4. Computer board cooling

The increasing power dissipation P of processors and the need to maintain system operating temperatures compatible with reliability requirements call for the use of appropriate cooling processes. It is difficult to approach board cooling without considering the system environment.

The fundamental concept of thermal analysis at component or system level is the thermal resistance R _th expressed in °C/ W (or thermal conductivity 1/R _th ).

For a component, the temperature difference Δt between the chip surface and the surrounding environment is expressed by the formula :