Thermal Chip Placement in MCMs Using a Novel Hybrid Optimization Algorithm

This paper reports on enhancing the thermal performance of multiple-chip modules (MCMs) that contain a number of chips under natural convection by optimizing the chip placement layout. To attain this goal, an innovative hybrid optimization approach (HOA) incorporating a genetic algorithm (GA) into an algorithm based on a response surface method (RSM) is introduced for improving the performance of both these algorithms. The GA in the proposed HOA is responsible for not only evolving the population toward better fitness value but also, based on the newly evolved populations at each GA generation, for continuously updating the RS mathematical model for better approximation of the chip junction temperature. The sum of the mathematical expressions representing the total system temperature defines the objective of the optimization problems. For each GA generation, a constrained quadratic optimization subproblem is formed, based on the newly updated approximate RS mathematical model as the objective function along with the specified constraints. The solution of the optimization subproblem is sought through a mathematical programming model. As the genetic RS optimization progresses, a sequence of approximate solutions associated with the continuously updated RS mathematical models is constructed. The iterative process continues until convergence of the approximate solutions is attained. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the developed algorithm, several thermal design problems associated with two types of MCMs with equal/unequal power are performed. The obtained results are compared with those derived using two conventional approaches-the GA-based and the RSM-based optimization techniques. Results show that the developed algorithm can provide good optimal solutions with much less computational effort, and the larger the scale of the design problems, the more significant the improvement in the computation cost.