EP4CE40F23C8 - Cyclone IV E FPGA, 39.6K LE, 484-FBGA | Intel
MPN: EP4CE40F23C8 ✓ Active| Qty | Unit Price | Extended |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | $78.5 | $78.50 |
| 10 | $74.2 | $742.00 |
| 100 | $67.9 | $6,790.00 |
| 500 | $61.4 | $30,700.00 |
| 1,000 | $54.8 | $54,800.00 |
EP4CE40F23C8 Overview
A Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) is a semiconductor device built around an array of configurable logic blocks (CLBs), programmable interconnect, and I/O cells, all of which are customized after manufacturing via a configuration bitstream. Within the broader programmable-logic hierarchy, FPGAs sit between simple CPLDs (Complex Programmable Logic Devices) and full Application-Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), offering higher logic density than CPLDs and far lower NRE cost than ASICs. The Cyclone IV E family in particular targets low static and dynamic power consumption, making the architecture attractive for power-budgeted applications such as handheld test equipment and factory-floor controllers.
Key features of the EP4CE40F23C8 include four general-purpose PLLs per device, support for external memory interfaces such as DDR2, DDR, LPDDR2, and QDR II SRAM, 20 global clock networks, and 66 LVDS channels (33 pairs). The configuration scheme supports Active Serial (AS), Passive Serial (PS), Fast Passive Parallel (FPP), and JTAG modes. I/O standards supported include LVTTL, LVCMOS, SSTL, HSTL, PCI, and LVDS, with per-pin dynamic on-chip termination. Operating junction temperature spans 0 C to 85 C (commercial, suffix C8).
Typical applications span industrial motor-control inverters, video format converters, low-cost PCIe endpoint bridges, factory automation controllers, and low-power software-defined radio front-ends. In motor-control designs the embedded multipliers and dedicated PLLs accelerate field-oriented control (FOC) algorithms, while in display-port interface bridging the 328 user I/Os and LVDS channels provide ample bandwidth without an external transceiver.
When designing with this part, allocate at least 1 sq-in of solid ground plane beneath the 484-ball FBGA and follow Intel's recommended 4-layer PCB stack-up for the impedance-controlled pairs. The configuration flash must be a 16-bit or 32-Mbit AS-mode EPCS device selected to match the cyclone IV E bitstream size.
This page consolidates distributor pricing, drop-in alternatives, and practical PCB design notes not found in the manufacturer datasheet alone, giving engineers a single reference for both the electrical characterization and the supply-chain profile of the EP4CE40F23C8.
Drop-in alternatives for EP4CE40F23C8 — 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 EP4CE40F23C8 (same form factor and footprint) — differing in Package, Process Technology, Speed Grade, Embedded Memory, RoHS Status.
Quick Comparison Tool — Select alternative parts for side-by-side comparison:
EP4CE40F23C8N
✅ Drop-In✓ In Stock
$52.95 / Unit
View Datasheet →EP4CE40F23C7N
✅ Drop-In✓ In Stock
$21.8 / Unit
View Datasheet →EP4CE40F23C7
✅ Drop-In✓ In Stock
$102 / Unit
View Datasheet →EP4CE40F23C6N
✅ Drop-In✓ In Stock
$76.8 / Unit
View Datasheet →EP4CE40F23C6
✅ Drop-In✓ In Stock
$71.4 / Unit
View Datasheet →EP4CE40F23C8 Maximum Ratings & Electrical Characteristics
| Family | Cyclone IV E |
| Logic Elements (LE) | 39,600 |
| Embedded Memory | 1,161,216 bits (1134 Kbit) |
| Embedded 18x18 Multipliers | 116 |
| Maximum User I/O | 328 |
| Package | 484-ball FBGA (F23) |
| Process Technology | 60 nm |
| Core Voltage | 1.2 V |
| Number of PLLs | 4 |
| Global Clock Networks | 20 |
| LVDS Channels | 66 (33 pairs) |
| Operating Junction Temperature | 0 C to 85 C (commercial) |
| Configuration Modes | AS, PS, FPP, JTAG |
| Mounting Type | Surface Mount (BGA) |
| RoHS Status | Compliant |
EP4CE40F23C8 484-ball fbga (f23) Pin Configuration Guide
Pin configuration for EP4CE40F23C8 (484-ball fbga (f23) 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 EP4CE40F23C8.
Refer to the datasheet for full pin configuration.
Typical Applications
EP4CE40F23C8 is suitable for 6 applications: Industrial Motor Control (FOC / AC Drives), Video Format Conversion / Display Bridging, Low-Power Industrial Communication Gateways, Test & Measurement Front-End (DAQ / Logic Analyzer), Software-Defined Radio / Digital Signal Processing, Automotive Infotainment / ADAS HMI.
