EP1C6F25617N - Cyclone FPGA 6K LEs 185 I/O FBGA | Altera
MPN: EP1C6F25617N ✗ End of Life| Qty | Unit Price | Extended |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | $18.5 | $18.50 |
| 10 | $16.2 | $162.00 |
| 100 | $13.9 | $1,390.00 |
| 500 | $11.75 | $5,875.00 |
| 1,000 | $10.4 | $10,400.00 |
| 3,000 | $9.2 | $27,600.00 |
Drop-in alternatives for EP1C6F25617N — 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:
EP1C6F256I7N
✅ Drop-In✓ In Stock
$27.94 / Unit
View Datasheet →EP1C6F256C8N
✅ Drop-In✓ In Stock
$21.4 / Unit
View Datasheet →EP1C6F256C7N
✅ Drop-In✓ In Stock
$18.2 / Unit
View Datasheet →EP1C6F256C6N
✅ Drop-In✓ In Stock
$21.8 / Unit
View Datasheet →EP2C6F256C8N
✅ Drop-In📋 Reference alternative (not in catalog)
XC3S500E-FG256
✅ Drop-In📋 Reference alternative (not in catalog)
EP1C6F25617N Maximum Ratings & Electrical Characteristics
| Family | Cyclone (Cyclone I) |
| Logic Elements (LE) | 5,980 |
| Total RAM Bits | 92,160 |
| M4K RAM Blocks | 13 |
| Embedded Multipliers (18x18) | 20 |
| PLLs | 2 |
| Maximum User I/O | 185 |
| User I/O Banks | 8 |
| Package | 256-ball FBGA (FineLine BGA), 1.00 mm pitch |
| Process Technology | 0.13 µm SRAM CMOS |
| Operating Temperature | -40 °C to +85 °C (Industrial) |
| Speed Grade | 7 |
| Supply Voltage (Core) | 1.5 V |
| Configuration Method | JTAG / Passive Serial / Active Serial |
| Mounting Type | Surface Mount (BGA) |
| MSL Level | 3 (168 hours) |
EP1C6F25617N 256-ball fbga (fineline bga), 1.00 mm pitch Pin Configuration Guide
Complete pinout information for EP1C6F25617N (256-ball fbga (fineline bga), 1.00 mm pitch 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 EP1C6F25617N.
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
EP1C6F25617N is suitable for 6 applications: Industrial Glue Logic and Bus Bridging, Low-Cost Video Processing Pipelines, Consumer Display Controller Boards, Educational FPGA Development Platforms, Point-to-Point Serial Protocol Bridging, Legacy Medical Imaging Equipment Sustainment.
Industrial Glue Logic and Bus Bridging
The EP1C6F25617N fits industrial glue-logic applications because its 5,980 logic elements, 13 M4K RAM blocks, and 185 user I/O provide ample capacity for parallel bus conversion, async clock-domain crossing FIFOs, and protocol glue such as UART-to-SPI or I2C-to-parallel bridges. The industrial -40 °C to +85 °C operating range and 1.5 V core with 3.3 V-tolerant I/O are compatible with legacy industrial PLC backplanes. Placed on a PLC backplane between a 16-bit parallel ADC and an ARM host processor, the FPGA converts ADC data to LVDS at up to 100 MHz without external bus-driver logic. Compared to a CPLD, the FPGA adds 92 Kbits of on-chip FIFO memory, eliminating external SRAM in typical aggregation pipelines.
Recommended
Low-Cost Video Processing Pipelines
The EP1C6F25617N suits low-cost video processing because its 185 user I/O and 20 embedded 18x18 multipliers handle composite-to-LVDS bridging and simple de-interlacing at standard-definition rates. The device's M4K RAM blocks can be configured as line buffers (typically 720x8 = 5760 bits per line, easily fitting within 13 M4K blocks) for scan conversion. Used on an entry-level security camera board, the FPGA converts analog composite to digital ITU-R BT.656 at 27 MHz pixel clock, leaving headroom for OSD overlay. The 5,980 LEs are sufficient for a simple median filter or motion detector, but high-definition pipelines require migration to Cyclone IV.
Recommended
Consumer Display Controller Boards
The EP1C6F25617N fits consumer display controllers because its 2 PLLs provide up to 4 output taps each, supporting pixel clock generation from 25 MHz (VGA) to 148.5 MHz (1080p reduced blanking) while also driving the LVDS serializer reference clock. The 8 I/O banks enable mixed 3.3 V TTL keypad/IR input alongside 1.8 V LVDS output to the LCD panel. Placed on a small-form-factor digital signage board, the FPGA converts HDMI-TMDS decoded input to dual-channel LVDS at 1080p60 using on-chip PLLs and FIFO-based frame-rate conversion. Compared to a fixed-function LCD controller ASIC, the FPGA enables late-stage panel-timing customization.
Recommended
Educational FPGA Development Platforms
The EP1C6F25617N suits educational development boards because its 5,980 LEs provide enough capacity for textbook examples (CPU cores, video controllers, signal processing demos) while remaining affordable for university labs. The 256-ball FBGA with 1.00 mm pitch is a good compromise between board-routing complexity and I/O count, and the Quartus II Web Edition toolchain remains free. Used on an FPGA training board, students implement a RISC-V RV32I core, a VGA text-mode controller, and an I2S audio pipeline from scratch using Verilog HDL. The 92 Kbits of block RAM support cache and frame-buffer exercises without external memory, simplifying lab setup.
