Inter-Track Interference Mitigation for Bit-Patterned Magnetic Recording

In bit-patterned magnetic recording (BPMR), inter-track interference (ITI) becomes a major impairment due to the small track pitch. One way to mitigate the ITI is to equalize the read channel to a two dimensional (2D) partial-response (PR) target. However, we find that the channel detection on the center track cannot take advantage of the 2D target without good estimation of the data on the sidetracks. Therefore, we propose a multi-track detection technique, where the detection on the center track is aided by the information obtained from the detection of the sidetracks. This technique works with any equalizer capable of equalizing the channel to a 2D target. We apply this method to joint-track equalized and 2D equalized BPMR channels. Our simulation results show that the proposed technique provides a significant performance improvement.