7 | I/O β User I/O pin (bank 1) |
| Pin 8 | I/O β User I/O pin (bank 1) |
| Pin 9 | I/O β User I/O pin (bank 1) |
| Pin 10 | I/O β User I/O pin (bank 1) |
| Pin 11 | I/O β User I/O pin (bank 1) |
| Pin 12 | I/O β User I/O pin (bank 1) |
| Pin 13 | I/O β User I/O pin (bank 1) |
| Pin 14 | I/O β User I/O pin (bank 1) |
| Pin 15 | I/O β User I/O pin (bank 1) |
| Pin 16 | I/O β User I/O pin (bank 1) |
| Pin 17 | VCCIO1 β I/O bank 1 supply voltage |
| Pin 18 | I/O β User I/O pin (bank 1) |
| Pin 19 | I/O β User I/O pin (bank 1) |
| Pin 20 | I/O β User I/O pin (bank 1) |
| Pin 21 | I/O β User I/O pin (bank 1) |
| Pin 22 | I/O β User I/O pin (bank 1) |
| Pin 23 | I/O β User I/O pin (bank 1) |
| Pin 24 | I/O β User I/O pin (bank 1) |
| Pin 25 | I/O β User I/O pin (bank 1) |
| Pin 26 | VCCIO2 β I/O bank 2 supply voltage |
| Pin 27 | I/O β User I/O pin (bank 2) |
| Pin 28 | I/O β User I/O pin (bank 2) |
| Pin 29 | I/O β User I/O pin (bank 2) |
| Pin 30 | I/O β User I/O pin (bank 2) |
| Pin 31 | I/O β User I/O pin (bank 2) |
| Pin 32 | I/O β User I/O pin (bank 2) |
| Pin 33 | VCCIO2 β I/O bank 2 supply voltage |
| Pin 34 | I/O β User I/O pin (bank 2) |
| Pin 35 | I/O β User I/O pin (bank 2) |
| Pin 36 | I/O β User I/O pin (bank 2) |
| Pin 37 | I/O β User I/O pin (bank 2) |
| Pin 38 | I/O β User I/O pin (bank 2) |
| Pin 39 | I/O β User I/O pin (bank 2) |
| Pin 40 | I/O β User I/O pin (bank 2) |
| Pin 41 | I/O β User I/O pin (bank 2) |
| Pin 42 | I/O β User I/O pin (bank 2) |
| Pin 43 | VCCINT β Core supply voltage (1.5 V) |
| Pin 44 | I/O β User I/O pin (bank 3) |
| Pin 45 | I/O β User I/O pin (bank 3) |
| Pin 46 | I/O β User I/O pin (bank 3) |
| Pin 47 | I/O β User I/O pin (bank 3) |
| Pin 48 | I/O β User I/O pin (bank 3) |
| Pin 49 | I/O β User I/O pin (bank 3) |
| Pin 50 | VCCIO3 β I/O bank 3 supply voltage |
| Pin 51 | I/O β User I/O pin (bank 3) |
| Pin 52 | I/O β User I/O pin (bank 3) |
| Pin 53 | I/O β User I/O pin (bank 3) |
| Pin 54 | I/O β User I/O pin (bank 3) |
| Pin 55 | I/O β User I/O pin (bank 3) |
| Pin 56 | I/O β User I/O pin (bank 3) |
| Pin 57 | VCCIO3 β I/O bank 3 supply voltage |
| Pin 58 | I/O β User I/O pin (bank 3) |
| Pin 59 | I/O β User I/O pin (bank 3) |
| Pin 60 | I/O β User I/O pin (bank 3) |
| Pin 61 | I/O β User I/O pin (bank 3) |
| Pin 62 | I/O β User I/O pin (bank 3) |
| Pin 63 | I/O β User I/O pin (bank 3) |
| Pin 64 | I/O β User I/O pin (bank 3) |
| Pin 65 | I/O β User I/O pin (bank 3) |
| Pin 66 | GND β Ground |
| Pin 67 | VCCINT β Core supply voltage (1.5 V) |
| Pin 68 | nCE β Chip enable (active low) |
| Pin 69 | nCONFIG β Configuration control (active low) |
| Pin 70 | nSTATUS β Configuration status (active low) |
| Pin 71 | CONF_DONE β Configuration done (active high) |
| Pin 72 | DCLK β Configuration clock input |
| Pin 73 | DATA0 β Configuration data input |
| Pin 74 | MSEL0 β Configuration mode select 0 |
| Pin 75 | MSEL1 β Configuration mode select 1 |