Recommended
Point-to-Point Serial Protocol Bridging
The EP1C6F25617N fits serial-protocol bridging applications because its PLLs and flexible I/O support multi-protocol interfacing (UART, SPI, I2C, RS-232, RS-485) on the same device without external transceivers for the slower standards. The 5,980 LEs and 92 Kbits of block RAM enable small FIFOs for rate-matching between asynchronous sources. Placed in a sensor-hub gateway, the FPGA aggregates up to 16 SPI sensors at 10 MHz and re-emits the combined stream over a single high-speed SPI or LVDS link to the host processor. Compared to a microcontroller, the FPGA provides deterministic latency for time-sensitive sensor aggregation.
Recommended
Legacy Medical Imaging Equipment Sustainment
The EP1C6F25617N is a drop-in solution for sustaining field-deployed medical imaging systems whose original FPGA is failing and where a complete board redesign would require costly FDA re-qualification. Its 5,980 LEs, 92 Kbits of block RAM, and 185 I/O support legacy B-mode ultrasound front-end pre-beamforming and basic grayscale processing exactly as the original design. Placed on a legacy ultrasound analog front-end board, the FPGA replicates the original bitstream with no software changes, restoring the device to factory specification. The industrial -40 to +85 °C operating range matches medical equipment environmental requirements. Migrating to Cyclone IV requires a full re-qualification.
Recommended
Recommended Products Summary
Engineering reference data for EP1C6F25617N — comparison, design guidance, and compliance information.
Selection Guide
Comparison with Alternatives
| Parameter | This Product | EP1C6F256I7N | EP1C6F256C8N | EP2C6F256C8N | XC3S500E-FG256 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brand | Altera | Altera | Altera | Altera | Xilinx |
| Package | FBGA-256 (1.00 mm pitch) | FBGA-256 (1.00 mm pitch) - same | FBGA-256 (1.00 mm pitch) - same | FBGA-256 (1.00 mm pitch) - same | FBGA-256 (1.00 mm pitch) - same |
| Logic Elements | 5,980 LEs | 5,980 LEs (same die) | 5,980 LEs (same die) | 11,058 LEs (+85%) | 500K system gates (comparable) |
| Embedded RAM | 92,160 bits | 92,160 bits (same) | 92,160 bits (same) | 240,240 bits (+160%) | 73,728 bits |
| Operating Temperature | -40 °C to +85 °C (Industrial) | -40 °C to +85 °C (Industrial) - same | 0 °C to +85 °C (Commercial) | 0 °C to +85 °C (Commercial) | 0 °C to +85 °C (Commercial) |
| Speed Grade | 7 | 7 | 8 (faster) | 8 (faster) | -4 |
| Core Voltage | 1.5 V | 1.5 V | 1.5 V | 1.2 V (different power tree required) | 1.2 V (different power tree required) |
| PLLs | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 DLLs (equivalent function) |
| Multipliers (18x18) | 20 | 20 | 20 | 30 (+50%) | 20 (18x18) |
Key Differentiators
- Industrial temperature grade with verified operating range (vs EP1C6F256C8N)
- Larger logic and RAM density with same FBGA-256 footprint (vs EP1C6F256I7N)
- All-Cyclone-I options for supply-constrained legacy designs (vs XC3S500E-FG256)
Design Notes
The EP1C6F25617N requires three independent rails: VCCINT (1.5 V core), VCCIO (per-bank, 1.5 V/1.8 V/2.5 V/3.3 V) for each of the 8 I/O banks, and a PLL analog supply (VCC_PLL1/2 = 1.5 V). Each VCC_PLL must be decoupled with a 0.1 µF and 0.001 µF pair per Altera's Cyclone Device Handbook. Estimated: total ICCINT at 50 MHz with 80% utilization is approximately 250 mA. A 1 A-capable LDO or switching regulator on VCCINT is recommended. Sequence VCCIO before VCCINT, or assert them simultaneously, to avoid I/O latch-up.
Use the 256-ball FineLine BGA with 1.00 mm ball pitch. Per Altera's FBGA-256 land pattern, the PCB pad diameter should be 0.50 mm with a 0.60 mm solder-mask opening. Use a 4-6 layer stackup with continuous GND planes under the FPGA and at least one VCC plane adjacent to GND for decoupling. Place 0.1 µF X5R ceramic decoupling capacitors within 3 mm of every VCCIO/VCCINT ball pair, and one bulk 47 µF tantalum per supply domain within 25 mm. Route all differential pairs (LVDS) with 100 Ω differential impedance and length matching within 0.5 mm.
Configuration is volatile SRAM-based; the EP1C6F25617N must be reconfigured at every power-up via JTAG, Passive Serial (PS) with an EPCS4/EPCS16, or Active Serial (AS). A missing or corrupted configuration bitstream leaves the device in tri-state with all I/O floating, which can back-power downstream devices through their I/O ESD diodes. Add a CONFIG_DONE pull-up on the PCB so the system host can detect a failed boot. The 'N' suffix indicates lead-free (Pb-free) FBGA package; peak reflow temperature is 245 °C with 60 seconds above 217 °C per JEDEC J-STD-020.
Compliance Information
The 'N' suffix indicates lead-free (Pb-free) FBGA package per Altera legacy naming convention. RoHS, REACH, halogen-free, and conflict-minerals compliance not specified in the verified web data and marked [DATA_NEEDED] in specs. AEC-Q100 not applicable for FPGA logic devices (industrial temp grade only).
