Disk drive opening spiral crossing window based on DC and AC spiral track error

Description

BACKGROUND

When manufacturing a disk drive, concentric servo sectors 2₀-2_N are written to a disk 4 which define a plurality of radially-spaced, concentric servo tracks 6 as shown in the prior art disk format of FIG. 1. A plurality of concentric data tracks are defined relative to the servo tracks 6, wherein the data tracks may have the same or a different radial density (tracks per inch (TPI)) than the servo tracks 6. Each servo sector (e.g., servo sector 2₄) comprises a preamble 8 for synchronizing gain control and timing recovery, a sync mark 10 for synchronizing to a data field 12 comprising coarse head positioning information such as a track number, and servo bursts 14 which provide fine head positioning information. The coarse head position information is processed to position a head over a target data track during a seek operation, and the servo bursts 14 are processed to maintain the head over a centerline of the target data track while writing or reading data during a tracking operation.

In the past, external servo writers have been used to write the concentric servo sectors 2₀-2_N to the disk surface during manufacturing. External servo writers employ extremely accurate head positioning mechanics, such as a laser interferometer, to ensure the concentric servo sectors 2₀-2_N are written at the proper radial location from the outer diameter of the disk to the inner diameter of the disk. However, external servo writers are expensive and require a clean room environment so that a head positioning pin can be inserted into the head disk assembly (HDA) without contaminating the disk. Thus, external servo writers have become an expensive bottleneck in the disk drive manufacturing process.

The prior art has suggested various “self-servo” writing methods wherein the internal electronics of the disk drive are used to write the concentric servo sectors independent of an external servo writer. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,668,679 teaches a disk drive which performs a self-servo writing operation by writing a plurality of spiral servo tracks to the disk which are then processed to write the concentric servo sectors along a circular path. Each spiral servo track is written to the disk as a high frequency signal (with missing bits), wherein the position error signal (PES) for tracking is generated relative to time shifts in the detected location of the spiral servo tracks. The read signal is rectified and low pass filtered to generate a triangular envelope signal representing a spiral servo track crossing, wherein the location of the spiral servo track is detected by detecting a peak in the triangular envelope signal relative to a clock synchronized to the rotation of the disk.

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 comprising a spiral track.

FIG. 2B is a flow diagram according to an embodiment wherein spiral track error is generated based on a measured slope and a target slope of the spiral track.

FIG. 2C illustrates a spiral track error between a measured slope and a target slope of an ideal spiral track.

FIG. 3A shows an embodiment wherein the spiral track error is measured at a plurality of radial locations across the disk.

FIG. 3B illustrates the spiral track error at a number of radial locations near an outer diameter (OD) of the disk according to an embodiment.

FIGS. 4A and 4B illustrate an embodiment wherein the slope of the spiral track is measured relative to a width of a spiral track crossing.

FIGS. 5A and 5B illustrate an embodiment wherein the disk comprises a plurality of spiral tracks which are processed to write concentric servo sectors to the disk.

FIGS. 6A and 6B illustrate an embodiment wherein a spiral servo track is written to the disk by processing the spiral track.

FIG. 7 shows a servo control system operable to actuate the head over the disk based on the spiral track and the spiral track error according to an embodiment.

FIG. 8 shows an embodiment wherein the disk comprises a plurality of spiral tracks and an average spiral track error is generated by averaging the spiral track error generated for each spiral track.

FIG. 9A shows a disk drive according to an embodiment comprising a head actuated over a disk comprising a plurality of spiral tracks.

FIG. 9B is a flow diagram according to an embodiment wherein a spiral crossing window is opened based on a DC spiral track error and an AC spiral track error.

FIG. 10 shows an embodiment wherein a timing delta p_i(k) for opening the spiral crossing window is computed based on the AC and DC spiral track errors.

FIG. 11 is a flow diagram according to an embodiment wherein the spiral crossing window is opened when the absolute value of the timing delta p_i(k) is less than a threshold.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 9A shows a disk drive according to an embodiment comprising a disk 16 comprising a plurality of spiral tracks including a first spiral track 18₀, and a head 20 actuated over the disk 16. The disk drive further comprises control circuitry 24 operable to execute the flow diagram of FIG. 9B, wherein a DC spiral track error common to the spiral tracks is measured relative to an ideal slope for the spiral tracks (block 68), and an AC spiral track error is measured for each spiral track relative to the ideal slope (block 70). As the head approaches the first spiral track, a spiral crossing window is opened based on the measured DC spiral track error and the measured AC spiral track error for the first spiral track (block 72), and the first spiral track is detected after opening the spiral crossing window (block 74).

