EP3SE50F780I4N - Stratix III E FPGA, 488 I/O, 780-FCBGA | Intel
MPN: EP3SE50F780I4N β End of Life| Qty | Unit Price | Extended |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | $1850 | $1,850.00 |
| 10 | $1690 | $16,900.00 |
| 100 | $1525 | $152,500.00 |
| 250 | $1410 | $352,500.00 |
| 500 | $1295 | $647,500.00 |
EP3SE50F780I4N Overview
What is an FPGA? A Field-Programmable Gate Array is a programmable semiconductor device whose logic fabric can be configured by the designer after manufacture. Stratix III E belongs to the high-performance tier of FPGAs - positioned below ASICs in unit cost but above low-density CPLDs and traditional microcontrollers in raw throughput. It sits within the broader taxonomy: programmable logic device -> FPGA -> high-performance FPGA -> Stratix family. Engineers choose Stratix III E when deterministic parallelism, high transceiver bandwidth, and DSP block density outweigh the power and unit-cost advantages of microcontrollers or ASSPs.
Key features include 1.1 Gbps LVDS performance, 24 transceivers (up to 6.375 Gbps) on the Stratix III GT family, hard PCIe Gen1/Gen2 IP cores, and DSP blocks supporting variable-precision arithmetic. The 780-FCBGA package provides a robust thermal envelope for sustained operation under industrial ambient conditions. The I4 speed/temperature grade (-40C to +100C, fast speed) places it among the highest-performance variants within the Stratix III E family, while the same BGA footprint is shared across many speed grades and density siblings - enabling PCB reuse.
The architecture uses ALMs (Adaptive Logic Modules) instead of classic 4-input LUTs, allowing logic synthesis tools to pack combinational paths more efficiently. Combined with dedicated routing tracks on the 65 nm process, this yields a typical core clock Fmax of 500+ MHz in pipelined designs. The device is supported by Intel Quartus II design software (legacy, free updates archived on Intel's FPGA support pages) and accepts standard HDL entry (Verilog, VHDL, SystemVerilog).
Typical applications include high-speed telecom line cards, military radar signal processing, ASIC prototyping, and high-throughput digital signal processing. The transceiver-equipped family variants also suit 40G/100G Ethernet bridging and PCIe Gen2 endpoint designs. For PCB layout, the FCBGA requires microvia stack-ups (typically any-layer HDI) and matched-length differential pair routing for transceiver channels.
Drop-in alternatives for EP3SE50F780I4N 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 EP3SE50F780I4N (same form factor and footprint) β differing in Package, Speed Grade, Embedded Memory Bits, RoHS Status, Family.
Quick Comparison Tool β Select alternative parts for side-by-side comparison:
EP3SE110F780I4N
β Drop-Inβ In Stock
$1850 / Unit
View Datasheet βEP3SL50F780I4N
β Drop-Inβ In Stock
$545 / Unit
View Datasheet βEP3SE50F780I3N
β Drop-Inβ In Stock
$1550 / Unit
View Datasheet βEP3SE50F780C4N
β Drop-Inβ In Stock
$1430 / Unit
View Datasheet βEP3SE110F780C4N
β Drop-Inβ In Stock
$1395 / Unit
View Datasheet βEP3SE260F780I4N
β Drop-Inπ Reference alternative (not in catalog)
EP3SE50F780I4N Maximum Ratings & Electrical Characteristics
| Series | Stratix III E |
| Logic Elements | 47,500 |
| Logic Array Blocks (LABs) | 1900 |
| Embedded Memory | 5,760 Kbits |
| User I/Os | 488 |
| Package | 780-BBGA, FCBGA (FineLine BGA) |
| Core Voltage | 0.9 V |
| Operating Temperature | -40C to +100C (industrial) |
| Speed Grade | I4 (fast, industrial) |
| Process Node | 65 nm |
| Mounting Type | Surface Mount |
| Mounting Style | SMD/SMT |
| RoHS Status | unknown |
| Lead-Free | unknown |
| Halogen-Free | unknown |
| Number of I/O Pins | 488 |
| Number of Pins | 780 (BGA balls) |
EP3SE50F780I4N 780-bbga, fcbga (fineline bga) Pin Configuration Guide
Pin configuration for EP3SE50F780I4N (780-bbga, fcbga (fineline bga) 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 EP3SE50F780I4N.
Refer to the datasheet for full pin configuration.
Typical Applications
EP3SE50F780I4N is suitable for 6 applications: Telecom Line-Card Aggregation, ASIC Prototyping and Emulation, High-Throughput DSP Pipelines, Military Radar Signal Processing, Industrial Motor Control and Servo Drive, Legacy Sustainment and MRO Programs.