Industrial Motor Control (FOC / AC Drives)
The EP4CE40F23C8 fits field-oriented-control (FOC) motor drives because its 116 embedded 18x18 multipliers accelerate the Park/Clarke transforms and the four PLLs synthesize the PWM-aligned carrier clocks for three-phase inverters. With 39,600 logic elements and 1134 Kbit of M9K memory it can hold encoder capture buffers and current-loop lookup tables on-chip, removing external SRAM. The 328 user I/Os accept parallel ADC sampling from multi-shunt current sensors and emit center-aligned PWM to gate drivers. Compared with discrete DSP + CPLD solutions, the EP4CE40F23C8 consolidates control logic, commutation timing, and protection interlocks into a single 484-FBGA device, simplifying the BOM and shortening time-to-market for industrial inverter designs.
Recommended
Video Format Conversion / Display Bridging
The 328 user I/Os and 66 LVDS channels of the EP4CE40F23C8 make it well suited to bridging parallel RGB/CMOS camera interfaces to LVDS display panels, or to upscaling standard-definition video to 720p in industrial HMIs. The M9K memory blocks act as line buffers, eliminating the need for an external frame buffer in many single-channel pipelines. The four PLLs generate the pixel clock and the LVDS reference clocks with sub-100 ps jitter, which is critical for clean panel timing. Compared with a dedicated video processor ASIC, the FPGA approach allows field upgrades via configuration bitstream and lets the same hardware serve multiple panel resolutions, reducing SKU count for display product lines.
Recommended
Low-Power Industrial Communication Gateways
In EtherCAT, PROFINET, or Modbus TCP gateway designs, the EP4CE40F23C8 provides the deterministic parallel fabric to bridge real-time Ethernet MACs to legacy fieldbuses without an external processor. Its 1,161,216 bits of embedded memory can hold protocol stacks, and the four PLLs synthesize RGMII / MII / SPI reference clocks with low jitter. The 60 nm low-power Cyclone IV E process keeps static power low, which matters in always-on industrial gateways that must dissipate heat inside sealed IP65 enclosures. Engineers can implement Modbus RTU master, PROFINET IRT, or EtherCAT slave state machines alongside an external PHY, all in the same 484-FBGA package, with sufficient logic headroom for proprietary diagnostic layers.
Recommended
Test & Measurement Front-End (DAQ / Logic Analyzer)
Bench-top data-acquisition and logic-analyzer front-ends use the EP4CE40F23C8 to implement timing/skew calibration, trigger engines, and on-the-fly sample compression. The 116 multipliers enable real-time FIR filtering of ADC data streams, while the M9K memory blocks implement deep capture FIFO buffers at sample rates up to 200 MSPS. The 328 I/Os accept parallel LVDS or LVTTL ADC data, and the four PLLs generate per-channel sampling clocks with adjustable phase shift for interleaved ADC architectures. Compared with an FPGA-less DAQ that requires an external DSP, the EP4CE40F23C8 reduces system latency to under 1 us end-to-end and lets the firmware engineer ship protocol-aware compression (e.g., LZ4 on-chip).
Recommended
Software-Defined Radio / Digital Signal Processing
The 116 18x18 multipliers and 39,600 LEs make the EP4CE40F23C8 a viable target for low-to-mid bandwidth software-defined radio (SDR) baseband processing, including DVB-T/DVB-T2 demodulation, LTE physical-layer channel estimation, or amateur-radio digital modes. The four PLLs generate baseband I/Q clocks and DAC/ADC sample clocks, while the M9K blocks buffer FFT window data at sample rates up to 80 MSPS. Compared with general-purpose DSP microcontrollers that peak at a few hundred MMACS, the FPGA delivers thousands of MMACS for the same power budget, enabling real-time FFTs of 1024-4096 points. The 484-FBGA package also supports LVDS interconnect to high-speed ADCs such as the AD9230 family.
Recommended
Automotive Infotainment / ADAS HMI
Although the EP4CE40F23C8 is commercial-grade, designers use it as a development and pre-production FPGA for automotive HMI prototyping, including cluster displays, head-up displays, and surround-view camera aggregation. The 328 user I/Os accept multiple CSI-2 / parallel camera inputs, while the LVDS channels drive automotive-grade LCD panels directly. The 116 hardware multipliers accelerate image-pipeline functions such as lens-distortion correction, lane-departure overlay blending, and surround-view stitching. For production-intent automotive designs, designers migrate the verified RTL to Cyclone V or Cyclone 10 LP industrial-grade parts; the EP4CE40F23C8 serves as the high-visibility engineering vehicle during algorithm validation.
