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User Manual
2 Thermal Specifications
The cooling solution for a SMARC™ module is based on a heat spreader or heat-sink concept.
A heat spreader or heat sink is typically made of aluminum mounted on top of the module. The connection between this plate and the module
components is made using thermal interface materials such as phase change foils, gap pads and copper or aluminum blocks. A very good thermal
conductivity is required in order to transfer the heat from the SoC to the heat spreader plate. The heat sink concept maximizes the surface contact area
with the cooling medium.
Heat spreader and heat sinks used by the MSC module are thermally attached using phase change material. Stand-alone heat sinks generally offer
best thermal transfer characteristics. Please contact MSC Technologies support for a suitable heat-sink solution for the MSC SM2S-IMX8MINI
SMARC™ Module.
The main goal for the thermal design of a system is that each device on the module is operated within its specified thermal limits. There may be system
implementations where the heat spreader temperature could be higher. In such a case the cooling solution design should be validated such that the
thermal specifications of all the components on the module are not violated across the system operating temperature range even under worst case
conditions.
2.1 Thermal Definitions
The stabilized temperature measured on the heat spreader and the module PCB during runtime mostly depends on the computing power demand
from the application and the cooling solution implemented in the system. It is the responsibility of the system designer to provide a cooling solution in
addition to the heat spreader that fulfils the requirements of the application.