Abstract

Data storage devices used in computer systems are intolerant of even very low error rates. A single error can destroy valuable user data, or, even worse, generate inaccurate results. Since optical media, used in optical storage devices, cannot be pretested, or certified, as can magnetic media, a considerable technological challenge existed in designing an error control system for the Storage Technology 7640 Optical Storage Unit. The design objective was to make the 7640 as reliable as current state-of-the-art magnetic storage devices, while using minimum overhead, and operating at system level throughput rates of 3 MBytes/sec.

© 1984 Optical Society of America