Disk drive adjusting phase of adaptive feed-forward controller when reconfiguring servo loop

Description

BACKGROUND

Disk drives comprise a disk and a head connected to a distal end of an actuator arm which is rotated about a pivot by a voice coil motor (VCM) to position the head radially over the disk. The disk comprises a plurality of radially spaced, concentric tracks for recording user data sectors and servo sectors. The servo sectors comprise head positioning information (e.g., a track address) which is read by the head and processed by a servo control system to control the actuator arm as it seeks from track to track.

FIG. 1 shows a prior art disk format 2 as comprising a number of servo tracks 4 defined by servo sectors 6₀-6_N recorded around the circumference of each servo track. Each servo sector 6, comprises a preamble 8 for storing a periodic pattern, which allows proper gain adjustment and timing synchronization of the read signal, and a sync mark 10 for storing a special pattern used to symbol synchronize to a servo data field 12. The servo data field 12 stores coarse head positioning information, such as a servo track address, used to position the head over a target data track during a seek operation. Each servo sector 6, further comprises groups of servo bursts 14 (e.g., N and Q servo bursts), which are recorded with a predetermined phase relative to one another and relative to the servo track centerlines. The phased based servo bursts 14 provide fine head position information used for centerline tracking while accessing a data track during write/read operations.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a prior art disk format comprising a plurality of servo tracks defined by embedded servo sectors.

FIG. 2A shows a disk drive according to an embodiment comprising a head actuated over a disk by a servo control system.

FIG. 2B shows an embodiment of a servo control system comprising adaptive feed-forward control.

FIG. 2C is a flow diagram according to an embodiment wherein when the servo control system is configured into a different state, a phase of the adaptation of the feed-forward control signal is adjusted.

FIGS. 3A and 3B show an embodiment of a servo control system comprising a disturbance compensator that is enabled/disabled.

FIGS. 4A and 4B show a harmonic regressor used to adapt the feed-forward control signal, wherein a phase of the harmonic regressor is adjusted when the servo control system is configured into a different state.

FIG. 4C shows an embodiment for adjusting the phase of the adaptation of the feed-forward control signal when a disturbance compensator is enabled in the servo control system.

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram according to an embodiment wherein the phase of the adaptation of the feed-forward control signal is saved and restored as the servo control system is configured between a first and second state.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 2A shows a disk drive comprising a disk 16 comprising tracks 18 defined by servo sectors 20₀-20_N, a head 22, and control circuitry 24 comprising a servo control system (FIG. 2B) operable to actuate the head 22 over the disk 16 in response to the servo sectors 20₀-20_N. The control circuitry 24 is operable to execute the flow diagram of FIG. 2C, wherein the servo control system is configured into a first state (block 26), and a position error signal (PES) representing a difference between a target location for the head and a measured location for the head is generated (block 28). An actuator control signal is generated in response to the PES (block 30), a feed-forward control signal is adapted in response to the servo sectors (block 32), and the actuator control signal is adjusted using the feed-forward control signal (block 34). The servo control system is configured from the first state to a second state (block 36), and a phase of the adaptation of the feed-forward control signal is adjusted based on the second state (block 38).

In the embodiment of FIG. 2A, the control circuitry 24 processes a read signal 40 emanating from the head 22 to demodulate the servo sectors 20₀-20_N and generate a position error signal (PES) representing an error between the actual position of the head and a target position relative to a target track. The servo control system in the control circuitry 24 filters the PES using a suitable compensation filter to generate a control signal 42 applied to a voice coil motor (VCM) 44 which rotates an actuator arm 46 about a pivot in order to actuate the head 22 radially over the disk 16 in a direction that reduces the PES. The servo sectors 20₀-20_N may comprise any suitable head position information, such as a track address for coarse positioning and servo bursts for fine positioning. The servo bursts may comprise any suitable pattern, such as an amplitude based servo pattern or a phase based servo pattern (FIG. 1).

The servo control system in the embodiment of FIG. 2B comprises a head actuator (P) 48 which may include the VCM 44 shown in FIG. 2A. In other embodiment, the head actuator (P) 48 may comprise a different type of actuator, and/or a secondary microactuator (e.g., a piezoelectric actuator) for actuating the head 22 in fine movements over the disk 16. The secondary microactuator may actuate a suspension relative the actuator arm 46, or actuate a head gimbal assembly relative to the suspension, or any other suitable configuration.

