EP3C55F484C7 - Cyclone III FPGA, 55K LE, 484-FBGA | Intel
MPN: EP3C55F484C7 ⚠ Last Time Buy| Qty | Unit Price | Extended |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | $78.5 | $78.50 |
| 10 | $71.2 | $712.00 |
| 100 | $64.8 | $6,480.00 |
| 500 | $58.4 | $29,200.00 |
| 1,000 | $52.95 | $52,950.00 |
EP3C55F484C7 Overview
A Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) is a semiconductor device built around an array of configurable logic blocks (CLBs), programmable interconnects, and I/O cells that engineers can re-program after manufacture to implement custom digital logic, signal processing pipelines, or interface bridges. FPGAs sit between general-purpose microcontrollers (fixed instruction set, software-defined behaviour) and ASICs (custom silicon, fixed hardware) - offering hardware-timed parallelism with no NRE mask cost and rapid design iteration. The Cyclone III family specifically targets low-static-power applications and is a subclass of SRAM-based FPGAs, where configuration is loaded from an external flash at every power-up.
Key features of the EP3C55F484C7 include support for up to 4 PLLs, embedded multiplier blocks for DSP operations, dedicated DDR/DDR2 SDRAM memory interfaces with dedicated DQS pins, and configurable I/O standards including LVDS, SSTL, and HSTL. The device is configured via serial or parallel flash using industry-standard JTAG or Active Serial (AS) modes. Its 484-ball FineLine BGA package provides ample I/O headroom and excellent signal-integrity performance for parallel buses and high-speed memory interfaces.
Typical applications include industrial motor control, video surveillance IP cameras, automotive infotainment subsystems, programmable logic controllers (PLCs), embedded vision and machine-vision pipelines, and low-power software-defined radio front-end pre-processing. The large logic capacity also makes it suitable for telecom protocol bridging and ASIC prototyping in mid-volume production.
When designing with this part, ensure the PCB has a clean multi-layer stack-up with continuous ground planes under the BGA to maintain signal integrity for DDR2 interfaces. Use the Altera/Intel Quartus II design suite (or the maintained Quartus Prime 13.0sp1 legacy branch) for synthesis, place-and-route, and timing closure.
Drop-in alternatives for EP3C55F484C7 — 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 EP3C55F484C7 (same form factor and footprint) — differing in Package, Process Technology, Speed Grade, Operating Temperature, RoHS Status.
Quick Comparison Tool — Select alternative parts for side-by-side comparison:
EP3C55F484C7N
✅ Drop-In✓ In Stock
$52.75 / Unit
View Datasheet →EP3C55F484C6N
✅ Drop-In✓ In Stock
$148.7 / Unit
View Datasheet →EP3C55F484C6
✅ Drop-In✓ In Stock
$222 / Unit
View Datasheet →EP3C55F484C8N
✅ Drop-In ⚠️ 参数待验证✓ In Stock
$58.5 / Unit
View Datasheet →EP3C55F484C8
✅ Drop-In ⚠️ 参数待验证✓ In Stock
$138.4 / Unit
View Datasheet →EP3C55F484I7N
✅ Drop-In ⚠️ 参数待验证✓ In Stock
$205.4 / Unit
View Datasheet →EP3C55F484C7 Maximum Ratings & Electrical Characteristics
| Device Family | Cyclone III |
| Logic Elements (LE) | 55,856 |
| Logic Array Blocks (LABs) | 3,495 |
| Embedded Memory Bits | 2,396,160 bits |
| Embedded Memory (M9K blocks) | 260 blocks of 9 Kbit each |
| Embedded 18x18 Multipliers | 156 |
| Maximum User I/Os | 327 |
| PLLs | 4 |
| Global Clock Networks | 20 |
| Internal Operating Frequency (max) | 472 MHz |
| Process Technology | 65 nm TSMC low-k CMOS |
| Core Voltage | 1.2 V |
| Package | FBGA-484 (FineLine BGA, 23 × 23 mm, 1.0 mm pitch) |
| Operating Temperature Grade | Commercial (0 °C to +85 °C) - C7 speed grade |
| Mounting Type | Surface Mount (BGA) |
| RoHS Status | Compliant (lead-free FBGA) |
| Configuration Mode | Active Serial (AS), Passive Serial (PS), JTAG |
| Configuration Memory Type | SRAM (volatile, requires external flash) |
EP3C55F484C7 fbga-484 (fineline bga, 23 × 23 mm, 1.0 mm pitch) Pin Configuration Guide
Pin configuration for EP3C55F484C7 (fbga-484 (fineline bga, 23 × 23 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 EP3C55F484C7.
