EP3CLS200F780I8N - 198K LE Cyclone III LS FPGA, 780-FBGA | Altera
MPN: EP3CLS200F780I8N ⚠ Last Time Buy| Qty | Unit Price | Extended |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | $612 | $612.00 |
| 10 | $587.5 | $5,875.00 |
| 100 | $555 | $55,500.00 |
| 500 | $525 | $262,500.00 |
| 1,000 | $495 | $495,000.00 |
EP3CLS200F780I8N Overview
An FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) is a reprogrammable digital integrated circuit containing an array of configurable logic blocks (CLBs), programmable interconnect, and dedicated hard IP blocks such as block RAM, DSP slices, PLLs, and high-speed transceivers. FPGAs sit hierarchically between general-purpose microcontrollers (which run software) and ASICs (which are fixed-function), and they allow hardware-level parallelism for DSP, packet processing, and interface bridging. The Cyclone III LS family is positioned as a low-power, security-enhanced variant of the Cyclone III series aimed at industrial, communications, and automotive-assist designs.
The EP3CLS200F780I8N features 8 input/output banks supporting a wide range of single-ended and differential I/O standards (LVDS, LVCMOS, SSTL, HSTL), up to 16 global clock networks, and 8 PLLs for fine-grained clock management. The device also includes dedicated hardware for CRC, bit-stream encryption, and JTAG-based configuration, which collectively support design-security requirements common in industrial-control and defense-adjacent systems.
Architecturally, the part uses an SRAM-based configuration cell (volatile, requiring an external configuration flash or controller), 4-wire serial or parallel configuration interfaces, and supports passive/active serial and JTAG modes. Embedded multipliers and block RAM are arranged in columns to deliver predictable DSP performance for FIR filters, FFTs, and baseband signal processing.
Typical applications include industrial motor control, factory-automation protocols (EtherCAT, PROFINET, Modbus bridging), medical imaging front-end preprocessing, telecom line-card glue logic, broadcast video processing, and avionics/ruggedized video links. Designers frequently pair the EP3CLS200F780I8N with external DDR2/DDR3 SDRAM, Ethernet PHYs, and high-speed ADC/DAC components.
Design consideration: route all global clock and PLL supply pins (VCC_PLL, VCCA_PLL) with dedicated ferrite-bead-isolated power islands and place configuration-mode pull-up resistors per the Cyclone III LS handbook. Avoid using the same bank for both 2.5 V LVCMOS and 3.3 V LVTTL signalling without a level-shifter because the I/O bank VCCIO must be common.
This page synthesizes distributor pricing, drop-in same-brand package variants, and practical design notes for the EP3CLS200F780I8N not consolidated on the manufacturer product brief.
Drop-in alternatives for EP3CLS200F780I8N — 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 EP3CLS200F780I8N (same form factor and footprint) — differing in Process Technology, Package, Speed Grade, Embedded Memory Bits, Logic Array Blocks (LABs).
Quick Comparison Tool — Select alternative parts for side-by-side comparison:
EP3CLS200F780I7N
✅ Drop-In✓ In Stock
$240 / Unit
View Datasheet →EP3CLS200F780C8N
✅ Drop-In✓ In Stock
$943.88 / Unit
View Datasheet →EP3CLS150F780I7N
✅ Drop-In✓ In Stock
$128 / Unit
View Datasheet →EP3C120F780I7N
✅ Drop-In✓ In Stock
$198.45 / Unit
View Datasheet →EP3C55F780I8N
✅ Drop-In✓ In Stock
$52.9 / Unit
View Datasheet →EP3CLS100F780I7N
✅ Drop-In✓ In Stock
$174 / Unit
View Datasheet →EP3CLS200F780I8N Maximum Ratings & Electrical Characteristics
| Family | Cyclone III LS |
| Logic Elements (LE) | 198,464 |
| Embedded Memory (Bits) | 8,211,456 |
| Process Technology | 65 nm CMOS |
| Core Voltage (VCCINT) | 1.2 V |
| Maximum Internal Clock Frequency | 402 MHz |
| Logic Array Blocks (LABs) | 47 (per FPGAkey brief) |
| Package | 780-ball FBGA (FineLine BGA) |
| Package Code | S-PBGA-B780 (JESD-30) |
| Package Body Size | 29.0 mm x 29.0 mm |
| Seated Height (Max) | 2.40 mm |
| Speed Grade | 8 |
| Operating Temperature | -40 °C to +100 °C (Industrial) |
| Mounting Type | Surface Mount |
| RoHS / Lead-Free | Pb-free / RoHS compliant |
| Configuration Method | Passive/Active Serial, JTAG |
EP3CLS200F780I8N 29.0 mm x 29.0 mm Pin Configuration Guide
Pin configuration for EP3CLS200F780I8N (29.0 mm x 29.0 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 EP3CLS200F780I8N.
Refer to the datasheet for full pin configuration.
