Abstract: A disk and spindle motor assembly of a rotating disk drive is constrained from freely rotating when not in use to reduce fretting of the spindle assembly bearings in the presence of vibration. Preferably, a small electric current is driven through at least one of the spindle motor drive coils to hold the spindle assembly in a fixed angular position while the disk drive is not in use. The spindle motor is preferably a brushless DC motor comprising a multi-phase electrically driven stator and a permanent magnet rotor. Drive transistors normally drive the different phases under control of a processor. To constrain the drive, at least one of the drive transistors for a phase is activated. The rotor is preferably rotated periodically to a different angular position by driving a different phase of the stator. The rotor is alternatively constrained by mechanical means. The exemplary environment is an on-board motor vehicle application.

Abstract: A disk drive has on-board soft error recovery procedures for recovering data following a soft error, and the capability to selectively disable or limit this feature. Preferably, a set of data storage devices are used to store heterogeneous data, i.e., to store some alphanumeric data, and some multimedia data. If a disk drive is selected for storage of multimedia data, the soft error recovery is disabled, and soft errors are simply transmitted to the host system as data. If each disk surface may be independently allocated to data of different types, soft error recovery may be independently disabled for each disk surface.

Abstract: In accordance with the present invention, a unique caller is identified from an incoming call transmission at a messaging system. A particular greeting announcement is played to the unique caller from among multiple greeting announcements recorded at the messaging system, wherein the particular greeting announcement was previously specified by a subscriber of the messaging system for the unique caller. In a preferred embodiment, the subscriber of the messaging system is preferably enabled to specify multiple greeting announcements by caller for playing prior to switching to a single subscriber mailbox at the messaging system.

Abstract: A cordless communication and control device has a handset that includes communications equipment and remote control equipment. The communications equipment provides cordless telephone functionality, and the remote control equipment provides for remote control of one or more entertainment appliances. The handset also includes a mode controller in communication with the communications equipment and the remote control equipment. The mode controller provides at least one convenience mode. When a convenience mode is active, the mode controller responds to detection of an incoming call by automatically limiting utilization of the communications equipment and/or one or more entertainment appliances, based on the active convenience mode. In a first embodiment, the cordless communication and control device automatically limits the utilization by automatically preventing the communications equipment from producing an audible indication of the incoming call.

Abstract: A master-slave latch circuit for a multithreaded processor stores information for multiple threads. The basic cell contains multiple master elements, each corresponding to a respective thread, selection logic coupled to the master elements for selecting a single one of the master outputs, and a single slave element coupled to the selector logic. Preferably, the circuit supports operation in a scan mode for testing purposes. In scan mode, one or more elements which normally function as master elements, function as slave elements. When operating in scan mode using this arrangement, the number of master elements in the pair of cells equals the number of slave elements, even though the number of master elements exceeds the number of slave elements during normal operation, permitting data to be successively scanned through all elements of the circuit.

Abstract: A method and system for arbitrating data transfers between devices connected via electronically isolated buses at a switch. In accordance with the method and system of the present invention, multiple arbitration controllers are interposed between devices and a switch to which the devices are connected, wherein each of the multiple arbitration controllers are effective to select a data transfer operation and detect collisions between said selected data transfer operations. The switch is enabled for any selected data transfer operations between which collisions are not detected. The switch is also enabled for only one of the selected data transfer operations between which collisions are detected. Any selected data transfer operations for which the switch is not enabled are deferred.

Abstract: In a maximum likelihood sequence detector for symbol sequences which were equalized in a PR4 equalizer, noise prediction means (35) are provided including infinite impulse response (IIR) filtering, which have noise-whitening capabilities and are imbedded into the maximum likelihood detection process. The resulting INPML detector (10) can be implemented in digital or analog circuit technology. In addition, a DC-notch filter (44a) and a stochastic gradient procedure can be provided for DC offset compensation and for MR head or signal asymmetry compensation.