In one embodiment, the position 50 of the head 22 relative to the disk 16 is measured by reading the servo sectors 20₀-20_N. The measured position 50 is subtracted from a reference position 52 to generate the PES 54. A feedback controller (C) 56 processes the PES 54 to generate a feedback control signal 58. An adaptive feed-forward controller 60 generates a feed-forward control signal 62 used to adjust the feedback control signal 58 to generate the actuator control signal 42.

The feed-forward control signal 62 may be adapted in any suitable manner, and in one embodiment it may be adapted based on reading the servo sectors. In addition, the feed-forward control signal 62 may compensate for any disturbance injected into the servo control system, and in one embodiment the feed-forward control signal 62 comprises a sinusoidal signal that compensates for a repeatable disturbance, such as a repeatable runout (RRO) of the servo sectors. In one embodiment, the feed-forward control signal 62 compensates for a fundamental frequency of the RRO and/or one or more harmonics of the RRO. The feed-forward compensation signal 62 may be adapted while the servo control system is configured into a first state, and when the servo control system is configured into a second state, a phase of the adaptation of the feed-forward control signal may be adjusted to compensate for the different configuration.

FIGS. 3A and 3B show an embodiment wherein the servo control system may comprise a disturbance compensator that compensates for a disturbance d(k) 64 affecting the disk drive, such as an external acoustic vibration. In the embodiment of FIG. 3A, the disturbance d(k) 64 is modeled as being added to the actuator control signal 42. Accordingly, the disturbance compensator may comprises a disturbance observer including a filter P⁻¹ 66 having an inverse transfer function of the head actuator 48 which generates an inverse signal 68 based on the output 50 of the head actuator 48 (the measured head position). The inverse signal 68 therefore represents the input 70 to the head actuator 48, including the effect of the disturbance d(k) 64. The feedback control signal 58 is delayed 72 by m sample periods T_s (z^−m) to account for the phase delay of the head actuator 48, and the delayed signal 74 is subtracted from the inverse signal 68. The resulting difference signal 76 is filtered by a Q filter 78 (e.g., a band-pass filter) having a target center frequency ω₀, bandwidth, and gain corresponding to the expected frequency of the disturbance signal d(k) 64. The output 80 of the Q filter 78 represents an estimate of the disturbance d_est(k-m) 64 which is subtracted from the disturbance d(k) 64 at adder 82 to thereby cancel the effect of the disturbance d(k) 64 on the head actuator 48.

In one embodiment, the feed-forward controller 60 may adapt the feed-forward control signal 62 while the disturbance compensator of FIG. 3A is disabled (while switch 84 is open). In the embodiment wherein the feed-forward controller 60 compensates for the RRO of the servo sectors, the feed-forward control signal 62 may be generated as a sinusoidal signal:
y(k)=A_i(k)cos(ω_ik)+B_i(k)sin(ω_ik)
where A_i and B_i are coefficients corresponding to the i^th harmonic of the RRO at frequency ω_i. The A_i and B_i coefficients may be adapted according to:
A_i(k+1)=A_ii(k)+γ_i cos(ω_ik−ω_i)e(k)
B_i(k+1)=B_i(k)+γ_i sin(ω_ik−ω_i)e(k)
where γ_i is a learning coefficient, e(k) represents the PES 54 in FIG. 3A, and φ_i represents an optimal phase of the cosine and sine harmonic regressors used to adapt the coefficients A_i and B_i of feed-forward control signal 62.

