EP4CE6F17I8L - Cyclone IV E FPGA, 6K LEs, 256-FBGA | Altera/Intel
MPN: EP4CE6F17I8L ✓ Active| Qty | Unit Price | Extended |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | $26.35 | $26.35 |
| 10 | $24.1 | $241.00 |
| 100 | $21.85 | $2,185.00 |
| 500 | $19.4 | $9,700.00 |
| 1,000 | $17.25 | $17,250.00 |
EP4CE6F17I8L Overview
A Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) is a type of programmable logic device (PLD) that contains an array of configurable logic blocks (CLBs), programmable interconnects, and I/O cells, all of which can be reconfigured by the designer after manufacturing. FPGAs sit in the broader taxonomy: programmable logic -> digital IC -> integrated circuit -> semiconductor. They fill the role between ASICs (high NRE, high volume) and discrete logic (low density), offering fast time-to-market, hardware-level parallelism, and in-system reprogrammability for applications such as industrial control, video processing, and communications.
The EP4CE6F17I8L integrates dual-purpose configuration pins, supports up to four PLL outputs for clock management, and offers up to 270 Kbits of M9K embedded memory blocks. The 256-FBGA package supports industrial temperature grade (-40C to +100C ambient), making the part suitable for factory automation and outdoor equipment where commercial-grade parts would be inadequate.
Typical applications include industrial motor control, video bridging and display controllers, telecommunications line cards, low-cost ASIC prototyping, and embedded vision front-ends. The Cyclone IV E family's balance of logic, memory, and DSP blocks also makes it useful for software-defined radio (SDR) baseband processing and IoT gateway designs.
When designing with this device, plan for a minimum of two configuration modes (JTAG plus Active Serial) for flexibility. Pay close attention to banked I/O voltages - the Cyclone IV E supports LVDS, LVTTL, LVCMOS, SSTL, and HSTL I/O standards across eight I/O banks, but each bank requires a dedicated VCCIO supply. Adequate decoupling (100 nF plus 10 uF bulk caps per supply pin group) and a properly designed ground pour are essential for signal integrity at higher toggle rates.
This page synthesizes distributor pricing, drop-in alternatives from the same Cyclone IV E family, and practical FPGA design notes not found in the manufacturer datasheet alone.
Drop-in alternatives for EP4CE6F17I8L — 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 EP4CE6F17I8L (same form factor and footprint) — differing in Package, Operating Temperature, Process Technology, PLLs, Configuration Modes.
Quick Comparison Tool — Select alternative parts for side-by-side comparison:
EP4CE6F17C8L
✅ Drop-In✓ In Stock
$11.1 / Unit
View Datasheet →EP4CE6F17I7N
✅ Drop-In✓ In Stock
$15.1 / Unit
View Datasheet →EP4CE6F17C7N
✅ Drop-In✓ In Stock
$3.6 / Unit
View Datasheet →EP4CE6F17C6N
✅ Drop-In✓ In Stock
$17.95 / Unit
View Datasheet →EP4CE6F17C9LN
✅ Drop-In✓ In Stock
$10.95 / Unit
View Datasheet →LFE5U-25F-6BG256C
✅ Drop-In📋 Reference alternative (not in catalog)
EP4CE6F17I8L Maximum Ratings & Electrical Characteristics
| Series | Cyclone IV E |
| Logic Elements | 6,272 |
| Total Memory Bits | 276,480 |
| Number of Logic Array Blocks | 392 |
| Embedded Multipliers (18x18) | 15 |
| User I/O Pins | 179 |
| Number of I/O Banks | 8 |
| Number of PLLs | 2 |
| Supply Voltage (Core) | 1.2 V |
| Operating Temperature Range | -40C to +100C (Industrial) |
| Package | 256-LBGA (FBGA-256, 17x17 mm, 1.0 mm pitch) |
| Mounting Type | Surface Mount |
| Configuration Method | JTAG, Active Serial (AS), Passive Serial (PS) |
| Process Technology | 60 nm low-power CMOS |
| RoHS Status | Compliant |
| MSL Level | 3 (168 hours) |
EP4CE6F17I8L 256-lbga (fbga-256, 17x17 mm, 1.0 mm pitch) Pin Configuration Guide
Pin configuration for EP4CE6F17I8L (256-lbga (fbga-256, 17x17 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 EP4CE6F17I8L.
