Identification of position, size and dynamic heat power of chips embedded in a real electronic board

•Identification of the positions and the size of heat sources.•Identification of the evolution of heat sources powers.•Analysis of thermal behavior of electronic board. Temperature is a critical factor in the lifespan of electronic systems. Therefore, it is essential to control all thermal parameters. In certain applications, such as commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components, manufacturers may not have precise knowledge of the composition of electronic boards. As a result, it is important for them to define the positions of heat-dissipating elements, and the power dissipated to better predict the final thermal behavior of the system. Some electronic boards today even have components integrated into their volume. Since components can now be located not only on the surface but also within the volume of electronic boards, manufacturers need to define volume-based methods for detecting these heat sources. In this article, we address the problem of detecting sources within a volume using surface temperature data. To achieve this goal, we develop a representative numerical model of the system that can be used for an inverse source identification procedure. In a first time, we present a numerical approach that demonstrates the feasibility of the identification procedure on a board containing several electronic chips. Secondly, the volume source identification method is applied to a real case, using surfaces temperatures measured by infrared cameras. The experimental results obtained are consistent and show that this technique is suitable for detecting volumetric sources within an electronic board.