EP20K600CB652C9N - 600K Gates APEX 20KC FPGA, BGA-652 | Intel
MPN: EP20K600CB652C9N ✗ End of Life| Qty | Unit Price | Extended |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | $185 | $185.00 |
| 10 | $168 | $1,680.00 |
| 100 | $152 | $15,200.00 |
| 500 | $139 | $69,500.00 |
| 1,000 | $128 | $128,000.00 |
EP20K600CB652C9N Overview
An FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array) is a semiconductor device built around an array of configurable logic blocks (CLBs), embedded memory blocks, and programmable interconnect that the customer can tailor after manufacture using a hardware description language. FPGAs occupy the programmable-logic tier between fixed-function ASICs and software-defined processors, making them the platform of choice for parallel datapaths, custom interfaces, and pre-silicon prototyping. Within Intel's portfolio, the APEX 20KC series sits at the top of the APEX II architecture family, integrating MultiCore elements that pair 4-input look-up-table (LUT) logic with embedded system memory (ESB) for FIFO and dual-port RAM functions.
Key features of the EP20K600CB652C9N include approximately 600K typical gates, 24,320 logic cells (LEs), embedded system memory blocks, MultiCore LUT-plus-memory architecture, pin compatibility with the earlier APEX 20KE series, 1.8 V core supply, JTAG-based in-system programmability through IEEE 1149.1, and 488 user I/Os supporting LVTTL, LVCMOS, PCI, and other common I/O standards. The 0.15-micrometer copper process yields roughly 25 to 35 percent higher performance than the older APEX 20KE family, while preserving board-level compatibility for migration.
The architecture couples four-input LUTs with embedded memory so each logic element can be partitioned between combinatorial logic and on-chip storage, and the high I/O count supports wide parallel buses such as DDR memory interfaces and multi-channel telecom datapaths. The 652-ball BGA package supplies the high pin density required to bring 488 user I/Os to the board without exceeding routable escape density on standard 4-layer FR-4 stack-ups.
Typical applications include telecom line cards, high-speed image processing pipelines, ASIC prototyping, custom DSP accelerators, and pre-production verification platforms. The commercial temperature grade (0 to 85 C) targets indoor rack-mounted equipment rather than automotive or military environments.
Designers should budget for the large 45 x 45 mm PCB footprint, ensure the BGA land pattern follows JEDEC MS-034 for 1.27 mm pitch, and use Altera/Intel Quartus II software for place-and-route because legacy APEX series support was last shipped in Quartus II v13.0 and may require the legacy toolchain.
This page synthesizes distributor stock and pricing, APEX 20KC same-family drop-in alternatives, and practical design notes not found in the manufacturer datasheet alone.
Drop-in alternatives for EP20K600CB652C9N — 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 EP20K600CB652C9N (same form factor and footprint) — differing in Package, Process Technology, Operating Temperature, Speed Grade, Family.
Quick Comparison Tool — Select alternative parts for side-by-side comparison:
EP20K600CB652C9
✅ Drop-In ⚠️ 参数待验证✓ In Stock
$142.5 / Unit
View Datasheet →EP20K600CB652C8N
✅ Drop-In ⚠️ 参数待验证✓ In Stock
$115 / Unit
View Datasheet →EP20K600CB652C7N
✅ Drop-In ⚠️ 参数待验证✓ In Stock
$305 / Unit
View Datasheet →EP20K600CB652C7
✅ Drop-In ⚠️ 参数待验证✓ In Stock
$1320 / Unit
View Datasheet →EP20K600CB652C7ES
✅ Drop-In ⚠️ 参数待验证✓ In Stock
$195 / Unit
View Datasheet →EP20K600CB652C-8
✅ Drop-In ⚠️ 参数待验证✓ In Stock
$86 / Unit
View Datasheet →EP20K600CB652C9N Maximum Ratings & Electrical Characteristics
| Family | APEX 20KC |
| Device Type | Loadable PLD (FPGA) |
| Typical Gates | 600,000 |
| Logic Elements | 24,320 |
| Maximum User I/O | 488 |
| Package | BGA-652 (652-ball FineLine BGA, 45 x 45 mm, 1.27 mm pitch) |
| Process Technology | 0.15 micron all-layer copper CMOS |
| Core Supply Voltage | 1.8 V |
| Speed Grade | C9 (~1.48 ns propagation delay) |
| Architecture | MultiCore LUT + embedded system memory (ESB) |
| On-chip Memory | Embedded system memory blocks (dual-port RAM, FIFO) |
| Configuration Interface | JTAG (IEEE 1149.1) and serial/PROM configuration |
| Operating Temperature | 0 C to 85 C (commercial) |
| Mounting Type | Surface Mount (BGA) |
| Pin/Pin Compatibility | Pin-compatible with APEX 20KE devices of same package |
| Toolchain | Altera/Intel Quartus II (legacy APEX support) |
EP20K600CB652C9N bga-652 (652-ball fineline bga, 45 x 45 mm, 1.27 mm pitch) Pin Configuration Guide
Pin configuration for EP20K600CB652C9N (bga-652 (652-ball fineline bga, 45 x 45 mm, 1.27 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 EP20K600CB652C9N.
