White Paper
Successful Carrier Card Design for COM Express: Introduction to Thermal Design Considerations
Author: Israel Dubin Manager, Electro-Mechanical Power Platforms Group
Abstract:
Gordon Moore, one of Intel’s founders, predicted in 1965 that the number of transistors placed on a computer chip would double each year. Over time, the pace has slowed a little and the prediction has been updated accordingly, but it still generally holds true, now doubling approximately every two years. Intended as a rule of thumb, this prediction became a guiding principle for the industry to create faster and denser powerful semiconductors at proportionately less cost.
Moore’s Law deals with the growth in chip circuit density. It leaves the practical problems of dealing with the effects of this observation, including thermal management, for design engineers to solve. Because the COM Express specification combines significant numbers of high density integrated circuits into a tightly packed module that’s typically embedded into compact products, engineers need to carefully consider thermal management as they develop their designs.
Through understanding of a few basic principles, engineers can improve the reliability of their designs and prevent premature failures when their products go into the field. This white paper provides an overview to help systems designers successfully manage the thermal aspects of their COM Express applications. By paying attention early in the design to potential “hot spots” and considering airflow during their design and prototype phases, designers can limit thermal management problems and assure reliable application operation in the field. Because every thermal design has a unique set of interdependencies, examples in this white paper are only for the purpose of illustrating general points and not as recommended solutions for any specific design.
