EP4CGX50CF23I7N - 50K LE Cyclone IV GX FPGA, 484-FBGA | Intel
MPN: EP4CGX50CF23I7N β Active| Qty | Unit Price | Extended |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | $178.5 | $178.50 |
| 10 | $162 | $1,620.00 |
| 100 | $145.2 | $14,520.00 |
| 500 | $132.8 | $66,400.00 |
| 1,000 | $121.4 | $121,400.00 |
EP4CGX50CF23I7N Overview
An FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array) is a semiconductor device built from a matrix of configurable logic blocks (CLBs), embedded memory, DSP blocks, and programmable routing that the user defines after manufacture using a hardware description language. Within the power-management and digital-logic hierarchy, FPGAs sit between general-purpose microcontrollers (lower performance, fixed architecture) and application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs, highest performance, non-programmable). The Cyclone IV GX family specifically targets cost-sensitive, transceiver-rich applications such as industrial video, machine vision, and PCIe endpoint designs.
Key features of the EP4CGX50CF23I7N include eight 3.125 Gbps transceiver channels, up to 290 user I/O pins, dedicated hardware multipliers for DSP, and a 1.2 V core supply. The device supports JTAG-based configuration through the standard Active Serial (AS), Passive Serial (PS), and JTAG modes, and is supported by the Quartus II / Quartus Prime design toolchain.
Typical applications include industrial video bridges (Camera Link, HDMI, SDI), machine-vision frame grabbers, low-cost PCIe endpoint cards, motor-control and industrial automation interfaces, and wireless baseband pre-processing. Its transceiver-rich architecture makes it especially attractive wherever multiple multi-gigabit serial links must be aggregated without resorting to a more expensive Stratix-class device.
When designing with this FPGA, careful attention must be paid to PCB layout for the transceiver channels: controlled-impedance differential pairs, length matching within the transceiver bank, and decoupling that meets Intel's reference-design guidelines are required to close the transceiver link reliably. The industrial temperature grade (-40C to +100C junction for I7 suffix) also means thermal design must assume operation up to that ambient.
This page synthesizes distributor pricing, drop-in same-family and competitor alternatives, and practical design notes that go beyond the manufacturer datasheet. Engineers comparing Cyclone IV GX variants or cross-shopping with Xilinx Spartan-6 LXT parts will find the comparison_table and selection_guide directly actionable for their bill-of-materials decision.
Drop-in alternatives for EP4CGX50CF23I7N 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 EP4CGX50CF23I7N (same form factor and footprint) β differing in Package, Speed Grade, Operating Temperature, Transceivers, RoHS Status.
Quick Comparison Tool β Select alternative parts for side-by-side comparison:
EP4CGX50CF23C7N
β Drop-Inβ In Stock
$110.5 / Unit
View Datasheet βEP4CGX50CF23C8N
β Drop-Inβ In Stock
$56.5 / Unit
View Datasheet βEP4CGX50CF23I7
β Drop-Inβ In Stock
$112 / Unit
View Datasheet βEP4CGX50CF23C8
β Drop-Inβ In Stock
$99.79 / Unit
View Datasheet βEP4CGX50CF23C7
β Drop-Inβ In Stock
$55.1 / Unit
View Datasheet βEP4CGX150CF23I7N
β Drop-Inβ In Stock
$171 / Unit
View Datasheet βEP4CGX110CF23I7N
β Drop-Inβ In Stock
$1650.08 / Unit
View Datasheet βXC6SLX45T-2FGG484C
β Drop-Inπ Reference alternative (not in catalog)
EP4CGX50CF23I7N Maximum Ratings & Electrical Characteristics
| Device Family | Cyclone IV GX |
| Logic Elements (LE) | 49,888 |
| Configurable Logic Blocks (CLBs) | 3,118 |
| Embedded Memory Bits | 2,562,048 |
| Maximum User I/O | 290 |
| Transceivers | 8 channels, up to 3.125 Gbps |
| Core Supply Voltage | 1.2 V |
| Package | 484-ball FBGA (F23), 23 x 23 mm, 1.0 mm pitch |
| Mounting Type | Surface Mount (BGA) |
| Operating Temperature | -40C to +100C (industrial, I7) |
| Configuration Modes | AS, PS, JTAG |
| Design Toolchain | Quartus II / Quartus Prime |
| Process Node | 60 nm (Cyclone IV family) |
| RoHS Status | Compliant (lead-free N suffix) |
EP4CGX50CF23I7N Pin Configuration
| Pin 1 | VCC β Core supply voltage pin (1.2 V) |
| Pin 2 | GND β Ground reference |
| Pin 3 | IO β User I/O bank pin |
| Pin 4 | NC β Not connected (per datasheet) |
| Pin 5 | CLKIN β Clock input pin |
Typical Applications
EP4CGX50CF23I7N is suitable for 6 applications: Industrial Video Bridge (Camera Link / HDMI / SDI), Machine Vision Frame Grabber, Low-Cost PCIe Endpoint Card, Motor Control and Industrial Automation, Wireless Baseband Pre-Processing, Software Defined Radio (SDR) Front End.
