Thermal solution for a mezzanine card

Details Thermal solution for a mezzanine card Thermal solution for a mezzanine card

2002-02-20

2004-07-13

Datskovsky, Michael (Department: 2835)

Electricity: electrical systems and devices

Housing or mounting assemblies with diverse electrical...

For electronic systems and devices

C361S689000, C361S737000, C165S080300, C165S165000, C257S707000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06762939

ABSTRACT:

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to printed circuit board (PCB) package technology and more particularly to a method and apparatus for removing heat from a PCB.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Mezzanine cards allow for a variety of optional functional expansions for a host computer system, such as network interfacing, modem communications and security co-processing. Mezzanine cards may even contain a main processor for the host system. Typically, a mezzanine card is connected to a carrier board of the host system using the Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus for electrical interconnections. Because mezzanine cards typically mount horizontally to the carrier board, they may require less space than traditional PCI expansion cards that mount vertically, at a right angle to a motherboard. Thus, mezzanine cards may be used in applications requiring relatively small enclosures, such as set top boxes and internet appliances.
FIG. 1
illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a mezzanine system according to the prior art, comprising a mezzanine card
100
mounted on a carrier board
104
by standoffs
106
. The mezzanine card
100
may comprise a printed circuit board (PCB)
110
having electronic components
112
mounted on a bottom surface of the mezzanine card
100
. PCI bus connections may be made with connectors
114
, which may mount with corresponding connectors (not shown) on the carrier board. The carrier board may be mounted in an enclosure
120
which may have a faceplate
122
with an opening
124
to receive a bezel
116
of the mezzanine card
100
. A connector
118
may be attached to the bezel
116
to provide an interface to the mezzanine card
100
, such as an Ethernet network connection.
Typically, the majority of electronic components of a mezzanine card are mounted on the bottom surface of the PCB. Because the electronic components may generate a substantial amount of heat, a heat dissipating device, such as a bottom heat spreader
130
, may be mounted on the bottom surface of the PCB
110
to transfer heat from the electronic components which may then be dissipated into the air. However, the surface area of the bottom heat spreader
130
may not be sufficient to adequately cool the mezzanine card
100
. Therefore, one of the challenges facing designers is to provide a thermal solution with an increased dissipative surface area. However, physical dimensions of the mezzanine card
100
may be defined by a standard that specifies a volumetric envelope through which no components may protrude. Therefore, another challenge facing designers is to ensure the thermal solution fits within a standard volumetric envelope.


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patent: 6219243 (2001-04-01), Ma et al.
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patent: 6442033 (2002-08-01), Liu et al.
patent: 6483702 (2002-11-01), Lofland
patent: 2002/0172010 (2002-11-01), Sarno
patent: 2803166 (2001-06-01), None
Draft Standard Physical and Environmental Layers for PCI Mezzanine Cards: PMC; Sponsored by the Microprocessor & Microcomputer Standards Committee (MMSC) of the IEEE Computer Society P1386.1/Draft 2.4; Jan. 12, 2001, pp. 1-10.
Draft Standard for a Common Mezzanine Card Familty: CMC; Sponsored by the Microprocessor & Microcomputer Standards Committee (MMSC) of the IEEE Computer Society P1386/Draft 2.4a; Mar. 12, 2001, pp. 1-49.

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