Abstract: A method and apparatus for detecting an abnormal fly height of a magnetic head. The method includes reproducing a servo signal recorded on a magnetic disk in advance by the magnetic head when a write operation for writing data on the magnetic disk by the magnetic head is initiated. Next, the gain of the servo signal based on the head part of the servo signal reproduced by the magnetic head is determined. The gain of the servo signal is then compared with a reference value to detect an abnormal fly height of the magnetic head. In an advantageous embodiment, the reference value is the gain of a servo signal determined when the fly height of the magnetic head is normal. Alternatively, in other advantageous embodiments, the reference value is based on the gain of a previous servo signal.

Abstract: A method (and structure) senses a rotational vibration of a disk drive. The disk drive includes a rotating disk. The disk includes a plurality of reference bits across a surface thereof. The method (and structure) includes detecting the reference bits across a pattern on the rotating disk, and analyzing a time interval between adjacent ones of the reference bits.

Abstract: A method and system are disclosed to prevent significant degradation of a data transfer rate in write cache transfer, thereby keeping the minimum data transfer rate high. The initial value Ti of the virtual buffer full capacity T(tx) is set to F/N (where F is a data capacity of the buffer, and N>1) and it is determined if the amount of write cached data S(tx) reaches the virtual buffer full capacity T(tx) so that write cache transfer is enabled during an S(tx)<T(tx) period and if virtual buffer full (S(tx)=T(tx)) is satisfied, the write cache transfer is inhibited until S(tx)<T(tx) is satisfied and the virtual buffer full capacity T(tx) is increased by a predetermined value K from the current one each time disk writing is stopped (each time a write error occurs) while the virtual buffer full is continued, thereby enabling write cache transfer while disk writing is stopped.

Abstract: A semiconductor laser includes an active layer formed on a substrate and a pair of cladding layers sandwiching the active layer. On at least one of resonator end faces of the semiconductor laser, a first dielectric film with hydrogen added therein is provided. Between the first dielectric film and the resonator end face, a second dielectric film for suppressing the diffusion of hydrogen is provided. Even when a semiconductor laser with an end face coating film including a hydrogen-added film is exposed to high temperatures, peeling of the end face coating film and deterioration of the end face coating film can be suppressed.

Abstract: A disk drive seek control system device to reduce track pitch. When data is recorded, an offset value is added to the position of a read head element along the width of a track corresponding to an offset &Dgr;w between the read head element and a write head element. The value of the offset depends on the yaw angle &thgr; of the head. When data is read, the position of the read head element is chosen to be either the position of the write head element during write operations, or the midpoint between the position of the write head element and the read head element during write operations, or the center of a track.

Abstract: To improve the probability of error correction, thereby generating correct read data. Data is read from the same sector by a number of times and a majority decision is done in the same address, thereby the most frequently read value is regarded as the true data value in the address. For example, for an address 00, “00” is handled as a true data value.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for adaptive resonance cancellation in a rotating storage system, includes designing a set of digitally selectable optimum resonance cancellation filters, generating a series of excitation signals for injection into the filters, generating a characteristic resonance frequency based on the excitation signals, and computing an address pointer corresponding to the resonance frequency, to select an optimum resonance cancellation filter.

Abstract: A disk drive device comprising a disk-shaped recording medium, having a recording surface on which a plurality of tracks having a predetermined width in a radial direction are defined, said recording surface including a first area wherein a plurality of recording tracks and a plurality of non-recording tracks are located so as to form an alternating pattern along the radial direction of the recording surface.

Abstract: The hard disk drive comprises: a magnetic disk 2 having servo information stored; magnetic heads 4 seeking on the magnetic disk 2 and staying at a predetermined position to read or write data; a voice coil motor 6 moving the magnetic heads 4 to the predetermined position of the magnetic disk 2; a position controller supplying a driving current to the voice coil motor 6 based on the servo information read by the magnetic heads 4. The position controller includes: a CPU 12 outputting a speed control value based on the servo information; a DAC 7 and a VCM driver 8 converting the speed control value into the driving current; and a controller 10 limiting a driving speed of the voice coil motor 6 in a case that an output timing of the speed control value is shifted.

Abstract: A disk drive with the capability to prevent off-track writing with reduced false triggering is described. An improved method of predicting the position of a head is used to determine whether the head is on or off-track. A position error signal at an nth servo position Pn and a velocity Vn at the nth servo position (Vn=Pn−Pn−1) are calculated using values read at the nth and n−1 head positions. Based on these Pn and Vn and on the output of the servo controller at the nth servo position Un, the predicted PESn+1 is calculated as: Predicted PESn+1=Pn+Vn+kUn where k is a constant.

Abstract: In order to handle platter flutter in a hard disk operated at high speed (e.g. 10,000 RPM) and maintain tracking of read/write head, peak filters are added to a head tracking servo feedback loop. In some embodiments, several lag-lead type peak filters centered at a plurality of flutter mode frequencies are provided to process a Position Error Signal (PES) read from the read/write head. The several filter are preferably arranged in series (i.e. to operate on the PES sequentially), alternatively the filters can be arranged in parallel. Phase lags and leads caused by the several filters partially cancel at frequencies intermediate center frequencies of the several filters. According to another embodiment two or more, preferably three narrow band filters are used to cover the spectrum of each flutter mode. In a configuration mode, a spectrum of the flutter modes can be obtained and used to set the center frequencies, and bandwidths of filters used to filter out the flutter modes.

