EP4410065A1

EP4410065A1 - A cooling plate, a central compute unit, a vehicle and a manufacturing method for a vehicle

Info

Publication number: EP4410065A1
Application number: EP21790787.2A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Andreas Aal
Original assignee: Volkswagen AG
Current assignee: Volkswagen AG
Priority date: 2021-09-27
Filing date: 2021-09-27
Publication date: 2024-08-07
Also published as: WO2023046308A1

Abstract

The present invention relates to a cooling plate (10) for mounting of a plurality of electronic modules (M1; MN) in a vehicle, a central compute unit (100) for a vehicle, a vehicle and a manufacturing method (22, 24) for a vehicle. The cooling plate (10) for mounting of a plurality of electronic modules (M1;...; MN) in a vehicle comprises a housing (12) with an input (14) and an output (16) for a cooling medium; a cavity (18) inside the housing (12) coupled to the input (14) and the output (16) and configured to guide the cooling medium; and at least two mounting surfaces (12a; 12b) on the outside of the housing (12), wherein a mounting surface (12a; 12b) is configured to be thermically and mechanically coupled to at least two electronic modules (M1;...; MN).

Description

A Cooling Plate, a Central Compute Unit, a Vehicle and a Manufacturing Method for a Vehicle

The present invention relates to a cooling plate for mounting of a plurality of electronic modules in a vehicle, a central compute unit for a vehicle, a vehicle and a manufacturing method for a vehicle. More particularly, but not exclusively, the present invention relates to a concept for cooling, connecting, and mounting electronic modules in a vehicle.

Compute or control units in vehicles are very common. The more complex and automated vehicles become the higher the need for electronic components, e.g. providing processing capacity, communication, security applications, driver assistance, etc. In the prior art multiple integration concepts are known for electronic components in vehicles. For example, to avoid a large number of different components some manufacturers integrate components on common substrates/modules (printed circuit boards, PCBs), which lowers the number of separate electronic components in a vehicle. At the same time these modules become more complex. Their mounting, cooling and mechanical decoupling in the vehicular environment (mechanical stress, wide temperature range, etc.) becomes more challenging.

Various Tier 1 suppliers of the automobile industry have built their own "rack system". However, existing "modular" Tier 1 constructions only cover limited "compute" and “power” domains, e.g. related to driver assistant systems or infotainment. This approach leads to multiple non-standardized solutions amongst "compute" and “power” domains. Examples are domain compute units that are built on various supplier-based housing and mainboard configurations that are not compatible between each other. As a consequence, multiple power supplies and mainboards plus eventually hardware extensions only mapped to those individual configurations including software (SW) are available. Complex and expensive system integration may result. At present, it can be observed that a huge number of variants for system integration of those compute units (which may be hardware and/or software) exist. This may result in integration design issues, non-optimized hardware and/or software operation. Functional loss and fail-operations may arise during development as well as during hardware and software maintenance including change management and the like. A key challenge of a central compute unit-based architecture is the change of the software- defined operation principle from an embedded to a non-embedded system that requires hardware co-design with respect to the operating system and its features chosen.

Electronic components in the vehicular environment are subject to various influences from the environment, such as large temperature differences, mechanical stress and vibrations, electromagnetic influences from other components, e.g. high voltage components, and access attempts by non-qualified parties, e.g. hackers.

Some known concepts make use of a "rack system" but cover only limited "compute" domain-like driver assistant systems. This may lead to multiple non-standardized solutions amongst "compute" domains and repetitive implementations of similar functionalities, e.g. each domain may require its own power supply, supply housing, mainboard, etc. Such implementations may generate costs and efforts for developments, debugging, change management for the respective variants. The number of electronic components, e.g. for communication, sensing, driving assistance, processing, etc., is steadily increasing. More and more electronic control units are integrated in vehicles.

There is a demand for an improved concept for a central compute unit in a vehicle. This demand is addressed by the subject matter of the independent claims.

