Developing a Design Tool for Cooling Microprocessor Hotspots Using Thermoelectric Modules

Abstract

Abstract. Keeping a microprocessor surface temperature evenly distributed and below a threshold value is difficult to achieve using conventional electronic cooling approaches. Hotspots on the microprocessor surface are the cause of this challenge. The proper approach is to cool these hotspots separately while maintaining the entire microprocessor surface at acceptable temperatures. A thermoelectric cooler module is suggested to be used to cool the hotspot. Thermoelectric generator modules are used to generate/harvest electrical power from the wasted heat of the microprocessor background, and then it is used to run the thermoelectric cooler. In this research, four parameters were used to develop a design tool to achieve the cooling system goals. These parameters are the height of the thermoelectric modules’ legs, the spaces between the thermoelectric legs, the generated heat by the hotspot, and the generated heat by the microprocessor background. Simulated data were generated using a 3-D validated model. A neural network was then used to build the basis of a design tool, which can be improved to cover a wider range of parameters and their values. The results showed that the developed design tool in this study can be used to determine the proper parameters values for a given microprocessor temperature target.