Acoustic noise emission is one of several physical design issues addressed during the design of telecommunications and information technology equipment. In most systems, noise is a by-product of the air-movers used for system cooling. The amount of heat dissipated in electronic systems cooled by forced convection is directly proportional to volumetric flow rate. The flow rate, … [Read more...]
Cooling Electronics at High Altitudes Made Easy
Introduction High altitude air cooling has always been somewhat of a mystery to the uninformed. The first reaction to the situation is that there is just not enough air at altitudes greater than six kilometers (20,000 ft). At times this may be true, but many things can be done to improve the cooling and obtain an acceptable design. The most important thing to remember when … [Read more...]
Disk drive reliability and thermal management
Disk drive reliability and thermal management Hard disk drives are electromechanical systems which store information. They are the most complex electronic sub-assembly within a computer. If a microprocessor can qualify as the "heart" of a computer system, a disk drive can qualify as the "brain". Drives store and retrieve data in milliseconds, measured as access and transfer … [Read more...]
Recent Japanese thermal solutions for portable computers
Introduction Mobile computing is poised to shape the way we live our lives, allowing people to generate, retrieve, and process data anywhere and at any time. The infrastructure for mobile computing is rapidly developing, as evidenced by the recent growth of cellular phone networks and a constant stream of innovations in portable electronic equipment. Mobile computing is also … [Read more...]
Thermal testing and control by means of built-in temperature sensors
Introduction This paper will discuss a new approach to the measurement of the thermal properties of PCBs and the packages mounted to them. It is intended to replace traditional solutions, such as using thermocouples and data acquisition equipment. The basic idea of this approach is that the IC chips themselves will be used to measure and acquire temperature data. It will be … [Read more...]