Data recovery in two-dimensional read-out of optical tape

Optical tape offers the greatest volumetric storage density of any commercially available storage medium, and thus is a cost effective alternative to traditional forms of archival storage. An optical tape recorder utilizing linear scanning with a single reel storage capacity of one terabyte has been commercially available for some time. We utilize a two-dimensional read-out based on linear scanning which provides a page oriented format similar to that of a holographic memory. Two-dimensional optical memories promise to provide high storage capacities, making them ideal candidates for archival storage in future computing applications. This extension of channel capability has the potential to increase the read bandwidth of the storage system allowing faster retrieval of a larger file space than traditional archival storage. Data recovery with image processing techniques and with an artificial neural network are discussed.