Refer to the datasheet for full pin configuration.
Typical Applications
EP4CE6F17I8L is suitable for 6 applications: Industrial Motor Control, Video Bridging and Display Controllers, Telecommunications Line Cards, ASIC Prototyping and Emulation, Embedded Vision and Image Sensor Fusion, IoT Gateway and Protocol Bridging.
Industrial Motor Control
The EP4CE6F17I8L is well suited for industrial motor control applications because its industrial temperature grade (-40C to +100C) handles factory-floor thermal stress, while the 15 embedded 18x18 multipliers deliver DSP throughput needed for field-oriented control (FOC) and space-vector PWM generation. The 179 user I/O pins accommodate multiple encoder inputs (QEP, Hall sensors), gate-driver outputs, and protection signals, while the dual PLLs synthesize precise switching frequencies from a single crystal. With 6,272 logic elements the device fits typical multi-axis servo loops, and the 256-LBGA package is small enough for compact driver-board integration. Designers can leverage Altera's reference designs for FOC and stepper commutation in Quartus Prime to shorten firmware bring-up.
Recommended
Video Bridging and Display Controllers
The EP4CE6F17I8L serves as a flexible bridge in video applications, supporting parallel RGB, BT.656, BT.1120, and LVDS display interfaces through its eight I/O banks. The 276 Kbits of embedded M9K memory provides line-buffer storage for up to two full HD video lines at 24-bit color, while the 6,272 logic elements handle color-space conversion and timing generation. Industrial temperature grade allows deployment in outdoor digital-signage and kiosk displays where ambient swings exceed commercial limits. The device is supported by Altera's Video and Image Processing (VIP) Suite IP cores in Quartus Prime, including scalers, deinterlacers, and on-screen display generators that map directly to the M9K and DSP blocks.
Recommended
Telecommunications Line Cards
Telecom line cards benefit from the EP4CE6F17I8L's low-power 60 nm process (typical core current below 100 mA) and its eight I/O banks that natively support LVDS, SSTL, and HSTL signaling standards used by network PHYs and SERDES framer ICs. The 179 user I/O pins accommodate TDM time-slot routing across multiple E1/T1 or JESD204B interfaces, while 276 Kbits of M9K memory buffer packet payloads between the framer and the backplane SERDES. Two PLLs generate the multiple clock domains required for framer, mapper, and backplane interfaces. Industrial temperature grade is essential for outdoor DSLAM and base-station enclosures that see wide seasonal swings.
Recommended
ASIC Prototyping and Emulation
The EP4CE6F17I8L is widely used for ASIC prototyping of low-to-medium complexity digital blocks. With 6,272 logic elements and 276 Kbits of memory, it fits RTL designs up to roughly 50K gates of ASIC-equivalent logic, providing real-world timing verification before committing to mask costs. Designers use Quartus Prime's incremental compilation to partition designs across the FPGA's logic array, and the JTAG interface allows rapid iteration cycles. Multiple EP4CE6F17I8L devices can be paralleled on a custom prototyping board to emulate larger ASICs, and the industrial temperature grade supports bring-up in accelerated-stress chambers.
Recommended
Embedded Vision and Image Sensor Fusion
The EP4CE6F17I8L's 15 embedded 18x18 multipliers and 276 Kbits of M9K memory make it a fit for embedded vision front-ends that perform Bayer demosaicing, lens-distortion correction, or simple convolutional filters on image-sensor streams. The device accepts up to 10-bit parallel sensor data from MIPI-CSI bridges or LVDS deserializer ICs and can output processed frames over parallel RGB or LVDS. Industrial temperature grade enables deployment in machine-vision cameras and vehicle camera systems. Quartus Prime provides reference designs for sensor-to-display pipelines that map the M9K blocks to line buffers and the multipliers to filter kernels.
