The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jun. 16, 2026
Filed:
Jan. 30, 2025
Stmicroelectronics International N.v., Geneva, CH;
Matteo Alessio Traldi, Milan, IT;
Alessio Facen, Macerata, IT;
STMicroelectronics International N.V., Geneva, CH;
Abstract
According to an embodiment, a circuit for detecting faults in a hard disk drive head resistance includes a current digital-to-analog converter generating a scaled current proportional to a write output current through the head resistance. A programmable current mirror with bipolar transistor networks processes the scaled current using parallel-connected scaled replicas of an impedance matching network and a head resistance fault threshold. The current mirror generates mirror currents that flow through matched resistors to create threshold voltages. High-speed comparators with input buffer transistors compare differential voltages from an H-bridge writer output to the threshold voltages while preventing loading effects. A polarity detector maintains fault detection capability regardless of active H-bridge diagonal pairs.