Patents Examined by Brian Butcher
  • Determining storage media substrate material type
    Patent number: 9082447
    Abstract: A method, system, and computer program product are disclosed for determining a material type of storage media substrates. The method includes using a first sensor to detect an object that indicates the presence of at least one storage media substrate, and using an inductive sensor to determine whether the at least one storage media substrate is of a metallic type.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 22, 2014
    Date of Patent: July 14, 2015
    Assignee: WD Media, LLC
    Inventor: Hernanta
  • Optical information recording apparatus and optical information recording method
    Patent number: 9082417
    Abstract: An optical information recording apparatus configured to record information into an information recording medium by using holography, the apparatus including: a signal generation unit configured to generate two-dimensional data; and a two-dimensional spatial light modulator unit configured to display the two-dimensional data and to spatially modulate a transmitted or reflected beam, wherein the two-dimensional spatial light modulator unit includes a signal region and an external region, the signal region displays two-dimensional data based on user data, the external region displays two-dimensional data not including the user data, and the signal generation unit generates two-dimensional data in such a manner that a frequency of the two-dimensional data displayed on the external region becomes equal to or larger than a frequency of the two-dimensional data displayed on the signal region.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 6, 2014
    Date of Patent: July 14, 2015
    Assignees: HITACHI-LG DATA STORAGE, INC., HITACHI CONSUMER ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Atsushi Neo, Junya Ilzuka, Yusuke Nakamura, Kazuyuki Tajima
  • Liquid crystal display having a wide viewing characteristic and capable of fast driving
    Patent number: 9075277
    Abstract: A charge sharing style wide viewing liquid crystal display to which fast driving pre-charging technology may be applied to is disclosed. A charge sharing style wide viewing liquid crystal display is provided such that charge sharing is carried out between a liquid crystal capacitor and a charge sharing capacitor that correspond to the nth gate line when the mth (m?n+2) gate line is turned on.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 5, 2013
    Date of Patent: July 7, 2015
    Assignee: Samsung Display Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Dong-Gyu Kim
  • Method for evaluating information reproduction performance, information reproduction device, and information recording medium
    Patent number: 9070376
    Abstract: A method for evaluating a reproduction performance which reproduces a specific pattern recording signal to measure a reproduced signal noise, and calculates an evaluated value of a reproduction performance on the basis of a frequency characteristic of the measured reproduced signal noise.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 9, 2013
    Date of Patent: June 30, 2015
    Assignee: HITACHI-LG DATA STORAGE, INC.
    Inventors: Soichiro Eto, Yoshitaka Morimoto
  • Channel bitword processor, PRML decoder, and optical information recording/reproducing device
    Patent number: 9070412
    Abstract: It is an objective of the present invention to provide a technique, when using fixed-length run-length limit codes based on enumeration, that generates fixed-length channel bit words satisfying maximum run-length limitation using a simple configuration. A channel bit word processor according to the present invention includes an avoidance list that describes a difference between a user bit word satisfying a maximum run-length limitation of run-length limit code and a user bit word not satisfying the maximum run-length limitation. The channel bit word processor, if a user bit word does not satisfy the maximum run-length limitation, generates a channel bit word using a user bit word after the difference is added.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 7, 2014
    Date of Patent: June 30, 2015
    Assignees: HITACHI-LG DATA STORAGE, INC., HITACHI CONSUMER ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Atsushi Kikugawa
  • Interferometric waveguide usable in shingled heat assisted magnetic recording in the absence of a near-field transducer
    Patent number: 9064528
    Abstract: A heat-assisted magnetic recording (HAMR) head is coupled with a laser for providing energy and has an air-bearing surface (ABS) configured to reside in proximity to a media during use. The HAMR head includes a slider coupled with the laser and a HAMR transducer coupled with the slider. The HAMR transducer includes a write pole that writes to a region of the media, coil(s) for energizing the write pole and an interferometric waveguide (IWG) optically coupled with the laser. The IWG includes a splitter, a recombination region and arms between the splitter and the recombination region. The arms have multiple optical path lengths. The IWG is configured to provide the energy from the laser to the media by forming an interference pattern in the recombination region. An antinode of the interference pattern is at a region of the media and heats the region of the media for a write operation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 26, 2013
    Date of Patent: June 23, 2015
    Assignee: Western Digital Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Alexander Krichevsky, Christopher B. Wolf
  • High order tapered waveguide for use in a heat assisted magnetic recording head
    Patent number: 9064527
    Abstract: A heat-assisted magnetic recording (HAMR) transducer is coupled with a laser for providing energy and has an air-bearing surface (ABS) configured to reside in proximity to a media during use. The HAMR transducer includes a write pole, at least one coil, and a tapered waveguide optically coupled with the laser. The write pole is configured to write to a region of the media. The coil(s) energize the write pole. The tapered waveguide includes an entrance distal from the ABS, a bottom proximate to the ABS, a first side and a second side opposite to the first side. At least a portion of the first side and the second side converge in accordance with a function having at least one term having an order greater than one.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 17, 2013
