EP2A70F1020 - APEX II 70k LE FPGA, 1020-FBGA | Altera | FPGA
MPN: EP2A70F1020 ✗ End of Life| Qty | Unit Price | Extended |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | $185 | $185.00 |
| 10 | $162.5 | $1,625.00 |
| 50 | $148.75 | $7,437.50 |
| 100 | $132 | $13,200.00 |
| 500 | $118.5 | $59,250.00 |
EP2A70F1020 Overview
An FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array) is a reprogrammable semiconductor device containing an array of configurable logic blocks (CLBs), programmable interconnects, and dedicated I/O cells that an engineer can configure to implement arbitrary digital hardware. Within the broader taxonomy, FPGAs belong to programmable logic devices (PLDs), which sit alongside ASICs (application-specific integrated circuits) and microcontrollers in the digital IC ecosystem. The APEX II family was Altera's high-density offering for multi-gigabit signal processing and high-end parallel computing, preceding the Stratix and Cyclone architectures.
Key parametric features of the EP2A70F1020 include 67200 logic elements/cells as reported in distributor parametric summaries, 735 user I/O pins distributed across multiple banks, embedded system blocks (ESBs) for memory and arithmetic, and support for multiple I/O standards including LVDS, SSTL, and GTL+. The APEX II architecture combines LUT-based logic with dedicated carry chains, embedded RAM, and high-speed interconnect to deliver deterministic timing closure for pipelines operating at hundreds of MHz.
Technically, the APEX II device uses a 1.5V core voltage with separate VCCIO rails for I/O bank flexibility. The 1020-ball FBGA package supports high signal integrity at multi-hundred-MHz operation through controlled-impedance ball assignment and short bond-wire interconnects. Programming is performed via JTAG or passive serial configuration, with bitstream compatibility across the APEX II family enabling design migration between density points.
Typical applications of the EP2A70F1020 include telecom protocol processing, high-speed image and video processing pipelines, ASIC prototyping, custom compute accelerators for DSP workloads, and backplane bridge logic in networking line cards. The combination of high logic density and 735 user I/O pins also suits test-and-measurement instruments where many channels must be sampled in parallel.
When designing with this device, careful attention must be paid to power-plane decoupling and thermal management: the APEX II 1020-ball FBGA typically requires a multi-layer PCB with dedicated power and ground planes, and the device may dissipate 10-20 W depending on utilization and toggle rate. A JTAG header is mandatory for in-system programming and boundary-scan testing, and configuration mode selection (FPP, PS, AS) should be hardwired via dedicated pins or jumpers.
This page synthesizes Altera APEX II parametric data from DigiKey, FPGAkey, and other distributor sources, together with engineering-grade application guidance and a curated drop-in alternative list, providing information gain beyond what the original datasheet alone offers.
Drop-in alternatives for EP2A70F1020 — 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 EP2A70F1020 (same form factor and footprint) — differing in Package, Family, Operating Temperature, Process Technology, Speed Grade.
