Patent Description:
Heterogeneous computing refers to systems which use more than one type of processor or cores to maximize performance or energy efficiency. Heterogeneous computing architectures can achieve greater energy efficiency by combining processors with unconventional cores such as custom logic, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) or general-purpose graphics processing units (GPUs).

Heterogeneous computing architectures present challenges to designs of accompanying cooling systems because the different types of hardware modules in a heterogeneous system may have different thermal design powers (TDP) and thermal specifications and requirements.

Some existing systems for cooling heterogeneous computing architectures use natural convection cooling systems, which need to be pre-attached to the dies and electronics thereon, such as high speed connectors and voltage regulators (VR). Other existing cooling systems use cooling devices that uniformly deliver cooling media (e.g., cooling air or cooling liquid) to each type of hardware modules in a heterogeneous computing architecture. The existing thermal systems are either costly or not flexible enough to accommodate the cooling needs of different types of hardware modules in a heterogeneous computing architecture. Especially given the constant changing of the heterogeneous hardware and chips, designing the cooling systems becomes more and more challenging.

<CIT> relates to a system, including a circuit board having a heat sink spanning multiple components on the circuit board and at least one compliant pad flexibly interfacing the heat sink with the multiple components.

<CIT> relates to a printed circuit card thermal conducting device, which provides a flexible, thermally conducting sheet with a cushioning layer on one side and a thermally conductive and resilient layer on the other side. On top of the thermally conductive and resilient layer is placed a number of thermal contact pieces of rigid material. Each of the contact pieces is defined to have a contour for making intimate contact with one electrical component mounted on the printed circuit card. The device is wedged between two of the printed circuit cards with the cushioning layer laying in contact with a backside surface of one of the cards, while the contact pieces of the same device lay in intimate contact with the components of another of the circuit cards. The cushioning material and the conductive and resilient material maintain good thermal contact between the contact pieces and the electrical components. The flexible sheet provides laterally positioned mounting portions for attachment of the flexible sheet to mechanical supports which also act as thermal heat sinks. In an alternate embodiment, the contact pieces may be part of a monolithic structure.

<CIT> relates to a heat removal assembly that is to thermally couple with two or more dice of an electronic device. The heat removal assembly may include a bellows to automatically adjust a position of at least one surface of the heat removal assembly relative to another surface of the heat removal assembly. Other embodiments may be described and/or claimed.

The present invention intends to solve at least one of the technical problems in the related art.

Embodiments of an aspect of the present invention provide a system for cooling a heterogeneous computing architecture, including: a base stiffener; a top stiffener including a mounting channel; a printed circuit board including a plurality of hardware modules, the printed circuit board attached to the base stiffener; a cooling device mounted on top of the top stiffener; and one or more heat transfer plates inserted into the top stiffener by sliding the one or more heat transfer plates via the mounting channel, wherein the one or more heat transfer plates are in contact with an external surface of the plurality of hardware modules to transfer heat generated by the plurality of hardware modules to the cooling device.

Optionally, the top stiffener includes a first side and a second, the first side being a closed end and the second side being an open end.

Optionally, the one or more heat transfer plates are inserted into the top stiffener via the mounting channel from the open end.

Optionally, the top stiffener further includes a third side and a fourth side, each of the third and fourth sides including two resistance channels, wherein a first resistance channel on either of the third and fourth sides is on top of the mounting channel, and a second resistance channel on either of the third and fourth sides is below the mounting channel.

Optionally, each of the resistance channel includes one or more elastic structures to protect the one or more heat transfer plates inserted into the top stiffener via the mounting channel.

Optionally, the system further includes: a stiffener mounting structure that assembles the top stiffener and the base stiffener; and a system mounting structure that assembles the cooling device, the top stiffener and the base stiffener.

Optionally, the cooling device is one of an air cooling device or a liquid cooling device.

Optionally, the hardware modules on the printed circuit board include one or more central processing units, one or more graphic processing units, one or more voltage regulators, and one or more high bandwidth memories.

Optionally, each of the heat transfer plates has a mounting arm on each end, wherein the mounting arms are used to mount the heat transfer plate on the top stiffener through the mounting channel.

Optionally, the heat transfer plates include a plurality of different types of heat transfer plates, and are selected based on cooling requirements of the hardware modules on the printed circuit board.

Optionally, the heat transfer plates includes a vapor chamber, a thermoelectric cooler, and a copper heat transfer plate.

