Patents by Inventor William Z. Bryan

William Z. Bryan has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Method for predicting disk drive failure by monitoring the rate of growth of defects within a disk drive
    Patent number: 5917724
    Abstract: A method for predicting the failure of a hard disk drive within a computer system and replacing the hard disk drive prior to an in-service failure of the disk drive. The method includes the steps of: establishing a maximum linear growth rate for the grown defect list (G-List) for the disk drive, e.g., 0.01% of the disk drive's capacity divided by the disk drive's expected service life of five years; periodically determining the number of entries contained in the grown defect list; and calculating the actual linear growth rate of the grown defect list from the number of entries contained in the grown defect list and the length of time the disk drive has been in service. Should the actual linear growth rate of the G-List exceed the maximum linear growth rate for two successive measurement periods, the disk drive will be replaced.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 20, 1997
    Date of Patent: June 29, 1999
    Assignee: NCR Corporation
    Inventors: Robert P. Brousseau, William Z. Bryan, James M. Denosky