Abstract: Devices for reading or writing electromagnetic information include a wafer substrate piece disposed between an electromagnetic transducer and an electrostrictive or piezoelectric actuator. The substrate piece is shaped as a rigid body adjoining the transducer and as a flexible element connecting the body and the actuator. To fabricate, at least one electrostrictive layer and many transducers are formed on opposite sides of a wafer that is then cut into rows containing plural transducers. The rows are processed from directions generally normal to the wafer surface upon which the transducers were formed, by removing material to form a head, flexures and a media-facing surface on the head. Conductive leads are formed on a back surface of flexures connecting the transducer with drive electronics. The flexures are aligned with forces arising from interaction with the media surface and from seeking various tracks, reducing torque and dynamic instabilities and increasing actuator access time.

Abstract: Devices for reading or writing electromagnetic information include a wafer substrate piece disposed between an electromagnetic transducer and an electrostrictive or piezoelectric actuator. The substrate piece is shaped as a rigid body adjoining the transducer and as a flexible element connecting the body and the actuator. To fabricate, at least one electrostrictive layer and many transducers are formed on opposite sides of a wafer that is then cut into rows containing plural transducers. The rows are processed from directions generally normal to the wafer surface upon which the transducers were formed, by removing material to form a head, flexures and a media-facing surface on the head. Conductive leads are formed on a back surface of flexures connecting the transducer with drive electronics. The flexures are aligned with forces arising from interaction with the media surface and from seeking various tracks, reducing torque and dynamic instabilities and increasing actuator access time.

Abstract: A host CPU runs a network protocol processing stack that provides instructions not only to process network messages but also to allocate processing of certain network messages to a specialized network communication device, offloading some of the most time consuming protocol processing from the host CPU to the network communication device. By allocating common and time consuming network processes to the device, while retaining the ability to handle less time intensive and more varied processing on the host stack, the network communication device can be relatively simple and cost effective. The host CPU, operating according to instructions from the stack, and the network communication device together determine whether and to what extent a given message is processed by the host CPU or by the network communication device.

Abstract: A load transfer system for a pickup truck includes a frame mounted to the truck bed, a support member slidable in a rearward direction along the frame, a cargo bed slidable along the support member, and an arm that raises the front end of the cargo bed as the cargo bed slides in a rearward direction such that the cargo bed pivots about the rear edge of the support member. The arm raises the front end of the cargo bed as the arm is caught between a point towards the front of the cargo bed and a point further to the rear on the support member. The load transfer system is easy to install and/or remove from the bed or chassis of a vehicle, does not require costly hydraulic equipment, and can be used without removing the tailgate of the vehicle.

Abstract: Methods for reducing feature sizes of devices such as electromagnetic sensors are disclosed. A track width of a MR sensor is defined by a mask having an upper layer with a reduced width and a lower layer with a further reduced width. Instead of or in addition to being supported by the lower layer in the area defining the sensor, the upper layer is supported by the lower layer in areas that do not define the sensor width. In some embodiments the upper layer forms a bridge mask, supported at its ends by the lower layer, and the lower layer is completely removed over an area that will become a sensor. Also disclosed is a mask having more than two layers, with a bottom layer completely removed over the sensor area, and a middle layer undercut relative to a top layer.

Abstract: Electromagnetic transducers are disclosed having write poles with a leading edge that is smaller than a trailing edge, which can reduce erroneous writing for perpendicular recording systems. The write poles may have a trapezoidal shape when viewed from a direction of an associated medium. The write poles may be incorporated in heads or sliders that also contain read elements such as magnetoresistive sensors, and may be employed with information storage systems such as disk drives.

Abstract: An actuator is coupled between a head and flexure and gimbal elements, the actuator providing submicron positioning of the head while reducing undesirable vibrations of the flexure and gimbal elements. Such an actuator may have a frame that surrounds a cavity, the frame having an opening disposed adjacent to the head and a wall disposed on an opposite side of the frame from the opening. One or more active elements are disposed in the cavity and attached to the frame, the active element separated from the wall and having a dimension that varies in size in response to a control signal, with a moveable element coupled to the active element and to the head.

