Stepping power consumption levels in a hard disk drive to maximize performance while minimizing power consumption
First Claim
1. A disk drive system comprising:
- a processor configured to control power consumption between different levels depending on a type of the code being executed.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Attributes of a hard disk drive are stepped between different power consumption levels to optimize the trade-off between minimizing power consumption and maximizing performance depending on whether AC or battery power is used. One attribute is the clock speed which can be changed for a number of disk drive components including the processor, the external interface bus and the memory interface bus. The system power supply voltage can further be changed in a number of components integrated together on an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC). Further, spindle motor rotation speed can be changed, or the spindle motor spun-down. Further, actuator movement by the VCM can be controlled to provide faster movement during track seek operations when high performance is desired. Additionally, write-back caching parameters are adjusted based on the source of power for the hard drive, be it battery, AC power, or a combination.
62 Citations
15 Claims
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1. A disk drive system comprising:
a processor configured to control power consumption between different levels depending on a type of the code being executed. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A disk drive system comprising:
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a spindle motor having a shaft supporting a rotatable disk;
an actuator that supports a transducer;
an interface to an attached or enclosing system; and
a processor coupled to receive servo data read from the rotatable disk by the transducer, and to provide servo code signals indicating actuator movement should occur in response, and coupled to the spindle motor to control rotation speed of the rotatable disk, and coupled to the interface to receive operation instructions, wherein the processor is configured to provide instructions to control power consumption between at least two power levels for at least two of the actuator, spindle motor, user interface and processor during operations performed by the disk drive. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9)
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- 10. A method of operating a disk drive system comprising controlling power consumption between at two different power levels depending on a type of code being processed.
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14. A method of stepping power levels in a system with a hard disk drive comprising:
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interpreting power command signals from an interface bus;
selecting a nominal power mode that would spin at a nominal speed, seek at a nominal speed, use a standard core voltage, run a read/write channel at the nominal rate, and use a standard servo coefficients based on a first one of the command signals;
selecting a high power mode that would do at least one of;
spinning faster, providing faster seeks, using a higher core voltage, running the read/write channel at a higher frequency than the normal power mode, and/or switching to using a high power set of servo coefficients, based on a second one of the command signals; and
selecting a low power mode that would do at least one of;
spinning at a reduced speed, seeking slower, using a lower core voltage, running the read/write channel at a lower frequency than in the normal mode, and/or switching to a low power set of servo coefficients, based on a third one of the command signals. - View Dependent Claims (15)
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Specification