Data storage device measuring radial offset between read element and write element

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)

This application is related to co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/666,080 filed on Mar. 23, 2015, entitled “DATA STORAGE DEVICE CALIBRATING A LASER POWER FOR HEAT ASSISTED MAGNETIC RECORDING BASED ON SLOPE OF QUALITY METRIC,” to Poornima Nookala, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

Data storage devices such as disk drives may 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 embedded servo sectors. The embedded servo sectors comprise head positioning information (e.g., a track address) which is read by the head and processed by a servo controller 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_i 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_i 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 phase based servo bursts 14 provide fine head position information used for centerline tracking while accessing a data track during write/read operations. A position error signal (PES) is generated by reading the servo bursts 14, wherein the PES represents a measured position of the head relative to a centerline of a target servo track. A servo controller processes the PES to generate a control signal applied to a head actuator (e.g., a voice coil motor) in order to actuate the head radially over the disk in a direction that reduces the PES.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

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

FIG. 2A shows a data storage device in the form of a disk drive according to an embodiment comprising a head actuated over a disk.

FIG. 2B shows a head according to an embodiment comprising a read element radially offset from a write element.

FIG. 2C is a flow diagram according to an embodiment wherein a first and second pattern are written to a single track in order to measure the radial offset of the read element and write element.

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram according to an embodiment wherein the first pattern is written during a first revolution of the disk, the first pattern is read during a second revolution of the disk to generate a first quality metric, the second pattern is written during a third revolution of the disk, the second pattern is read during a fourth revolution of the disk, and the radial offset is measured based on the first and second quality metrics.

FIGS. 4A-4E illustrate an embodiment of the flow diagram of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram according to an embodiment wherein the first and second pattern are written during a first revolution of the disk and read during a second revolution of the disk.

FIGS. 6A-6C illustrate an embodiment of the flow diagram of FIG. 5.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 2A shows a data storage device in the form of a disk drive according to an embodiment comprising a disk 16 comprising a plurality of tracks 18 and a head 20 actuated over the disk 16, wherein the head 20 (FIG. 2B) comprises a read element 22A radially offset from a write element 22B. The disk drive further comprises control circuitry 24 configured to execute the flow diagram of FIG. 2C wherein a first pattern is written to a single track (block 26), and the first pattern is read from the single track to generate a first read signal (block 28), wherein a first quality metric is generated based on the first read signal (block 30). A second pattern is written to the single track (block 32), wherein the second pattern is different from the first pattern. The second pattern is read from the single track to generate a second read signal (block 34), and a second quality metric is generated based on the second read signal (block 36). The radial offset of the read element and write element is measured based on the first and second quality metrics (block 38).

In the embodiment of FIG. 2A, the disk 16 comprises a plurality of servo sectors 40₀-40_N that define a plurality of servo tracks, wherein data tracks 18 are defined relative to the servo tracks at the same or different radial density. The control circuitry 24 processes a read signal 42 emanating from the head 20 to demodulate the servo sectors 40₀-40_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. A servo control system in the control circuitry 24 filters the PES using a suitable compensation filter to generate a control signal 44 applied to a voice coil motor (VCM) 46 which rotates an actuator arm 48 about a pivot in order to actuate the head 20 radially over the disk 16 in a direction that reduces the PES. The servo sectors 40₀-40_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).

In one embodiment, writing a first and second pattern to a single track expedites the process of measuring the radial offset between the read element and write element as compared to first erasing the multiple adjacent tracks, and then writing a pattern to one of the tracks and scan reading the multiple adjacent tracks as has been done in the prior art. That is, in one embodiment the radial offset may be measured by writing two different patterns to a single track, and then generating a quality metric based on reading each pattern, where the difference between the quality metrics will be significantly greater when reading the single track as compared to when reading a non-erased track adjacent the single track. That is, after writing each test pattern to the single track, the control circuitry may perform a radial scan of multiple adjacent tracks near the expected location of the written track, where the difference between the quality metrics for the two test patterns may essentially spike (up or down) when reading the written track as compared to when reading an adjacent track.

