System for reading data from a distorted magnetic tape media
US6038092A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Apr 27, 1998 |
| Grant date | Mar 14, 2000 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Apr 27, 2018 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG11B2005/001
- WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A characteristic of helical scan tracks is that a distortion that occurs in the written data tracks is not uniform over the entire length of the track. Therefore, segments of the helical scan track can be read even though the entirety of the helical scan track cannot be read in a single pass. Therefore, laterally moving the read heads a predetermined distance in a selected direction to access a section of the helical track can produce full amplitude read signals and thereby that section of helical scan track can be read. Once a section of the helical scan track is read, the read heads are moved another incremental distance to access a next section of the distorted helical scan track. Each section of the track is thereby read on a different helical scan as the read heads are incrementally repositioned on each scan. The read sections of the helical scan track are stored in the memory of the tape drive control unit and then used to reconstruct the entirety of the track. This enables the tape drive system to recover the entirety of the distorted helical scan track and data is not lost.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.