Methods for partial reverse concatenation for data storage devices using composite codes

A method, comprising:

• receiving a data stream comprising one or more data sets;
• encoding the one or more data sets using a C2 encoding scheme;
• adding a header to each subunit of the one or more data sets after encoding the one or more data sets using the C2 encoding scheme;
• encoding the headers of the one or more data sets with a first modulation encoding scheme after adding the header to each of the one or more C2-encoded data sets;
• encoding data portions of the one or more data sets with a second modulation encoding scheme after adding the headers to each of the one or more C2-encoded data sets;
• encoding portions of the one or more C2-encoded data sets using a C1 encoding scheme after encoding the portions of the one or more C2-encoded data sets with the second modulation encoding scheme;
• combining the C1-encoded portions with the modulation-encoded headers of the one or more C2-encoded data sets using a multiplexer;
• and
• writing the one or more combined C1- and C2-encoded data sets to data tracks of a linear tape open (LTO) format magnetic tape,
• wherein the one or more data sets are encoded using the C2 encoding scheme before any portion of the one or more data sets are encoded using the first modulation encoding scheme, the second modulation encoding scheme, and the C1 encoding scheme.