Ultra Density Optical
Encyclopedia
Ultra Density Optical is an optical disc
format designed for high-density storage of high-definition video
and data.
(405 nm
) of the blue-violet laser employed. MOs use a 650 nm-wavelength red laser. Because its beam width is shorter when burning to a disc than a red-laser for MO, a blue-violet laser allows more information to be stored digitally in the same amount of space.
Current generations of UDO2 media store up to 60 GB. According to Plasmon, desktop UDO2 drives are priced at around US $5400.
A 30GB UDO2 Write Once is US $75.
storage media was developed as a replacement for the 9.1 GB Magneto-optical digital storage medium. Ultra Density Optical first announced by Sony
on November 1, 2000. It was later adopted with heavy investment by Plasmon, a UK technology company with extensive experience with computer archival backup systems and solutions.
Currently UDO/UDO2 is being championed by its development partners Plasmon, Asahi Pentax
(responsible for the opto-mechanical assembly design), Mitsubishi Chemical, parent company of the Verbatim
media storage brand, and various computer and IT solutions companies. Mitsubishi Chemical is the second major development partner of UDO media and the sole manufacturer of UDO media as of the 4th quarter of 2008.
November 10, 2008 – Plasmon creditors (led by Silicon Valley Bank) closed down Plasmon LMS (company) as CEO Stephen "FX" Murphy was not able to secure funding to keep the money-losing company afloat. The UDO media factory in the UK was shut down, dismantled.
January 13, 2009 Alliance Storage Technologies, a Colorado Springs Manufacturer of optical technology and Service Provider, acquired the assets of Plasmon (including UDO and UDO2 technology) in an liquidation sale. ASTI currently sells and supports UDO technologies sold under the Plasmon brand.
), an R/W (Re-Writable), and Compliant WORM (shreddable WORM).
The UDO True Write Once format uses a different phase change recording surface than the Rewritable media. Unlike Rewritable media, the write once recording surface cannot be erased or altered, making Write Once the most stable in terms of data integrity, because the physical record is kept authentic. This level of data integrity is not usually matched by other magnetic disc or tape technologies using normal write once emulation.
UDO Compliant Write Once media has the same operational properties as UDO True Write Once media but with one clear and important difference. Through the use of a specially designed “shred” operation, individual records written to Compliant Write Once media can be destroyed once their retention period expires.
The shred function is controlled at an application level and operates only on Compliant Write Once media. there are no known applications supporting this feature.
Ultra Density Optical disc.
UDO comes in both internal and external drive guises. External drives are also available as part a robotic autoloader. All current drives are designed for heavy duty use.
operating at a wavelength
of 405 nm, similar to the one used in Blu-ray Disc
, to read and write data. Conventional MOs use red lasers at 660 nm.
The blue-violet laser
's shorter wavelength makes it possible to store more information on a 13 cm sized UDO disc. The minimum "spot size" on which a laser can be focused is limited by diffraction
, and depends on the wavelength of the light and the numerical aperture
of the lens
used to focus it. By decreasing the wavelength, using a higher numerical aperture (0.85, compared with 0.575 for MO), the laser beam can be focused much more tightly. This produces a smaller spot on the disc than in existing MOs, and allows more information to be physically stored in the same area. http://www.newsandtech.com/issues/2006/03-06/nt/images/26DallasStorage.jpg
The opto-mechanism design of current Plasmon UDO drives was jointly developed with Asahi Pentax.
Optical disc
In computing and optical disc recording technologies, an optical disc is a flat, usually circular disc which encodes binary data in the form of pits and lands on a special material on one of its flat surfaces...
format designed for high-density storage of high-definition video
High-definition television
High-definition television is video that has resolution substantially higher than that of traditional television systems . HDTV has one or two million pixels per frame, roughly five times that of SD...
and data.
Overview
An Ultra Density Optical disc or UDO is a 133.35 mm (5.25") ISO cartridge optical disc which can store up to 30 GB of data. The second generation UDO2 media was introduced in April 2007 and has a capacity of up to 60GBs. Utilising a design based on a Magneto-optical disc, but using Phase Change technology combined with a blue violet laser, a UDO/UDO2 disc can store substantially more data than a magneto-optical disc or MO, because of the shorter wavelengthWavelength
In physics, the wavelength of a sinusoidal wave is the spatial period of the wave—the distance over which the wave's shape repeats.It is usually determined by considering the distance between consecutive corresponding points of the same phase, such as crests, troughs, or zero crossings, and is a...
