Exploitation of inter-track interference in a shingled replay system

The expected increase in areal density in hard drives will require very narrow tracks. Tracks which are of a similar width to the read head and which are not separated by guardbands normally suffer from large inter-track interference (ITI) or crosstalk. Here, we show that it is possible to read from tracks which are not separated by guardbands and that are narrower than the head. In addition to the significant increase in areal density obtainable by reducing the unrecorded area of the disk and narrowing the tracks, such a system would also lead to a decrease in data retrieval times. We have identified across-track magnetization constraints for future coding across three adjacent tracks so that it will be possible to read from tracks which are only 73% as wide as the read head. Reading from tracks not separated by guardbands which have been written under these constraints yields an increase in track density of at least 47% greater than that possible in conventional drives.