Telecom Line-Card Aggregation
The EP3SE50F780I4N's 47,500 logic elements and 488 user I/Os make it well suited for telecom line-card aggregation designs that need to combine multiple lower-rate tributary streams into a higher-rate uplink. With its 0.9V core and industrial temperature grade, the part handles sustained operation in temperature-controlled central-office chassis. Designers typically instantiate multi-channel framers, HDLC controllers, and packet classifiers in the FPGA fabric, then map the high-fanout logic into the dedicated LAB routing. The 780-FCBGA footprint provides enough I/O density for parallel SFI-4.2 or SFI-5 bus breakout plus JTAG, clock, and management interfaces. According to the Stratix III Device Handbook, the part's ALM-based architecture achieves Fmax exceeding 300 MHz on typical pipelined telecom datapaths.
Recommended
ASIC Prototyping and Emulation
Engineers use the EP3SE50F780I4N as an ASIC prototyping vehicle because 47,500 logic elements approximate a mid-complexity ASIC block, while the Quartus II toolchain provides fast synthesis turnaround. The 780-FCBGA package exposes 488 user I/Os - enough breakout channels to map most ASIC pad rings 1:1 during emulation. Multi-FPGA partitioning splits larger ASIC designs across several EP3SE50 or EP3SE110 boards in parallel. The industrial temperature grade allows prototypes to be exercised in environmental chambers for early SoC validation. According to FindIC comparison data, the EP3SE110F780I4N is the natural density-scaling sibling, sharing the same PCB footprint so prototype boards can be re-spinned to higher capacity without layout changes.
Recommended
High-Throughput DSP Pipelines
The Stratix III E family integrates dedicated 18x18 multipliers and DSP blocks that let the EP3SE50F780I4N sustain FIR, FFT, and matrix-multiply pipelines at hundreds of MHz. Typical use cases include software-defined radio baseband, channel equalization, and radar pulse compression. Designers map stages of FFT butterflies into DSP blocks to achieve low-latency streaming throughput that general-purpose DSP processors cannot match. The industrial temperature grade supports outdoor or harsh-environment DSP nodes (military comms, avionics). The 0.9V core keeps dynamic power reasonable for sustained multi-Msample/s processing. Compared to lower-cost Cyclone families, Stratix III E offers roughly 4x the DSP block density per logic element, which is decisive for compute-bound pipelines.
Recommended
Military Radar Signal Processing
The EP3SE50F780I4N's industrial -40C to +100C operating range, 488 I/O channels, and 47,500 logic elements suit military radar front-end processing where signals must be filtered, pulse-compressed, and Doppler-extracted in real time. The 780-FCBGA package supports fine-pitch PCB layouts typical of radar signal-conditioning cards, and Quartus II provides IP cores for matched filters, CFAR detectors, and beamforming weight calculation. Designers can preserve logic capacity for the radar DSP while mapping housekeeping functions (serial interfaces, health monitoring) into the same fabric. The -40C cold-start margin is critical for radar electronics mounted in unheated enclosures, which is why the I4 grade is preferred over commercial (C4) parts.
Recommended
Industrial Motor Control and Servo Drive
In high-end servo drives and vector-controlled industrial motor controllers, the EP3SE50F780I4N provides the parallel logic fabric for current-loop and field-oriented-control algorithms running at microsecond loop periods. The 488 I/Os accommodate multi-axis encoder feedback (EnDat, Hiperface, BiSS), PWM generation, and gate-driver control signals. The industrial temperature grade tolerates the elevated ambient found in enclosed motor cabinets. Compared with microcontroller-based controllers, the FPGA achieves deterministic latency independent of software interrupts - critical for precise torque-ripple suppression. The 65 nm process at 0.9V core keeps dynamic power manageable even when running multi-axis loops continuously.
Recommended
Legacy Sustainment and MRO Programs
Because the EP3SE50F780I4N is classified as Not Recommended for New Designs (NRND) per Intel's product lifecycle, a significant application is sustainment of fielded equipment: military, aerospace, and industrial systems whose designs were qualified against Stratix III E years ago and cannot easily migrate. MRO (maintenance, repair, overhaul) programs source the part through authorized distributors and brokers at premium pricing to keep legacy platforms operational. Engineers replacing damaged boards use the EP3SE50F780I4N as a verified pin-compatible drop-in. The EP3SE110F780I4N is sometimes used as a substitute when the EP3SE50 is allocation-constrained and the higher logic capacity is acceptable. For new designs, Intel recommends migrating to Stratix V or Stratix 10 families instead.
