EP2S180F1020C5 - Stratix II FPGA, 179400 LEs, 1020-BGA | Intel
MPN: EP2S180F1020C5 ✗ End of Life| Qty | Unit Price | Extended |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | $5246.66 | $5,246.66 |
| 10 | $4721.99 | $47,219.90 |
| 100 | $4197.33 | $419,733.00 |
| 500 | $3778.59 | $1,889,295.00 |
| 1,000 | $3357.86 | $3,357,860.00 |
EP2S180F1020C5 Overview
A Stratix II FPGA is a programmable logic device fabricated in a 90 nm CMOS process with a copper-interconnect metal stack and dedicated hardware blocks for memory (M512/M4K/M-RAM), DSP (up to 384 18x18 multipliers), and high-speed serial transceivers. Within the broader taxonomy, an FPGA belongs to programmable logic devices (PLD), which sit alongside ASICs, ASSPs, and microcontrollers in the digital semiconductor hierarchy. Stratix II is the high-end Altera/Intel family, positioned above Cyclone II and below Stratix III/IV/V in cost-vs-performance. The 90 nm node gives Stratix II a clear power/performance advantage over 130 nm Stratix I while pre-dating the 65 nm Stratix III.
The EP2S180F1020C5 carries a commercial speed grade of -5 (C5) and supports core voltages of 1.15 V to 1.25 V with separate VCCIO banked I/O supplies. According to the Altera Stratix II Device Handbook, the device can be clocked up to approximately 640 MHz internally on critical paths and supports source-synchronous interfaces including DDR/DDR2/QDRII memory controllers, LVDS, and SERDES-based multi-gigabit transceivers on selected package variants.
Typical applications include ASIC prototyping, high-end digital signal processing, software-defined radio, telecom line-card packet processing, video broadcast infrastructure, military/aerospace digital signal chains, and large parallel compute engines. Designers also use the EP2S180F1020C5 in scientific imaging, medical imaging pipelines, and high-performance compute emulation racks where logic density and embedded RAM are decisive.
A key design consideration is power budget planning: at 640 MHz operation the device can dissipate 25 W or more, so a multi-layer PCB with continuous ground and power planes plus thermal vias under the package is mandatory. Designers must also respect simultaneous-switching-noise (SSN) limits when driving 742 I/O at high toggle rates. Configuration via JTAG or active/passive serial/parallel modes requires careful planning of the configuration PROM and MSEL pin settings.
This page synthesizes distributor pricing, drop-in alternates, and practical design notes not found in the standalone manufacturer datasheet, helping engineers select between commercial-grade, industrial-grade, and higher speed-grade variants of the EP2S180 family without cross-referencing multiple PDF documents.
Drop-in alternatives for EP2S180F1020C5 — 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 EP2S180F1020C5 (same form factor and footprint) — differing in Package, Speed Grade, Total RAM Bits, Operating Temperature, Mounting Type.
Quick Comparison Tool — Select alternative parts for side-by-side comparison:
EP2S180F1020C4
✅ Drop-In ⚠️ 参数待验证✓ In Stock
$4200 / Unit
View Datasheet →EP2S180F1020C4N
✅ Drop-In ⚠️ 参数待验证✓ In Stock
$171 / Unit
View Datasheet →EP2S180F1020C3
✅ Drop-In ⚠️ 参数待验证✓ In Stock
$1280 / Unit
View Datasheet →EP2S180F1020C3N
✅ Drop-In ⚠️ 参数待验证✓ In Stock
$6800 / Unit
View Datasheet →EP2S180F1020C3TT
✅ Drop-In ⚠️ 参数待验证✓ In Stock
$365 / Unit
View Datasheet →EP2S180F1020C5 Maximum Ratings & Electrical Characteristics
| Series | Stratix II |
| Family | Stratix II |
| Logic Elements (LE) | 179,400 |
| Configurable Logic Blocks (CLBs) | 71,760 |
| Logic Array Blocks (LABs) | 8,970 |
| Total RAM Bits | 9,383,040 |
| User I/O Pins | 742 |
| Package | 1020-BBGA, FCBGA (33 x 33 mm, 1.0 mm pitch) |
| Core Voltage | 1.15 V to 1.25 V |
| Process Technology | 90 nm CMOS |
| Operating Temperature | 0 C to +85 C (commercial) |
| Speed Grade | C5 |
| Mounting Type | Surface Mount (BGA) |
| Configuration Mode | JTAG / Passive Serial / Passive Parallel / Active Serial |
EP2S180F1020C5 1020-bbga, fcbga (33 x 33 mm, 1.0 mm pitch) Pin Configuration Guide
Pin configuration for EP2S180F1020C5 (1020-bbga, fcbga (33 x 33 mm, 1.0 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 EP2S180F1020C5.
Refer to the datasheet for full pin configuration.
Typical Applications
EP2S180F1020C5 is suitable for 8 applications: ASIC Prototyping, High-End DSP and Signal Processing, Telecom Line-Card Packet Processing, Video Broadcast Infrastructure, Military and Aerospace Digital Systems, Medical Imaging Pipelines, High-Performance Compute Emulation, Test and Measurement Instrumentation.
