The Altera EPC device is a single device with high speed and advanced configuration solution for high-density FPGAs. The core of an EPC device is divided into two major blocks—a configuration controller and a flash memory. The flash memory is used to store configuration data for systems made up of one or more than one Altera FPGAs. Unused portions of the flash memory can be used to store processor code or data that can be accessed using the external flash interface after the FPGA configuration is complete.
Feature
EPC devices offer the following features:
■ Single-chip configuration solution for Altera ACEX 1K, APEX 20K (including APEX 20K, APEX 20KC, and APEX 20KE), APEX II, Arria GX, Cyclone, Cyclone II, FLEX
10K (including FLEX 10KE and FLEX 10KA), Mercury, Stratix II, and Stratix II GX devices
■ Contains 4-, 8-, and 16-Mb flash memories for configuration data storage
■ On-chip decompression feature almost doubles the effective configuration density
■ Standard flash die and a controller die combined into single stacked chip package
■ External flash interface supports parallel programming of flash and external processor access to unused portions of memory
■ Flash memory block or sector protection capability using the external flash interface
■ Supported in EPC4 and EPC16 devices