    Date of Patent: June 23, 2015
    Assignee: Western Digital (Fremont), LLC
    Inventors: Zhong Shi, Michael V. Morelli, Hongxing Yuan
  • Write head mode optical mode converter using three-dimensional waveguide and dual-mode waveguide
    Patent number: 9047912
    Abstract: A write head includes a three-dimensional waveguide extending along a light-propagation direction. The three-dimensional waveguide is configured to receive light from a light source at a fundamental transverse electric (TE) mode. The three-dimensional waveguide includes an input coupler, a curved middle section, and a terminating end. The input coupler is tapered between the light source and the curved middle section. The write head includes a dual-mode waveguide extending along the light propagation direction and has an edge proximate to and separated from the curved section by a gap at a coupling region. The three-dimensional waveguide excites a higher-order TE mode in the dual-mode waveguide via the coupling region.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 22, 2014
    Date of Patent: June 2, 2015
    Assignee: SEAGATE TECHNOLOGY LLC
    Inventors: Chubing Peng, Yi-Kuei Ryan Wu
  • Sensing temperature at a slider protrusion region
    Patent number: 9030773
    Abstract: An apparatus includes a near-field transducer at or near an air bearing surface of the apparatus. A write pole is disposed at or near the air bearing surface and proximate the near-field transducer, respectively. A thermal sensor is disposed at the air bearing surface and within a protrusion region of the air bearing surface defined relative to at least one of the near-field transducer and the write pole. The thermal sensor is configured to produce a signal indicative of a temperature at the protrusion region.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 15, 2014
    Date of Patent: May 12, 2015
    Assignee: Seagate Technology LLC
    Inventors: Declan Macken, James Dillon Kiely, Manuel Charles Anaya-Dufresne
  • Optical information recording device and method
    Patent number: 9025425
    Abstract: In an optical information recording device and optical information recording method for angularly multiplexing and recording data on pages on the same recording region on a hologram disk, data on each page is sequentially generated by sequentially dividing input data in predetermined units, the pages to be recorded on the same recording region are divided into page groups so that pages to be recorded adjacently by the angular multiplexing may not belong to the same group, each page group is individually subjected to inter-page coding processing for computing an error-correcting code and adding the computed error-correcting code, and data on the pages subjected to the inter-page coding processing is angularly multiplexed and recorded on the hologram disk.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 15, 2013
    Date of Patent: May 5, 2015
    Assignee: Hitachi Consumer Electronics Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Junya Iizuka
  • Systems and methods for conditional positive feedback data decoding
    Patent number: 9019647
    Abstract: The present inventions are related to systems and methods for information data processing included selective decoder message determination. In one example, a data processing system is disclosed that includes a data decoder circuit operable to apply a conditional data decoding algorithm to a data set to yield a decoded output. The conditional decoding algorithm is operable to calculate node messages using an approach selected from a group consisting of: a first message determination mechanism, and a second message determination mechanism; where one of the first message determination mechanism and the second message determination mechanism is selected based upon a condition that includes a global iteration count applied to the data set.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 28, 2012
    Date of Patent: April 28, 2015
    Assignee: LSI Corporation
    Inventors: Fan Zhang, Shaohua Yang
  • Heat assisted magnetic recording device with pre-heated write element
    Patent number: 9019646
    Abstract: An apparatus includes a write element configured to apply a magnetic field to write data on a portion of a heat-assisted magnetic recording media in response to an energizing current. An energy source is configured to heat the portion of the media being magnetized by the write element. A preheat energizing current is applied to the write element during an interval before writing the data to the portion of the media. The preheat energizing current does not cause data to be written to the media and brings at least one of the write element and driver circuitry into thermal equilibrium prior to writing the data on the portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 14, 2013
    Date of Patent: April 28, 2015
    Assignee: Seagate Technology LLC
    Inventors: Tim Rausch, Jon D. Trantham, John West Dykes, Housan Dakroub, Charles Paul Henry, Edward Charles Gage, Raul Horacio Andruet, James Gary Wessel, James Dillon Kiely, Bruce Douglas Buch, Barmeshwar Vikramaditya
  • Information device and method for performing information processing
    Patent number: 9001632
    Abstract: The present application discloses an information device for performing optical information processes for a recording medium including a phase-change recording layer which becomes amorphous under irradiation with pulsed amorphization light that has prescribed amorphization energy Ew. The information device includes an irradiator configured to irradiate a prescribed region of the phase-change recording layer with pulsed light and an energy setting portion which sets crystallization energy Ee for the pulsed light to crystallize the prescribed region. The crystallization energy Ee per the pulsed light, which is set by the energy setting portion, is greater than the amorphization energy Ew per the pulsed amorphization light.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 19, 2012
    Date of Patent: April 7, 2015
    Assignee: Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Takashi Mihara, Shigeru Furumiya
  • Systems and methods for suppressing background energy of a waveguide in an energy assisted magnetic recording system
    Patent number: 9001629
