EP20K600CB672C8 - APEX 20KC FPGA 600K Gates 672-FBGA | Intel / Altera
MPN: EP20K600CB672C8 ✗ End of Life| Qty | Unit Price | Extended |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | $432.71 | $432.71 |
| 10 | $395 | $3,950.00 |
| 100 | $340 | $34,000.00 |
| 500 | $290 | $145,000.00 |
| 1,000 | $245 | $245,000.00 |
EP20K600CB672C8 Overview
A Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) is a semiconductor integrated circuit composed of configurable logic blocks (CLBs), programmable interconnects, and dedicated silicon resources such as block RAM, DSP blocks, and high-speed transceivers. FPGAs sit within the broader programmable logic device (PLD) hierarchy alongside CPLDs and are typically used to implement digital glue logic, high-speed datapath processing, and prototype ASIC functionality. The APEX 20KC series sits between older APEX 20K and later Stratix/Arria families and is recognized as a high-density, low-power solution for telecom, networking, and DSP applications of the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Key features of the EP20K600CB672C8 include 508 user I/O pins (the highest I/O count in the APEX 20KC family), 24,320 logic elements distributed across the MultiCore fabric, and 311 Kb of embedded SRAM that can be configured as single-port, dual-port, or FIFO memory. The device supports LVTTL, LVCMOS, SSTL, HSTL, and GTL+ I/O standards through its 8 I/O banks, and provides four phase-locked loops (PLLs) for clock multiplication, division, and skew management. Hot-socketing capability and 3.3 V PCI compliance make the device attractive for mixed-voltage system designs.
Architecturally, the APEX 20KC family introduced an embedded dual-port RAM block structure and a unified routing fabric with direct-drive and multi-level interconnect, enabling predictable timing closure at densities above 500K gates. The C8 speed grade delivers roughly 301 MHz internal operation, sufficient for 64-bit datapath designs and SDR/DDR memory controllers. Compared with later Stratix devices, the APEX 20KC lacks dedicated DSP blocks and hard memory controllers, so DSP functions must be implemented in LUTs.
Typical applications include high-volume telecommunications switching fabrics, ATM and SONET/SDH line-card controllers, high-speed serial protocol bridges, PCI 32/64-bit bus interfaces, and digital signal processing pipelines. The 508 user I/Os and 311 Kb of RAM make the EP20K600CB672C8 especially attractive for interface bridging between legacy 5 V buses and modern 3.3 V cores. Designers should note that this device is in the Legacy/EOL lifecycle - new designs should consider Stratix II or Cyclone IV as modern, active replacements.
When designing with the EP20K600CB672C8, pay close attention to I/O bank partitioning: each bank has an independent VCCIO supply, so mixed-voltage designs require careful power-plane layout. Use Altera Quartus II 4.0 or later with the APEX 20KC device support installed, and validate timing with TimeQuest closure at the worst-case PVT corner. Decoupling requires at least 0.1 µF + 10 µF per supply pin pair to suppress switching transients on the 27 x 27 mm BGA.
This page synthesizes distributor stock, drop-in same-family alternatives, comparison parameters, and practical design notes not found in a single Altera datasheet - giving engineers a faster path to part qualification for legacy APEX 20KC designs.
Drop-in alternatives for EP20K600CB672C8 — 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 EP20K600CB672C8 (same form factor and footprint) — differing in Process Technology, Package, Operating Temperature, Speed Grade, Device Type.
Quick Comparison Tool — Select alternative parts for side-by-side comparison:
EP20K600CB672C8N
✅ Drop-In✓ In Stock
$69 / Unit
View Datasheet →EP20K600CB672C7
✅ Drop-In✓ In Stock
$182.5 / Unit
View Datasheet →EP20K600CB652C8
✅ Drop-In✓ In Stock
$105 / Unit
View Datasheet →EP20K600CB652C8N
✅ Drop-In✓ In Stock
$115 / Unit
View Datasheet →EP20K600CB652C9
✅ Drop-In✓ In Stock
$142.5 / Unit
View Datasheet →EP20K600CB652C9N
✅ Drop-In✓ In Stock
$128 / Unit
View Datasheet →EP20K600CB672C8 Maximum Ratings & Electrical Characteristics
| Series | APEX 20KC |
| Family | APEX-20KC® |
| Number of Logic Elements/Cells | 24320 |
| Total RAM Bits | 311296 |
| Number of I/O | 508 |
| Number of Gates | 600000 |
| Voltage - Supply | 1.71 V to 1.89 V (core); 3.0 V to 3.6 V (I/O) |
| Mounting Type | Surface Mount |
| Operating Temperature | 0 °C to +85 °C (commercial) |
| Package / Case | 672-BBGA, FCBGA (27 x 27 mm) |
| Supplier Device Package | 672-FBGA (27 x 27) |
| Speed Grade | C8 (approx. 301 MHz internal) |
| Process Technology | 0.15 µm CMOS |
| PLLs | 4 |
| I/O Standards | LVTTL, LVCMOS, SSTL, HSTL, GTL+, PCI 3.3 V |
| RoHS Status | Unknown (legacy part, pre-RoHS era) |
| Lead Free | Unknown |
EP20K600CB672C8 672-fbga (27 x 27) Pin Configuration Guide
Pin configuration for EP20K600CB672C8 (672-fbga (27 x 27) 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 EP20K600CB672C8.
