Hewlett-packard Company

Robert K Barnes

Boyd N Shelton

Charles E Hessing

A disk drive has a disk format that includes servo fields and interspersed data fields. The disk drive includes a timing generator for generating timing signals to synchronize and control operation of read/write and servo positioning circuits. The disk drive also includes a writable program store that stores a plurality of timing signal commands for generating timing signals in conformance with the format of a disk. A processor loads the writable program store with the timing signal commands and the processor further enables readout of those commands from the writable program store. An execution register receives the timing signal commands and generates timing signals in response, the timing signals controlling synchronization and operation of the read/write circuits. As the writable program store is reprogrammable, at will, substantial flexibility is achieved in the creation of such timing signals.

Programmable servo timing generator

A disk drive system employs uniform size data blocks, with each disk having a sectorized track format and each sector of a track including at least one servo burst. Data blocks exhibit a constant data density across a plurality of disk tracks of differing radii. The system comprises read/write apparatus for accessing both servo signals and data signals in each disk sector. A servo system is responsive to servo signals fed from the read/write apparatus to generate a synchronizing signal. A data sector pulse generation circuit is responsive to the synchronizing signal to generate and pass to the read/write apparatus, a data sector pulse for each block of data commencing in a sector. That data sector pulse enables operation of the read/write apparatus upon the data block. A control circuit enables the delay of generation of a next data sector pulse when any block of data is split by a servo burst. The delay period is the duration of the servo burst and the portion of the data block that follows the servo burst.

Growing community of inventors

Boise, ID, United States of America

Robert K Barnes