EP3C40F780I8N - Cyclone III FPGA, 39.6K LE, 780-BGA | Intel
MPN: EP3C40F780I8N ✓ Active| Qty | Unit Price | Extended |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | $285 | $285.00 |
| 10 | $262 | $2,620.00 |
| 100 | $238 | $23,800.00 |
| 500 | $215 | $107,500.00 |
| 1,000 | $192 | $192,000.00 |
EP3C40F780I8N Overview
An FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) is a programmable logic device that lets designers configure arbitrary digital logic through SRAM-based configuration cells. FPGAs sit at the intersection of ASIC efficiency and processor flexibility: they offer hardware parallelism and deterministic timing that microcontrollers cannot match, while allowing in-system reconfiguration that fixed-function ASICs cannot deliver. The Cyclone III family specifically targets cost-sensitive, power-constrained high-volume applications where designers need ASIC-class logic density without ASIC NRE cost, making it a workhorse for industrial control, video, and communications infrastructure.
Key features of the EP3C40F780I8N include 39,600 logic elements, 1,161,216 bits of embedded SRAM (approximately 135 KBytes), 4 PLLs, 20 global clock networks, 535 user I/O pins, and support for external memory interfaces including DDR/DDR2 SDRAM and QDRII SRAM. The 780-BGA package provides generous I/O count for high-pin-count parallel interfaces such as parallel video, RGMII, or PCI/PCI-X bus bridging, and the industrial temperature range (-40 °C to 100 °C) suits outdoor, factory-floor, and automotive-cabin deployments.
The EP3C40F780I8N is fabricated in TSMC's low-power 65 nm process, which is the foundation of the Cyclone III family's industry-leading static power profile (typically under 100 mW quiescent). The device supports configuration via passive serial, active serial (EPCS), JTAG, and Fast Passive Parallel modes, enabling flexible boot from low-cost EPCS flash or microprocessor host. On-chip termination (OCT) calibration and LVDS signaling up to 875 Mbps simplify board design.
Typical applications include industrial motor control and PLCs, broadcast video processing (HD-SDI/SDI bridges, LCD/TFT controllers), wireline telecom line cards, military/aerospace avionics, medical imaging pre-processing, and software-defined radio baseband. The combination of high logic density and large embedded memory makes it well suited for buffering full HD frames in video pipelines and for protocol adaptation in telecom backplanes.
When designing with the EP3C40F780I8N, allocate configuration pins (nCONFIG, nSTATUS, CONF_DONE, MSEL) carefully and follow the Cyclone III pin connection guidelines for unused pins and bank VCCIO selection. Quartus II Web Edition (free) supports the full Cyclone III device family, but designers targeting high-utilization designs with timing closure benefit from the subscription edition's TimeQuest and Chip Planner. The 780-BGA's 1.0 mm ball pitch requires 4-layer minimum PCB stack-up with microvia-in-pad at HDI processes.
This page synthesizes distributor pricing, real-time stock signals, drop-in alternatives from the same Cyclone III family, and practical board-level design notes not found in any single manufacturer datasheet.
Drop-in alternatives for EP3C40F780I8N — 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 EP3C40F780I8N (same form factor and footprint) — differing in Process Technology, Speed Grade, Package, Operating Temperature, Embedded 18x18 Multipliers.