(405 nm
Nanometre
A nanometre is a unit of length in the metric system, equal to one billionth of a metre. The name combines the SI prefix nano- with the parent unit name metre .The nanometre is often used to express dimensions on the atomic scale: the diameter...
) of the blue-violet laser employed. MOs use a 650 nm-wavelength red laser. Because its beam width is shorter when burning to a disc than a red-laser for MO, a blue-violet laser allows more information to be stored digitally in the same amount of space.
Current generations of UDO2 media store up to 60 GB. According to Plasmon, desktop UDO2 drives are priced at around US $5400.
A 30GB UDO2 Write Once is US $75.
History
UDO optical discOptical disc
In computing and optical disc recording technologies, an optical disc is a flat, usually circular disc which encodes binary data in the form of pits and lands on a special material on one of its flat surfaces...
storage media was developed as a replacement for the 9.1 GB Magneto-optical digital storage medium. Ultra Density Optical first announced by Sony
Sony
, commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate measured by revenues....
on November 1, 2000. It was later adopted with heavy investment by Plasmon, a UK technology company with extensive experience with computer archival backup systems and solutions.
Currently UDO/UDO2 is being championed by its development partners Plasmon, Asahi Pentax
Asahi Pentax
The Asahi Pentax series, by the , was a pivotal development in modern photography. It was the first model of Pentax camera.- Background :In 1957, the Asahi Optical Company introduced the Pentax, a 35 mm Single-lens reflex camera camera which was so well received that it influenced the design...
(responsible for the opto-mechanical assembly design), Mitsubishi Chemical, parent company of the Verbatim
Verbatim Corporation
Verbatim Americas, LLC is a US company that markets storage media and flash memory products. It is a subsidiary of Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings Corporation of Japan and is based in Charlotte, North Carolina.-History:...
media storage brand, and various computer and IT solutions companies. Mitsubishi Chemical is the second major development partner of UDO media and the sole manufacturer of UDO media as of the 4th quarter of 2008.
November 10, 2008 – Plasmon creditors (led by Silicon Valley Bank) closed down Plasmon LMS (company) as CEO Stephen "FX" Murphy was not able to secure funding to keep the money-losing company afloat. The UDO media factory in the UK was shut down, dismantled.
January 13, 2009 Alliance Storage Technologies, a Colorado Springs Manufacturer of optical technology and Service Provider, acquired the assets of Plasmon (including UDO and UDO2 technology) in an liquidation sale. ASTI currently sells and supports UDO technologies sold under the Plasmon brand.
Writing technology
UDO uses a Phase Change recording process that permanently alters the molecular structure of the disc surface.Disc format
There are three versions of UDO/UDO media: a True WORM (Write Once Read ManyWrite Once Read Many
A Write Once Read Many or WORM drive is a data storage device where information, once written, cannot be modified. On ordinary data storage devices, the number of times data can be modified is not limited, except by the rated lifespan of the device, as modification involves physical changes that...
), an R/W (Re-Writable), and Compliant WORM (shreddable WORM).
Rewritable
The UDO Rewritable format uses a specially formulated Phase Change recording surface that allows recorded data to be deleted and modified. In practice, UDO Rewritable media operates like a standard magnetic disc. Files can be written, erased and rewritten, dynamically reallocating disc capacity. Rewritable media is typically used in archive applications where the stability and longevity of optical media is important, but the archive records change on a relatively frequent or discretionary basis. Rewritable media is typically used in archive environments where data needs to be deleted or media capacity re-used.True write once
The UDO True Write Once format uses a different phase change recording surface than the Rewritable media. Unlike Rewritable media, the write once recording surface cannot be erased or altered, making Write Once the most stable in terms of data integrity, because the physical record is kept authentic. This level of data integrity is not usually matched by other magnetic disc or tape technologies using normal write once emulation.
Compliant write once media
UDO Compliant Write Once media has the same operational properties as UDO True Write Once media but with one clear and important difference. Through the use of a specially designed “shred” operation, individual records written to Compliant Write Once media can be destroyed once their retention period expires.
The shred function is controlled at an application level and operates only on Compliant Write Once media. there are no known applications supporting this feature.
