Toshiba Assigned Four Patents

Disk storage device and method for controlling head flying height
Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba, Tokyo, Japan, has been assigned a patent (9,443,543) developed by Akiya, Shinsuke, Yokohama Kanagawa, Japan, for a “disk storage device and method for controlling head flying height.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “According to one embodiment, a head flying height control method includes detecting a contact of a head with a disk while floating the head from the disk and moving the head in a radial direction of the disk, increasing a flying height of the head after detecting the contact of the head with the disk, and decreasing the flying height of the head after a state where the contact of the head with the disk is not detected continues.“

The patent application was filed on June 22, 2015 (14/745,735).

Low-overhead storage of hibernation file in hybrid disk drive
Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba, Tokyo, Japan, has been assigned a patent (9,417,820) developed by Ehrlich, Richard M., Saratoga, CA, Dunn, Eric R., Cupertino, CA, Zayas, Fernando A., Ragiora, New Zealand, and Schmidt, Thorsten, Livermore, CA, for a “low-overhead storage of a hibernation file in a hybrid disk drive.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “A hybrid drive and associated methods provide low-overhead storage of a hibernation file in the hybrid hard disk drive. During operation, the hybrid drive allocates a portion of solid-state memory in the drive that is large enough to accommodate a hibernation file associated with a host device of the hybrid drive. In addition to the erased memory blocks that are normally present during operation of the hybrid drive, the portion of solid-state memory allocated for accommodating the hibernation file may include over-provisioned memory blocks, blocks used to store a previous hibernation file that has been trimmed, and/or non-dirty blocks.“

The patent application was filed on December 6, 2012 (13/707,505).

Cache device for hard disk drives and methods of operations
Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba, Tokyo, Japan, has been assigned a patent (9,417,819) developed by Smith, Stephen Jeffrey, Morgan Hill, CA, and Schuette, Franz Michael, Colorado Springs, CO, for a “cache device for hard disk drives and methods of operations.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “A solid-state mass storage device adapted to be used as a cache for an hard disk drive that utilizes a more efficient logical data management method relative to conventional systems. The storage device includes a circuit board, a memory controller, at least one non-volatile memory device, and at least two data interfaces. The storage device is coupled to a host computer system and configured to operate as a cache for at least one hard disk drive. The storage device is interposed between the host computer system and the at least one hard disk drive. Both the storage device and the at least one hard disk drive are coupled to the host computer system through a single connection and configured to operate in a daisy chain configuration.“

The patent application was filed on November 13, 2013 (14/079,192).

Magnetic disk device and determining method of crossing zone boundary
Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba, Tokyo, Japan, has been assigned a patent (9,384,768) developed by Asakura, Makoto, Bunkyo Tokyo, Japan, for a “magnetic disk device and determining method of crossing a zone boundary.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “According to one embodiment, a magnetic disk device includes a magnetic disk in which servo patterns with different writing frequencies are recorded and divided into a plurality of zones in a cross-track direction, a magnetic head that is provided for the magnetic disk, and a controller to determine whether the magnetic head cross a zone boundary between the zones of the servo patterns, according to a predicted position of the magnetic head that is corrected with reference to a phase shift time between the zones of the servo patterns.“

The patent application was filed on March 4, 2015 (14/639,008).