Quick Comparison Tool — Select alternative parts for side-by-side comparison:
EP3C40F780I7N
✅ Drop-In✓ In Stock
$92.5 / Unit
View Datasheet →EP3C40F780C8N
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$64.85 / Unit
View Datasheet →EP3C40F780C8
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$99.95 / Unit
View Datasheet →EP3C40F780C7N
✅ Drop-In✓ In Stock
$145.4 / Unit
View Datasheet →EP3C40F780C7
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$139.5 / Unit
View Datasheet →EP3C120F780I7N
✅ Drop-In✓ In Stock
$198.45 / Unit
View Datasheet →EP3C40F780I7
✅ Drop-In✓ In Stock
$52.4 / Unit
View Datasheet →EP3C40F780I8N Maximum Ratings & Electrical Characteristics
| Family | Cyclone III |
| Device Logic Elements | 39,600 |
| Logic Array Blocks (LABs/CLBs) | 2,475 |
| Embedded Memory (bits) | 1,161,216 |
| Embedded Memory (Kbits) | 1,134 |
| Embedded Multipliers (18x18) | 126 |
| Number of PLLs | 4 |
| User I/O Pins | 535 |
| I/O Banks | 20 |
| Nominal Core Supply Voltage | 1.2 V (1.15 V to 1.25 V) |
| Package | 780-ball FBGA (F780) |
| Package Ball Pitch | 1.0 mm |
| Process Technology | TSMC 65 nm low-power CMOS |
| Operating Temperature Grade | Industrial (-40 °C to +100 °C junction) |
| Configuration Modes | Passive Serial, Active Serial (EPCS), JTAG, Fast Passive Parallel |
| RoHS Status | Compliant |
| MSL Level | 3 |
| Mounting Type | Surface Mount (BGA) |
EP3C40F780I8N 1.0 mm Pin Configuration Guide
Pin configuration for EP3C40F780I8N (1.0 mm 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 EP3C40F780I8N.
Refer to the datasheet for full pin configuration.
Typical Applications
EP3C40F780I8N is suitable for 7 applications: Industrial Motor Control and PLCs, Broadcast Video Processing and Format Conversion, Telecom Line Card and Protocol Bridging, Medical Imaging Pre-Processing, Software-Defined Radio Baseband, Aerospace and Avionics Interfaces, ASIC Prototyping and Emulation.
Industrial Motor Control and PLCs
The EP3C40F780I8N is well matched to industrial motor control and PLC platforms where deterministic hardware timing is required. Its 535 user I/Os accept parallel encoder feedback (QEP), multi-axis PWM outputs, and isolated digital I/O banks at 24 V tolerant levels through external buffers. The 39,600 logic elements and 1,161,216 bits of embedded SRAM comfortably implement a 6-axis servo loop with cascaded PI controllers, S-curve trajectory planners, and EtherCAT or PROFIBUS slave MACs in soft logic. The -40 to +100 C industrial temperature grade supports factory-floor and outdoor cabinet deployments. Designers pair the FPGA with an EPCS64 configuration flash, an isolated gate driver for IGBT power stages, and a real-time Ethernet MAC implemented in logic. Source: Cyclone III Device Handbook industrial reference designs.
Recommended
Broadcast Video Processing and Format Conversion
With 39,600 logic elements, 126 18x18 multipliers, 1.16 Mbit embedded memory, and LVDS support up to 875 Mbps, the EP3C40F780I8N is widely used for HD-SDI/SDI bridging, scaling, and format conversion pipelines. The FPGA buffers a full 1920x1080 progressive frame at 60 Hz using line-store memory patterns with no external SDRAM for many scaling algorithms, and the multipliers implement polyphase taps for 4-tap horizontal and vertical scaling. Its 780-ball FBGA exposes enough LVDS pairs to drive dual-link SDI inputs/outputs simultaneously alongside parallel RGB/TTL panel interfaces. Industrial temperature rating supports outdoor broadcast, stadium LED walls, and surveillance DVR applications where ambient temperature swings are severe. Source: Cyclone III broadcast reference design and AN 552.
Recommended
Telecom Line Card and Protocol Bridging
The EP3C40F780I8N serves as a low-cost, low-power glue/bridge FPGA on telecom line cards and aggregation switches where it adapts between proprietary backplane SERDES, parallel TDM buses, and standard packet interfaces. Its 535 user I/Os and 4 PLLs support up to four independent clock domains needed for SONET/SDH, PDH, and Ethernet side interfaces running simultaneously. The 1,161,216 bits of embedded SRAM buffers small packets and cell payloads without external memory in many bridging cases. Compared to ASIC ASSPs, the FPGA's reconfigurability allows a single PCB design to support multiple protocol variants (E1/T1/J1, OC-3/STM-1 front ends) by simply reprogramming the configuration flash. Source: Cyclone III telecom reference designs and AN 461.
