Experimental performance comparison of FDTS/DF detectors: 8/9 (0,k) vs. 4/5 MTR codes

The performance of an FDTS/DF detector is compared using two different RLL coding techniques. The new Maximum Transition Run (MTR) codes have been proposed for use with FDTS/DF detectors because of demonstrated coding gains. This work compares the performance of an 8/9 (0,4/4) code to a 4/5 MTR code using actual MR head signals captured from a spinstand. The coding gain is evaluated in the presence of real write process non-linearity that exists at high linear densities. The error rate performance is compared at User Bit Densities (UBD) ranging from 2.2 to 2.9. A technique similar to Sequenced Amplitude Margin is used to assess error rate performance for the FDTS/DF detector. Final results are also compared to PR4 and RAM-DFE detectors.