Recently, researchers from IBM laboratories reported the results of an experiment demonstrating
that an areal density of 1 gigabit per square inch could be achieved for the storage and
reliable retrieval of digital data on a hard disk system. This many-fold increase in density was
achieved using a number of advanced techniques. one of these techniques was a different
approach to combating intersymbol interference, sometimes referred to as PRML, using
partial-response (PR) signaling with maximum-likelihood (ML) sequence detection.
Instead of keeping the transitions far apart using (d,k) codes, PRML allows the transitions
to be close together, and the read signal, with its resulting intersymbol interference, is equalized
to a frequency response known as a class4 partial-response channel. The equalized signal is then
detected by a maximum likelihood sequence estimator, i.e., a Viterbi detector. In this chapter, we
will give a brief summary of the PR and ML components of this system as they apply to magnetic
recording.
When recording density is low, each transition written on the magnetic medium results in a
relatively isolated peak of voltage and peak detection method is used to recover written
information. However, when PW50 becomes comparable with the channel bit period, the peak
detection channel can not provide reliable data detection. In chapter 8 we have discussed the peak
detection systems. Superposition of pulses (linear ISI) shifts peaks of read-back signal and
increased probability of errors in zero-crossing detector (refer to chapter 8). At the same time,
signal amplitude is lowered and errors in the threshold detector part also increase. Whatever
tricks are made with peak detection systems, they barely work at PW50/T ratios above one (1).
This means that a different detection principle is needed if the density of recording is to be
increased. This new detection method should not be based on voltage peaks, rather it should take
into account the fact that signals from adjacent transitions interfere. In other words, the method of
detection should be aware of linear ISI in the signal.
PRML is the most popular detection scheme in modern disk drives. PRML is an acronym
for Partial Response Maximum Likelihood. This method was originally proposed in the early 70's
by a group of IBM researchers. PRML consists of two relatively independent parts: Partial
Response (PR) and Maximum Likelihood (ML) detector. In the mean time we can temporarily
think of Maximum Likelihood as a magic digital "black box" which improves the error rate of the
system compared to usual threshold detectors.