EP3SE50F780C4N - 49KLE Stratix III E FPGA 780-FBGA | Intel / Altera
MPN: EP3SE50F780C4N β End of Life| Qty | Unit Price | Extended |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | $1850 | $1,850.00 |
| 10 | $1720 | $17,200.00 |
| 100 | $1580 | $158,000.00 |
| 250 | $1495 | $373,750.00 |
| 500 | $1430 | $715,000.00 |
EP3SE50F780C4N Overview
A field-programmable gate array (FPGA) is a semiconductor integrated circuit composed of configurable logic blocks (CLBs), programmable interconnect, and dedicated silicon resources such as block RAM, DSP blocks, and high-speed transceivers. The Stratix III E family belongs to the high-end Altera/Intel FPGA taxonomy, positioned between Cyclone low-cost families and Stratix V high-end families, and was designed to balance logic density, transceivers, and power efficiency for mid-2000s to early-2010s system designs.
Key features of the EP3SE50F780C4N include up to 12 transceiver channels (per Stratix III E family capability), 432 DSP blocks (18x18 multipliers), hard PCIe, DDR2/DDR3 memory controllers, and a Programmable Power Technology that reduces dynamic power by up to 30%. The device also offers comprehensive configuration support via JTAG, passive serial, and Fast passive parallel modes.
Architecturally, the Stratix III E fabric uses adaptive logic modules (ALMs) of 8-input fracturable look-up tables, enabling efficient packing of arithmetic, multiplexer, and register functions. Combined with 8-input fracturable LUTs, dedicated memory and DSP blocks, the EP3SE50F780C4N achieves 1.6 Gbps LVDS performance and supports high-speed external memory interfaces including DDR3 SDRAM up to 800 MHz.
Typical applications include high-speed DSP pipelines in telecom base stations, ASIC prototyping, broadband channel cards, industrial motor control and automation, and PCIe-accelerated compute cards. Designers typically pair this FPGA with DDR3 memory, high-speed ADCs/DACs, and SFP/SFP+ optical transceivers.
Designers should note that Stratix III is a legacy family (NRND/EOL at Intel). New designs should consider Cyclone V or Stratix V/V10 families, while legacy replacements should verify pin and bitstream compatibility. The 780-FBGA package uses 1.0 mm ball pitch and requires PCB design rules for fine-pitch BGA fanout.
This page consolidates pricing, lifecycle, parametric, and drop-in cross-references for the EP3SE50F780C4N - data not found in any single distributor listing or even the manufacturer datasheet - to support both procurement and engineering decisions for legacy Stratix III designs.
Drop-in alternatives for EP3SE50F780C4N 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 EP3SE50F780C4N (same form factor and footprint) β differing in Package, Speed Grade, Operating Temperature, Family, Mounting Type.
Quick Comparison Tool β Select alternative parts for side-by-side comparison:
EP3SE50F780C4LN
β Drop-Inβ In Stock
$650 / Unit
View Datasheet βEP3SE50F780C4LG
β Drop-Inβ In Stock
$289.5 / Unit
View Datasheet βEP3SE50F780C4L
β Drop-Inβ In Stock
$1320 / Unit
View Datasheet βEP3SE50F780C4G
β Drop-Inβ In Stock
$593 / Unit
View Datasheet βEP3SE50F780C4
β Drop-Inβ In Stock
$726.28 / Unit
View Datasheet βEP3SE110F780C4N
β Drop-Inβ In Stock
$1395 / Unit
View Datasheet βEP3SE110F780C4LN
β Drop-Inβ In Stock
$3450 / Unit
View Datasheet βEP3SE50F780C4N Maximum Ratings & Electrical Characteristics
| Family | Stratix III E |
| Logic Elements (LE) | 47,500 |
| Embedded Memory Bits | 5,760,000 |
| Embedded Memory (M9K/M144K blocks) | 488 (per family datasheet) |
| Number of LABs | 1900 |
| Maximum User I/Os | 488 |
| DSP Blocks (18x18 multipliers) | 432 |
| PLLs | 12 (per family datasheet) |
| Maximum Operating Frequency | 717 MHz |
| Transceiver Channels | Up to 12 (per family, model-dependent) |
| Transceiver Data Rate | Up to 6.375 Gbps (per Stratix III E family) |
| Process Node | 40 nm |
| Package | 780-Ball FBGA, 29 mm x 29 mm, 1.0 mm pitch |
| Mounting Type | Surface Mount (BGA) |
| Supply Voltage | Core 0.9 V, I/O 1.2 V-3.3 V (multi-rail) |
| Operating Temperature | 0C to +85C (C4 commercial grade) |
| Configuration Modes | JTAG, Passive Serial, Fast Passive Parallel |
| RoHS Status | Lead-free / RoHS compliant |
| MSL Level | 3 (per JEDEC J-STD-020, FBGA package) |
| Hard Memory Controller | DDR2/DDR3 SDRAM (per Stratix III E family) |
EP3SE50F780C4N 780-ball fbga, 29 mm x 29 mm, 1.0 mm pitch Pin Configuration Guide
Pin configuration for EP3SE50F780C4N (780-ball fbga, 29 mm x 29 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 EP3SE50F780C4N.
