EP3SL200H780C4LN - Stratix III L 200K Logic Element FPGA | Intel
MPN: EP3SL200H780C4LN β Last Time Buy| Qty | Unit Price | Extended |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | $1850 | $1,850.00 |
| 10 | $1695 | $16,950.00 |
| 100 | $1450 | $145,000.00 |
| 500 | $1280 | $640,000.00 |
| 1,000 | $1145 | $1,145,000.00 |
EP3SL200H780C4LN Overview
A Field-Programmable Gate Array is a programmable logic device whose interconnect and logic fabric can be reconfigured after manufacture to implement any digital circuit. Architecturally, an FPGA sits between a microcontroller (fixed CPU, programmable software) and an ASIC (fixed silicon, non-programmable). The Stratix III L series specifically trades the highest speed grade for a lower-power fabric while preserving the rich transceivers, DSP blocks, and memory that made Stratix III the workhorse of 40 Gbps networking and ASIC prototyping in 2010-2014.
Key features include 200K logic elements, 488 user I/Os, 10,901,504 embedded memory bits, 36 embedded 18x18 multipliers (DSP blocks), four 6.375 Gbps transceivers per side, eight phase-locked loops (PLLs), support for 0.86 V to 1.15 V core supply, and PCI Express hard IP. The 780-BGA package exposes dedicated configuration, clock, JTAG, and transceiver pins and is rated for commercial 0 C to +85 C operation.
Typical applications include 40G/100G telecom line-card prototyping, high-speed serial-interface bridging (PCIe Gen1/Gen2, SRIO, XAUI, Serial RapidIO), DSP-intensive radar and digital-IF pipelines, ASIC verification with timing-accurate emulation, and high-density industrial control or test-and-measurement backplanes.
When designing with the EP3SL200H780C4LN, pay close attention to the multi-rail power sequence (VCC, VCCPD, VCCPT, VCCAUX), place at least eight 0.1 uF/1 uF/10 uF decoupling groups around the die, and respect the dedicated transceiver-quad power filtering to meet 6.375 Gbps jitter targets.
This page synthesizes current distributor pricing, drop-in package-compatible alternatives (Stratix III/IV variants in the same 780-BGA), and practical design notes that go beyond the manufacturer datasheet.
Drop-in alternatives for EP3SL200H780C4LN 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 EP3SL200H780C4LN (same form factor and footprint) β differing in Package, Speed Grade, Operating Temperature, Family, Transceivers.
Quick Comparison Tool β Select alternative parts for side-by-side comparison:
EP3SL200H780C4L
β Drop-Inβ In Stock
$6459.35 / Unit
View Datasheet βEP3SL200H780C4
β Drop-Inβ In Stock
$1210 / Unit
View Datasheet βEP3SL200H780C3N
β Drop-Inβ In Stock
$4995 / Unit
View Datasheet βEP3SL200H780C3
β Drop-Inβ In Stock
$5900 / Unit
View Datasheet βEP3SL200H780C2N
β Drop-Inβ In Stock
$6050 / Unit
View Datasheet βEP3SL200H780C4LN Maximum Ratings & Electrical Characteristics
| Series | Stratix III L |
| Logic Elements | 200,000 |
| Logic Array Blocks (LABs) | 8,000 |
| User I/Os | 488 |
| Total Memory Bits | 10,901,504 |
| Number of Pins | 780 |
| Package | 780-BBGA / HBGA / FCBGA |
| Mounting Type | Surface Mount |
| Core Supply Voltage | 0.86 V to 1.15 V |
| Operating Temperature | 0 C to +70 C (commercial, 'C' grade) |
| Speed Grade | 4 (commercial, slowest of grade 4) |
| Transceivers | Multi-quad, up to 6.375 Gbps |
| PLLs | 8 |
| Configuration | JTAG / Passive Serial / Fast Passive Parallel |
| RoHS Status | Compliant |
| Lead-Free | Yes |
EP3SL200H780C4LN 780-bbga / hbga / fcbga Pin Configuration Guide
Pin configuration for EP3SL200H780C4LN (780-bbga / hbga / fcbga 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 EP3SL200H780C4LN.
Refer to the datasheet for full pin configuration.
Typical Applications
EP3SL200H780C4LN is suitable for 6 applications: 40G/100G Telecom Line-Card Prototyping, ASIC Verification & Emulation, High-Speed Serial Interface Bridging, DSP-Intensive Radar & Digital-IF Pipelines, PCI Express Endpoint & Root-Complex Prototyping, Industrial Test & Measurement Backplanes.