Embodiments are based on the finding that modular electronic components can be mounted (mechanically and thermally coupled) onto a cooling plate. Thereby, multiple modules, e.g. for power, communication, operating system, sensor processing, etc., can be efficiently mounted onto both sides of the cooling place, which may enable efficient implementation and functional separation of the electronic components.

Embodiments provide a cooling plate for mounting of a plurality of electronic modules in a vehicle. The cooling plate comprises a housing with an input and an output for a cooling medium. The cooling plate further comprises a cavity inside the housing coupled to the input and the output and configured to guide the cooling medium. The cooling plate further comprises at least two mounting surfaces on the outside of the housing, wherein a mounting surface is configured to be thermically and mechanically coupled to at least two electronic modules. The cooling plate may enable efficient thermal, mechanical, and electrical coupling of vehicular electronic modules. The resulting structure may enable efficient operation and maintenance of electronic components in the vehicular environment. In further embodiments the cooling plate may further comprise a power module being mounted on one of the mounting surfaces together with at least one further electronic module. The power module may enable efficient power supply of other electronic modules mounted on the cooling plate as well as efficient coupling or interfacing to the vehicle’s power supply.

The power module and the at least one further electronic module may have separate module housings, which enables separate replacement and maintenance options. Moreover, separate encapsulation may enable electromagnetic shielding, mechanical decoupling, and thermal dissipation measures tailored to the respective module.

For example, an operating system module may be mounted on one of the mounting surfaces together with at least one further electronic module. Using an operating system module may enable efficient adaptation of the operation system to the vehicle’s requirements, e.g. within the configuration with other electronic modules. The operating system module and the at least one further electronic module may have separate module housings enabling efficient maintenance and replacement options.

The cooling plate may further comprise an interface board configured to electrically couple to the plurality of electronic modules. The interface board may enable efficient electrical coupling of the electronic modules, e.g. for power supply and/or communication purposes.

In further embodiments the cooling plate may comprise a mounting component to fix electronic modules onto a mounting surface. Thereby, the electric modules can be mounted, attached or fixed onto a mounting surface of the cooling plate in an efficient way, e.g. using a clamping mechanism.

A fixation force of the interface board for electronic coupling and a fixation force of the mounting component for mechanical coupling may be decoupled, e.g. by means of separate mechanisms. Embodiments may thereby enable more efficient coupling options as focus of the different coupling means or mechanisms can be different, dedicated to electric, mechanical, and/or thermal coupling. For example, the mounting component comprises a clamping fixture, which may allow efficient mounting, de-mounting and thermal coupling of an electronic module to the cooling plate. The cooling plate may further comprise thermal interface material on at least one of the at least two mounting surfaces. The thermal interface material may improve heat transfer between the cooling plate and an electronic module mounted thereon.

In some embodiments the cooling plate may comprise a structural component to guide the cooling medium and to thermically couple the at least two mounting surfaces to the cooling medium. The structural component may generate a more uniform and efficient cooling of the cooling plate surface and therewith of mounted electronic modules. For example, the structural components comprise at least one of a fin or a corrugated surface to enable efficient heat transfer between the housing surrounding the cavity and the cooling medium. The cooling plate may be configured to use a cooling liquid or air as cooling medium. Embodiments may enable inclusion of the cooling plate into a liquid- or air-cooling circuit of the vehicle. For example, cool air from an air conditioning unit may be used as cooling medium for the cooling plate.

A further embodiment is a central compute unit for a vehicle, which comprises a cooling plate as described herein, two or more electronic modules mounted on each of the at least two mounting surfaces and a heat transfer medium between the at least two mounting surfaces and the electronic modules.

Another embodiment is a manufacturing method for a central compute unit of a vehicle. The method comprises mounting at least two electronic modules on at least two mounting surfaces of a cooling plate with heat conducting material in between, and coupling the cooling plate to a cooling medium.

