Holographic Versatile Disc Storage (HVDS)

Author 1: 2: G.la shmi narayana, satya Prasad, II/IV B.tech, ECE, .tech,ECE, J.N.T.U.C.E, .C.E, Ka inada Ph: 9885434320 Ph: 9396861039 E-Mail: E-Mail: narayana_guttina@yahoo.co.in ya_prasad@yahoo.com

Author B.Mani II/IV B J.N.T.U Ka inada.

1. ABSTRACT This paper provides an overview of holographic memory, a developing three-dimens ional data storage system for computers. In order to relay more in-depth concept s of holographic memory, a brief section on the physics of holography is present ed first. Following the bac ground information, methods of modifying holograms t o capture meaningful computer data are covered. Various methods of multiplexing, error corrections are presented and future applications are also provided. This paper will explain how holographic memory could revolutionize next generation c omputers by providing storage for terabytes of information at access times of gi gabits per second. 2. INTRODUCTION

Devices that use light to store and read data have been the bac bone of data sto rage for nearly two decades. Compact discs revolutionized data storage in the ea rly 1980s, allowing multi-megabytes of data to be stored on a disc that has a di ameter of a mere 12 centimeters and a thic ness of about 1.2 millimeters. In 199 7, an improved version of the CD, called a digital versatile disc (DVD), was rel eased, which enabled the storage of full-length movies on a single disc. Although conventional storage methods adapt to the growing needs of computer sys tems, they are reaching their fundamental limits. Often improvements made to the se storage methods decrease access times or reduce the size of stored bits, but the design of such systems is based on serial access, or reading in a one dimens ional streams of bits. Conventional storage also relies on mechanical devices to retrieve data, such as the arm which passes over magnetic platters in a hard dr ive. As computer systems continue to become faster, they will need a way to acce ss larger amounts of data in shorter periods of time. This paper provides a desc ription of holographic memory, a three dimensional data storage system which has fundamental advantages over conventional read/write memory systems. This will cover the way in which data can be stored in a hologram with the diffr action of laser light. Applying these properties to computer memory systems will

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follow, including the description of page data, a method in which another dimen sion is added to the accessing of stored data. Multiplexing is the method of man ipulating the position of a hologram to fit multiple pages of data in the same v olume. The device Holographic memory offers the possibility of storing 1 terabyte (TB) of data in a sugar-cube-sized crystal. Data from more than 1,000 CDs could fit o n a holographic memory system. Most computer hard drives only hold 10 to 40 GB o f data, a small fraction of what a holographic memory system might hold. 1. How Holographic Memory Will Wor A hologram is a bloc or sheet of photosensitive material which records the diff raction of two light sources. To create a hologram, laser light is first split i nto two beams, a source beam and a Reference beam. The source beam is then manipulated and sent into the photosensi tive material. Once inside this material, it intersects the reference beam and t he resulting diffraction of laser Light is recorded on the photosensitive material, resulting in a hologram. Once a hologram is recorded, it can be viewed with only the reference beam. The refer ence beam is projected into the Hologram at the exact angle it was projected during recording. When this light h its the recorded diffraction pattern, the source beam is regenerated out of the refracted light. An exact copy of The source beam is sent out of the hologram and can be read by optical sensors. For example, a hologram that can be obtained from a toy store illustrates this i dea. Precise laser equipment is Used at the factory to create the hologram. A recording material which can recre ate recorded images out of natural light is used so the consumer does not need h igh-tech equipment to view the information stored in the hologram. Natural light becomes the reference beam and human eyes become the optical sensors.

The device first splits a blue argon laser beam into separate reference and obje ct (source) beams. The object beam that carries the information gets expanded so that it fully illuminates a spatial light modulator (SLM). An SLM is simply an LCD panel that displays a page of raw binary data as an array of clear or dar p ixels. To read the stored data, the hologram is illuminated with the reference beam. Ea ch page of the hologram is recorded separately. To record on the hologram, the data in the form of electric signal is converted to optical signals by a page co mposer. The controller generates the address to access the desired page. This re sults in the exposure of a small area of the recording medium through an apertur e. The optical output signal is directed to the exposed area by the deflector. U sing this beam deflecting mechanism, the light (which carries the information) a nd the reference beam are made to interact. The interference pattern is thus rec orded on the hologram. To record a different page, the aperture is moved and the above process is repeated.