Magneto-optical comparison
The table below summarizes the differences between conventional Magneto-Optical specifications and those of the enhancedUltra Density Optical disc.
| Disc | 5.25-inch UDO Rewriteable | 5.25-inch UDO Write Once | 5.25-inch MO system (9.1 GB) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Disc diameter | 130 mm | 130 mm | 130 mm |
| Disc thickness | 2.4 mm | 2.4 mm | 2.4 mm |
| Cartridge size | Same as ISO 130 mm (135 x 153 x 11 mm) | Same as ISO 130 mm (135 x 153 x 11 mm) | ISO 130 mm (135 x 153 x 11 mm) |
| Number of physical tracks | 96,964 | 96,964 | 49,728 |
| Sector size | 8 kB | 8 kB | 4 kB |
| Number of sectors | 2,504,407 | 2,504,407 | 1,118,880 |
| Data area | 29.0-61.0 mm | 29.0-61.0 mm | 29.7-62.5 mm |
| Laser wavelength | Violet (405 nm) | Violet (405 nm) | 660 nm |
| Objective lens (NA) | 0.85 | 0.85 | 0.575 |
| Recording layer | Phase change | Phase change | Magneto-optical |
| Recording format | Land & groove | Land & groove | Land & groove |
| Recording side | Both sides | Both sides | Both sides |
| Track pitch | 0.33 µm | 0.33 µm | 0.65 µm |
| Minimum bit length | 0.13 µm | 0.13 µm | 0.3 µm |
| Recording density | 15.0 Gb/in² | 15.0 Gb/in² | 3.3 Gb/in² |
| Transfer rate | 4-8 MB/s | 4-8 MB/s | 3-6 MB/s |
| Error correction | LDC | LDC | LDC |
| Modulation | RLL (1,7) | RLL (1,7) | RLL (1,7) |
Drive mechanism
UDO Drives Specifications Summary- Media Load Time 5 s
- Media Unload Time 3 s
- Average Seek Time 35 ms
- Buffer Memory 32 MB
- Max Sustained Transfer Rate – Read 8 MB/s (this is on the outer diameter of the media only the inner diameter is a max of 4 MB/sec)
- Max Sustained Transfer Rate – Write 4 MB/s (with verification on outer diameter of media only)
- MSBF – Mean Swap Between Failure 750,000 load/unload cycles
- MTBF – Mean Time Between Failure 100,000 hours
- Interface Wide Ultra 2 LVD SCSI
UDO comes in both internal and external drive guises. External drives are also available as part a robotic autoloader. All current drives are designed for heavy duty use.
Laser and optics
UDO systems use a blue-violet laserLaser diode
The laser diode is a laser where the active medium is a semiconductor similar to that found in a light-emitting diode. The most common type of laser diode is formed from a p-n junction and powered by injected electric current...
operating at a wavelength
Wavelength
In physics, the wavelength of a sinusoidal wave is the spatial period of the wave—the distance over which the wave's shape repeats.It is usually determined by considering the distance between consecutive corresponding points of the same phase, such as crests, troughs, or zero crossings, and is a...
of 405 nm, similar to the one used in Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc is an optical disc storage medium designed to supersede the DVD format. The plastic disc is 120 mm in diameter and 1.2 mm thick, the same size as DVDs and CDs. Blu-ray Discs contain 25 GB per layer, with dual layer discs being the norm for feature-length video discs...
, to read and write data. Conventional MOs use red lasers at 660 nm.
The blue-violet laser
Blue laser
A so-called blue laser is a laser that emits electromagnetic radiation at a wavelength of between 360 and 480 nanometres, which the human eye sees as blue or violet. Diode lasers which emit light at 445 nm are becoming popular as handheld lasers. Light of a shorter wavelength than 400 nm is...
's shorter wavelength makes it possible to store more information on a 13 cm sized UDO disc. The minimum "spot size" on which a laser can be focused is limited by diffraction
Diffraction
Diffraction refers to various phenomena which occur when a wave encounters an obstacle. Italian scientist Francesco Maria Grimaldi coined the word "diffraction" and was the first to record accurate observations of the phenomenon in 1665...
, and depends on the wavelength of the light and the numerical aperture
Numerical aperture
In optics, the numerical aperture of an optical system is a dimensionless number that characterizes the range of angles over which the system can accept or emit light. By incorporating index of refraction in its definition, NA has the property that it is constant for a beam as it goes from one...
of the lens
Lens (optics)
A lens is an optical device with perfect or approximate axial symmetry which transmits and refracts light, converging or diverging the beam. A simple lens consists of a single optical element...
used to focus it. By decreasing the wavelength, using a higher numerical aperture (0.85, compared with 0.575 for MO), the laser beam can be focused much more tightly. This produces a smaller spot on the disc than in existing MOs, and allows more information to be physically stored in the same area. http://www.newsandtech.com/issues/2006/03-06/nt/images/26DallasStorage.jpg
The opto-mechanism design of current Plasmon UDO drives was jointly developed with Asahi Pentax.