Optionally, the system further includes a gap formed between each pair of the heat transfer plates to prevent heat from spreading between the pair of heat transfer plates.

Embodiments of another aspect of the present invention provide an electronic rack of a data center, includes a plurality of server chassis arranged in a stack. Each server chassis includes: one or more servers and each server including one or more hardware modules; and a system according to any one of the above embodiments, the one or more hardware modules of each server being mounted on a printed circuit board of the system.

Embodiments of another aspect of the present invention provide a method of cooling a heterogeneous computing architecture. The method includes: providing a base stiffener, a top stiffener including a mounting channel, and a printed circuit board including a plurality of hardware modules, the printed circuit board attached to the base stiffener; mounting a cooling device on top of the top stiffener; and inserting one or more heat transfer plates into the top stiffener by sliding the heat transfer plates via the mounting channel, wherein the one or more heat transfer plates are in contact with an external surface of the plurality of hardware modules to transfer heat generated by the plurality of hardware modules to the cooling device.

Embodiments of the present invention are illustrated by way of example and not limitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings in which like references indicate similar elements.

Various embodiments and aspects of the present invention will be described with reference to details discussed below, and the accompanying drawings will illustrate the various embodiments. The following description and drawings are illustrative of the present invention and are not to be construed as limiting the present invention. However, in certain instances, well-known or conventional details are not described in order to provide a concise discussion of embodiments of the present invention.

Reference in the specification to "one embodiment" or "an embodiment" means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in conjunction with the embodiment can be included in at least one embodiment of the present invention.

As described above, a heterogeneous computing architecture can include different types of hardware modules. As used herein, a hardware module in a heterogeneous computing architecture can be any hardware block on a printed circuit board in the heterogeneous computing architecture. Examples of the hardware modules can include a processor, e.g., central processing unit (CPU), a graphical processing unit (GPU); a core; a high bandwidth memory (HBM); a voltage regular (VR); a die; a security chip; a chiplet; a system in package (SIP); and a system on chip (SoC).

Each hardware module in a heterogeneous computing architecture may generate heat during operation, and the heat needs to be transferred to an external cooling device for dissipation. However, the hardware modules may have different cooling requirements, which cannot be satisfied using a single heat transfer plate. Further, the heterogeneous computing architecture may be constantly expanded with new hardware modules. The new hardware modules may require a different type of Heat Transfer Plate (HTP) from the existing HTPs installed for the heterogeneous computing architecture.

To address these issues, described herein are cooling systems and methods that can satisfy the cooling needs of different types of hardware modules in a heterogeneous computing architecture. In one embodiment, a system for cooling a heterogeneous computing architecture includes a base stiffener; a top stiffener including a mounting channel; a printed circuit board (PCB) including multiple hardware modules, the PCB on a substrate that is attached to the base stiffener; and a cooling device mounted on top of the top stiffener. One or more heat transfer plates (HTP) are inserted into the top stiffener via the mounting channel to transfer heat generated by the hardware modules to the cooling device.

In one embodiment, the one or more HTPs are inserted into the top stiffener via the mounting channel from the open end. Each of the HTPs has a mounting arm on each end. The mounting arms are used to mount the HTP on the top stiffener. One key feature is that the HTPs may be designed with different heat transfer technologies. The HTPs are selected based on cooling requirements of the hardware modules on the PCB. The HTPs include a vapor chamber, a thermoelectric cooler, and a copper heat transfer plate. A gap is provided between each pair of the HTPs to prevent heat from spreading between the pair of HTPs.

In one embodiment, each of the resistance channel includes one or more elastic structures to protect the one or more HTPs inserted into the top stiffener via the mounting channel.

In one embodiment, the top stiffener has four sides, with one side being a solid end or a closed end, one side being an open end, and each of the other two sides having two resistance channels. A first resistance channel on either of the other two sides is on top of the mounting channel, and a second resistance channel on either of the other two sides is below the mounting channel.

In one embodiment, the system further incudes a stiffener mounting structure that assembles the top stiffener and the base stiffener; and a system mounting structure that assembles the cooling device, the top stiffener and the base stiffener.

In one embodiment, the hardware modules on the PCB can include one or more central processing units (CPU), one or more graphic processing units (GPU), one or more voltage regulators (VR), and one or more high bandwidth memories (HBM).