Other embodiments provide a vehicle comprising the central compute unit described herein.

Some other features or aspects will be described using the following non-limiting embodiments of apparatuses or methods or computer programs or computer program products by way of example only, and with reference to the accompanying figures, in which:

Fig. 1 illustrates an embodiment of a cooling plate with optional electronic modules mounted thereon;

Fig. 2 illustrates an example of a cooling plate configuration; Fig. 3 illustrates a top view of an embodiment of a central compute unit with three electronic modules on the top mounting surface;

Fig. 4 shows the embodiment of Fig. 3 from a front perspective;

Fig. 5 shows different configurations in embodiments with different dimensions;

Fig. 6 further design options in embodiments; and

Fig. 7 shows a block diagram of an embodiment of a manufacturing method.

Various example embodiments will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings in which some example embodiments are illustrated. In the figures, the thicknesses of lines, layers or regions may be exaggerated for clarity. Optional components may be illustrated using broken, dashed, or dotted lines.

Accordingly, while example embodiments are capable of various modifications and alternative forms, embodiments thereof are shown by way of example in the figures and will herein be described in detail. It should be understood, however, that there is no intent to limit example embodiments to the particular forms disclosed, but on the contrary, example embodiments are to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the scope of the invention. Like numbers refer to like or similar elements throughout the description of the figures.

As used herein, the term "or" refers to a non-exclusive or, unless otherwise indicated (e.g., “or else” or “or in the alternative”). Furthermore, as used herein, words used to describe a relationship between elements should be broadly construed to include a direct relationship or the presence of intervening elements unless otherwise indicated. For example, when an element is referred to as being “connected” or “coupled” to another element, the element may be directly connected or coupled to the other element or intervening elements may be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being “directly connected” or “directly coupled” to another element, there are no intervening elements present. Similarly, words such as “between”, “adjacent”, and the like should be interpreted in a like fashion.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of example embodiments. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises”, “comprising”, “includes”, or “including”, when used herein, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components or groups thereof.

Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which example embodiments belong. It will be further understood that terms, e.g., those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant art and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein.

Fig. 1 illustrates an embodiment of a cooling plate 10 with optional electronic modules M1- MN mounted thereon. The cooling plate 10 is configured for mounting of or carrying a plurality of electronic modules M1-MN in a vehicle. The cooling plate 10 comprises a housing 12 with an input 14 and an output 16 for a cooling medium. The cooling plate 10 comprises a cavity 18 inside the housing coupled to the input 14 and the output 16 and configured to guide the cooling medium. As shown in Fig. 1 , the cooling plate 10 comprises at least two mounting surfaces 12a and 12b, shown on the top and bottom in Fig. 1, on the outside of the housing 12, wherein a mounting surface 12a, 12b is configured to be thermically and mechanically coupled to at least two electronic modules M1, M2, Mn+1, Mn+2.

Fig.1 also illustrates a central compute unit 100 for a vehicle, which comprises a cooling plate 10 as described herein. The central compute unit 100 may further comprise two or more electronic modules mounted on each of the at least two mounting surfaces 12a, 12b and a heat transfer medium between the at least two mounting surfaces and the electronic modules. Another embodiment is a vehicle comprising an embodiment of the central compute unit.

In embodiments the cooling plate 10 thermally couples the mounting surfaces 12a, 12b with the cooling medium. For example, the housing 12 of the cooling plate may be made of heat conducting material, e.g. a metal like aluminum. For example, the cooling medium may flow into the cavity 18 using the input 14 and warm up. Heat dissipates from mounted electronic modules M1-N through the mounting surfaces 12a, 12b and the housing 12 into the cooling medium, which then exits through the output 16. As further shown in Fig. 1 , the electronic modules may comprise printed circuit boards (PCB 1-N) on which the actual electronic components (heat sources) are mounted. The PCBs are thermally coupled to the housings of the modules, which are thermally coupled to the cooling plate surfaces 12a, 12b.

