EP2A40B724I7 - APEX II FPGA 1.5M Gates 724-FCBGA | Intel / Altera
MPN: EP2A40B724I7 ✗ End of Life| Qty | Unit Price | Extended |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | $285 | $285.00 |
| 10 | $268 | $2,680.00 |
| 100 | $248.5 | $24,850.00 |
| 500 | $232 | $116,000.00 |
| 1,000 | $215 | $215,000.00 |
EP2A40B724I7 Overview
An FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array) is a type of programmable logic device (PLD) that engineers configure after manufacturing to implement arbitrary digital logic. Within the broader taxonomy, FPGAs belong to programmable logic ICs -> logic ICs -> integrated circuits -> semiconductors. APEX II is positioned within Altera's high-density, MultiCore architecture family; it sits above APEX 20K and below Stratix in the legacy Altera roadmap and is widely understood by engineers familiar with CPLD and FPGA design flows. The APEX II family also introduced built-in LVDS and high-speed SERDES-capable I/O, separating it from earlier FLEX/Acex devices.
Key differentiating features of the EP2A40B724I7 include 1.5 M system gates, 38,400 logic cells, 562 MHz performance, an industrial temperature grade (-40 C to +100 C minimum), and a 724-ball FCBGA package. The combination of high logic density and embedded memory/ESB blocks enables on-chip implementation of FIFOs, dual-port RAM, and CAM structures without external components, simplifying board layout and BOM.
Architecturally, the EP2A40B724I7 uses Altera's MultiCore fabric: each logic array block (LAB) contains multiple logic elements (LEs) built from 4-input LUTs, and rows of ESBs (Embedded System Blocks) provide 2 Kbit memory blocks that can be configured as RAM, ROM, or product-term logic. The device is configured via SRAM, allowing in-system reprogrammability through JTAG or passive/active serial modes. The 724-pin FCBGA gives the design hundreds of general-purpose I/O and dedicated clock pins, sufficient for high-speed parallel buses and source-synchronous interfaces.
Typical applications include ASIC prototyping and emulation, telecom line-card glue logic, high-speed serial protocol bridging, industrial control and machine vision pipelines, and military/aerospace digital signal processing front-ends. Its large memory capacity and LVDS support make it well suited for video processing and image buffering subsystems.
When designing with the EP2A40B724I7, observe 1.5 V core supply decoupling with low-ESR ceramic capacitors placed adjacent to the package, ensure JTAG chain integrity, and confirm the Quartus (or legacy MAX+PLUS II / Quartus II) toolchain supports the chosen pin assignments and I/O standards. APEX II devices are NRND/EOL at Intel; verify lifetime availability before new design commitment.
This page consolidates distributor pricing, datasheet references, and drop-in alternatives into a single engineering reference not duplicated by individual vendor listings.
Drop-in alternatives for EP2A40B724I7 — 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 EP2A40B724I7 (same form factor and footprint) — differing in Package, Operating Temperature, Process Technology, Logic Elements, Maximum User I/O.
Quick Comparison Tool — Select alternative parts for side-by-side comparison:
EP2A40B724I-7
✅ Drop-In✓ In Stock
$158 / Unit
View Datasheet →EP2A40B724I-8
✅ Drop-In✓ In Stock
$280 / Unit
View Datasheet →EP2A40B724I-9
✅ Drop-In✓ In Stock
$605 / Unit
View Datasheet →EP2A40B724CP
✅ Drop-In✓ In Stock
$71 / Unit
View Datasheet →EP2A40B724C9
✅ Drop-In✓ In Stock
$395.38 / Unit
View Datasheet →EP2A40B724C8
✅ Drop-In✓ In Stock
$615 / Unit
View Datasheet →EP2A40B724C7
✅ Drop-In✓ In Stock
$650 / Unit
View Datasheet →EP2A40B724I7 Maximum Ratings & Electrical Characteristics
| Family | APEX II |
| Logic Elements / Cells | 38,400 |
| System Gates | 1,500,000 |
| Maximum Operating Frequency | 562 MHz |
| Process Technology | 0.15 µm CMOS |
| Core Supply Voltage | 1.5 V |
| Package Type | 724-pin FCBGA (Flip-Chip BGA) |
| Package Pin Count | 724 |
| Operating Temperature | -40 °C to +100 °C (Industrial) |
| Configuration Mode | SRAM-based, JTAG / Passive Serial / Active Serial |
| Embedded Memory Blocks | ESBs (Embedded System Blocks) - configurable as RAM/ROM |
| I/O Standards | LVTTL, LVCMOS, PCI, LVDS, SSTL |
| Mounting Type | Surface Mount |
| Device Marking / Speed Grade | I7 (industrial, speed grade 7) |
EP2A40B724I7 724 Pin Configuration Guide
Pin configuration for EP2A40B724I7 (724 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 EP2A40B724I7.