FIG. 2A shows a disk drive according to an embodiment wherein the control circuitry 24 is operable to execute the flow diagram of FIG. 2B, wherein a slope of a spiral track is measured at a plurality of radial locations across the disk (block 26), and a spiral track error at each radial location is generated based on a difference between the measured slope and a target slope (block 28). The head is actuated over the disk based on the spiral track and the spiral track error (block 30).

In one embodiment, the control circuitry 24 processes a read signal 32 emanating from the head 20 to measure the slope of the spiral track 18₀ in order to generate the spiral track error. The control circuitry 24 then generates a control signal 34 based on the spiral track 18₀ and the spiral track error, wherein the control signal 34 is applied to the actuator 22 in order to rotate an actuator arm 36 about a pivot to thereby actuate the head 20 radially over the disk 16. FIG. 2C illustrates a trajectory of the spiral track 18₀ written on the disk 16 relative to an ideal spiral track 38. The trajectory of the ideal spiral track 38 changes at a constant slope over time as the disk 16 rotates at a constant speed, whereas the trajectory of the spiral track 18₀ changes with a varying slope due to errors when writing the spiral track 18₀. Accordingly, in one embodiment a spiral track error is generated based on a difference between a measured slope of the spiral track 18₀ and a target slope of the ideal spiral track 38, and then the spiral track error is compensated when servoing the head 20 over the disk 16 based on the spiral track 18₀.

FIG. 3A illustrates an embodiment wherein the spiral track error is generated at a plurality of different radial locations across the disk 16 from an outer diameter (OD) to an inner diameter (ID). In one embodiment, when measuring a radial position of the head 20 based on the written spiral track 18₀, the measured position is adjusted by the spiral track error (position error) so that the adjusted position corresponds to the radial location of the ideal spiral track 38.

The spiral track error may be generated in any suitable manner, wherein one embodiment is described in view of FIG. 3B which shows a magnified view of the written spiral track 18₀ relative to the ideal spiral track 38 near the OD of the disk 16. The head is first positioned at radial location R₀ based on the written spiral track 18₀. That is, the written spiral track 18₀ is read to generate a radial position measurement, and the head is servoed radially over the disk 16 until the measured position corresponds to R₀. If the slope of the written spiral track 18₀ matched the slope of the ideal spiral track 38, then the measured R₀ would correspond to the target radial location tR₀. However, because the slope of the written spiral track 18₀ is steeper than the slope of the ideal spiral track 38, the measured radial location corresponding to R₀ will differ from the target radial location tR₀ based on the ideal spiral track 38 by a position error ΔR₀. In one embodiment, this initial position error ΔR₀ may be estimated according to:
ΔR₀=r−r·s₀/s_t
where r represents a radial increment between the OD and the first radial location corresponding to tR₀, s₀ represents the measured slope of the spiral track 18₀ at R₀, and s_t represents the target slope (corresponding to the ideal spiral track 38). The head is then servoed over the disk 16 based on the written spiral track 18₀ until the measured position corresponds to R₁. Due to the error in the slope of the written spiral track 18₀, the resulting position error ΔR₁ may be estimated according to:

R ^ 1 = R ^ 0 + r · ( s 1 + s 0 ) / 2 s t ; Δ ⁢ ⁢ R 1 = ( 2 · r ) - R ^ 1
where {circumflex over (R)}₀=tR₀−ΔR₀. In general, the position error ΔR_i at each incremental radial location tR_i may be estimated based on:

R ^ 1 = ⁢ R ^ i - 1 + r · ( s i + s i - 1 ) / 2 s t ; Δ ⁢ ⁢ R 1 = ( ( i + 1 ) · r ) - R ^ i ; i = 1 , 2 , • , N - 2

FIG. 3B illustrates how the position error ΔR_i changes in magnitude as the slope of the written spiral track 18₀ changes, and in the example shown the polarity of the position error ΔR₈ changes sign at R₈ due to the slope of the written spiral track 18₀ being less than the slope of the ideal spiral track 38.

