Multichannel digital magnetic recording

The authors examine multiple-head magnetic recording in the context of multichannel communication system theory. An equivalent discrete-time channel model for the multiple-head system is derived, and a simple algorithm for computing the performance of an infinite-length decision feedback equalizer is presented. The results show that the multiple-head system performs better than a single-head system when the heads are offtrack. This improvement leads to an increase in radial density by a factor of approximately 2.4 for a fixed servo tolerance