Thermal design considerations for the advanced mezzanine card form factor

This paper presents the: requirements necessary to create an adequate thermal design for an advanced mezzanine card. The cooling limits of an AdvancedMC platform in an AdvancedTCA® chassis are determined based on the principles of mass and energy conservation. This article also provides recommendations to optimize the AdvancedMC platform for maximum heat dissipation. In addition, it includes a case study on methods to cool the processor advanced mezzanine card. (PrAMC) utilizing typical single board computer components. Finally, practical cooling limitations are established for microprocessors in the PrAMC form factor. The method presented can be used to determine practical cooling limitations for all other critical components on the platform. It is recommended that AdvancedMC designers use these techniques to determine the cooling limitations for AdvancedMC platform designs. The intent of this document is to instill an understanding that the cooling capacity for AdvancedMC platforms is limited due to system boundary conditions, component limitations, and physics.