Abstract: A printed circuit board laminate is disclosed having a high capacitance power distribution core. The power distribution core comprises a pair of conductive plates electrically connected to an array of high capacitance core tiles, separated by a compliant dielectric filler. The resulting capacitance of the power distribution core is sufficient to eliminate the need for decoupling capacitors on a typical printed circuit board. Separate power supply areas of variable decoupling capacitance can be formed for mounted integrated circuits with different power supply requirements. A method for manufacturing such board laminates is also disclosed that is compatible with standard printed circuit board assembly technology.

Abstract: A system and method for fault injection utilizing boundary scan includes the provision of an additional fault injection register to the standard JTAG architecture in order to allow the intentional introduction of faults into a device or module forming part of a system under test. Through the use of the fault injection register of the present invention, faults may be intentionally introduced and the system response to such faults monitored and analyzed independently of the system software and without the use of mechanical probes or the like for introducing the fault. The system and method of the present invention is readily integrated with the existing test functions of the standard IEEE 1149.1 boundary scan architecture.

Abstract: A system for identifying and managing a plurality of objects includes a high data density label. The label includes an optical media portion configured to store data in an optical format. The optical media portion has a high areal density and may be rewritable. The high data density of the label allows a large amount of information to be stored directly on the label. The data can be quickly read from the label without requiring physical contact with the label. A read device is provided for reading data from a selected label. A write device is provided for modifying the data in a selected label. The preferred embodiment of the labeling system is implemented in an information storage system using an automated cartridge system (ACS). The labels are attached to physical volumes (e.g., tape cartridges) stored in the ACS. The labels are used to identify and manage information stored on the physical volumes as well as the physical volumes themselves.

Abstract: A multi-track longitudinal magnetic tape head capable of writing data to high-coercivity magnetic tapes and a method for making the same. The multi-track, longitudinal magnetic tape head according to the present invention comprises a plurality of write elements and read elements. The write elements comprise a write pole separated from a substrate by a write gap. The write poles each comprise a block of magnetic material having a planar gap surface and a convex top surface. A high B.sub.s composition is deposited on an etched portion of the magnetic material of each write pole at the gap surface. The gap surface is processed so that it is a contiguous planar surface comprising the high B.sub.s, composition, insulating material and the magnetic material.

Abstract: A telescopic pick-and-place robotic mechanism used to retrieve and deposit magnetic tape cartridges from a remote position, configured to be mounted to a typical robotic assembly located in proximity of a storage area for computer data or other storage media. The present invention has a reduced cross-sectional area due to its telescopic nature.The pick-and-place mechanism includes a base connected to the robotic arm and a number of slider plates coupled to the base which telescopically extend and retract relative to the base in a single axis of movement to reach the remote location. The slider plates are coupled to each other by slider means for enabling each of the slider plates to translate relative to each other along the single axis of movement. Each slider plate is controlled by a crank and slider mechanism which converts a incoming rotational force to a linear force in the direction of the single axis of movement.

Abstract: The present invention comprises a robotic gripping hand capable of holding multiple storage media cartridges for retrieving and depositing cartridges within a storage library subsystem. The invention comprises a method and apparatus for indexing a tray adapted to hold multiple storage cartridges. The tray is attached to the robotic hand to enable the hand to select among several cartridges to be manipulated by a single gripper subassembly. The gripper subassembly may retrieve a cartridge from a storage library subsystem and insert it into an available position in the indexing tray without affecting other cartridges already retained in other positions of the indexing tray. Likewise the gripper may remove a cartridge from a position in the indexing tray and return it to the storage library subsystem without affecting other cartridge already retained in other positions of the indexing tray.

Abstract: The removable media management system operates with a manual, an automated, or a combination of subsets of manual and automated library system to store and retrieve media cartridges for an associated plurality of drive elements. This system enables the use of a plurality of types of media within the single monolithic cartridge library system and a corresponding plurality of drive elements associated with said library system. Thus, each drive element has associated therewith a number of object storage locations within the library system which contains media of a form and content that matches the drive element. The removable media management system maps the correspondence between object storage location, media type, designated drive element in a manner such that the single library is partitioned into subsets for the user, i.e.

Abstract: An improved carousel-type magnetic tape library system including a pivotable cartridge-receiving door for facilitating the insertion and removal of cartridges into the system and a cylindrical magazine carried by a turntable rotatably mounted to a turntable plate secured to a base casting. The turntable includes a sprocket wheel that is engaged by a drive belt or chain connected to a stepper motor affixed to the base plate. Affixed to the sprocket is a shutter plate having a plurality of notches in its perimeter for detection by an optical-indexing sensor. The apparatus also includes a carousel-indexing sensor and a cartridge-in-carousel and cartridge-orientation sensor. Disposed within the central cavity of the carousel magazine unoccupied by cartridges is a cartridge-onloading/offloading mechanism which is rotatably mounted concentric with the carousel turntable. Disposed on a side of the carousel opposite the door is a dual tape drive assembly including modular tape drive units mounted to the base plate.

Abstract: The robust coding system makes use of a robust bar code on a label to enable a label reading system to automatically reconstruct label indicia information, even though the label has been damaged and is partially obliterated. An error correcting code is incorporated into the bar code sequence imprinted on the label to detect and correct a plurality of errors in the bar code. The error correcting bar code digits can be interleaved with the data imprinted in bar code form on the label or appended thereto. In addition, when the robust coding system is used on labels for data media cartridges, additional information is included in the bar code field to identify the type of media contained in the media cartridge.

