During the development of a telecommunications product, an unpredictable phenomenon of air streams within the maze of cards and module was encountered. It could only be compared to suddenly confronting powerful inner streams in a calm ocean. Unlike the ocean, however, these streams appeared in a man-made machine. It seemed as if someone had rewritten the laws of physics. It was … [Read more...]
Thermal characterization of power ICs using virtual junction temperature
Thermal experts generally view thermal resistance as a measurable property of a semiconductor device. A system designer, who designs an appliance, is usually not a thermal expert. The system designer just needs a way to determine the size of the external heat sink. At high heat sink temperatures, less power dissipation is allowed in the device. The ratio at which case … [Read more...]
Natural convection modeling of heat sinks using web-based tools
Heat transfer in electronic packages is a complex problem involving a network of resistive paths for the various laminated structures, bonding adhesives, lead frames, and attachment mechanisms, such as ball grid arrays. However, despite the multitude of materials and interfaces within an electronic package, the largest thermal resistance, and consequently the controlling … [Read more...]
Computer-related thermal packaging at the millenial divide
Examples of state-of-the-art thermal management solutions at the dawn of the 21st century (left to right): a TCM module, a high-density heat sink, and an ultra performance, low profile fan-sink. Thermal management has served as a key enabling technology in the development of advanced microelectronic systems and has facilitated many of the "Moore's Law" [Moore, G.E., 1975] … [Read more...]
Adjusting temperatures for high altitude
Many companies design products with electronics that must function reliably at high altitude, typically 1,500m (5,000 ft) or 3,000m (10,000 ft) above sea level. Estimating the increase in operating temperatures is necessary to design and qualify such products. There are a variety of corrections used to account for this effect, many of which sacrifice accuracy for simplicity. … [Read more...]
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