Typical Applications
EP3CLS200F780I8N is suitable for 7 applications: Industrial Motor Control & Factory Automation, Telecom Line-Card Glue Logic & Protocol Bridging, Medical Imaging Front-End Preprocessing, Broadcast Video Processing & Display Walls, Avionics & Ruggedized Video/Data Links, Software-Defined Radio (SDR) Baseband, Test & Measurement Instrumentation.
Industrial Motor Control & Factory Automation
The EP3CLS200F780I8N is well-suited to industrial motor control and factory-automation gateways because it delivers 198,464 logic elements and 8,211,456 bits of embedded block RAM in a single 780-FBGA, enough to run multi-axis PWM generation, field-oriented control (FOC) loops, and EtherCAT/PROFINET protocol bridging concurrently. Its -40 °C to +100 °C industrial temperature range and on-chip bit-stream encryption protect design IP against unauthorized bit-stream cloning, a real concern in factory-floor IP theft. Engineers commonly pair the FPGA with isolated gate drivers and incremental-encoder or resolver front-ends. Compared with a microcontroller-only solution, the FPGA's parallel DSP slices accelerate the Park/Clarke transforms of FOC by 5x to 10x.
Recommended
Telecom Line-Card Glue Logic & Protocol Bridging
In telecom line cards the EP3CLS200F780I8N serves as a high-density protocol-bridging and glue-logic device, translating between SERDES-based backplanes, TDM/PCM streams, and Ethernet-side packet processing. Its 65 nm CMOS fabric and 402 MHz internal Fmax let the device keep up with OC-3/STM-1 framing and parallel RapidIO traffic without external ASICs. The 780-FBGA exposes enough user I/O to drive multiple SFP modules, line-interface units, and backplane SERDES simultaneously. Bit-stream encryption (a Cyclone III LS-only feature) is valuable here for protecting carrier-class firmware. The part is also widely used as a low-cost FPGA for legacy telecom infrastructure refresh programs.
Recommended
Medical Imaging Front-End Preprocessing
Ultrasound beamforming, endoscopy video preprocessing, and patient-monitoring DSP benefit from the EP3CLS200F780I8N's parallel DSP capability and high-density block RAM. The 8.2 Mbit embedded memory lets designers buffer multiple lines of raw ultrasound RF data on-chip before down-sampling, eliminating a frame of external DDR latency. The 18x18 hardware multipliers (4 per DSP block, hundreds of multipliers total) accelerate FIR and Hilbert transforms required for I/Q demodulation. Industrial temperature grade and Pb-free packaging support medical equipment that must pass IEC 60601-1 reliability testing. Pair the FPGA with a high-speed ADC such as the AD9254 for an 8-channel ultrasound receive chain.
Recommended
Broadcast Video Processing & Display Walls
Broadcast studios and digital-signage display walls use the EP3CLS200F780I8N to perform real-time SDI/HDMI up/down/cross-conversion, color-space conversion, and pixel-rate adaptation. The 780-FBGA's abundant I/O support simultaneous multi-channel HD-SDI ingest and HDMI 1.4 output without external mux chips. Block RAM is well sized to double-buffer 1080p60 frames for frame-rate conversion. Industrial temperature grade suits in-studio and outdoor LED-wall installations. Compared with ASIC-based converters, the FPGA allows firmware-only support for new broadcast standards, extending product life. The Cyclone III LS security feature set also helps protect studio IP embedded in the bit-stream.
Recommended
Avionics & Ruggedized Video/Data Links
In avionics subsystems the EP3CLS200F780I8N handles ARINC 429, MIL-STD-1553 bridging, and ruggedized video-link encoding where its industrial temperature rating and bit-stream encryption are valuable. The 198K LE fabric supports multiple ARINC channels plus an H.264 encode assist for cockpit displays, replacing two or three legacy ASICs. The 780-FBGA's thermal performance suits conduction-cooled enclosures. Designers must perform component-level derating per DO-254 for flight-certified variants, but the underlying Cyclone III LS silicon is widely used in DO-254 DAL-C/D programs. Pair the FPGA with a conformal-coated PCB stack-up for humidity tolerance.
Recommended
Software-Defined Radio (SDR) Baseband
The EP3CLS200F780I8N is widely deployed as a baseband processor in low-power software-defined radio platforms covering Wi-Fi, DVB-T, LTE small-cell, and PMR/LMR waveforms. Its hundreds of 18x18 hardware multipliers implement wide-bandwidth FIR filters, FFT cores, and channel-codec acceleration, while the 8.2 Mbit block RAM holds symbol-rate buffering between the ADC and host CPU. The 1.2 V core supply keeps dynamic power in the 1–2 W range, suitable for battery-assisted portable SDR designs. Industrial temperature grade lets the same hardware serve outdoor small-cell and in-vehicle SDR deployments. Bit-stream encryption (LS feature) protects the licensed waveform IP.
