Dynamic reverse reassign apparatus and method for a data recording disk drive
First Claim
1. A defect handling system for use in a disk drive having a data storage disk formatted with a plurality of tracks, and a transducer assembly that is positionable relative to the disk for reading and writing data thereon, the system comprising:
- a defect detection system which receives information from the transducer, identifies therefrom a defective region of the disk in a first track and determines the size of the defective region;
a first data reassign system which reassigns any data previously written, or scheduled to be written, to the defective region to a substantially adjacent nondefective area of the first track, if the size of the defective region does not exceed a threshold size; and
a second reassign system which, when selected, reassigns any data previously written, or scheduled to be written, to the defective region to a remote nondefective area outside the first track if the size of the defective region exceeds a threshold size.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A data recording disk drive is provided with a reassignment architecture that employs both an "in-line" approach for small disk defects and an "off-site" reassignment for multiple-sector defects. As a further aspect of the invention, the defective sites that have been off-site reassigned are periodically reinspected to determine whether they in fact remain defective. If it is determined upon inspection that the defect is no longer present, the data in the off-site reassign area is returned to its original location, freeing spares for reuse. As a further aspect of the invention, reinspection is performed at disk drive spin-up or during idle periods.
148 Citations
58 Claims
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1. A defect handling system for use in a disk drive having a data storage disk formatted with a plurality of tracks, and a transducer assembly that is positionable relative to the disk for reading and writing data thereon, the system comprising:
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a defect detection system which receives information from the transducer, identifies therefrom a defective region of the disk in a first track and determines the size of the defective region; a first data reassign system which reassigns any data previously written, or scheduled to be written, to the defective region to a substantially adjacent nondefective area of the first track, if the size of the defective region does not exceed a threshold size; and a second reassign system which, when selected, reassigns any data previously written, or scheduled to be written, to the defective region to a remote nondefective area outside the first track if the size of the defective region exceeds a threshold size. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 22, 23)
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19. A defect handling system for use in a disk drive having a data storage disk formatted with a plurality of tracks, and a transducer assembly that is positionable relative to the disk for reading and writing data thereon, the system comprising:
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a defect detection system which receives information from the transducer, identifies therefrom a defective region of the disk in a first track and determines the size of the defective region; a first data reassign system which reassigns any data previously written, or scheduled to be written, to the defective region to a substantially adjacent nondefective area of the first track, if the size of the defective region does not exceed a threshold size; and a second reassign system which, when selected, reassigns any data previously written, or scheduled to be written, to the defective region to a remote nondefective area outside the first track if the size of the defective region exceeds a threshold size; a defect checking system which reads a region of the disk previously identified as defective and reassigned by the second reassign system to determine if the region is still defective, wherein the defect checking system only checks defective disk regions exceeding the threshold size; and a reverse reassign system for moving data previously reassigned from the region back to the region if the defect checking system has determined that the region is no longer defective, thus freeing the nondefective area for use.
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20. An article of manufacture for use in a defect handling system for use in a disk drive having a data storage disk formatted with a plurality of tracks, and a read/write circuit including a transducer that is positionable relative to the disk for reading and writing data thereon, the article of manufacture comprising computer readable storage media including a plurality of program logic instructions embedded therein that causes control circuitry to perform the steps of:
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detecting, from information provided by the read/write circuit, a defective region of the disk in a first track; determining, from information provided by the transducer, whether the defective region exceeds a threshold size; causing data previously written, or scheduled to be written, to the defective region to be reassigned to a substantially adjacent nondefective region of the first track, if the length of the defect does not exceed the threshold size; and causing data previously written, or scheduled to be written, to the defective region to be reassigned to a remote nondefective region outside the first track if the length of the defect exceeds the threshold size.
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21. A disk drive, comprising:
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a data storage disk formatted with a plurality of tracks; a transducer assembly that is positionable relative to the disk for reading and writing data thereon; and a defect handling system, comprising, a defect detection system which receives information from the transducer, identifies therefrom a defective region of the disk in a first track and determines the size of the defective region; a first data reassign system which reassigns any data previously written, or scheduled to be written, to the defective region to a substantially adjacent nondefective area of the first track, if the size of the defective region does not exceed a threshold size; and a second reassign system which, when selected, reassigns any data previously written, or scheduled to be written, to the defective region to a remote nondefective area outside the first track if the size of the defective region exceeds the threshold size. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38)
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39. A disk drive, comprising:
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a data storage disk formatted with a plurality of tracks; a transducer assembly that is positionable relative to the disk for reading and writing data thereon; and a defect handling system, comprising, a defect detection system which receives information from the transducer, identifies therefrom a defective region of the disk in a first track and determines the size of the defective region; a first data reassign system which reassigns any data previously written, or scheduled to be written, to the defective region to a substantially adjacent nondefective area of the first track, if the size of the defective region does not exceed a threshold size; and a second reassign system which, when selected, reassigns any data previously written, or scheduled to be written, to the defective region to a remote nondefective area outside the first track if the size of the defective region exceeds the threshold size; a defect checking system which reads a region of the disk previously identified as defective and reassigned by the second reassign system to determine if the region is still defective wherein the defect checking system only checks defective disk regions exceeding the threshold size; and a reverse reassign system for moving data previously reassigned from the region back to the region if the defect checking system has determined that the region is no longer defective, thus freeing the nondefective area for use.
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40. A method for handling disk defects in a disk drive having a data storage disk formatted with a plurality of tracks, and a transducer positionable relative to the disk for reading and writing data thereon, comprising the steps of:
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from information provided by the transducer, identifying a defective region of the disk in a first track and determining the size of the defective region; if the defective region does not exceed a threshold size, reassigning any data previously written, or scheduled to be written, to the defective region to a substantially adjacent nondefective area of the first track; and if the defective region exceeds the threshold size, reassigning any data previously written, or scheduled to be written, to the defective region to a remote nondefective area outside the first track. - View Dependent Claims (41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57)
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58. A method for handling disk defects in a disk drive having a data storage disk formatted with a plurality of tracks, and a transducer positionable relative to the disk for reading and writing data thereon, comprising the steps of:
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from information provided by the transducer, identifying a defective region of the disk in a first track and determining the size of the defective region; if the defective region does not exceed a threshold size, reassigning any data previously written, or scheduled to be written, to the defective region to a substantially adjacent nondefective area of the first track; and if the defective region exceeds the threshold size reassigning any data previously written, or scheduled to be written, to the defective region to a remote nondefective area outside the first track; a defect checking system which reads a region of the disk previously identified as defective and reassigned by one of the first and second reassign systems to determine if the region is still defective wherein the defect checking system only checks defective disk regions exceeding the threshold size; and a reverse reassign system for moving data previously reassigned from the region back to the region if the defect checking system has determined that the region is no longer defective, thus freeing the nondefective area for use.
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Specification