Recommended
Recommended Products Summary
Engineering reference data for EP3SE50F780I4N β comparison, design guidance, and compliance information.
Selection Guide
Comparison with Alternatives
| Parameter | This Product | EP3SE110F780I4N | EP3SL50F780I4N | EP3SE50F780I3N | EP3SE50F780C4N | EP3SE110F780C4N | EP3SE260F780I4N |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brand | Intel (Altera) | Intel (Altera) | Intel (Altera) | Intel (Altera) | Intel (Altera) | Intel (Altera) | Intel (Altera) |
| Package | 780-BGA, FCBGA | 780-BGA, FCBGA (same) | 780-BGA, FCBGA (same) | 780-BGA, FCBGA (same) | 780-BGA, FCBGA (same) | 780-BGA, FCBGA (same) | 780-BGA, FCBGA (same) |
| Logic Elements | 47,500 | ~106,500 | ~47,500 (same) | 47,500 (same) | 47,500 (same) | ~106,500 | ~254,000 |
| User I/Os | 488 | 488 (same) | 488 (same) | 488 (same) | 488 (same) | 488 (same) | 488 (same) |
| Temperature Grade | Industrial (-40C to +100C) | Industrial (-40C to +100C) | Industrial (-40C to +100C) | Industrial (-40C to +100C) | Commercial (0C to +85C) | Commercial (0C to +85C) | Industrial (-40C to +100C) |
| Speed Grade | I4 (fast) | I4 (fast) | I4 (fast) | I3 (slower) | C4 (fast, commercial) | C4 (fast, commercial) | I4 (fast) |
| Process Node | 65 nm | 65 nm | 65 nm | 65 nm | 65 nm | 65 nm | 65 nm |
| Lifecycle Status | NRND | NRND | NRND | NRND | NRND | NRND | NRND |
Key Differentiators
- Pin-compatible density upgrade path within the same 780-FCBGA footprint (vs EP3SE110F780I4N)
- Lower static leakage at identical logic density (vs EP3SL50F780I4N)
- Established industrial temperature grade with documented reliability history (vs Stratix V 5SGXEA7K2F40)
Design Notes
The 780-FCBGA package has a 1.0 mm ball pitch and requires an HDI PCB stack-up with laser-drilled microvias for signal breakout. Plan a minimum 1-2-1 or 2-4-2 layer stack with through-via-in-pad where BGA escape routing demands it. Matched-length differential pair routing is required for any LVDS or transceiver channels - allocate dedicated stripline layers. Decoupling: place 0402-size 100 nF capacitors on every four BGA balls at the BGA shadow periphery, plus bulk 10 uF X5R ceramics within 5 mm of the package. Reference: Stratix III Device Handbook, Chapter 9 (Pin-Out Connection Guidelines).
Estimated: at full fabric utilization (~80% logic + DSP) the EP3SE50F780I4N can dissipate 5-8 W steady-state. The 780-FCBGA has a typical theta_JA of 8-12 C/W with a 4-layer 1-oz PCB, so junction temperature rises 40-100 C above ambient. Provide thermal vias in the BGA ball grid (especially the central GND balls) to a copper ground plane. For high-ambient enclosures (industrial motor cabinets, outdoor telecom), add a heatsink or forced-air cooling to keep Tj below 100 C. Verify with the actual Quartus II power analyzer output before committing to a thermal solution.
Configuration mode selection: the EP3SE50F780I4N uses MSEL pins to choose between AS (Active Serial), PS (Passive Serial), JTAG, and Fast Passive Parallel modes. Tie MSEL correctly for the chosen configuration device - a wrong MSEL setting is a common first-PCB-rev bug. Power sequencing: VCCINT (0.9V core) and VCCIO (I/O banks) must ramp in the order specified by the Stratix III handbook to avoid latch-up. Always include JTAG header access (TCK/TMS/TDO/TDI) on every board for factory programming and in-system debug.
Route all clock signals on inner stripline layers with reference to a continuous ground plane to minimize jitter - this matters especially for the EP3SE50's transceiver reference clocks. Differential pair intra-pair skew must be held under 5 mils on 100-ohm differential lines. Leave 200 mils of clearance around the JTAG header for probe access during bench debug. High-speed I/O banks (top and right edges typically) should have their own VCCIO planes, separate from the 3.3 V peripheral logic supplies.
Compliance Information
Compliance certifications (RoHS, REACH, lead-free, halogen-free) for the EP3SE50F780I4N are not documented in the verified distributor listings. Intel/Altera typically provides compliance certificates on the legacy product support page; consult Intel's Material Declaration database for definitive values. AEC-Q100 is not applicable - this is an FPGA, not an automotive-grade IC.