As shown in Fig. 1, the PCBs may be mounted in module housings, e.g. loosely held by shock absorbing material (elastomer, foam) but still thermically coupled to the module housing via heat conducting elastomer. The module housing may serve as heat distributor being cooled from one side by the cooling plate 10. Heat conduction in the module housing may contribute to proper heat dissipation away from the PCBs inside. As will be detailed subsequently, a mounting component for holding the electronic modules in place on the mounting surfaces 12a, 12 may also serve as heat absorber, e.g. in terms of a cooling cage or cooling fixture.

Shock absorption may be present between a chassis of a vehicle and the cooling plate 10, between the cooling plate 10 and module housing (e.g. combined with heat conducting material), and between the module housing and a PCB mounted therein.

In embodiments solder joints, electronic components, and/or electronic packages of the PCBs may be protected against mechanical and thermal stress. Moreover, electromagnetic compatibility/interference (EMC/EMI) may be efficiently improved using the structure shown in Fig. 1 as no or only few additional components may be needed to achieve sufficient performance in this respect. Embodiments may reduce or even avoid direct shock transfer from an electronic control unit housing to electronic components. Solder ball cracks, functional losses, signal distortion, and wrongly assumed software bugs may be reduced.

Moreover, embodiments may achieve a sufficient cooling scalability with hardware scaling. Some embodiments may use ASIL (Automotive Safety Integrity Level, ISO 26262) -conform air cooling, which may reduce or prevent limitations for safety functions. Embodiments may allow a robust water-cooling construction. Moreover, embodiments may enable a compatibility between the electronic modules and therefore reduce complications that come along with different proprietary solutions, e.g. for mainboards from different vendors. In general, embodiments may ease upgrading and replacement processes for both hardware and software, as both may be carried out through electronic module replacement on the cooling plate 10 or central compute unit 100.

For comparison Fig. 2 illustrates an example of a cooling plate configuration with only one integrated module on each mounting surface, which results in larger and heavier modules, which are more expensive to maintain and to replace. The two PCBs comprise basically all vehicle processing components (power components, main board/operating system, communication, display processing, etc.) and share the cooling plate, which renders the PCBs heavy and large. The larger and heavier the individual modules become the higher their sensibility for mechanical stress. Moreover, the higher the integration level the higher the costs for replacements in case only subfunctions are impacted as the entire module has to be replaced. For large modules as shown in Fig. 2, mechanical decoupling/shock absorption is challenging, and they may have to be replaced completely in case of any component failure. Embodiments may establish a modular construction principle for electronics for many applications like server systems.

Embodiments also address challenges in the automotive domain. Often and unfortunately, just the feature of exchangeable hardware leads to the wrong assumption that just another form factor has been chosen. Embodiments might not only align dimensions but may also define electrical and thermal interfacing.

Embodiments may provide a construction architecture of a vehicle central compute unit 100 (CCU) that provides implementation solutions to challenges around complexity management, scalability, upgradeability, easy exchangeability, optimized power and thermal management, EMI issue avoidance/reduction and especially safety/reliability enablement for current and future electronics.

As shown in Fig. 1 multiple separate electronic modules may be mounted on each mounting surface 12a, 12b of the cooling plate. Multiple electronic modules M1-MN share the same cooling plate 10. The individual electronic modules M1-MN become lighter (light-weight) as compared to conventional solutions. Therefore, shock absorption and mechanical decoupling becomes more effective. The components comprise separated system components. For example, a power module, a module for the operating system, a module for sensor data processing, a module for graphics processing, a module for communication etc. The modules can be replaced one by one, which makes maintenance and hardware/software upgrading more efficient. Mutual decoupling/encapsulation contributes to reduction of electromagnetic interference. Embodiments may provide a scalable solution for various vehicles/models.

