Specifications

Rev 2.0 Apr.10 Proprietary and Confidential 65
6
6: Thermal Considerations
Embedded modules can generate significant amounts of heat that
must be dissipated in the host device for safety and performance
reasons.
The amount of thermal dissipation required depends on the following
factors:
• Supply voltage—Maximum power dissipation for these modules
can be up to 3.1 W (or 3.5 W for the MC8700 in HSPA+ mode) at
voltage supply limits.
• Usage—Typical power dissipation values depend on the location
within the host, amount of data transferred, etc.
Specific areas requiring heat dissipation include the following four
shield cases indicated in Figure 6-1 on page 66:
• Transmitter—Top shield (next to RF connectors). This is likely to
be the hottest area.
• Baseband 1—Bottom shield, below the transmitter
• Receiver—Top shield, other side of module from the transmitter
• Baseband 2—Bottom shield, below the receiver
You can enhance heat dissipation by:
• Maximizing airflow over/around the module
• Locating the module away from other hot components
Note: Adequate dissipation of heat is necessary to ensure that the module
functions properly, and to comply with the thermal requirements in PCI
Express Mini Card Electromechanical Specification Revision 1.1.
Module testing
When testing your integration design:
• Test to your worst case operating environment conditions
(temperature and voltage)
• Test using worst case operation (transmitter on 100% duty cycle,
maximum power)
• Monitor temperature at all shield locations. Attach thermocouples
to each shield indicated in Figure 6-1 on page 66.