COM Cooling Solutions

The specifications for Qseven, COM Express and SMARC include heatspreader definitions, the mechanical thermal interface. All the heat generated by power consuming components such as chipsets and processors is transferred to the system’s cooling via the heatspreader. This can be achieved by either a thermal connection to the casing, a heat pipe or a heat sink

Heatspreader	Heatpipe                                             Heatspreader	Passive cooling       solution	Active cooling     solution

congatec’s smart cooling pipes pave the way for unlimited performance growth for COM Express modules          The congatec heatspreaders and cooling solutions for the high performance modules are feature heatpipes in order to boost performance and reliability. A copper block is mounted on the chip to absorb heat and to mitigate the effects of thermal peaks. Between the chip and the copper block, a phase-change material is placed to improve the heat transmission. To account for different component heights and manufacturing tolerances, the copper block is spring loaded to apply an optimized pressure to the silicon dye. The copper block and the cooling fins or heat plate are connected by flexible flat heatpipes. The heat pipe is attached directly to the cooling blocks on the chip and the heatspreader plate. As a result, more heat is transported from the processor environment to the heatspreader, hot spots are cooled more quickly and therefore the processor is optimally cooled. The heatpipe adapter uses the same principals as described above but transmits the heat from the module directly to standard heat pipes with 8mm diameter. This approach allows for cost optimized, ultra-flat system solutions i.e. 1 U rack units.
Cooling solutions for Qseven and SMARC
Heatspreader    outer side	Heatspreader    inner side	Cooling solution    with fins