Determining a signal to noise ratio for an arbitrary data sequence by a time domain analysis

An algorithm is developed for determining the signal to noise (S/N) ratio for an arbitrary data sequence by a time domain correlation analysis. By measuring the correlation coefficient of time domain readback voltages, r[V(t), V (t+nT)], the S/N for an arbitrary data sequence can be determined. The authors applied this method to obtain the S/N ratio for a magnetic recording thin film medium written by a 127-b pseudorandom sequence at different linear recording densities. The new algorithm may also provide a simple way to integrate the S/N measurement into a digital oscilloscope