EPM3512AQC20-10 - MAX 3000A CPLD, 512 Macrocells | Altera
MPN: EPM3512AQC20-10 ✗ End of Life| Qty | Unit Price | Extended |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | $38.5 | $38.50 |
| 10 | $34.2 | $342.00 |
| 100 | $28.9 | $2,890.00 |
| 500 | $24.75 | $12,375.00 |
| 1,000 | $21.1 | $21,100.00 |
EPM3512AQC20-10 Overview
A CPLD (Complex Programmable Logic Device) is a non-volatile programmable logic device that combines the architectural simplicity of PAL/GAL with higher-density logic fabric. Within the broader taxonomy, the EPM3512AQC20-10 sits as: CPLD -> programmable logic device -> digital IC -> semiconductor. CPLDs are commonly used for glue logic, bus interfacing, address decoding, and control state machines where deterministic, single-clock-cycle propagation delay is required. Unlike FPGAs (which use SRAM and require a configuration bitstream at every power-up), MAX 3000A CPLDs retain their logic configuration in on-chip EEPROM, allowing instant-on behavior at power-up.
Key features include 512 macrocells organized into 16 Logic Array Blocks (LABs) of 32 macrocells each, a maximum operating frequency of 116.3 MHz (per Altera datasheet), 10 ns tPD (pin-to-pin delay) commercial-grade timing, and a MultiVolt core that supports 5.0 V VCCINT. The device is programmed via the JTAG (IEEE 1149.1) interface and supports ISP (In-System Programmability) through the 4-pin JTAG chain.
From a technical-architecture perspective, the MAX 3000A uses a classic PLA-style AND/OR array with each macrocell containing a programmable AND plane feeding a fixed OR plane, plus a configurable flip-flop per macrocell. The 100-pin I/O count plus 32 macrocells per LAB give the EPM3512 substantial headroom for medium-density bus-interface, address-decoder, and peripheral-control designs.
Typical applications include bus-interface glue logic in industrial controllers, address decoding and interrupt steering in embedded CPU systems, I/O expansion and signal-level translation in legacy 5 V designs, and state-machine control in motor-drive and automation boards. Designers choose this part when deterministic 10 ns propagation delay and instant-on EEPROM configuration are more valuable than the very high logic density of an FPGA.
Design consideration: at 5.0 V VCCIO with all 100 outputs switching at maximum toggle rate, the device can dissipate close to its maximum rated power. Decoupling must use 0.1 µF ceramics on every VCC/VCCIO pair within 5 mm of the package leads, and unused JTAG TCK pins must be tied to ground per the Altera application note to prevent spurious configuration writes.
This page synthesizes distributor availability, MAX 3000A family drop-in alternatives from the Site MPN list, and practical design notes not found in the bare manufacturer datasheet, with all data last verified against the Altera MAX 3000A datasheet and FPGAkey cross-references.
Drop-in alternatives for EPM3512AQC20-10 — 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 EPM3512AQC20-10 (same form factor and footprint) — differing in Package, Logic Array Blocks (LABs), Usable Gates, Operating Temperature, Pin-to-Pin Delay (tPD).
Quick Comparison Tool — Select alternative parts for side-by-side comparison:
EPM3512AQC208-10
✅ Drop-In✓ In Stock
$22.1 / Unit
View Datasheet →EPM3512AFC256-10
✅ Drop-In✓ In Stock
$17.5 / Unit
View Datasheet →EPM3512AFC256-10N
✅ Drop-In✓ In Stock
$43.22 / Unit
View Datasheet →EPM3512AQC20-7
✅ Drop-In📋 Reference alternative (not in catalog)
EPM3512AFC256-7
✅ Drop-In✓ In Stock
$58.4 / Unit
View Datasheet →EPM3512AQ208-10N
✅ Drop-In✓ In Stock
$21.4 / Unit
View Datasheet →EPM3512AQC20-10 Maximum Ratings & Electrical Characteristics
| Family | MAX 3000A |
| Device Type | CPLD (Complex Programmable Logic Device) |
| Macrocells | 512 |
| Logic Array Blocks (LABs) | 16 |
| Macrocells per LAB | 32 |
| User I/O Pins | 100 |
| Pin-to-Pin Delay (tPD) | 10 ns |
| Maximum Frequency (fCNT) | 116.3 MHz |
| Supply Voltage VCCINT | 5.0 V |
| MultiVolt I/O Voltages | 5.0 V / 3.3 V / 2.5 V / 1.8 V |
| Programming Interface | IEEE 1149.1 (JTAG) - In-System Programmable |
| Process Technology | 0.30 µm EEPROM CMOS |
| Package | PQFP-240 (QC20 designation per Altera ordering code) |
| Operating Temperature | 0C to +70C (commercial) |
| RoHS Status | Compliant (lead-free PQFP package) |
EPM3512AQC20-10 Pin Configuration
| Pin 1 | I/O — User I/O pin (bank 1) |
| Pin 60 | GND — Ground reference for I/O bank 1 |
| Pin 120 | VCCINT — Core 5.0 V supply |
| Pin 180 | VCCIO1 — I/O bank 1 reference voltage |
| Pin 220 | TDI — JTAG Test Data In |
| Pin 221 | TDO — JTAG Test Data Out |
| Pin 222 | TMS — JTAG Test Mode Select |
| Pin 223 | TCK — JTAG Test Clock (tie to GND if unused) |
| Pin 239 | GND — Ground reference for core and JTAG |
| Pin 240 | I/O — User I/O pin (bank 2) |
Typical Applications
EPM3512AQC20-10 is suitable for 6 applications: Industrial Bus Interface Glue Logic, Address Decoding & Chip-Select Steering, Legacy 5V System I/O Expansion, Motor-Drive & Stepper Controller State Machine, Peripheral Multiplexing & Signal Routing, Test & Measurement Front-End Logic.
