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EP0308062A2 Expired / Lapsed EP ⏱️ 0.0 years remaining

Disk file digital servo control

Assignee: International Business Machines Corp
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Filing: 1988-08-09
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2008-08-09
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Abstract

Abstract A disk file digital servo control system incorporates means for measuring the time between samples of read/write head position error signals (PES), and uses a value of that measured time as part of the computation of the digital control signal. The digital servo control system has a microprocessor which runs a control signal algorithm, a portion of which is a state estimator for estimating the position, velocity and acceleration of the head. The state estimator requires the use of estimator constants determined from physical parameters of the disk file, including the PES sampling time. By using the actual measured PES sampling time, rather than a constant value of nominal PES sampling time, the estimator constants can be modified to improve the accuracy of the computed control signal. This results in improved performance of the control system to move the head to the target track whenever there are variations in the nominal PES sampling time caused by variations in the disk file drive motor speed.

Inventors

  • 👤 Stephen F. Edel
  • 👤 Ich Pham Van

Bibliographic Details

Application Number —
Jurisdiction EP
Data Source google_patents
Last Synchronized 2026-11-08 14:46
CPC Classifications
G; G11; G11B; G11B21/00; G11B21/02; G11B21/08; G11B21/081; G11B21/083; G11B21/085

Claims Analysis

Total Claims: 8
Claim 1
Independent Claim 117 words
A digital servo control method for a disk file read/write head actuator, the method comprising processing from detected servo information a head position error signal (PES) and a clock signal representative of the beginning of a PES, and computing at discrete PES sampling times in response to digital values corresponding to the PES a digital control signal for use by the actuator, said computing including estimating the state of the actuator from, among other things, estimator constants, the estimator constants being determined by disk file physical parameters including the PES sampling time, the method being characterised by measuring the actual PES sampling time, and modifying said estimator constants in response to the measured actual PES sampling time.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim 117 words
A digital servo control method for a disk file read/write head actuator, the method comprising processing from detected servo information a head position error signal (PES) and a clock signal representative of the beginning of a PES, and computing at discrete PES sampling times in response to digital values corresponding to the PES a digital control signal for use by the actuator, said computing including estimating the state of the actuator from, among other things, estimator constants, the estimator constants being determined by disk file physical parameters including the PES sampling time, the method being characterised by measuring the actual PES sampling time, and modifying said estimator constants in response to the measured actual PES sampling time.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim 183 words
A data recording disk file of the type having at least one rotatable disk with generally concentric data tracks thereon, the data disk or a separate servo disk having servo information recorded thereon, at least one head for reading the servo information during rotation of the disk, means for processing from the servo information a head position error signal (PES) and a clock signal representative of the beginning of a PES, an actuator responsive to an input signal and attached to the head for positioning the head, and computing means for receiving, at discrete PES sampling times, digital values corresponding to the PES and for computing a digital control signal for use by the actuator, said computing means including means for estimating the state of the actuator from, among other things, estimator constants, the estimator constants being determined by disk file physical parameters including the PES sampling time, the file being characterised by including means for measuring the actual PES sampling time, and by the computing means including means for modifying the estimator constants in response to the measured actual PES sampling time.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim 183 words
A data recording disk file of the type having at least one rotatable disk with generally concentric data tracks thereon, the data disk or a separate servo disk having servo information recorded thereon, at least one head for reading the servo information during rotation of the disk, means for processing from the servo information a head position error signal (PES) and a clock signal representative of the beginning of a PES, an actuator responsive to an input signal and attached to the head for positioning the head, and computing means for receiving, at discrete PES sampling times, digital values corresponding to the PES and for computing a digital control signal for use by the actuator, said computing means including means for estimating the state of the actuator from, among other things, estimator constants, the estimator constants being determined by disk file physical parameters including the PES sampling time, the file being characterised by including means for measuring the actual PES sampling time, and by the computing means including means for modifying the estimator constants in response to the measured actual PES sampling time.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim 79 words
A disk file as claimed in claim 2, wherein the measuring means comprises: means for generating an interrupt to the computing means in response to receipt of a predetermined number of PES clock signals; means for storing a first value corresponding to a predetermined PES sampling time; and wherein the computing means includes means for repetitively increasing said first value by a predetermined increment and for terminating said updating in response to an interrupt from said interrupt generating means.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim 50 words
A disk file as claimed in claim 3, wherein the computing means is a microprocessor and wherein the means for repetitively increasing said first value comprises means for updating said first value for each microprocessor cycle, and wherein the predetermined increment is a value corresponding to the microprocessor cycle time.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim 41 words
A disk file as claimed in claim 3 or claim 4, wherein the means for storing said first value comprises means for storing a value of a PES sampling time corresponding to the minimum allowable rotational speed of the rotatable disk.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim 96 words
A disk file as claimed in claim 2, wherein the measuring means comprises: means coupled to the PES clock signal processing means for generating a PES sampling clock signal having a frequency directly proportional to the frequency of the PES clock signal; means coupled to the PES sampling clock signal generating means for generating a DC voltage signal directly proportional to the frequency of the PES sampling clock signal; and an analog-to-digital conversion means coupled to the DC voltage signal generating means and to the computing means for generating a digital signal to the computing means.

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