How Does 5G Base Station Cooling Down
5G base station introduces large-scale antenna technology, which challenges the volume, weight and heat dissipation of AAU. How to find a balance between the three and do a good job in AAU design requires the combination of a variety of new technologies, new processes and new materials.
Traditional AAU cooling solution:
1. Reduce the temperature difference between the chip and the shell, and adopt high thermal conductivity interface materials and thermal bridging heat conduction blocks or heat pipes;
2. Reduce the surface temperature of the shell, increase the shell volume of the equipment and increase the surface area;
3. The aluminum shell is thickened to improve the uniformity of casting temperature.
New thermal design of 5G AAU cooling:
The heat generated by the heating module inside the base station will increase the temperature in the closed cavity. When the temperature is the same, it will be transmitted to the shell for heat dissipation through air convection. AAUcooling can start with new materials, new structural design and new thermal solutions.
1. Liquid cooling module: there is a special heat dissipation liquid under the heat conduction pipe connected with the heat sink, and its boiling point is relatively low. After absorbing heat, it will evaporate into gas to the top. After dissipating heat, it will be liquefied again and return to the original place, so as to improve the heat dissipation efficiency.
2. New materials. In addition to the internal use of Tim, thermal materials and schemes, the semi-solid die castings of AAU have the advantages of light weight and good thermal performance, and the boiler plate has the advantages of high heat conduction efficiency and fast cooling speed. The heat dissipation devices combined with the semi-solid die castings and expansion plate are expected to significantly increase the heat dissipation value of 5g base station.
3. New structural design. In addition, the manufacturer optimizes the volume and weight of the whole machine through structural innovation design in the structure of AAU heat sink, and introduces new technology to realize lightweight in the structure of the whole machine. For example, in the traditional design of the cooling fin, the heat in the lower part diffuses in the upper part, resulting in the high temperature in the upper part of thecooling fin structure, reducing the heat dissipation efficiency and becoming the heat dissipation bottleneck. ZTE's unique v-tooth structure design improves the heat dissipation airflow, so that the cold air enters from the front and exits from both sides, avoiding thermal cascade, and the heat dissipation is increased by 20%.
If the AAU thermal performance is not good enough, it will lead to the increase of equipment power consumption, which is not only a severe challenge for operators, but also an important obstacle for us to promote 5G construction. If the problem of heat dissipation can not be effectively solved, the landing promotion and long-term development of 5G will be affected to some extent.
