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Altera Corporation
19
Configuration Devices for ACEX, APEX, FLEX & Mercury Devices Data Sheet
For EPC1 and EPC1441 configuration devices, 3.3-V or 5.0-V operation is
controlled by a programming bit in the POF. The programming bit value
is determined by the core supply voltage of the targeted device during
design compilation with the MAX+PLUS II software. For example, EPC1
devices are programmed automatically to operate in 3.3-V mode when
configuring FLEX 10KA devices, which have a V
CC
voltage of 3.3 V. In this
example, the EPC1 device
’
s
VCC
pin is connected to a 3.3-V power supply.
Designers may choose to set the configuration device for low voltage
when using the MultiVolt
TM
feature, which allows an ACEX, APEX, FLEX,
or Mercury device to bridge between systems operating with different
voltages. When compiling for 3.3-V FLEX 6000 devices, set the
configuration device for low-voltage operation. To set the EPC1 and
EPC1441 configuration devices for low-voltage operation, turn on the
Low-Voltage I/O
option in the
Global Project Device Options
dialog box
(Assign menu) in the MAX+PLUS II software.
Configuration Chain with Multiple Voltage Levels
An EPC2 or EPC1 device can configure a device chain with multiple
voltage levels. All 3.3-V and 2.5-V ACEX, APEX, FLEX, and Mercury
devices can be driven by higher-voltage signals.
When configuring a mixed-voltage device chain, the ACEX, APEX, FLEX
and Mercury devices
’
VCCINT
and
VCCIO
pins may be connected to 2.5 V,
3.3 V, or 5.0V, depending upon the device. The configuration device may
be powered at 3.3V or 5.0V. If an EPC1, EPC1441, EPC1213, EPC1064, or
EPC1064V configuration device is powered at 3.3V, the
nSTATUS
and
CONF_DONE
pull-up resistors must be connected to 3.3V. If these
configuration devices are powered at 5.0V, the
nSTATUS
and
CONF_DONE
pull-up resistors must be connected to 3.3 V or 5.0V.
At 3.3-V operation, all EPC2 inputs are 5.0-V tolerant, except
DATA
,
DCLK
,
and
nCASC
. The
DATA
,
DCLK
, and
nCEO
pins are used only to interface
between the EPC2 and the ACEX 1K, APEX 20K, FLEX 10K, FLEX 6000, or
Mercury device it is configuring. The voltage tolerances of all EPC2 pins
at 5.0 V and 3.3 V are listed in
Table7
.
Table 7. EPC2 Input & Bidirectional Pin Voltage Tolerance
Pin
5.0-V Operation
3.3-V Operation
5.0-V
Tolerant
3.3-V
Tolerant
5.0-V
Tolerant
3.3-V
Tolerant
DATA
v
v
v
DCLK
v
v
v