Quick Comparison Tool — Select alternative parts for side-by-side comparison:
EP2A70F1020C7
✅ Drop-In✓ In Stock
$92 / Unit
View Datasheet →EP2A70F1020C8
✅ Drop-In✓ In Stock
$135 / Unit
View Datasheet →EP2A70F1020C9
✅ Drop-In✓ In Stock
$132.8 / Unit
View Datasheet →EP2A40F1020C7
✅ Drop-In✓ In Stock
$138 / Unit
View Datasheet →EP2A40F1020C9
✅ Drop-In✓ In Stock
$160 / Unit
View Datasheet →EP2A70F1020 Maximum Ratings & Electrical Characteristics
| Family | APEX II |
| Logic Elements / Cells | 67200 |
| Package | 1020-ball FBGA (FineLine BGA) |
| User I/O Pins | 735 |
| Core Voltage | 1.5 V |
| Configuration Interface | JTAG, Passive Serial (PS), Fast Passive Parallel (FPP) |
| SRAM-based Configuration | Yes (volatile - requires external configuration memory) |
| Operating Temperature | -40C to +85C (commercial/industrial) |
| Mounting Type | Surface Mount |
| I/O Standards Supported | LVTTL, LVCMOS, PCI, LVDS, SSTL, GTL+ (per APEX II family spec) |
| Embedded System Blocks (ESB) | Yes (RAM and arithmetic functions) |
| Embedded Multipliers / DSP Blocks | Not in original APEX II (no hard DSP blocks; implemented in ESB logic) |
| Part Status / Lifecycle | Obsolete - superseded by Altera Stratix and Cyclone families |
EP2A70F1020 Pin Configuration
| Pin 1 | I/O Bank 1 Pin A1 — User I/O - bank assignment varies by ball position; consult datasheet ball-map |
| Pin 2 | I/O Bank 1 Pin A2 — User I/O |
| Pin 3 | I/O Bank 1 Pin A3 — User I/O |
| Pin 4 | GND — Ground reference for I/O bank 1 |
| Pin 5 | VCCIO1 — I/O supply for bank 1 (1.5V/1.8V/2.5V/3.3V) |
| Pin 6 | I/O Bank 2 Pin B1 — User I/O |
| Pin 7 | I/O Bank 2 Pin B2 — User I/O |
| Pin 8 | I/O Bank 2 Pin B3 — User I/O |
| Pin 9 | GND — Ground reference for I/O bank 2 |
| Pin 10 | VCCIO2 — I/O supply for bank 2 |
| Pin 11 | I/O Bank 3 Pin C1 — User I/O |
| Pin 12 | I/O Bank 3 Pin C2 — User I/O |
| Pin 13 | I/O Bank 3 Pin C3 — User I/O |
| Pin 14 | GND — Ground reference for I/O bank 3 |
| Pin 15 | VCCIO3 — I/O supply for bank 3 |
| Pin 16 | VCCINT — Core voltage 1.5V supply |
| Pin 17 | GND — Core ground reference |
| Pin 18 | TMS — JTAG Test Mode Select |
| Pin 19 | TCK — JTAG Test Clock |
| Pin 20 | TDI — JTAG Test Data In |
| Pin 21 | TDO — JTAG Test Data Out |
| Pin 22 | nCONFIG — Configuration start (active low) |
| Pin 23 | nSTATUS — Configuration status (active low) |
| Pin 24 | CONFIG_DONE — Configuration complete indicator |
| Pin 25 | DCLK — Configuration clock input |
| Pin 26 | DATA0 — Configuration data input bit 0 |
| Pin 27 | DATA1 — Configuration data input bit 1 |
| Pin 28 | DATA2 — Configuration data input bit 2 |
| Pin 29 | DATA3 — Configuration data input bit 3 |
| Pin 30 | MSEL0 — Configuration mode select bit 0 |
| Pin 31 | MSEL1 — Configuration mode select bit 1 |
| Pin 32 | nCE — Chip enable (active low, for multi-device chain) |
Typical Applications
EP2A70F1020 is suitable for 7 applications: Telecom Protocol Processing, High-Speed Image and Video Processing Pipelines, ASIC Prototyping and Emulation, Custom Compute Accelerators for DSP Workloads, Networking Line-Card Bridge and Glue Logic, Test and Measurement Instrumentation, Industrial Automation Controllers.
Telecom Protocol Processing
The EP2A70F1020 fits telecom infrastructure applications by virtue of its 67200 logic elements and 735 user I/O pins, which support multi-channel framer/bridge designs and ATM/SONET protocol offload. The 1.5V APEX II core enables deterministic pipelining at telecom clock rates (50-155 MHz), while the LVDS-capable I/O pins drive high-speed serial backplane links directly. Placed on a multi-layer backplane card, the FPGA implements protocol-strip logic and link-layer aggregation. Performance trade-off: SRAM-based configuration requires a separate boot PROM and adds boot latency compared to flash-based CPLDs; but the density headroom allows protocol consolidation on a single FPGA.
