Fujitsu and Sony Expand GIGAMO Standard to 2.3GB

Tokyo, March 21, 2001 -- Fujitsu Limited and Sony Corporation today announced that they have enhanced the 3.5-inch magneto-optical (MO) GIGAMO(1*) disk drive standard to accommodate an increase in memory capacity from 1.3GB to 2.3GB. Fujitsu developed the new drive and Sony worked to improve the media that comply with the new standard, and both companies are now working to launch compatible products by fall 2001. Fujitsu and Sony will exhibit prototype models of the enhanced GIGAMO standard drive and media at CeBIT 2001, the world's largest IT trade exhibition, which takes place in Hannover (Germany) March 22 - 28.

The new MO products are expected to help facilitate high-speed file backup for commercial systems such as telephone switches and Automated Teller Machines, and they will also be ideal for storing and working with digital video and other large volumes of data. The new standard is fully backward compatible, accommodating all MO media ranging from 128MB to 1.3GB. In addition, it supports the Media ID function (announced in September 2000) for protection of copyrighted online digital content.

The newly developed 2.3GB GIGAMO standard requires minimal modifications to the optical recording/playing head used in the current line of MO drives. Higher-density recording has been made possible by using magnetically induced super resolution (MSR *2) technology together with the land/groove recording method (*3), resulting in increased recording capacity. Multiple magnetic layers of the 2.3GB GIGAMO media have been optimally designed to offer comparable storage reliability and playback/recording durability to that of the existing MO systems.

The following manufacturers will support the new 2.3GB GIGAMO standard:
- Drive manufacturers: Olympus Optical Co., Ltd., Konica Corporation
- Media manufacturers: Teijin Limited, Hitachi Maxell, Ltd., Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation, Ritek Corporation.

[Specifications]

*Standard:	2.3GB GIGAMO	Original GIGAMO	ISO/IEC 15041
*Cartridge size:	90x94x6(mm)	90x94x6(mm)	90x94x6(mm)
*Memory capacity/ cartridge size:	2.3GB	1.3GB	540 & 640MB
*Sector size:	2048 Bytes	2048 Bytes	512 & 2048 Bytes
*Track pitch:	0.67 micrometer	0.90 micrometer	1.10 micrometer
*Bit length of MO area:	0.233 micrometer	0.29 micrometer	0.49 micrometer
*Track memory density (ID): 2200 channel bits/mm 2634 channel bits/mm 3125 channel bits/mm (MO): 6601 channel bits/mm 5268 channel bits/mm 3125 channel bits/mm
*Recording start position:	outer track	outer track	inner track

[Terminology]
(*1) GIGAMO:
The 3.5-inch MO format standard for drives and media over 1GB in capacity, which was jointly developed by Fujitsu and Sony. New 2.3GB standard has now been introduced, in addition to existing 1.3GB standard. Both 2.3GB and 1.3GB standards are compatible with the ISO/IEC MO standard.

(*2) MSR (magnetically induced super resolution):
Magneto-optical recording technology has made it possible to achieve high linear and tracking density, with minimal modifications to the conventional optical head, as well as gigabyte-level storage volume. MSR is not susceptible to optical factors affecting beam diameter during playback. It utilizes temperature distribution and magnetism to make a smaller effective beam spot than can be achieved through optical technology alone. In addition, it can read and recognize marks recorded magnetically on a sub-optical scale.

(*3) Land/groove recording:
A method in which the guiding grooves for tracking as well as the area between the guiding grooves (land area) are used for the recording space, resulting in higher density recording.

* All company/product names mentioned may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders and are used for identification purposes only.