Magnetic tape recording in data format using an efficient reverse concatenated modulation code

1. A method for writing data to a magnetic tape utilizing a rate-(232/234) reverse concatenated modulation code, the method comprising:

receiving a data stream comprising one or more data sets;

separating each data set into a plurality of sub data sets;

encoding each sub data set with a C2 code to produce C2-encoded sub data sets;

encoding each C2-encoded sub data set with the rate-(232/234) reverse concatenated modulation code to produce modulated sub data sets;

encoding each modulated sub data set with a C1 code to produce C1-encoded modulated sub data sets; and

simultaneously writing the C1-encoded modulated sub data sets to data tracks of the magnetic tape.

2. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the separating each data set into a plurality of sub data sets comprises creating sixty-four sub data sets from each data set, each sub data set organized as an 84×918-byte matrix being 77,112 bytes in size.

3. The method as recited in claim 2 , wherein the encoding each sub data set with the C2 code adds twelve bytes of C2 error correction code (ECC) to each 84-byte column of each sub data set's matrix, creating a 96×918-byte matrix being 88,128 bytes in size, wherein the C2 code comprises a (96,84,13) Reed-Solomon ECC.

4. The method as recited in claim 3 , further comprising headerizing each sub data set by adding a 10-byte header to each row of each C2-encoded sub data set's 96x918-byte matrix to create a 96x928-byte matrix for each headerized sub data set being 89,088 bytes in size.

5. The method as recited in claim 4 , further comprising randomizing each row (CW-4) of each headerized sub data set's 96x928-byte matrix to create a randomized 96x928-byte matrix.

6. The method as recited in claim 5 , wherein the encoding each C2-encoded sub data set with the modulation code comprises applying a (234,232) modulation code to each randomized 96x928-byte matrix by extending a length of each CW-4 by eight bytes to create a 96x936-byte matrix being 89,856 bytes in size.

7. The method as recited in claim 6 , wherein the C1 code comprises a (1992, 1872) low-density parity check (LDPC) code, and wherein the encoding each modulated sub data set with the C1 code comprises applying the (1992, 1872) LDPC code to each sub data set by concatenating four LDPC codewords to each CW-4 to create a 96x996-byte matrix being 95,616 bytes in size.

8. The method as recited in claim 7 , wherein the simultaneously writing the C1-encoded modulated sub data sets to data tracks of the magnetic tape comprises writing designated CW-4's in sets of 32 simultaneously to the magnetic tape.

9. A method for writing data to a magnetic tape, the method comprising:

receiving a data stream comprising one or more data sets;

separating each data set into a plurality of sub data sets;

encoding each sub data set with a C2 code to produce C2-encoded sub data sets;

encoding each C2-encoded sub data set with a modulation code to produce modulated sub data sets;

encoding each modulated sub data set with a C1 code to produce C1-encoded modulated sub data sets; and

simultaneously writing the C1-encoded modulated sub data sets to a plurality of data tracks of the magnetic tape,

wherein the modulation code is a reverse concatenated modulation code.

10. The method as recited in claim 9 , wherein the separating each data set into a plurality of sub data sets comprises creating sixty-four sub data sets from each data set, each sub data set organized as an 84x918-byte matrix being 77,112 bytes in size, and wherein the encoding each sub data set with the C2 encoding code adds twelve bytes of C2 error correction code (ECC) to each 84-byte column of each sub data set's matrix, creating a 96x918-byte matrix being 88,128 bytes in size, wherein the C2 encoding code comprises a (96,84,13) Reed-Solomon ECC.

11. The method as recited in claim 10 , further comprising headerizing each C2-encoded sub data set by adding a 10-byte header to each row of each C2-encoded sub data set's 96x918-byte matrix to create a 96x928-byte matrix such that each headerized sub data set is 89,088 bytes in size.

12. The method as recited in claim 11 , further comprising randomizing each row (CW-4) of each headerized sub data set's 96x928-byte matrix to create a randomized 96x928-byte matrix.

13. The method as recited in claim 12 , wherein the encoding each C2-encoded sub data set with the modulation code comprises applying a (234,232) modulation code to each randomized 96x928-byte matrix by extending a length of each CW-4 by eight bytes to create a 96x936-byte matrix being 89,856 bytes in size.

14. The method as recited in claim 13 , wherein the C1 code comprises a (1992,1872) low-density parity check (LDPC) code, and wherein the encoding each modulated sub data set with the C1 code comprises applying the (1992,1872) LDPC code to each sub data set by concatenating four LDPC codewords to each CW-4 to create a 96x996-byte matrix being 95,616 bytes in size.

15. The method as recited in claim 14 , wherein the writing the C1-encoded modulated sub data sets to the plurality of data tracks of the magnetic tape comprises writing designated CW-4's in sets of 32 simultaneously to the magnetic tape.