Electricity: electrical systems and devices – Housing or mounting assemblies with diverse electrical... – For electronic systems and devices
Reexamination Certificate
1999-12-29
2002-03-19
Thompson, Gregory (Department: 2835)
Electricity: electrical systems and devices
Housing or mounting assemblies with diverse electrical...
For electronic systems and devices
C307S150000, C361S690000, C361S785000, C439S620040, C439S487000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06359783
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention pertains to the field of integrated circuits. More particularly, the present invention relates to regulating power supplied to an integrated circuit inserted in a socket.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Advances in integrated circuit technology continue to provide faster, more robust, and more densely packed integrated circuits. With each technological advance, power delivery, input/output, and thermal solutions become more problematic.
FIG. 1
illustrates part of a computer system having power delivery, input/output, and thermal solutions common in the prior art.
In
FIG. 1
, system board
110
is a printed circuit board to which various other components are attached. Transformer
123
and capacitors
127
of voltage regulator
120
are soldered to system board
110
. Central processing unit (CPU)
130
is coupled to system board
110
through socket
140
. Heat sink
150
is thermally coupled to CPU
130
.
Socket
140
provides the input/output solution for CPU
130
. A number of leads
145
connect the various input/output ports (not shown) on CPU
130
to various buses, control lines, and power lines (not shown) on system board
110
. Each lead
145
has associated with it a certain amount of inductance. Inductance is related to the length of the leads and must be below a certain critical inductance level in order for input and output operations to work properly. The critical inductance decreases as the operating frequency of CPU
130
increases. In which case, the maximum allowable length of leads
145
tends to decrease as operating frequency increases.
Voltage regulator
120
provides the power delivery solution for CPU
130
. CPUs usually operate at different voltage levels and tolerance levels than are typically provided by most power supplies used in computer systems. For instance, a CPU may operate at 1.2 volts DC with a tolerance of plus or minus 0.01 volts. A power supply may provide 5 volts DC with a tolerance of plus or minus 0.25 volts. Another type of power supply may provide a high frequency AC voltage. In either case, in
FIG. 1
, voltage regulator
120
receives power from the power supply (not shown), and converts the power to a voltage level and tolerance level required by CPU
130
.
CPUs also commonly consume power at a higher rate than most power supplies provide. The amount of power that a CPU consumes depends on clock speed (operating frequency) and transistor density. For each clock period, hundreds of thousand, if not millions, of transistors draw current simultaneously. The current is drawn in bursts corresponding to the clock periods. The change in current with respect to time (i.e. the slew rate) for each clock period is likely to be faster than a typical power supply can handle. In which case, in
FIG. 1
, voltage regulator
120
not only converts power to appropriate voltage and tolerance levels, but also supplies power at the required slew rate. Capacitors
127
store power from the power supply so that it can be provided at the faster slew rate. The amount of capacitance needed to sustain the slew rate for CPU
130
increases as the slew rate increases and increases as the distance between capacitors
127
and CPU
130
increases. Larger capacitance generally means larger and/or more capacitors are needed.
Heat sink
150
provides the thermal solution for CPU
130
. Heat sink
150
is situated in close proximity to CPU
130
so that the heat sink can absorb and dissipate the heat generated by the CPU. If the operating speed and/or transistor density of CPU
130
is increased, CPU
130
will generate more heat. The more heat that CPU
130
generates, the more surface area heat sink
150
needs to dissipate heat (assuming all other factors are equal).
Putting the input/output, power, and thermal solutions together causes a variety of design conflicts. Voltage regulator
120
needs to be as close as possible to CPU
130
to provide power at the required slew rate in an efficient manner. Heat sink
150
must also be close to CPU
150
and also requires a certain surface area to absorb and dissipate the CPU's heat. As shown in the illustrated embodiment, the size of heat sink
150
limits how close voltage regulator
120
can be to the CPU. If socket
140
were taller, voltage regulator
120
could fit under the heat sink and get closer to CPU
130
. But, the height of socket
140
is limited by the critical inductance of leads
145
and the need for heat sink
150
to be in contact with CPU
130
.
As technology allows CPU
130
to run faster and include more transistors, the design conflicts among the three solutions get worse. The components of voltage regulator
120
get larger, heat sink
150
gets larger, and socket
140
gets shorter. In fact, as power requirements increase, voltage regulator
120
generates so much heat that it needs its own thermal solution, adding complexity and cost to the design. For instance, a typical thermal solution for voltage regulator
120
may includes an additional fan (not shown) which occupies valuable space on system board
110
and requires additional power.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A socket attaches to a first component and includes a receptive area to couple a second component to the first component. A low profile voltage regulator is integrated into the socket and proximately disposed adjacent to the receptive area. The low profile voltage regulator converts a first power signal from the first component to a second power signal for the second component. A chassis encloses the socket and the low profile voltage regulator and serves as a base for a heat sink to be attached to the second component.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5170067 (1992-12-01), Baum et al.
patent: 5694297 (1997-12-01), Smith et al.
patent: 5984728 (1999-11-01), Chen et al.
Blakely , Sokoloff, Taylor & Zafman LLP
Intel Corporation
Thompson Gregory
LandOfFree
Integrated circuit socket having a built-in voltage regulator does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Integrated circuit socket having a built-in voltage regulator, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Integrated circuit socket having a built-in voltage regulator will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2887321