Abstract: The present invention may be embodied in a magnetic disk, of a disk drive, having eight-bit fields storing wedge repeatable runout (WRRO) compensation values and redundancy information. The WRRO compensation value of each field includes a six-bit binary value of which five bits represent a compensation magnitude and one bit represents a sign bit indicating a compensation direction. The redundancy information of each field has a first bit based on the sign bit.

Abstract: A disk drive is disclosed comprising a voice coil motor (VCM) for rotating an actuator arm about a pivot in order to actuate a head over a disk. The disk is rotated by a spindle motor, and a feed-forward compensation value is computed that compensate for a non-centric alignment of the disk with respect to the spindle motor. During a calibration mode, the VCM is controlled to press the actuator arm against a crash stop, and the feed-forward compensation value is computed in response to a position error signal (PES). The PES is generated in response to embedded servo sectors recorded on the disk, wherein each embedded servo sector comprises a track address for coarse alignment and servo bursts for fine alignment.

Abstract: A disk drive is disclosed that estimates a sinusoidal error in a wedge time period due to eccentricity in the disk rotating to generate eccentricity compensation values. During a write operation a head is positioned over a target data sector within a target track, a write clock frequency is set using an eccentricity compensation value corresponding to the target data sector, and data is written to the target data sector using the write clock frequency. In this manner, the eccentricity compensation value adjusts the write clock frequency to better optimize the linear bit density from the inner to outer diameter tracks.

Abstract: Disclosed is a disk drive including an actuator having a coil, a head attached to the actuator, and a disk including at least a first track and a second track, and a processor for controlling operations in the disk drive including a seek operation from the first track to the second track in which the head is moved between the first track and the second track by the movement of the actuator. The processor under the control of a program generates a deceleration velocity profile for the seek operation that is determined based upon a deceleration velocity profile function that includes a back electromagnetic force (BEMF) model to take into account back electromagnetic forces (BEMFs) associated with the coil of the actuator such that the BEMFs are mathematically modeled. The head is commanded to seek to the second track utilizing the deceleration velocity profile function that includes the BEMF model.

Abstract: A disk drive and method for estimating a sinusoidal error in a wedge time period is disclosed. An estimated WTP is calculated according to: EST_WTP=RTP+â*cos(2?k/N)+{circumflex over (b)}*sin(2?k/N) wherein RTP is a reference time period corresponding to a nominal WTP, k is an index representing a servo wedge, and {â,{circumflex over (b)}} are adjustable coefficients. A wedge time error e(k) is estimated as the difference between the estimated WTP and a detected actual WTP. The coefficients {â,{circumflex over (b)}} for generating the estimated WTP are adjusted according to: â(k+1)=â(k)?G*e(k)*cos(2?k/N) {circumflex over (b)}(k+1)={circumflex over (b)}(k)?G*e(k)*sin(2?k/N) wherein G is a predetermined gain.

Abstract: A method is disclosed for improving head position determination in a disk drive having a transducer head and a rotating disk with a plurality of embedded servo wedges for defining a plurality of concentric data tracks. Each servo wedge has a plurality of servo bursts for providing radial track position information. In the method, the servo bursts within a servo wedge are read and a burst amplitude is determined for each servo burst. The burst amplitudes are compared to determine a radial servo position zone. A fine radial head position within the radial servo position zone is determined based on a ratio having a numerator consisting of an algebraic sum and difference of the burst amplitudes and a denominator consisting of an algebraic difference between a largest burst amplitude and a smallest burst amplitude.

Abstract: A disk drive is disclosed wherein a BEMF speed error is measured during a BEMF spindle speed control mode, and a spindle control current is updated in response to the BEMF speed error to drive the disk at an operating speed. A reference time period (RTP) is calibrated, and a sinusoidal error in a wedge time period (WTP) due to eccentricity in the disk rotating is estimated to generate an eccentricity compensation value. After switching to a wedge spindle speed control mode, an actual WTP is detected and a wedge speed error is generated in response to the RTP, the detected actual WTP, and the eccentricity compensation value. The disk is then maintained at the operating speed by updating the spindle control current in response to the wedge speed error.

Abstract: A magnetic storage disk drive having a servo burst pattern which asymmetrically increases the linear region in which a read head may be micro-jogged from a burst pair center line to align the read head with a data track. The innovative servo pattern comprises a first pair of servo bursts that define a first burst pair centerline for writing a particular data track to a data track side of the first centerline, and a second pair of servo bursts collectively define a second burst pair centerline that is positioned to the data track side of the first burst pair centerline and is sufficiently close to the first burst pair center line so that the read head "sees" the second pair of servo bursts before "losing" the first pair of servo bursts when micro-jogged to the data track side for reading. The second burst pair centerline should be no farther from the first burst pair centerline than the linear read width of the read head.

Abstract: A method and system for a disk drive that estimates demand DAC saturation current by performing a first slew with the demand DAC in saturation, and then iteratively refining the estimate in response to a sequence of slews with the demand DAC not in saturation. Each successive slew is performed with the demand DAC preloaded with an acceleration value calculated in the previous iteration. To perform each slew, the disk drive microcontroller loads the demand DAC with an acceleration value, waits a predetermined time interval, and reads servo signals to identify the track to which the head has slewed at the end of the time interval. The microcontroller then calculates the distance traveled by the actuator during the present slew and uses the ratio of this head travel distance to the head travel distance of the first (saturated) slew to refine the saturated acceleration value estimated in the previous iteration. These estimates converge over successive iterations toward the desired demand DAC saturation current.