Did You Know...
...that the inventor of the electric motor was a blacksmith named Thomas Davenport? Described as "a brilliantly unsuccessful inventor", Davenport invented the first rotary electric motor. In 1836 he headed out -- on foot -- from his Vermont home to file a patent application at the Patent Office in Washington, D.C. By the time he got there, he had squandered away his money and couldn't afford the $30 filing fee so he turned around and went home. When he later mailed in his application with money he'd raised, the Patent office was destroyed in a fire. He did finally get credit for his invention on Feb. 5, 1837.
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 8127216 | Reduced state soft output processing Devices, methods, and systems of a communications channel detector are disclosed that can compare a plurality of candidate sequences of bits and decisions to identify unlikely error events. The detector may then discard at least one candidate sequence based on an un... | 02/28/2012 |
| 8127147 | Method and apparatus for securing data storage while insuring control by logical roles A storage device with hardened security features has a storage medium, an interface, and a controller. The interface is adapted to communicatively couple the storage device to a host system. The controller is within the storage device and is adapted to read and to w... | 02/28/2012 |
| 8103844 | Secure direct platter access Bulk data transfers by directly accessing a persistent and secured area on the data storage device, e.g., a disk drive having a magnetic storage medium, without relying on the system operating system to execute its read/write operations. For a disk drive, the Protec... | 01/24/2012 |
| 8069324 | Storage device with manual learning In a particular embodiment, a system is disclosed that includes a controller to read data from and write data to a first storage medium. The controller is adapted to monitor logical block addresses (LBAs) of each read operation from the first storage medium and to s... | 11/29/2011 |
| 8028166 | Versatile secure and non-secure messaging A messaging system and method are associated with a first device. The messaging system includes a plurality of credentials and a plurality of authorities. Each authority associates at least one of a plurality of protocol operations with at least one of the plurality... | 09/27/2011 |
| 8018671 | Mapping defects on a data wedge basis A method to map defects is provided. A select data track of a storage medium is scanned for a defect. At least one data wedge affected by the defect on the select data track is identified. Each data wedge includes available area for writing user data defined between... | 09/13/2011 |
| 7788572 | Parallel maximum a posteriori detectors with forward and reverse viterbi operators having different convergence lengths on a sampled data sequence A soft decision value output detector includes a plurality of maximum a posteriori (MAP) detectors. The MAP detectors are configured to simultaneously generate state metrics for portions of a sampled data sequence, and to generate soft decision values based on the g... | 08/31/2010 |
| 7757301 | Security hardened disc drive A storage device assembly includes a sealed housing having a base and a cover. A storage medium is disposed within the sealed housing. A security feature within the housing is adapted to damage at least a portion of the storage medium if the sealed housing is opened... | 07/13/2010 |
| 7747874 | Single command payload transfers block of security functions to a storage device A storage device has a storage medium and a processor. The processor is disposed within the storage device and is adapted to receive multiple commands as a command block over an interface. The processor is adapted to extract each of the multiple commands from the si... | 06/29/2010 |
| 7742250 | Spectral analysis of a position error signal The present disclosure is directed to spectral analysis of a position error signal. In a particular embodiment, the method includes analyzing a spectral content of a position error signal. The method also includes comparing the spectral content to a threshold. Furth... | 06/22/2010 |
| 7730446 | Software business process model A business software framework includes an application framework that has a process model. The process model provides desired services to the business components. The process model arranges operations into activities. The process model can also use an agent/service a... | 06/01/2010 |
| 7656600 | Monitoring transducer potential to detect an operating condition The disclosure is related to detecting a fault condition of a transducer for reading and writing data to a data storage medium. The fault condition can be detected based on a potential difference between a reference voltage and a common mode of the transducer. ... | 02/02/2010 |
