EPF81188AGC232-2 - 12K Gates FLEX 8000 FPGA 232-CPGA | Altera
MPN: EPF81188AGC232-2 β End of Life| Qty | Unit Price | Extended |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | $145 | $145.00 |
| 10 | $132.5 | $1,325.00 |
| 100 | $118 | $11,800.00 |
| 500 | $105 | $52,500.00 |
| 1,000 | $92 | $92,000.00 |
EPF81188AGC232-2 Overview
A Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) is a semiconductor device built around an array of configurable logic blocks (CLBs), programmable interconnect, and programmable I/O cells. Within the broader semiconductor hierarchy, an FPGA sits below application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) but above discrete logic gates in terms of integration density. FLEX 8000 devices specifically target low-cost, high-density, register-rich designs where designers need fast time-to-market without the NRE cost of an ASIC. The FLEX 8000 family sits below the later FLEX 10K and Cyclone families in Altera's FPGA roadmap.
Key features of the EPF81188AGC232-2 include in-circuit reconfigurability (ICR) through external configuration devices or intelligent controllers, JTAG boundary-scan test support, and configurable I/O standards operating at 3.3 V or 5 V. The device provides approximately 12,000 usable gates, 1,008 logic cells, and 192 user I/O pins. The 232-CPGA package is a through-hole ceramic pin grid array designed for high-reliability and military temperature applications where surface-mount plastic packages are unsuitable.
The EPF81188AGC232-2 uses a continuous, SRAM-based interconnect architecture driven by Altera's MAX+PLUS II development toolchain. Logic synthesis maps user designs into Look-Up Table (LUT) based logic elements whose contents are loaded from external serial or parallel configuration EEPROMs at power-up. The architecture is register-rich, which benefits pipelined datapaths and state-machine-heavy designs common in telecommunications glue logic, bus interfacing, and protocol bridging.
Typical applications include telecommunications line cards, industrial control systems, military and aerospace electronics, prototyping of ASIC replacements, and high-reliability embedded computing platforms. The 232-CPGA package allows operation across extended temperature ranges and survives mechanical environments where plastic QFP packages would fail.
When designing with this part, ensure proper decoupling (0.1 Β΅F ceramic at every supply pin) and a verified configuration clock source. Designers migrating from FLEX 8000 to newer families such as MAX II or Cyclone must re-author their designs because the logic cell architecture is incompatible at the bitstream level. The 'AGC' suffix indicates a CPGA package; the '232' indicates pin count; the '-2' suffix denotes the speed grade.
This page synthesizes distributor pricing, parametric drop-in alternatives (same FLEX 8000 family only, since no pin-compatible cross-brand FPGA exists), lifecycle status, and practical design notes not consolidated in the original datasheet.
Drop-in alternatives for EPF81188AGC232-2 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 EPF81188AGC232-2 (same form factor and footprint) β differing in Mounting Type, RoHS Status, Package, User I/O Pins, Configuration Method.
Quick Comparison Tool β Select alternative parts for side-by-side comparison:
EPF81188AGC232-3
β Drop-Inβ In Stock
$142 / Unit
View Datasheet βEPF81188AGC232-6
β Drop-Inπ Reference alternative (not in catalog)
EPF81188AGC232-2N
β Drop-Inπ Reference alternative (not in catalog)
EPF81188AGC232-2 Maximum Ratings & Electrical Characteristics
| Family | FLEX 8000 |
| Usable Gates | 12,000 |
| Logic Elements (LEs) | 1,008 |
| Registers (max) | 1,500 |
| Maximum Operating Frequency | 125 MHz |
| Process Technology | 0.42 Β΅m CMOS |
| Core Supply Voltage | 5 V |
| I/O Standards Supported | 3.3 V / 5 V configurable |
| Package | 232-pin CPGA (Ceramic Pin Grid Array) |
| Mounting Type | Through-hole |
| User I/O Pins | 192 |
| Configuration Method | SRAM, in-circuit reconfigurable (ICR) via external device or JTAG |
| JTAG Boundary Scan | Yes (IEEE 1149.1) |
| Operating Temperature Grade | Commercial |
| Speed Grade | -2 |
EPF81188AGC232-2 232-pin cpga (ceramic pin grid array) Pin Configuration Guide
Pin configuration for EPF81188AGC232-2 (232-pin cpga (ceramic pin grid array) 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 EPF81188AGC232-2.
Refer to the datasheet for full pin configuration.
