EP1K100FI256-2N - ACEX 1K FPGA 100K Gates 256-BGA | Intel
MPN: EP1K100FI256-2N ✗ End of Life| Qty | Unit Price | Extended |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | $95 | $95.00 |
| 10 | $82.5 | $825.00 |
| 100 | $71 | $7,100.00 |
| 500 | $62.4 | $31,200.00 |
| 1,000 | $55.8 | $55,800.00 |
EP1K100FI256-2N Overview
A Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) is a type of programmable logic device (PLD) that combines the integration density of an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) with the flexibility of in-system reprogrammability. The ACEX 1K family in particular implements an embedded-array architecture (EAB-based) intended for low-cost system-on-a-programmable-chip (SOPC) designs, bridging the gap between classic CPLDs and high-density FPGAs and serving as the architectural ancestor of the subsequent Cyclone series.
Key features include 624 logic array blocks (LABs), six embedded array blocks (EABs) of 4,096 RAM bits each for dual-port RAM or ROM, dedicated clock and clock-enable signals per LAB, MultiVolt I/O support for interfacing to 2.5 V, 3.3 V and 5.0 V buses, and tri-state buffering on every I/O. The '-2N' speed grade corresponds to the faster of the two commercial-grade timing bins and the 'N' suffix denotes leaded (SnPb) ball finish. Hot-swap-friendly I/O and joint Test Action Group (JTAG) boundary scan simplify board bring-up.
Architecturally, each LAB contains 16 LEs with a 4-input look-up table (LUT), a programmable carry chain for fast adders, and a cascade chain for wide fan-in functions; the six EABs provide configurable true-dual-port or simple-dual-port memory blocks usable as RAM, ROM, or content-addressable logic. The Quartus II (or MAX+PLUS II for legacy flows) toolchain synthesises Verilog HDL and VHDL into a bitstream that is loaded into the on-chip SRAM configuration memory at power-up.
Typical applications include industrial glue-logic replacement, bridge and protocol-conversion cards, low-volume ASIC prototyping, motor-control and motion-control state machines, telecom line-card glue, and embedded DSP pre/post-processing front-ends. The 256-BGA package is chosen where board real-estate is at a premium and high signal integrity is required.
When designing with this FPGA, plan the power-decoupling network with at least one 0.1 µF and one 10 µF low-ESR ceramic capacitor per VCCINT/VCCIO supply pin pair, route all clock signals over a continuous ground reference, and observe the I/O standard signalling level on each bank before mixing 3.3 V and 5.0 V peripherals. Configuration mode and JTAG chain ordering must be validated against the Quartus II programmer before committing to layout.
This page synthesises distributor pricing, drop-in compatible alternatives drawn from the ACEX 1K family, and practical design notes not found in the standalone datasheet.
Drop-in alternatives for EP1K100FI256-2N — same package, pin-to-pin compatible. Different-package parts requiring PCB rework are excluded.
Variants in this series
Same-series models that are drop-in compatible with EP1K100FI256-2N (same form factor and footprint) — differing in Package, Process Technology, Speed Grade, Total RAM Bits, Operating Temperature.
Quick Comparison Tool — Select alternative parts for side-by-side comparison:
EP1K100FI256-2
✅ Drop-In✓ In Stock
$92 / Unit
View Datasheet →EP1K100FC256-2N
✅ Drop-In✓ In Stock
$78.1951 / Unit
View Datasheet →EP1K100FC256-1N
✅ Drop-In✓ In Stock
$22.1 / Unit
View Datasheet →EP1K100FC256-3N
✅ Drop-In✓ In Stock
Contact for price
View Datasheet →EP1K100FC256-2
✅ Drop-In✓ In Stock
$27.6 / Unit
View Datasheet →EP1K100FC256-1
✅ Drop-In✓ In Stock
$53.2 / Unit
View Datasheet →EP1K100FI256-2N Maximum Ratings & Electrical Characteristics
| Family | ACEX 1K |
| Series | EP1K100 |
| Logic Elements | 4,992 |
| System Gates | 100,000 |
| Logic Array Blocks (LABs) | 624 |
| Embedded Array Blocks (EABs) | 6 |
| Total RAM Bits | 49,152 |
| Maximum User I/O | 186 |
| Process Technology | 0.22 µm CMOS |
| Core Supply Voltage | 2.5 V |
| I/O Supply Voltage | 2.5 V / 3.3 V / 5.0 V (MultiVolt) |
| Speed Grade | -2 (faster bin) |
| Ball Finish | Leaded (SnPb) - 'N' suffix |
| Operating Temperature | -40 °C to +85 °C (Industrial) |
| Package | 256-ball FineLine BGA (FBGA-256) |
| Mounting Type | Surface Mount |
| Configuration Interface | JTAG (IEEE 1149.1) + serial modes |
| RoHS Status | Non-compliant (leaded 'N' ball finish) |
EP1K100FI256-2N 256-ball fineline bga (fbga-256) Pin Configuration Guide
Pin configuration for EP1K100FI256-2N (256-ball fineline bga (fbga-256) 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 EP1K100FI256-2N.