Abstract: An apparatus for dispensing a multiple-component substance from a multiple-barrel cartridge (e.g., a two-barrel adhesive cartridge) includes a housing having a slot for receiving a flange of the cartridge. Preferably, the housing includes a pivoting latch that rigidly secures the flange within the slot. Plungers positioned within the housing are received by the barrels of the cartridge. A motor, which is disposed in the housing and controlled by a microprocessor, is mechanically connected to the plungers and drives the plungers within the barrels. The motor may be connected to the plungers through a lead screw assembly, for example. Preferably, the housing is handheld for ease of operation and remote from a control unit containing the microprocessor. The control unit may include a keypad and screen, operatively connected to the microprocessor, for data entry and display. The dispensing apparatus permits precise placement of two-component adhesives, for example.

Abstract: A self-identifying keyboard is provided with customization logic which allows the keyboard processor to assign a keyboard identification (ID) value. The keyboard processor is interconnected to a data channel interface adapted to communicate with a host system. The host system can send a query for the ID value, via the data interface, and the keyboard processor can retrieve the ID value from a non-volatile memory, and transmit it back to the host system via the data channel interface. This customization approach simplifies system integration, by letting the host system automatically learn the keyboard type. The ID value may indicate a particular language of the keyboard. At the time of final system assembly, the same host system, or another suitably programmed manufacturing system can be used to assign the keyboard ID, when it is known what language or other unique functionality is used in the end-user product.

Abstract: A disk drive with a detector circuit is connected to the distal end of a two-stage actuator. The actuator has a micro actuator for fine track positioning of a read/write head relative to a disk. Intermittent contact between the head and the disk produces forces that are detected and measured by the micro actuator drive circuitry. These measurements are used to determine if excessive contact is occurring between the head and the disk. Alternatively, the present invention also uses a differential method where the output signals from multiple micro actuators are compared to improve noise immunity. In addition, comparisons between the forces at the proximal and distal ends of the micro actuators are used to better identify the source of such forces. For example, this allows the system to distinguish between common mode forces such as those generated by windage and flex cable bias, from forces generated by intermittent head-disk contacts.

Abstract: A method of handling an interrupt request in a computer system by programmably setting an override address associated with a specific interrupt service routine, and servicing an interrupt request based on the override address, which is different from a power-on default address associated with the same interrupt service routine. The method may determine whether the interrupt service routine is critical and, if so, set the override address to a physical location in the on-chip memory of the processing unit, instead of in the off-chip memory (RAM). Override address registers are accessed via the special purpose registers of the processing unit. A validation bit may be turned on in response to the setting of the override address, with both the default address and the override address being provided as separate inputs to a multiplexing device controlled by the validation bit. The override address is forwarded from the multiplexing device to an instruction fetch unit whenever the validation bit has been set.

Abstract: A task oriented data model for an object oriented development tool. The data model comprises a task oriented structure which mirrors the task tree embodied in the user interface of the object development tool. The object development tool exports the data model as a document expressed in meta data language such as XML. The XML data model document comprises a series of data elements which are arranged according to a meta data model to mirror the user interface task tree. The meta data model is implemented in XML as a Document Type Definition and comprises containment relationships defined by XML constructs. The task oriented data model provides granularity for exporting and importing data elements, and also facilitates locating data elements of interest in the data model.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a method, system, and program product for utilizing metawords to find electronic documents. According to the method of the present invention, a user specifies an initial search expression that includes at least one metaword. It is determined that the at least one metaword corresponds to a boolean expression, and, in response, an expanded search expression is generated. The expanded search expression includes the boolean expression in lieu of the at least one metaword, such that the expanded search expression is utilized in lieu of the initial search expression to find the electronic documents. In an illustrative embodiment, the determining step includes the step of determining that one or more terms and a count qualifier are associated with the at least one metaword. The count qualifier specifies a threshold number of occurrences of the one or more terms within a single electronic document.

Abstract: A method, system, and program product for generating a window scroll-bar. In the preferred embodiment, a controller displays the window scroll-bar on a display screen. The window scroll-bar contains sections associated with respective windows on the display. The window scroll-bar also contains a slider, which moves within a section and between sections. As the slider moves within a particular section, the window associated with that section moves on the display toward the nearest boundary of the display. Thus, by moving the window scroll-bar slider, the user can move overlapping windows out of the way and find the window of interest.

