Mempile claims 1TB DVD-size optical disc

The company demonstrated the concept to several Japanese manufacturers by recording and reading over 100 virtual layers on a single DVD-sized optical disc.

The demonstration showed Mempile's capability of recording at least 500GB of data on what appears to be a simple plastic transparent disc.

This is 300GB more than the announced roadmap of competing blue-laser technologies in 2010. Current high definition optical formats such as Blu-ray can store up to 50GB of data.

"From iPods to Tivo, the amount of digital content that consumers are recording and storing in their homes is increasing like never before," said Avi Huppert, chief executive at Mempile.

"The resulting problem is that the information is stored as 'islands' on various devices as well as on home PCs, which often function as a central repository by backing up the content of the devices, with the inherent risk of the hard disk drive crashing.

"Mempile's TeraDisc technology will, for the first time, enable consumers to permanently store 1TB of data on a single, removable DVD-size disc at a fraction of the price of alternative solutions on the market."

Existing optical media stores data through the use of light-reflective semi-transparent technologies. While increasing in capacity, even the newer blue-laser technologies are limited to a very small number of layers.

The partial reflection from the multiple layers leads to signal reduction simultaneously raising background noise and coherent interferences.

Mempile uses a patented non-linear two-photon technology that allows for 3D recording of transparent virtual layers on the entire volume of the disc.

The recent demonstration proved that more than 100 layers could be recorded and read, showing storage capabilities of slightly less than 300GB over a thickness of 0.6mm of active material.

Mempile has increased this active material to 1.2mm, the thickness of a DVD, which is able to record and read at least 500GB of data.

Future optimisation over the next few years will allow the recording of 200 layers and of up to 5GB of data per layer, totalling 1TB of data per disc.

Current estimates are that units will reach 25Mbps for writing and at least double that for reading during 2008.

Dr Beth Erez, chief marketing officer at Mempile, told vnunet.com that the firm hopes to introduce products using this technology by 2010, initially aimed at the archiving enterprise market.

The units will sell for around US$2,000 to US$3,000 with discs probably retailing around US$40.

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