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Performance
of 50 Completed ATP Projects
Status
Report - Number 2
NIST SP 950-2
Chapter
4 - Electronics, Computer Hardware & Communications
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ETOM
Technologies, Inc.
(formerly Optex Communications, Inc.)
Packing More Data Into Optical
Data-Storage Disks
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| Optical
data-storage devices, typically CD-ROMs (compact disk, read-only memory),
have taken the desktop computer market by storm, becoming a standard
part of almost every computer sold. Just five years ago they were
included in such equipment only by special order. Now, millions of
these devices are manufactured and installed every year. |
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COMPOSITE
PERFORMANCE SCORE
(Based on a four star rating.)
No Stars
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Optical disks hold
much more data than conventional magnetic hard or floppy disks, the alternative
data-storage technology. The optical devices employ the same technology
used with music CDs: a laser stores the data by pitting the disk surface
in a pattern that can be read by another laser. When it was introduced,
a conventional plastic CD-ROM could hold 650 megabytes of data, whereas
typical hard disks then held fewer than 50 megabytes. Optical disks, however,
could be written only once, and the drive mechanism was much slower than
magnetic hard disk drives.
New technology is
addressing both deficiencies. Optical-disk-drive speeds have increased
substantially, and several techniques for enabling the device to write
new data are now commercially available. This project with ETOM Technologies,
a small start-up company, developed technology that greatly increases
the amount of data that can be stored on optical disks.
Large Jump in Storage
Capacity
The ETOM technology uses a glass, rather than plastic, disk onto which
is laid a light-sensitive substrate that can be written and read by the
lasers in conventional CD-ROM drives. The core technology is called electron-trapping
optical memory (ETOM). Data are written to the substrate by a low-power
laser tuned to a specific frequency. The laser light raises individual
electrons in the substrate to an elevated energy level, where they are
trapped indefinitely. The data are read by a second laser, which releases
the trapped electrons to return to their lower energy state, emitting
a light signal in the process.
In addition to being
a write-and-read device, the ETOM disk is able to store data at multiple
energy levels, giving it the ability to use “multiple-ary” digits,
as opposed to the binary digits (having two energy levels) used in conventional
magnetic data storage. This capability greatly increases the amount of
data that can be placed on the disk. For example, a byte (group of eight
digits) using binary digits can store 256 different numbers. A byte using
a polynary digit with three energy levels, however, can store 6,561 numbers.
Thus, the use of just three different energy levels instead of two increases
the disk’s storage capacity more than 25 times.
Unforeseen Obstacles
Block Commercialization
The company planned to manufacture and sell ETOM-based digital video recording
products if the technology could be successfully developed. The technology
was developed. But barriers arose that made it impossible to offer a cost-effective
video CD-ROM. The company needed a green laser, but a commercial supply
of them did
not materialize as expected. Nor did the market materialize for a video-on-demand
device, which would have used the video CD-ROM to temporarily store movies
and other videos downloaded by viewer request from a cable-TV company.
After attempting to
develop additional technologies to enable it to survive, ETOM ran into
severe financial problems in late 1997. Private investors in ETOM decided
it could not continue to operate without the business from a partnership
to commercialize one of these technologies — a deal that ultimately
fell through — so they decided to close ETOM. It ceased operations
in January 1998 and filed for bankruptcy two months later.
ATP Critical to Developing
New Technology
ETOM reports that if it had not received the $1.4 million ATP award, it
could not have performed the research and
probably would not have survived as a company long enough to conduct the
research. It encountered difficulties in bringing to market an optical
disk device incorporating its new technology. Even though the company
is no longer in business, the new approaches developed in this ATP project
may eventually be picked up and used by some other company.
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Project
Highlights
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PROJECT:
To develop new optical disk data-storage technology capable of recording
digital video information on an ETOM (electron trapping optical
memory) optical disk, a development that could substantially reduce
the cost of storing digital information.
Duration: 2/15/1993 — 12/31/1994
ATP Number: 92-01-0122
FUNDING (in
thousands):
| ATP |
$1,433
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56%
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| Company |
1,118
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44%
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| Total |
$2,551
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ACCOMPLISHMENTS:
ETOM demonstrated the ability to store data in a radically new optical
data-storage mode. The company completed header pattern definition,
mask fabrication, and software for reading and writing M-ary (multiple-ary,
as opposed to binary) data and developed specialized test equipment.
It also:
- received
12 patents for technologies related to the ATP project:
“Partial Response Coding for a Multilevel Optical Recording
Channel”
(No. 5,537,382: filed 11/22/1994, granted 7/16/1996),
“M=7 (3,7) Runlength Limited Code for Multilevel Data”
(No. 5,657,014: filed 5/12/1995, granted 8/12/1997),
“M=5 (0,2) Runlength Limited Code for Multilevel Data”
(No. 5,659,310: filed 5/12/1995, granted 8/19/1997),
“M=6 (2,4) Runlength Limited Code for Multilevel Data”
(No. 5,659,311: filed 5/12/1995, granted 8/19/1997),
“M=10 (3,6) Runlength Limited Code for Multilevel Data”
(No. 5,663,722: filed 5/12/1995, granted 9/2/1997),
“M=7 (1,3) Runlength Limited Code for Multilevel Data”
(No. 5,663,723: filed 5/12/1995, granted 9/2/1997),
“M=6 (3,6) Runlength Limited Code for Multilevel Data”
(No. 5,668,546: filed 5/12/1995, granted 9/16/1997),
“M=5 (3,7) Runlength Limited Code for Multilevel Data”
(No. 5,670,956: filed 5/12/1995, granted 9/23/1997),
“M=5 (4,11) Runlength Limited Code for Multilevel Data”
(No. 5,675,330: filed 5/12/1995, granted 10/7/1997),
“M=6 (3,8) Runlength Limited Code for Multilevel Data”
(No. 5,680,128: filed 5/12/1995, granted 10/21/1997),
“M=4 (1,2) Runlength Limited Code for Multilevel Data”
(No. 5,682,154: filed 5/12/1995, granted 10/28/1997), and
“M=6 (4,11) Runlength Limited Code for Multilevel Data”
(No. 5,682,155: filed 5/12/1995, granted 10/28/1997);
- applied for
14 additional patents for technologies related to the ATP project;
- prepared
several technical papers for publication or presentation at professional
conferences; and
- entered into
preliminary negotiations with potential users of its patented
M-ary coding algorithms.
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CITATIONS
BY OTHERS OF PROJECT’S PATENTS: See Figure 4.7.
COMMERCIALIZATION
STATUS:
Commercialization of the original data storage device employing
the ATP-funded technology faltered because not all necessary technical
components were available for the system, and the expected market
did not materialize. The company encountered severe financial problems
in late 1997 and declared bankruptcy in March 1998.
OUTLOOK:
Although ETOM’s recent bankruptcy precludes its commercialization
of this technology, substantial knowledge was gained, as reflected
in the patent applications and grants. The possibility exists that
other companies will license and commercialize the technology.
Composite
Performance Score:
No Stars
COMPANY:
ETOM Technologies, Inc.
(formerly Optex Communications, Inc.)
2 Research Court
Rockville, MD 20850
Number of
Employees: 30 at project start, 3 at the end of 1997
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Return to Table
of Contents or go to next section.
Date created: April
2002
Last updated:
April 12, 2005
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