Challenges and Opportunities for Thermal Management of Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) Equipment: A Telecommunications Perspective

This paper discusses challenges and opportunities for thermal management of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) equipment, with a particular focus on telecommunications equipment. The paper identifies the key drivers for network traffic growth and how these increasing traffic demands are driving innovations in telecommunications, requiring the development of new and novel thermal management technologies to meet product performance and reliability requirements. Application areas discussed include photonics, wireless networking, extreme heat density applications, and liquid cooling, with spatial scales ranging from individual transistors up to data center and telecom central offices. Perspective on anticipated technology trends, key technical challenges and opportunities for innovation and impact is also presented.