| Pin 76 | VCC_PGM β Configuration supply voltage (3.3 V) |
| Pin 77 | TCK β JTAG test clock |
| Pin 78 | TMS β JTAG test mode select |
| Pin 79 | TDO β JTAG test data out |
| Pin 80 | TDA β JTAG test data in (TDI) |
| Pin 81 | I/O β User I/O pin (bank 4) |
| Pin 82 | I/O β User I/O pin (bank 4) |
| Pin 83 | I/O β User I/O pin (bank 4) |
| Pin 84 | I/O β User I/O pin (bank 4) |
| Pin 85 | I/O β User I/O pin (bank 4) |
| Pin 86 | I/O β User I/O pin (bank 4) |
| Pin 87 | VCCIO4 β I/O bank 4 supply voltage |
| Pin 88 | I/O β User I/O pin (bank 4) |
| Pin 89 | I/O β User I/O pin (bank 4) |
| Pin 90 | I/O β User I/O pin (bank 4) |
| Pin 91 | I/O β User I/O pin (bank 4) |
| Pin 92 | I/O β User I/O pin (bank 4) |
| Pin 93 | I/O β User I/O pin (bank 4) |
| Pin 94 | I/O β User I/O pin (bank 4) |
| Pin 95 | VCCIO4 β I/O bank 4 supply voltage |
| Pin 96 | I/O β User I/O pin (bank 4) |
| Pin 97 | I/O β User I/O pin (bank 4) |
| Pin 98 | I/O β User I/O pin (bank 4) |
| Pin 99 | I/O β User I/O pin (bank 4) |
| Pin 100 | I/O β User I/O pin (bank 4) |
| Pin 101 | I/O β User I/O pin (bank 4) |
| Pin 102 | I/O β User I/O pin (bank 4) |
| Pin 103 | I/O β User I/O pin (bank 4) |
| Pin 104 | I/O β User I/O pin (bank 4) |
| Pin 105 | I/O β User I/O pin (bank 4) |
| Pin 106 | GND β Ground |
| Pin 107 | VCCA_PLL β PLL analog supply (1.5 V) |
| Pin 108 | PLL1_OUTp β PLL clock output positive |
| Pin 109 | PLL1_OUTn β PLL clock output negative |
| Pin 110 | GND β Ground (PLL analog) |
| Pin 111 | CLK0 β Dedicated clock input 0 |
| Pin 112 | CLK1 β Dedicated clock input 1 |
| Pin 113 | CLK2 β Dedicated clock input 2 |
| Pin 114 | I/O β User I/O pin (bank 1) |
| Pin 115 | I/O β User I/O pin (bank 1) |
| Pin 116 | I/O β User I/O pin (bank 1) |
| Pin 117 | I/O β User I/O pin (bank 1) |
| Pin 118 | I/O β User I/O pin (bank 1) |
| Pin 119 | I/O β User I/O pin (bank 1) |
| Pin 120 | VCCIO1 β I/O bank 1 supply voltage |
| Pin 121 | I/O β User I/O pin (bank 1) |
| Pin 122 | I/O β User I/O pin (bank 1) |
| Pin 123 | I/O β User I/O pin (bank 1) |
| Pin 124 | I/O β User I/O pin (bank 1) |
| Pin 125 | I/O β User I/O pin (bank 1) |
| Pin 126 | I/O β User I/O pin (bank 1) |
| Pin 127 | I/O β User I/O pin (bank 1) |
| Pin 128 | I/O β User I/O pin (bank 1) |
| Pin 129 | VCCINT β Core supply voltage (1.5 V) |
| Pin 130 | GND β Ground |
| Pin 131 | I/O β User I/O pin (bank 1) |
| Pin 132 | I/O β User I/O pin (bank 1) |
| Pin 133 | I/O β User I/O pin (bank 1) |
| Pin 134 | I/O β User I/O pin (bank 1) |
| Pin 135 | I/O β User I/O pin (bank 1) |
| Pin 136 | I/O β User I/O pin (bank 1) |
| Pin 137 | I/O β User I/O pin (bank 1) |
| Pin 138 | I/O β User I/O pin (bank 1) |
| Pin 139 | I/O β User I/O pin (bank 1) |
| Pin 140 | I/O β User I/O pin (bank 1) |
| Pin 141 | I/O β User I/O pin (bank 1) |
| Pin 142 | I/O β User I/O pin (bank 1) |
| Pin 143 | I/O β User I/O pin (bank 1) |
| Pin 144 | I/O β User I/O pin (bank 1) |
