An experimental 180 Mb/sec PRML channel for magnetic recording

An experimental 180 Mbit/s partial-response maximum-likelihood (PRML) channel was developed in order to investigate various technical issues arising in very high speed magnetic disk recording systems. The channel was implemented with discrete analog and logic components. A thin-film 10-turn write head and an experimental high-resolution magnetoresistive read head were used with a high coercivity, thin-film disk. Linear densities of 4000 fc/mm were achieved at 45 m/s and 100 nm flying height. The authors describe the experimental channel in detail and also indicate some of the new experimental results obtained