The various embodiments enable different types and/or technologies of HTPs to be integrated into the cooling system based on the cooling needs of the heterogeneous computing architecture without modifying the general framework of the cooling system. A new HTP can be inserted into the cooling system via a mounting channel when a newly hardware module is added to the PCB of the heterogeneous computing architecture without modifying other components of the cooling system, thus improving the expansion flexibility of the heterogeneous computing architecture.

Further, the various embodiments described herein can improve the reliability of the heterogeneous computing architecture by eliminating potential damages to the hardware modules on the PCB during the assembling process due to the use of elastic structures and the separation of different layers. The various embodiments can also increase the cooling performance of the heterogeneous computing architecture without increasing the cost of the cooling system.

<FIG> illustrates a side view of a cooling system <NUM> according to one embodiment. As shown in <FIG>, the cooling system <NUM> includes a top stiffener <NUM>, and a base stiffener <NUM>. The top stiffener <NUM> includes a mounting channel <NUM>, a top resistance channel <NUM>, and a bottom resistance channel <NUM>. The top resistance channel is on the top of the mounting channel <NUM>, and the bottom resistance channel <NUM> is below the mounting channel <NUM>. Each of the top stiffener <NUM> and the base stiffener <NUM> can be a frame stiffener.

As further shown, one side (e.g., the left side) of the top stiffener <NUM> can be a solid edge, which makes the top stiffener <NUM> closed on that side. The other side (e.g., the right side) of the top stiffener <NUM> is open, which allows one or more heat transfer plates (HTP) to be inserted into the top stiffener <NUM> through the mounting channel <NUM>.

In one embodiment, one or more elastic structures <NUM> can be positioned at edges of the top resistance channel <NUM>. Similarly, one or more elastic structures <NUM> can be positioned at edges of the bottom resistance channel <NUM>. Each of the elastic structures <NUM> and <NUM> can provide proper cushion and proper pressure to the HTPs inserted into the top stiffener <NUM>.

The cooling system <NUM> can further include a cooling device <NUM>, which can be an air cooling heat sink or a liquid cooling cold plate. The HTPs inserted into the top stiffener <NUM> can transfer heat generated by hardware modules on a PCB <NUM> to the cooling device <NUM>. It needs to be mentioned that the electronics which are packaged on the PCB <NUM> are not shown in the figure.

<FIG> further illustrates the cooling system <NUM> according to one embodiment. As shown in <FIG>, the cooling system <NUM> can further include a stiffener mounting structure <NUM>, which is used to assemble the top stiffener <NUM> and the base stiffener <NUM>. The PCB <NUM>, which are packaged with multiple different hardware modules, is sandwiched between the top stiffener <NUM> and the base stiffener <NUM>.

The resistance channels <NUM> and 111can ensure proper loading pressure on hardware modules on the PCB <NUM> using elastic structures in the resistance channels <NUM> and <NUM> such that the loading pressure does not damage the PCB <NUM> and the hardware modules. The hardware modules can be fragile, and could be damaged without proper protection against pressure exerted by components on top of the top stiffener <NUM>, such as the cooling device <NUM>. The two resistance channels <NUM> and <NUM> provide additional protection for the electronics as well as the HTPs during both the hardware integration process and normal operating.

In one embodiment, the cooling system <NUM> further includes a system mounting structure <NUM>, which is used to assemble the external cooling device <NUM>, the top stiffener <NUM>, the base stiffener <NUM>, and the PCB <NUM>. The resistance channels <NUM> and <NUM> can ensure proper attachment and mounting pressure on the PCB <NUM> exerted by the cooling unit <NUM>. In an embodiment, the mounting structures <NUM> and <NUM> and the resistance channels <NUM> and <NUM> function together to ensure proper pressure loaded between the surfaces of electronics and the HTPs, the HTPs and the cooling device <NUM>.

<FIG> illustrates a heat transfer plate <NUM> according to one embodiment. As shown, the heat transfer plate (HTP) <NUM> is a 3D vapor chamber, which is a two-phase device used to spread heat from a heat source to a cooling device. In this example, the heat source is one or more hardware modules on the PCB <NUM>, and the cooling device is the cooling device <NUM> as described in <FIG>.

In one implementation, the 3D vapor chamber can include multiple sealed metal pockets (e.g., meta pocket <NUM>) filled with liquid. As the heat source heats the liquid in the metal pockets, the liquid will ensure that the heat is dissipated evenly to copper heat pipes (not shown) in the 3D vapor chamber <NUM>, thus eliminating hot spots.