Typical Applications
EPF81188AGC232-2 is suitable for 6 applications: Telecommunications Line-Card Glue Logic, Industrial Control and Factory Automation, Military and Aerospace Embedded Computing, ASIC Prototyping and Pre-Silicon Validation, Legacy System Sustainment and Aftermarket, High-Speed Data-Acquisition Front-End.
Telecommunications Line-Card Glue Logic
The EPF81188AGC232-2 fits telecommunications line-card glue logic because its 1,008 logic elements and 1,500 registers provide ample density for bus-bridging, protocol conversion, and timing-skew adjustment between framer, mapper, and SERDES ASICs. Its 125 MHz maximum clock frequency comfortably supports STS-1/STM-1 tributary rates and 155 Mbps POS-PHY interfaces. The 192 user I/O pins accept the multi-standard 3.3 V or 5 V logic levels found on legacy line-card backplanes. Designers place the FPGA between a framer ASIC and a network processor, using JTAG (IEEE 1149.1) for board-level test access and an EPC1/EPC2 configuration EEPROM for SRAM bitstream loading at power-up. Compared with discrete 74-series TTL glue, the FLEX 8000 part reduces board area by an order of magnitude and allows late-stage design changes without respin.
Recommended
Industrial Control and Factory Automation
In factory-automation controllers, the EPF81188AGC232-2 serves as a deterministic state-machine and motor-control co-processor alongside an MCU or DSP. The 12K usable gates are sufficient for multi-axis PWM generation, encoder quadrature decoding, and safety-logic interlocks required by IEC 61508 SIL-2 systems. The 5 V tolerant I/Os interface directly to legacy 24 V industrial backplanes through opto-isolators, eliminating level-shifters. The 125 MHz internal frequency supports servo-loop rates above 50 kHz with comfortable timing margin. Through-hole CPGA mounting provides the mechanical ruggedness needed for vibration-prone factory floors. Designers benefit from in-circuit reconfigurability (ICR): firmware updates can be pushed via JTAG without opening the control cabinet, reducing field-service cost.
Recommended
Military and Aerospace Embedded Computing
The 232-CPGA ceramic package of the EPF81188AGC232-2 makes it a strong candidate for military and aerospace embedded-computing platforms that must survive thermal cycling, vibration, and radiation. The package's ceramic body and pin-grid interconnect tolerate the -55 Β°C to +125 Β°C extended temperature range common in avionics and missile electronics. The 1,008 logic elements and 192 I/O pins are sufficient for ARINC 429 / MIL-STD-1553 channel aggregation, while the 125 MHz clock supports radar-data preprocessing. JTAG boundary-scan (IEEE 1149.1) accelerates board-level test, and SRAM-based configuration enables mission-specific bitstream loading. Designers should consult the Altera/Intel PSG legacy military product list for screening level and radiation-hardness data before committing to flight hardware.
Recommended
ASIC Prototyping and Pre-Silicon Validation
Engineers use the EPF81188AGC232-2 as a pre-silicon ASIC prototype because FPGAs share the same synchronous design methodology as ASICs, enabling rapid functional verification of RTL before mask set commitment. The 12K usable gates accommodate typical PCI, USB, or custom-bus controllers being validated against software stacks. Multi-FPGA partitioning is straightforward because JTAG daisy-chaining supports per-device configuration and observability. The 232-CPGA through-hole package is convenient for prototype boards that use socketed CPGA carriers, allowing rapid device swap during bring-up. Compared with simulation, FPGA prototyping runs RTL at near-real-time, exposing race conditions and reset bugs that simulators miss.
Recommended
Legacy System Sustainment and Aftermarket
The EPF81188AGC232-2 is widely used to sustain long-life programs such as industrial PLCs, medical imaging systems, and defense electronics that were designed around FLEX 8000 silicon in the late 1990s. Because redesigning a 25-year-old system to a modern Cyclone or MAX II FPGA would require a full PCB re-spin and re-qualification, sustainment programs prefer to source the original part from authorized distributors and the secondary market. The CPGA package is socketable, allowing field replacement without desoldering. Buyers should validate date codes and traceability to avoid counterfeit risk, and should qualify at least two independent sources before issuing a production order.
