19 mm tape drives/libraries- engineered to last at least 15 years.
DST (enterprise storage)
DIS (hybrid data/instrumentation)
DCRsi (ruggedized data recorders)
DST Product roadmap:
1992 Single track density, 15 MB/sec, 25-75-165 GB cartridges
1996 Double track density, 15-20 MB/sec, 50-150-330 GB cartridges
1998 Quad-density (2x linear density), 30-40 MB/sec, 100-300-660 GB
2000 10X density (2x track density + thinner tape), 30-40 MB/sec,
250-750-1.65 GB/TB cartridges
DCR Product roadmap:
1998 - DCRsi 480 - 60 MB/sec
Disk Drive Components
Keepered Media (KM) - applicable to disk drives, floppies, and tape.
Benefits for disk drives:
1) TFI (thin film inductive) - 30-40% post-channel increase in areal capacity at nominal cost (est. <$1.00 per platter).
2) MR (magnetoresistive) - work in progress but significant increases in areal capacity similar to TFI have been demonstrated under lab conditions. KM has also been shown to retard the effects of thermal decay. Ampex thinks KM can also simplify the head design process.
Digital Video
Currently, Ampex generates $8-10 million in recurring royalties from its patent portfolio which contains some of the most basic patents in the video signal processing field. Definite room for expansion.
A jury in Delaware just awarded Ampex $8.1 million, or 3/4 of 1% of $1.1 billion of Mitsubishi products that utilized an Ampex patent that was used to provide the PIP (picture in picture) feature in tv sets. This patent is expiring on July 7, 1997 and, per Ampex, was one of the easiest to prove. There are more patents like this in Ampex's vast patent portfolio. Good foundation for more lawsuits/settlements. Best used as a foundation for new systems/components.
Real risks, real rewards. |