Abstract: An interface device is connected to a host by an I/O bus and provides hardware and processing mechanisms for accelerating data transfers between a network and a storage unit, while controlling the data transfers by the host. The interface device includes hardware circuitry for processing network packet headers, and can use a dedicated fast-path for data transfer between the network and the storage unit, the fast-path set up by the host. The host CPU and protocol stack avoids protocol processing for data transfer over the fast-path, freeing host bus bandwidth, and the data need not cross the I/O bus, freeing I/O bus bandwidth. The storage unit may include RAID or other multiple drive configurations and may be connected to the INIC by a parallel channel such as SCSI or by a serial channel such as Ethernet or Fibre Channel.

Abstract: In one aspect, a laminated structure including a first plurality of layers containing primarily-iron FeCoN interleaved with a second plurality of layers containing primarily iron FeNi is disclosed. The structure has an easy axis of magnetization and a hard axis of magnetization, has a magnetic saturation of at least about twenty-three-thousand Gauss, and has a magnetic coercivity measured substantially along its hard axis of magnetization that is less than two Oersted. Additional elements can be added in minority concentrations to form primarily-iron FeCoN layers with increased resistivity. The laminated structure has applicability in various fields in which high saturation magnetization, magnetically soft materials are advantageous, particularly for inductive heads.

Abstract: A Network Interface device (NI device) coupled to a host computer receives a multi-packet message from a network (for example, the Internet) and DMAs the data portions of the various packets directly into a destination in application memory on the host computer. The address of the destination is determined by supplying a first part of the first packet to an application program such that the application program returns the address of the destination. The address is supplied by the host computer to the NI device so that the NI device can DMA the data portions of the various packets directly into the destination. In some embodiments the NI device is an expansion card added to the host computer, whereas in other embodiments the NI device is a part of the host computer.

Abstract: Perpendicular recording and magnetoresistive sensing transducers are disclosed having additional coil windings carrying current in an opposite direction to windings encircled by a core. The magnetic influence of the recording transducer on the sense transducer is reduced or eliminated. The inductance of the coils used to drive the recording transducer is reduced, facilitating high-frequency operation. Moreover, the magnetic flux induced by the coils and transmitted by the recording pole tip is increased, improving recording capabilities.

Abstract: An intelligent network interface card (INIC) or communication processing device (CPD) works with a host computer for data communication. The device provides a fast-path that avoids protocol processing for most messages, greatly accelerating data transfer and offloading time-intensive processing tasks from the host CPU. The host retains a fallback processing capability for messages that do not fit fast-path criteria, with the device providing assistance such as validation even for slow-path messages, and messages being selected for either fast-path or slow-path processing. A context for a connection is defined that allows the device to move data, free of headers, directly to or from a destination or source in the host. The context can be passed back to the host for message processing by the host. The device contains specialized hardware circuits that are much faster at their specific tasks than a general purpose CPU.

Abstract: An inductive transducer has inorganic nonferromagnetic material disposed in an apex region adjacent to a submicron nonferromagnetic gap in a magnetic core. The inorganic nonferromagnetic material has a much lower coefficient of thermal expansion than that of hardbaked photoresist, reducing pole tip protrusion even if other insulation surrounding the coil sections within the core is made of hardbaked photoresist. Alternatively, the entire insulation surrounding the coil sections within the core, in addition to the apex region, can be formed of inorganic nonferromagnetic material, further reducing pole tip protrusion. The transducer has SiO2 rather than alumina in an undercoat layer joining the wafer substrate and the thin film layers of the transducer. SiO2 may also replace alumina in other areas, such as a piggyback layer joining the inductive transducer with a magnetoresistive transducer.

