This project seeks to define the design envelope for an optical-drum-storage device utilizing phase-change optical media. Whereas media development has progressed satisfactorily, a feasible mechanical design of a drum employing this media remains to be established and is the goal of Phase I. An engineering model would be constructed in a subsequent phase. The unique mechanical design proposed for the drum has many benefits, including stability, compactness, and ruggedness necessary to support use of the device in either ground-based or spacecraft applications. The proposed configuration will have a maximum capacity of 53 Gigabytes and an access time below 6 milliseconds. The projected physical volume of the proposed device is about one cubic foot. This effort is expected to result in the creation of a new class of high-performance storage devices using low-cost optical media.
Potential Commercial Applications:Applications could be for large, temporary storage buffers with high transfer rates for use with supercomputers, for archival storage of large quantities of scientific, engineering, and satellite imagery data, and for large, complex software systems.STATUS: Phase I Only