The slope of the written spiral track 18₀ may be measured at each radial location R_i in FIG. 3B using in any suitable technique. FIGS. 4A and 4B illustrate an embodiment wherein a width of the written spiral track 18₀ varies proportionally with the slope. In one embodiment, the width of the written spiral track 18₀ may be measured by evaluating the read signal that is generated as the head crosses over the written spiral track 18₀ at a constant velocity. For example, the read signal may be integrated and the width of the written spiral track 18₀ estimated based on the width of the resulting ramp signal. FIG. 4B illustrate how the width of the spiral track crossing signal decreases as the slope of the written spiral track 18₀ increases as compared to the spiral track crossing shown in FIG. 4A.

The written spiral track 18₀ shown in FIG. 2A may be used to servo the head 20 over the disk 16 during any suitable operation of the disk drive. In one embodiment, the written spiral track 18₀ may represent a product servo track used to servo the head 20 over the disk 16 during normal write/read operations. In one embodiment, there may be a number of spiral servo tracks 18₀-18_N written to the disk 16 and processed to servo the head 20 during normal write/read operations. As described below with reference to FIG. 7, in one embodiment the measured radial position of the head 20 when servoing on the spiral servo tracks 18₀-18_N may be adjusted by the corresponding position error ΔR described above so that the head 20 is servoed over the disk 16 based on ideal spiral servo tracks.

In another embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 5A and 5B, a number of spiral tracks 18₀-18_N may be written on the disk 16 and then processed to write concentric servo sectors 40₀-40_N on the disk 16, wherein the concentric servo sectors 40₀-40_N are used to servo the head 20 over the disk 16 during normal write/read operations. In the example embodiment shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B, each spiral track 18_k is written over a partial disk revolution, whereas in other embodiments each spiral track 18_k may be written over multiple disk revolutions as shown in FIG. 2A.

FIGS. 6A and 6B illustrate another embodiment wherein the spiral track 18₀ may be used as a bootstrap spiral track that is processed to write one or more spiral servo tracks 44₀. In one embodiment, the bootstrap spiral track 18₀ may be written while moving the head 20 from the ID of the disk 16 toward the OD until the head 20 contacts a ramp 42. In one embodiment, a number of bootstrap spiral tracks may be written on the disk by starting the writing at the ID at a different circumferential position (different rotation angle). FIG. 6B shows an embodiment wherein a spiral servo track 44₀ is written to the disk 16 while servoing the head from the OD toward the ID of the disk 16. When the head 20 crosses over the bootstrap spiral track 18₀, a radial position is measured and used to adjust the servoing of the head 20. When the radial position is measured, it is adjusted by the position error ΔR as described above so that the spiral servo track 44₀ is written based on an ideal bootstrap spiral track. In one embodiment, a number of spiral servo tracks 44₀-44_N are written to the disk 16 which may be used as final servo tracks, or used to write concentric servo sectors as described above with reference to FIGS. 5A and 5B.

FIG. 7 shows a servo control system implemented within the control circuitry 24 of FIG. 2A, wherein the read signal 32 emanating from the head 20 is processed at block 46 when crossing the spiral track 18₀ to generate a measured position 48. The measured position 48 is adjusted at adder 50 by the corresponding position error ΔR generated at block 52 as described above to generate an adjusted position 54 that corresponds to the ideal spiral track 38. A state error generator 56 processes the adjusted position 54 and a reference position 58 to generate an error signal 60 (e.g., a position error signal (PES)). The error signal 60 is processed by a servo compensator 62 to generate a digital control signal 64 that is converted by a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) 66 into an analog control signal 34 applied to the VCM 22 in order to actuate the head 20 over the disk 16 so as to reduce the error signal 60. The servo control system of FIG. 7 may be used during normal write/read operations, or when writing concentric servo sectors to the disk as shown in FIG. 5B, or when writing spiral servo tracks to the disk as shown in FIG. 6B, or during any other suitable operation wherein the head 20 is servoed over the disk 16 based on a spiral track.