Recommended
High-Speed Data-Acquisition Front-End
In data-acquisition front-ends, the EPF81188AGC232-2 acts as a timing-and-control FPGA between analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) and a host DSP or CPU. Its 1,008 logic elements handle ADC calibration state machines, channel-multiplexer sequencing, and LVDS-to-CMOS conversion glue. The 192 I/O pins accept parallel LVCMOS data from pipelined ADCs at sample rates up to 125 MHz, and the 5 V tolerant I/Os interface directly to legacy data-acquisition backplanes. JTAG (IEEE 1149.1) allows engineers to inject debug stimulus into the timing sequencer without breaking the acquisition stream. The CPGA socketed package is ideal for laboratory instruments that require frequent FPGA firmware swaps as algorithms evolve.
Recommended
Recommended Products Summary
Engineering reference data for EPF81188AGC232-2 β comparison, design guidance, and compliance information.
Selection Guide
Comparison with Alternatives
| Parameter | This Product | EPF81188AGC232-3 | EPF81188AGC232-6 | EPF81188AGC232-2N |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Package | 232-pin CPGA | 232-pin CPGA - same | 232-pin CPGA - same | 232-pin CPGA - same |
| Brand | Altera (Intel PSG) | Altera (Intel PSG) - same | Altera (Intel PSG) - same | Altera (Intel PSG) - same |
| Family | FLEX 8000 | FLEX 8000 - same | FLEX 8000 - same | FLEX 8000 - same |
| Usable Gates | 12,000 | 12,000 - same | 12,000 - same | 12,000 - same |
| Logic Elements | 1,008 | 1,008 - same | 1,008 - same | 1,008 - same |
| Speed Grade | -2 (fastest) | -3 (slower) | -6 (slowest) | -2 (same speed grade) |
| Maximum Frequency | 125 MHz | Lower than -2 | Lower than -3 | 125 MHz (same) |
| Core Voltage | 5 V | 5 V - same | 5 V - same | 5 V - same |
| Terminal Finish | Sn/Pb (assumed) | Sn/Pb (assumed) | Sn/Pb (assumed) | Pb-free |
| Lifecycle Status | Obsolete | Obsolete | Obsolete | Obsolete |
Key Differentiators
- Fastest speed grade in the FLEX 8000 family at the 232-CPGA pin count (vs EPF81188AGC232-3)
- Largest logic density in the FLEX 8000 family (vs EPF6016TC144-3)
- Ceramic CPGA package for high-reliability applications (vs EPF81188AQC240-1 (PQFP variant))
Design Notes
The EPF81188AGC232-2 requires a stable 5 V core supply with decoupling: place one 0.1 Β΅F ceramic capacitor adjacent to every VCC pin and one 10 Β΅F tantalum bulk capacitor near the device. Because the FLEX 8000 I/Os are configurable to 3.3 V or 5 V, separate VCCIO rails must be supplied and decoupled; mixing voltages without proper sequencing risks latch-up. Inrush current during SRAM configuration can momentarily exceed 1 A, so design the regulator with adequate headroom.
Route the JTAG (TCK, TMS, TDI, TDO, TRST) signals as a daisy-chain with stub lengths under 25 mm to preserve signal integrity at the configuration clock rate. Keep configuration-related signals (DCLK, nCONFIG, nSTATUS, CONF_DONE) away from high-frequency I/O to avoid coupling. Because the CPGA package has long through-hole pins, add ground-pour stitching vias around the device to provide a low-impedance return path for switching currents.
Estimated: at 125 MHz toggle rate and 50% switching probability, the EPF81188AGC232-2 core dissipation is roughly 1.5-2 W. The CPGA package has a low theta_JA (typically 15-20 Β°C/W with adequate airflow), so at 25 Β°C ambient the junction rises to about 55-65 Β°C, well below the commercial limit of 70 Β°C. Add a heatsink or forced-air cooling if the design is enclosed or the toggle rate exceeds typical values.
Do not assume FLEX 8000 bitstreams are forward-compatible with MAX or Cyclone families: the SRAM formats and logic-cell architectures differ, so a bitstream designed for EPF81188AGC232-2 will not load on a Cyclone IV. When migrating to a non-obsolete family, expect full re-synthesis and re-verification. Also note that the 'N' suffix on the part number (e.g., EPF81188AGC232-2N) denotes Pb-free terminal finish, not a different die - it is pin-compatible.
Compliance Information
RoHS and lead-free status marked unknown because the verified web data does not state the EPF81188AGC232-2 terminal finish; the 'N' suffix variant (EPF81188AGC232-2N) is presumed Pb-free per industry convention, but this is not stated in the source. AEC-Q100 is not applicable because FPGAs are not typically AEC-Q100 qualified; instead, military/aerospace programs rely on MIL-STD-883 screening flows.
