DesignCon 2022 Schedule Builder

Increased data rates of 112G and beyond are challenges for system designers, manufacturers, and data centers for thermal concerns. High-performance servers and switches consume more power with each generation, creating enormous amounts of heat. One solution is immersing computer components or entire systems in a non-conductive liquid coolant consequently eliminating thermal challenges. A 112G interconnect system including cables, connectors and cable assemblies immersed in an immersion cooling environment is assessed. A comparison is made of a traditional interconnect in both air cooling and immersion cooling environments. Design modifications made to an air cooling interconnect system to work directly in an immersion cooling system are explored. A 112G PAM4 link is very susceptible to noise. Initial simulation data indicates increases in impedance discontinuities/variation when the interconnect is in an immersion cooling environment. This can potentially make the 112G PAM4 link perform worse than the IEEE 800G Ethernet specification. Additional testing will be shared to substantiate or refute this significance.

Takeaway

The audience will be presented a new way to address thermal concerns in high performance servers in the data center. The signal integrity impact of placing a 112G interconnect in liquid solution is presented. The modifications necessary for one interconnect used for air cooling and immersion cooling systems are studied.

Intended Audience

• Basic knowledge of thermal concerns in high performance servers.
• Basic understanding of system performance evaluation and analysis.
• Basic knowledge of s-parameters, including insertion loss, return loss, crosstalk, etc.
• Basic concept of PAM4 signaling