Thermal modelling of the Pentium processor package

Abstract

Large mono-chip packages show a trend of increasing power dissipation and power density: for example the maximum dissipation of the Pentium processor is 16 Watts compared to the 6 Watts of its 80486 predecessor. This poses challenges for equipment designers to provide satisfactory thermal environments for reliable package operation. This paper provides an example of a component manufacturer and a thermal-analysis software vendor working together to construct and validate a thermal model of first-level packaging of a die (the Pentium processor) that can be used by equipment designers concerned with second- and third-level packaging. It is proposed that this example might set a pattern for the future.<>