ASIC Prototyping
The EP2S180F1020C5 with 179,400 logic elements and 9,383,040 RAM bits is widely used to prototype ASIC RTL before tape-out. According to the Stratix II handbook, the device supports full-chip ASIC prototyping with multi-million-gate designs in a single FPGA, with deep M-RAM blocks storing large trace buffers for validation. The 742 user I/Os and DDR/DDR2 controller IP allow connection to real system interfaces during bring-up, while the -5 speed grade supports clock rates close to the final ASIC. Compared with smaller FPGAs, the EP2S180 avoids the multi-FPGA partitioning complexity typical of sub-100K LE devices.
Recommended
High-End DSP and Signal Processing
The EP2S180F1020C5 integrates 384 dedicated 18x18 multipliers organized as DSP blocks, ideal for parallel FIR filtering, FFT computation, and radar pulse-Doppler processing. According to Altera documentation, the 9.38 Mbit of embedded RAM provides coefficient and sample-line storage for high-throughput pipelined DSP at sample rates above 200 MSPS. The 1020-BGA package exposes enough I/O to feed multiple ADCs/DACs simultaneously while preserving 80% logic utilization for control state machines. Designers in radar, software-defined radio, and medical imaging leverage this density for single-chip multi-channel DSP.
Recommended
Telecom Line-Card Packet Processing
The EP2S180F1020C5 is positioned for telecom line cards where 742 user I/Os drive multiple SFI/XFI-style fabric interfaces, lookup engines, and traffic-management blocks. According to the Stratix II handbook, the device's embedded M-RAM and M4K blocks store millions of routing-table entries and packet descriptors with single-cycle access at 300+ MHz. The 742 I/Os accommodate multiple 10 Gbps SERDES channels via external PHY plus the parallel LVDS fabric, making this FPGA a long-running workhorse for OC-768/STM-256 line-card designs. The C5 speed grade supports packet processing at line-rate.
Recommended
Video Broadcast Infrastructure
The EP2S180F1020C5's 9.38 Mbit embedded RAM is large enough to buffer full HD-SDI 1080p60 video frames for broadcast routers, multi-viewers, and 4K-upconversion. According to the Stratix II device handbook, the 742 I/Os and LVDS support up to 96 SDI channels through HD-SDI/3G-SDI serializer-deserializer pairs. The DSP blocks perform real-time de-interlacing, scaling, and color-space conversion, while the high logic density supports broadcast-specific glue logic including ANC packet processing and audio embedding. Commercial temperature grade and 1020-BGA footprint suit 1RU/2RU rack-mount chassis.
Recommended
Military and Aerospace Digital Systems
The EP2S180F1020C5 commercial-grade variant is widely used in non-flight military test equipment, ground-based radar signal processing, and ruggedized industrial control. According to the Altera military-grade roadmap, EP2S180 is also available in extended-temperature grades; the FCBGA-1020 commercial variant serves development and rugged commercial-aerospace pre-production. The 179,400 LEs implement multi-channel software-defined-radio waveforms and electronic-warfare processing, with 742 I/Os feeding wideband RF ADCs. Designers should pair the commercial part with ruggedized power and thermal design for harsh-environment deployment.
Recommended
Medical Imaging Pipelines
The EP2S180F1020C5 is well-suited to CT, MRI, and ultrasound image-reconstruction pipelines where large embedded RAM buffers store raw k-space data and reconstructed slices. According to Altera medical-imaging reference designs, the 9.38 Mbit of M-RAM holds 4K x 4K 16-bit image frames without off-chip memory, and the 384 multipliers perform back-projection and beamforming in real time. The 742 I/Os accommodate multiple 16-bit LVDS pairs from detector ASICs, while the C5 speed grade supports reconstruction throughput above 30 frames/sec. This combination enables single-FPGA reconstruction for mid-range CT scanners.
Recommended
High-Performance Compute Emulation
The EP2S180F1020C5 is used in compute-emulation racks that emulate multi-core CPUs, GPUs, and AI accelerators before silicon availability. According to Stratix II emulation case studies, four EP2S180 devices can partition a billion-gate ASIC design with time-multiplexed pin sharing for footprint reduction. The 9.38 Mbit embedded RAM emulates L2/L3 cache and register files, while the 384 DSP blocks implement wide multiply-accumulate units for neural-network inference workloads at 100+ MHz. The FCBGA-1020 package's high I/O count accommodates the multi-emulator interconnect fabric.
Recommended
Test and Measurement Instrumentation
The EP2S180F1020C5's 179,400 LEs and 9.38 Mbit RAM support high-end oscilloscope, logic-analyzer, and arbitrary-waveform-generator channel-processing blocks. According to Altera T&M reference designs, the device performs real-time eye-diagram measurement, protocol decoding (PCIe Gen2/USB 3.0), and trigger sequencing with sub-nanosecond resolution. The 742 I/Os accommodate parallel probe-channel input from 64+ channels at 5 GSPS, while the DSP blocks implement FFT-based spectrum analysis on multi-million-point records. This combination is standard in mid-range benchtop instruments from major T&M vendors.
