Advertisement
5.1 Thermal Design
A parameter that has to be kept in very high consideration is the thermal design of the system.
Highly integrated modules, like Q7-A29 module, offer to the user very good performances in minimal spaces, therefore allowing the systems' minimisation. On the
counterpart, the miniaturising of IC's and the rise of operative frequencies of processors lead to the generation of a big amount of heat, that must be dissipated to
prevent system hang-off or faults.
®
Qseven
specifications take into account the use of a heatspreader, which will act only as thermal coupling device between the Qseven
dissipating surface/cooler. The heatspreader also needs to be thermally coupled to all the heat generating surfaces using a thermal gap pad, which will optimise the
heat exchange between the module and the heatspreader.
The heatspreader is not intended to be a cooling system by itself, but only as means for transferring heat to another surface/cooler, like heatsinks, fans, heat pipes
and so on.
Conversely, heatsinks in some situation can represent the cooling solution. Until the module is used on a development Carrier board, on free air, just for software
development and system tuning, then a finned heatsink could be sufficient for module's cooling.
Anyhow, please remember that all depends also on the workload of the processor. Heavy computational tasks will generate much heat with all CPU versions.
Indeed, when using Q7-A29 module, it is necessary to consider carefully the heat generated by the module in the assembled final system, and the scenario of
utilisation.
Therefore, it is always necessary that the customer study and develop accurately the cooling solution for his system, by evaluating processor's workload, utilisation
scenarios, the enclosures of the system, the air flow and so on. This is particularly needed for industrial grade modules.
SECO can provide Q7-A29 specific heatspreaders and heatsinks, but please remember that their use must be evaluated accurately inside the final system, and
that they should be used only as a part of a more comprehensive ad-hoc cooling solutions.
Ordering Code
Description
QA29-DISS-1
Q7-A29 Heat Spreader
QA29-DISS-2
Q7-A29 Heatsink
QA29-DISS-3
Q7-A29 Active Heatsink with FAN
Q7-A29
Q7-A29 - Rev. First Edition: 1.0 - Last Edition: 1.0 - Author: S.B. - Reviewed by G.G. Copyright © 2016 SECO S.r.l.
®
module and an external
61
Advertisement
