With magnetic storage devices already achieving storage densities of up to 400 Gigabits per square inch (Gb/in2), the state of the art is rapidly approaching theoretical limits (dictated by thermal stability concerns). Hence, there is an eort in the industry to develop alternative magnetic storage technologies. Two-dimensional magnetic recording (TDMR) is one such candidate technology. In contrast to other technologies(e.g. heat-assisted magnetic recording [1], bit-patterned media [2]) which rely on signicant changes being made to the recording medium, TDMR relies on the use of traditional recording media, while relying on signal processing to make improvements in the recording density. Though advantageous due to the fact that no drastic re-engineering of media is required, there are signicant challenges that need to be addressed in order to make TDMR a viable candidate for next-generation recordingsystems. The main challenges involved in TDMR arise due to (i) the small bit-area, along with an aggressive write/read process, which leads to a large amount of noise, and (ii) the two-dimensional nature of the recording process { so far not encountered in today's systems. Thus, a gamut of 2D signal processing algorithms need be developed for the compensation of errors occurring due to the aggressive write/read processes. In this dissertation, we present some of the work done with regard to the signal processing tasks involved in TDMR. In particular, we describe our work on (i) channel modelling, (ii) detection strategies, and (iii) error-correction coding strategies targetted at TDMR.

Implementing new architectures and designs for the magnetic recording read channel have been pushed to the limits of modern integrated circuit manufacturing technology. This book reviews advanced coding and signal processing techniques and architectures for magnetic recording systems. Beginning with the basic principles, it examines read/write operations, data organization, head positioning, sensing, timing recovery, data detection, and error correction. It also provides an in-depth treatment of all recording channel subsystems inside a read channel and hard disk drive controller. The final section reviews new trends in coding, particularly emerging codes for recording channels.

Initially, several turbo equalization systems for two-dimensional intersymbol interference (2D-ISI) channels are proposed. The systems' receivers consist of joint 2D-ISI equalizers with an irregular repeat accumulate (IRA) LDPC code.

The hard-disk storage industry is at a critical time as the current technologies are incapable of achieving densities beyond 500 Gb/in2, which will be reached in a few years. Many radically new storage architectures have been proposed, which along with advanced signal processing algorithms are expected to achieve much higher densities. In this dissertation, various signal processing algorithms are developed to improve the performance of current and next-generation magnetic storage systems. Low-density parity-check (LDPC) error correction codes are known to provide excellent performance in magnetic storage systems and are likely to replace or supplement currently used algebraic codes. Two methods are described to improve their performance in such systems. In the first method, the detector is modified to incorporate auxiliary LDPC parity checks. Using graph theoretical algorithms, a method to incorporate maximum number of such checks for a given complexity is provided. In the second method, a joint detection and decoding algorithm is developed that, unlike all other schemes, operates on the non-binary channel output symbols rather than input bits. Though sub-optimal, it is shown to provide the best known decoding performance for channels with memory more than 1, which are practically the most important. This dissertation also proposes a ternary magnetic recording system from a signal processing perspective. The advantage of this novel scheme is that it is capable of making magnetic transitions with two different but predetermined gradients. By developing optimal signal processing components like receivers, equalizers and detectors for this channel, the equivalence of this system to a two-track/two-head system is determined and its performance is analyzed. Consequently, it is shown that it is preferable to store information using this system, than to store using a binary system with inter-track interference. Finally, this dissertation provides a number of insights into the unique characteristics of heat-assisted magnetic recording (HAMR) and two-dimensional magnetic recording (TDMR) channels. For HAMR channels, the effects of laser spot on transition characteristics and non-linear transition shift are investigated. For TDMR channels, a suitable channel model is developed to investigate the two-dimensional nature of the noise.