Recommended
Medical Imaging Pre-Processing
In ultrasound, endoscopy, and digital X-ray front-ends, the EP3C40F780I8N provides real-time beamforming, filtering, and pixel-pipeline pre-processing before the image data is forwarded to a host CPU or DSP. Its 126 18x18 multipliers accelerate FIR and IIR filtering, while the embedded SRAM holds line buffers for 2D convolution kernels. Industrial temperature rating supports portable and cart-based medical equipment that must operate continuously in clinical environments. The 780-ball package's high I/O count accepts multiple LVDS sensor channels simultaneously, and the LVDS transceivers connect directly to CMOS image sensors without external deserializer ASSPs. Source: Cyclone III medical imaging reference designs.
Recommended
Software-Defined Radio Baseband
The EP3C40F780I8N is widely deployed as a baseband processor in low-to-mid complexity software-defined radio platforms, particularly for public-safety, amateur radio, and military narrow-band waveforms. Its DSP-friendly architecture (126 dedicated 18x18 multipliers, 4 PLLs, abundant block RAM for FIR taps and FFT working storage) supports polyphase channelizers, digital down-conversion (DDC), and digital up-conversion (DUC) in pure hardware. The LVDS transceivers connect to ADCs and DACs such as the AD9864 or AD9122 directly, and external DDR/DDR2 SDRAM support is available through soft memory controllers for larger FFT sizes. Industrial temperature rating suits vehicular and airborne SDR deployments. Source: Cyclone III SDR reference designs and AN 448.
Recommended
Aerospace and Avionics Interfaces
The EP3C40F780I8N serves as a compact, low-power interface and protocol conversion FPGA in avionics subsystems, including ARINC 429, MIL-STD-1553, and discrete/analog bridge cards. Its 535 user I/Os accept large parallel avionics buses, and the embedded SRAM holds ARINC 429 label tables and 1553 message buffers. The -40 to +100 C industrial temperature grade meets DO-160 environmental categories for cockpit and cabin equipment. Compared to ASIC ASSPs, the FPGA's in-system reconfigurability allows one PCB to support multiple aircraft variants by reprogramming, and the availability of ruggedized industrial packaging makes it attractive for retrofit programs. Source: Cyclone III avionics reference designs.
Recommended
ASIC Prototyping and Emulation
The EP3C40F780I8N is used as a building block in ASIC and ASSP prototyping platforms where multiple Cyclone III FPGAs are interconnected through LVDS or parallel buses to emulate a larger ASIC. Its 39,600 logic elements and 1.16 Mbit embedded SRAM provide useful capacity per device, and the 780-ball BGA exposes enough I/O for high-bandwidth chip-to-chip interconnect. Designers map ASIC blocks across multiple EP3C40 devices using Quartus II multi-device partitioning, validating functionality and basic timing before committing to mask NRE. Industrial temperature rating supports both lab bring-up and field-ruggedized prototypes. Source: Cyclone III multi-FPGA prototyping methodology notes (AN 511).
Recommended
Recommended Products Summary
Engineering reference data for EP3C40F780I8N — comparison, design guidance, and compliance information.
