Modified Viterbi Algorithm with Feedback Using a Two-Dimensional 3-Way Generalized Partial Response Target for Bit-Patterned Media Recording Systems

The ever-increasing demand for data in recent times has led to the emergence of big data and cloud data. The growth in these fields has necessitated that data be centrally stored in data centers. To meet the need for large-scale storage systems at data centers, innovative technology such as bit-pattern media recording (BPMR) has been developed. With BPMR technology, we are able to achieve significant improvements in high areal density (AD) of magnetic data storage systems. However, two-dimensional (2D) interference is a common issue faced with high AD. Intersymbol interference and intertrack interference occur when the distance between the islands is decreased in the down-track and cross-track, respectively. 2D interference adversely affects the performance of BPMR. In this paper, we propose an improved modified Viterbi algorithm (MVA) exploiting a feedback and a new 2D three-way form of a generalized partial response (GPR) target. The proposed MVA with feedback is superior to the previous MVA by eliminating intertrack interference (ITI) more effectively. With the three-way GPR target, the proposed algorithm achieves more stable performance compared to the previous detection algorithms for the track misregistration effect.