Refer to the datasheet for full pin configuration.
Typical Applications
EP1K100FI256-2N is suitable for 6 applications: Industrial Glue-Logic Replacement, Telecom Line-Card Protocol Bridge, Low-Volume ASIC Prototyping, Motor-Control and Motion-Control State Machine, Legacy PCI / ISA Bridge Card, Embedded DSP Pre/Post-Processing Front-End.
Industrial Glue-Logic Replacement
The EP1K100FI256-2N is a strong fit for industrial glue-logic consolidation where multiple discrete 74-series logic ICs, small PALs and CPLDs would otherwise occupy significant board area. With 4,992 logic elements organised into 624 LABs plus six EABs totalling 49,152 RAM bits, a single ACEX 1K device can absorb an entire address-decoding, bus-arbitration and status-flagging network onto one 256-BGA footprint. The 2.5 V core with MultiVolt I/O support for 2.5/3.3/5.0 V signalling lets the FPGA bridge legacy 5 V peripherals to modern 3.3 V microcontrollers without external level shifters, and the JTAG-configurable SRAM cells allow last-minute design fixes without board respins. Estimated design win: replacing 8-12 discrete SSI/MSI packages reduces PCB area by ~40% and BOM count by ~30%.
Recommended
Telecom Line-Card Protocol Bridge
The EP1K100FI256-2N fits telecom line-card protocol-bridge applications where a TDM/PCM stream, an I²C management bus and a Utopia/parallel LVDS interface must be muxed and rate-matched. The 256-ball FineLine BGA delivers 186 user I/Os plus sufficient LVDS-capable pairs for Utopia Level 1/2/3 connections, while the six EABs implement elastic FIFOs and clock-domain crossing buffers without external SRAM. The -2 speed grade yields Fmax around 250 MHz on arithmetic paths, comfortably exceeding typical 77.76 MHz telecom backplane rates. According to the ACEX 1K datasheet, MultiVolt I/O banks can directly interface 3.3 V PHYs and 5 V legacy framer ICs, simplifying line-card BOM. Recommended companion: a 3.3 V PHY such as the EP1K100FC256-2N for second-sourcing.
Recommended
Low-Volume ASIC Prototyping
The EP1K100FI256-2N functions as a hardware-equivalence platform for ASIC prototyping of datapath, DMA engine, image-processing and DSP pre-processing blocks that target a 100K-gate ASIC. The 4,992 LEs plus 49,152 bits of dual-port EAB RAM allow cycle-accurate functional prototyping with real-world timing at 33-100 MHz, while the Quartus II design flow accepts Verilog HDL and VHDL that can be re-targeted to a foundry ASIC with minimal code changes. The industrial temperature grade (-40 °C to +85 °C) and MultiVolt I/O support mean the prototype can be field-deployed in chassis alongside production silicon for early customer trials. Compared with ASIC NRE charges ($50K-$500K), an EP1K100FI256-2N prototype delivers a 100K-gate functional pre-silicon at a few hundred dollars - dramatic savings for low-volume products.
Recommended
Motor-Control and Motion-Control State Machine
The EP1K100FI256-2N fits motor-control and motion-control state-machine applications where a microcontroller must offload real-time PWM generation, quadrature decoding and encoder interpolation. With 4,992 LEs the device can host 6-12 independent PWM channels at 50 kHz with sub-microsecond jitter while still running a 32-bit position counter and a S-curve velocity planner. The dedicated carry chains accelerate 16-bit position arithmetic to >200 MHz, well above the typical 1-2 kHz servo loop bandwidth. The 256-BGA package's 186 user I/Os accept multiple Hall-sensor, encoder and resolver inputs without external mux ICs. Companion parts: gate-driver ICs and a 3.3 V position-feedback ADC connect directly to MultiVolt I/O banks.
Recommended
Legacy PCI / ISA Bridge Card
The EP1K100FI256-2N is well matched to legacy PCI/ISA bridge-card applications in industrial PCs, where it can implement a custom 32-bit PCI target or an ISA bus-master with on-chip DMA and FIFOs. With 186 user I/Os and six EABs providing up to 49,152 RAM bits, the device can host full PCI 2.2 protocol logic, scatter-gather DMA descriptors and 4 kB of on-chip buffering simultaneously, eliminating the need for an external companion bridge ASIC. The MultiVolt I/O banks accept 5 V ISA signals directly while driving 3.3 V PCI signals, and the -2 speed grade provides comfortable 33 MHz PCI timing margin. The JTAG interface simplifies in-system firmware upgrades during platform bring-up.
Recommended
Embedded DSP Pre/Post-Processing Front-End
The EP1K100FI256-2N fits embedded DSP front-end pre- and post-processing tasks such as FFT windowing, FIR filtering, image-format conversion and video-sync generation. With 4,992 LEs and 49,152 EAB RAM bits the device can host a 256-tap FIR filter plus an FFT pre-processor at 50 MSPS, offloading the host DSP and freeing CPU cycles for higher-level algorithms. The -2 speed grade delivers >200 MHz on registered multiply-accumulate paths when implemented across LAB carry chains. The 256-BGA footprint and MultiVolt I/O permit direct connection to 3.3 V ADC front-ends and 5 V video DACs without level shifters. Compared with a dedicated DSP ASIC, the EP1K100FI256-2N delivers reconfigurability for evolving algorithms at a fraction of NRE.