Abstract: A linked list has an associated auxiliary data structure, containing external references to the linked list which are used by updating tasks. The auxiliary data structure is used to block subsets of the linked list from being altered by other tasks. Preferably, the linked list is doubly-linked, and list maintenance is accomplished using object-oriented programming techniques. The auxiliary data structure is an object, which comprises iterator objects, including inspector objects and mutator objects, blocker objects and view objects. Iterator objects are used by clients to access the linked list externally. An inspector object traverses the list without changing it; while a mutator alters the list, and may traverse it as well. Both inspectors and mutators have associated view objects, which contain the pointers to the actual list elements. Mutators also have associated blocker objects, which block access to selected list elements.

Abstract: A method for prefetching data for a cache memory from a mass-storage device having a controller that executes a plurality of reordered commands. The method includes predetermining an extra time interval for each of the plurality of reordered commands. Next, prior to executing the next reordered command, data located subsequent to data requested from a committed command is prefetched utilizing the predetermined extra time interval of the next command. In a related embodiment, the method includes executing a command reordering algorithm during which the seek and latency time periods of each of the plurality of reordered commands is computed.

Abstract: A digital data storage device such as a rotating magnetic disk drive contains an on-board condition monitoring system, comprising a neural network coupled to multiple inputs derived from measured parameters of disk drive operation. The neural network uses a configurable set of weights to compute one or more quantities representing disk drive condition as a function of the various inputs. The weights are stored in a configuration table, which can be overwritten by a host computer. The drive is sold and installed with one set of weights, based on the then existing knowledge of the disk drive designers, and may be updated in the field as the designers acquire experience data by simply writing the weights to the configuration table of the disk drive, without altering disk drive control code or other disk drive features.

Abstract: A set of data storage devices are used to store heterogeneous data, i.e., to store some alphanumeric data, and some multimedia data. The internal operating parameters of the storage devices are monitored, and data is selectively stored by matching the type of data to the internal operating parameters of the storage devices. Preferably, the set of data storage devices is a RAID system containing multiple rotating magnetic disk drive storage devices. The system monitors the operating temperature, the soft error rate, the head flyheight, and the actuator performance of the drives in the system. A fuzzy logic classification system is used to generate a set of fuzzy classification scores evaluating each drive as most appropriate to one of three types of data: alphanumeric, graphics/sound, or video. A drive is selected for storing a type of data according to the fuzzy classification scores.

Abstract: A disk drive contains an integrally-formed one-piece hub, clamp and rotor housing, which is preferably injection-molded plastic. In the preferred embodiment, the hub includes a hollow cylindrical portion for surrounding a set of bearings mounted on a central shaft, and a flange portion extending from the middle of the cylinder and supporting a single disk. Compliant clamping fingers on the upper surface of the flange engage the disk through its central hole. The fingers are inclined slightly outward, and include a pawl at the end of each finger. During assembly, the disk is forced over the pawls of the fingers until they engage the disk. The fingers, being slightly elastic, will deform to permit the disk to slide over the pawls, and then return to lock the disk in place. The fingers automatically center the disk about the hub axis, without the need for centering tools. The hub also serves as a housing for the rotor of a spindle motor which rotates the disk.

Abstract: An internal processor/memory bus contains an address portion for transmitting addresses and commands, having a series of hierarchical uni-directional links between processors and local repeaters (ARPs), and between the ARPs and a central repeater (ASW). A command propagates from a requesting device to its local ARP, to the ASW. From the ASW, the command is broadcast to all devices on the bus by transmitting to all ARPs or directly attached memory, and from the ARPs to the devices. Preferably, the ASW globally arbitrates the address bus, and all commands propagate at pre-defined clock cycles through the bus. Preferably, each device on the bus independently signals a response via a separate response link running directly to a global collector, which collects all responses and broadcasts a single system-wide response back to the devices.