The main section of the 3D vapor chamber <NUM> is a main heat transfer body <NUM>, with a bottom side <NUM> of the body <NUM> attached to the heat source and a top side <NUM> of the body <NUM> attached to the cooling device <NUM>. Mounting arms <NUM> and <NUM> on both ends of the vapor chamber body <NUM> can be used to attach the vapor chamber body <NUM> to the top stiffener <NUM> as described in <FIG>.

The heat transfer plate <NUM> can also be one of a variety of other types, including a thermoelectric cooler (TEC), and pure copper. It needs to be mentioned that the vapor chamber structure is fragile which means it may easily be squeezed when the pressure loaded exceeds the design specification. The vapor chamber will not function properly if deformation happens.

<FIG> illustrate side views of two different implementations of the top stiffener <NUM> according to an embodiment. For each implementation, the side view is a view of one of the two mounting sides of the top stiffener <NUM>.

<FIG> shows that the top stiffener <NUM> is implemented as a single-section stiffener. The top stiffener in <FIG> has <NUM> sides. One side is a solid end or a closed end <NUM>, one side is an open end <NUM>, which allows HTPs to be inserted into the top stiffener. The other two sides are mounting sides for mounting HTPs inserted into the top stiffener. <FIG> shows one of the two mounting sides.

As an illustrative example, if the vapor chamber HTP <NUM> is to be inserted into the top stiffener <NUM> in <FIG>, each of the mounting arms <NUM> and <NUM> can be mounted on one of two mounting sides through the mounting channel.

The top stiffener includes two resistance channels <NUM> and <NUM> with elastic structures <NUM> and <NUM> to provide protection to the HTPs inserted into the top stiffener <NUM> and also provide protection to the PCB (e.g., the PCB <NUM> in <FIG>) and hardware modules packaged on the PCB <NUM> when the top stiffener is assembled into the cooling system.

In one embodiment, the two resistance channels <NUM> and <NUM> can be on a physical entity, which can be inserted into the top stiffener <NUM>. Then the HTPs can be inserted into the top stiffener <NUM> to be protected by the resistance channels <NUM> and <NUM>.

<FIG> shows that the stiffener <NUM> is implemented as a multi-section stiffener. The top stiffener in <FIG> also has four sides. One side is a solid end or closed end <NUM>, one side is an open end <NUM>, which allows one or more HTPs to be inserted into the top stiffener. The other two sides are mounting sides for mounting HTPs inserted into the top stiffener.

The top stiffener includes two resistance channels <NUM> and <NUM>, each resistance channel divided into multiple sections, and each section including one or more elastic structures. For example, one of the sections in the resistance channel <NUM> includes an elastic structure <NUM>, and one of the sections in the resistance channel <NUM> includes an elastic structure <NUM>.

In one embodiment, the multi-section implementation of the top stiffener <NUM> provides flexibility for inserting and assembling multiple HTPs. The elastic structures in both implementations can provide displacement redundancy in the vertical direction, and limit the maximum displacement in the vertical direction, as well as protecting HTPs inserted into the top stiffener. In an embodiment, each section of the resistance channel <NUM> or <NUM> as shown in <FIG> can be different to accommodate different HTP implementations and functions.

<FIG> illustrate top views of the cooling system <NUM> according to one embodiment. Each of the top views is a view of the cooling system <NUM> after the cooling device <NUM> is removed.

<FIG> shows a top view of the cooling system after an HTP <NUM> is inserted into the top stiffener <NUM>. In this example, all hardware modules on the PCB <NUM> can use the HTP <NUM> to transfer heat to the cooling device <NUM>.

<FIG> shows that the HTP <NUM> is being inserted into the top stiffener <NUM>. As shown, the mounting channel <NUM> (as shown in <FIG>) on one mounting side and a mounting channel <NUM> on the other mounting side can be used to insert the HTP <NUM>.

<FIG> illustrates that a vapor chamber based HTP <NUM> is used in the entire cooling system <NUM> according to one embodiment.

As shown, multiple hardware modules are packaged on the PCB <NUM>. The hardware modules can be different type of chips or integrated circuit, as well as other auxiliary electronics. As one example in the figure, the hardware modules can include two voltage regulators (VR) <NUM> and <NUM>, two high bandwidth memories <NUM> and610, and one chiplet <NUM>.

