Obsolete device
XC3S50A replacement options
The AMD Xilinx XC3S50A has been declared end of life by the manufacturer. There are two ways forward, and for most people reading this the first one is the answer: keep the design and source the part. Changing device means a board revision, so it is only worth it if you are redesigning anyway.
What the manufacturer says
AMD Xilinx's discontinuation notice lists no direct replacement for all 9 XC3S50A parts it covers. Where the manufacturer offers nothing equivalent, the remaining supply is the only way to keep the board unchanged.
From the manufacturer's discontinuation notice: Product Discontinuation Notice for XC9500XL, CoolRunner XPLA 3, CoolRunner II, Spartan II,
1. Keep the design — source the XC3S50A
Discontinued parts are still traded. We hold 15 orderable XC3S50A parts — send the exact code and quantity and we'll come back with stock and pricing, including date-code and traceability requirements.
Request a quote| Part number | Package | Pins | Speed | Temperature |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| XC3S50A-4FT256C | FT256 | 256 | 4 | Commercial |
| XC3S50A-4FT256I | FT256 | 256 | 4 | Industrial |
| XC3S50A-4FTG256C | FTG256 | 256 | 4 | Commercial |
| XC3S50A-4FTG256I | FTG256 | 256 | 4 | Industrial |
| XC3S50A-5FTG256C | FTG256 | 256 | 5 | Commercial |
| XC3S50A-4TQ144C | TQ144 | 144 | 4 | Commercial |
| XC3S50A-4TQ144I | TQ144 | 144 | 4 | Industrial |
| XC3S50A-4TQG144C | TQG144 | 144 | 4 | Commercial |
| XC3S50A-4TQG144I | TQG144 | 144 | 4 | Industrial |
| XC3S50A-5TQG144C | TQG144 | 144 | 5 | Commercial |
| XC3S50A-4VQ100C | VQ100 | 100 | 4 | Commercial |
| XC3S50A-4VQ100I | VQ100 | 100 | 4 | Industrial |
| XC3S50A-4VQG100C | VQG100 | 100 | 4 | Commercial |
| XC3S50A-4VQG100I | VQG100 | 100 | 4 | Industrial |
| XC3S50A-5VQG100C | VQG100 | 100 | 5 | Commercial |
A different package or speed grade of the same device is the closest thing to a like-for-like change: the silicon is the same, so only the footprint or timing differs. It still needs checking against your board.
2. Redesigning? Current devices of similar capacity
AMD Xilinx devices still in production with comparable logic capacity, closest first. These are a shortlist to evaluate, not equivalents: none of them is pin-compatible with the XC3S50A, and none is recommended by the manufacturer as its successor. We select them by capacity from the data on this site.
What to check before changing device
Footprint and pinout
Ball count, pitch and pin assignment all differ between families. A new device means a new layout.
I/O voltages and banks
Supported I/O standards, bank voltages and the number of banks change between generations.
Core and I/O supplies
Newer devices usually run a lower core voltage and need a different power tree.
Configuration
Flash type, configuration mode and boot timing are family-specific.
Tools and IP
The design has to be rebuilt in the current toolchain, and IP cores may need replacing or re-licensing.
Temperature and lifetime
Check the grade you need exists, and how long the new family is expected to stay in production.
Where a design cannot be revised — certified equipment, long-life industrial and defence builds — sourcing the original is normally the cheaper route, even at obsolete pricing.