In one embodiment, the optimal phase φ_i of the cosine and sine harmonic regressors with the disturbance compensator disabled may be determined according to:
∠S₀(e^jωi)
where S₀(e e^jωi) represents a first input sensitivity function of the servo control system when configured into the first state:

S 0 ⁡ ( ⅇ jω i ) = 1 1 + P - 1 ⁡ ( ⅇ jω i ) ⁢ C - 1 ⁡ ( ⅇ jω i )
When the disturbance compensator is enabled by closing switch 84, the optimal phase φ_i of the cosine and sine harmonic regressors may be determined according to:
φ_i,0+ψ_i
where φ_i,0 represents the initial optimal phase which is adjusted by a correction phase ψ_i that accounts for the effect of the disturbance compensator. In the embodiment of FIG. 3A, when switch 84 is closed the servo control system has a second sensitivity function of the form:
S₁(e^jωi)=S₀(e^jωi)(1−Q(e^jωi))
where S₀(e^jωi) represents the first sensitivity function of the servo control system when switch 84 is open. In this embodiment, the above correction phase ψ_i may be determined by:
∠(1−Q(e^jωi)).
Accordingly, in one embodiment when switch 84 is closed to enable the disturbance compensator, the phase of the adaptation of the feed-forward control signal 62 is adjusted by the correction phase ψ_i.

In one embodiment, the Q filter 78 in the embodiment of FIG. 3A comprises:
gQ₀(e^jωi)
where g is a gain and Q₀(e^jωi) is a band-pass filter. In one embodiment, the band-pass filter Q₀(e^jωi) comprises a lattice-based filter:

Q 0 ⁡ ( z ) = a 0 ⁡ ( z 2 - 1 ) z 2 + b 1 ⁢ z + b 2
where the above filter coefficients may be calculated according to:

a 0 = 1 - k 2 2 , b 1 = k 1 ⁡ ( 1 - k 2 ) , b 2 = k 2
in which k₁ and k₂ are determined by the center frequency F_c and the bandwidth B as follows:

k 1 = - cos ⁢ ⁢ ω c , k 2 = 1 - tan ⁡ ( Ω B / 2 ) 1 + tan ⁡ ( Ω B / 2 )
where ω_c=2πF_cT_s and Ω_B=2πBT_s. The correction phase ψ_i for the above described Q filter when switch 84 is closed may be determined according to:

arc ⁢ ⁢ tan ⁢ g ⁢ ⁢ X R i ⁢ X I i ( 1 - g ) ⁢  X R i  2 +  X I i  2
where X_Rⁱ=(1−b₂)sin ω_i and X_lⁱ=b₁+b₂ cos ω_i.

The above described derivation for computing the correction phase ψ_i is shown in FIG. 4C. FIG. 4A shows an example harmonic regressor used to adapt the feed-forward compensation signal 62 when the switch 84 of FIG. 3A is open (to disable the disturbance compensator). When the switch 84 is closed (to enable the disturbance compensator), the initial phase of the harmonic regressor φ_i,0 is adjusted by adding the correction phase ψ_i as shown in FIG. 4B. In the example of FIGS. 4A and 4B, the feed-forward control signal 62 compensates for the fundamental frequency of the RRO, and therefore the frequency ω_i of the harmonic regressor is the rotation frequency of the disk (the 1× frequency).

FIG. 3B shows an embodiment wherein the disturbance compensator further comprises a filter F 86 which compensates for the effect of the delay 72 when the disturbance d(k) 64 comprises a high frequency. That is, when the disturbance d(k) 64 comprises a high frequency, the delay 72 may induce a mismatch between the target center frequency of the Q filter 78 and the actual center frequency of the Q filter 78. At high frequencies, the inverse filter P⁻¹(z⁻¹) 66 may be modeled as z^−mP_n⁻¹(z⁻¹) and the relationship between the error signal e(k) 54 in FIG. 3B and the disturbance d(k) 64 may be represented as:
e(k)=−S₁(z⁻¹)P(z⁻¹)d(k)
where:
S₁(z⁻¹)=S₀(z⁻¹)(1−z^−mQ(z⁻¹)F(z⁻¹)).
For optimal disturbance cancellation at ω_i, the following equation is minimized:
min:|1−e^jωiQ(e^jωi)F(e^jωi)|
In one embodiment, the filter F 86 comprises an finite impulse response filter (FIR) of the form:
F(z⁻¹)=c₀+c₁z⁻¹.
When the Q filter 78 comprises the above described lattice-based band-pass filter, the solution that will minimize the above equation is:

c 0 = sin ⁡ ( ( m + 1 ) ⁢ ω i ) sin ⁡ ( ω i ) ,

c 1 = - sin ⁡ ( m ⁢ ⁢ ω i ) sin ⁡ ( ω i )
When employing the filter F 86 at high frequencies the following approximation holds:
S₁(e^jωi)≈S₀(e^jωi)(1−Q(e^jωi))
and therefore the derivation of FIG. 4C holds when computing the correction phase ψ_i.