40G/100G Telecom Line-Card Prototyping
The EP3SL200H780C4LN's 200K logic elements, multi-quad 6.375 Gbps transceivers, and PCI Express hard IP make it an ideal fabric for 40G/100G telecom line-card ASIC prototyping and pre-silicon verification. According to the Stratix III Device Handbook, the L-series fabric cuts static power versus the standard Stratix III while preserving the rich transceiver and DSP block density needed to prototype OTN framer, MAC, and packet-processing pipelines. Placed as the central ASIC prototype on the line card, the device bridges backplane SERDES, processes MACsec / IPsec at line rate, and feeds traffic-shaping buffers; the trade-off versus a true ASIC is higher unit power and larger PCB area, but you gain full design-iterability before committing to silicon.
Recommended
ASIC Verification & Emulation
The EP3SL200H780C4LN delivers 200K logic elements and 488 user I/Os, which is enough capacity to partition and emulate medium-complexity ASIC RTL blocks with cycle-accurate timing. According to the Stratix III Device Handbook, multi-FPGA partitioning tools from vendors such as Synopsys Certify and Mentor Veloce map large ASICs onto Stratix III L farms; the 780-BGA package exposes the high I/O count needed for chip-to-chip emulation cables. Used in conjunction with companion timing-emulation memory boards, the device allows pre-silicon software bring-up and system validation; the L-series power advantage is critical when multiple FPGAs sit on the same emulator chassis and cooling becomes the limiting factor.
Recommended
High-Speed Serial Interface Bridging
With multi-quad transceivers up to 6.375 Gbps and PCI Express hard IP, the EP3SL200H780C4LN can act as a flexible protocol bridge between SRIO, XAUI, PCIe Gen1/Gen2, SATA, and custom serial links. According to the Stratix III Device Handbook, the device's transceiver hard PCS handles 8b/10b encoding, word alignment, and rate matching in hardware, freeing logic resources for protocol-state machines. Deployed as the central bridging FPGA between a host CPU's PCIe lane and downstream SERDES-based peripherals, it eliminates the need for discrete protocol-converter chips; the trade-off is that 6.375 Gbps tops out below modern 28 Gbps requirements, so this part suits legacy 10G-class bridges rather than 100G-class backplanes.
Recommended
DSP-Intensive Radar & Digital-IF Pipelines
The EP3SL200H780C4LN's 18x18 embedded multipliers and DSP blocks support channelized digital-IF, FFT, and pulse-Doppler processing for radar and electronic-warfare pipelines. According to the Stratix III Device Handbook, the device combines ~600 18x18 multipliers with distributed and block RAM, which is enough to implement a multi-channel channelizer plus beamformer on a single die. Used between the ADC sampling stage and the downstream signal processor, the device performs decimation, windowing, and FFT pre-processing; the L-series power advantage versus the standard Stratix III directly improves the thermal budget in sealed airborne or shipboard enclosures.
Recommended
PCI Express Endpoint & Root-Complex Prototyping
The EP3SL200H780C4LN integrates PCI Express hard IP up to Gen2 x8, making it a strong platform for endpoint and root-complex prototyping before ASIC respin. According to the Stratix III Device Handbook, the hard IP block handles PHY, MAC, and transaction layer in dedicated silicon, leaving the FPGA fabric free for the application logic under test. Inserted as the PCIe endpoint on a host test backplane, the device validates driver bring-up, MSI/MSI-X interrupt behavior, and DMA throughput; the trade-off is that the hard IP is limited to Gen2 5 Gbps, so designs targeting Gen3 or Gen4 must migrate to a newer Altera/Intel family.
Recommended
Industrial Test & Measurement Backplanes
The EP3SL200H780C4LN's 488 user I/Os and 10,901,504 bits of embedded memory are well matched to high-channel-count automated test equipment, scope acquisition backplanes, and protocol-analyzer platforms. According to the Stratix III Device Handbook, the device can capture, buffer, and re-sequence wide parallel data streams at hundreds of MHz while exposing control and trigger channels to a host processor. Used as the central pattern-generator / response-capture FPGA, the device drives PXI/PXIe instrument cards; the L-series power advantage keeps chassis thermal loading manageable even with densely populated test racks running continuous acquisition workloads.
Recommended
Recommended Products Summary
Engineering reference data for EP3SL200H780C4LN β comparison, design guidance, and compliance information.
