Edge detection for disk drives
View Patent ↗A process is disclosed for determining one or more edges of usable portions of a disk drive. Such knowledge can be used to determine the range of valid tracks of the disk and improve utilization of available disk space. The process can detect the edges by processing one or more disk controller signals, such as an adaptive feed-forward (AFC) injection signal, or a position error signal (PES).
1. A method of detecting an edge of a usable region of a disk of a disk drive, the method comprising:
generating an adaptive control signal to cause a recording head of a disk drive to move in a repetitive motion to counteract eccentricity;
processing a plurality of first values of a signal usable to control actuation of the recording head of the disk drive with respect to a disk of the disk drive, the first values corresponding to recording head positions not in proximity to an edge of a usable region of the disk, the disk comprising a plurality of tracks eccentrically arranged with respect to the center of the disk, and the recording head configured to move in a repetitive motion;
processing one or more second values of the signal corresponding to recording head positions in proximity to the edge;
determining an edge detection threshold condition by calculating a cross-correlation between the plurality of first values of the signal; and
determining a deviation in the repetitive motion of the recording head in response to the processing of the plurality of first values of the signal and the processing of the one or more second values of the signal by processing the one or more second values of the signal to determine whether the threshold condition has been satisfied, the deviation in the repetitive motion indicating that the recording head has reached an edge of the usable region of the disk,
wherein the method is performed at least in part using a controller of the disk drive.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the signal is the adaptive control signal.
3. The method of claim 2 , wherein processing the second signal values comprises evaluating frequency content that is counteracted by the adaptive control signal.
4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining a first edge of the usable region of the disk in response to the threshold condition being satisfied due to interaction of the recording head with a crash stop of the disk drive;
determining a second edge of the usable region of the disk in response to the threshold condition being satisfied due to interaction of the recording head with a ramp of the disk drive; and
calculating a valid track range at least in part based on the first edge and the second edge.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the signal is a position error signal.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the processing the plurality of first values of the signal comprises performing a frequency transform on the plurality of first values of the signal and processing the second signal values comprises performing a frequency transform on the second signal values.
7. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:
evaluating the output of the frequency transform on the plurality of first values of the signal by evaluating frequency content of the frequency transform on the plurality of first values of the signal that is not counteracted by the adaptive control signal; and
evaluating the output of the frequency transform on the second signal values by evaluating frequency content of the frequency transform on the second signal values that is not counteracted by the adaptive control signal.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the deviation further comprises calculating a correlation between one or more of the plurality of first values of the signal and one or more of the second signal values.
9. A disk drive comprising:
a disk comprising a plurality of tracks, wherein the plurality of tracks are eccentrically arranged with respect to the center of the disk;
a recording head actuatable with respect to the disk, the recording head configured to move in a repetitive motion;
a controller configured to generate a signal usable to control the actuation of the recording head with respect to the disk, the controller further configured to:
inject an adaptive control signal to cause the recording head to move in the repetitive motion to counteract the eccentricity;
process a plurality of first values of the signal corresponding to recording head positions not in proximity to an edge of a usable region of the disk;
process one or more second values of the signal corresponding to recording head positions in proximity to the edge;
establish an edge detection threshold condition in response to the processing of the plurality of first values of the signal by calculating a cross-correlation between sets of the plurality of first values of the signal;
determine a deviation in the repetitive motion of the recording head in response to the processing of the plurality of first values of the signal and the processing of the one or more second values of the signal the one or more second values of the signal to determine whether the threshold condition has been satisfied, the deviation in the repetitive motion indicating that the recording head has reached an edge of the usable region of the disk.
10. The disk drive of claim 9 , wherein the disk drive further comprises a ramp and a crash stop, and wherein the determined deviation in the repetitive motion of the recording head is indicative of interaction of the recording head with one or more of the ramp and the crash stop.
11. The disk drive of claim 9 , wherein the controller is further configured to:
determine a first edge of the usable region of the disk in response to the threshold condition being satisfied due to interaction of the recording head with a crash stop of the disk drive;
determine a second edge of the usable region of the disk in response to the threshold condition being satisfied due to interaction of the recording head with a ramp of the disk drive; and
calculate a valid track range at least in part based on the first edge and the second edge.
12. The disk drive of claim 9 , wherein the controller is further configured to process the plurality of first values of the signal by performing a frequency transform on the plurality of first values of the signal and process the second signal values by performing a frequency transform on the second signal values.
13. The disk drive of claim 9 , wherein the controller is further configured to determine the deviation in the repetitive motion of the recording head at least in part by calculating a correlation between one or more of the plurality of first values of the signal and one or more of the second signal values.
14. The disk drive of claim 9 , wherein the signal is the adaptive control signal.
15. The disk drive of claim 9 , wherein the signal is a position error signal.
16. The disk drive of claim 9 , wherein the plurality of tracks comprise spiral tracks usable during servo-writing of the disk.
17. A disk drive comprising:
a disk comprising a plurality of tracks, wherein the plurality of tracks are eccentrically arranged with respect to the center of the disk;
a head actuatable with respect to the disk, the head configured to move in a repetitive motion; and
a controller configured to:
generate an adaptive control signal to cause the head to move in the repetitive motion to counteract the eccentricity;
establish an edge detection threshold condition by calculating a cross-correlation between a plurality of first values of a signal, the signal comprising at least in part the adaptive control signal; and
determine a deviation in the repetitive motion of the head by processing one or more second values of the signal to determine whether the threshold condition has been satisfied, the deviation indicating that the recording head has reached an edge of a usable region of the disk.