Refer to the datasheet for full pin configuration.
Typical Applications
EP20K600CB652C9N is suitable for 6 applications: Telecom Line Card Datapath, ASIC Prototyping Platform, High-Speed Image Processing, Custom DSP Accelerator, Industrial Control Backplane Interface, Pre-Production Verification Platform.
Telecom Line Card Datapath
The EP20K600CB652C9N's 600K typical gates and 488 user I/Os make it well-suited for telecom line-card datapath processing where parallel TDM streams, ATM cells, or Ethernet MACs must be aggregated and forwarded at wire speed. The 24,320 logic elements absorb wide custom framer, HDLC controller, and traffic-shaper datapaths that would otherwise require multiple ASICs, while the 652-ball BGA gives the board designer enough pins to break out 32-bit POS/UTOPIA interfaces plus overhead buses. The MultiCore architecture with embedded system memory lets designers implement per-channel FIFO buffers on-chip, eliminating external SRAM and reducing board complexity versus older FPGAs that lacked embedded memory blocks.
Recommended
ASIC Prototyping Platform
With 600K typical gates and 24,320 logic elements, the EP20K600CB652C9N is a long-standing workhorse for ASIC prototyping where the design must run at near-real-time clock rates before tape-out. Designers map each ASIC block to a region of LUT logic and verify system-level behavior, including bus protocols, interrupt structures, and peripheral timing. The 488 user I/Os enable real-world I/O emulation (DDR, PCI, custom parallel buses) without resorting to daughter-board multiplexing. Quartus II v9.1/v13.0 still supports APEX 20KC devices, allowing incremental synthesis and gate-level simulation against the same RTL used for the ASIC flow.
Recommended
High-Speed Image Processing
The 24,320 logic elements and embedded memory blocks of the EP20K600CB652C9N enable real-time pixel pipelines for medical imaging, machine vision, and video broadcast equipment. Each MultiCore element pairs 4-input LUTs with embedded system memory, allowing designers to build line buffers, convolution kernels, and histogram engines directly on-chip without external SRAM. The 488 user I/Os accommodate wide video buses (24-bit RGB plus control) and DDR-style pixel FIFOs, while the 1.8 V core keeps power manageable in fan-cooled chassis. The 652-ball BGA provides the signal-integrity characteristics needed for 100+ MHz pixel clocks.
Recommended
Custom DSP Accelerator
The APEX 20KC MultiCore architecture lets engineers implement custom FIR, FFT, and correlation engines on the EP20K600CB652C9N, offloading compute-intensive kernels from a host DSP or embedded CPU. With 600K typical gates, the device can host several parallel multipliers and accumulator trees operating at 100+ MHz, delivering multi-GMAC/s throughput for radar, software-defined radio, and baseband modem subsystems. Embedded memory blocks implement coefficient tables and circular sample buffers without external memory, while 488 I/Os sustain multi-channel streaming I/O to A/D and D/A converters. The commercial 0 to 85 C temperature grade suits indoor rack-mounted DSP farms.
Recommended
Industrial Control Backplane Interface
The 488 user I/Os of the EP20K600CB652C9N make it a flexible backplane glue-logic device for industrial control systems, where it can host custom VME, CompactPCI, or proprietary parallel bus bridges between CPU cards and I/O modules. Embedded memory implements FIFO buffers that decouple asynchronous backplane domains, while the 652-ball BGA keeps the PCB footprint compact despite the wide bus widths. The commercial 0 to 85 C operating range suits factory-floor enclosures with controlled airflow. Legacy Quartus II toolchain support means existing industrial designs can be maintained without migrating to a newer FPGA family.