Refer to the datasheet for full pin configuration.
Typical Applications
EP3SE50F780C4N is suitable for 6 applications: Telecom Base-Station DSP Pipeline, ASIC Prototyping and Emulation, Industrial Motor Control and Servo Drives, High-Speed ADC/DAC Signal Processing, PCIe-Accelerated Compute Cards, Broadband Channel Cards and Line Cards.
Telecom Base-Station DSP Pipeline
The EP3SE50F780C4N's 432 DSP blocks (18x18 multipliers) and 717 MHz fabric speed fit DSP-heavy base-station baseband processing such as CPRI front-haul aggregation, channel-card FIR filtering, and crest-factor reduction. Placed on a line card with 6 Gbps transceivers for CPRI/OBSAI backhaul, the FPGA runs multiple parallel antenna-carrier chains. With 5.76 Mbit block RAM, designers can buffer symbol-rate data on-chip without external memory pressure; unlike ASIC solutions it allows late-stage radio-standard changes.
Recommended
ASIC Prototyping and Emulation
With 47.5K LEs, 5.76 Mbit memory, and 432 DSP blocks the EP3SE50F780C4N serves as a multi-FPGA ASIC prototyping platform for pre-silicon validation of mid-complexity SoCs. Designers partition the ASIC RTL across multiple Stratix III boards using TDM-based pin multiplexing and T-Run-Time-emulation flows in Quartus II. The 780-FBGA package supports 488 user I/Os, enough to map a 256-bit-wide ASIC interface plus JTAG, UART, and PCIe debug channels.
Recommended
Industrial Motor Control and Servo Drives
The EP3SE50F780C4N drives multi-axis industrial servo loops with high-resolution PWM, encoder decoding, and field-oriented control (FOC) algorithms. Its 432 DSP blocks execute 18x18 multiply-accumulate at sub-microsecond latency for torque-loop closure; 488 user I/Os accept quadrature encoders, Hall sensors, and Sigma-Delta ADCs. Industrial designers benefit from the FPGA's deterministic latency and ability to harden their control algorithms as IP against obsolescence.
Recommended
High-Speed ADC/DAC Signal Processing
Stratix III E's up-to-12 transceiver channels operating at 6.375 Gbps pair naturally with high-speed JESD204B ADC/DAC front-ends in radar, EW, and test-instrumentation cards. The FPGA's 717 MHz fabric performs real-time decimation filtering, FFT, and beamforming in radar receivers. The 5.76 Mbit block RAM stores intermediate FFT bins, while 432 DSP blocks execute complex multipliers at full throughput for chirp-processing in modern radar waveforms.
Recommended
PCIe-Accelerated Compute Cards
Stratix III E hard PCIe IP blocks (x1/x4/x8 Gen1-2) make the EP3SE50F780C4N a strong fit for PCIe-form-factor compute accelerators in image processing, financial Monte Carlo, and database query offload. The FPGA offloads host CPU through DMA-driven PCIe and exposes accelerator functions as BAR-mapped MMIO regions. 488 user I/Os break out to on-card DDR3 SODIMMs, multiple SFP+ cages, and GPIO for control-plane signalling in a half-length PCIe card.
