Electricity: electrical systems and devices – Housing or mounting assemblies with diverse electrical... – For electronic systems and devices
Reexamination Certificate
2000-03-10
2001-09-04
Picard, Leo P. (Department: 2835)
Electricity: electrical systems and devices
Housing or mounting assemblies with diverse electrical...
For electronic systems and devices
C361S700000, C361S714000, C257S714000, C165S104330
Reexamination Certificate
active
06285550
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates in general to cooling of electronic components and in specific to a circuit board arrangement that enables simultaneously sub cooling both a processor and its companion voltage regulator.
BACKGROUND
Operation of high speed electronic components produces unwanted heat. For example, high speed computer processor components such as microprocessors, graphics processors and the like generate unwanted heat that must be removed or otherwise reduced for efficient operation. For instance, as indicated in U.S. Pat. No. 5,598,320, it is commonly known that the current generation of P5 microprocessor chips, such as Intel Corporation's Pentium® Pro microprocessor, generate a significant amount of heat during operation.
To meet ever higher requirements for computing power, designs for semiconductor modules, such as processors, continue to evolve, becoming more complex and operating at ever higher speeds. More complex designs typically integrate greater and greater numbers of transistors, which each contribute to generation of more heat during operation. As each transistor is operated at higher speeds, heat generation is further increased.
It is important to provide heat removal/reduction for such electronic components to allow for a lower operating temperature, higher operating speeds and greater computing power. If this heat is not adequately removed/reduced, the increased temperatures generated by electronic components, such as processors, can damage the components. Accordingly, it is advantageous to remove/reduce the generated heat to allow for a lower operating temperature not only to enable better performance of the electronic components but also to provide higher reliability and availability of such components.
Various circuit board arrangements and cooling schemes are known in the prior art. In discussing the prior art arrangements, the desire and importance of providing a voltage regulator (or power converter module), such as a DCDC converter, and memory in close proximity to the processor should be kept in mind. For instance, it is important to have the voltage regulator arranged in close proximity to the processor because as the voltage regulator is moved further away from the processor the inductance of the circuit increases and the capacitance supplied to the processor by the voltage regulator decreases, thereby often requiring additional components to provide such capacitance. Additionally, it is important to have memory arranged in close proximity to the processor because as memory is moved further away from the processor the latency and signal integrity for the memory is reduced such that the performance of the circuit may be negatively impacted. That is, because of the time it takes for the electrical signals to travel a relatively far distance between the memory and processor, the latency and signal integrity may be negatively effected. It will be understood that it may be advantageous to arrange other electronic components in relatively close proximity to the processor, as well.
An example of one prior art arrangement/cooling scheme is illustrated in FIG.
1
.
FIG. 1
illustrates a traditional circuit board layout
100
comprising a connector
102
at one end of the board
100
for coupling the board
100
to, for example, a midplane or backplane, a processor
104
that is cooled with a heat sink
106
, capacitance
108
to act as a power reservoir for the processor
104
, memory
110
, and a voltage regulator, such as DCDC converter
112
that may also be cooled with a heat sink
114
. With this configuration, the DCDC converter
112
is arranged relatively far away from the processor
104
, but the memory
110
is arranged in fairly close proximity to the processor
104
. Because the DCDC converter
112
is arranged relatively far from the processor
104
, capacitance
108
having a relatively close proximity to the processor
104
is required. Suppose, for instance, that there is a sudden need for a step load, wherein the processor is suddenly required to “work” especially hard, thus requiring a surge of power. Since the DCDC converter
112
is unable to provide the needed power surge quick enough because of its distance from the processor
104
, the capacitance
108
provides the necessary surge of power by discharging its capacitors. In this configuration, memory
110
is arranged in fairly close proximity to the processor
104
, although the memory-to-processor route (i.e., the distance which electrical signals are required to travel between the memory
110
and the processor
104
) is slightly compromised because of the space required for the capacitance
108
.
The configuration illustrated in
FIG. 1
is problematic because it requires a relatively large assembly design to allow for the required components arranged in the manner illustrated thereby, and such a large design is typically costly and not easy to manufacture. Also, additional component(s) are required on the circuit board to provide local capacitance
108
adjacent to the processor
104
. Separate cooling components (heat sink
106
and heat sink
114
) are utilized for the processor
104
and the DCDC converter
112
, thus further adding to the number of components required, thereby further increasing the cost of the circuit board. Moreover, as discussed above, the memory-to-processor route is slightly compromised because of the space required for the capacitance
108
, which may negatively impact the system's performance.
FIG. 2
illustrates another example of a prior art arrangement/cooling scheme.
FIG. 2
illustrates a circuit board layout
200
comprising a connector
202
at one end of the board
200
for coupling the board
200
to, for example, a midplane or backplane, a processor
204
, capacitance
208
to act as a power reservoir for the processor
204
, memory
210
, and a voltage regulator, such as DCDC converter
212
that is cooled with a heat sink
214
. In this configuration, an evaporator
206
, compressor
216
, and condenser
218
are utilized to perform “sub cooling” of the processor
204
(i.e., cooling the processor
204
below ambient temperature) to enhance the processor's performance (e.g., increased frequency), as is well known in the art, as opposed to the configuration of
FIG. 1
wherein a heat sink is utilized to cool the processor
204
to an above-ambient temperature. With the configuration illustrated in
FIG. 2
, the DCDC converter
212
is again arranged relatively far away from the processor
204
, but the memory
210
is arranged in fairly close proximity to the processor
204
. Because the DCDC converter
212
is arranged relatively far from the processor
204
, capacitance
208
having a relatively close proximity to the processor
204
is required to provide a “power reservoir,” as with the configuration of FIG.
1
. In this configuration, memory
210
is arranged in fairly close proximity to the processor
204
, although the memory-to-processor route is slightly compromised because of the space required for the capacitance
208
.
The configuration illustrated in
FIG. 2
is problematic because it requires even a larger assembly design than that required for the configuration of
FIG. 1
in order to allow for the additional required components arranged in the manner illustrated in FIG.
2
. Such a large design is typically costly and not easy to manufacture. Also, additional component(s) are required on the circuit board to provide local capacitance
208
adjacent to the processor
204
. Again, separate cooling components are utilized for the processor
204
and the DCDC converter
212
, thus further adding to the number of components required, thereby further increasing the cost of the circuit board. Moreover, as discussed above, the memory-to-processor route is slightly compromised because of the space required for the capacitance
208
, which may negatively impact the system's performance.
FIG. 3
illustrates still another example of a prior art arrangement/cooling scheme.
FIG. 3
illustrate
Datskovsky Michael
Hewlett -Packard Company
Picard Leo P.
LandOfFree
Sub-cooled processor and companion 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 Sub-cooled processor and companion voltage regulator, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Sub-cooled processor and companion voltage regulator will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2478152