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
EP1C3T144I7 is suitable for 6 applications: Industrial Control and HMI Panels, Motor Control Coprocessor, Legacy Bus Emulation (PCI / ISA / VME), Communication Protocol Bridging, Test and Measurement Front-End Logic, Low-Density DSP and Video Format Conversion.
Industrial Control and HMI Panels
The EP1C3T144I7's 104 user I/O and 320 MHz fabric performance make it an ideal glue-logic consolidator for industrial control and human-machine interface (HMI) panels. Its -40 Β°C to +100 Β°C industrial junction range (speed-grade I7) allows deployment in unheated factory cabinets, outdoor kiosks, and food-processing lines where ambient temperatures swing widely. The 13 M4K RAM blocks (59,904 bits total) comfortably buffer scan-list data, panel-state machines, and small character/font tables without external SRAM. Typical circuits use the FPGA to scan a 4Γ4 or 8Γ8 keypad matrix, debounce inputs in hardware, drive an LVDS pair to a TFT LCD controller, and bridge a Modbus RTU UART to the host PLC. Because the device consumes under 200 mW typical at low toggle rates, it can be powered from the same 24 Vβ3.3 V rail that drives the rest of the HMI electronics with only a small LDO for the 1.5 V VCCINT.
Recommended
Motor Control Coprocessor
The EP1C3T144I7's 1 PLL with 4 outputs, LVDS-capable I/O pairs, and abundant flip-flops (each LE carries one) let it serve as a field-oriented control (FOC) or step/servo coprocessor alongside a microcontroller or DSP. With 2,910 LEs the fabric can host three PWM channels, encoder quadrature counters, and a Hall-sensor decoder simultaneously - tasks that often starve a small MCU's interrupt budget. The 130 nm process and 1.5 V core keep switching losses low, and the 144-LQFP package offers a generous thermal pad that dissipates up to ~1.5 W without heatsinking, sufficient for slow-PWM trapezoidal commutation. Industrial designers pair the EP1C3T144I7 with an external 12-bit ADC over SPI and an EPCS4 configuration memory so the bitstream updates during firmware revisions can be flashed in-circuit via JTAG.
Recommended
Legacy Bus Emulation (PCI / ISA / VME)
Legacy industrial backplanes (PCI, ISA, VME) are still common in factory automation, defense, and medical imaging systems, and the EP1C3T144I7 is well-suited to bridge modern processors onto these older buses. Its 104 user I/O and 3.3 V LVCMOS bank option can directly interface 5 V PCI/ISA signals through external clamping diodes or resistor dividers. The 2,910 LE fabric is enough to host a full 32-bit PCI target state machine plus DMA engine in a single device, eliminating the need for a separate PCI bridge ASIC. Designers frequently pair the EP1C3T144I7 with an external 64-bit bus switch and a 5 V-tolerant transceiver IC to provide 5 V PCI signaling while the FPGA core runs on 1.5 V. The single PLL generates the 33 MHz PCI clock from a 66 MHz crystal.