For data retrieval, the laser (reference beam) is focused on the appropriate pag e according to the address generated. A photo detector array on the other side o f the hologram records the image of that sub-hologram. 2. Technology behind Holographic Memory Systems Prototypes developed by Lucent and IBM differ slightly, but most holographic dat a storage systems (HDSS) are based on the same concept. Here are the basic compo nents that are needed to construct an HDSS: 1. Blue-green argon laser 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Beam splitters to spilt the laser beam Mirrors to direct the laser beams LCD panel (spatial light modulator) Lenses to focus the laser beams Lithium-niobate crystal or photopolymer Charge-coupled device (CCD) camera

When the blue-green argon laser is fired, a beam splitter creates two beams. One beam, called the object or signal beam, will go straight, bounce off one mirror and travel through a spatial-light modulator (SLM). An SLM is a liquid crystal display (LCD) that shows pages of raw binary data as clear and dar boxes. The i nformation from the page of binary code is carried by the signal beam around to the light-sensitive lithium-niobate crystal. Some systems use a photopolymer in place of the crystal. A second beam, called the reference beam, shoots out the s ide of the beam splitter and ta es a separate path to the crystal. When the two beams meet, the interference pattern that is created stores the data carried by the signal beam in a specific area in the crystal -- the data is stored as a hol ogram. An advantage of a holographic memory system is that an entire page of data can b e retrieved quic ly and at one time. In order to retrieve and reconstruct the ho lographic page of data stored in the crystal, the reference beam is shined into the crystal at exactly the same angle at which it entered to store that page of data. Each page of data is stored in a different area of the crystal, based on t he angle at which the reference beam stri es it. During reconstruction, the beam will be diffracted by the crystal to allow the recreation of the original page that was stored. This reconstructed page is then projected onto the charge-coupl ed device (CCD) camera, which interprets and forwards the digital information to a computer. The ey component of any holographic data storage system is the angle at which t he second reference beam is fired at the crystal to retrieve a page of data. It must match the original reference beam angle exactly. A difference of just a tho usandth of a millimeter will result in failure to retrieve that page of data 1.

Spatial Light Modulator (SLM)

A spatial light modulator is used for creating binary information out of laser light. The SLM is a 2D plane, consisting of pixels which can be turned on and o ff to create binary 1.s and 0.s. An Illustration of this is a window and a window shade. It is possible to pull the shade down over a

A Spatial Light Modulator implemented with a LCD pane l Window to bloc incoming sunlight. If sunlight is desired again, the shade can b e raised. A spatial Light modulator contains a two-dimensional array of .windows . Which are only microns wide. These windows bloc some parts of the incoming la ser light and let other parts go through. The resulting cross section of the las er beam is a two dimensional array of binary data, exactly the same as what was represented in the SLM. After the laser beam is manipulated, it is sent into the Hologram to be recorded. This data is written into the holograms page form. It i s called this due to its representation as a two dimensional plane, or page, of data. 2. Page Data Access

Because data is stored as page data in a hologram, the retrieval of this data mu st also be in this form. Page data access is the method of reading stored data i n sheets, not serially as in conventional Storage systems. It was mentioned in the introduction that conventional storage was reaching its fundamental limits. One such limit is the way data is read in s treams. Holographic Memory reads data in the form of pages instead. For example, if a stream of 32 b its is sent to a processing unit by a conventional read head, a holographic memo ry system would in turn send 32 x 32 bits or 1024 bits due to its added dimension. This provides very fast access times in volumes far greater than serial access methods. The volume could be one Megabit per page using a SLM resolution of 1024 x 1024 bits at 15-20 microns pe r pixel.

3.

MULTIPLEXING

Once one can store a page of bits in a hologram, an interface to a computer can be made. The problem arises, however, that storing only one page of bits is not beneficial. Fortunately, the Properties of holograms provide a unique solution to this dilemma. Unli e magnet ic storage mechanisms which store data on their surface, holographic memories st ore information throughout their whole volume. After a page of data is recorded in the hologram, a small modification to the source beam before it reenters the hologram will record another page of data in the same volume. This method of sto ring multiple pages of data in the hologram is called multiplexing. The thic er the volume becomes, the smaller the modifications to the source beam can be. 4. Angular Multiplexing

When a reference beam recreates the source beam, it needs to beat the same angle it was during recording. A very small alteration in this angle will ma e the re generated source beam disappear. Harnessing this property, angular multiplexing changes the angle of the source b eam by very minuscule amounts after each page of data is recorded (see figure). Depending on the sensitivity of the recording material, thousands of pages of data can be stored in the same hol ogram, at the same point of laser beam entry. Staying away from conventional dat

a access systems which move Mechanical matter to obtain data, the angle of entry on the source beam can be d eflected by high-frequency sound waves in solids. The elimination of mechanical access methods reduces Access times from milliseconds to microseconds.

A simple example of angular multiplexing. A beam steering device is used to Modulate the Angle of incidence of the reference beam.

1.

Wavelength Multiplexing

Used mainly in conjunction with other multiplexing methods, wavelength multiplex ing alters the wavelength of source and reference beams between recordings. Send ing beams to the same point of origin in the recording medium at different wavel engths allows multiple pages of data to be recorded. Due to the small tuning ran ge of lasers, however, this form of multiplexing is limited on its own.

2.