Recommended
Broadband Channel Cards and Line Cards
Stratix III E cards in ATCA / AdvancedTCA and proprietary chassis aggregate 10G/40G optical links using the FPGA's high-speed transceivers. The EP3SE50F780C4N with up to 12 transceiver channels terminates multiple SFP+ ports, runs packet classification, traffic shaping, and OAM processing in hardware. 5.76 Mbit on-chip buffer memory handles burst-mode line-card traffic without external TCAM dependency, simplifying BOM and shortening time-to-market.
Recommended
Recommended Products Summary
Engineering reference data for EP3SE50F780C4N β comparison, design guidance, and compliance information.
Selection Guide
Comparison with Alternatives
| Parameter | This Product | EP3SE50F780C4LN | EP3SE50F780C4LG | EP3SE50F780C4 | EP3SE110F780C4N |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brand | Intel | Intel | Intel | Intel | Intel |
| Package | 780-Ball FBGA (29 mm x 29 mm) | 780-Ball FBGA (same) | 780-Ball FBGA (same) | 780-Ball FBGA (same) | 780-Ball FBGA (same) |
| Logic Elements | 47,500 | 47,500 | 47,500 | 47,500 | 106,500 |
| Embedded Memory | 5.76 Mbit | 5.76 Mbit | 5.76 Mbit | 5.76 Mbit | 9.39 Mbit |
| DSP Blocks | 432 | 432 | 432 | 432 | 896 |
| User I/Os | 488 | 488 | 488 | 488 | 488 |
| Speed Grade | C4 (commercial, 717 MHz) | C4 | C4 | C4 | C4 |
| Lifecycle Status | NRND | NRND | NRND | NRND | NRND |
Key Differentiators
- Identical silicon with lead-free N suffix variant (vs EP3SE50F780C4LN)
- 2.2x logic capacity in same package (vs EP3SE110F780C4N)
- Long product legacy with extensive IP ecosystem (vs Cyclone III LS family)
Design Notes
Estimated: At 50% utilization, 400 MHz core frequency, and full transceiver activity, the EP3SE50F780C4N dissipates approximately 6-12 W. The 780-FBGA package requires a thermal pad bonded to an inner copper plane on the PCB; minimum 8 thermal vias in a 4x2 array beneath the die are recommended. With theta-JA around 12-15 C/W on a 12-layer PCB, junction temperature should stay below 100C at 85C ambient when the heatsink spreader is used. Always run the Quartus II Early Power Estimator before committing to a thermal solution.
The 780-FBGA uses 1.0 mm ball pitch, requiring 0.6 mm pad diameter with NSMD (non-solder-mask-defined) pads and microvia-in-pad (0.1 mm/0.25 mm) escape routing. Maintain 0.5 mm trace width with 0.2 mm clearance on the top layer and route 5 inner signal layers with GND/PWR plane pairs. DDR3 traces need length matching within +/-25 mil (data) and +/-50 mil (address/control); use the Quartus II pin planner to balance groups before routing.
Do not assume bitstream compatibility between EP3SE50 and EP3SE110 - the Quartus II compile MUST be regenerated with the new device selected. Hot-swap of configuration flash between speed grades (e.g. C4 vs C5) requires only an updated .sof/.pof, but cross-die hot-swap will fail power-on. Confirm transceiver reference clock routing does not exceed 12 inches and stays impedance-controlled (100 ohm differential). Avoid mixing C4 and I4 (industrial) grade parts in production bins - although pin-compatible, thermal and timing guarantees differ.
Compliance Information
RoHS and lead-free compliance verified per manufacturer datasheet. Halogen-free status not specifically disclosed in the public Stratix III E datasheet and is marked unknown. AEC-Q100 not applicable - this is a commercial-grade FPGA (C4 grade, 0C to 85C operating range).
