CN219456836U

CN219456836U - Computer main board and power supply circuit thereof

Info

Publication number: CN219456836U
Application number: CN202223215430.4U
Authority: CN
Inventors: 钟一朋; 叶晓宁; 王萌; 严鸿飞; 陈东旺
Original assignee: Intel Corp
Current assignee: Intel Corp
Priority date: 2022-12-01
Filing date: 2022-12-01
Publication date: 2023-08-01
Anticipated expiration: 2032-12-01

Abstract

The utility model provides a computer motherboard and a power supply circuit thereof. The power supply circuit comprises at least one power supply node for providing the electric power required by the CPU operation; and the power receiving node is connected with the power input end of the CPU, and the bridge is positioned on the back side of the main board and connected between the power supply node and the power receiving node so as to transmit the electric power to the CPU.

Description

Computer main board and power supply circuit thereof

Technical Field

The present utility model relates to computer motherboards, and more particularly, to a power supply circuit for a computer motherboard.

Background

The center of current computersThe computing power and complexity of the processing units (CPUs) are continually increasing, e.g. with higher and higher operating frequencies, integrating more task engines, e.g. Artificial Intelligence (AI) engines, graphical User Interface (GUI) engines, etc., and thus resulting in an increase in the electrical power required by the CPUs. It is now common to supply electrical power from a power supply to a CPU by disposing a plurality of conductive layers (or 'power supply layers'), such as copper foil layers, within a multilayer wiring, i.e., a Printed Circuit Board (PCB), of a computer motherboard. FIG. 1 schematically shows a cross-sectional view of a computer PCB motherboard, as shown, with electronic devices such as CPUs, voltage regulation modules VRM, etc. mounted on the front side FS of the motherboard, while a plurality of conductive layers PL are provided in different layers between the front side FS and the back side BS of the PCB motherboard ₁ ～PL _m Each conductive layer PL is connected to the VRM controlled power supply output by a vertical conductive path VL through the PCB motherboard, thereby forming a power supply path through the conductive layers PL, providing the CPU with the voltage output by the voltage regulation module VRM control, where the number of layers of conductive layers PL required depends on the power consumption requirements of the CPU supported by the motherboard, since each conductive layer is limited in power that can be transferred, it is apparent that for higher power consumption requiring CPUs, if the number of conductive layers is not increased, motherboard or CPU failure may result from overheating of the conductive layers; if the number of conductive layers is increased in the motherboard, higher requirements are put on the PCB design of the motherboard, which increases the design complexity and inevitably increases the motherboard cost.

Disclosure of Invention

The utility model provides a power supply circuit which does not need to increase the design complexity of a PCB to meet different electric power requirements of a CPU, wherein the problem of power supply bottleneck of the CPU on a PCB main board is solved by adding a lead bridge.

According to one aspect of the present utility model, there is provided a computer motherboard power supply circuit comprising at least one power supply node for providing electrical power required for operation of a CPU; at least one power receiving node connected with the power input end of the CPU; and a lead bridge positioned on the back side of the main board and coupled between the power supply node and the power receiving node to deliver electric power to the CPU.

In a preferred example, the at least one power supply node includes a plurality of power supply nodes distributed on a back surface of the computer motherboard, and the power supply circuit further includes a power supply voltage adjustment module configured to distribute electric power required by the CPU over the plurality of power supply nodes; wherein the lead bridge has: a first end sized and shaped to cover and electrically connect with the plurality of power supply nodes; and the second end is matched with the pin distribution of the CPU in size and shape and is electrically connected to the power receiving node.

In a preferred example, the power supply circuit further includes at least one internal power supply layer located between the plurality of wiring layers of the computer motherboard for supplying at least a portion of the electric power to the CPU.

In a preferred example, at least one of the size, shape and thickness of the bridge is further designed to meet the electrical power requirements of the CPU.

In a preferred example, the lead bridge includes a metal layer pattern portion printed on the back surface of the computer main board, electrically connected to the power supply node and the power receiving node; and a connector part detachably mounted to the computer motherboard and mated with the metal layer pattern part, electrically connected to the power supply node and the power receiving node. In a preferred example, the second end of the bridge is embedded within the back plane of the CPU.

According to another aspect of the present utility model, there is provided a computer motherboard capable of supporting operation of at least one CPU, comprising a supply voltage regulation module configured to distribute electrical power required by the CPU over a plurality of supply nodes; and a lead bridge positioned on the back surface of the main board and connected between the power supply nodes and a power receiving node coupled to a power input end of the CPU so as to transmit the electric power to the CPU.

