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1. INTRODUCTON
Requirements for removable media storage devices (RMSDs) used with personal computers have changed significantly since the introduction of the floppy disk in 1971. At one time, desktop computers depended on floppy disks for all of their storage requirements. Even with the advent of multigigabyte hard drives, floppy disks and other RMSDs are still an integral part of most computer systems, providing . Transport between computers for data files and software backup to preserve data from the hard dive. A way to load the operating system software in the event of a hard failure.
Data storage devices currently come in a variety of different capacities, access time, data transfer rate and cost per Gigabyte. The best overall performance figures are currently achieved using hard disk drives (HDD), which can be integrated into RAID systems (redundant array of inexpensive disc) at costs of $10 per GB (1999). Optical disc drives (ODD) and tapes can be configured in the form of jukeboxes and tape libraries, with cost of a few dollars per GB for the removable media. However, the complex mechanical library mechanism serves to limit data access time to several seconds and affects the reliability adversely.
Most information is still stored in non-electronic form, with very slow access and excessive costs (e.g. text on paper, at a cost of $10,000 per GB ).
Some RMSD options available today are approaching the performance, capacity, and cost of hard-disk drives. Considerations for selecting an RMSD include capacity, speed, convenience, durability, data availability, and backward-compatibility. Technology options used to read and write data include.
• Magnetic formats that use magnetic particles and magnetic fields.
• Optical formats that use laser light and optical sensors.
• Magneto-optical and magneto-optical hybrids that use a combination of magnetic and optical properties to increase storage capacity.
The introduction of the Fluorescent Multi-layer Disc (FMD) smashes the barriers of existing data storage formats. Depending on the application and the market requirements, the first generation of 120mm (CD Sized) FMD ROM discs will hold 140 Giga Bytes of pre -recorded data on 16 data layers with a total thickness of under 2mm. In comparison, a standard DVD disc holds just 4.7 gigabytes. With C3D’s (Constellation 3D) proprietary parallel reading and writing technology, data transfer speeds can exceed 1 gigabit per second, again depending on the application and market need.
2. FLUORESCENT MULTILAYER DISC
Fluorescent multilayer disc is an optical disc, it is used to store more amount of data (140 GB )in a Single disc.
2.1. WHY WE USE FMD:
By using FMD we provide some technical advantages to the running industrial
market. They are as follows.
Increased Disc Capacity:
DVD data density (4.7 GB) on each layer of data carriers up to 100 layers. Initially, the FMD disc will hold 140 GB of data depending on market need. Eventually a terabyte of data on a single disc will be achievable.
Quick Parallel Access and Retrieval of Information:
Reading from several layers at a time and multiple tracks at a time nearly impossible using the reflective technology of a CD/DVD — is easily achieved in FMD. This will allow for retrieval speeds of up to 1 gigabyte per second.
Media Tolerances:
By using incoherent light to read data the FMD/FMC media will have far fewer restrictions in temperature range, vibration and air- cleanness during manufacturing. And will provide a considerably more robust data carrier than existing CD and DVDs.
Usage Flexibility:
FMD/FMC presents a wide variety of potential media sizes and types (read only, write-able and re-writeable) for a broad range of applications.
Potential for Further Growth:
The technology is young and will grow and evolve, providing a clear road map for the future of data storage.
3. FMD ROM DISC AND DRIVE
The introduction of the Fluorescent Multi-layer Disc (FMD) smashes the barriers of existing data storage formats. Fig 3.1 shows FMD ROM DISC Depending on the application and the market requirements, the first generation of 120mm (CD Sized) FMD ROM discs will hold 20 - 100 Gigabytes of pre recorded data on 12 - 30 data layers with a total thickness of under 2mm. In comparison, a standard DVD disc holds just 4.7 gigabytes. With C3D’s proprietary parallel reading and writing technology, data transfer speeds could exceed 1 gigabyte per second, again depending on the application and market need. Constellation 3D has signed several key strategic partnerships to assist in the development of Fluorescent Multilayer technology.
FMD drives will be similar in size, design and price to CD and DVD drives and players currently on the market. Lasers and laser focusing technology will be the same and only minor modifications are required in the signal processing unit to allow for the reading of the incoherent light emitted by an FMD disc rather than the coherent light of a CD or DVD. Early applications for this exciting new product include digital cinema and HDTV players, internet content streaming and data warehousing. As consumer storage needs grow, so too will the market for FMD discs and drives. The technology’s robust nature and low manufacturing cost make it ideally suited for broad market acceptance.
3.1. FMD WORM DISC AND DRIVE:
Just as previous optical disc products have evolved from pre-recorded to recordable technologies, the next generation of fluorescent multi- layer technologies will give users the ability to write and record their own content for future playback. FMD WORM media will be based on the same simple technologies as ROM but will use fluorescent dyes capable of the phase change need for recording. One advantage of the media will be its ability to have both WORM and ROM on the same carrier.
WORM drives will have the same cost structure as ROM drives but incorporate a slightly different laser configuration to allow for writing and reading.