In one embodiment, the block 52 of FIG. 7 may generate an interpolated position error ΔR for adjusting the measured position 48. For example, when the measured position 48 indicates the head 20 is between radial location R₀ and R₁ in FIG. 3B, block 52 may generate the corresponding position error ΔR by interpolating between position error ΔR₀ and position error ΔR₁. In other words, in one embodiment the control circuitry 24 may interpolate the spiral track error (e.g., position error) in order to increase the resolution of the spiral track error.

The target slope of the ideal spiral track 38 shown in FIG. 3A may be generated in any suitable manner. In one embodiment, the target slope is predetermined based on a known ideal spiral track that should be written to the disk. In another embodiment, the control circuitry 24 may generate the target slope by averaging the measured slopes of the spiral track 18₀ at the plurality of radial locations shown in FIG. 3B. For example, in one embodiment the control circuitry 24 may measure and save the slope of the spiral track 18₀ at the different radial locations shown in FIG. 3B. The saved slope measurements may then be processed to generate the target slope (e.g., as the average), as well as to generate the spiral track errors (e.g., position errors) for each radial location.

In one embodiment, there may be a number of spiral tracks 18₀-18_N written to the disk 16 as illustrated in FIG. 8. The control circuitry 24 may generate the target slope and/or the spiral track errors for each individual spiral track, or in another embodiment, the control circuitry 24 may average the measurements to generate a target slope and/or spiral track errors used to process all of the spiral tracks 18₀-18_N. For example, in one embodiment the control circuitry 24 may average the spiral track errors (e.g., position errors) generated for each spiral track 18_k at each radial location R_i to generate a spiral track error that is applied to all of the spiral tracks (e.g., at block 52 of FIG. 7). In another embodiment, the control circuitry 24 may generate an independent spiral track error for each spiral track 18_k which is then generated at block 52 of FIG. 7, for example, using a lookup table indexed by the spiral track number.

The spiral track 18₀ may comprise any suitable format, wherein in one embodiment, the spiral track 18₀ is written as a high frequency signal interrupted periodically by a sync mark. When the head 20 moves radially over the disk 16, an eye pattern generated by reading the spiral track 18₀ will shift (left or right) while the sync marks remain fixed (ideally). The shift in the eye pattern (detected from the high frequency signal) relative to the sync marks provides the position information for servoing the head 20.

Referring again to the embodiment of FIG. 6B, the spiral servo track 44₀ may be written starting from an OD reference track 76A to an ID reference track 76B. As the head 20 approaches a bootstrap spiral track 18₀, the control circuitry 24 opens a spiral crossing window to begin searching for the bootstrap spiral track 18₀. Searching for the bootstrap spiral track 18₀ when the spiral crossing window is open improves the detection accuracy by avoiding false detections while the head is between bootstrap spiral tracks. In one embodiment, the spiral crossing window may also track the sequence of bootstrap spiral tracks 18₀-18_N. That is, even if one of the bootstrap spiral tracks 18_k is missed while the spiral crossing window is open, an index that tracks the sequence 18₀-18_N of bootstrap spiral tracks may still be incremented so that the sequence is accurately tracked as the disk rotates. Referring again to FIG. 2C, in one embodiment the error in the trajectory of the bootstrap spiral track 18₀ relative to an ideal spiral track 38 is compensated when opening the spiral crossing window.

FIG. 10 illustrates an example of this embodiment which shows two consecutive bootstrap spiral tracks 18_k and 18_k+1 relative to an ideal spiral track 38. Each bootstrap spiral track comprises a DC trajectory 78 common to the bootstrap spiral tracks 18₀-18_N (e.g., an average spiral track error across the bootstrap spiral tracks), and an AC trajectory that is unique to each bootstrap spiral track 18_k. As the head 20 moves radially over the disk 16 along trajectory 80, the control circuitry 24 opens the spiral crossing window when the head 20 nears one of the bootstrap spiral tracks 18_k. In one embodiment a DC spiral track error (due to the DC trajectory 78) and an AC spiral track error (due to the AC trajectory) measured for each bootstrap spiral track 18_k is used to open the spiral crossing window at the correct time. In the example of FIG. 10, the head 20 is shown at radial location r_i 82 at current time t_i. The control circuitry 24 may open the spiral crossing window based on:
Δt_i(k)=(r_i−DC_i−AC_i(k)−r_s)/L
p_i(k)=Δt_i(k)−(t_i−T_i^k)
where:

