The creation of compact thermal models of electronic components using model reduction

This paper presents a new approach to create boundary condition independent thermal compact models based on the multidimensional model reduction (MDMR) technique. A methodology is developed for the generation of a multi dimensional compact model (MDCM) from a detailed numerical model. The MDCM is shown to have a number of advantages over resistor network models. The generation of the model is at least an order of magnitude faster then the creation of an optimized network model. The MDCM displays very high accuracy typically better than 0.1%, is very flexible allowing for the prediction of all internal temperatures, and presents no limitations on the external configuration of the compact model. A generic multi-chip module ball grid array (MCMBGA) package is used to demonstrate the technique. The MDCM created shows to have high predictive capability, boundary condition independence and a small model size. Finally, by connecting the MDCM to a printed circuit board model and simulating the system, speed ups of around 100 times are achieved.