Abstract: The disk drive array data storage subsystem maps between virtual and physical data storage devices and schedules the writing of data to these devices. The data storage subsystem functions as a conventional large form factor disk drive memory, using an array of redundancy groups, each containing N+M disk drives. This system copies data records by simply creating a duplicate data record pointer in a virtual track directory to reference the original data record. This enables the host processor to access the data record via two virtual addresses while only a single physical copy of the data record resides in the data storage subsystem.

Abstract: The present invention discloses a method and apparatus for computing CRC codes for fixed length page buffers of user data where the user data arrives from a transmission device in variable length packets with the packet contents being out of sequential order. The received data is written to a storage device after being restored to the correct sequential order. The data packets are comprised of a header portion and a data portion. The transmission and compression methods commonly employed by the transmission device dictates that the header portion of each packet follows the data portion. The present invention computes a complete CRC code for the data stored in a page buffer in real time as the packets are received by using several registers for saving intermediate CRC codes and circuitry to combine partial CRC codes for those packet portions received out of order.

Abstract: A system and method for a computer based system for enabling data phase clock corrections. Basing these corrections primarily on errors that cause consistent phase shift errors while reducing the effect of random data phase errors. An improved phase-locked loop (PLL) is used where multiple data bits are examined simultaneously, allowing us to examine "apparent future" and "apparent late" data. The average phase adjustment to the data window is calculated based upon the examined data bits.

Abstract: The hierarchical distributed knowledge based system functions in a machine initiated maintenance environment to provide efficient and timely maintenance of customer equipment. The hierarchical, distributed knowledge based system provides the failure evaluation function through the use of an expert or knowledge based system that is installed in the customer equipment. The knowledge based system makes use of a set of rules and hypotheses to operate on data collected from various points within the customer equipment to monitor the operational integrity of the customer equipment. This knowledge based system identifies the occurrence of a failure within the customer equipment and functions using its rules, hypotheses and collected data to isolate the source of the error in the customer equipment and, whenever possible, "fence" or isolate the failed field replaceable unit that has caused the error.

Abstract: This file server system appears to the host computer to be a plurality of data storage devices which are directly addressable by the host computer using the native data management and access structures of the host computer. The file server however is an intelligent data storage subsystem that defines, manages and accesses synchronized sets of data and maintains these synchronized sets of data external from the host computer system's data management facilities in a manner that is completely transparent to the host computer. This is accomplished by the use of the snapshot application data group that extends the traditional sequential data set processing concept of generation data groups.

Abstract: A dynamic sweeping mechanism which drives a line-scan camera's field of view in a direction which is substantially perpendicular to the scan direction. The operation of the dynamic sweeping mechanism enables the line scan camera to make multiple scans across a target, providing the image processor the necessary image information to generate a two-dimensional image of the object as well as positioning the line scan camera at an optimal angle of view to obtain accurate single scan image data. The scan line angle of view is dynamically swept in a rotational manner about an axis of rotation which is parallel to the scan line under the control of either a dedicated drive mechanism or coupled to pre-existing drive mechanisms in the robotic hand mechanism.

Abstract: The dynamically mapped data storage subsystem generates a two error correction, three error detection code of extent sufficient to cover not only the data but also the corresponding memory address for each data record stored therein. The error correction code is transmitted and stored with the data within the data storage subsystem to ensure the integrity of both the data and its memory address.

Abstract: The present invention comprises a method for enhancing data integrity during write operations in a data storage subsystem which comprises an array of redundant, interconnected disk drives. A data storage subsystem is disclosed which provides for writing data segments spread across N disk drives of the array and provides for generating and recording redundancy information spread across M disk drives. Redundancy information is used for reconstructing erroneous data in the case of a disk drive failure. It may be desirable to write a final portion of the data last, after other portions of the data and associated redundancy information have been recorded to the disk drives. The last portion of the data segments may contain information that validates the data. It is common to automatically generate the redundancy information as the data is written to the disk drives. The generated redundancy information is then later written to the disk drives.

Abstract: The knowledge based system functions in a machine initiated maintenance environment to provide efficient and timely maintenance of customer equipment. The knowledge based system provides the failure evaluation function through the use of an expert or knowledge based system that is installed in the customer equipment. The knowledge based system makes use of a set of rules and hypotheses to operate on data collected from various points within the customer equipment to monitor the operational integrity of the customer equipment. This knowledge based system identifies the occurrence of a failure within the customer equipment and functions using its rules, hypotheses and collected data to isolate the source of the error in the customer equipment and, whenever possible, "fence" or isolate the failed field replaceable unit that has caused the error.

Abstract: The disk drive array data storage subsystem maps between virtual and physical data storage devices and schedules the writing of data to these devices. The data storage subsystem functions as a conventional large form factor disk drive memory, using a plurality of redundancy groups, each containing N+M disk drives. A performance improvement is obtained by eliminating the disk formatting delays found in the prior art. In order to accommodate the need to format virtual volumes to be compatible with the form and format of the data records to be transmitted by the host processor, the present disk drive array memory system stores format information in a virtual track directory which controls the mapping of the virtual cylinders defined by the host processor into the physical elements of the disk drive array.

Abstract: A multi-track longitudinal magnetic tape head capable of writing data to high-coercivity magnetic tapes is disclosed. The multi-track, longitudinal magnetic tape head according to the present invention comprises a plurality of write elements and read elements. The write elements comprise a write pole separated from a substrate by a write gap. The write poles each comprise a block of magnetic material, having a planar gap surface and a convex top surface. A high B.sub.s composition is deposited on an etched portion of the magnetic material of each write pole at the gap surface. As a result, the gap surface comprises high B.sub.s composition extending from the top convex surface to a point part way down the gap surface. A method for manufacturing this multi-track longitudinal tape head is also disclosed.