In a preferred example, the computer motherboard further comprises at least one internal power supply layer located between the multilayer wiring of the motherboard for providing at least a portion of the electrical power to the CPU; the power supply node and the power receiving node are positioned on the back surface of the main board, and the lead bridge is provided with a first end which covers the power supply node in a size and shape and is electrically connected with the power supply node; and the second end is matched with the pin distribution of the CPU in size and shape and is connected to the power receiving node.

In a preferred example, the bridge comprises: a metal layer pattern part printed on the back surface of the computer main board and electrically connected with the power supply node and the power receiving node; and a connector portion detachably mounted to the main board and fitted to the metal layer pattern portion, electrically connected to the power supply node and the power receiving node.

In a preferred example, the computer motherboard further comprises a back plate of the CPU located on the back side of the motherboard, wherein the back plate has a recess; wherein the second end of the bridge is embedded in the recess.

Drawings

FIG. 1 shows a cross-sectional view of a conventional host computer motherboard;

FIG. 2A schematically illustrates a cross-sectional view of a host computer motherboard in accordance with the present utility model;

FIG. 2B schematically illustrates a plan perspective view of a host computer motherboard in accordance with the present utility model;

FIGS. 3A and 3B schematically illustrate a rear partial view of a main computer motherboard having a lead bridge according to the present utility model;

FIG. 4A schematically illustrates a CPU cover plate;

fig. 4B schematically shows a CPU cover plate installation schematic.

Detailed Description

Before any embodiments of the utility model are explained in detail, it is to be understood that the utility model is not limited in its application to the details of construction and the arrangement of components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the following drawings. The utility model is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced or of being carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology used herein is for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting. It should be noted herein that in this disclosure, the terms "power plane", "lead" or "path" and the like may be used as both a guide wire and a guide via or any other conductive path.

Fig. 2A schematically shows a cross-sectional view of a computer PCB main board according to the present utility model. As shown, the supply voltage regulator module VRM is soldered to the front side of the motherboard, and the power outputs controlled thereby are connected to the supply nodes PN located at the back BS of the PCB motherboard by a plurality of electrically conductive leads VL extending through the PCB motherboard. Fig. 2B shows a schematic plan view of a PCB motherboard, as shown, the voltage regulation module VRM includes a voltage regulator VR, a plurality of transistors MOS, and a plurality of inductors L, as an example. Each set of MOS and inductor L provides a power supply voltage output required by the CPU, for example, the output terminal of the inductor L is used as the power supply output terminal pw_out in the figure to output the target power supply voltage required by the CPU. The other end of each inductor L receives the voltage output by the voltage regulator VR, which is adjusted based on the current operating task of the CPU, through a respective connected MOS transistor, such as a MOSFET transistor. Thus, a power supply voltage having a different power or current output is supplied to the CPU through each output terminal pw_out. Returning to fig. 2A, as shown, each power output pw_out is connected to each power supply node PN located at the back BS of the PCB main board through a plurality of conductive leads VL penetrating the PCB main board, so that the power supply nodes PN are distributed corresponding to the power output pw_out at the front of the main board; it will be appreciated that the supply nodes PN may also have their own spatial distribution, depending on the wiring or other practical requirements. In addition, the conductive leads VL here are also in electrical contact with the predetermined conductive layers PL of the PCB main board at the same time, in order to supply the CPU with power through these layers at the same time, according to conventional designs.

Still referring to fig. 2a, pins or BGAs (ball grid arrays) of the CPU are soldered to the front side FS of the motherboard, wherein the Power input pins or power_pin of the CPU are connected to the Power receiving node RN on the back side BS of the motherboard by a plurality of conductive leads VL 'extending through the PCB motherboard, wherein the conductive leads VL' are also in electrical contact with the predetermined Power plane PL of the PCB motherboard at the same time, so that the Power input pins power_pin receive a Power supply voltage through these PL planes at the same time. According to this example of the utility model, in order to enable a greater conduction current or power to be supplied to the CPU, not only the power supply node PN and the power receiving node RN are arranged on the motherboard backside BS, but also a lead bridge PCor is arranged between the power receiving node RN and the power supply node PN, wherein the lead bridge PCor may be a metal strip or a strip, for example a copper strip, and the side of the lead bridge PCor in contact with the power receiving node RN and the power supply node PN is electrically connected, for example by welding the power receiving node RN and the power supply node PN together with the lead bridge PCor, so as to enable a current or power on the power supply node PN to be transferred to the power receiving node RN.

According to one embodiment of the utility model, the lead bridge PCor comprises two parts, namely a metal layer pattern part PC1 printed on the back surface of the PCB main board as shown in fig. 3A, and a connector part PC2 detachably soldered to the main board and attached to said metal layer pattern part PC1 as shown in fig. 3B, wherein the connector part PC2 and the pattern part PC1 may have exactly the same size and shape and may be electrically connected, e.g. soldered together.

