International Business Machines Corporation

Lawrence P Segar

Mark David Hagen

John Jeffrey Stephenson

Michael Charles Stich

Todd Barry Anderson

Robert Edward Jansen

Martin R Green

Joseph M Humel

William J Hunt

Warren A Lopour

Mark E Bofferding

In a disk storage device dedicated servo system, a reference track is written in the outer guardband of the servo surface and each of the data surfaces. Supplemental position error signal (PES) values are obtained from the difference of servo and data surface samples at a plurality of locations around the disk and stored for access during read/write operations. The supplemental PES values are combined with the dedicated surface PES values to yield a composite PES that more accurately follows the data track centerline of the disk surface being addressed. The supplemental PES values are also periodically updated. To provide a more accurate correction of the composite PES, two consecutive supplemental values are used and an interpolation is calculated to provide a continuously changing supplemental PES value for modification of each sector actuator drive pulse between the two current supplemental PES values. Provision is also made in the apparatus to make the correction technique tolerant of tangential skew that may make tracks unreadable because of early or late timing through the provision of sequences of alternative early and later sample sector sequences.

Disk drive servo control

A disk file having on one side of a disk a servo track and a plurality of data tracks all equally spaced on centers and a carriage translatable across the disk and having an array of read/write heads some of which are spaced on centers for the distance equal to the spacing between adjacent ones of said tracks and others of which are spaced on centers for multiples of the distance between adjacent ones of said tracks, the spacing between heads being such that when said heads are successively in alignment with said servo track the others of said heads are aligned with said data tracks.

Magnetic disk file

Growing community of inventors

Rochester, MN, United States of America

Lawrence P Segar