Western Digital Technologies, Inc.

Other

Western Digital Corporation

Kenneth J D'Souza

Chun Sei Tsai

William Bernard Boyle

Choo-Bhin Ong

Sang Huynh

Jonathan Lee Hanmann

Kent William Gibbons

Tsun Y Ng

Carl Edward Bonke

Anthony L Pei

Kiem Nguyen

Devon Worrell

A Data Storage Device (DSD) includes a disk with a zone of tracks to be sequentially written. A sequential write pointer is maintained indicating a next physical location for writing data in the zone. When a write command is received to write data in a target region at a physical location behind the sequential write pointer, it is determined whether a write count for each of the target region and an adjacent region before the target region has reached a threshold number of writes. If it is determined that the write counts for both the target region and the adjacent region have not reached the threshold number of writes, the sequential write pointer for the zone is moved to the physical location and the data is written at the physical location to fulfill the write command.

Management of sequentially written data

The application discloses systems that can include a monitoring module that is operative to provide an event indicator of an event occurring on a hard-disk drive. The systems can include a recording module that is operative to create an event record based on a logging instruction to log the event indicator. The systems can include an event linkage module that is operative to link the event record to a hard-disk drive activity indicator. The systems can include an error log formatting module that is operative to format the event record and a hard-disk drive activity indicator into a hard-disk drive error log. The systems can include a configuration module to set configuration flags and/or values. The error log can be stored on various areas of the hard-disk drive. The application also discloses related methods.

Hard-disk drive work load profiling and capturing systems and methods

A method of operating an audiovisual disk drive having a default audiovisual mode for more efficiently transferring audiovisual data from or to a host pursuant to audiovisual host commands. The innovative method includes the steps of receiving a new transfer command requiring the transfer of a data segment associated with the audiovisual data stream; determining an absence or presence of an urgent condition with regard to the new transfer command; according standard precedence to processing the audiovisual data stream associated with the new transfer command as specified by the default operating mode in the determined absence of the urgent condition; and according urgent precedence to processing the audiovisual data stream associated with the new transfer command over attending to the other drive operation in the determined presence of the urgent condition without regard to the default operating mode. The preferred embodiment determines the absence of presence of the urgent condition by testing an urgent bit that may be set or reset by the host in each audiovisual host command.

Method of operating a disk drive for reading and writing audiovisual data on an urgent basis

A read-only memory is connectable to a microcontroller data bus and address bus and includes memory circuits for storing a sequential array of code words executable by the microcontroller; memory address decoding circuits for selecting one of the array of code words, and circuits for conveying the selected one to the data bus when a read signal is received from the microcontroller. Circuits are provided for storing an address transmitted by the microcontroller when an address latch signal is received from the microcontroller, the stored address being connected to the memory address decoding circuits. The stored address is incremented each time a read signal is asserted. A microcontroller for executing a program stored sequentially in read-only memory comprises an address bus for providing a next program code word address to the read-only memory; circuits for providing an address latch enable signal to the read-only memory for latching the program code word address, and circuits for providing a read signal to the read-only memory. The address latch enable signal is suppressed when the next program code word address is consecutive with an immediately preceding program code word address. The microcontroller does not generate the address of the next program code word as long as the address of the next program code is consecutive with an immediately preceding program code word address. A disk drive controller includes both such microcontroller and a program code memory.

High bandwidth code/data access using slow memory

A multiple-drive data-storage system includes a multiple-drive controller, a fixed-media disk drive, and a removable-media, optical-disk disk drive. Preferably, the controller is defined on a printed circuit board assembly attached to a head disk assembly containing the fixed media, and includes a host interface and a command decoder for receiving and decoding commands. A shared buffer memory has allocated storage space for data read from the fixed-media and from the removable optical disks. An error corrector corrects data errors including errors in address-defining data retrieved from headers in the removable optical disks. Caching of data read from the optical disks onto the fixed media allows high speed operation of the combined system and reduced blocking of the host I/O bus.

Multi-drive controller with encoder circuitry that generates ECC check

Growing community of inventors

Irvine, CA, United States of America

Kenneth J D'Souza