Selection Guide
Comparison with Alternatives
| Parameter | This Product | EP3C40F780I7N | EP3C40F780C8N | EP3C40F780C8 | EP3C40F780C7N | EP3C40F780C7 | EP3C120F780I7N | EP3C40F780I7 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Package | FBGA-780 (F780) | FBGA-780 (F780) - same | FBGA-780 (F780) - same | FBGA-780 (F780) - same | FBGA-780 (F780) - same | FBGA-780 (F780) - same | FBGA-780 (F780) - same | FBGA-780 (F780) - same |
| Brand | Intel | Intel | Intel | Intel | Intel | Intel | Intel | Intel |
| Family | Cyclone III | Cyclone III | Cyclone III | Cyclone III | Cyclone III | Cyclone III | Cyclone III | Cyclone III |
| Logic Elements | 39,600 | 39,600 (same) | 39,600 (same) | 39,600 (same) | 39,600 (same) | 39,600 (same) | 120,000 (+203%) | 39,600 (same) |
| Embedded Memory (bits) | 1,161,216 | 1,161,216 (same) | 1,161,216 (same) | 1,161,216 (same) | 1,161,216 (same) | 1,161,216 (same) | 3,888,000 (+235%) | 1,161,216 (same) |
| Temperature Grade | Industrial (-40C to +100C) | Industrial (-40C to +100C) | Commercial (0C to +85C) | Commercial (0C to +85C) | Commercial (0C to +85C) | Commercial (0C to +85C) | Industrial (-40C to +100C) | Industrial (-40C to +100C) |
| Speed Grade | 8 | 7 (-1 speed bin) | 8 (same) | 8 (same) | 7 (-1 speed bin) | 7 (-1 speed bin) | 7 (-1 speed bin) | 7 (-1 speed bin) |
| Logic Array Blocks | 2,475 | 2,475 (same) | 2,475 (same) | 2,475 (same) | 2,475 (same) | 2,475 (same) | 7,440 (+200%) | 2,475 (same) |
| 18x18 Multipliers | 126 | 126 (same) | 126 (same) | 126 (same) | 126 (same) | 126 (same) | 288 (+129%) | 126 (same) |
| User I/Os | 535 | 535 (same) | 535 (same) | 535 (same) | 535 (same) | 535 (same) | 531 (-4 pins) | 535 (same) |
Key Differentiators
- Industrial temperature grade with speed grade 8 (fastest Cyclone III bin) (vs EP3C40F780I7N)
- Same-density Cyclone III with extended logic capacity upgrade path (vs EP3C40F780C8N)
- Cyclone III density leader at 39.6K LE in 780-ball BGA (vs EP3C25F324I7N)
Design Notes
The EP3C40F780I8N requires at least four separate supply rails: VCCINT (1.2 V core), VCCIO[1..8] (per-bank I/O, 1.2-3.3 V), VCCA_PLL (1.2 V analog, inductor-isolated), and VCCPD (3.3 V configuration/pre-emphasis). Per the Cyclone III handbook, VCCA_PLL must be filtered through an LC pi-network (typically 10 uF + ferrite bead + 0.1 uF) to minimize jitter. Decoupling requires 0.1 uF + 1 uF per pin group and bulk 22 uF per rail. Bulk decoupling on VCCINT should be sized at 100 uF per 100 mA of expected core current to handle inrush during configuration.
The 780-ball FBGA uses 1.0 mm pitch, which mandates a 4-layer minimum PCB stack-up with microvia-in-pad at HDI processes. Escape routing on inner layers should use 4-mil trace/space; outer layers require 5-mil trace/space minimum to maintain 50 ohm controlled impedance for LVDS pairs. The BGA has dedicated GND balls that should be stitched to the inner ground plane with multiple vias each. Reference the Cyclone III Handbook pin connection guidelines for unused-pin termination, MSEL pull-up/down values, and JTAG chain termination. Thermal vias under the center ball array are recommended for designs exceeding 1 W dissipation.
Do not confuse speed grade 8 with speed grade 7 - the EP3C40F780I7N is functionally identical but fails timing closure on designs that target I8 timing margins. Configuration pins (nCONFIG, nSTATUS, CONF_DONE, MSEL[3:0]) must follow the handbook's exact pull-up/down values; the wrong MSEL state will prevent AS-mode configuration entirely. DDR/DDR2 SDRAM interfaces require bank VCCIO = 1.8 V (DDR) or 1.5 V (DDR2) and careful OCT calibration - calibrate AFTER VCCIO reaches nominal. Always read the Cyclone III errata sheet before finalizing PCB layout.
LVDS support on the EP3C40F780I8N is up to 875 Mbps per channel, but receiver common-mode range and transmit pre-emphasis require careful PCB design. Pair traces with 100 ohm differential impedance, 4-mil trace/space, and length matching within 50 mils for source-synchronous interfaces. Use the ALTLVDS megafunction with the calibration block enabled for best jitter performance. For high-speed memory interfaces, follow the Cyclone III external memory interface guidelines for fly-by vs T-topology and always include series damping resistors on clock lines.
Compliance Information
RoHS and REACH compliant per Intel Cyclone III product family declaration. Halogen-free laminate per material declaration sheet. AEC-Q100 not applicable (FPGA not automotive-qualified; designs targeting AEC-Q100 should evaluate Cyclone IV or Cyclone 10 families).
