Wade H. White

Packaging design of the IBM system z10 enterprise class platform central electronic complex

The IBM System z10™ Enterprise Class mainframe addresses the modern data center requirements for minimizing floor space while increasing computing power efficiency. These objectives placed challenges on the z10™ packaging design as a result of significantly increased demand on system packaging density, power delivery, and logic and power cooling efficiency compared with the recent IBM System z9® and z990 mainframe generations. Several innovations were implemented to successfully meet these challenges: a more powerful multichip module (MCM) that delivers denser computing capability and a 64-way system; a vertically mated processor unit (PU) book structure that achieves a more efficient thermal implementation and a higher signal bandwidth between processors; and a PU book-centric dc-dc power delivery design that is more efficient. This paper presents the key elements to achieve this design: the novel mechanical load transmission paths and the connector technologies for the MCM, PU book, I/O, and power regulation components; an innovative cooling and thermal design that includes component-level tolerance of failures; and improved power delivery and power code developments to maximize the overall z10 compute efficiency.