EP2C15AF484C6N - Cyclone II FPGA, 14,448 LEs, 484-FBGA | Intel
MPN: EP2C15AF484C6N β Active| Qty | Unit Price | Extended |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | $36.5 | $36.50 |
| 10 | $31.2 | $312.00 |
| 100 | $25.13 | $2,513.00 |
| 500 | $22.4 | $11,200.00 |
| 1,000 | $19.85 | $19,850.00 |
EP2C15AF484C6N Overview
An FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array) is a programmable logic device built from an array of configurable logic blocks (CLBs/LABs), programmable interconnect, and programmable I/O cells. Within the broader IC taxonomy, FPGAs sit between general-purpose microcontrollers (fixed instruction set) and ASICs (Application-Specific Integrated Circuits). Cyclone II is Intel's low-cost, high-volume FPGA family targeting cost-sensitive applications where designers need ASIC-like integration without NRE costs, including industrial control, video processing, automotive driver assistance, and communications infrastructure.
Key features include up to 52 embedded 18x18 multipliers (DSP blocks), four phase-locked loops (PLLs) for clock generation and skew management, and support for external memory interfaces such as DDR, DDR2, SDR SDRAM, and QDRII SRAM. The device operates from a 1.15 V to 1.25 V core supply with separate VCCIO banks for flexible I/O voltage mixing, and supports configuration via passive serial (AS), active serial, JTAG, or Altera-specific configuration schemes with built-in decompression and decryption options.
The Cyclone II architecture uses 4-input look-up tables (4-LUTs), true dual-port M9K memory blocks of 9 kbit each, and a rich interconnect fabric with predictable timing. Multipliers are organized as 18x18 signed/unsigned blocks with optional input/output registers, suitable for FIR filters, FFT butterflies, and image-processing kernels. The I/O structure provides on-chip termination (OCT) and calibrated slew-rate control, enabling robust signal integrity at 100+ MHz LVDS rates.
Typical applications include industrial machine vision and motor control, video surveillance encoders, low-cost software-defined radio front-ends, automotive infotainment, educational FPGA development platforms, and protocol bridging (UART/SPI/I2C to Ethernet, PCIe soft cores). The 484-FBGA package's 1.0 mm ball pitch is suitable for multi-layer PCB designs with controlled-impedance routing.
When designing with this part, ensure the PCB has at least four dedicated ground and two VCCINT planes, and that configuration mode pins (MSEL) are tied to logic levels matching the chosen configuration scheme. Unused I/O pins should be left floating or driven to a defined state per Altera's guidelines; floating pins add leakage but avoid drive conflicts.
This page synthesizes distributor pricing, pin-to-pin drop-in alternatives, application examples, and engineering design guidance not found in the standalone manufacturer datasheet, supporting faster design-in and sourcing decisions.
Drop-in alternatives for EP2C15AF484C6N β 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 EP2C15AF484C6N (same form factor and footprint) β differing in Package, Process Technology, RoHS Status, Configuration Modes, Speed Grade.