Refer to the datasheet for full pin configuration.
Typical Applications
EP2A40B724I7 is suitable for 7 applications: ASIC Prototyping and Emulation, Telecom Line-Card Glue Logic, Video Processing and Image Buffering, Industrial Machine Vision Pipelines, High-Speed Protocol Bridging, Legacy Defense and Aerospace Avionics, Test and Measurement Instrumentation.
ASIC Prototyping and Emulation
The EP2A40B724I7's 1.5M system gates and 38,400 logic elements provide the capacity to emulate large ASIC designs before tape-out, capturing timing, functional, and integration issues. Its SRAM-based configuration allows rapid design iteration via JTAG, with bitstream load times short enough for overnight regression testing. Embedded System Blocks (ESBs) provide on-chip RAM and ROM for accurate memory-subsystem emulation. The industrial temperature grade supports bench-to-lab transitions, while Quartus II synthesis preserves timing closure between prototype and production.
Recommended
Telecom Line-Card Glue Logic
In telecom line cards, the EP2A40B724I7 acts as glue logic between network processors, framer ICs, and backplane SERDES, where its high logic capacity and LVDS support enable protocol bridging at multi-gigabit rates. The device's 1.5 V core simplifies power-rail design on legacy 48 V telecom boards, while its FCBGA's high pin count exposes enough I/O for parallel bus aggregation and management interfaces. Industrial temperature rating suits outdoor cabinet and central-office environments.
Recommended
Video Processing and Image Buffering
The EP2A40B724I7's ESBs provide dual-port RAM blocks sufficient to implement line buffers and frame stores for video pipelines, while its LVDS I/O supports direct connection to high-speed image sensors and display serializers. Designers build pixel-pipeline datapaths, gamma correction, and color-space conversion entirely on-chip, eliminating external SRAM in cost-sensitive designs. The 562 MHz fabric permits real-time processing of HD video streams with adequate timing margin for production silicon.
Recommended
Industrial Machine Vision Pipelines
The EP2A40B724I7 is well suited to industrial machine vision, where FPGA-based pipelines perform Bayer decoding, edge detection, and object recognition at line rates. Its industrial temperature rating survives factory-floor thermal stress, while the FCBGA package handles the shock and vibration of mounting on moving gantries. Embedded memory blocks enable multi-line image buffering on-chip, and the abundant general-purpose I/O interfaces Camera Link, LVDS, and CoaXPress sensors without external bridge ICs.
Recommended
High-Speed Protocol Bridging
Designers use the EP2A40B724I7 to bridge between legacy parallel buses and modern high-speed serial protocols, exploiting its fabric speed and I/O flexibility. The device can implement custom protocol converters (e.g., SPI to I2S, UART multiplexing, custom LVDS bridges) within a single chip, eliminating discrete protocol ICs. Quartus II's IP library supports UART, I2C, SPI, and PCI cores optimized for APEX II timing models.
Recommended
Legacy Defense and Aerospace Avionics
Defense and aerospace programs that designed in APEX II continue to use the EP2A40B724I7 for mission-critical digital signal processing where re-qualification cost outweighs migration. The industrial temperature range and robust FCBGA package suit avionics bays, while SRAM-based configuration supports field reprogrammability for software-defined radio updates. Long-term defense programs value stable supply agreements and the device's mature Quartus II tool flow.
Recommended
Test and Measurement Instrumentation
The EP2A40B724I7 serves in test and measurement instruments as the central logic engine, aggregating multiple data streams and applying real-time DSP pre-processing before handing data to a host CPU. Its abundant logic gates support custom trigger generation, pattern matching, and protocol-aware decoding for protocol analyzers. Industrial temperature and BGA reliability suit laboratory-to-field transition of measurement equipment.