Abstract: A tunneling barrier for a spin dependent tunneling (SDT) device is disclosed that includes a plurality of ferromagnetic atoms disposed in a substantially homogenous layer. The presence of such atoms in the tunneling barrier is believed to increase a magnetoresistance or &Dgr;R/R response, improving the signal and the signal to noise ratio. Such an increase &Dgr;R/R response also offers the possibility of decreasing an area of the tunnel barrier layer. Decreasing the area of the tunnel barrier layer can afford improvements in resolution of devices such as MR sensors and increased density of devices such as of MRAM cells.

Abstract: A method of making an inductive transducer having inorganic nonferromagnetic material disposed in an apex region adjacent to a submicron nonferromagnetic gap in a magnetic core. The inorganic nonferromagnetic apex region can be made by chemical etching of a layer of inorganic nonferromagnetic material, deposition of inorganic nonferromagnetic material through a mask that is then lifted-off, or anisotropic etching of a layer of inorganic nonferromagnetic material that is covered by a hardbaked photoriesist mask.

Abstract: In one aspect, an inductive transducer is disclosed having a leading pole layer and a leading pole tip, with the pole layer being further removed than the pole tip from a media-facing surface. In another aspect, an inductive transducer is disclosed having a magnetic pedestal disposed between a leading pole layer and a leading pole tip, with at least one of the pedestal and pole layer being further removed than the pole tip from a media-facing surface. In another aspect, a leading pole layer or pedestal may have a surface that slopes away from the media-facing surface with increasing distance forward from the leading pole tip.

Abstract: An inductive transducer having first and second magnetic pedestals disposed between first and second magnetic pole layers and adjacent to a media-facing surface, the pedestals separated by a submicron, nonmagnetic gap. The first pedestal extends less than the second pedestal from the media-facing surface, defining a short throat height. The second pedestal extends further to provide sufficient area for stitching to the second pole layer. The stitching and the thickness provided by the pedestals allow plural coil layers to be disposed between the pole layers, and the second pedestal, as well as other features, can be defined by high-resolution photolithography. The two coil layers have lower resistance, lower inductance and allow the pole layers to be shorter, improving performance. All or part of either or both of the pedestals may be formed of high magnetic saturation material, further enhancing performance.

Abstract: An electrically conductive sidewall for an electromagnetic transducer having a magnetoresistive sensor is formed as a layer oriented substantially perpendicular to other layers of the sensor, and is used as a mask for defining the width of the sensor. This allows the sensor to be made much thinner than conventional sensors, providing higher resolution in a track width direction. The sidewall can be nonmagnetic, serving as a spacer between the magnetic sensor layers and an adjacent magnetic shield without the need for a protective cap to guard against damage from polishing and wet etching. Alternatively, the sidewall can be magnetic, serving as an extension of the shield. In either case, the sidewall reduces the effective length of the sensor for linear resolution, sharpening the focus of the sensor and increasing linear density. Also reduced is the tolerance for error in sensor width and length.

Abstract: A host CPU runs a network protocol processing stack that provides instructions not only to process network messages but also to allocate processing of certain network messages to a specialized network communication device, offloading some of the most time consuming protocol processing from the host CPU to the network communication device. By allocating common and time consuming network processes to the device, while retaining the ability to handle less time intensive and more varied processing on the host stack, the network communication device can be relatively simple and cost effective. The host CPU, operating according to instructions from the stack, and the network communication device together determine whether and to what extent a given message is processed by the host CPU or by the network communication device.

Abstract: At least one intelligent network interface card (INIC) is coupled to a host computer to offload protocol processing for multiple network connections, reducing the protocol processing of the host. Plural network connections can maintain, via plural INIC ports and a port aggregation switch, an aggregate connection with a network node, increasing bandwidth and reliability for that aggregate connection. Mechanisms are provided for managing this aggregate connection, including determining which port to employ for each individual network connection, and migrating control of an individual network connection from a first INIC to a second INIC.