Abstract: A disk device, track positioning method, and method for generating a position error signal in which the occurrence of a wrong correction operation can be prevented by creating an appropriate PES without using a burst pattern having a defect, and reassign sectors can be decreased by decreasing defective sectors thereby to reduce the performance degradation is disclosed. In the disk device and track positioning method, the defect of a burst pattern read out from a disk is detected, and if a defect is detected in the burst pattern, a data value corresponding to the sum data of the burst pattern pair having the defect detected is obtained by measuring the maximum amplitude value of the burst pattern pairing with the burst pattern having the defect detected, and a PES is created according to the amplitude of the burst pattern having the defect detected and the maximum amplitude value.

Abstract: A disk drive seek control system device to reduce track pitch. When data is recorded, an offset value is added to the position of a read head element along the width of a track corresponding to an offset &Dgr;w between the read head element and a write head element. The value of the offset depends on the yaw angle &thgr; of the head. When data is read, the position of the read head element is chosen to be either the position of the write head element during write operations, or the midpoint between the position of the write head element and the read head element during write operations, or the center of a track.

Abstract: A drive unit which recovers from write instability by heating the magnetic head prior to performing a dummy write operation is described. In the preferred embodiments, once write instability has been detected the head may be heated by friction with the rotating disk or by an external heater. In the friction method the head is moved to a safe area of the disk such as a textured landing zone while the disk rotation is continued. In drives using unload ramps, a heater is preferably placed at the the ramp so that the head can be heated while parked on the ramp. In each of these embodiments dummy write operations are performed while the head is in a thermally excited state due to the heating. The combination of heating and the dummy write operation aids in restoring write stability.

Abstract: A disk drive seek control system device to reduce track pitch. When data is recorded, an offset value is added to the position of a read head element along the width of a track corresponding to an offset &Dgr;w between the read head element and a write head element. The value of the offset depends on the yaw angle &thgr; of the head. When data is read, the position of the read head element is chosen to be either the position of the write head element during write operations, or the midpoint between the position of the write head element and the read head element during write operations, or the center of a track.

Abstract: A hard disk has a servo loop and a rotating storage medium. The rotating storage medium has one or more significant flutter modes at frequencies below a zero cross frequency of a rejection transfer function of the servo loop. The effect of the forgoing is to allow the servo loop to better track a rotating medium that is subject to significant flutter. Peak filters with frequency bands that substantially overlap frequency bands of the significant flutter modes can also be added to the servo loop to further improve tracking. Multiple narrow band filters with frequency bands overlap can be used to cover the spectrum of a single flutter mode. Two lag-lead filters, the frequency responses of which overlap can be used to cover two adjacent significant flutter modes. At frequencies intermediate to the two adjacent flutter, modes, the lead caused by one filter, will be cancelled by the lag caused by the second.

Abstract: A disk device, track positioning method, and method for generating a position error signal in which the occurrence of a wrong correction operation can be prevented by creating an appropriate PES without using a burst pattern having a defect, and reassign sectors can be decreased by decreasing defective sectors thereby to reduce the performance degradation is disclosed. In the disk device and track positioning method, the defect of a burst pattern read out from a disk is detected, and if a defect is detected in the burst pattern, a data value corresponding to the sum data of the burst pattern pair having the defect detected is obtained by measuring the maximum amplitude value of the burst pattern pairing with the burst pattern having the defect detected, and a PES is created according to the amplitude of the burst pattern having the defect detected and the maximum amplitude value.

Abstract: The present invention provides a disk drive device containing a cache memory having K queue entries (K is an integer) to operate in a write cache mode and a method for controlling the disk drive device. The number of the queue entries to be used in the write cache mode can be gradually decreased from the number K to a decreased number by a predetermined number, and the number of the queue entries to be used in the write cache mode can be gradually increased from the decreased number towards the number K by a predetermined number, in response to values of parameters, such as an error rate and Non Repeatable Run Out or Repeatable Run Out of the rotating data recording disk at writing of data from the cache memory to a rotating data recording disk.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for detecting an abnormal fly height of a magnetic head. The method includes reproducing a servo signal recorded on a magnetic disk in advance by the magnetic head when a write operation for writing data on the magnetic disk by the magnetic head is initiated. Next, the gain of the servo signal based on the head part of the servo signal reproduced by the magnetic head is determined. The gain of the servo signal is then compared with a reference value to detect an abnormal fly height of the magnetic head. In an advantageous embodiment, the reference value is the gain of a servo signal determined when the fly height of the magnetic head is normal. Alternatively, in other advantageous embodiments, the reference value is based on the gain of a previous servo signal.

Abstract: An actuator control system and a magnetic disk device having a hybrid control system. The actuator control system includes an LPF that can be processed by the hardware architecture of a HDD that does not include a state estimator. The actuator control system includes an actuator 10, a VCM driver circuit 11 for driving the actuator 10, an ADC 12 for converting the position signal from the actuator 10 into a digital position signal, an MPU 13 for generating the control signal to the actuator 10 in response to the digital position signal, a DAC 14 for converting the control signal into an analog control signal, and an LPF 15 coupled between DAC 14 and VCM driver circuit 11. The MPU 13 compensates the phase delay resulting from the LPF 15 by digital control. Additionally, the digital control reconstructs the state model of a plant including the LPF 15 to a state model requiring no state estimator.