All the hardware modules packaged on the PCB <NUM> can use the vapor chamber based HTP <NUM> to transfer heat to the cooling device <NUM>. The embodiment described in <FIG> can use the cooling device <NUM> for normal cooling workload, and for enhanced cooling workload. It can be seen the current design also enables ease of implementation of vapor chamber devices to high power heterogeneous electronics.

<FIG> further illustrate the cooling system <NUM> according to one embodiment. More specifically, <FIG> shows that that multiple HTPs of different types are used to match different types of hardware modules on the PCB <NUM>.

<FIG> shows a side view of the cooling system <NUM>, where a copper heat transfer plate <NUM> is inserted for the VR <NUM>, and another copper heat transfer plate <NUM> is inserted for the VR <NUM>. <FIG> also shows that a phrase change heat transfer plate <NUM> is inserted for the two HBMs <NUM> and <NUM>, and the chiplet <NUM>. The different HTPs are inserted to match the different cooling and packaging requirements of the hardware modules on the PCB <NUM>.

As further shown in <FIG>, gaps <NUM> and <NUM> are preserved between different HTPs for thermal insulation, and for preventing heat from spreading between a pair of HTPs separated by the gap. <FIG> is a top view of the cooling system <NUM> shown in <FIG>.

Systems and methods described in this invention are for cooling heterogeneous architectures. Therefore, the cooling devices on the top layer and the HTPs can be different to accommodate different heterogeneous chip packages.

<FIG> further illustrates the cooling system <NUM> according to one embodiment. In this embodiment, a variety of HTPs are integrated to transfer heat generated by hardware modules/packages on the PCB <NUM> to the cooling device <NUM>. The cooling device <NUM> can be a universal cooling plate or an air heat sink with uniform fins.

As shown in <FIG>, the HTPs can include a copper heat transfer plate <NUM> for the VR <NUM>, and another copper transfer plate <NUM> for the VR <NUM>. The HTPs further include a vapor chamber <NUM> for the chiplet <NUM>, and two TECs <NUM> and <NUM> respectively for the HBMs <NUM> and <NUM>. The gaps <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM> and <NUM> between the HTPs can provide thermal insulations between the HTPs.

<FIG> illustrates a method <NUM> of cooling a heterogeneous computing architecture according to one embodiment. As shown in <FIG>, in block <NUM>, a base stiffener, a top stiffener including a mounting channel, and a printed circuit board (PCB) including a plurality of hardware modules are provided, and the PCB is attached to the base stiffener. In block <NUM>, a cooling device is mounted on top of the top stiffener. The cooling device is either a cold plate or a heat sink. In block <NUM>, one or more heat transfer plates (HTP) are into the top stiffener via the mounting channel to transfer heat generated by the plurality of hardware modules to the cooling device.

<FIG> is a 3D illustration of a top stiffener <NUM> according to one embodiment. The top stiffener <NUM> is top-bottom symmetrical and left-right symmetrical. <FIG> only shows a portion of the top stiffener, primarily one side of the top stiffener <NUM>.

The top stiffener <NUM> includes two resistance channels on each side. For example, the top stiffener <NUM> includes a bottom resistance channel <NUM> and a top resistance channel <NUM> on the right side. Each resistance channel can include a number of elastic structures (e.g., an elastic structure <NUM>). A mounting channel <NUM> can be used to insert an HTP D <NUM> into the top stiffener <NUM>. The mounting channel <NUM> includes two separate channels, with one channel between the two resistance channels on each side of the top stiffener <NUM>.

A movable layer <NUM> can be the bottom of the top resistance channel <NUM> and the top of the right side of the mounting channel <NUM>. Similarly, another movable layer <NUM> can be the bottom of the right side of the mounting channel <NUM> and the top of the bottom resistance channel <NUM>. Both movable parts <NUM> and <NUM> can be moved up and down to provide protection for the HTPs and/or hardware modules on a PCB.

As further shown, one end <NUM> of the top stiffener <NUM> is solid, and the other end is open such HTPs (e.g., an HTP <NUM>) can be inserted into the top stiffener <NUM>. HTPs <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM> represent different types of HTPs that have been inserted into the top stiffener <NUM>.

The top stiffener <NUM> has a partial open bottom <NUM> and a partial open top <NUM> to allow direct contact between the electronics and HTP, and between cooling devices and HTP.