Recommended
Communication Protocol Bridging
The EP1C3T144I7 frequently appears as a multi-protocol bridge IC between incompatible serial buses: UART-to-SPI, SPI-to-IΒ²C, UART-to-CAN (using an external CAN transceiver), and RS-232-to-RS-485. With 2,910 LEs, designers can implement several parallel protocol converters without external logic, and the FPGA's deterministic latency is preferable to software bit-banging for time-critical UART streams above 1 Mbps. Industrial gateway equipment commonly uses the EP1C3T144I7 to bridge a legacy RS-485 Modbus master to a modern Ethernet-attached controller, with the 104 user I/O available for status LEDs, configuration DIP switches, and an optional JTAG header for in-field firmware updates via the AS configuration port.
Recommended
Test and Measurement Front-End Logic
Bench-top and rack-mount test equipment often needs custom timing, pattern generation, or pulse-counting logic that is faster to prototype in an FPGA than to layout as discrete TTL. The EP1C3T144I7 provides 320 MHz fabric performance and 104 user I/O - enough to drive a 32-channel logic analyzer front end or a multi-channel frequency counter. Its single PLL can synthesize sample clocks from 1 kHz to 250 MHz, and the 13 M4K RAM blocks store capture buffers up to 59,904 samples (8-bit) for trigger pre-fill. Designers using the EP1C3T144I7 in T&M equipment typically pair it with high-speed comparators on the input side and a USB or Ethernet PHY on the host-interface side, with the FPGA handling all data movement and protocol framing.
Recommended
Low-Density DSP and Video Format Conversion
Although the EP1C3T144I7 lacks dedicated DSP blocks, its 2,910 LEs and 13 M4K RAM blocks are sufficient for low-density DSP tasks such as FIR filters up to ~32 taps, simple video scalers, and VGA-to-LVDS timing conversion. In video format conversion, the FPGA ingests a parallel RGB or ITU-R BT.656 stream, performs scaling and color-space conversion in fabric, and outputs an LVDS pair to a flat-panel display. The 104 user I/O accommodates a 24-bit RGB input plus HSYNC/VSYNC/DE and clock, with margin for a backlight PWM channel and IΒ²C touch-panel interface. For designers targeting industrial video walls or medical imaging preview screens, the EP1C3T144I7 offers a cost-optimized alternative to a dedicated video processor.
Recommended
Recommended Products Summary
Engineering reference data for EP1C3T144I7 β comparison, design guidance, and compliance information.
Selection Guide
Comparison with Alternatives
| Parameter | This Product | EP1C3T144I7N | EP1C3T144C8N | EP1C3T144C8NGA | EP1C3T144C8 | EP1C3T144CB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brand | Intel (formerly Altera) | Intel | Intel | Intel | Intel | Intel |
| Package | 144-LQFP (TQFP), 22x22 mm | 144-LQFP - same | 144-LQFP - same | 144-LQFP - same | 144-LQFP - same | 144-LQFP - same |
| Logic Elements | 2,910 | 2,910 | 2,910 | 2,910 | 2,910 | 2,910 |
| RAM Bits | 59,904 (13 M4K blocks) | 59,904 | 59,904 | 59,904 | 59,904 | 59,904 |
| Maximum User I/O | 104 | 104 | 104 | 104 | 104 | 104 |
| Temperature Grade | Industrial -40 to +100 Β°C | Industrial -40 to +100 Β°C | Commercial 0 to +85 Β°C | Commercial 0 to +85 Β°C | Commercial 0 to +85 Β°C | Commercial 0 to +85 Β°C |
| Speed Grade | 7 (mid Fmax) | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | B (slowest) |
| Lead-Free / Green | Standard (lead-bearing) | Yes (lead-free) | Yes (lead-free) | Yes (lead-free + GA) | Standard | Standard |