| 7379256 | System and method of rewriting data tracks The present disclosure is directed to systems and methods of rewriting defective tracks in a data storage device. In a particular embodiment, the method includes writing a servo pattern on a data storage surface having tracks, detecting a defective track, and rewrit... | 05/27/2008 |
| 7114015 | Memory card having first modular component with host interface wherein the first modular is replaceable with a second modular component having second host interface A memory card comprising a first modular component that comprises a first host interface and a first host interface module and a device interface module configured to operate a device interface that is coupled to a storage device. The first host interface module is ... | 09/26/2006 |
| 6993678 | Logical zone table generation process and apparatus A disc-drive system and method for generating logical zones that each have an approximate number of spare sectors, and that are used to translate logical block addresses. A disc drive includes a disc-drive housing and a disc assembly mounted to rotate within the hou... | 01/31/2006 |
| 6990607 | System and method for adaptive storage and caching of a defect table In one embodiment of the present invention, systems and methods are provided through which the capacity of a defect buffer in a microcontroller of a mass storage device is determined without regard for the quantity of defects on a recording medium. The capacity of t... | 01/24/2006 |
| 6980386 | Apparatus and method for writing data to an information storage disc A disc drive has transducers supported by an actuator to fly proximate data tracks on surfaces of rotating information storage discs. Each of the discs is partitioned into concentric regions. A control system arranges the deposition of data in write operations to th... | 12/27/2005 |
| 6958880 | Disc drive actuator parking detector A device for detecting an actuator assembly parking error when a disc drive is powered on includes a magnetic latch attached to the actuator assembly and a latch pin assembly electrically connected to a base plate in the disc drive, where the latch pin assembly is p... | 10/25/2005 |
| 6952321 | Method for sensing run-out in data fields A method of determining run-out in a disc drive involving steps of performing a direct current erase, selecting a reference track, writing a sinusoidal signal into a first track at a first offset from the reference track, sensing a read signal along the reference tr... | 10/04/2005 |
| 6940279 | Transfer function for track average amplitude prediction A method and apparatus produce a read signal using a read head. A variable gain value is set that is used by a variable gain amplifier to amplify the read signal. The variable gain value is used to determine whether the head is functioning properly. ... | 09/06/2005 |
| 6940671 | System and method to determine the time domain equalized signal-to-noise ratio of a mass storage device Systems and methods are provided through which a time domain equalized signal-to-noise-ratio (ESNR) of an electronic device is determined by executing ESNR determining firmware in the electronic device. The ESNR is used to perform rejection/acceptance testing of the... | 09/06/2005 |
| 6937427 | Method and apparatus for measuring the back EMF of a disc drive VCM An apparatus and method of measuring a back electromotive force (BEMF) voltage of a disc drive voice coil motor (VCM) is provided in which a temperature of the VCM is obtained. The BEMF voltage of the VCM is computed as a function of the temperature of the VCM. ... | 08/30/2005 |
| 6925580 | Full volume slip defect management in a disc drive A method and device for mapping an inherently defective sectors or newly-identified defective sectors in a disc drive to a good sector in the disc drive in such a way that data fragmentation is minimized and that speed efficiency in accessing the data stored in the ... | 08/02/2005 |
| 6920001 | Thermal asperity multi-threshold algorithm using the read/write channel A method of categorizing magnitudes of thermal asperities in a read-back signal of a data storage system includes receiving the read-back signal from a location containing a thermal asperity. A peak magnitude signal is generated from the read-back signal. A threshol... | 07/19/2005 |
| 6906499 | Current mode bang-bang controller in a switching voltage regulator A regulator provides a load voltage. The regulator includes a power driver having a feedback input and a power driver voltage. The regulator includes a comparator having a comparator output related to a combination of the load voltage and a power driver current. The... | 06/14/2005 |
| 6873488 | Enhanced MR offset with dynamic tuning range A reader-to-writer offset for a head positioned over a track on a disc in a disc drive having a plurality of tracks is generated by using two iterations. A first iteration is used to determine a fine-tuning range that is used for a second iteration. The first iterat... | 03/29/2005 |