Spatial Multiplexing

Spatial multiplexing is the method of changing the point of entry of source and reference beams into the recording medium. This form tends to brea away from th e non-mechanical paradigm Because either the medium or recording beams must be physically other forms of m ultiplexing to maximize the amount of data stored in the holographic volume. Two commonly used forms of Spatial multiplexing are peristrophic multiplexing and shift multiplexing. 3. ERROR CORRECTION

It is inevitable that storing massive amounts of data in a small volume will be error prone. Factors exist in both the recording and retrieval of information wh ich will be covered in the following subsections, respectively. In order for hol ographic memory systems to be practical in next generation computer systems, a r eliable form of error control needs to be created. 1. Recording Errors

When data is recorded in a holographic medium, certain factor can lead to errone ously recorded data. One major factor is the electronic noise generated by laser beams. When a laser beam is split up (for example, through a SLM), the generated light bleeds into places where light was meant to be bloc ed out. Areas where zero light is desired migh t have minuscule amounts of laser

Light present which mutates its bit representation. For example, if too much lig ht gets recorded into this zero area representing a binary 0, an erroneous chang e to a binary 1 might occur.

Example of a 3x3 array of input bits (a), appended with parity bits (b), returned with an error (c), and located by the chec bits (d) Changes in both the quality of the laser beam and recording material are being r esearched, but these improvements must ta e into consideration the cost-effectiv eness of a holographic memory system. These limitations to current laser beam an d photosensitive technology are some of the main factors for the delay of practi cal holographic memory systems.

2.

Page-Level Parity Bits

Once error-free data is recorded into a hologram, methods which read data bac o ut of it need to be error free as well. Data in page format requires a new way t o provide error control. Current error Control methods concentrate on a stream of bits. Because page data is in the for m of a two dimensional array, error correction needs to ta e into account the ex tra dimension of bits. When a Page of data is written to the holographic media, the page is separated into sma ller two dimensional arrays. These sub sections are appended with an additional row and column of bits. The added bits calculate the parity of each row and colu mn of data. An odd number of bits in a row or column create a parity bit of 1and an even number of bits create a 0. A parity bit where the row and column meet i s also created which is called an overall parity bit. The sub sections are rejoi ned and sent to the holographic medium for recording. When data is read bac fro m storage, another row and column are added called parity chec bits. Because th e row of parity bits evens out the data, the addition or subtraction of a bit of stored data will cause two of the parity chec bits to become a one. The Overall parity chec bit becomes a one and the place of error is calculated. The calculation occurs by finding where the column parity chec bit and the row par ity chec bit meet up in the original data. This erroneous bit is flipped and th e data is read out error free. If there happens to be two or more errors in the original data, the overall parity chec bit becomes a zero and the page is re-re ad.

3. Advantages of Holographic Memory Systems 1. Aside from having a tremendous amount of storage space for data, hologra phic memory systems also have the ability to retrieve data very quic ly, up to a 1 gigabyte per second transfer rate. 2. An advantage of a holographic memory system is that an entire page of da ta can be retrieved quic ly and at one time. The ey component of any holographic data storage system is the angle at which t he second reference beam is fired at the crystal to retrieve a page of data. It must match the original reference beam angle exactly. A difference of just a tho usandth of a millimeter will result in failure to retrieve that page of data

3.

POSSIBLE APPLICATIONS

There are many possible applications of holographic memory. Holographic memory s ystems can potentially provide the high speed transfers and large volumes of fut ure computer systems. One possible application is data mining. Data mining is the process of finding p atterns in large amounts of data. Data mining is used greatly in large databases which hold possible patterns which can t be distinguished by human eyes due to the vast amount of data. Some current computer systems implement data mining, but th e mass amount of storage required is pushing the limits of current data storage systems. The many advances in access times and data storage capacity that hologr aphic memory provides could exceed conventional storage and speed up data mining considerably. This would result in more located patterns in a shorter amount of time. Another possible application of holographic memory is in petaflop computing. A p etaflop is a thousand trillion floating point operations per second. The fast ac cess in extremely large amounts of data provided by holographic memory systems c ould be utilized in petaflop architecture. Clearly advances are needed in more t han memory systems, but the theoretical schematics do exist for such a machine. Optical storage such as holographic memory provides a viable solution to the extreme amount of data which is required for petaflop com puting. 4. CONCLUSION

The future of holographic memory is very promising. The page access of data that holographic memory creates will provide a window into next generation computing by adding another Dimension to stored data. Finding holograms in personal computers might be a bit longer off, however. The large cost of high-tech optical equipment would ma e s mall-scale systems Implemented with holographic memory impractical. Holographic memory will most li ely be used in next generation supercomputers where cost is not as much of an i ssue. Current magnetic storage devices remain far more cost effective than any o ther medium on the mar et. As computer systems evolve, it is not unreasonable to believe that magnetic storage will continue to do so. As mentioned earlier, how ever, these improvements are not made on the conceptual level. The current stora ge in a Personal computer operates on the same principles used in the first magnetic dat a storage devices. The parallel nature of holographic memory has many potential gains on serial storage methods. However, many advances in optical technology and photosensitive materials need t o be made before we find holograms in computer systems.