Disk drive servo control techniques for predicting an off-track condition utilizing an estimation filter

1. A disk drive comprising:

a moveable head;

a disk having a plurality of tracks; and

a servo controller to control track following operations with the moveable head, a substantial majority of the tracks having a plurality of servo sectors utilized in track following operations, the servo controller to implement an estimation filter including operations comprising:

determining a current position estimate of the moveable head relative to a track;

predicting a subsequent position estimate of the moveable head relative to the track based upon the current position estimate; and

determining whether the predicted subsequent position exceeds an error threshold; wherein the estimation filter comprises a Kalman filter and the Kalman filter includes state modeling coefficients to model a relationship of the moveable head relative to the track and control modeling coefficients to model a control relationship of the moveable head relative to the track.

2. The disk drive of claim 1 , wherein the servo controller to implement an estimation filter includes operations further comprising inhibiting write operations by the moveable head if the predicted subsequent position exceeds the error threshold.

3. The disk drive of claim 1 , wherein the current position estimate is determined for a first servo sector and the subsequent position estimate is predicted for a second servo sector directly following the first servo sector.

4. The disk drive of claim 1 , wherein the estimation filter further:

determines a current velocity estimate of the moveable head relative to a track; and

predicts a subsequent velocity estimate of the moveable head relative to the track based upon the current velocity estimate.

5. The disk drive of claim 1 , wherein the estimation filter further:

determines a current bias estimate of the moveable head relative to the track; and

predicts a subsequent bias estimate of the moveable head relative to the track based upon the current bias estimate.

6. The disk drive of claim 5 , wherein bias is imparted by at least one of windage and thermal effects.

7. The disk drive of claim 1 , further comprising a preamplifier including a write gate coupled to the moveable head, the write gate being toggled off to inhibit write operations of the moveable head.

8. A method for performing track following operations in a disk drive comprising:

moving a head relative to a disk having a plurality of tracks, a substantial majority of the tracks having a plurality of servo sectors utilized in track following operations;

controlling track following operations with the moveable head; and

implementing an estimation filter to:

determine a current position estimate of the moveable head relative to a track;

predict a subsequent position estimate of the moveable head relative to the track based upon the current position estimate; and

determine whether the predicted subsequent position exceeds a threshold; wherein the estimation filter comprises a Kalman filter and the Kalman filter includes state modeling coefficients to model a relationship of the moveable head relative to the track and control modeling coefficients to model a control relationship of the moveable head relative to the track.

9. The method of claim 8 , further comprising inhibiting write operations of the moveable head if the predicted subsequent position exceeds the error threshold.

10. The method of claim 8 , wherein the current position estimate is determined for a first servo sector and the subsequent position estimate is predicted for a second servo sector directly following the first servo sector.

11. The method of claim 8 , wherein the estimation filter further:

determines a current velocity estimate of the moveable head relative to the track; and

predicts a subsequent velocity estimate of the moveable head relative to the track based upon the current velocity estimate.

12. The method of claim 8 , wherein the estimation filter further:

determines a current bias estimate of the moveable head relative to the track; and

predicts a subsequent bias estimate of the moveable head relative to the track based upon the current bias estimate.

13. A disk drive comprising:

a moveable head;

a disk having a plurality of tracks;

means for controlling track following operations with the moveable head, a substantial majority of the tracks having a plurality of servo sectors utilized in track following operations;

means for determining a current position estimate of the moveable head relative to a track;

means for predicting a subsequent position estimate of the moveable head relative to the track based upon the current position estimate;

means for determining whether the predicted subsequent position exceeds an error threshold;

means for utilizing state modeling coefficients to model a relationship of the moveable head relative to the track; and

means for utilizing control modeling coefficients to model a control relationship of the moveable head relative to the track.

14. The disk drive of claim 13 , further comprising means for inhibiting write operations by the moveable head.

15. The disk drive of claim 13 , wherein the current position estimate is determined for a first servo sector and the subsequent position estimate is predicted for a second servo sector directly following the first servo sector.

16. The disk drive of claim 13 , further comprising means for:

determining a current velocity estimate of the moveable head relative to a track; and

predicting a subsequent velocity estimate of the moveable head relative to the track based upon the current velocity estimate.

17. The disk drive of claim 13 , further comprising means for:

determining a current bias estimate of the moveable head relative to the track; and

predicting a subsequent bias estimate of the moveable head relative to the track based upon the current bias estimate.

18. The disk drive of claim 17 , wherein bias is imparted by at least one of windage and thermal effects.