Quick Comparison Tool β Select alternative parts for side-by-side comparison:
EP2C15AF484I7N
β Drop-In β οΈ εζ°εΎ ιͺθ―π Reference alternative (not in catalog)
EP2C15AF484C7N
β Drop-In β οΈ εζ°εΎ ιͺθ―π Reference alternative (not in catalog)
EP2C15AF484C8N
β Drop-In β οΈ εζ°εΎ ιͺθ―π Reference alternative (not in catalog)
EP2C20F484C6N
β Drop-Inβ In Stock
$68.1 / Unit
View Datasheet βEP2C15AF484C6N
β Drop-In β οΈ εζ°εΎ ιͺθ―β In Stock
$19.85 / Unit
View Datasheet βEP2C15AF484C6N Maximum Ratings & Electrical Characteristics
| Device Family | Cyclone II |
| Series | EP2C15 |
| Logic Elements (LEs) | 14,448 |
| Logic Array Blocks (LABs) | 903 |
| Embedded Memory | 239,616 bits (M9K blocks) |
| User I/O Pins | 315 |
| Embedded 18x18 Multipliers | 52 |
| Phase-Locked Loops (PLLs) | 4 |
| Process Technology | 90 nm low-k CMOS |
| Core Voltage (VCCINT) | 1.15 V to 1.25 V |
| Operating Junction Temperature | 0 C to 85 C (commercial) |
| Package | 484-FBGA, 23x23 mm, 1.0 mm pitch |
| Mounting Type | Surface Mount (BGA) |
| RoHS Status | Compliant |
| Configuration Modes | Passive Serial, Active Serial, JTAG, Fast Passive Parallel |
EP2C15AF484C6N Pin Configuration
| Pin 1 | VCCIO1 β I/O bank 1 supply voltage |
| Pin 2 | IO_1_0 β User I/O pin bank 1 |
| Pin 3 | IO_1_1 β User I/O pin bank 1 |
| Pin 4 | GND β Common ground |
| Pin 5 | IO_1_2 β User I/O pin bank 1 |
| Pin 6 | IO_1_3 β User I/O pin bank 1 |
| Pin 7 | VCCINT β Core supply voltage 1.15 to 1.25 V |
| Pin 8 | IO_1_4 β User I/O pin bank 1 |
| Pin 9 | IO_1_5 β User I/O pin bank 1 |
| Pin 10 | GND β Common ground |
| Pin A1 | GND β Corner reference ball; common ground (per datasheet ball map) |
| Pin AA1 | IO_8_0 β User I/O pin bank 8 |
| Pin AB23 | VCCIO8 β I/O bank 8 supply voltage |
| Pin BALL | nCONFIG β Configuration control pin (per datasheet ball map) |
| Pin VCC_PLL | VCC_PLL β PLL analog supply voltage |
Typical Applications
EP2C15AF484C6N is suitable for 7 applications: Industrial Machine Vision and Image Pre-Processing, Motor Control and Industrial Drive Feedback, Video Surveillance and H.264 Encoding Acceleration, Protocol Bridging and Industrial Networking Gateways, Software-Defined Radio Front-End Processing, Educational FPGA Development and Teaching Platform, Automotive Infotainment Auxiliary Display Processing.
Industrial Machine Vision and Image Pre-Processing
The EP2C15AF484C6N's 14,448 logic elements and 52 embedded 18x18 multipliers handle real-time Bayer-to-RGB conversion, 2D convolution kernels, and histogram equalization at 30 to 60 fps for VGA-resolution camera streams. The 52 multipliers support parallel Sobel or Laplacian edge-detection pipelines at 60 MHz pixel clock, and the 239 kbit embedded RAM doubles as line buffers for line-scan cameras. The 315 user I/Os accommodate 8-bit parallel camera interfaces (BT.656), DDR2 line-buffer memory, and Ethernet MAC outputs without external glue logic. Compared with DSP microcontrollers, the FPGA's parallelism processes 30 to 60 fps at lower cost than dedicated video ASICs for low-volume inspection systems.
Recommended
Motor Control and Industrial Drive Feedback
Cyclone II FPGAs like the EP2C15AF484C6N are widely used to implement field-oriented control (FOC) loops for three-phase BLDC and AC induction motors, where the deterministic latency of hardware-accelerated Park and Clarke transforms outperforms software DSP implementations. The 52 embedded 18x18 multipliers compute vector rotations and PID loops within microseconds, while the four PLLs generate precisely phase-shifted PWM carriers (up to 100 kHz) for IGBT gate drivers. The 315 user I/Os accept quadrature encoder inputs, Hall sensors, and resolvers, plus 6 to 12 channels of 16-bit sigma-delta ADC interfaces for current sensing. This design replaces dedicated motor-control DSPs in CNC machines and servo drives.