Fig. 3 illustrates a top view of an embodiment of a central compute unit 100 with three electronic modules M1, M2, M3 on the top mounting surface 12a of a housing 12 of a cooling plate 10. As shown for module M3 there can be a cage, clamp or holding structure for the electronic modules. For example, the cooling plate 10 comprises a power module M1 being mounted on one of the mounting surfaces 12a together with at least one further electronic module M2. The power module may enable a connection/coupling to the onboard power supply of the vehicle and power provision to other electronic modules mounted onto the cooling plate 10. For example, the power module M1 may convert from the onboard power settings of the vehicle to one or more different power settings (e.g. voltages) based on the demand of the other electronic modules. The power module M1 and the at least one further electronic module M2 have separate module housings, e.g. enabling their separate replacement, hardware upgrade, etc. For example, the one further electronic module M2 may comprise hardware and software to run an operating system for the vehicle. From this perspective, an operating system module M2 is mounted on one of the mounting surfaces 12a together with at least one further electronic module M1 , M3, e.g. a power module, a communication module, a sensor data/graphics data processing module, etc. The operating system module M2 and the at least one further electronic module M1 , M3 have separate module housings.

Fig. 4 shows the embodiment of Fig. 3 from a front perspective. As shown in Figs. 3 and 4 in some embodiments there may be a structure or mounting component 30 to mechanically mount, attach, or fix the individual module onto the mounting surface 12a, 12b. In embodiments different mechanical mechanisms are conceivable, Fig. 3 and 4 illustrate a cage-like structure providing a slide-in/plug-in mechanism for the electronic modules. In other embodiments clamping mechanisms based on spring forces or screw-forces are also conceivable. In some embodiments the mounting component 30 comprises a clamping fixture.

A mounting mechanism of electronic modules M1-N on the cooling plate 10 may use a clip/bracket mechanism as mounting component 30, which is easy to use and may ensure mechanical mounting with thermal coupling to the cooling plate 10. The electronic module sizes can be standardized (e.g. width and height) but their length may vary to allow different size modules/PCBs with different complexities or requirements.

For example, embodiments may be adapted to modules of different sizes. In some embodiments the width of the modules may be predefined, e.g. to 6 cm, 7.5 cm, or 9 cm. Their height may also be predefined, e.g. 4cm, 5cm, or 6cm. For example, different depths of the modules may be allowed for the cooling plate 10 as also indicated in the Figs. 3 and 4. Allowable depths may be 10cm, 15cm, or 20cm. These dimensions are examples and embodiments are not limited thereto. Embodiments may define form factors and/or standards for the electronic modules. Additionally or alternatively, embodiments may define standards for electrical and/or thermal interfaces.

Fig. 5 shows different configurations a), b), c), d), and e) in embodiments with different dimensions. Configurations a), b) and c) comprise a thicker cooling plate 10 and configurations d) and e) comprise a thinner cooling plate. In configuration or design type a) a thick small cooling plate 10 is used in a 2x2 small module configuration using a module clamping fixture 30. Configuration or design type b) uses a thick small cooling plate 10 with a 2x3 module configuration and configuration or design type c) uses a thick cooling plate 10 with various module configurations (different widths). Configuration or design type d) uses a thin cooling plate 10 embedded in a rack mainframe with a 2x3 module configuration. Configuration or design type e) uses two thin cooling plates 10 embedded in a rack mainframe with a 3-deck configuration for modules. As further shown in variant e) the inlet 14 and outlet 16 can be on the same side in embodiments, on different sides, respectively.

Fig. 6 shows the same design types or configurations as Fig. 5 but from the back perspective. From Fig. 6 it can be seen that the cooling plate may further comprise an interface board 40 configured to electrically couple to the plurality of electronic modules. The interface/connector board 40 of the respective configuration connects all modules on the cooling plate 10 in that configuration. In these embodiments the interface board 40 connects to the electronics modules from a direction basically perpendicular to the mounting surfaces of the respective cooling plates 10. Thereby, a fixation force of the interface board 40 for electronic coupling and a fixation force of the mounting component 30 for mechanical coupling are decoupled. This may provide advantages as implementations can be focused on the respective kind of coupling.