<FIG> is block diagram illustrating an electronic rack according to one embodiment. Electronic rack <NUM> may represent any of the electronic racks of a data center. Referring to <FIG>, according to one embodiment, electronic rack <NUM> includes, but is not limited to, CDU <NUM>, rack management unit (RMU) <NUM>, and one or more server chassis 1103A-1103E (collectively referred to as server chassis <NUM>). Server chassis <NUM> can be inserted into an array of server slots (e.g., standard shelves) respectively from frontend <NUM> or backend <NUM> of electronic rack <NUM>. Note that although there are five server chassis 1103A-1103E shown here, more or fewer server chassis may be maintained within electronic rack <NUM>. Also note that the particular positions of CDU <NUM>, RMU <NUM>, and/or server chassis <NUM> are shown for the purpose of illustration only; other arrangements or configurations of CDU <NUM>, RMU <NUM>, and/or server chassis <NUM> may also be implemented. In one embodiment, electronic rack <NUM> can be either open to the environment or partially contained by a rack container, as long as the cooling fans can generate airflows from the frontend to the backend.

In addition, for at least some of the server chassis <NUM>, an optional fan module (not shown) is associated with the server chassis. Each of the fan modules includes one or more cooling fans. The fan modules may be mounted on the backends of server chassis <NUM> or on the electronic rack to generate airflows flowing from frontend <NUM>, traveling through the air space of the sever chassis <NUM>, and existing at backend <NUM> of electronic rack <NUM>.

In one embodiment, CDU <NUM> mainly includes heat exchanger <NUM>, liquid pump <NUM>, and a pump controller (not shown), and some other components such as a liquid reservoir, a power supply, monitoring sensors and so on. Heat exchanger <NUM> may be a liquid-to-liquid heat exchanger. Heat exchanger <NUM> includes a first loop with inlet and outlet ports having a first pair of liquid connectors coupled to external liquid supply/return lines <NUM>-<NUM> to form a primary loop. The connectors coupled to the external liquid supply/return lines <NUM>-<NUM> may be disposed or mounted on backend <NUM> of electronic rack <NUM>. The liquid supply/return lines <NUM>-<NUM>, also referred to as room liquid supply/return lines, may be coupled to an external cooling system (e.g., a data center room cooling system).

In addition, heat exchanger <NUM> further includes a second loop with two ports having a second pair of liquid connectors coupled to liquid manifold <NUM> (also referred to as a rack manifold) to form a secondary loop, which may include a supply manifold (also referred to as a rack liquid supply line or rack supply manifold) to supply cooling liquid to server chassis <NUM> and a return manifold (also referred to as a rack liquid return line or rack return manifold) to return warmer liquid back to CDU <NUM>. Note that CDUs <NUM> can be any kind of CDUs commercially available or customized ones. Thus, the details of CDUs <NUM> will not be described herein.

Each of server chassis <NUM> may include one or more IT components (e.g., central processing units or CPUs, general/graphic processing units (GPUs), memory, and/or storage devices). Each IT component may perform data processing tasks, where the IT component may include software installed in a storage device, loaded into the memory, and executed by one or more processors to perform the data processing tasks. Server chassis <NUM> may include a host server (referred to as a host node) coupled to one or more compute servers (also referred to as computing nodes, such as CPU server and GPU server). The host server (having one or more CPUs) typically interfaces with clients over a network (e.g., Internet) to receive a request for a particular service such as storage services (e.g., cloud-based storage services such as backup and/or restoration), executing an application to perform certain operations (e.g., image processing, deep data learning algorithms or modeling, etc., as a part of a software-as-a-service or SaaS platform). In response to the request, the host server distributes the tasks to one or more of the computing nodes or compute servers (having one or more GPUs) managed by the host server. The compute servers perform the actual tasks, which may generate heat during the operations.

Electronic rack <NUM> further includes optional RMU <NUM> configured to provide and manage power supplied to servers, and CDU <NUM>. RMU <NUM> may be coupled to a power supply unit (not shown) to manage the power consumption of the power supply unit. The power supply unit may include the necessary circuitry (e.g., an alternating current (AC) to direct current (DC) or DC to DC power converter, battery, transformer, or regulator, etc.,) to provide power to the rest of the components of electronic rack <NUM>.

