CamSemi

Cutting-Edge Power Conversion IC Design Poses a Thermal Challenge

CamSemi,an industry leader in power management IC technology,was developing a new charger chip for a major telecom producer's next-gen mobile products.The device contained not only low-voltage control circuitry but also power switches that handled high current.The new IC was an innovative"game-changer"that would meet tough performance requirements as well as EnergyStar standards for improved power conversion efficiency and safety-related compliance.

One key concern was heat dissipation: would it be possible to find an outlet for the heat produced within the new high-power chip?The design process would almost certainly challenge the project's very stringent schedule.Historically,design iterations (including prototype rework) had taken weeks or even months to complete.In effect that gave engineers just a couple of turns to optimize the design.

Thermal simulation offers a solution to problems like this but until recently even the most advanced tools could only produce thermal data showing the distribution of temperature values within an environment.Though useful,this data lacks any clues about why hot areas are hot,and how best to solve heat problems.

FloTHERM Delivers Thermal Answers,Not Just Data

The design team chose Mentor Graphics FloTHERM 9 electronics cooling 金宝愽备用网址software,with its newly-introduced"Bottleneck"and"Shortcut"features.FloTHERM is a proven CFD tool widely used in electronic design applications.Its Bottleneck (BN) field pinpoints areas in which a lot of heat flows and where that heat flow is restricted,while the Shortcut (SC) field identifies areas where the insertion of a new heat flow path can conduct heat more quickly to cooler areas,reducing the temperature rise.

Optimizing an IC's Heat Paths,Inside and Out

FloTHERM 9 enabled the CamSemi team to predict thermal behaviors inside the IC package,a feat impossible to perform adequately with thermocouples,as well as outside the chip.The initial thermal findings guided several refinements to the design.In subsequent design iterations,the BN field results were used to validate good proposals and - equally important - dismiss bad ones,avoiding unproductive time and effort.Ultimately the BN and SC fields working in complementary fashion revealed an effective heat bypass area underneath the chip.CamSemi engineers were able to deliver a proven,optimized design to the final prototype and testing phases.