A simple two-dimensional run-length-limited code for ultra-high-density magnetic-tape recording

Investigations of two-dimensional, run-length-limited codes have shown that they may be applied across multiple channels in several ways. This paper describes a new two-dimensional coding technique which not only utilizes constraints described by Marcellin (see IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communications, vol.10, no.1, p.254-266, 1992) to spread the k constraint across multiple channels, but also introduces a separate (d, k) constraint on bits recorded across channels, increasing either or both of signal-to-noise ratio and data density. A method for calculation of capacities is presented along with a low-cost, high speed code suitable for a ultra-high-density magnetic tape recording channel.