Abstract: An apparatus comprises a data storage medium having a plurality of servo sectors and a plurality of data sectors, wherein each of the servo sectors includes a phase locked loop field and a track identification field, a controller for controlling the position of a recording head with respect to the data storage medium, and a servo demodulator for recovering timing information from both the phase locked loop field and the track identification field, and for producing a timing estimate. The method performed by the apparatus is also included.

Abstract: In a method for generating a confidence level of a position error signal (PES) component that is indicative of a quality of the PES component, a PES component is generated using position signal samples of a read back signal corresponding to a servo burst pattern. Next, a noise level corresponding to noise in the read back signal is extracted using the position signal samples. A confidence level is then generated based on the PES component and the noise level. A system for performing the method includes a transformation block, a position error signal (PES) component extractor, a noise extractor, and a confidence level generator. The transformation block is configured to receive position signal samples of a read back signal corresponding to a servo burst pattern taken at a sampling frequency. A transformed domain representation of the position signal samples is then generated by the transformation block based on the sampling frequency and the servo burst pattern.