• • k represents a bootstrap spiral track index;
  • r_s represents a radial location of reference track 76B (FIG. 6B);
  • T_i^k represents a phase of an ideal bootstrap spiral track k at the reference track;
  • r_i: represents a current radial location of the head;
  • t_i represents a current time;
  • AC_i(k) represents the AC spiral track error for bootstrap spiral track k at radial location r_i;

DC_i represents the DC spiral track error at radial location r_i;

• • Δt_i(k) represents a timing delta based on the reference track r_s and current radial location r_i;
  • p_i(k) represents a timing delta between the current time t_i and an expected crossing time for bootstrap spiral track k at the current radial location r_i; and
  • L represents the ideal slope for the bootstrap spiral tracks.
    As the head 20 moves radially over the disk 16 along trajectory 80, and as the disk 16 rotates, the timing delta p_i(k) will decrease as the head 20 moves toward the bootstrap spiral track 18_k. In one embodiment, the spiral crossing window is opened when the absolute value of the timing delta p_i(k) is less than a threshold, and the spiral crossing window is closed when the absolute value of the timing delta p_i(k) is greater than a threshold.

This embodiment is understood with reference to the flow diagram of FIG. 11 wherein the bootstrap spiral index k is initialized to zero (block 84). The timing delta p_i(k) is computed as described above (block 86), and if the spiral crossing window is not open (block 88), the spiral crossing window is opened (block 92) if the absolute value of the timing delta p_i(k) is less than a threshold (block 90). In the embodiment of FIG. 11, the threshold at block 90 equals half the maximum width W of the spiral crossing window. The flow diagram is then repeated starting from block 86 to update the timing delta p_i(k). If the spiral crossing window is open at block 88, the control circuitry 24 searches for the current bootstrap spiral track 18_k (block 94). If the current bootstrap spiral track 18_k is detected at block 94, the bootstrap spiral index k is incremented (block 98) and the spiral crossing window is closed (block 100). If the current bootstrap spiral track 18_k is not detected at block 94, and the absolute value of the timing delta p_i(k) exceeds the threshold W/2 (block 96), it is assumed the current bootstrap spiral track 18_k was missed and therefore the bootstrap spiral index is incremented (block 98) and the spiral crossing window is closed (block 100). In this embodiment, the bootstrap spiral index k tracks the correct sequence of bootstrap spiral track crossings even when one of the bootstrap spiral tracks is missed due, for example, to a defect on the disk 16 at the location where the head 20 crosses over the bootstrap spiral track.

The DC spiral track error and the AC spiral track error for any given radial location such as shown in the example of FIG. 10 may be generated in any suitable manner. In one embodiment, the DC spiral track error may be generated as the average spiral track error generated for the plurality of bootstrap spiral tracks 18₀-18_N as described above with reference to FIG. 8. In one embodiment, the AC spiral track error for each bootstrap spiral track 18_k may be generated at a given radial location based on the error signal 60 generated by the servo control system of FIG. 7 while servoing the head 20 at the given radial location. In one embodiment, the DC and AC spiral track errors may be measured at a plurality of discrete radial locations, and then the DC and AC spiral track errors generated for any given radial location by interpolating between the discrete measurements, or by using a polynomial curve fitted to the discrete measurements, or any other suitable technique.

In the embodiment of FIG. 6B, the spiral servo track 44₀ is written by moving the head 20 in an opposite radial direction as when writing the bootstrap spiral track 18₀. In the example of FIG. 6B, the bootstrap spiral track 18₀ is written while moving the head from the ID toward the OD of the disk 16, and the spiral servo track 44₀ is written while moving the head from the OD toward the ID of the disk 16. In another embodiment, the writing direction for the spiral servo track 44₀ and the bootstrap spiral track 18₀ may be reversed, and in yet another embodiment, the spiral servo track 44₀ may be written in the same radial direction as the bootstrap spiral track 18₀. In the latter embodiment, the spiral servo track 44₀ may be written while moving the head 20 at a radial velocity that is different (slower or faster) than the radial velocity used to write the bootstrap spiral track 18₀ to ensure the head 20 crosses the bootstrap spiral track 18₀ while writing the spiral servo track 44₀.

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.