Recommended
IoT Gateway and Protocol Bridging
IoT gateways use the EP4CE6F17I8L as a protocol-conversion hub between fieldbus interfaces (RS-485, Modbus, CAN, SPI sensor arrays) and Ethernet or cellular uplinks. With 6,272 logic elements the device can implement multiple UART, SPI, and I2C controllers concurrently, while the two PLLs synthesize independent clocks for asynchronous domains. The 276 Kbits of M9K memory buffer protocol frames during rate adaptation between slow fieldbus rates and faster network uplinks. Industrial temperature grade is important for outdoor and factory-floor gateways subject to wide temperature swings, and the 1.2 V core voltage keeps power consumption low for solar- or battery-powered deployments.
Recommended
Recommended Products Summary
Engineering reference data for EP4CE6F17I8L — comparison, design guidance, and compliance information.
Selection Guide
Comparison with Alternatives
| Parameter | This Product | EP4CE6F17C8L | EP4CE6F17I7N | EP4CE6F17C7N | LFE5U-25F-6BG256C |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brand | Altera (Intel) | Altera (Intel) | Altera (Intel) | Altera (Intel) | Lattice Semiconductor |
| Package | 256-LBGA | 256-LBGA | 256-LBGA | 256-LBGA | 256-CABGA |
| Logic Elements | 6,272 | 6,272 | 6,272 | 24,000 LUTs | |
| Memory Bits | 276,480 | 276,480 | 276,480 | 1,036,800 | |
| User I/O | 179 | 179 | 179 | 197 | |
| Embedded Multipliers (18x18) | 15 | 15 | 15 | 56 | |
| Operating Temperature | -40C to +100C (Industrial) | 0C to +85C (Commercial) | -40C to +100C (Industrial) | 0C to +85C (Commercial) | |
| Speed Grade | 8 | 8 | 7 | 7 | |
| Core Voltage | 1.2 V | 1.2 V | 1.2 V | 1.1 V |
Key Differentiators
- Lowest-density Cyclone IV E with industrial temperature in 256-FBGA (vs EP4CE10F17C8N)
- Industrial temperature grade (-40C to +100C) (vs EP4CE6F17C8L)
- Mature 60 nm low-power process (vs LFE5U-25F-6BG256C)
Design Notes
Estimated: the EP4CE6F17I8L core draws approximately 80-120 mA from the 1.2 V VCCINT rail at typical utilization (~50% LE occupancy, 50% toggle rate). Add 30-60 mA per active PLL from VCCAUX, plus per-bank VCCIO current scaled by I/O toggle rate and load. Provide at least a 4.7 uF bulk plus 100 nF decoupling cap on every supply pin group, and place the bulk capacitors within 5 mm of the package. Sequence the supplies so VCCINT ramps first, followed by VCCAUX and VCCIO, to prevent POR latch-up. Estimated based on Cyclone IV E power estimator inputs: 50% utilization, 100 MHz clock, 50% toggle, 0 pF load.
The 256-FBGA package with 1.0 mm pitch requires 4-layer or 6-layer PCB stack-up. Use a laser-drilled or mechanically drilled microvia stack where possible, or escape through the inner layers using dog-bone fan-outs if cost-constrained. Maintain a continuous ground plane directly under the BGA to provide return-path reference for high-speed I/O. Reserve four PCB layers for signals and two for power/ground to support the eight I/O banks without forcing excessive signal-layer transitions.
Do not leave MSEL[2:0] pins floating - they must be tied high or low to select the configuration mode (AS, PS, JTAG). Floating MSEL pins cause the device to power up in an undefined state. Also avoid tying nCE low while nCONFIG is high during power-up - this can prevent configuration. Always include a pull-up on nCONFIG (10 kohm to VCCIO) and a pull-up on nSTATUS (10 kohm to VCCAUX) per the Cyclone IV E handbook, or configuration will fail intermittently.
Route clock inputs on an inner signal layer with continuous ground reference on both sides. Use series-termination at the FPGA clock pin if the trace exceeds 25 mm, and avoid routing clocks parallel to high-speed data buses to minimize crosstalk. The two PLL analog supplies (VCCA_PLL) should be filtered with an LC or ferrite bead network (typical 10 ohm at 100 MHz plus 10 uF and 100 nF) and routed with a quiet ground island to minimize jitter.
Compliance Information
RoHS and REACH compliant per Altera/Intel product declaration. Lead-free finish indicated by 'L' suffix. Not AEC-Q100 qualified; for automotive safety applications, consider Cyclone IV E automotive variants or newer automotive-grade FPGAs from Intel.
