COMPACT MODELS FOR ACCURATE THERMAL CHARACTERIZATION OF ELECTRONIC PARTS

This paper discusses several aspects regarding the derivation, accurac y, applicability, and possible future developments in the field of ''c ompact models.'' A ''compact model'' is a simplification of a full or detailed thermal model of an electronic package, As such, it consists of a simple network comprising a limited number of thermal resistances (typically 7), connecting the critical part of the device (usually th e junction) to the outer parts of the device. Furthermore, the ''compa ct model'' is independent of the applied boundary conditions, and is a n accurate representation of the full model, It is found that the comp act models values typically approach the full model values within 6%. Compact models are suited for embedding in design environments in use by the electronics industries, because they can be incorporated into t he component libraries linked to board and system level thermal analys is software packages.