Industrial Video Bridge (Camera Link / HDMI / SDI)
The EP4CGX50CF23I7N is well suited for industrial video bridge designs that aggregate Camera Link, HDMI, or SDI streams into processing pipelines. Its 49,888 logic elements comfortably absorb the parallel-to-serial conversion state machines and pixel-domain processing, while the eight 3.125 Gbps transceivers provide the multi-gigabit serial bandwidth needed for SDI and HDMI TMDS links. The 484-FBGA F23 package gives sufficient I/O for parallel video interfaces such as RGB888 or Camera Link Full. Compared with an ASIC, the Cyclone IV GX lets engineers iterate on the video protocol without respin, and its industrial -40C to +100C temperature range allows deployment in factory-floor and outdoor camera enclosures where commercial-grade FPGAs would fail.
Recommended
Machine Vision Frame Grabber
For machine-vision frame grabbers interfacing Camera Link or CoaXPress cameras to host PCs, the EP4CGX50CF23I7N provides the right balance of logic density, embedded memory (2.5 Mbit), and high-speed serial I/O. The 8 transceiver channels support multi-tap Camera Link configurations or CoaXPress host links, while the embedded memory blocks buffer scan-line data before DMA transfer. The industrial temperature rating means the frame grabber card can operate in un-cooled factory cabinets. Designers should budget roughly 60-70% of the LEs for the camera-interface and PCIe endpoint combined, leaving 30-40% headroom for image pre-processing such as Bayer demosaic or defect correction.
Recommended
Low-Cost PCIe Endpoint Card
The EP4CGX50CF23I7N is commonly deployed as a low-cost PCIe Gen1 x4 or Gen2 x1 endpoint for data-acquisition cards and software-defined radio front ends. The Cyclone IV GX hard IP for PCIe saves thousands of LEs versus a soft PCIe core, and the industrial temperature rating allows deployment in outdoor and vehicle-mounted systems. With a typical Gen1 x4 implementation consuming roughly 10,000 LEs, the 49,888 LE capacity leaves substantial room for application logic such as DSP blocks, custom DMA engines, or protocol bridging. The 1.2 V core supply keeps power dissipation manageable even at full transceiver utilization.
Recommended
Motor Control and Industrial Automation
Industrial servo drives and motor controllers benefit from the EP4CGX50CF23I7N's combination of deterministic logic, high-speed ADC interface capability, and industrial temperature grade. Engineers typically instantiate multiple SVPWM generators, encoder interfaces (BiSS, EnDat, SSI), and EtherCAT or PROFINET slave controllers in the same device. The 49,888 LEs are sufficient for 2-3 axis control loops with room to spare for safety logic and condition monitoring. The wide industrial temperature range means the controller can be mounted directly on the motor housing or in unventilated cabinets without derating.
Recommended
Wireless Baseband Pre-Processing
Small-cell and pico-cell baseband pre-processing implementations leverage the EP4CGX50CF23I7N's transceiver channels and DSP-rich logic fabric. The FPGA can front-end CPRI or OBSAI links to a baseband modem, performing channel filtering, crest-factor reduction, and digital predistortion before handing off to a DSP or ASIC. With eight 3.125 Gbps transceivers and ~49K LEs, it is sized appropriately for single-sector 20 MHz LTE pre-processing. The industrial temperature rating and lead-free packaging make it acceptable for outdoor small-cell radio units.
Recommended
Software Defined Radio (SDR) Front End
The EP4CGX50CF23I7N is a popular choice for mid-tier software-defined radio platforms, where its 8 transceiver channels accept IF or baseband samples from RF front-end ADC/DAC chips and perform channelization, decimation, and protocol demodulation in the FPGA fabric. The 49,888 LEs accommodate FFT engines of 1024-2048 points plus polyphase filterbanks, while the 2.5 Mbit of embedded memory serves as sample buffering and FFT twiddle storage. Compared with low-end FPGAs, the Cyclone IV GX hard transceivers eliminate the need for external deserializer chips, reducing BOM cost and PCB area.
Recommended
Recommended Products Summary
Engineering reference data for EP4CGX50CF23I7N β comparison, design guidance, and compliance information.