The first pattern written to the target track may differ from the second pattern written to the target track in any suitable manner, for example, in one embodiment the first pattern may comprise an AC or DC erase signal, and the second pattern may comprise a suitable periodic pattern such as a 2T pattern. In another embodiment, the first pattern may comprise a first periodic pattern (e.g., a 2T pattern) and the second pattern may comprise a second periodic pattern (e.g., a 5T pattern). In one embodiment, the first and second patterns may comprise a known data pattern that is not necessarily periodic (e.g., a known random pattern).

Any suitable quality metric may be generated when reading the patterns from the disk. For example, in the embodiment where the first pattern comprises an AC or DC erase signal and the second pattern comprises a periodic pattern such as a 2T pattern, the quality metric may represent an amplitude of the read signal, such as a setting for a variable gain amplifier (VGA). The first quality metric (amplitude of the read signal) generated when reading the first pattern will be small since the track has been erased by writing the first pattern, and the second quality metric (amplitude of the read signal) generated when reading the second pattern will be large since the track is written with a periodic pattern. Accordingly, in one embodiment the radial offset between the read element and write element may be detected by scan reading multiple adjacent tracks near the expected location of the target track and evaluating the difference between the first quality metric and the second quality metric. In the embodiment wherein the first pattern comprises a first periodic pattern (e.g., a 2T pattern) and the second pattern comprises a second periodic pattern (e.g., a 5T pattern), the quality metric generated for each pattern may be generated by evaluating the read signal at the frequency of the pattern (e.g., by computing a discrete Fourier transform (DFT) of each read signal at the frequency of each pattern). Any suitable quality metric may be generated when reading the first and second patterns, such as a timing error, a signal sample error, a detected bit sequence, bit error rate, or any other suitable metric indicative of the recorded data. In one embodiment, the first and second patterns may comprise a known data pattern that may facilitate generating quality metrics such as a signal sample error or a bit error rate.

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram according to an embodiment which is understood with reference to the example shown in FIGS. 4A-4E. FIG. 4A shows a number of tracks, including a target track k and adjacent tracks k−1 and k−1. The tracks may be bulk erased as part of a manufacturing process for the disk, or the tracks may initially be in a random, unknown state. In one embodiment, the control circuitry 24 may write only to the target track k to measure the radial offset between the read element and write element, and in other embodiment, the control circuitry 24 may write to the target track k and adjacent tracks k−1 and k+1, such as to initially erase the tracks by writing an AC or DC erase signal.

When measuring the radial offset between the read element and write element, in one embodiment the control circuitry 24 positions the read element 22A at a target radial location by reading the servo sectors 40₀-40_N. The control circuitry 24 then writes the first and second patterns to the disk at whatever unknown radial position (track) of the write element 22B. The control circuitry then scan reads multiple adjacent tracks near the estimated target track to generate corresponding quality metrics which may be evaluated to determine the radial location of the target track. The radial offset may then be measured as the difference between the initial radial location of the read element when writing the patterns to the disk, and the detected radial location of the target track.

Referring again to FIG. 3, during a first revolution of the disk a first pattern is written to a target track (block 50) as illustrated in FIG. 4B. Although the pattern is shown in FIG. 4B as being written along a centerline of track k, the pattern may be written at any suitable radial offset from the centerline since the radial offset between the read element and write element may include a fraction of a track. Multiple adjacent tracks are then scan read over multiple disk revolutions to generate a read signal for each track (block 52), and the read signals are processed to generate a first quality metric for each track (block 54) such as the quality metric generated for the target track as shown in FIG. 4C. During a subsequent revolution of the disk, the second pattern is written to the target track (block 56) as illustrated in FIG. 4D, wherein the second pattern is different from the first pattern. Multiple adjacent tracks are then scan read over multiple revolutions of the disk to generate a read signal for each track (block 58), and the read signals are processed to generate a second quality metric for each track (block 60) such as the quality metric generated for the target track as shown in FIG. 4E. A third quality metric is generated based on the first quality metric and the second quality metric, such as by computing a difference between the first quality metric and the second quality metric (block 62). The radial offset between the read element and write element may then be measured based on the third quality metric (block 64). For example, in one embodiment the radial location of the written patterns may be detected at the radial location where the third quality metric reaches a maximum, and the radial offset between the read element and write element may be measured as the delta relative to the radial location of the read element when the patterns were written.

