Abstract: Data are refreshed in a nonvolatile solid-state device to significantly reduce the likelihood of data retention errors. Test data are written in a region of the nonvolatile solid-state device when user data are stored in the nonvolatile solid-state device, and are subsequently read to detect the possibility of data retention errors occurring when the associated user data are read. The test data may be a portion of the user data or a predetermined test pattern. To increase sensitivity to incipient charge leakage that may compromise the user data, the test data may be written using a modified write process and/or read with a modified read operation. The nonvolatile solid-state device may be employed as part of a solid-state drive or as the flash-memory portion of a hybrid hard disk drive.

Abstract: Data are refreshed in a nonvolatile solid-state device to significantly reduce the likelihood of data retention errors. Test data are written in a region of the nonvolatile solid-state device when user data are stored in the nonvolatile solid-state device, and are subsequently read to detect the possibility of data retention errors occurring when the associated user data are read. The test data may be a portion of the user data or a predetermined test pattern. To increase sensitivity to incipient charge leakage that may compromise the user data, the test data may be written using a modified write process and/or read with a modified read operation. The nonvolatile solid-state device may be employed as part of a solid-state drive or as the flash-memory portion of a hybrid hard disk drive.

Abstract: A hybrid drive and associated methods provide low-overhead storage of a hibernation file in the hybrid hard disk drive. During operation, the hybrid drive allocates a portion of solid-state memory in the drive that is large enough to accommodate a hibernation file associated with a host device of the hybrid drive. In addition to the erased memory blocks that are normally present during operation of the hybrid drive, the portion of solid-state memory allocated for accommodating the hibernation file may include over-provisioned memory blocks, blocks used to store a previous hibernation file that has been trimmed, and/or non-dirty blocks.

Abstract: Data is stored in a hybrid HDD that includes a magnetic storage medium and a nonvolatile solid-state device according to multiple modes of operation: a full caching mode, a transitional caching mode, and an HDD only mode. The mode of operation may be selected based on the current condition or performance of individual storage regions in a nonvolatile solid-state device of the hybrid HDD, or on the current condition or performance of the nonvolatile solid-state device as a whole. As the nonvolatile solid-state device undergoes wear, performance of the hybrid HDD is maintained by using less reliable memory blocks in the nonvolatile solid-state device as a read cache, even when these memory blocks are considered too unreliable to store dirty data.

Abstract: A data storage device that includes a magnetic storage device selects one or more power states of the magnetic storage device based on a time interval since a most recent time data has been read from or written to the magnetic storage device. The power state of the magnetic storage device can be changed from a higher power consumption state to a lower power consumption state when the time interval exceeds a predetermined value. The power consumption state may be changed from an active servo state to an intermediate power consumption state, a park state, and/or a standby state, depending on the time elapsed since the most recent time data has been read from or written to the magnetic storage device.

Abstract: A hybrid drive and associated methods provide low-overhead storage of a hibernation file in the hybrid hard disk drive. During operation, the hybrid drive allocates a portion of solid-state memory in the drive that is large enough to accommodate a hibernation file associated with a host device of the hybrid drive. In addition to the erased memory blocks that are normally present during operation of the hybrid drive, the portion of solid-state memory allocated for accommodating the hibernation file may include over-provisioned memory blocks, blocks used to store a previous hibernation file that has been trimmed, and/or non-dirty blocks.

Abstract: Data is stored in a hybrid drive that includes a magnetic storage medium and a non-volatile solid-state device using a temperature-defined data-storage policy. According to the temperature-defined data storage policy, the drive can perform operations for modulating the temperature of the drive, minimizing increased wear on memory cells in the non-volatile solid-state device, and/or preventing data stored in the non-volatile solid-state device from being lost.

Abstract: A hybrid drive and associated methods increase the rate at which data are transferred to a nonvolatile storage medium in the hybrid drive. By using a large nonvolatile solid state memory device as cache memory for a magnetic disk drive, a very large number of write commands can be cached and subsequently reordered and executed in an efficient manner. In addition, strategic selection and reordering of only a portion of the write commands stored in the nonvolatile solid state memory device increases efficiency of the reordering process.

Abstract: In a cache policy for a hybrid drive having a magnetic storage device and a non-volatile solid-state device, the hybrid drive is configured to write the most recent version of data associated with a logical block address to the non-volatile solid-state device when the logical block address is associated with previously written data and is overlapped by a subsequent disk write operation. Advantageously, the most recent version of data associated with the overlapped logical block address is stored in cache in the non-volatile solid-state device, even when the subsequent disk write operation results in the overlapped logical block address being trimmed from cache or otherwise invalidated. Consequently, data associated with the overlapped logical block address can be accessed more quickly than data written to the magnetic storage device.