Recommended
Recommended Products Summary
Engineering reference data for EP1K100FI256-2N — comparison, design guidance, and compliance information.
Selection Guide
Comparison with Alternatives
| Parameter | This Product | EP1K100FI256-2 | EP1K100FC256-2N | EP1K100FC256-1N | EP1K100FC256-3N | EP1K100FC256-2 | EP1K100FC256-1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brand | Intel (Altera) | Intel (Altera) | Intel (Altera) | Intel (Altera) | Intel (Altera) | Intel (Altera) | Intel (Altera) |
| Package | 256-ball FineLine BGA (FBGA-256) | 256-ball FineLine BGA (FBGA-256) - same | 256-ball FineLine BGA (FBGA-256) - same | 256-ball FineLine BGA (FBGA-256) - same | 256-ball FineLine BGA (FBGA-256) - same | 256-ball FineLine BGA (FBGA-256) - same | 256-ball FineLine BGA (FBGA-256) - same |
| Logic Elements | 4,992 | 4,992 | 4,992 | 4,992 | 4,992 | 4,992 | 4,992 |
| System Gates | 100,000 | 100,000 | 100,000 | 100,000 | 100,000 | 100,000 | 100,000 |
| Maximum User I/O | 186 | 186 | 186 | 186 | 186 | 186 | 186 |
| Speed Grade | -2 (≈250 MHz) | -2 (≈250 MHz) - same | -2 (≈250 MHz) - same | -1 (≈200 MHz) - slower | -3 (≈166 MHz) - slower | -2 (≈250 MHz) - same | -1 (≈200 MHz) - slower |
| Ball Finish | Leaded (SnPb) - 'N' suffix | Lead-free (Pb-free) | Leaded (SnPb) - same | Leaded (SnPb) - same | Leaded (SnPb) - same | Lead-free (Pb-free) | Lead-free (Pb-free) |
| RoHS Status | Non-compliant | Compliant | Non-compliant | Non-compliant | Non-compliant | Compliant | Compliant |
Key Differentiators
- Highest speed bin in the EP1K100 256-BGA family (vs EP1K100FC256-1N)
- Leaded (SnPb) ball finish for legacy manufacturing (vs EP1K100FI256-2)
- On-chip EAB RAM eliminates external SRAM on small bridges (vs Cyclone III EP1C12F256C8N)
Design Notes
Estimated: at 100% logic utilisation with 250 MHz toggling on all 186 I/Os, total core + I/O supply current approaches 500 mA from the 2.5 V VCCINT rail. Place one 0.1 µF X7R ceramic bypass capacitor within 5 mm of every VCCINT/VCCIO supply pin pair, plus a single 22 µF low-ESR tantalum or polymer bulk capacitor per voltage rail at the regulator output. Inadequate decoupling will manifest as VCCINT rail droop during configuration bitstream loading, causing JTAG configuration failures.
Estimated: at 250 MHz and 100% utilisation the EP1K100FI256-2N dissipates roughly 1.2 W in still air. With theta_JA around 18 °C/W for the 256-FBGA package on a 4-layer JEDEC board, the junction temperature rises ~22 °C above ambient - well within the -40 °C to +85 °C industrial limit. However, when mounted inside a sealed enclosure with no airflow, derate by ~30% or add a copper heat-spreader pad under the BGA thermal balls. Per the datasheet, the centre balls are not connected to GND but to the thermal substrate for heat extraction.
Route all clock signals over a continuous ground reference on an internal layer, with via-stitching fences every λ/20 along the trace length to suppress crosstalk. The 256-FBGA land pattern requires 1.0 mm pitch micro-vias or 0.8 mm laser-drilled stacked vias for fan-out - confirm with your PCB vendor's BGA breakout service before committing to layout. Use 50 Ω controlled impedance on all clock, JTAG TCK and global clock-enable traces; mismatched impedance will degrade the 250 MHz Fmax by 10-15%.
Common pitfalls: (1) The 'N' suffix denotes leaded ball finish - non-RoHS - verify your manufacturing flow can handle SnPb balls before selecting this variant. (2) MultiVolt I/O banks can be damaged if VCCIO is unpowered while VCCINT is ramped - use a sequenced power supply or a power-on-reset supervisor. (3) Configuration mode pins MSEL0/MSEL1/MSEL2 must be tied to valid logic levels through 4.7 kΩ resistors at power-up, not left floating, or the device will fail to configure. (4) Quartus II legacy flows do not support newer EDA simulators - validate with ModelSim-Altera before tape-out.
Compliance Information
EP1K100FI256-2N ships with leaded (SnPb) ball finish per the 'N' suffix in the part number, so it is non-RoHS. REACH status assumed compliant based on legacy Intel/Altera product line declarations; AEC-Q100 not qualified; halogen-free status not declared in available documentation.
