The AI revolution is accelerating rapidly, driving massive growth in model sizes, compute demand, and data center performance. But as power and density rise, a new challenge emerges — cooling. With every watt of compute turning into heat, traditional cooling systems are hitting their limits, making thermal management the next frontier for AI infrastructure.
Embedded systems are specialized computers found in everyday devices like smart gadgets, medical equipment, and cars. As they become more advanced, they require more AI processing power, generating excess heat. Managing this heat is crucial to ensuring their efficiency and reliability.
The Boundary Layer is a thin layer of fluid created along surfaces as fluid moves across it. Every surface, from your hand, to the surface of a heat sink used to cool electrical devices, is surrounded by a boundary layer. In electronic devices, the boundary layer creates an insulating blanket of air molecules across hot surfaces that inhibits heat dissipation.
Devices are getting increasingly compact. Every fraction of a millimeter of internal device space is carefully designed by manufacturers to create the smallest and most powerful devices possible. Designs aimed at satisfying consumers’ demand for increased performance in ever smaller devices.
