assure that the intended product reliability and life goals are realized.Among the many different categories of electronic products, thermal design of telecommunication equipment poses special challenges due to the high reliability (99.999 percent or five nines uptime) requirement [10]. For example, as a result of the five nines availability requirement, central office shelf level equipment in North America is required to be operational for short durations under ambient temperature conditions up to a maximum of 55°C and required to be operational for long durations subjected to 45°C ambient conditions. In contrast, data center equipment is required to be operational for short durations under ambient temperature conditions up to a maximum of only 35°C. Now, with the convergence of data, video, and voice (Internet, TV, and phone services), more functions and capacitiesand hence, more heat-are packed into a shrinking