Selected Computer Circuitry Cooling Techniques

under construction

Overview

For an overview, see R.E. Chu, R.E. Simons, M.J. Ellsworth, R.R. Schmidt, and V. Cozzolino, "Review of cooling technologies for computer products," IEEE Transactions on Device and Materials Reliability, vol. 4, no. 4, December 2004, pp. 568-585.

For an overview of Cray cooling techniques, see slides 20-27 of Buddy Bland, "Jaguar: Powering and Cooling the Beast," Conference on High-Speed Computing, Gleneden Beach, Oregon, April 2009.

IBM S/360 Model 91 - water cooled - 1960s

See photos and diagrams on slides 13-17 in R.C. Chu, "Exploring Innovative Cooling Solutions for IBM's Super Computing Systems: A Collaborative Trail Blazing Experience", July 2010

IBM ACS - immersion in fluorocarbon - 1960s

See the photos and diagrams of various proposed ACS packaging and cooling modules.

Amdahl 470 - air cooled - 1970s


470 with panels removed	equivalent Fujitsu FACOM M-190 board

R. Beall, "Packaging for a super computer," Proc. IEEE Intercon, March 1974, pp. 1-9
US Patent 3,808,475, Buelow and Zasio, LSI chip construction and method, 1974 (and 3,981,070, 1976)
US Patent 3,903,404, Beall, Buelow, and Zasio, Computer construction and method, 1975
US Patent 4,016,463, Beall, Buelow, and Zasio, High density multilayer printed circuit card assembly and method, 1977
US Patent 4,115,837, Beall and Zasio, LSI chip package and method, 1978 (and 4,396,971, 1983)

Amdahl 580 - air cooled - 1980s

See the photos at www.staff.ncl.ac.uk/roger.broughton/museum/circuitry/AMDAHL.htm. The equivalent Fujitsu system is the M-300 series.

US Patent 4,292,647, Lee, Semiconductor package and electronic array having improved heat dissipation, 1981
US Patent 4,620,215, Lee, Integrated circuit packaging systems with double surface heat dissipation, 1986

IBM 308x - water cooled TCM - 1980s

See photos and diagrams of the 308x TCM and subsequent generations of TCMs on slides 18-22 in R.C. Chu, "Exploring Innovative Cooling Solutions for IBM's Super Computing Systems: A Collaborative Trail Blazing Experience", July 2010

A.J. Blodgett and D.R. Barbour, "Thermal Conduction Module: A High-Performance Multilayer Ceramic Package," IBM Journal of Research and Development, vol. 26, no. 1, 1982, pp. 30-36.
R.C. Chu, U.P. Hwang, and R. E. Simons, "Conduction Cooling for an LSI Package: A One-Dimensional Approach," IBM Journal of Research and Development, vol. 26, no. 1, 1982, pp. 45-54.
S. Oktay and H.C. Kammere, "A Conduction-Cooled Module for High-Performance LSI Devices," IBM Journal of Research and Development, vol. 26, no. 1, 1982, pp. 55-66.

Amdahl 599x - water cooled - late 1980s / early 1990s

The 5990 had double-sided subsystem carrier (SSC) boards that were encased in subsystem modules (SSM) that provided water cooling. See the photos in the 5990 brochure. The equivalent Fujitsu computer is the M-700.

The 5995 used multi-layer glass-ceramic (MLG) assemblies that were similar to IBM TCMs. See a photo of the equivalent Fujitsu M-1800 MLG.

Trilogy - water cooled - 1980s

The photo shows the three parts of a chip module: signal connector, pressure contacter, and chip in water-cooled carrier.

US Patent 4,603,345, J.C.K. Lee, et al., Module construction for semiconductor chip, filed March 1984, and issued July 1986
US Patent 4,617,475, R.M. Reinschmidt, Wired logic voting circuit, filed March 1984, and issued October 1986
US Patent 4,577,398, J.W. Sliwa, et al., Method for mounting a semiconductor chip, filed September 1984, and issued March 1986
US Patent 4,628,991, W.-T. Hsiao and H.A. Everling, Wafer scale integrated circuit testing chuck, filed November 1984, and issued December 1986
US Patent 4,737,839, R.J. Burt, Semiconductor chip mounting system, filed March 1986, and issued April 1988 (also US Patent 4,574,470)
US Patent 4,597,029, A. Kucharek, et al., Signal connection system for semiconductor chip, filed March 1984, and issued June 1986
... others ... look for assignees Trilogy Computer Development Partners and Trilogy Systems Corporation

Cray-2 - immersion in fluorocarbon - 1980s

See the diagrams given in Figures 13 and 23 of the "Review of cooling technologies for computer products," Chu, et al, review paper.

R. Danielson, N. Krajewski, and J. Brost, "Cooling a Superfast Computer," Electronic Packaging and Production, vol. 26, no. 7, 1986, pp. 44-45
US Patent 4,590,538, S.R. Cray, Jr., Immersion cooled high density electronic assembly, filed November 1982, and issued May 1986

ETA-10 - immersion in liquid nitrogen - 1980s

See the diagram of the system given in Figure 25 of the "Review of cooling technologies for computer products," Chu, et al, review paper. Also see the photo of the CPU cabinet without its skins at Computer History Museum, from Wikimedia Commons.

A. Vacca, D. Resnick, D. Frankel, R. Back, J. Kreilich, and D. Carlson, "A Cryogenically Cooled CMOS VLSI Supercomputer," VLSI Systems Design, vol. 8, no. 7, 1987, pp. 80-88
US Patent 4,712,388, D.C. Sulivan and E.A. Mazorol, Jr., Cryostat cooling system, filed January 1987, and issued December 1987
D.M. Carlson, D.C. Sullivan, R.E. Bach, and D.R. Resnick, "The ETA 10 liquid-nitrogen-cooled supercomputer system," IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices, vol. 36, no. 8, August 1989, pp. 1404-1413
Tony Vacca, "First-Hand: The First CMOS And The Only Cryogenically Cooled Supercomputer," Engineering and Technology Wiki, April 2017

SS-1 - fluorocarbon jet impingement - 1990s

See diagrams on slide 53 in R.C. Chu, "Exploring Innovative Cooling Solutions for IBM's Super Computing Systems: A Collaborative Trail Blazing Experience", July 2010

P. Ing, et al., "SS-1 supercomputer cooling system," Proc. Electronic Components and Technology Conference, June 1993, pp. 218-237
US Patent 5,251,097, F.J. Simmons, et al., Packaging architecture for a highly parallel multiprocessor system, filed June 1990, and issued October 1993

Cray-3 - gas-assisted evaporative cooling - 1990s

See the photos in the brochure.

US Patent 5,131,233, S.R. Cray and G.J. Sherwood, Gas-liquid forced turbulence cooling, filed March 1991, and issued July 1992
US Patent 5,260,850, G.J. Sherwood and C.M. Quaderer, Logic module assembly for confining and directing the flow of cooling fluid, filed March 1991, and issued November 1993
, July 1993.