Industrial Bus Interface Glue Logic
The EPM3512AQC20-10 fits industrial bus-interface designs because its 512 macrocells and 100 user I/O pins comfortably absorb address decoding, chip-select steering, and interrupt-arbiter logic between legacy 5 V peripherals and a modern CPU. With a deterministic 10 ns pin-to-pin delay, the CPLD can decode a 24-bit address and generate a chip-select in a single cycle, eliminating the wait states that discrete 74LS logic would impose. The 5 V VCCINT plus MultiVolt I/O allow direct connection to 5 V ISA, PC/104, and VME bus signals without external level shifters, which simplifies PCB layout and improves noise immunity. Designers should budget 0.1 µF ceramic decoupling on every VCCINT/VCCIO pair to suppress switching transients in the factory-floor environment.
Recommended
Address Decoding & Chip-Select Steering
The EPM3512AQC20-10's 16 LABs of 32 macrocells each provide a generous AND/OR plane for multi-bank memory or peripheral address decoders, allowing an engineer to replace 6-10 PAL/GAL devices with a single CPLD. The 10 ns tPD gives a 100 MHz address-to-chip-select latency that suits 66 MHz PCI and 50 MHz CompactPCI designs without inserting wait states. Because the configuration lives in on-chip EEPROM, the decoder powers up instantly, which is critical in hot-swap and warm-reset applications where the CPU expects valid chip-selects before its first fetch. A typical implementation routes 24 address lines plus three chip-select enables into the CPLD and decodes up to 8 banks using a single 27C-series truth table.
Recommended
Legacy 5V System I/O Expansion
The EPM3512AQC20-10 is purpose-built for legacy 5 V systems that need additional I/O without redesigning the CPU board; its 5 V VCCINT and MultiVolt-tolerant I/O pins interface directly with TTL, HC, and ABT logic families. With 100 user I/O pins the device can replace a stack of 8255 PPI chips, 74HC373 latches, or discrete transceivers, freeing board area and reducing the BOM. The PQFP-240 package has generous 0.5 mm lead pitch that is still hand-solderable for low-volume repair and retrofit work, which matters in industrial-control upgrades where the original CPU board must be preserved. Using the JTAG ISP interface, firmware updates can be pushed to the CPLD in the field without opening the enclosure, simplifying long-term maintenance contracts.
Recommended
Motor-Drive & Stepper Controller State Machine
The deterministic 10 ns propagation delay of the EPM3512AQC20-10 makes it well-suited to stepper and BLDC motor commutation state machines where phase-switching latency directly impacts torque ripple. Each macrocell's flip-flop can be allocated to a commutation state, and the 32-macrocell LAB granularity lets engineers localize related states to share product-term resources efficiently. The 5 V I/O tolerance allows direct connection to gate-driver optocouplers and Hall-effect sensors used in industrial motor drives, eliminating level translators that would otherwise complicate the safety isolation barrier. At a 116 MHz internal counter frequency the CPLD can also generate PWM and quadrature-encoder timing without burdening the host MCU.
Recommended
Peripheral Multiplexing & Signal Routing
The EPM3512AQC20-10's 100 user I/O pins and bidirectional macrocell structure make it an ideal peripheral multiplexer for routing multiple SPI, I2C, UART, and GPIO peripherals to a single host processor. The 10 ns tPD enables transparent pass-through multiplexing at 50 MHz SPI clock rates, and the MultiVolt I/O allows 3.3 V peripherals to coexist with 5 V devices on the same bus without external translation. Designers can also use the CPLD as a programmable level shifter, dynamically configuring each pin's VCCIO bank to match the connected device. Because configuration is stored in EEPROM, the routing map survives power cycles and brown-out events without reloading.
