Smartphones and tablets have become perhaps more powerful than we need them to be, with even cheaper devices finishing daily tasks quickly and efficiently. Still, with the advent of AI in ultraportable devices, there is again a push into making more powerful chips to run the demanding machine learning algorithms. There is one caveat with more potent chips in ever-thinner bodies – heat.
Smartphone and tablet manufacturers usually put heat spreaders and vapor chambers to spread the heat from the chip to the device’s body. This does cool down the chip, but much less so than a real physical cooler would. Enter xMEMS’ latest cooling innovation – piezoMEMS solid-state “fan on a chip.” Unlike vapor chambers, the xMEMS XMC-2400 µCoolingTM chip can move up to 39 cm³ of air per second and achieve a back pressure of 1,000 Pa.
The XMC-2400 is truly tiny and can fit into most modern ultraportables, measuring 9.26 x 7.6 x 1.08 millimeters and weighing just 150 milligrams. This would make it 96% smaller and lighter than the cooling solutions currently available. Moreover, thanks to its solid-state nature, the XMC-2400 is as reliable as a semiconductor chip, and even has IP58 protection against limited dust ingress.
xMEMS has based its latest innovation on its solid-state True MEMS speakers for TWS (True Wireless Stereo) in-ear earbuds with active noise cancelation. Unlike regular speakers with magnets and diaphragms, though, xMEMS’ solution uses solid-state MEMs (Micro-Electromechanical Systems) and a tiny silicone membrane that creates sound when it receives an electrical signal.
So, in a sense, the XMC-2400 would work just like a speaker, which moves air around to produce sound. The only difference is that the XMC-2400 only produces ultrasound frequencies. Thus, according to xMEMS, the speaker will produce no audible sound or vibrations, making it a great solution for ultraportable devices.
“The XMC-2400 is designed to actively cool even the smallest handheld form factors, enabling the thinnest, most high-performance, AI-ready mobile devices,” said Joseph Jiang, xMEMS CEO and co-founder. “It’s hard to imagine tomorrow’s smartphones and other thin, performance-oriented devices without xMEMS µCooling technology.”
Article & Image Source: xMEMS