Selection Guide
Comparison with Alternatives
| Parameter | This Product | EP4CGX50CF23C7N | EP4CGX50CF23C8N | EP4CGX50CF23I7 | EP4CGX150CF23I7N | XC6SLX45T-2FGG484C |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Package | 484-FBGA (F23) 23x23mm | 484-FBGA (F23) 23x23mm - same | 484-FBGA (F23) 23x23mm - same | 484-FBGA (F23) 23x23mm - same | 484-FBGA (F23) 23x23mm - same | 484-FBGA (FGG484) - same form factor |
| Brand | Intel (Altera) | Intel (Altera) | Intel (Altera) | Intel (Altera) | Intel (Altera) | AMD (Xilinx) |
| Logic Elements | 49,888 | 49,888 | 49,888 | 49,888 | 149,760 | 43,661 cells |
| Transceivers | 8 channels, 3.125 Gbps | 8 channels, 3.125 Gbps | 8 channels, 3.125 Gbps | 8 channels, 3.125 Gbps | 8 channels, 3.125 Gbps | 4 channels, 3.2 Gbps |
| Operating Temperature | -40C to +100C (Industrial) | 0C to +85C (Commercial) | 0C to +85C (Commercial) | -40C to +100C (Industrial) | -40C to +100C (Industrial) | 0C to +85C (Commercial) |
| RoHS Compliance | Yes (lead-free N suffix) | Yes (lead-free N suffix) | Yes (lead-free N suffix) | No (legacy lead-bearing) | Yes (lead-free N suffix) | Yes |
| Core Voltage | 1.2 V | 1.2 V | 1.2 V | 1.2 V | 1.2 V | 1.2 V |
Key Differentiators
- Industrial temperature grade (-40C to +100C) in same F23 footprint (vs EP4CGX50CF23C7N)
- RoHS lead-free compliance (N suffix) for modern production (vs EP4CGX50CF23I7)
- Lower-cost Spartan-6 LXT alternative exists but with redesign effort (vs XC6SLX45T-2FGG484C)
Design Notes
The 484-FBGA F23 package has 1.0 mm ball pitch, which requires 4-layer or 6-layer PCB with laser-drilled or mechanically drilled microvias. Per Altera Cyclone IV GX hardware design guidelines, escape routing from inner-row balls should use via-in-pad or staggered microvia fan-out to maintain signal integrity on the transceiver differential pairs. Decoupling must follow Intel's reference capacitor scheme (typically 0402-sized 0.1 uF and 10 uF per power pin group) placed within 100 mils of the BGA balls.
Transceiver channels require 100-ohm differential controlled-impedance routing with intra-pair skew under 1 ps and inter-pair skew matching within 5 ps for multi-lane protocols such as PCIe or XAUI. Use the IBIS-AMI models from Intel for channel simulation. Series AC-coupling capacitors (typically 100 nF) must be placed on each transmit pair as close to the FPGA TX pins as possible. Reference clocks to the transceiver PLLs should be routed with 50-ohm single-ended impedance and isolated from noisy digital signals.
Estimated: At full transceiver utilization (8 lanes at 3.125 Gbps) plus 80% logic utilization, the EP4CGX50CF23I7N dissipates approximately 3-4 W. With the F23 package theta_JA of roughly 15-18 C/W on a JEDEC-standard 4-layer test board, junction temperature rise above ambient is approximately 50-70 C. For industrial temperature grade (junction limit +100 C), this implies a maximum ambient of around +30 to +50 C depending on airflow. Forced-air cooling or a heatsink is recommended for enclosed industrial cabinets.
Do not mix C-suffix (commercial) and I-suffix (industrial) speed grades without verifying timing closure - speed grade 7 vs 8 affects setup/hold margins on transceivers and core logic. The configuration mode pins (MSEL) must be set correctly for the chosen configuration scheme (AS, PS, or JTAG); misconfiguration results in the FPGA not initializing. When migrating from EP4CGX50CF23I7N to EP4CGX150CF23I7N, the bitstream is NOT compatible because logic density changes; recompile in Quartus.
Place the EP4CGX50CF23I7N near the center of the PCB top side to minimize transceiver channel length to edge connectors. Separate analog transceiver regions from digital regions with a continuous ground pour. The reference clocks should be sourced from a dedicated low-jitter oscillator (typical < 1 ps RMS jitter) and not shared with non-transceiver logic. Per Intel layout guidelines, keep at least 4 ground vias adjacent to each transceiver power pin to provide return-current paths.
Compliance Information
RoHS compliant per N suffix and Altera product page. Halogen-free and conflict-minerals status not explicitly stated in the verified web data; set to unknown.
