Compute intensive module packaging
A package for a multi-chip module includes a top cold plate and a bottom plate whose perimeters are in thermal communication so the plates together completely encase the module except for a connector passing through the bottom plate. The cold plate has copper tubing pressed into a groove formed in a serpentine pattern. The perimeter of the cold plate has thermal conduction fins which mate with thermal conduction slots in the perimeter of the bottom plate. Thermal interface material is disposed in gaps between the plates and chips on the module, the gaps having dimensions controlled by support ribs of plates which abut the module substrate. The cold plate is used on the hottest side of the module, e.g., the side having computationally-intensive chips such as ASICs. A densely packed array of these packages can be used in a central electronic complex drawer with a shared coolant circulation system.
1. A method of assembling a package for a multi-chip module having a substrate, a first plurality of integrated circuit chips mounted on a top surface of the substrate, and a second plurality of integrated circuit chips mounted on a bottom surface of the substrate, comprising:
placing first thermal interface material in a first gap between a cold plate and one of the first plurality of integrated circuit chips;
placing second thermal interface material in a second gap between a bottom plate constructed of a heat sink material and one of the second plurality of integrated circuit chips, wherein the first and second gaps have dimensions controlled by support ribs of the cold plate and the bottom plate which forcibly abut portions of the substrate; wherein at least one of the support ribs is surrounding a plurality of pockets in the bottom plate and the cold plate;
lowering the multi-chip module into a cavity of a the bottom plate to position an electrically connector block of the multi-chip module in a connector cutout of the bottom plate, thereby positioning the second plurality of integrated circuit chips into corresponding said pockets in the bottom plate; and
securing the cold plate over the cavity to capture the multi-chip module between the cold plate and the bottom plate, thereby positioning corresponding said pockets in the cold plate over the first plurality of integrated circuit chips, wherein said securing places a perimeter of the cold plate in direct thermal communication with a perimeter of the bottom plate such that the cold plate and the bottom plate together completely encase the multi-chip module except for the connector cutout.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein the one of the first plurality of integrated circuit chips is a computationally-intensive chip which generates more heat than any of the second plurality of integrated circuit chips.