| 6862152 | Adjustment of pole frequency and boost settings of a filter in a channel A channel adjustment control adjusts a channel to reduce bit error rate in a disc drive. Variable gain register settings are read and compared to filter characteristics to provide an operational boost register setting for an adjustable gain amplifier in the channel.... | 03/01/2005 |
| 6839004 | High rate run length limited code Methods of encoding and decoding, as well as an encoding system and a digital communications system are provided for encoding data words into code words and decoding code words into data words. The data words are encoded according to a run-length-limited (RLL) code ... | 01/04/2005 |
| 6785072 | Disc drive stiction/friction characterization utilizing piezoelectric microactuators A disc drive includes a base and a disc rotatably attached to the base. The disc drive also includes an actuator assembly rotatably attached to the base and a device for moving the actuator assembly. The actuator assembly includes an arm carrying a transducer head i... | 08/31/2004 |
| 6772380 | Smart tester and method for testing a bus connector A system for testing a bus connector comprising an electronically controlled switch operatively coupled to be controlled by a microprocessor, the system having a first input operatively coupled to receive power from an internal power supply and a second input operat... | 08/03/2004 |
| 6765736 | Write-safe condition verification apparatus and method for the write element in a disc drive A disc drive with on-the-fly verification of an enabled condition of the write element, comprising a rotatable disc having a magnetic recording surface, and a data reading and writing assembly. The data reading and writing assembly comprises a read/write head compri... | 07/20/2004 |
| 6765749 | Frequency attenuating filter apparatus and method for a data storage device An attenuating filter for the servo control processor of a disc drive data storage device. The filter is constructed by determining the peak resonance in the structure frequency response above a preselected magnitude and computing a digital notch filter to attenuate... | 07/20/2004 |
| 6754032 | Method and system for radial and circumferential alignment of data tracks on patterned media Radial correction factors are calculated for each ruler on a patterned media in a data storage system. A ruler is a position-sensing pattern that defines the radial position of a recording head. Rulers are patterned onto each disk before the disks are assembled into... | 06/22/2004 |
| 6751046 | Writing servo data patterns on a data storage disk to account for repeatable and non-repeatable disturbances and thereby provide concentric data tracks A method for self-servo writing begins by calibrating at least one ruler formed on at least one storage disk. A ruler is a position-sensing pattern that defines the radial position of a recording head. The calibration process determines at least one correction facto... | 06/15/2004 |
| 6738924 | Full slip defect management system using track identification A disc drive includes a base and a disc rotatably attached to the base. A controller for a disc drive uses a system for mapping logical block addresses to actual location on a disc drive stores the number of skipped or defective sectors which occur prior to a target... | 05/18/2004 |
| 6731442 | Method and apparatus for detecting media defects A method is disclosed for detecting defects in a recordable medium such as a hard disc drive based on error energy. The method may include the steps of writing test data to the medium and reading back the test data. The method may also include the steps of computing... | 05/04/2004 |
| 6728899 | On the fly defect slipping A disc drive includes a base and a disc rotatably attached to the base. The disc drive also includes a defect management system for managing defective sectors located on the disc surface of a disc within the disc drive. The defect management system includes a contro... | 04/27/2004 |
| 6710956 | Preamp using pulsed write currents A disc drive includes a base and a disc rotatably attached to the base. The disc drive also includes an actuator assembly rotatably attached to the base and a device for moving the actuator assembly. The actuator assembly includes an arm carrying a write head in a t... | 03/23/2004 |
| 6690524 | Data recovery in a disc drive with redundant sync data blocks An apparatus and method are disclosed for improving data recovery operations in a disc drive employing a redundant sync data block format. The disc drive includes a rotatable disc and a controllably positionable head which is used to store user data in a ... | 02/10/2004 |
| 6687205 | Parallel coded spread spectrum communication for data storage Presently, almost all commercially available data storage systems use saturation recording and binary signaling schemes. Earlier data channels for storage systems utilized various forms of bit by bit peak detection. More recently, various forms of PRML (p... | 02/03/2004 |