Recommended
Pre-Production Verification Platform
Designers building new ASICs often mount an EP20K600CB652C9N on a verification board to exercise the RTL before silicon returns, providing real-world at-speed stimulus that pure simulation cannot match. The 600K typical-gate capacity accommodates RTL blocks up to about 300K gates after synthesis overhead, which covers most networking, storage, and embedded-controller ASICs. JTAG-based configuration through IEEE 1149.1 supports rapid bitstream reload during debug iterations. The MultiCore embedded memory enables realistic bus traffic modeling with on-chip FIFOs, avoiding the timing uncertainty of simulation-only testbenches.
Recommended
Recommended Products Summary
Engineering reference data for EP20K600CB652C9N — comparison, design guidance, and compliance information.
Selection Guide
Comparison with Alternatives
| Parameter | This Product | EP20K600CB652C9 | EP20K600CB652C8N | EP20K600CB652C7N | EP20K600CB652C7 | EP20K600CB652C7ES | EP20K600CB652C-8 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brand | Intel | Intel | Intel | Intel | Intel | Intel | Intel |
| Package | BGA-652 (45 x 45 mm, 1.27 mm pitch) | BGA-652 - same | BGA-652 - same | BGA-652 - same | BGA-652 - same | BGA-652 - same | BGA-652 - same |
| Speed Grade | C9 (~1.48 ns) | C9 - same | C8 (~15% faster) | C7 (~25% faster) | C7 (~25% faster) | C7 (~25% faster) | C8 (~15% faster) |
| Typical Gates | 600,000 | 600,000 - same | 600,000 - same | 600,000 - same | 600,000 - same | 600,000 - same | 600,000 - same |
| Logic Elements | 24,320 | 24,320 - same | 24,320 - same | 24,320 - same | 24,320 - same | 24,320 - same | 24,320 - same |
| User I/Os | 488 | 488 - same | 488 - same | 488 - same | 488 - same | 488 - same | 488 - same |
| Core Voltage | 1.8 V | 1.8 V - same | 1.8 V - same | 1.8 V - same | 1.8 V - same | 1.8 V - same | 1.8 V - same |
| Process / Family | 0.15 um / APEX 20KC | 0.15 um / APEX 20KC - same | 0.15 um / APEX 20KC - same | 0.15 um / APEX 20KC - same | 0.15 um / APEX 20KC - same | 0.15 um / APEX 20KC - same | 0.15 um / APEX 20KC - same |
| Lead-Free Suffix | N (Pb-free) | No 'N' suffix | N (Pb-free) - same | N (Pb-free) - same | No 'N' suffix | No 'N' suffix | No 'N' suffix |
Key Differentiators
- Lower unit price on the secondary market (vs EP20K600CB652C8N)
- Identical resources with lead-free terminal finish (vs EP20K600CB652C9)
- Faster timing margin when needed (vs EP20K600CB652C7N)
Design Notes
The EP20K600CB652C9N ships in a 652-ball FineLine BGA with 1.27 mm pitch and a 45 x 45 mm body. Per JEDEC MS-034, escape routing on a 4-layer FR-4 stack-up requires either microvias or dogbone fan-out. Use at least 0.5 oz copper on outer layers to keep power distribution losses acceptable. Match the package land pattern to the manufacturer's recommended PCB land size exactly, because BGA self-alignment during reflow is forgiving but joint reliability under thermal cycling depends on correct pad diameter.
Estimated: at maximum logic utilization (about 80% of 24,320 LEs) toggling at 100 MHz on a 1.8 V core, the EP20K600CB652C9N dissipates roughly 3 to 5 W. The 652-ball BGA with a thermal pad must be soldered to a PCB copper pour of at least 4 square inches on the top layer to keep junction temperature below 100 C in still air. For closed-chassis designs without forced airflow, specify a heatsink or thermal interface material mated to the package top. Always validate with a thermal probe on a populated board before committing the layout.
Quartus Prime (current releases) does NOT support the APEX 20KC family; only legacy Quartus II v9.1 or v13.0 retain APEX 20KC device files. Download and archive the legacy toolchain with its license before starting a design. The configuration interface is JTAG (IEEE 1149.1) plus serial/PROM, so order an Altera/Intel USB-Blaster or ByteBlaster and the matching EPC configuration PROM. Do not attempt to use a modern Stratix or Cyclone bitstream - the architectures are incompatible and will not configure the APEX 20KC device.
Compliance Information
RoHS and REACH compliance data not present in the verified distributor listings for this obsolete part. Contact Intel/legacy Altera PCN archives for definitive compliance statements. AEC-Q100 not applicable for FPGAs targeting commercial telecom/industrial applications.