Refer to the datasheet for full pin configuration.
Typical Applications
EP20K600CB672C8 is suitable for 6 applications: Telecommunications Switching Fabric, High-Speed Serial Protocol Bridge, Digital Signal Processing Pipeline, PCI 32/64-bit Bus Interface Card, Legacy Industrial Control Platform, Test and Measurement Instrumentation.
Telecommunications Switching Fabric
The EP20K600CB672C8's 600K system gates and 508 user I/Os are well matched to legacy telecom switching fabrics where parallel 32-bit or 64-bit datapaths must be crossed with TDM/SONET/SDH backplanes. The 311 Kb of embedded dual-port RAM implements hit-miss buffers and cell/header translation tables without external SRAM, while the 4 PLLs deskew multiple bus frequencies. Compared with a discrete ASIC, this FPGA allows field upgrades via JTAG and provides 301 MHz internal throughput for STS-1/STS-3 frame processing. Designers typically route LVTTL 32-bit buses across the I/O banks and dedicate one bank to 3.3 V PCI for host CPU interfacing.
Recommended
High-Speed Serial Protocol Bridge
For bridging between legacy 5 V buses (VME, ISA, PCI) and modern 3.3 V cores, the EP20K600CB672C8's 8 independent VCCIO banks are critical - each bank can be powered at a different voltage while staying within the same die. The 508 I/Os allow multiple bus interfaces to coexist without external transceivers, and the 4 PLLs generate all required bus clocks from a single reference. In serial protocol bridge applications such as UART-to-SPI or I2C-to-PMC bridge cards, the 311 Kb of dual-port RAM acts as a deep FIFO between domains, eliminating data loss at speed. Commercial temperature grade (0 °C to +85 °C) suits indoor telecom and industrial enclosure designs.
Recommended
Digital Signal Processing Pipeline
Although the APEX 20KC lacks dedicated DSP blocks, the 600K gates and 311 Kb of dual-port RAM allow designers to implement FIR filters, FFT butterflies, and correlators in distributed LUT logic with sufficient throughput for audio-bandwidth and baseband signal processing. The 301 MHz C8 internal speed supports ~250 MSPS datapath rates when pipelined, suitable for software-defined radio front ends and digital audio effects units. The 24,320 logic elements are typically allocated 70% to DSP datapath and 30% to control state machines, with RAM blocks used as coefficient and delay-line storage. Quartus II's MegaWizard generates efficient FIR compiler IP optimized for this device.
Recommended
PCI 32/64-bit Bus Interface Card
The EP20K600CB672C8 is PCI 3.3 V compliant out of the box and the 508 I/Os are sufficient for a 64-bit PCI bus (50 signals) plus 32-bit local bus plus secondary expansion headers. With 311 Kb of embedded RAM it can implement scatter-gather DMA engines, command queues, and mailbox FIFOs without external memory, reducing PCB area. The 4 PLLs derive the 33 MHz or 66 MHz PCI clock from a backplane reference and provide independent clocks for local ASICs. Designers typically use one I/O bank for the 5 V-tolerant PCI bus (with external clamping diodes) and dedicate the remaining banks to 3.3 V glue logic.
Recommended
Legacy Industrial Control Platform
Industrial control platforms deployed in the early 2000s frequently centered on the EP20K600CB672C8 for motor control, PLC scan engines, and HMI data aggregation. Its 600K gates allow soft-core CPU implementations (such as Nios embedded processor) plus deterministic I/O handling within a single chip, while 508 I/Os accommodate dozens of encoder, solenoid, and analog-monitor channels. The commercial 0 °C to +85 °C range covers most factory-floor enclosures, and the FCBGA's solid thermal mass suits fan-less designs. The 311 Kb RAM block is used as variable tag storage for ladder-logic runtime, eliminating external SRAM.