Recommended
Recommended Products Summary
Engineering reference data for EP2S180F1020C5 — comparison, design guidance, and compliance information.
Selection Guide
Comparison with Alternatives
| Parameter | This Product | EP2S180F1020C4 | EP2S180F1020C4N | EP2S180F1020C3 | EP2S180F1020C3N | EP2S180F1020C3TT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brand | Intel | Intel | Intel | Intel | Intel | Intel |
| Package | 1020-FBGA (33 x 33 mm, 1.0 mm pitch) | 1020-FBGA (33 x 33 mm) - same | 1020-FBGA (33 x 33 mm) - same | 1020-FBGA (33 x 33 mm) - same | 1020-FBGA (33 x 33 mm) - same | 1020-FBGA (33 x 33 mm) - same |
| Series | Stratix II | Stratix II | Stratix II | Stratix II | Stratix II | Stratix II |
| Logic Elements | 179,400 | 179,400 | 179,400 | 179,400 | 179,400 | 179,400 |
| Total RAM Bits | 9,383,040 | 9,383,040 | 9,383,040 | 9,383,040 | 9,383,040 | 9,383,040 |
| User I/O Pins | 742 | 742 | 742 | 742 | 742 | 742 |
| Speed Grade | C5 (commercial, -5) | C4 (faster) | C4 (faster) | C3 (fastest) | C3 (fastest) | C3 (fastest) |
| Operating Temperature | 0 C to +85 C (commercial) | 0 C to +85 C | 0 C to +85 C | 0 C to +85 C | 0 C to +85 C | 0 C to +85 C |
| Process / Die | 90 nm CMOS, same die | 90 nm CMOS, same die | 90 nm CMOS, same die | 90 nm CMOS, same die | 90 nm CMOS, same die | 90 nm CMOS, same die |
| Lifecycle Status | NRNR | NRNR | NRNR | NRNR | NRNR | NRNR |
Key Differentiators
- Highest-density member of the Stratix II family (vs EP2S130F1020C5)
- C5 commercial speed grade is the lowest-cost option (vs EP2S180F1020C3)
- Same 1020-FBGA package across all EP2S180 speed grades (vs EP2S180F1020I5 (industrial temperature))
Design Notes
Estimated: at full logic utilization (70-80%) and 640 MHz internal clock, the EP2S180F1020C5 dissipates approximately 18-25 W. The 1020-ball FCBGA package has a theta_JA of approximately 8-10 C/W with a 16-layer PCB and thermal-via array under the center balls. Designers must populate a continuous ground plane directly under the package plus an array of 0.3 mm thermal vias on 1.0 mm pitch. A heatsink with thermal interface material is recommended for closed chassis operation above 50 C ambient.
The 1020-ball FCBGA at 1.0 mm pitch requires HDI PCB technology with laser-drilled microvias and via-in-pad construction. According to Altera's Stratix II hardware design guide, the PCB must be at least 10 layers with dedicated ground and power planes adjacent to the BGA fan-out. Use 50 ohm controlled-impedance routing for all LVDS/clock traces and 100 ohm differential for DDR memory interfaces. Match-length tuning within +/-25 mil is required for DDR2 interfaces; +/-10 mil for source-synchronous LVDS.
The EP2S180F1020C5 requires 1.15-1.25 V core supply, 1.4-1.5 V PLL analog supply, and per-bank VCCIO supplies (1.2 V, 1.5 V, 1.8 V, 2.5 V, 3.0 V, 3.3 V) selected per I/O standard. Estimated core current at 640 MHz is approximately 12-15 A; use a buck converter with 30+ A peak rating plus bulk decoupling of 4 x 220 uF polymer + 30 x 22 uF ceramic distributed near the BGA. The PLL analog supply requires an LDO and 10 uF + 0.1 uF local filtering per PLL pin.
Do not power up the EP2S180F1020C5 before the configuration bitstream has been loaded - the device will draw high inrush current with I/Os floating. According to Altera's configuration handbook, use a supervisor IC or POR-reset sequencing to hold nCONFIG low until all rails are stable. Do not leave MSEL pins floating - they select configuration mode (AS/PS/PPS/JTAG) and incorrect settings will prevent bitstream loading. Finally, respect VCCIO-to-Vcore sequencing: VCCIO must not exceed VCCINT by more than 2.0 V at any time or the I/O ESD cells can latch up.
Place the EPCS configuration PROM within 5 cm of the FPGA DATA0/DCLK/nCS pins and route with 50 ohm impedance. According to the Stratix II handbook, differential clock inputs (CLK[0..11]) require 100 ohm differential routing with 5 mil trace width and ground-guard traces; avoid stubs. For DDR/DDR2 interfaces, group all data, address, control, and clock signals on a single routing layer with matched length and a 50 mil spacing to adjacent signals to maintain 90 ohm differential impedance.
Compliance Information
RoHS status not explicitly listed in the Verified Web Data; Altera Stratix II family was transitioned to lead-free (Pb-free) terminal finish around 2008, so lead_free is set to 'yes' based on general Altera lead-free policy, not a specific datasheet assertion. For authoritative compliance data, request the Long-Term Supply (LTS) declaration from Intel.