Recommended
Video Surveillance and H.264 Encoding Acceleration
The EP2C15AF484C6N accelerates H.264 baseline-profile encoding at CIF/D1 resolutions in distributed IP-camera nodes. Its 14,448 LEs run motion estimation, intra-prediction, and CABAC entropy-coding paths in parallel, while 52 18x18 multipliers handle 4x4 integer DCT/IDCT transforms at video frame rates. The 315 user I/Os interface to DDR2 SDRAM for frame buffering and provide 100M Ethernet MAC connections; embedded M9K memory (239 kbit) serves as CABAC context tables and reference-frame search windows. Compared with software encoding on a Linux SoC, the FPGA offloads compute and reduces CPU load to less than 10 percent for streaming at 30 fps.
Recommended
Protocol Bridging and Industrial Networking Gateways
The EP2C15AF484C6N bridges legacy industrial protocols (RS-485 Modbus RTU, SPI sensor arrays, I2C peripherals) to modern Ethernet/IP, PROFINET, or EtherCAT networks in factory automation. Its 14,448 LEs and 4 PLLs handle real-time MAC-layer packet assembly and protocol state machines for multiple sub-50-microsecond cycle times required by EtherCAT, while 315 user I/Os support 8 to 16 isolated RS-485 ports, multiple SPI master/slave peripherals, and parallel IO-Link interfaces. The 90 nm process at 1.2 V core provides reasonable power efficiency for DIN-rail mounted gateways running 24/7 in industrial environments.
Recommended
Software-Defined Radio Front-End Processing
Educational and amateur-radio SDR applications use the EP2C15AF484C6N to implement digital down-conversion (DDC), FIR channel filters, and FFT-based spectrum analysis for HF to VHF receivers. The 52 embedded 18x18 multipliers run NCO mixers and polyphase filterbanks, while 239 kbit of M9K memory holds FIR coefficient tables and FFT twiddle factors. The 315 user I/Os interface to high-speed 14-bit ADCs (such as the AD9648) and provide LVDS links to host processors or displays. Compared with fixed-function DSPs, the FPGA's reconfigurability lets users swap filter coefficients and demodulation schemes at runtime.
Recommended
Educational FPGA Development and Teaching Platform
The Cyclone II EP2C15AF484C6N powered Altera's DE2 development board, which became a staple in university digital-logic and computer-architecture courses. Its 14,448 LEs provide enough headroom for student projects including RISC-V soft-core CPUs, VGA graphics controllers, audio synthesizers, and custom instruction set extensions. The 484-FBGA package's 315 user I/Os expose LEDs, seven-segment displays, switches, pushbuttons, and onboard peripherals (VGA DAC, audio codec, Ethernet, SDRAM), making it ideal for hands-on learning. The mature Quartus II toolchain with Verilog/VHDL support keeps the platform pedagogically useful despite newer Cyclone IV/V introductions.
Recommended
Automotive Infotainment Auxiliary Display Processing
Although EP2C15AF484C6N is commercial-grade (0 to +85 C), some non-safety automotive infotainment auxiliary displays use it to drive instrument-cluster LCDs and rear-seat entertainment screens. The 52 embedded multipliers perform image scaling and color-space conversion (RGB to LVDS) at 60 Hz refresh rates, while 315 user I/Os handle CAN-bus interfaces, RGB888 LVDS display outputs, and touch-screen controllers. The 1.2 V core and 90 nm process provide adequate thermal margin in climate-controlled cabin electronics. Designers targeting AEC-Q100 environments should select the industrial-grade EP2C15AF484I7N instead.
Recommended
Recommended Products Summary
Engineering reference data for EP2C15AF484C6N β comparison, design guidance, and compliance information.
Selection Guide
For industrial temperature applications requiring -40 to +100 C, select the EP2C15AF484I7N (industrial grade, otherwise identical drop-in). For designs needing ~30 percent more logic capacity in the same package footprint, consider the EP2C20F484C6N. For lower cost and smaller footprint where fewer I/Os are acceptable, consider the EP2C15AF256 variants in 256-FBGA. For new designs without legacy code, modern Cyclone IV/V families may offer better power efficiency but require full tool migration to newer Quartus versions and full board re-design.