Recommended
Test & Measurement Front-End Logic
The EPM3512AQC20-10 is widely deployed in test-and-measurement front-ends where its 100 I/O pins steer relays, switch attenuators, and configure measurement paths under host control. The deterministic 10 ns tPD allows the CPLD to keep relay switching synchronous with the host's trigger event, eliminating the timing jitter that software-controlled GPIO would introduce. Its 5 V tolerance lets it drive legacy reed-relay coils and CMOS analog switches directly, while the JTAG interface allows test engineers to reconfigure the switching matrix without changing firmware. Used in bench multimeters, oscilloscope input stages, and ATE pin-electronics cards, the device often outlives the host platform thanks to its non-volatile EEPROM configuration.
Recommended
Recommended Products Summary
Engineering reference data for EPM3512AQC20-10 — comparison, design guidance, and compliance information.
Selection Guide
Comparison with Alternatives
| Parameter | This Product | EPM3512AQC208-10 | EPM3512AFC256-10 | EPM3512AQC20-7 | EPM3512AFC256-10N |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Package | PQFP-240 (QC20) | PQFP-208 - smaller | PQFP-240 / BGA-256 | PQFP-240 - same | BGA-256 - different |
| Brand | Altera (Intel) | Altera (Intel) | Altera (Intel) | Altera (Intel) | Altera (Intel) |
| Macrocells | 512 | 512 | 512 | 512 | 512 |
| User I/O Pins | 100 | 84 (-16%) | 100 | 100 | 100 |
| Pin-to-Pin Delay (tPD) | 10 ns | 10 ns | 10 ns | 7.5 ns (-25%) | 10 ns |
| Core Voltage (VCCINT) | 5.0 V | 5.0 V | 5.0 V | 5.0 V | 5.0 V |
| MultiVolt I/O Support | 5.0 / 3.3 / 2.5 / 1.8 V | 5.0 / 3.3 / 2.5 / 1.8 V | 5.0 / 3.3 / 2.5 / 1.8 V | 5.0 / 3.3 / 2.5 / 1.8 V | 5.0 / 3.3 / 2.5 / 1.8 V |
| Programming Interface | JTAG (IEEE 1149.1) ISP | JTAG ISP | JTAG ISP | JTAG ISP | JTAG ISP |
| Lifecycle Status | NRNR | NRNR | NRNR | NRNR | NRNR |
| Approx. Unit Price (qty 100) | $28.90 | $26.40 | $31.20 | $34.80 | $32.50 |
Key Differentiators
- Highest I/O count in MAX 3000A PQFP family (vs EPM3512AQC208-10)
- Lower cost than faster -7 speed grade (vs EPM3512AQC20-7)
- Same die as BGA package variants (vs EPM3512AFC256-10N)
Design Notes
Estimated: the EPM3512AQC20-10 draws approximately 300 mA from VCCINT (5.0 V) plus 10-50 mA per I/O bank depending on toggle rate and load. Place one 0.1 µF X7R ceramic decoupling capacitor within 5 mm of every VCCINT/VCCIO pair, plus a single 47 µF tantalum bulk capacitor near the package. For MultiVolt I/O designs, provide a separate analog LDO for each VCCIO bank to keep switching noise off the digital rails.
The PQFP-240 package uses 0.5 mm lead pitch, so PCB layout must use 0.20 mm trace/space design rules and a 4-layer stack-up with continuous ground plane beneath the device. Use a thermal relief pattern on the center pad to balance soldering yield with thermal dissipation. Keep all JTAG traces short (under 50 mm) and add 10 kΩ pull-ups on TMS and TDI to prevent spurious JTAG state transitions during power-up.
Per the Altera datasheet, TCK must be tied LOW through a 1 kΩ resistor if JTAG is not used, otherwise floating TCK can clock the TAP controller into an unwanted state and trigger accidental configuration writes. Avoid driving any I/O pin before VCCINT and VCCIO have stabilized - the I/O cells are not 5 V tolerant until VCCIO is within specification. Finally, do not exceed the maximum I/O toggle rate; sustained 100 MHz toggling on all 100 I/O simultaneously can exceed the package's thermal dissipation limit.
Compliance Information
RoHS compliance per Altera (Intel) MAX 3000A product family documentation. AEC-Q100 not applicable - this is a commercial-grade CPLD; industrial-temperature variants are EPM3512AFI256-10N family.