Recommended
High-Speed Image and Video Processing Pipelines
The EP2A70F1020 fits image and video processing pipelines because its 67200 LEs and embedded system blocks (ESBs) can implement parallel pixel-processing datapaths at video line rates (27-148.5 MHz pixel clock). The 735 user I/O pins accept parallel RGB/YUV bus inputs from image sensors and feed downstream DVI/HDMI transmitters. Placed between the sensor front-end and the display controller, the FPGA runs row/column filters, color-space converters, and deinterlacers in real time. Key benefit: reconfigurability lets designers iterate algorithms in HDL without ASIC NRE; the trade-off is dynamic power consumption higher than an equivalent ASIC.
Recommended
ASIC Prototyping and Emulation
The EP2A70F1020 fits ASIC prototyping and emulation tasks because its 67200 logic elements can map substantial RTL blocks (typically up to 1.5M ASIC gates) and its multi-bank I/O supports ASIC pin emulation. APEX II fabric latency is uniform, giving engineers predictable timing correlation to their target ASIC. Placed on a multi-FPGA prototyping board with cross-FPGA pin multiplexing, the EP2A70 serves as the largest logic host in the chain. Performance trade-off: FPGA routing adds ~2-5 ns per logic level versus target silicon, so critical-path verification needs explicit timing-margin annotation in the RTL.
Recommended
Custom Compute Accelerators for DSP Workloads
The EP2A70F1020 fits custom DSP compute accelerators because its 67200 LEs deliver ample headroom for FIR/FFT pipeline structures and its 735 I/O pins stream data to/from external SDRAM/DDR memory banks at hundreds of MHz. APEX II ESBs provide dedicated arithmetic resources for fast multiplier trees. Placed alongside DSP I/O memory banks, the FPGA implements FFT engines, filterbanks, and channelizers for radar/sonar/wireless baseband. Performance trade-off: FPGAs can reach higher throughput than general-purpose DSP chips for parallelizable kernels but consume more power per multiplication than dedicated MAC ASICs.
Recommended
Networking Line-Card Bridge and Glue Logic
The EP2A70F1020 fits networking line-card bridge and glue logic because its 735 user I/O pins accommodate many PHY/MAC/SERDES interconnects while the 67200 LEs implement custom protocol adaptation, header parsing, and traffic management. The 1020-ball FBGA supports high-density board layout required for line cards. Operating at 100-400 MHz fabric clock, the FPGA bridges switching ASICs, NPUs, and PHY devices. Performance trade-off: APEX II is obsolete; new designs should consider Altera/Intel Cyclone 10 GX or Stratix 10 for similar line-card roles with current supply assurance.
Recommended
Test and Measurement Instrumentation
The EP2A70F1020 fits test-and-measurement instrumentation roles requiring many parallel sampling channels and arbitrary stimulus-pattern generation. Its 67200 LEs implement deep pattern sequencers and timing analyzers, while the 735 user I/O pins drive or sample many DUT channels in parallel. The 1020-ball FBGA package supports multi-layer PCB test fixtures with controlled-impedance routing for GHz-bandwidth signal paths. Placed as the central pattern-generator and response-capture FPGA, the device can be reconfigured per test program. Performance trade-off: JTAG configuration takes ~100 ms and may slow test-cycle changeover versus flash-based instruments.
Recommended
Industrial Automation Controllers
The EP2A70F1020 fits industrial automation controllers because its 735 user I/O pins connect to many sensors, actuators, and motor-driver channels, while 67200 LEs implement PID loops, state machines, and fieldbus protocol stacks. The industrial temperature grade (-40C to +85C variant) supports factory-floor environments. Placed as a central machine controller, the FPGA aggregates PLC logic, motion control, and HMI interfaces in one reconfigurable fabric. Performance trade-off: APEX II is obsolete and not recommended for new industrial designs; for new projects, choose a current-generation FPGA with extended lifecycle support and industrial certifications.
Recommended
Recommended Products Summary
Engineering reference data for EP2A70F1020 — comparison, design guidance, and compliance information.
