As integrated circuits get smaller and more complex, power densities are
increasing, leading to more heat generation. Dealing with this heat is
fast becoming the most important design bottleneck of current and future
integrated circuits, where power envelopes are defined by the ability of
the system to dissipate the generated heat. Thermal effects are forcing
chip designers to apply conservative design margins, creating
sub-optimal results. At a larger scale, cooling is the second most
costly item in the electricity bills of well-designed high-performance
computing and data centers, costing 30-50% of the total. Thermal
monitoring and management in integrated circuits is therefore becoming
increasingly important.
This book covers thermal monitoring and management in integrated
circuits, with a focus on devices and materials that are intimately
integrated on-chip as opposed to in-package or on-board. The devices and
circuits discussed include various designs used for the purpose of
converting temperature to a digital measurement and actively biased
circuits that reverse thermal gradients on chips for the purpose of
cooling. Topics covered include an overview of heat in integrated
circuits and systems, on-chip temperature sensing, dynamic thermal
management, active cooling, and mitigating thermal events at the
system-level and above.