Oracle Assigned Four Patents

Rotary head storage and retrieval with tape medium
having transverse primary data tracks and longitudinal secondary data track
Oracle International Corp., Redwood City, CA, has been assigned a patent (8,793,713) developed by Carl Madison, Windsor, CO, and Timothy C. Ostwald, Boulder, CO, for a “rotary head storage and retrieval system and method with tape medium having transverse primary data tracks and longitudinal secondary data track.”

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “A storage and retrieval system includes a head carriage unit having multiple heads disposed at a working surface and a tape drive unit configured to move the tape past the working surface of the head carriage unit in a direction substantially parallel to a tape length. The heads are configured to write primary data tracks to or read primary data tracks from the tape as the head carriage unit rotates and the tape moves past the working surface, the primary data tracks having an arcuate shape and extending substantially along a tape width. The heads are also configured to write at least one secondary data track to or read at least one secondary data track from the tape as the head carriage unit rotates and the tape moves past the working surface, the at least one secondary data track extending substantially along the tape length.”

The patent application was filed on Nov. 7, 2012 (13/670,688).

Optical storage device with direct read after write
Oracle International Corp., Redwood City, CA, has been assigned a patent (8,792,317) developed by Scott D. Wilson, Thornton, CO, for an “optical storage device with direct read after write.”

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “A system and method for providing direct read after write functionality in an optical data storage device include an optical head having a first coherent light source modulated at higher power during writing of data to the optical medium and a second coherent light source operating in a continuous wave mode at lower power while the first coherent light source is writing data. Optic components combine light from the first and second light sources and focus light from the first coherent light source to a first spot of a selected track on the optical medium and focus light from the second coherent light source to a second spot on the selected track downstream from the first spot relative to movement direction of the optical medium to read and verify the data directly after writing during the write process rather than in a separate verification process.“

The patent application was filed on March 9, 2012 (13/416,633).

Rotary head storage and retrieval system and method for data erasure
Oracle International Corp., Redwood City, CA, has been assigned a patent (8,780,682) developed by Carl Madison, Windsor, CO, and Timothy C. Ostwald, Boulder, CO, for a “rotary head storage and retrieval system and method for data erasure.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “A data storage and retrieval system includes a head carriage unit adapted for rotational motion and having multiple heads disposed at a working surface, the head carriage unit adapted for rotational motion. The system also includes a tape drive unit configured to move a tape media past the working surface of the head carriage unit, the tape media having a width approximately equal to a width of the working surface of the head carriage unit. As the head carriage unit rotates and the tape moves past the working surface, a first head is configured to write a data track on the tape and a second head is configured to thereafter read the data track, where data read by the second head is for use in verifying data erasure.“

The patent application was filed on Nov. 7, 2012 (13/670,744).

Multiple path load distribution for host communication with tape drive
Oracle International Corp., Redwood City, CA, has been assigned a patent (8,769,162) developed by Charles Baker, Conifer, CO, Miaohui Zhang, Beijing, and Xiao Li, Beijing, for “multiple path load distribution for host communication with a tape storage device.”

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “A multiple port host communicates with multiple tape drives by requesting information associated with a particular tape. Information of availability status of a plurality of host ports is provided. Traversing all host initiator ports finds a host port with no or the least traffic load for a tape reservation request. A host port’s traffic load calculation uses instant and the updated historical traffic as primary and secondary factors. Every host port’s traffic load is updated for every read/write command, and is used for path selection of reservation requests. The instant load is relatively sensitive but will be zero under light load. The historical load is aware of the light load though it is not sensitive enough when a burst I/O occurs. With the traffic load calculated from instant and historical loads, the distribution of tape tasks is spread evenly among host initiator ports under light load and burst I/O scenarios.”

The patent application was filed on Dec. 31, 2012 (13/731,497).