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Altera_Forum's avatar
Altera_Forum
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15 years ago

obsolescence : MAX 7000 Family

I'm designing a new board and my customer want a component with a 10 year availability.

What's why my question is : can i take any pld of the max 7000 family to have a 10 year availability or not? And will the max7000 family be available in 10 years?

and then, how long Altera can assume the available of the max7000 family (all family or just a part).

For my application, the EPM7064S (84 pins) or the EPM7124S (84pin) seems to be what I want.

Thanks so much.

6 Replies

  • Altera_Forum's avatar
    Altera_Forum
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    A word of warning - Max II parts are not the same as MAX parts. They are architecturally different, and look a lot more like early FPGA's than CPLD's. Specifically, they use 4-input SRAM LUTs instead of sum of products style macrocells. This implies that the rules regarding asynchronous logic wrt to FPGAs should be used instead of CPLDs. They also have internal flash for configuration, so there is a "configuration time" during which the part is non-operative at startup. For most designs, this isn't an issue (since it's fairly brief), but it is something to keep in mind. For most applications, MAX II parts work just fine - but if you are used to working with older CPLD families, you should be cautious - especially if you try to minimize space by making use of asynchronous logic.

  • Altera_Forum's avatar
    Altera_Forum
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    ok, thanks for your explanations.

    Finally I took a MAX3064A. My customer want easily change the CPLD. That's why I need a PLCC package. And This point was determinated my choice.

    jshamlet=> You mean the MAXII is a CPLD but it works like a FPGA? (But without an external memory)
  • Altera_Forum's avatar
    Altera_Forum
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    Hi,

    I have a related problem....

    I want to program a MAX7000 68PLCC but i can't find (for example) the EPM7064LC68 into devices chose of Quartus II.

    I'm starting with QuartusII: Am I wrong or 68PLCC Max7000's are too old and not supported now?

    Thanks (sorry for my "dirty" English)
  • Altera_Forum's avatar
    Altera_Forum
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    Hi,

    MAX 7000 is not supported by current versions of Quartus, only 7000B and 7000S.

    Try to dig around the forum and see which was the last version that did support that family.