Reassigning defective sectors on a disk

Claim 1

A method of assigning a secondary storage region for replacing a defective primary storage region on a storage medium having a plurality of primary and secondary storage regions formed thereon, each primary and secondary storage region having a unique track and sector location identification, the storage medium being logically divided into a plurality of groups, wherein each group includes a predetermined portion of the primary and secondary storage regions, the storage medium further having a defective storage list stored thereon, the defective storage list being stored in a memory upon initializing of the storage medium in a drive, the method comprising the steps of: performing a surface analysis prior to using the storage medium wherein primary defects are identified ad a primary defect count provided therefrom; identifying a defective primary storage region; determining a group to which the defective primary storage region has been allocated according to a group equation wherein: group=integer of {({(defective track number-DMA tracks) * SPT}+defective sector number-primary defect count)/(m+n)}, where SPT is the number of sectors per track, m is the number of data sectors per group, n is the number of spare sectors per group, and DMA tracks are tracks reserved for use by defect management areas; locating an available secondary storage region allocated to the same group as the defective primary storage region, wherein: the track number of the available storage region=integer of ({group * (m+n)}+(DMA tracks * SPT)+m)/SPT, and the sector number of the available storage region=({({group * (m+n)}+(DMA tracks * SPT)+m)/SPT}-calculated track) * SPT; replacing the defective primary storage region with the available secondary storage region, and updating the defective storage list to identify the defective storage region and logging the available secondary storage region in a reassignment storage region list.

Claim 2

A method of assigning a secondary storage region for replacing a defective primary storage region on a storage medium having a plurality of primary and secondary storage regions formed thereon, each primary and secondary storage region having a unique track and sector location identification, the storage medium being logically divided into a plurality of groups, wherein each group includes a predetermined portion of the primary and secondary storage regions, the storage medium further having a defective storage list stored thereon, the defective storage list being stored in a memory upon initializing of the storage medium in a drive, the method comprising the steps of: performing a surface analysis prior to using the storage medium wherein primary defects are identified ad a primary defect count provided therefrom; identifying a defective primary storage region; determining a group to which the defective primary storage region has been allocated according to a group equation wherein: group=integer of {({(defective track number-DMA tracks) * SPT}+defective sector number-primary defect count)/(m+n)}, where SPT is the number of sectors per track, m is the number of data sectors per group, n is the number of spare sectors per group, and DMA tracks are tracks reserved for use by defect management areas; locating an available secondary storage region allocated to the same group as the defective primary storage region, wherein: the track number of the available storage region=integer of ({group * (m+n)}+(DMA tracks * SPT)+m)/SPT, and the sector number of the available storage region=({({group * (m+n)}+(DMA tracks * SPT)+m)/SPT}-calculated track) * SPT; replacing the defective primary storage region with the available secondary storage region, and updating the defective storage list to identify the defective storage region and logging the available secondary storage region in a reassignment storage region list.

Claim 7

A method of locating a spare sector on a storage medium for replacing an identified secondary defect, the storage medium having a plurality of sectors formed thereon, wherein the sectors are logically divided into groups, each group having a predetermined number of sectors reserved as spares, wherein defect management tables have been compiled and stored on the storage medium, the defect management tables including a disk definition structure and primary and secondary defect lists, the defect management tables being copied to a memory upon initializing the storage medium in a drive, the method comprising the steps of: calculating with a processor a group number for identifying which group contains the identified secondary defect; determining a boundary for locating a plurality of spare sectors allocated to the identified group; calculating with the processor a location of a spare sector within the plurality of spare sectors allocated to the group; and providing a physical address of the spare sector to the drive whereby access to the sector containing the identified secondary defect is instead directed to the spare sector.

Claim 8

A method of locating a spare sector on a storage medium for replacing an identified secondary defect, the storage medium having a plurality of sectors formed thereon, wherein the sectors are logically divided into groups, each group having a predetermined number of sectors reserved as spares, wherein defect management tables have been compiled and stored on the storage medium, the defect management tables including a disk definition structure and primary and secondary defect lists, the defect management tables being copied to a memory upon initializing the storage medium in a drive, the method comprising the steps of: calculating with a processor a group number for identifying which group contains the identified secondary defect; determining a boundary for locating a plurality of spare sectors allocated to the identified group; calculating with the processor a location of a spare sector within the plurality of spare sectors allocated to the group; and providing a physical address of the spare sector to the drive whereby access to the sector containing the identified secondary defect is instead directed to the spare sector.

Claim 17

An apparatus for reassigning secondary storage regions for replacing defective primary storage regions, wherein the primary and secondary storage regions are formed on a storage medium, the storage medium being logically divided into a plurality of groups, wherein each group has allocated a predetermined portion of the primary and secondary storage regions, the storage medium further having a defective storage regions list stored thereon, the apparatus comprising: controller means for sending data to be written and receiving data read from the storage medium; processor coupled to the controller means for providing commands to the controller means; a first memory coupled to the processor means for storing a copy of the defective storage regions list from the storage medium when the storage medium is first initialized in the apparatus; and a second memory coupled to the processor for storing instructions for the processor such that upon the apparatus discovering a defective primary storage region the processor causes an entry to be made into the defective primary storage regions list which identifies the defective primary storage region, the processor further calculating a group to which the defective primary storage region has been allocated, and further calculating a location of a secondary storage region allocated to the group for replacing the defective primary storage region.

Claim 18

An apparatus for reassigning secondary storage regions for replacing defective primary storage regions, wherein the primary and secondary storage regions are formed on a storage medium, the storage medium being logically divided into a plurality of groups, wherein each group has allocated a predetermined portion of the primary and secondary storage regions, the storage medium further having a defective storage regions list stored thereon, the apparatus comprising: controller means for sending data to be written and receiving data read from the storage medium; processor coupled to the controller means for providing commands to the controller means; a first memory coupled to the processor means for storing a copy of the defective storage regions list from the storage medium when the storage medium is first initialized in the apparatus; and a second memory coupled to the processor for storing instructions for the processor such that upon the apparatus discovering a defective primary storage region the processor causes an entry to be made into the defective primary storage regions list which identifies the defective primary storage region, the processor further calculating a group to which the defective primary storage region has been allocated, and further calculating a location of a secondary storage region allocated to the group for replacing the defective primary storage region.