    Abstract: Systems and methods for suppressing the background energy of a waveguide in an EAMR system are provided. One such system includes a near field transducer having a disk section and a pin section extending from the disk section to an air bearing surface of a slider, a waveguide having a core and a cladding, where the waveguide is configured to couple light energy to the near field transducer, where the cladding is configured to substantially surround the core, and a recess portion positioned between the core and the air bearing surface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 31, 2012
    Date of Patent: April 7, 2015
    Assignee: Western Digital (Fremont), LLC
    Inventors: Hongxing Yuan, Ronald L. Allen, Michael V. Morelli, Matthew R. Gibbons, Zhong Shi
  • Disk drive adjusting estimated servo state to compensate for transient when crossing a servo zone boundary
    Patent number: 8995075
    Abstract: A disk drive is disclosed comprising a disk comprising a plurality of servo sectors defining a plurality of servo tracks. The servo tracks form a plurality of servo zones, where a servo data rate of servo sectors in a first servo zone is different than a servo data rate of servo sectors in a second servo zone. A servo control system servos a head over the disk. An estimated servo state of a servo control system is generated, and when the head crosses from a first servo zone to a second servo zone, the estimated servo state is adjusted to compensate for a transient in a circumferential distance between a servo sector in the first servo zone and a servo sector in the second servo zone.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 21, 2012
    Date of Patent: March 31, 2015
    Assignee: Western Digital Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Michael Chang, Guoxiao Guo, Jie Yu
  • Method and device for increased pull-in range of a timing recovery circuit for storage devices
    Patent number: 8982681
    Abstract: A method and device for determining frequency error to extend the pull-in range of a timing recovery circuit for a storage device such as an optical disc drive. A code associated with a storage format of the storage device is detected, and the distance between occurrences of the code is determined. The calculated distance is compared with the expected distance to determine the difference. Based on the difference, the frequency error is determined.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 7, 2013
    Date of Patent: March 17, 2015
    Assignee: Marvell International Ltd.
    Inventors: Jingfeng Liu, Mats Oberg
  • Information processing system
    Patent number: 8982682
    Abstract: An information storage device has small compartments for storing information in a solid body and can be used as a memory medium. The solid body can have at least one pair of parallel planar portions on its surface. The information is divided into bits and stored in discrete minute areas that are distributed three-dimensionally inside the memory medium. The data can be converted into a digital format for storage to regulate the number of ‘1s’ recorded in a direction of the memory medium.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 14, 2013
    Date of Patent: March 17, 2015
    Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
    Inventors: Takao Watanabe, Toshimichi Shintani
  • Optical pick-up device and optical component for the same
    Patent number: 8971164
    Abstract: An optical component for an optical pick-up for converging a laser beam having a particular wavelength onto a recording layer of an optical disc. The optical component comprises a base material formed of a resin composition, an undercoating which is formed of three layers of thin films having a same main constituent and is formed on a top surface of the base material, and a functional thin film formed on a top surface of the undercoating. In this configuration, each of a first layer and a third layer of the undercoating is a thin film formed without introducing oxygen, and a second layer is a thin film formed while introducing oxygen. A film thickness of the undercoating falls within a range of 160 nm to 270 nm, and film thicknesses of the thin films constituting the undercoating are substantially equal to each other.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 27, 2012
    Date of Patent: March 3, 2015
    Assignee: Hoya Corporation
    Inventors: Kenichi Shinde, Akira Komori, Kazuya Arakawa
  • Data recording apparatus and method using 3D optical memory, and authentication apparatus and method using 3D optical memory
    Patent number: 8964518
    Abstract: A data recording apparatus and method using three dimensional (3D) optical memory and an authentication apparatus and method using 3D optical memory are provided. The data recording apparatus includes a recording excitation light splitting unit, a condition storage unit, and a data recording unit. The recording excitation light splitting unit splits recording excitation light into first split light and second split light. The condition storage unit stores recording conditions including information about the waveforms, wavelengths and phases of the split light and information about an arrangement of reflection mirrors configured to reflect the split light. The data recording unit records storage data by making the split light incident on the 3D optical memory through the reflection mirrors under the recording conditions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 27, 2013
    Date of Patent: February 24, 2015
    Assignee: Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute
    Inventor: CheolYong Park
  • Method and system for providing an NFT having improved mechanical stability
    Patent number: 8958168
    Abstract: A method and system provides an EAMR transducer. The transducer is coupled with a laser for providing energy and has an air-bearing surface (ABS) configured to reside in proximity to a media during use. The EAMR transducer includes a composite near field transducer (NFT), a write pole and at least one coil for energizing the write pole. The write pole is configured to write to a region of the media. The composite NFT is for focusing the energy onto the region of the media. The composite NFT includes at least one metal and at least one insulator therein.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 28, 2012
    Date of Patent: February 17, 2015
    Assignee: Western Digital (Fremont), LLC
    Inventors: Hongxing Yuan, Zhongyan Wang, Michael V. Morelli, Ronald L. Allen