Recommended
Recommended Products Summary
Engineering reference data for EP4CE40F23C8 — comparison, design guidance, and compliance information.
Selection Guide
Comparison with Alternatives
| Parameter | This Product | EP4CE40F23C8N | EP4CE40F23C7N | EP4CE40F23C7 | EP4CE40F23C6N | EP4CE40F23C6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brand | Intel (Altera) | Intel (Altera) | Intel (Altera) | Intel (Altera) | Intel (Altera) | Intel (Altera) |
| Package | 484-ball FBGA (F23) | 484-ball FBGA (F23) - same | 484-ball FBGA (F23) - same | 484-ball FBGA (F23) - same | 484-ball FBGA (F23) - same | 484-ball FBGA (F23) - same |
| Logic Elements | 39,600 | 39,600 | 39,600 | 39,600 | 39,600 | 39,600 |
| Speed Grade | C8 (fastest) | C8 | C7 | C7 | C6 | C6 |
| RoHS / Pb-Free | Non-RoHS (SnPb) | RoHS / Pb-free (N suffix) | RoHS / Pb-free (N suffix) | Non-RoHS (SnPb) | RoHS / Pb-free (N suffix) | Non-RoHS (SnPb) |
| Embedded Memory | 1,161,216 bits | 1,161,216 bits | 1,161,216 bits | 1,161,216 bits | 1,161,216 bits | 1,161,216 bits |
| Embedded 18x18 Multipliers | 116 | 116 | 116 | 116 | 116 | 116 |
| User I/O | 328 | 328 | 328 | 328 | 328 | 328 |
| Operating Temperature | 0 C to 85 C (commercial) | 0 C to 85 C (commercial) | 0 C to 85 C (commercial) | 0 C to 85 C (commercial) | 0 C to 85 C (commercial) | 0 C to 85 C (commercial) |
Key Differentiators
- Same 484-ball F23 FBGA, fully pin-compatible speed-grade siblings (vs EP4CE40F23C6N)
- RoHS/Pb-free compliance via N-suffix variant (vs EP4CE40F23C8 (this part))
- Same 39,600 LE, 1134 Kbit memory, 116 multipliers, 328 I/O across all C-grade siblings (vs EP4CE30F23C8N)
Design Notes
Use Intel's recommended 4-layer PCB stack-up for the 484-ball F23 FBGA: 1-oz outer copper, 0.5-oz inner copper, and a high-Tg FR-4 dielectric with a target 50 ohm single-ended / 100 ohm differential impedance on the LVDS pairs. Place a continuous ground plane directly under the BGA to provide a low-impedance return path for the high-speed transceivers, and route all configuration signals (TCK, TMS, TDI, TDO, nCONFIG, nSTATUS, CONF_DONE, MSEL[3:0], DATA0/ASDO, DCLK) as microstrip-length-matched traces on the top layer.
Decouple each VCCINT, VCCA, VCCIO bank, and VCCPD pin with a 0.1 uF X7R ceramic capacitor placed within 100 mil of the package ball, plus a bulk 10 uF X5R per supply rail. Use a ferrite bead on VCCA (PLL analog supply) and isolate it from VCCINT by at least 20 mil of ground copper to minimize PLL jitter. The Cyclone IV E typical ICCINT for the EP4CE40 is roughly 0.5-1.5 A depending on utilization; size your regulator for 1.5x headroom and add a power-good signal to drive nCONFIG of downstream devices.
Estimated: at 100% utilization the EP4CE40F23C8 consumes approximately 1.0-1.4 W of dynamic power plus about 0.1-0.2 W of static power (60 nm Cyclone IV E). Do not assume the C8 speed grade automatically gives faster PLLs - the PLL VCO range is identical across C6/C7/C8; speed grade only affects register-to-register timing margins. When migrating from a Cyclone III design, double-check that all MSEL pull-ups/pull-downs match the Cyclone IV E configuration scheme, because the MSEL encoding changed slightly. Finally, do not omit the EPCS configuration flash in AS mode - PS/FPP modes require an external host CPU and complicate field firmware upgrades.
Compliance Information
EP4CE40F23C8 has SnPb terminal finish and is non-RoHS; choose EP4CE40F23C8N for RoHS-compliant production. FPGAs are not AEC-Q100 qualified (industrial / commercial grades only). REACH compliance and conflict-minerals statement per Intel product page.
