The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Aug. 29, 2006
Filed:
May. 19, 2003
Theodoros Antonakopoulos, Patras, GR;
Gerd K. Binnig, Wollerau, CH;
Evangelos S. Eleftheriou, Zurich, CH;
Theodoros Antonakopoulos, Patras, GR;
Gerd K. Binnig, Wollerau, CH;
Evangelos S. Eleftheriou, Zurich, CH;
International Business Machines Corp, Armonk, NY (US);
Abstract
Methods are provided for overwriting data in a probe-based data storage device () wherein data is represented by the presence and absence of pits formed in a storage surface () by a probe of the device. Input data is first coded such that successive bits of a first value in the coded input data are separated by at least one bit of the other value. Overwrite data bits v, v, v, . . . , are generated from the coded input data bits b, b, b, . . . , and the overwrite data bits v, v, v, . . . , are then used to overwrite data on the storage surface (). According to a first method, the overwrite data bits are generated such that, if a pit represents a bit of said first value in the data storage device () then v={overscore (b)}, for i≧1 and vhas said first value, and if a pit represents a bit of said other value in the data storage device () then v=bfor i≧1 and vhas said other value. According to a second method, the overwrite data bits are generated such that, if a pit represents a bit of said first value in the data storage device () then v={overscore (b)}({overscore (b)}+b) for i≧2, vhas said first value and v={overscore (b)}, and if a pit represents a bit of said other value in the data storage device () then v={overscore (({overscore (b)}({overscore (b)}+b)))} for i≧2, vhas said other value and v=b. With both methods, the result of the overwrite operation is to record either the coded input data b, b, b, . . . , or its complement {overscore (b)}, {overscore (b)}, {overscore (b)}, . . . , depending on whether a pit represents a bit having the first value or a bit having the other value. This result is independent of the bit values of the data which is overwritten.