In one embodiment, RMU <NUM> includes optimization module <NUM> and rack management controller (RMC) <NUM>. RMC <NUM> may include a monitor to monitor operating status of various components within electronic rack <NUM>, such as, for example, computing nodes <NUM>, CDU <NUM>, and the fan modules. Specifically, the monitor receives operating data from various sensors representing the operating environments of electronic rack <NUM>. For example, the monitor may receive operating data representing temperatures of the processors, cooling liquid, and airflows, which may be captured and collected via various temperature sensors. The monitor may also receive data representing the fan power and pump power generated by the fan modules and liquid pump <NUM>, which may be proportional to their respective speeds. These operating data are referred to as real-time operating data. Note that the monitor may be implemented as a separate module within RMU <NUM>.

Based on the operating data, optimization module <NUM> performs an optimization using a predetermined optimization function or optimization model to derive a set of optimal fan speeds for the fan modules and an optimal pump speed for liquid pump <NUM>, such that the total power consumption of liquid pump <NUM> and the fan modules reaches minimum, while the operating data associated with liquid pump <NUM> and cooling fans of the fan modules are within their respective designed specifications. Once the optimal pump speed and optimal fan speeds have been determined, RMC <NUM> configures liquid pump <NUM> and cooling fans of the fan modules based on the optimal pump speeds and fan speeds.

As an example, based on the optimal pump speed, RMC <NUM> communicates with a pump controller of CDU <NUM> to control the speed of liquid pump <NUM>, which in turn controls a liquid flow rate of cooling liquid supplied to the liquid manifold <NUM> to be distributed to at least some of server chassis <NUM>. Similarly, based on the optimal fan speeds, RMC <NUM> communicates with each of the fan modules to control the speed of each cooling fan of the fan modules, which in turn control the airflow rates of the fan modules. Note that each of fan modules may be individually controlled with its specific optimal fan speed, and different fan modules and/or different cooling fans within the same fan module may have different optimal fan speeds.

Note that the rack configuration as shown in <FIG> is shown and described for the purpose of illustration only; other configurations or arrangements may also be applicable. For example, CDU <NUM> may be an optional unit. The cold plates of server chassis <NUM> may be coupled to a rack manifold, which may be directly coupled to room manifolds <NUM>-<NUM> without using a CDU. Although not shown, a power supply unit may be disposed within electronic rack <NUM>. The power supply unit may be implemented as a standard chassis identical or similar to a sever chassis, where the power supply chassis can be inserted into any of the standard shelves, replacing any of server chassis <NUM>. In addition, the power supply chassis may further include a battery backup unit (BBU) to provide battery power to server chassis <NUM> when the main power is unavailable. The BBU may include one or more battery packages and each battery package include one or more battery cells, as well as the necessary charging and discharging circuits for charging and discharging the battery cells.

In one embodiment, the cooling devices disposed in each of the server chassis as shown may represent any cooling device described throughout this application.

In the foregoing specification, embodiments of the present invention have been described with reference to specific exemplary embodiments thereof. It will be evident that various modifications may be made thereto without departing from the scope of the present invention as set forth in the following claims. The specification and drawings are, accordingly, to be regarded in an illustrative sense rather than a restrictive sense.

As previously explained, an embodiment of the present invention may include a non-transitory machine-readable medium (such as microelectronic memory) having stored thereon instructions, which program one or more data processing components (generically referred to here as a "processor") to perform airflow management operations, such as controlling fan speed of one or more fans of the battery module (and/or BBU shelf). In other embodiments, some of these operations might be performed by specific hardware components that contain hardwired logic. Those operations might alternatively be performed by any combination of programmed data processing components and fixed hardwired circuit components of any of the battery modules described herein.

While certain aspects have been described and shown in the accompanying drawings, it is to be understood that such aspects are merely illustrative of and not restrictive on the broad invention, and that the present invention is not limited to the specific constructions and arrangements shown and described, since various other modifications may occur to those of ordinary skill in the art. The description is thus to be regarded as illustrative instead of limiting.

Claim 1:
A system (<NUM>) for cooling a heterogeneous computing architecture, comprising:
a base stiffener (<NUM>);
a top stiffener (<NUM>) including a mounting channel (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>);
a printed circuit board (<NUM>) including a plurality of hardware modules, the printed circuit board (<NUM>) attached to the base stiffener (<NUM>);
a cooling device (<NUM>) mounted on top of the top stiffener (<NUM>); and
one or more heat transfer plates (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>) inserted into the top stiffener (<NUM>) by sliding the one or more heat transfer plates (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>) via the mounting channel (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>), wherein the one or more heat transfer plates (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>) are in contact with an external surface of the plurality of hardware modules to transfer heat generated by the plurality of hardware modules to the cooling device (<NUM>).