Recommended
Test & Measurement Instrumentation
Bench-top and rack-mount T&M instruments (logic analyzers, protocol exercisers, digitizers) use the EP3CLS200F780I8N as a flexible pattern generator and timing engine. The 198K LE fabric can host 16+ channels of programmable pattern logic with on-the-fly protocol sequencing, while the 780-FBGA exposes enough I/O for parallel LVDS or HSTL probe connections. Industrial temperature grade suits both lab and field-deployed instruments. The FPGA's JTAG and Active-Serial configuration interfaces allow firmware updates from the instrument's host CPU. Designers often pair the FPGA with high-speed ADC and DAC companion chips to build complete PXI-compatible instruments.
Recommended
Recommended Products Summary
Engineering reference data for EP3CLS200F780I8N — comparison, design guidance, and compliance information.
Selection Guide
Comparison with Alternatives
| Parameter | This Product | EP3CLS200F780I7N | EP3CLS200F780C8N | EP3CLS150F780I7N | EP3C120F780I7N | EP3C55F780I8N |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Package | 780-FBGA | 780-FBGA | 780-FBGA | 780-FBGA | 780-FBGA | 780-FBGA |
| Brand | Altera (Intel) | Altera (Intel) | Altera (Intel) | Altera (Intel) | Altera (Intel) | Altera (Intel) |
| Family | Cyclone III LS | Cyclone III LS | Cyclone III LS | Cyclone III LS | Cyclone III | Cyclone III |
| Logic Elements | 198,464 | 198,464 | 198,464 | 150,848 | 119,088 | 55,856 |
| Embedded Memory (Bits) | 8,211,456 | 8,211,456 | 8,211,456 | 6,127,104 | 3,981,312 | 2,396,160 |
| Speed Grade | 8 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 8 |
| Temperature Grade | Industrial (-40 to +100 C) | Industrial (-40 to +100 C) | Commercial (0 to +85 C) | Industrial (-40 to +100 C) | Industrial (-40 to +100 C) | Industrial (-40 to +100 C) |
| Bit-Stream Encryption (LS feature) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Core Voltage (VCCINT) | 1.2 V | 1.2 V | 1.2 V | 1.2 V | 1.2 V | 1.2 V |
| Process Technology | 65 nm | 65 nm | 65 nm | 65 nm | 65 nm | 65 nm |
Key Differentiators
- Highest-density Cyclone III LS device in a 780-FBGA package (vs EP3CLS150F780I7N)
- Bit-stream encryption (LS security feature) for IP protection (vs EP3C120F780I7N)
- Speed grade 8 timing margin over speed grade 7 in same footprint (vs EP3CLS200F780I7N)
Design Notes
Estimated: at 100% utilization of 198K LE running at 200 MHz internal clock on a typical Cyclone III LS design, core current consumption is approximately 0.9–1.3 A from the 1.2 V VCCINT rail (i.e., 1.1–1.6 W core). Add 0.4–0.8 A on VCCIO (multiple voltages) and 0.1 A on VCC_PLL/VCCA_PLL per PLL. Total board power typically reaches 2–4 W. Decouple every VCCINT/VCCIO/VCC_PLL pin with a 0.1 µF X7R ceramic placed within 100 mils of the ball, and add a 10 µF bulk capacitor per supply island. Use separate ferrite-bead-isolated islands for VCC_PLL pins to keep PLL jitter under 100 ps RMS.
The 780-FBGA package has a 1.0 mm ball pitch and a 29 mm × 29 mm body. Use a 4+ layer stack-up with a continuous ground plane directly under the BGA to provide a low-impedance return path for high-speed signals. Match length (±50 mils) within each LVDS pair and within each DDR byte lane. Fan-out the BGA using a dog-bone or via-in-pad pattern; via-in-pad is strongly recommended for the inner rows of the 780-FBGA to break out cleanly. Apply 0.5 oz copper on outer layers with 1 oz copper on inner power/ground planes for adequate current handling.
Estimated: a common pitfall is configuring the JTAG chain out of order — the EPCS serial flash must be downstream of the FPGA in the JTAG scan chain so that Quartus Programmer can address both. Another pitfall is leaving CONFIG_DONE floating; pull it high through a 10 kΩ resistor to the 3.3 V rail to allow reconfiguration attempts to be observed. For designs targeting industrial-grade reliability, avoid using the Cyclone III LS PLL in fractional-N mode below 50 MHz output, where cycle-to-cycle jitter can exceed the 200 ps specification.
Place the EPCS or EPCQ serial configuration flash within 50 mm of the FPGA's configuration pins (nCONFIG, nSTATUS, CONFIG_DONE, DATA0, DCLK) to avoid signal-integrity issues during power-up configuration. Route DCLK as a 50 Ω impedance-controlled trace, and place a 33 Ω series damping resistor at the FPGA end. Keep AS configuration signals on the same PCB layer with no via transitions. Reserve the JTAG pins (TCK, TMS, TDI, TDO) for a dedicated 10-pin JTAG header, not shared GPIO, so production programming remains reliable.
Compliance Information
Cyclone III LS family is RoHS-compliant and Pb-free per Altera/Intel product literature. AEC-Q100 is not applicable — these are FPGAs not intended for automotive-grade qualification. Halogen-free status is not stated in the verified web data; confirm with the manufacturer before assembly into halogen-free systems.