Granted Patent B2

US 7,538,966 · App. 11/871,673 · Granted May 26, 2009

Abstract

Claims (37)

1. A method for calibrating read/write head azimuth of a read/write head of a tape drive comprising:

commanding a tape drive to move a tape including a servo band across a read/write head;

receiving, while the tape is moving across the read/write head, position signals transduced from the tape by first and second servo read elements of the tape drive, on a read/write head, substantially aligned relative to a tape path of the tape;

calculating azimuth of the read/write head relative to the tape path based on the received position signals; and

displaying the calculated azimuth on a display, wherein the displayed azimuth is a running average of instantaneous azimuth values and wherein the displayed azimuth is depicted on a displayed meter.

2. The method as recited in claim 1 wherein the calculated azimuth is graphically displayed relative to a target azimuth.

3. The method as recited in claim 1 further comprising adjusting the azimuth of the read/write head based on the displayed azimuth value.

4. The method as recited in claim 1 wherein the first and second servo read elements are located at a first axial-end of the read/write head.

5. The method as recited in claim 4 wherein the first and second servo read elements are located at a second axial-end of the read/write head opposite the first axial-end.

6. A method for calibrating read/write head azimuth of a read/write head of a tape drive comprising:

commanding a tape drive to move a tape including a servo band across a read/write head;

receiving, while the tape is moving across the read/write head, position signals transduced from the tape by first and second servo read elements of the tape drive, on a read/write head, substantially aligned relative to a tape path of the tape, wherein the first servo read element is located on a first bump of the read/write head and the second servo read element is located on a second bump of the read/writ head;

calculating azimuth of the read/write head relative to the tape path based on the received position signals, wherein the azimuth is a difference of a head position offset between the first and second bumps; and

displaying the calculated azimuth on a display, wherein the head position offset is a product of a servo ratio and a constant, wherein the servo ratio is determined by detecting the timing between servo bursts generated when the read/write head passes over servo frames of the tape, and wherein each servo frames comprises two or more angularly-offset sets of servo stripes.

7. The method as recited in claim 6 wherein the constant is about 475 microns.

8. A computer-readable medium storing executable instructions to determining read/write head azimuth of a tape drive, the executable instructions which, when executed, is operable to cause one or more processors to:

command a tape drive to move a tape including a servo band across a read/write head;

receive, while the tape is moving across the read/write head, position signals transduced from the tape by first and second servo read elements of the tape drive, on a read/write head, substantially aligned relative to a tape path of the tape;

calculate azimuth of the read/write head relative to the tape path based on the received position signals; and

display the calculated azimuth on a display, wherein the displayed azimuth is a running average of instantaneous azimuth values and wherein the displayed azimuth is depicted on a displayed meter.

9. The computer-readable medium as recited in claim 8 wherein the first servo read element is located on a first bump of the read/write head and the second servo read element is located on a second bump of the read/write head.

10. The computer-readable medium as recited in claim 9 wherein the azimuth is a difference of a head position offset between the first and second bumps.

11. The computer-readable medium as recited in claim 8 wherein the first and second servo read elements are located at a first axial-end of the read/write head.

12. The computer-readable medium as recited in claim 11 wherein the first and second servo read elements are located at a second axial-end of the read/write head opposite the first axial-end.

13. A computer-readable medium storing executable instructions to determining read/write head azimuth of a tape drive, the executable instructions which, when executed, is operable to cause one or more processors to:

command a tape drive to move a tape including a servo band across a read/write head;

receive, while the tape is moving across the read/write head, position signals transduced from the tape by first and second servo read elements of the tape drive, on a read/write head, substantially aligned relative to a tape path of the tape;

calculate azimuth of the read/write head relative to the tape path based on the received position signals; and

display the calculated azimuth on a display, wherein the head position offset is a product of a servo ratio and a constant, wherein the servo ratio is determined by detecting the timing between servo bursts generated when the read/write head passes over servo frames of the tape, and wherein each servo frames comprises two or more angularly-offset sets of servo stripes.

14. The computer-readable medium as recited in claim 13 wherein the constant is about 475 microns.

15. A method for manufacturing a tape drive having a calibrated read/write head azimuth comprising:

assembling a tape drive comprising a read/write head and an azimuth adjustment mechanism operative to adjust the azimuth angle of the read/write head;

commanding the tape drive to move a tape including a servo band across the read/write head;

receiving, while the tape is moving across the read/write head, position signals transduced from the tape by first and second servo read elements of the read/write head, on a read/write head, substantially aligned relative to a tape path of the tape;

calculating azimuth of the read/write head relative to the tape path based on the received position signals;

displaying the calculated azimuth on a display, wherein the displayed azimuth is a running average of instantaneous azimuth values and wherein the displayed azimuth is depicted on a displayed meter; and

adjusting the azimuth of the read/write head based on the displayed azimuth value.

Assignments (6)