Low-cost magneto-optic disk byte error rate testing system

Jiin-chuan Wu; Guann-Sheng Jeng; Han-Ping D. Shieh

doi:10.1117/12.201224

17 February 1995 Low-cost magneto-optic disk byte error rate testing system

Jiin-chuan Wu, Guann-Sheng Jeng, Han-Ping D. Shieh

Proceedings Volume 2451, Advanced Image and Video Communications and Storage Technologies; (1995) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.201224
Event: Advanced Networks and Services, 1995, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Abstract

A low cost byte error rate testing system for 90 mm magneto-optic (MO) disks had been developed. In order to achieve low cost and to perform the testing under realistic operating conditions, commercial magneto-optic disk drives were used instead of a high-priced, specialized disk tester. An IBM compatible 486-DX33 PC was used as the controller. The design goal of the testing system is to find the best cost/performance system configuration. A model was developed to predict the testing system performance based on the DMA data rate, SCSI bus data rate, MO drive data rate, access time, processor speed, and the number of sectors, N, involved in each read/write operation. Three configurations were studied: (1) only one MO drive; (2) two MO drives are connected to PC through separate SCSI host adaptor; and (3) two MO drives connected to PC through one SCSI host adaptor in a daisy-chain manner. The testing time of a disk varies from 40 min. to 24 min. when N is varied from 20 to 109. These testing times include the 10 min. of formatting time which is independent of N. The average access time of the MO disk was found to depend on the number of sectors involved in each read/write operation. Also, the measured access time is always lower than the specified 40 msec. These two phenomena can be explained by the smaller distance that the optical head needed to travel during the byte error rate testing. Based on the measured access time, a refined model was used to predict the optimal cost/performance configuration. A system with 6 or 7 MO disk drives connected to a PC was found to have the best cost/performance ratio.

Citation Download Citation

Jiin-chuan Wu, Guann-Sheng Jeng, and Han-Ping D. Shieh "Low-cost magneto-optic disk byte error rate testing system", Proc. SPIE 2451, Advanced Image and Video Communications and Storage Technologies, (17 February 1995); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.201224

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