Abstract

This paper considers the efficient storage of temporary information on optical data disks. Information that is stored in a digital memory can broadly be regarded as temporary or permanent. Temporary data is to be retained by the memory for some finite length of time after which it will be updated or forgotten. From a coding point of view, an optical disk can be described as follows. Binary data can be stored on the disk by associating the letter 0 with a blank and the letter 1 with a mark. Initially, a virgin disc consists of n blanks (n can be quite large, on the order of 10"). Marks are permanently written on the disk by the use of a laser. Once data is written on the disk, the ability to write future data is hampered by the existence of previously written 1’s.

© 1983 Optical Society of America