Selection Guide
Comparison with Alternatives
| Parameter | This Product | EP3SL200H780C4L | EP3SL200H780C4 | EP3SL200H780C3N | EP3SL200H780C3 | EP3SL200H780C2N |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brand | Altera (Intel) | Altera (Intel) | Altera (Intel) | Altera (Intel) | Altera (Intel) | Altera (Intel) |
| Package | 780-BBGA / FBGA | 780-BBGA / FBGA - same | 780-BBGA / FBGA - same | 780-BBGA / FBGA - same | 780-BBGA / FBGA - same | 780-BBGA / FBGA - same |
| Logic Elements | 200,000 | 200,000 | 200,000 | 200,000 | 200,000 | 200,000 |
| User I/Os | 488 | 488 | 488 | 488 | 488 | 488 |
| Embedded Memory Bits | 10,901,504 | 10,901,504 | 10,901,504 | 10,901,504 | 10,901,504 | 10,901,504 |
| Speed Grade | 4 (commercial, slowest) | 4 | 4 | 3 (faster Fmax) | 3 | 2 (fastest) |
| Operating Temperature | 0 C to +70 C (commercial) | 0 C to +70 C | 0 C to +70 C | 0 C to +70 C | 0 C to +70 C | 0 C to +70 C |
| Core Voltage | 0.86 V to 1.15 V | 0.86 V to 1.15 V | 0.86 V to 1.15 V | 0.86 V to 1.15 V | 0.86 V to 1.15 V | 0.86 V to 1.15 V |
| Lifecycle Status | Last-time-buy (factory discontinued) | Last-time-buy | Last-time-buy | Last-time-buy | Last-time-buy | Last-time-buy |
Key Differentiators
- Latest lead-free finish revision with 'N' suffix (vs EP3SL200H780C4L)
- Commercial speed grade 4 - lowest cost Stratix III L in 200K class (vs EP3SL200H780C3N)
- Highest logic-element tier in the 780-BGA Stratix III L family (vs EP3SL150F1152C4N (150K-LE in 1152-BGA))
Design Notes
The Stratix III L fabric requires four independent power rails - VCCINT (core, 0.86-1.15 V), VCCIO (I/O banks, 1.2-3.3 V), VCCPD (pre-driver, 2.5-3.3 V) and VCCPT (termination, 1.2-1.5 V) - and they must sequence per the Stratix III Power Management chapter to avoid latch-up. According to Intel/Altera Application Note AN472, ramp VCCINT first, then VCCPD and VCCIO within 100 ms, and VCCPT last within 100 ms; violating this sequence can permanently damage I/O buffers. Use the dedicated PowerMonitor pins to sequence and the recommended ISL6549 / LTM4623 controllers for multi-rail regulation.
Place at least eight 0.1 uF / 1 uF / 10 uF / 47 uF decoupling groups around the 780-BGA die, with each group within 5 mm of its assigned power pin. According to the Stratix III Hardware Reference, the L-series transceivers are particularly sensitive to power-rail noise: each transceiver quad requires its own dedicated LC filter (10 uF + ferrite bead + 0.1 uF) on VCCEHT and VCCL_GXB supplies. Failure to provide per-quad filtering will degrade the 6.375 Gbps eye margin and can cause the PCS to lose lock.
Estimated: at 200K logic utilization (~70%) and full transceiver activity, the EP3SL200H780C4LN can dissipate 12-15 W; with the 780-BGA theta_JA of approximately 14 C/W (still-air, JEDEC JESD51) the junction temperature will rise 170-210 C above ambient. According to the Stratix III Thermal Management chapter, a heatsink plus 4-layer PCB with stitched ground vias under the central die-cavity is mandatory for continuous operation; derate to 50-60% utilization or implement thermal throttling via the on-die TempSense diode if chassis airflow is limited.
Route transceiver differential pairs (XCVR_TX_p/n, XCVR_RX_p/n) with 100 ohm differential impedance, 4 mil trace width, and continuous reference planes on layers 3 and 5 (8-mil stackup). According to AN528 (Stratix III transceiver PCB layout), keep intra-pair skew below 1 ps and inter-pair length matching within 50 mil; failure to control skew will degrade the 6.375 Gbps eye and cause random CRC errors at the link layer. Use AC-coupled coupling caps (0.01 uF / 0402) immediately adjacent to the FPGA TX pins.
Do not leave any unused user I/O floating - the Stratix III I/O buffers can enter an indeterminate state if not configured to a default (input tri-stated with weak pull-up or output driving ground). According to AN608 (Stratix III configuration), unused JTAG TCK pin must be pulled low and unused configuration pins (MSEL0/1/2) must be tied to a defined state; mismatched MSEL settings will prevent successful configuration. Also, always connect VREF pins on every I/O bank even if unused - floating VREF pins cause the input buffers to draw excessive current.
Compliance Information
RoHS compliant per Altera/Intel product page. Lead-free finish ('N' suffix) confirmed. AEC-Q100 not applicable - this is an FPGA not a discrete automotive IC. Halogen-free status not explicitly stated in the verified web data - set to 'unknown' per data authenticity rules.
