Abstract: A magnetic head comprising a first layer containing NiFe having a concentration of iron that is at least thirty percent and not more than seventy percent; a second layer that adjoins the first layer and contains FeCoN having a concentration of iron that is greater than the second layer's concentration of cobalt, having a concentration of nitrogen that is less than the second layer's concentration of cobalt and less than three percent; and a third layer containing FeCoNi having a concentration of nickel that is less than eight percent, having a concentration of cobalt that is less than the third layer's concentration of iron and greater than the third layer's concentration of nickel, the third layer adjoining only one of the first and second layers. The first and second layers may be repeated to form a magnetically soft high BS laminate for a pole layer.

Abstract: A network interface device couples a host computer to a network. The network interface device includes a processor and a DMA controller. The processor causes the DMA controller to perform multiple DMA commands before the processor takes a particular software branch. The processor issues the DMA commands by placing the DMA commands in a memory and then pushing values indicative of the DMA commands onto a DMA command queue. The values are popped off the DMA command queue and are executed by the DMA controller one at a time. The DMA commands are executed in the same order that they were issued by the processor. The processor need not monitor multiple DMA commands to make sure they have all been completed before the software branch is taken, but rather the processor pops a DMA command complete queue to make sure that the last of the DMA commands has been completed.

Abstract: An apparatus that reduces sampling errors for data communicated between devices uses phase information acquired from a timing reference signal such as a strobe signal to align a data-sampling signal for sampling a data signal that was sent along with the timing reference signal. The data-sampling signal may be provided by adjustably delaying a clock signal according to the phase information acquired from the strobe signal. The data-sampling signal may also have an improved waveform compared to the timing reference signal, including a fifty percent duty cycle and sharp transitions. The phase information acquired from the timing reference signal may also be used for other purposes, such as aligning received data with a local clock domain, or transmitting data so that it arrives at a remote device in synchronism with a reference clock signal at the remote device.