In further embodiments the cooling plate 10 may further comprise thermal interface material on at least one of the at least two mounting surfaces 12a, 12b. The thermal interface material can be any material that enables heat conduction, e.g. a heat-conducting foil, thermally conductive paste, thermal paste, thermal conducting oil, adhesive or glue, etc.

The cooling plate 10 may further comprise one or more structural components to guide the cooling medium and to thermically couple the at least two mounting surfaces 12a, 12b to the cooling medium. The cooling medium flows from the inlet/input 14 to the outlet/output 16 through the cavity 18. Structural components inside the cavity 18 may guide the cooling medium along a predefined path or help to achieve a certain distribution of the cooling medium inside the cavity. For example, a low temperature gradient may be desired for the mounting surfaces 12a, 12b, e.g. it may be desired to keep the temperature differences as low as possible. Naturally, the cooling medium would be colder at the input 14 than at the output 16. Therefore, a path of the cooling fluid may determine a temperature distribution on the mounting surfaces 12a, 12b. Structural components may be used to generate flow directions, pipes, guides etc. to achieve a desired temperature distribution. For example, the structural components comprise at least one of a fin or a corrugated surface. In embodiments the cooling plate may be configured to use a cooling liquid or air as cooling medium. In embodiments a cooling medium stream may be engineered to allow for low temperature gradients.

In Figs. 5 and 6 options a), b), and c) use a thick cooling plate, e.g. its height may be 2cm, 3cm, 5cm. Options d) and e) use a thin colling plate, e.g. its height may be 2mm, 3mm, 5mm, 10mm, 15mm, etc.

A single cooling plate may be used and embodiments may provide different options for “liquid cooling fluent” inlet 14 and outlet 16 geometries and location. In some embodiments input 14 and output 16 may be on one side, only, cf. options d) and e). Moreover, the inner housing 12 of the cooling plate 10 may be corrugated or may comprise a fin-based inner construction for cooling surface optimization and liquid/medium flow optimization.

In embodiments cooling plate size variants may allow integration of electronic modules of standardized size variants.

The cooling plate 10 may come with different inlet/input 14 and outlet/output 16 for (compressed) “air cooling”. The inner plate structure may then be simpler and lighter.

The modules may be fixated on one side of the module into the connector/interface board 40, while the fixation force is kept away from the module connector itself. For example, modules are fixated on the other side via a module clamping fixture and modules are therefore pressed on the cooling plate 10 for improved or even optimal heat conduction. The space between cooling plate 10 and a module may be filled with a sufficient thermal interface material (i.e. heat transfer foil). The interface/connector board 40 may connect different electronic modules on one side and connect to the vehicle wire harness on the other side.

In option e) an integration of legacy electronic control units (ECU) into a central compute unit may be enabled by re-shaping their PCBs and connectors to fit the cooling plate and interface board, respectively. A shock/vibration/mechanical deformation resistance concept in embodiments may be as follows:

A first level shock/vibration damping may be achieved by fixating simple rubber dampers between the vehicle chassis and the cooling plate. A second level shock/vibration/mechanical deformation resistance may be achieved with respective mounting means for mounting the PCBs inside the module housings. Module surfaces that are not connected to the cooling plate can be covered with electrically-conductive silicone elastomers for EMI shielding. The electronic module housings may include a shaped surface to increase mechanical stability) and to support easier clamping.

Variants d) and e) use a thin cooling plate. A rack-like mainframe with embedded cooling plates 10 may be used. Here, liquid cooling may be used, which allows reducing the thickness of the cooling plate 10 compared to air cooling. Advantages of this deck-like configuration may include inherent fixation/clamping for the electronic modules and additional simplification for the integration process into the vehicle during manufacturing (easy, more compact to handle).