Recommended
Recommended Products Summary
Engineering reference data for EP2A40B724I7 — comparison, design guidance, and compliance information.
Selection Guide
Comparison with Alternatives
| Parameter | This Product | EP2A40B724I-7 | EP2A40B724I-8 | EP2A40B724I-9 | EP2A40B724CP | EP2A40B724C9 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brand | Intel (formerly Altera) | Intel | Intel | Intel | Intel | Intel |
| Package | 724-pin FCBGA | 724-pin FCBGA (same) | 724-pin FCBGA (same) | 724-pin FCBGA (same) | 724-pin FCBGA (same) | 724-pin FCBGA (same) |
| Family | APEX II | APEX II | APEX II | APEX II | APEX II | APEX II |
| System Gates | 1,500,000 | 1,500,000 | 1,500,000 | 1,500,000 | 1,500,000 | 1,500,000 |
| Logic Elements / Cells | 38,400 | 38,400 | 38,400 | 38,400 | 38,400 | 38,400 |
| Core Voltage | 1.5 V | 1.5 V | 1.5 V | 1.5 V | 1.5 V | 1.5 V |
| Maximum Frequency | 562 MHz | 562 MHz | 562 MHz | 562 MHz | 562 MHz | 562 MHz |
| Temperature Grade | Industrial (-40 to +100 C) | Industrial | Industrial | Industrial | Commercial (0 to +85 C) | Commercial (0 to +85 C) |
| Speed Grade | I7 | -7 | -8 | -9 | Commercial standard | -9 commercial |
Key Differentiators
- Largest logic capacity in the APEX II family (vs EP2A25F672 (1.0M gates / 25,920 cells))
- Industrial temperature grade (-40 to +100 C) (vs EP2A40B724CP / EP2A40B724C9 (commercial 0 to +85 C))
- Speed-grade flexibility within the same footprint (vs EP2A40B724I-7 (lower speed grade))
Design Notes
The EP2A40B724I7 requires a clean 1.5 V core supply with peak transient currents above 5 A during configuration and worst-case logic switching. Place 10 µF bulk, 1 µF mid-frequency, and 0.1 µF high-frequency ceramic decoupling capacitors adjacent to every supply pin group. Use a star-ground topology connecting the FPGA ground to the regulator sense pin to avoid ground bounce. Auxiliary 2.5 V/3.3 V rails must ramp in the correct sequence (per datasheet) to prevent latch-up at power-up.
Estimated: At sustained 70 % toggle rate across 38,400 logic elements, dynamic power may reach 4-6 W; static power at 1.5 V core is approximately 0.5-1 W. The 724-pin FCBGA has theta_JA around 12-15 C/W with a properly designed thermal via array under the package. Add a thermal pad copper pour and stitch 0.3 mm thermal vias on a 1.2 mm pitch to keep junction temperature below 100 C in industrial environments. Derate ambient by 10-15 C if the board is enclosed.
The 724-ball FCBGA requires a microvia-stack PCB process (4-6 layer minimum, 8+ preferred) with matched-impedance routing for LVDS and SSTL pairs. Maintain 100 Ω differential impedance for LVDS and 50 Ω single-ended for LVCMOS. Use buried vias under the BGA escape region, length-match clock and high-speed pairs within 50 mil, and isolate analog/digital grounds with a single bridge under the FPGA. Recommend JTAG header on every board for in-field reprogramming.
Do not connect CONFIG_DONE to an LED + resistor without a buffer; the pin is not designed to drive LEDs directly. Avoid leaving JTAG TCK floating during board bring-up, as noise can erroneously trigger configuration events. Verify pin assignments in Quartus II pin planner before final layout, since legacy APEX II pinout files differ from newer families. Confirm configuration memory size: a 1.5M-gate bitstream can exceed EPC2 capacity, requiring EPC8 or EPC16.
Compliance Information
RoHS, REACH, lead-free, and halogen-free status for the EP2A40B724I7 are [DATA_NEEDED] in the verified sources provided. AEC-Q100 is not applicable (this is an FPGA, not an automotive-grade IC). Designers targeting RoHS-compliant end products should request a material declaration from the distributor before committing to the part.