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram according to an alternative embodiment which may help expedite the process of measuring the radial offset between the read element and the write element as is understood with reference to the example shown in FIGS. 6A-6C. FIG. 6A shows a number of tracks, including a target track k and adjacent tracks k−1 and k+1. The tracks may be bulk erased as part of a manufacturing process for the disk, or the tracks may initially be in a random, unknown state. In one embodiment, the control circuitry 24 may write only to the target track k to measure the radial offset between the read element and write element, and in other embodiment, the control circuitry 24 may write to the target track k and adjacent tracks k−1 and k+1, such as to initially erase the tracks by writing an AC or DC erase signal.

Referring again to FIG. 5, during a first revolution of the disk the first pattern is written to a first segment of the target track, and the second pattern is written to a second segment of the target track (block 66) as illustrated in FIG. 6B. Multiple adjacent tracks are then scan read over multiple revolutions of the disk to generate a read signal for each track (block 68), and the read signals are processed to generate a first and second quality metric for the first and second segments for each track (block 70) such as the first and second quality metrics generated for the first and second segments of the target track as shown in FIG. 6C. A third quality metric is generated based on the first quality metric and the second quality metric, such as by computing a difference between the first quality metric and the second quality metric (block 72). The radial offset between the read element and write element may then be measured based on the third quality metric (block 74). The flow diagram of FIG. 5 requires less time than the embodiment of FIG. 3 since the first and second patterns are written to the target track during a single revolution of the disk, and the first and second quality metrics may be generated for each read during the radial scan over a single revolution of the disk. That is, instead of performing the two radial scans at block 52 and 58 in the flow diagram of FIG. 3, the control circuitry executes one radial scan at block 68 in the flow diagram of FIG. 5.

When scan reading the adjacent tracks (e.g., at blocks 52 and 58 of FIG. 3 or block 68 of FIG. 5), in one embodiment the control circuitry 24 may first perform a coarse scan read such as reading the centerline of the adjacent tracks in order to identify the target track where the first and second patterns were written. After locating the target track, in one embodiment the control circuitry 24 may perform a fine scan of the target track by reading the target track at different radial offsets from the track centerline and generating the first and second quality metrics as described above for each scan read. In this manner, the radial offset between the read element and write element may be measured accurately within a fraction of the target track. The flow diagram of FIG. 5 may expedite the embodiment employing a coarse scan followed by a fine scan since the adjacent tracks may be scan read (at block 68) without the intervening writing of the first and second patterns as in the flow diagram of FIG. 3.

In one embodiment, the radial offset between the read element and write element may be measured at a number of different radial locations across the disk surface to account for the varying skew angle of the head 20 as shown in FIG. 2B. In one embodiment, the resulting radial offsets measured at the different radial locations may be curve fitted to a suitable polynomial which may then be used to generate the radial offset at any desired radial location (e.g., to perform a write and/or read operation at a target track).

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.

In various embodiments, a disk drive may include a magnetic disk drive, an optical disk drive, etc. In addition, while the above examples concern a disk drive, the various embodiments are not limited to a disk drive and can be applied to other data storage devices and systems, such as magnetic tape drives, solid state drives, hybrid drives, etc. In addition, some embodiments may include electronic devices such as computing devices, data server devices, media content storage devices, etc. that comprise the storage media and/or control circuitry as described above.

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 embodiments disclosed herein.