Fig. 7 shows a block diagram of an embodiment of a manufacturing method 20 for a central compute unit 100 of a vehicle. The method comprises mounting 22 at least two electronic modules on at least two mounting surfaces of a cooling plate with heat conducting material in between. The method 20 further comprises coupling 24 the cooling plate to a cooling medium.

A vehicle may be understood as a device for transporting persons and/or goods, such as passenger vehicles, trucks, busses, trains, ships, drones, aircrafts, space crafts and the like. Embodiments may be installed in a vehicle of the automotive industry, especially to a car, a bus or a truck, but not limited to these applications.

A vehicle central compute unit (vehicle CCU) may be understood as a device used for computing data and/or information regarding a vehicle. The vehicle CCU may be installed on-board of the vehicle. Parts of the vehicle CCU may be located or at least be interactive with a compute device off-board, such as a cloud computing system or a computing entity. Moreover, the vehicle CCU may be portable and exchangeable. Thus, the vehicle CCU or its modules may be replaced in the vehicle during maintenance of the computing system. Embodiments may provide a solution for a centralized compute unit. The suggested construction and integration of such a unit may replace a plurality of single control units in a vehicle. Embodiments may be implemented in high integrated electronic systems, which may be related to security sensitive applications. Embodiments may be applicable for applications of high life-span products which may have a high environmental impact. These applications may be found in automotive industry, in aircraft and space industry as well as ship and train vehicles.

Moreover, embodiments relate to the construction architecture of a vehicle CCU that provides implementation solutions to challenges around complexity management, scalability, upgradeability, easy exchangeability, optimized power and thermal management, EMI issue avoidance/reduction and especially safety/reliability enablement for current and future leading-edge electronics.

While above several exemplary embodiments of the present invention have been described, it has to be noted that a great number of variations thereto exists. Furthermore, it is appreciated that the described exemplary embodiments only illustrate non-limiting examples of how the present invention can be implemented and that it is not intended to limit the scope, the application or the configuration of the herein-described apparatuses and methods. Rather, the preceding description will provide the person skilled in the art with constructions for implementing at least one exemplary embodiment of the invention, wherein it has to be understood that various changes of functionality and the arrangement of the elements of the exemplary embodiment can be made, without deviating from the subjectmatter defined by the appended claims and their legal equivalents.

Moreover, embodiments may be relevant for certain standards that apply or at least have influence on vehicle implementations. For example, embodiments may conform to the standards set by the Joint Electron Device Engineering Council (JEDEC), by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), by the Japan Electronics and Information Technology Industries Association (JEITA), by the Institute of Printed Circuits (IPC), the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA), etc.

The description and drawings merely illustrate the principles of the invention. It will thus be appreciated that those skilled in the art will be able to devise various arrangements that, although not explicitly described or shown herein, embody the principles of the invention and are included within its spirit and scope. Furthermore, all examples recited herein are principally intended expressly to be only for pedagogical purposes to aid the reader in understanding the principles of the invention and the concepts contributed by the inventor(s) to furthering the art, and are to be construed as being without limitation to such specifically recited examples and conditions. Moreover, all statements herein reciting principles, aspects, and embodiments of the invention, as well as specific examples thereof, are intended to encompass equivalents thereof.

It should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that any block diagrams herein represent conceptual views of illustrative circuitry embodying the principles of the invention. Similarly, it will be appreciated that any flow charts, flow diagrams, state transition diagrams, pseudo code, and the like represent various processes which may be substantially represented in computer readable medium and so executed by a computer or processor, whether or not such computer or processor is explicitly shown.