Refer to the datasheet for full pin configuration.
Typical Applications
EP3C55F484C7 is suitable for 6 applications: Industrial Motor Control and PLCs, Video Surveillance and Machine Vision, Automotive Infotainment Subsystems, Telecom Protocol Bridging and TDM Switching, ASIC Prototyping and Emulation, Software-Defined Radio Front-End Pre-Processing.
Industrial Motor Control and PLCs
The EP3C55F484C7 fits industrial motor control and PLC applications because its 55,856 logic elements and 156 embedded 18 × 18 multipliers provide ample parallel DSP throughput for field-oriented control (FOC) algorithms and encoder interpolation. The 327 user I/Os accommodate multiple incremental/absolute encoder interfaces, gate-driver PWM outputs, and industrial communication buses. Industrial-grade variants (I-temp) are available in the same FBGA-484 footprint, supporting -40 °C to +100 °C operation. Quartus II reference designs include Qsys-based PLC cores. Designers should ensure differential pairs for high-speed encoder feedback are length-matched within ±50 mils to maintain jitter margin.
Recommended
Video Surveillance and Machine Vision
The EP3C55F484C7 is well-suited for IP camera and machine-vision pre-processing pipelines because its 2,396,160 embedded memory bits provide frame-buffer capacity for image statistics, and the 156 hardware multipliers accelerate Sobel, Laplacian, and convolution kernels used in edge detection. The 472 MHz internal Fmax enables real-time processing of 720p30 video streams with headroom. DDR2 external memory interfaces (up to 200 MHz / 400 Mbps) connect to commodity SDRAM for line buffers and frame storage. The 484-ball FBGA provides ample LVDS pairs for camera sensor interfaces; high-speed MIPI CSI-2 requires an external bridge device.
Recommended
Automotive Infotainment Subsystems
The EP3C55F484C7 can be used in automotive infotainment subsystems (non-safety-critical) because its 55,856 LEs and 327 user I/Os support multi-display LVDS output, CAN/LIN bus bridging, and audio DSP mixing. The 484-ball FBGA package provides high pin density for automotive PCBs while supporting I/O voltages from 1.5 V to 3.3 V for legacy automotive peripherals. Industrial temperature variants (I7 speed grade) extend operating range to -40 °C to +100 °C, meeting cabin and head-unit requirements. Designers should follow IPC-7351 BGA land-pattern guidelines and use ENIG surface finish for automotive vibration tolerance.
Recommended
Telecom Protocol Bridging and TDM Switching
The EP3C55F484C7 is a strong fit for telecom protocol bridges (T1/E1 to Ethernet, HDLC to UART) because its high global-clock count (20) and 4 PLLs support multiple independent timing domains needed for TDM-to-packet conversion. The 2,396,160 embedded memory bits serve as elastic buffers for clock-rate adaptation, and the 327 user I/Os handle multiple serial links. Industrial temp variants enable outside-plant deployment. Quartus II provides ALT2GXB reference designs for legacy telecom SERDES bridging when paired with external transceiver PHYs.
Recommended
ASIC Prototyping and Emulation
The EP3C55F484C7 supports ASIC prototyping and pre-silicon emulation because its 55,856 LEs, 260 M9K memory blocks, and 156 multipliers map cleanly to mid-size ASIC RTL blocks running at moderate clock rates. The FBGA-484 footprint exposes enough I/Os to probe internal ASIC nodes for bring-up debugging. Designers should partition target ASIC logic across multiple FPGAs for larger designs and use Quartus II's LogicLock feature to constrain place-and-route regions to match ASIC timing paths.
