Offtrack interference and equalization in magnetic recording

Off-track or intertrack interference (ITI) is a result of recording head positioning error and is often the dominant noise source in the magnetic disk storage channel. To predict accurately the performance of partial-response and decision-feedback equalizers, an ITI model is developed and the ITI distribution is found. Using this ITI distribution, probability-of-error projections are presented for partial-response and decision-feedback detection as the recording head moves off track. Predicted probabilities of error are up to a factor of 1000 lower than those obtained using a Gaussian ITI distribution assumption