Error-Correcting 56 Modulation Code for Staggered Bit-Patterned Media Recording Systems

Bit-patterned media recording (BPMR) is a promising candidate for application in future magnetic recording systems. To achieve a high areal density in BPMR systems, the distance between bit islands is reduced. However, two-dimensional (2-D) interference may occur, including intersymbol interference in the down-track and intertrack interference in the cross track. The overall performance of BPMR is mainly limited by the emergence of 2-D interference in the readback signal. With the staggered-array layout, islands along the neighboring track are displaced by a half period from those on the main track. An island on the main track is primarily affected by the closest islands on the neighboring tracks. To overcome this problem, we introduce an error-correcting 56 modulation code that matches the structure of staggered-array bit-patterned media. The simulation results show that the system with the 5/6 modulation code achieves better performance.