Patent · US Expired

System and method for encoding and storing digital information on magnetic tape

US4796110A · kind A · utility

20Cited by
9References
20Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateFeb 18, 1986
Grant dateJan 3, 1989
Priority date
Expiry dateFeb 18, 2006

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG11B2220/90
  • WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

The specification discloses a system and method for storing digital information on a magnetic tape wherein redundant information is generated and also stored so that subsequently unreadable portions of the tape can be regenerated based on the readable portions. The tape is formatted to include a plurality of sequentially arranged blocks, each including a plurality of generally identical data sectors and error-correction sectors. The placement of the data sectors and the associated error-correction sectors within a common block facilitates, and increases the speed of, tape writes and reads. Preferably, a Reed-Solomon code is utilized to generate the redundant information in the error-correction sectors as a preferred balance between recoverability, tape overhead, and speed of encoding.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.