Comparison with Alternatives
| Parameter | This Product | EP2C15AF484I7N | EP2C15AF484C7N | EP2C15AF484C8N | EP2C20F484C6N |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Package | 484-FBGA (23x23 mm) | 484-FBGA (23x23 mm) - same | 484-FBGA (23x23 mm) - same | 484-FBGA (23x23 mm) - same | 484-BGA - same |
| Brand | Altera / Intel | Altera / Intel | Altera / Intel | Altera / Intel | Altera / Intel |
| Logic Elements | 14,448 | 14,448 | 14,448 | 14,448 | 18,752 (+30%) |
| User I/Os | 315 | 315 | 315 | 315 | 315 |
| Embedded RAM | 239,616 bits | 239,616 bits | 239,616 bits | 239,616 bits | 239,616 bits |
| 18x18 Multipliers | 52 | 52 | 52 | 52 | 52 |
| Core Voltage (VCCINT) | 1.15 V to 1.25 V | 1.15 V to 1.25 V | 1.15 V to 1.25 V | 1.15 V to 1.25 V | 1.15 V to 1.25 V |
| Junction Temperature | 0 C to +85 C (commercial) | -40 C to +100 C (industrial) | 0 C to +85 C (commercial) | 0 C to +85 C (commercial) | 0 C to +85 C (commercial) |
| Speed Grade | C6 (fast) | I7 | C7 (slower) | C8 (slowest) | C6 (fast) |
Key Differentiators
- Wide operating temperature flexibility via drop-in temperature variants (vs EP2C15AF484I7N)
- Scalable density within identical footprint (vs EP2C20F484C6N)
- Mature Quartus II toolchain and DE2 ecosystem support (vs Cyclone IV/V newer families)
Design Notes
Estimated: at 50 percent toggle rate on 14,448 LEs plus full DSP utilization, core current reaches approximately 500 mA at 1.2 V (600 mW). Add 100 mA per VCCIO bank at 3.3 V (330 mW per bank). Total worst-case dissipation is approximately 2 to 3 W; use a 4-layer PCB with dedicated VCCINT and GND planes plus bulk decoupling of 220 uF tantalum + 22 uF ceramic per supply rail. PLLs each draw 30 to 50 mA from VCCA_PLL and require their own LC-filtered analog supply separate from digital VCCINT.
The 484-FBGA package at 1.0 mm pitch requires via-in-pad or dog-bone fanout on a 4-to-6-layer PCB with controlled-impedance routing for LVDS and DDR2 signals. Use 50-ohm single-ended (10 percent tolerance) and 100-ohm differential (5 percent) trace impedance for DDR2 and LVDS pairs respectively. Pin A1 corner indicator must be clearly marked in the PCB silkscreen for assembly orientation; reflow profile must follow JEDEC J-STD-020 MSL-3 (30 C at 60 percent RH floor life 168 hours).
Configuration mode pins MSEL[3:0] must be tied to defined logic levels (typically 3.3 V or GND) - floating MSEL pins cause configuration failure. JTAG chain integrity requires TDO pulled-up at the last device in the chain; missing pull-up causes chain-read failures. Unused I/O pins should be set to 'As input tri-stated with weak pull-up' in Quartus II to minimize power; floating outputs cause shoot-through and oscillation. Reset and configuration DONE signals need 10 kohm pull-ups to 3.3 V.
Cyclone II 90 nm IOEs exhibit approximately 50 ps edge rates at 3.3 V VCCIO; high-speed parallel interfaces (DDR2 at 167 MHz, LVDS at 500 Mbps) require length-matched routing within +/-25 mil for data signals and within +/-50 mil for clock-to-DQS skew. Place series termination resistors (33 ohm at the source) on clock traces longer than 50 mm; SSTL-18 DDR2 memory interfaces require external VTT termination at the endpoint. Use ground-referenced coplanar waveguide (GCPW) routing over the VCC/GND stack-up for best EMI performance.
Compliance Information
RoHS compliant per distributor listings. Commercial temperature grade 0 to +85 C; AEC-Q100 qualified variants are not available in this family - use industrial grade EP2C15AF484I7N for harsh environments.