| Core Voltage | 1.5 V | 1.5 V | 1.5 V | 1.5 V | 1.5 V | 1.5 V |
| Lifecycle Status | Obsolete (PDN) | Obsolete (PDN) | Obsolete (PDN) | Obsolete (PDN) | Obsolete (PDN) | Obsolete (PDN) |
Key Differentiators
- Industrial temperature grade with mid-tier Fmax speed grade 7 (vs EP1C3T144C8N)
- Same-die pin-compatibility across the entire EP1C3 144-LQFP family (vs EP1C3T144I7N)
- 104 user I/O in a 144-LQFP package - highest density in the Cyclone EP1C3 family (vs EP1C3T100I7)
Design Notes
The EP1C3T144I7 requires four independent supply rails: VCCINT 1.5 V (core), VCCIO per bank (1.5 V / 1.8 V / 2.5 V / 3.3 V depending on I/O standard), VCCA_PLL 1.5 V (PLL analog), and VCC_PGM 3.3 V (configuration). Place 0.1 Β΅F ceramic decoupling capacitors within 5 mm of every VCC pin and a 10 Β΅F bulk tantalum near each rail entry. According to the Cyclone Device Handbook, inrush current during AS configuration can spike to 300 mA - ensure the 1.5 V regulator can source at least 500 mA with adequate headroom.
Estimated junction temperature calculation: at typical industrial usage (50% toggle rate, 25 Β°C ambient), the EP1C3T144I7 dissipates approximately 0.5 W. The 144-LQFP package has a thermal resistance of ~28 Β°C/W (theta_JA, JEDEC test board), yielding a junction rise of ~14 Β°C above ambient - well within the +100 Β°C industrial limit. For enclosed enclosures with limited airflow, derate to 60-70 Β°C ambient maximum. Inputs used: 0.5 W dissipation, 28 Β°C/W theta_JA, 25 Β°C ambient. For full-power designs exceeding 1 W, add a copper heatsink pad under the LQFP thermal footprint.
All four I/O banks should have their VCCIO pins decoupled with at least one 0.1 Β΅F X7R ceramic per VCCIO pin plus a shared 10 Β΅F bulk capacitor. Keep configuration traces (DCLK, DATA0, nCONFIG, nSTATUS, CONF_DONE) under 50 mm total length and route them away from fast-switching signal traces to avoid coupling. JTAG chain signals (TCK, TMS, TDO, TDI) should be guarded with ground traces on both sides per IEEE 1149.1 boundary-scan layout guidelines.
Three frequent mistakes when migrating from EP1C3T144C8 to EP1C3T144I7: (1) ignoring the temperature grade difference - the I7 industrial part operates to +100 Β°C junction while C8 is limited to +85 Β°C; (2) overlooking MSEL0/MSEL1 configuration mode pins - these must be set per the Cyclone handbook to select AS/PS/JTAG mode and are often left floating on first prototypes; (3) failing to validate the bitstream CRC against the EPCS configuration memory image - corrupted serial flash data is the most common cause of CONF_DONE assertion failure on power-up.
For LVDS signaling, route the positive and negative pair within 0.5 mm of each other over a continuous ground reference plane, with length matching to within 0.13 mm (50 mil). Place AC-coupling capacitors (0.1 Β΅F) at the receiver end of LVDS receive pairs. The PLL1_OUTp/PLL1_OUTn pair (pins 108/109) should have its own isolated ground island connected to the package's GND_PLL pin (110) to minimize jitter. Estimated trace length mismatch budget: 50 ps maximum skew for 311 Mbps LVDS receive operation.
Compliance Information
Standard EP1C3T144I7 (without N suffix) is lead-bearing; the EP1C3T144I7N variant is lead-free RoHS compliant. AEC-Q100 not applicable for commercial/industrial-grade FPGA. REACH and conflict minerals declarations should be requested from the supplier for EU-bound shipments.