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram according to an embodiment wherein after configuring the servo control system into a first state (block 88), such as opening switch 84 in FIG. 3A, the PES is generated (block 90), and the actuator control signal is generated based on the PES (block 92). The feed-forward control signal is adapted (block 94), and the actuator control signal is adjusted using the feed-forward control signal (block 96). When the servo control system is configured into the second state (block 98), such as closing switch 84 in FIG. 3A, the phase of the adaptation of the feed-forward control (e.g., the phase φ_i,0 shown in FIG. 4A) is saved (block 100). The servo control system is configured into the second state (block 102), and the phase of the adaptation of the feed-forward control signal is adjusted by the correction phase ψ_i (block 104). While the servo control system remains in the second state (block 106), blocks 90 to 96 of FIG. 5 are repeated (block 108). When the servo control system switches back to the first state (block 106), the phase saved at block 100 is used to restore the phase of the adaptation of the feed-forward control signal (block 110).

The feed-forward compensation signal 62 may be generated using any suitable algorithm other than the harmonic regressor algorithm described above. For example, in one embodiment the harmonic regressor algorithm described above may be transformed into an equivalent infinite impulse response (IIR) filter of the form:

cos ⁡ ( ω i - φ i ) - cos ⁡ ( φ i ) z 2 - 2 ⁢ ⁢ z ⁢ ⁢ cos ⁢ ⁢ ω i + 1
Accordingly, in this embodiment adjusting the phase of the adaptation of the feed-forward control signal means adjusting the zero of the above transfer function representing the IIR filter.

Any suitable control circuitry may be employed to implement the flow diagrams in the above embodiments, such as any suitable integrated circuit or circuits. For example, the control circuitry may be implemented within a read channel integrated circuit, or in a component separate from the read channel, such as a disk controller, or certain operations described above may be performed by a read channel and others by a disk controller. In one embodiment, the read channel and disk controller are implemented as separate integrated circuits, and in an alternative embodiment they are fabricated into a single integrated circuit or system on a chip (SOC). In addition, the control circuitry may include a suitable preamp circuit implemented as a separate integrated circuit, integrated into the read channel or disk controller circuit, or integrated into a SOC.

In one embodiment, the control circuitry comprises a microprocessor executing instructions, the instructions being operable to cause the microprocessor to perform the flow diagrams described herein. The instructions may be stored in any computer-readable medium. In one embodiment, they may be stored on a non-volatile semiconductor memory external to the microprocessor, or integrated with the microprocessor in a SOC. In another embodiment, the instructions are stored on the disk and read into a volatile semiconductor memory when the disk drive is powered on. In yet another embodiment, the control circuitry comprises suitable logic circuitry, such as state machine circuitry.

The various features and processes described above may be used independently of one another, or may be combined in various ways. All possible combinations and subcombinations are intended to fall within the scope of this disclosure. In addition, certain method, event or process blocks may be omitted in some implementations. The methods and processes described herein are also not limited to any particular sequence, and the blocks or states relating thereto can be performed in other sequences that are appropriate. For example, described tasks or events may be performed in an order other than that specifically disclosed, or multiple may be combined in a single block or state. The example tasks or events may be performed in serial, in parallel, or in some other manner. Tasks or events may be added to or removed from the disclosed example embodiments. The example systems and components described herein may be configured differently than described. For example, elements may be added to, removed from, or rearranged compared to the disclosed example embodiments.

While certain example embodiments have been described, these embodiments have been presented by way of example only, and are not intended to limit the scope of the inventions disclosed herein. Thus, nothing in the foregoing description is intended to imply that any particular feature, characteristic, step, module, or block is necessary or indispensable. Indeed, the novel methods and systems described herein may be embodied in a variety of other forms; furthermore, various omissions, substitutions and changes in the form of the methods and systems described herein may be made without departing from the spirit of the inventions disclosed herein.