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I/O Support in Cyclone Devices

Cyclone™ devices support differential I/O standards, such as LVDS and reduced swing differential signaling (RSDS), as well as single-ended I/O standards, such as LVTTL, LVCMOS, SSTL, and PCI, commonly used for interfacing with other devices on the board.

Differential I/O Standards in Cyclone Devices

Cyclone devices provide support for LVDS and RSDS on up to 129 channels. Cyclone devices can interface with LVDS signals using differential LVDS buffers capable of data transfer rates as high as 640 megabits per second (Mbps). The LVDS buffers in Cyclone devices maintain signal integrity, provide low electromagnetic interference (EMI), and consume less power compared to single-ended I/O standards. Figure 1 shows the LVDS interface in Cyclone devices.

Figure 1. LVDS Interface in Cyclone Devices

Figure 1. LVDS Interface in Cyclone Devices

Note to Figure 1:

  1. The resistor network is external to the Cyclone device.

Table 1 lists the number of LVDS and RSDS data channels and performance available on Cyclone devices.

Table 1. Number of LVDS Channels Per Cyclone Device
Device Package LVDS Channels Performance RSDS Channels Performance
EP1C3 144-pin TQFP (1) 34 640 Mbps 34 311 Mbps
EP1C4 324-pin FineLine BGA® 103 640 Mbps 103 311 Mbps
400-pin FineLine BGA 129 640 Mbps 129 311 Mbps
EP1C6 144-pin TQFP 29 640 Mbps 29 311 Mbps
240-pin PQFP (2) 72 640 Mbps 72 311 Mbps
EP1C12 240-pin PQFP 66 640 Mbps 66 311 Mbps
324-pin FineLine BGA 103 640 Mbps 103 311 Mbps
EP1C20 324-pin FineLine BGA 95 640 Mbps 95 311 Mbps
400-pin FineLine BGA 129 640 Mbps 129 311 Mbps

Notes to Table 1:

  1. TQFP = thin quad flat pack
  2. PQFP = plastic quad flat pack

Single-Ended I/O Standards in Cyclone Devices

To interface with other devices on a board, Cyclone devices support single-ended I/O standards such as LVTTL, LVCMOS, SSTL-2, SSTL-3, and PCI. Single-ended I/O standards provide more current drive capacity than differential I/O standards, and they are critical when working with advanced memory devices such as double-data rate (DDR) SDRAM and FCRAM devices. Table 2 lists the single-ended I/O standards supported in Cyclone devices.

Table 2. Cyclone Device Single-Ended I/O Standard Support
I/O Standard Performance Typical Application
3.3-V/2.5-V/1.8-V LVTTL 250 MHz General Purpose
3.3-V/2.5-V/1.8-V/1.5-V LVCMOS 250 MHz General Purpose
SSTL-3 Class I & II 166 MHz SDR SDRAM
SSTL-2 Class I & II 133 MHz DDR SDRAM & FCRAM
3.3-V PCI 66 MHz PC & Embedded

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