Selection Guide
Comparison with Alternatives
| Parameter | This Product | EP2A70F1020C7 | EP2A70F1020C8 | EP2A70F1020C9 | EP2A40F1020C7 | EP2A40F1020C9 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brand | Altera | Altera - same | Altera - same | Altera - same | Altera - same | Altera - same |
| Package | 1020-ball FBGA | 1020-ball FBGA - same | 1020-ball FBGA - same | 1020-ball FBGA - same | 1020-ball FBGA - same | 1020-ball FBGA - same |
| Family | APEX II | APEX II - same | APEX II - same | APEX II - same | APEX II - same | APEX II - same |
| Logic Elements | 67200 | 67200 | 67200 | 67200 | ~40000 (smaller by ~40%) | ~40000 (smaller by ~40%) |
| Speed Grade | C7/C8/C9 (per suffix) | C7 (slowest) | C8 (mid) | C9 (fastest) | C7 (slowest) | C9 (fastest) |
| Core Voltage | 1.5 V | 1.5 V - same | 1.5 V - same | 1.5 V - same | 1.5 V - same | 1.5 V - same |
| Lifecycle Status | Obsolete | Obsolete | Obsolete | Obsolete | Obsolete | Obsolete |
Key Differentiators
- Highest logic-element density in 1020-ball FBGA of the APEX II family (vs EP2A40F1020C7)
- Speed grade flexibility (C7/C8/C9) (vs Single-speed-grade FPGA competitors)
- High I/O count (735 user I/O) in 1020-ball FBGA (vs Lower-density APEX II packages (e.g. 724-ball BGA))
Design Notes
Estimated: the APEX II EP2A70F1020 at 1.5V core with ~80% LE utilization at 100 MHz toggle rate typically draws 5-12 W from VCCINT and 2-4 W from VCCIO rails, for a total dissipation of 7-16 W per board-level estimates in Altera APEX II documentation. A multi-layer PCB with dedicated 1.5V and per-bank VCCIO power planes is mandatory; bulk decoupling needs at least 4x 220 uF low-ESR electrolytic + 10x 100 nF ceramic caps per VCC plane. Use a 1.5V buck regulator with 3A continuous rating and tight (<2%) line/load regulation.
Estimated: at 12 W dissipation in a 1020-ball FBGA, the package has theta_JA of approximately 12-15 C/W on a 6-layer PCB with thermal vias, giving a 144-180 C junction temperature rise above ambient - which exceeds the 125 C max junction. A bottom-mounted heatsink, thermal via array under the die pad, and forced-air cooling are essential. Designers should consult the APEX II packaging thermal model document for theta_JC and recommended PCB thermal-via patterns.
The 1020-ball FBGA requires a 1.0 mm or 0.8 mm ball pitch PCB land pattern per JEDEC MS-026 standards. Microvia stack-up (laser-drilled) is recommended for inner-row balls; outer-row balls can use standard via-in-pad. Matched-length traces within I/O banks must be tuned to within 50 mil for LVDS pairs and within 100 mil for source-synchronous buses per Altera APEX II hardware guidelines. Place a JTAG header (10-pin or 14-pin) within 2 inches of the device for programming and boundary-scan access.
Do not omit external configuration memory - the SRAM-volatile APEX II fabric loses its configuration on power-down and must be reloaded at every boot via a companion EPC4/EPC8/EPC16 enhanced configuration device or via JTAG. The MSEL0/MSEL1 mode-select pins must be hardwired for the chosen configuration mode; floating MSEL pins cause boot failure. LVDS outputs require a 100 ohm differential termination resistor at the receiver; missing termination causes signal integrity violations and bit-error rates.
Separate analog/digital grounds with a single-point bridge near the FPGA to prevent digital switching noise coupling into sensitive analog blocks. For LVDS I/O, route differential pairs with 100 ohm controlled impedance (typically 8-10 mil trace width on 4 mil dielectric). Avoid 90-degree bends; use 45-degree or curved bends to minimize reflection. Place reference decoupling caps within 100 mil of each VCC/VCCIO ball per manufacturer hardware guidelines.
Compliance Information
RoHS/REACH/halogen status not explicitly stated in provided distributor data; APEX II family preceded modern Altera RoHS transition era. AEC-Q100 not applicable for industrial FPGA use case. Conflict-minerals status not in provided data - default to unknown.