As shown in the metal layer pattern portion PC1 of fig. 3A, the lead bridge PCor has a first end T1 and a second end T2, wherein the first end T1 is shaped and sized to fit the pin profile PinMap (or ball grid array profile) of the CPU so as to extend into the interior of the pin profile and make electrical connection with the power receiving node RN located at the back surface BS. In this example, as shown, the first end T1 has an elongated strip structure and a width d so as to extend into the interior of the pin distribution PinMap through a predetermined gap between some of the pins in the pin distribution PinMap, and is electrically connected to the power receiving node RN. The width d is here dependent on the type of CPU for which the motherboard is adapted and is smaller than its predetermined gap, preferably close to this gap. The bridge Pcor has a second end T2 of expanded size compared to the first end T1, since the power output pw_out provided by the motherboard has a larger spatial distribution, thus resulting in a corresponding power supply node PN on the back side of the motherboard also being distributed larger, while the second end T2 is shaped and dimensioned to cover or span at least these power supply nodes PN to achieve an electrical connection with these nodes. Moreover, the second end T2 is designed to be as large as possible without interfering with other electrical contacts on the back side of the motherboard, thereby achieving better heat dissipation and electrical conduction.

Fig. 3B shows the connector portion PC2 mounted to the motherboard and fully fitted with the pattern portion PC 1. According to the present utility model, the pattern portion PC1 may be printed as a thin metal layer, for example, as thick as the conductive layer PL, and for the connector portion PC2, the connector portion PC2 may have a predetermined thickness D, for example, a thickness of 0.8mm or other greater or lesser, and also be made of copper or other metal material, achieving good conductive and heat dissipation effects when soldered together with the nodes PN, RN and the pattern portion PC1, depending on the type of CPU supported on the motherboard. As shown in fig. 3B, optionally, a mounting hole H may be provided in the connector part PC2 to fix the connector part PC2 to the PCB main board more stably by screws. It should be noted that the shape and size of the bridge PCor are not limited to the "T" shape shown in fig. 3, and may be designed differently according to the space of the back surface of the motherboard, the distribution of the power supply nodes PN, and the pin distribution PinMap of the CPU. Furthermore, in other examples, the T2 terminal of the bridge PCor may also be designed to cover only a portion of the supply node PN, as is practical.

Since the temperature of the CPU is generally increased during the operation, in order to enable the CPU to work normally, a matched heat sink is designed for the CPU, and the heat sink is generally fixed with a Back Plate (BP) of the CPU located on one side of the Back surface BS of the motherboard, so that the heat sink is in close contact with the surface of the CPU on the front surface of the motherboard, thereby achieving the heat dissipation effect.

As previously mentioned, the first end T1 of the lead bridge PCor extends into the pin distribution area PinMap of the CPU and generally has a certain thickness D. It should be noted here that since the pattern portion PC1 of the lead bridge PCor is printed on the PCB main board, the thickness of the lead bridge PCor is mainly determined by the thickness D of the connector portion PC2. In order to avoid interference between the leading bridge PCor and the back plate BP of the CPU and influence the fixing and heat dissipation effects of the CPU heat radiator. According to this embodiment, as shown in fig. 4A, a slot SL is preset on the back plate BP, and its size and shape are adapted to the first end T1 of the bridge PCor, so as to ensure that a part or all of the first end T1 is accommodated in the slot SL when the back plate BP and the heat sink are fixed together, so that the bridge PCor does not affect the normal installation and use of the cover plate BP. Fig. 4B shows a schematic view of the back plate BP mounted on the motherboard, and as shown, the first end T1 of the bridge PCor is completely covered by the back plate BP, and only the second end T2 is exposed.

In the above described embodiments, the motherboard power supply circuit for the CPU comprises, in addition to the lead bridge PCor located on the back side of the motherboard of the PCB, the respective conductive layers PL distributed over different layers within the motherboard, it being understood that since the lead bridge PCor can be adjusted as required for the electrical power to be transferred, for example by thickening the thickness of the connector portion PC2, to transfer a greater current. Therefore, by adopting the lead bridge PCor, the number of layers of each conductive layer PL special for supplying power to the CPU in the main board can be reduced or the thickness of each conductive layer PL can be reduced, thereby saving the design and manufacturing cost of the main board. In addition, in the case of a CPU requiring more power, it is generally necessary to add additional power input pins to such a CPU in order to take more branches to receive more current, so as to meet the power requirement of the CPU, because if the original limited number of power input pins are utilized, these pins may be overheated due to receiving more current, and the addition of additional power pins may disperse the power supply current. The bridge PCor of the utility model is located outside the main board and has larger size, such as area, thickness, etc. according to the need, thus having good heat dissipation performance and low conductivity, and inevitably reducing the temperature of the PCB main board and the temperature of the Ball Grid Array (BGA) of the CPU, thereby ensuring that the CPU can still meet the current requirement of receiving higher power even if the CPU uses the original limited number of power pins, because the bridge PCor of the utility model can lead the current to be evenly distributed on each power pin of the CPU, avoid the reduction of the conductivity of different pins due to the overheating of the pins caused by uneven current distribution, and ensure that the power pins continuously work at proper temperature to transmit larger current. Obviously, the main board power supply circuit, particularly the lead bridge, can avoid the need for increasing the power input pins of the CPU, thereby reducing the cost of the CPU.