Recommended
Software-Defined Radio Front-End Pre-Processing
The EP3C55F484C7 fits SDR front-end pre-processing (decimation, channelization, digital down-conversion) because its 156 hardware 18 × 18 multipliers enable high-throughput FIR filter and CORDIC mixer stages, and its 260 M9K blocks provide coefficient and sample-storage memory. The 472 MHz internal clock lets designers implement multi-stage polyphase filter banks. LVDS I/O pairs handle high-speed ADC data capture. Designers targeting this application should plan for external ADCs like AD9238 or AD9644 and verify AC timing budgets against the C7 speed grade in the datasheet.
Recommended
Recommended Products Summary
Engineering reference data for EP3C55F484C7 — comparison, design guidance, and compliance information.
Selection Guide
Comparison with Alternatives
| Parameter | This Product | EP3C55F484C7N | EP3C55F484C6N | EP3C55F484C6 | EP3C55F484C8N | EP3C55F484I7N |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Package | FBGA-484 (23 × 23 mm, 1.0 mm pitch) | FBGA-484 - same | FBGA-484 - same | FBGA-484 - same | FBGA-484 - same | FBGA-484 - same |
| Brand | Intel | Intel | Intel | Intel | Intel | Intel |
| Logic Elements | 55,856 | 55,856 | 55,856 | 55,856 | 55,856 | 55,856 |
| Embedded Memory (bits) | 2,396,160 | 2,396,160 | 2,396,160 | 2,396,160 | 2,396,160 | 2,396,160 |
| Embedded 18x18 Multipliers | 156 | 156 | 156 | 156 | 156 | 156 |
| Maximum User I/Os | 327 | 327 | 327 | 327 | 327 | 327 |
| Speed Grade | C7 (Fmax ≈ 472 MHz) | C7 | C6 (slower) | C6 (slower) | C8 (slowest) | I7 (industrial temp, C7 speed) |
| 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 | -40 °C to +100 °C (Industrial) |
| RoHS / Lead-Free | Lead-free FBGA | Lead-free (N suffix) | Lead-free (N suffix) | Lead-free FBGA | Lead-free (N suffix) | Lead-free (N suffix) |
Key Differentiators
- Highest speed grade available in Cyclone III family (vs EP3C55F484C8N)
- Same 484-ball FBGA footprint across all alternatives (vs EP3C55F484I7N)
- Lead-free RoHS option without electrical change (vs EP3C55F484C7N)
Design Notes
Estimated: at 50% toggle rate on a typical design, the EP3C55F484C7 core draws approximately 0.5-0.8 A from the 1.2 V VCCINT rail. Use a 4-layer PCB with a dedicated VCCINT plane, and place 100 µF bulk + 0.1 µF + 1 µF ceramic decoupling clusters within 5 mm of the BGA balls. The VCCA_PLL rail requires additional filtering: a ferrite bead in series with a 10 µF + 0.1 µF decoupling pair to minimize PLL jitter. Total worst-case supply current is approximately 1.5 A on VCCINT plus per-bank VCCIO current proportional to I/O toggle rate.
The FBGA-484 has 1.0 mm ball pitch - design the PCB with 0.5 mm via-in-pad and ENIG surface finish for manufacturability. According to Intel's Cyclone III pin connection guidelines, leave unused I/O pins configured as input with weak pull-up enabled to minimize power. Differential pairs (LVDS) must be length-matched within ±100 mils to maintain DDR interfaces at 200 MHz. Provide at least four GND vias per BGA quadrant stitched to a continuous ground plane for thermal and signal-integrity performance.
Do not assume newer Quartus Prime releases support Cyclone III - they do not. Use Quartus II 13.0sp1 (legacy free download) for compile and programming file generation. When using a C7-to-C6 speed-grade downgrade as a cost-saving measure, always re-run static timing analysis; a design with zero slack margin on C7 will fail on C6. The configuration flash (EPCS4/EPCS16) must match the .pof file's compression mode or the FPGA will not configure. Reserve at least 1 second between power-up and JTAG programming attempts to avoid inrush reset glitches.
Compliance Information
Lead-free FBGA per Cyclone III device datasheet. RoHS and REACH compliance per Intel product environmental certification page. AEC-Q100 not applicable for FPGA product family; I7 industrial temperature variants available separately.
