Experimental performance comparison of coded PRML detectors using sequenced amplitude margin analysis

Sequenced Amplitude Margin (SAM) plots are utilized to demonstrate how the relative linear density performance of a 2/3EEPR4(1,7) detector can be compared to a 8/9PR4(0,4/4) detector for a given set of head/media combinations. The original SAM algorithm is modified to facilitate this comparison. A simple normalization procedure is applied that allows the error margin information to be presented in a unitless fashion. Results are presented for magneto-resistive and inductive heads.