Texas Instruments Corporation

Dennis Keats

Kang Xiao

Andrew Yanowitz

A method of implementing a geometry per wedge (GPW) based headerless solution in a disk drive formatter having a corresponding memory buffer. The disk drive formatter includes high and low processing engines and formats a data storage disk. The method includes the step of processing a command instruction, which instructs the high-level processing engine to execute a disk operation with respect to a predetermined sector. The method also includes the steps of searching for the predetermined sector using sector layout information derived from a GPW table including entries which define the relative position of sector pulses on a track within a data wedge of the disk, and transferring the predetermined sector from the disk to the buffer memory.

Method of implementing a geometry per wedge (GPW) based headerless solution in a disk drive formatter and a computer program product incorporating the same

An apparatus is employed for providing for efficient communication between high level and low level processing engines in a disk formatter for formatting a disk, the high-level engine outputting at least one instruction to control disk operations to the low-level engine which processes the instruction. The apparatus includes an instruction queue within the low-level engine. The instruction queue stores the instruction received by the low level processing engine from the high level processing engine, which outputs the instruction to the memory in accordance with a first clock signal generated by the high-level engine. The instruction queue outputs the instruction in accordance with a second clock signal of the low level processing engine which corresponds to a predetermined disk transfer rate. In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention, a method is also employed for providing for efficient communication between high and low level processing engines in a disk formatter for formatting a disk. The method includes the steps of storing an instruction for controlling disk operations output by the high level processing engine in an instruction queue of the low-level engine. The instruction is output by the high level processing engine in accordance with a first clock signal of the high level processing engine. In addition, the instruction is output from the instruction queue in accordance with a second clock signal of the low level processing engine which corresponds to a predetermined disk transfer rate.

Apparatus and method for providing for efficient communication between high and low-level processing engine of a disk drive formatter

A programmable disk formatter for a disk controller in a headerless hard disk drive (HDD) system is disclosed. The disk formatter includes a high level processing engine that generates on the fly low level instructions that are executed by a low level processing engine. The disk formatter also includes a servo interface for interfacing the disk formatter to the servo timing logic, sector direct memory access (SDMA), and a QT/SP interface for interfacing the disk formatter to other processors in the disk controller, such as a system processor (SP) or Q-transmogrifier (QT) processor. The high level engine and low level engine operate semi-independently. The former processes SP- or QT-converted host computer commands in such a fashion that the low level instructions are generated and passed by the high level engine in time for the low level engine to execute them in coordination with the disk data rate. The high level engine is programmable with a high level instruction set, assembly language in the preferred embodiment, so that different drive formats can be accommodated with only software changes involving reprogramming of the high level engine and certain tracking/geometry tables stored in memory. The architecture and logic of the disk controller render a highly flexible, easily programmable. user friendly solution to the problem that disk controller designers face in accommodating each new generation of magnetic disks and each new approach to formatting.

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Riverside, CA, United States of America

Dennis Keats