Recommended
Test and Measurement Instrumentation
Test equipment such as logic analyzers, protocol exercisers, and bit-error-rate testers leverage the EP20K600CB672C8's 508 I/Os to capture or generate hundreds of channels in parallel. The 311 Kb of dual-port RAM holds deep capture buffers, while the 4 PLLs allow multi-rate sampling of asynchronous signals. With the C8 speed grade, internal counters operate at 301 MHz for high-resolution timing measurements. Commercial temperature grade suits benchtop and laboratory environments, and the FCBGA's ground plane enables the noise immunity required for low-voltage differential probing. Quartus II SignalTap embedded logic analyzer provides real-time visibility into internal nodes.
Recommended
Recommended Products Summary
Engineering reference data for EP20K600CB672C8 — comparison, design guidance, and compliance information.
Selection Guide
Comparison with Alternatives
| Parameter | This Product | EP20K600CB672C8N | EP20K600CB672C7 | EP20K600CB652C8 | EP20K600CB652C9 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brand | Intel (Altera) | Intel (Altera) | Intel (Altera) | Intel (Altera) | Intel (Altera) |
| Package | 672-FBGA (27x27) | 672-FBGA (27x27) - same | 672-FBGA (27x27) - same | 652-FBGA | 652-FBGA |
| Number of Logic Elements | 24320 | 24320 | 24320 | 24320 | 24320 |
| Total RAM Bits | 311296 | 311296 | 311296 | 311296 | 311296 |
| Number of User I/O | 508 | 508 | 508 | 488 | 488 |
| Speed Grade | C8 (~301 MHz) | C8 | C7 (slower) | C8 | C9 (faster) |
| Lead Free / RoHS | Unknown | Yes (lead-free) | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown |
| Operating Temperature | 0 °C to +85 °C (commercial) | 0 °C to +85 °C (commercial) | 0 °C to +85 °C (commercial) | 0 °C to +85 °C (commercial) | 0 °C to +85 °C (commercial) |
Key Differentiators
- Highest I/O count in APEX 20KC family (vs EP20K600CB652C8)
- Lead-free RoHS-compliant variant available (vs EP20K600CB672C8N)
- C8 speed grade offers better Fmax than C7 (vs EP20K600CB672C7)
- 311 Kb dual-port embedded RAM (vs EP20K400FC672-3)
Design Notes
The EP20K600CB672C8 requires a clean 1.8 V core supply (VCCINT) with tolerance ±5% and separate per-bank VCCIO rails from 1.5 V to 3.3 V. Decouple each VCCINT pin with 0.1 µF + 10 µF ceramic, and provide at least 4 bulk 47 µF tantalum capacitors near the BGA corners to suppress switching transients. Estimated: total core current at 100% toggle is approximately 1.5-2 A for the 24,320-element fabric - verify with Quartus II PowerPlay early in the design.
The 27 x 27 mm FCBGA's 1.0 mm ball pitch provides solid thermal conduction through the PCB. For designs exceeding ~2 W total dissipation, use a minimum 6-layer board with continuous inner ground planes and 0.5 oz copper outer layers to spread heat across the entire BGA footprint. The exposed die paddle (if present in the package variant) should be soldered to a central thermal pad connected to the ground plane with thermal vias on a 1.2 mm grid.
Route all differential pairs (LVDS, GTL+) on the top layer over a continuous ground plane with 100 Ω differential impedance. Use 8 mil traces with 6 mil spacing for 50 Ω single-ended signals, and avoid vias on clock lines feeding the PLLs - each PLL input should see a clean reference within 200 mils of the BGA. Allow at least 4 routing layers for the 508 I/O break-out: top signals, inner-1 ground, inner-2 VCCINT power, bottom signals.
Common mistakes on the EP20K600CB672C8 include: (1) mixing 5 V and 3.3 V signaling in the same I/O bank without external clamping, (2) omitting the JTAG TCK pull-down resistor (10 kΩ required per Altera APEX 20KC handbook), (3) using the MSEL pins incorrectly for configuration mode (CONF_DONE has no internal pull-up - must be pulled to 3.3 V externally), and (4) using non-1.8 V core regulators with ±10% tolerance, which causes intermittent configuration failures at temperature extremes.
Place all configuration components (EPCS configuration flash, JTAG header, MSEL resistors) within 2 inches of the BGA. The nCONFIG and nSTATUS pins require external 10 kΩ pull-ups to 3.3 V; if left floating, the device may fail to enter configuration mode after power-up. Route the configuration clock DCLK on a dedicated layer with no other signals crossing under it, and keep all PLL analog supplies (VCCA_PLL) filtered with a ferrite bead and 10 µF + 0.1 µF decoupling within 100 mils of the pin.
Compliance Information
EP20K600CB672C8 is a legacy Altera FPGA from the APEX 20KC family released in the late 1990s; the original datasheet did not specify RoHS/REACH compliance. The 'N' suffix variant (EP20K600CB672C8N) is the lead-free / RoHS-compliant version. AEC-Q100 is not applicable for this commercial-grade FPGA.