In the above example, the lead bridge PCor is constituted by the metal pattern portion PC1 and the connector portion PC2 printed on the PCB main board, wherein both PC1 and PC2 are available for conduction; in another example of the utility model, however, the lead bridge PCor may also be composed of only the conductive connector portion PC2. In yet another example of the present utility model, the lead bridge PCor may also be constituted by only the metal pattern portion PC1 for completing the power transmission to the CPU, where the thickness of the metal pattern portion PC1 may be adjusted accordingly according to the need of the power supply of the CPU.

The power supply circuit design and the motherboard adopting the circuit design are described above by taking the motherboard as an example of CPU power supply, and obviously the power supply circuit design is not limited to CPU power supply, and can be applied to other scenes requiring high-power supply, in particular to multilayer circuit board power supply. For the high-power supply device, the thickness of the metal layer of the leading bridge PCor, such as the thickness of copper material, can be several times that of the copper of the conductive layer or the conductive wire in the PCB main board, so that the application of the leading bridge PCor can effectively reduce the impedance in the horizontal direction of power supply, such as by more than 30%, thereby improving the power supply efficiency of the power supply, further achieving the purpose of saving electric energy, and supporting the development of a green data center.

Claims

1. A computer motherboard power supply circuit, comprising:

at least one power supply node for supplying electric power required for the operation of the CPU;

at least one power receiving node connected with the power input end of the CPU,

and a lead bridge positioned on the back side of the main board and coupled between the power supply node and the power receiving node to deliver electric power to the CPU.

2. The power circuit of claim 1, wherein the at least one power supply node comprises a plurality of power supply nodes distributed on a back side of the computer motherboard,

the power supply circuit further comprises a power supply voltage regulation module configured to distribute the electric power required by the CPU over the plurality of power supply nodes;

wherein the lead bridge has:

a first end sized and shaped to cover and electrically connect with the plurality of power supply nodes;

and the second end is matched with the pin distribution of the CPU in size and shape and is electrically connected to the power receiving node.

3. The power supply circuit of claim 2, further comprising:

at least one internal power supply layer located between the multiple wiring layers of the computer motherboard for providing at least a portion of the electrical power to the CPU.

4. The power supply circuit of claim 1, wherein at least one of the size, shape and thickness of the bridge is further designed to meet the electrical power requirements of the CPU.

5. The power supply circuit according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the bridge comprises:

a metal layer pattern part printed on the back surface of the computer main board and electrically connected with the power supply node and the power receiving node; and

and a connector part detachably mounted on the computer main board and matched with the metal layer pattern part, and electrically connected with the power supply node and the power receiving node.

6. The power supply circuit of claim 2 wherein the second end of the bridge pin is embedded in a back plane of the CPU.

7. A computer motherboard capable of supporting at least one CPU operation, comprising:

a power supply voltage regulation module configured to distribute electric power required by the CPU over a plurality of power supply nodes;

and a lead bridge positioned on the back surface of the main board and connected between the power supply nodes and a power receiving node coupled to a power input end of the CPU so as to transmit the electric power to the CPU.

8. The computer motherboard of claim 7, further comprising:

at least one internal power supply layer located between the multilayer wirings of the main board for supplying at least a part of the electric power to the CPU;

wherein the power supply node and the power receiving node are positioned on the back surface of the main board, and the lead bridge is provided with:

a first end sized and shaped to cover the power supply node and electrically connect with the power supply node;

and the second end is matched with the pin distribution of the CPU in size and shape and is connected to the power receiving node.

9. The computer motherboard of claim 8, wherein at least one of the size, shape, and thickness of said bridge is further designed to meet said electrical power requirements of said CPU.

10. The computer motherboard of one of claims 7-9, wherein the bridge comprises:

and a connector part detachably mounted to the main board and fitted with the metal layer pattern part, and electrically connected with the power supply node and the power receiving node.

11. The computer motherboard of claim 8, further comprising a back plane for said CPU located on a back side of said motherboard, wherein said back plane has a recess;

wherein the second end of the bridge is embedded in the recess.