The Next Generation Router System Cooling Design

Advancements in the networking and routing industry have created higher power electronic systems which dissipate large amounts of heat while cooling technology for these electronic systems has remained relatively unchanged. This report illustrates the development and testing of a hybrid liquid-air cooling system prototype implemented on Cisco’s 7609s router. Water was the working fluid through cold plates removing heat from line card components. The water was cooled by a compact liquid-air heat exchanger and circulated by two pumps. The testing results show that junction temperatures were maintained well below the 105°C limit for ambient conditions around 30°C at sea level. The estimated junction temperatures for Cisco’s standard ambient conditions of 50°C at 6,000 feet and 40°C at 10,000 feet were 104°C and 96°C respectively. Adjustments to the test data for Cisco’s two standard ambient conditions with expected device characteristics suggested the hybrid liquid-air cooling design could meet the projected heat load.

Name thesis:degree_name

MS in Mechanical Engineering

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Mechanical Engineering

Year dc:date.available

2009

Author dc:creator

• Glover, Garrett A

Contributors dc:contributor

• Jesse Maddren

• networking equipment
• electronic cooling
• liquid cooling
• hybrid cooling
• heat transfer
• thermal
• Heat Transfer, Combustion
• Other Mechanical Engineering

Identifier

10.15368/theses.2009.159

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:digitalcommons.calpoly.edu:theses-1199