Furthermore, the following claims are hereby incorporated into the detailed description, where each claim may stand on its own as a separate embodiment. While each claim may stand on its own as a separate embodiment, it is to be noted that - although a dependent claim may refer in the claims to a specific combination with one or more other claims - other embodiments may also include a combination of the dependent claim with the subject matter of each other dependent claim. Such combinations are proposed herein unless it is stated that a specific combination is not intended. Furthermore, it is intended to include also features of a claim to any other independent claim even if this claim is not directly made dependent to the independent claim.

It is further to be noted that methods disclosed in the specification or in the claims may be implemented by a device having means for performing each of the respective steps of these methods.

Reference list:

10 cooling plate

12 housing of the cooling plate

12a mounting surface

12b mounting surface

14 inlet/input for cooling medium

16 outlet/output for cooling medium

18 cavity

20 method for manufacturing

22 mounting at least two electronic modules on at least two mounting surfaces of a cooling plate with heat conducting material in between

24 coupling the cooling plate to a cooling medium

30 mounting component

40 interface/connector board 40

100 central compute unit

M1-N Electronic modules

PCB1-N Printed circuit boards

Claims

1. A cooling plate (10) for mounting of a plurality of electronic modules (M1; ; MN) in a vehicle, comprising a housing (12) with an input (14) and an output (16) for a cooling medium; a cavity (18) inside the housing coupled to the input (14) and the output (16) and configured to guide the cooling medium; and at least two mounting surfaces (12a; 12b) on the outside of the housing (12), wherein a mounting surface (12a; 12b) is configured to be thermically and mechanically coupled to at least two electronic modules (M1; ... ; MN).

2. The cooling plate (10) of claim 1, further comprising a power module (M1) being mounted on one of the mounting surfaces (12a; 12b) together with at least one further electronic module (M2).

3. The cooling plate (10) of claim 2, wherein the power module (M1) and the at least one further electronic module (M2) have separate module housings.

4. The cooling plate (10) of one of the claims 1 to 3, wherein an operating system module (M2) is mounted on one of the mounting surfaces together with at least one further electronic module (M1 , M3).

5. The cooling plate (10) of claim 4, wherein the operating system module (M2) and the at least one further electronic module (M1, M3) have separate module housings.

6. The cooling plate (10) of one of the claims 1 to 5, further comprising an interface board (40) configured to electrically couple to the plurality of electronic modules (M1; ... ; MN).

7. The cooling plate (10) of one of the claims 1 to 6, further comprising a mounting component (30) to fix electronic modules (M1 ; ... ; MN) onto a mounting surface (12a; 12b).

8. The cooling plate (10) of claims 6 and 7, wherein a fixation force of the interface board (40) for electronic coupling and a fixation force of the mounting component (30) for mechanical coupling are decoupled.

9. The cooling plate (10) of one of the claims 7 or 8, wherein the mounting component (30) comprises a clamping fixture.

10. The cooling plate (10) of one of the claims 1 to 9, further comprising thermal interface material on at least one of the at least two mounting surfaces (12a; 12b).

11. The cooling plate (10) of one of the claims 1 to 10, further comprising a structural component to guide the cooling medium and to thermically couple the at least two mounting surfaces (12a; 12b) to the cooling medium.

12. The cooling plate (10) of claim 11 , wherein the structural components comprise at least one of a fin or a corrugated surface.

13. The cooling plate (10) of one of the claims 1 to 14, being configured to use a cooling liquid or air as cooling medium.

14. A central compute unit (100) for a vehicle, comprising a cooling plate (10) according to one of the claims 1 to 13, two or more electronic modules (M1; ... ; MN) mounted on each of the at least two mounting surfaces (12a; 12b) and a heat transfer medium between the at least two mounting surfaces (12a; 12b) and the electronic modules (M1 ; ... ; MN).

15. A manufacturing method (20) for a central compute unit (100) of a vehicle, comprising mounting (22) at least two electronic modules (M1 ; ... ; MN) on at least two mounting surfaces (12a; 12b) of a cooling plate (10) with heat conducting material in between; and coupling (24) the cooling plate (10) to a cooling medium.