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To cope with soaring Internet traffic, Montreal-based
Hyperchip Inc. is developing Internet routers that push data 1000
times faster than existing units. Hyperchip's petabit (trillion
bits per second) units are raced to market under a development
schedule that allots a mere 9 months from concept to working
prototype. The aggressive schedule forced Hyperchip to discard the
conventional - design, test and modify - approach as too time
consuming. CFD modeling promised to shrink the timetable, but
Hyperchip had no experience with this complex technology.
The company evaluated the leading software packages and found
that Coolit's carefully crafted, intuitive user interface
eliminated the need for training. Best of all, the software could
be used by any engineer who had a basic understanding of thermal
analysis.
Initially, Hyperchip used Coolit to cull the best ideas from
engineering brainstorming sessions. Unexpected paybacks came when
the software revealed hidden design problems. For example,
engineers believed that they designed adequate ventillation in
the 19-inch rack-mounted router. Coolit demonstrated, however,
that the designed system would not do the job. Using the
software, engineers quickly analyzed different ventillation
schemes and corrected the problem. In another case, Coolit
flagged a critical component that had been placed in stagnant
airflow. The solution was to either reroute the flow or move the
component. After modeling the two options, engineers determined that
moving the component was the optimal solution.
Coolit identified problems and also provided insight
into their causes so that the problems were not repeated.
Hyperchip estimates that, without Coolit analyses, engineering
would have had to build additional prototypes and add at least 3
months to the schedule. Financially, that would have seriously
impacted the startup company since the introduction date marks
the start of the revenue stream and, without Coolit, Hyperchip
would have missed its market window.
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