Package Characterization: Simulations or Measurements?

As the functionality of thermal simulators gets more and more complex, measurement techniques also improve. Thermal engineers face and increasingly difficult task to make the right selection from the existing tools. In this paper the applicability of the JEDEC JESD 51-1 static measurement method is compared to mainstream simulation tools especially MCAD or EDA embedded CFD solutions. Both techniques are opposed to each other in terms of required time and other expense factors. In this paper we discuss when different aspects of trade-offs to be made between thermal simulation and physical testing.