Abstract: A method and a system are provided for improving performance of a hybrid drive including a non-volatile semiconductor memory device partitioned into blocks, each of the blocks containing a plurality of sectors, and a magnetic storage device. Performance of the hybrid drive is improved by tracking data types of each sector stored in the blocks, the data types including a first data type, which is data that is unconditionally available for host accesses, a second data type, which is data that is conditionally available for host accesses, and a third data type, which is data unavailable for host accesses, and collecting erasable blocks from the blocks of the non-volatile semiconductor memory device according to the data types. The erasable blocks include a block that contains data of the second data type, such that the host may access from this block even though this block is erasable.

Abstract: A hybrid drive that includes a magnetic storage medium and a non-volatile solid-state device is operable in multiple modes and is configured to switch operation between the multiple modes, depending on the history of data accesses from a host.

Abstract: A data storage device that includes a magnetic storage device and a non-magnetic nonvolatile storage device that measures a hit rate of read/write commands that result in accesses to the non-magnetic nonvolatile storage device, and adjusts a length of a time period, such as an idle time, based on the hit rate. The duration of the time period can be set each time the magnetic storage device is accessed. Upon expiration of the time period, if the magnetic storage device has not yet been accessed, the magnetic storage device is changed from a higher power consumption state to a lower power consumption state.

Abstract: A data storage device that includes a magnetic storage device and a non-magnetic nonvolatile storage device that measures a hit rate of read/write commands that result in accesses to the non-magnetic nonvolatile storage device, and adjusts a length of a time period, such as an idle time, based on the hit rate. The duration of the time period can be set each time the magnetic storage device is accessed. Upon expiration of the time period, if the magnetic storage device has not yet been accessed, the magnetic storage device is changed from a higher power consumption state to a lower power consumption state.

Abstract: A data storage device includes a magnetic storage device and a non-volatile solid-state memory device. The addressable space of the non-volatile solid-state storage device is partitioned into a plurality of equal sized segments and the addressable space of a command to read or write data to the data storage device is partitioned into a number of equal sized sets of contiguous addresses, such that each set of contiguous addresses has the same size as a segment of the addressable space of the non-volatile solid-state storage device. Storage can be allocated in the non-volatile solid-state device for selected sets of the contiguous addresses by mapping each selected set to a specific segment of the addressable space of the non-volatile solid-state device.

Abstract: A data storage device that includes a magnetic storage device selects one or more power states of the magnetic storage device based on a time interval since a most recent time data has been read from or written to the magnetic storage device. The power state of the magnetic storage device can be changed from a higher power consumption state to a lower power consumption state when the time interval exceeds a predetermined value. The power consumption state may be changed from an active servo state to an intermediate power consumption state, a park state, and/or a standby state, depending on the time elapsed since the most recent time data has been read from or written to the magnetic storage device.

Abstract: Data is stored in a hybrid drive that includes a magnetic storage medium and a non-volatile solid-state device using a temperature-defined data-storage policy. According to the temperature-defined data storage policy, the drive can perform operations for modulating the temperature of the drive, minimizing increased wear on memory cells in the non-volatile solid-state device, and/or preventing data stored in the non-volatile solid-state device from being lost.

Abstract: A hybrid drive and associated methods provide low-overhead storage of a hibernation file in the hybrid hard disk drive. During operation, the hybrid drive allocates a portion of solid-state memory in the drive that is large enough to accommodate a hibernation file associated with a host device of the hybrid drive. In addition to the erased memory blocks that are normally present during operation of the hybrid drive, the portion of solid-state memory allocated for accommodating the hibernation file may include over-provisioned memory blocks, blocks used to store a previous hibernation file that has been trimmed, and/or non-dirty blocks.

Abstract: A hybrid drive and associated methods increase the rate at which data are transferred to a nonvolatile storage medium in the hybrid drive. By using a large nonvolatile solid state memory device as cache memory for a magnetic disk drive, a very large number of write commands can be cached and subsequently reordered and executed in an efficient manner. In addition, strategic selection and reordering of only a portion of the write commands stored in the nonvolatile solid state memory device increases efficiency of the reordering process.

Abstract: A servo sector address and a track address of a recording medium of a disk drive are encoded into a combined address value. The combined address value is stored in a combined address field that has fewer bits than the total bits required to uniquely encode the servo sector address and the track address. The position of a transducer head, indicated by the servo sector address and the track address, is determined by reading encoded values from two consecutive servo sectors on the recording medium and then decoding the encoded values.

Abstract: A servo sector address and a track address of a recording medium of a disk drive are encoded into a combined address value. The combined address value is stored in a combined address field that has fewer bits than the total bits required to uniquely encode the servo sector address and the track address. The position of a transducer head, indicated by the servo sector address and the track address, is determined by reading encoded values from two consecutive servo sectors on the recording medium and then decoding the encoded values.