Patent · US Expired

Synchronization to different fields in a storage device

US5365382A · kind A · utility

10Cited by
19References
17Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateMay 18, 1993
Grant dateNov 15, 1994
Priority date
Expiry dateMay 18, 2013

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG11B27/3027
  • WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A method and apparatus for identifying and synchronizing to two different fields in a disk drive employs different synchronization or "sync" patterns to reduce the chances of mis-identifying and false-identifying a field. Two very distinct synchronization patterns have been found that satisfy the d=1, k=7 run-length constraints of a data code used in the disk drive. During operation, one sync pattern is searched for to identify and synchronize to its associated field, then the field itself is read. This procedure is then repeated for the other sync pattern and its associated field. Also, the phase of a preamble preceding each sync character is established, so that the number of comparisons needed to find either sync character is reduced. A sync detector operates on cell pairs, and has a selector that selects which sync pattern to search for. The sync detector also has special features that enable it to find preamble and DC Erase fields in the disk cell stream.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.