Bit-patterned media with written-in errors: Modeling, detection, and theoretical limits

We report a study of bit-patterned media recording channels containing written-in errors. From a signal processing point of view, we consider an abstract model for the overall recording channel, incorporating errors caused by timing and write ability. Based on the resulting channel model, we develop various trellis structures, and propose several detection algorithms that can be used to recover the recorded data. Furthermore, we investigate achievable information rates for patterned media recording systems with different levels of written-in error probability, providing an information theoretical performance assessment for such systems.