Seagate Assigned Ten Patents

HDD, method for operating the same, and computer system having the same
Seagate Technology LLC, Cupertino, CA, has been assigned a patent (8,804,256) developed by Jae-Ki Hong, Suwon-si, South Korea, and Jin Wan Jun, Seoul, South Korea, for “HDD drive, method for operating the same, and computer system having the same.”

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “There is disclosed a HDD drive and an operation method thereof. A method of operating a HDD drive according to the present invention may include (a) loading drive data required to drive the HDD drive from a maintenance cylinder area contained in a disk to a memory; and (b) writing test data output from a head into a spare area contained in the maintenance cylinder area, wherein the steps (a) and (b) are carried out within a ready time.”

The patent application was filed on June 29, 2012 (13/538,721).

Enhanced magnetic sensor biasing yoke
Seagate Technology, Cupertino, CA, has been assigned a patent (8,803,519) developed by three co-inventors for an “enhanced magnetic sensor biasing yoke.”

The co-inventors are Dimitar V. Dimitrov, Edina, MN, Dian Song, Eden Prairie, MN, and Jason B. Gadbois, Shakopee, MN.

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “An apparatus and associated method are generally directed to a magnetic sensor. A sensor may have a stack with an air bearing surface (ABS) and a biasing surface opposite the ABS. A biasing yoke can be disposed between a biasing magnet and the stack with the biasing magnet having a lower magnet moment than the biasing yoke.”

The patent application was filed on July 29, 2011 (13/194,782).

Estimating wear of SSD
Seagate Technology, Cupertino, CA, has been assigned a patent (8,806,106) developed by four co-inventors for “estimating wear of non-volatile, solid state memory.”

The co-inventors are Ryan James Goss, Lakeville, MN, David Scott Seekins, Shakopee, MN, David Scott Ebsen, Minnetonka, MN, and Navneeth Kankani, Eden Prairie, MN.

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “Completion times of storage operations targeted to a non-volatile, solid-state memory device are measured. Wear of the memory device is estimated using the measured completion times, and life cycle management operations are performed to affect subsequent wear of the memory device in accordance with the estimated wear. The life cycle management may include operations such as wear leveling, predicting an end of service life of the memory device, and removing worn blocks of the memory device from service.“

The patent application was filed on Nov. 12, 2010 (12/945,496).

Chamfered magnetic write pole
Seagate Technology, Cupertino, CA, has been assigned a patent (8,804,283) developed by five co-inventors for a “chamfered magnetic write pole.”

The co-inventors are Eric Roger Meloche, Burnsville, MN, Eric Linville, Shakopee, MN, Jianhua Xue, Maple Grove, MN, Chris Rea, Edina, MN, and Huaqing Yin, Eden Prairie, MN.

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “A write pole can have a magnetically conductive pole tip has at least one corner. The at least one corner may be chamfered to limit magnetic saturation of the conductive pole tip. The conductive pole tip can have one or more beveled surface that has a chamfered corner which extends a predetermined distance along an edge of the write pole.”

The patent application was filed on June 22, 2011 (13/166,471).

Layered near-field transducer
Seagate Technology, Cupertino, CA, has been assigned a patent (8,804,468) developed by four co-inventors for “a layered near-field transducer.”

The co-inventors are Tong Zhao, Eden Prairie, MN, Michael Christopher Kautzky, Eagan, MN, Amit Itagi, Hugo, MN, and Michael Allen Seigler, Eden Prairie, MN.

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “A near-field transducer includes a substrate that defines a substrate-parallel plane. The near-field transducer also includes a composite layer deposited on the substrate-parallel plane. The composite layer has a first layer of the plasmonic material and a second layer of an insertion material adjacent the substrate. The insertion material reduces plastic deformation of the near-field transducer at elevated temperatures.“

The patent application was filed on Aug. 15, 2013 (13/968,021).

Clearance sensor and circuitry using adjustable channel parameters
Seagate Technology, Cupertino, CA, has been assigned a patent (8,804,272) developed by Housan Dakroub, Shakopee, MN, Edward Charles Gage, Lakeville, MN, and Tim Rausch, Farmington, MN, for a “clearance sensor and circuitry using adjustable channel parameters.”

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “A transducer is configured to interact with a magnetic storage medium, a first channel comprises a first sensor and first circuitry configured to adjust a plurality of first channel parameters, and a second channel comprises a second sensor and second circuitry configured to adjust a plurality of second channel parameters. The first and second channel parameters are independently adjustable by the first and second circuitry, respectively. A detector is coupled to the first and second channels, and configured to detect a head-medium interface event.“

The patent application was filed on July 1, 2013 (13/932,398).

Actively synchronizing magnetic responses of shield and write pole
Seagate Technology, Cupertino, CA, has been assigned a patent (8,804,280) developed by six co-inventors for “actively synchronizing magnetic responses of a shield and a write pole.”

The co-inventors are Radek Lopusnik, Mourad Benakli, Bloomington, MN, Kirill Aleksandrovich Rivkin, Edina, MN, Declan Macken, Prior Lake, MN, James Gary Wessel, Savage, MN, and Jason Bryce Gadbois, Shakopee, MN.

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “In an example, a method of manufacturing a transducer head comprises configuring a control circuit to actively synchronize magnetic responses of a shield and a write pole during operation. The method also comprises configuring the control circuit to energize at least one coil wire during operation with a current direction opposite to current flow in a main transducer head coil. In another example, a method comprises actively synchronizing magnetic responses of a shield and a write pole. In another example, a transducer head comprises a write pole and a shield, and a control circuit actively synchronizes magnetic responses of the shield and the write pole.”

The patent application was filed on Feb. 3, 2012 (13/365,942).

Dynamic guarding of storage media
Seagate Technology, Cupertino, CA, has been assigned a patent (8,832,409) developed by Timothy Richard Feldman, Louisville, CO, and Jonathan Williams Haines, Boulder, CO, for the “dynamic guarding of a storage media.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “A fixed data region on a storage medium may be allocated with one of a variety of allocation schemes (e.g., a randomly writable allocation scheme, a non-randomly writeable allocation scheme with a first data isolator spacing, a non-randomly writeable allocation scheme with a second data isolator spacing, and a non-randomly writeable allocation scheme with no dynamic isolators). Dynamic sub-region spacing refers at least to the number of data tracks in a data region of a magnetic disc between dynamic isolators and the number of bits in a data region in flash memory between dynamic isolators. The presently disclosed technology adapts isolators on the storage medium to create dynamic sub-regions based on characteristics of the storage medium, characteristics of the data, and/or expected access patterns of data to be written to the storage medium.“

The patent application was filed on March 9, 2011 (13/044,247).

Nearby cell to provide field assisted switching in magnetic memory array
Seagate Technology, Scotts Valley, CA, has been assigned a patent (8,830,734) developed by Andreas Karl Roelofs, Eden Prairie, MN, and Haiwen Xi, San Jose, CA, for “using a nearby cell to provide field assisted switching in a magnetic memory array.”

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “Method and apparatus for writing data to a magnetic memory cell, such as a spin-torque transfer random access memory (STRAM) memory cell. In accordance with various embodiments, a write current is applied through a selected magnetic memory cell to initiate magnetic precession of the selected cell to a desired magnetic state. A field assist current is concurrently flowed through an adjacent memory cell to generate a magnetic field that assists in the precession of the selected cell to the desired magnetic state.“

The patent application was filed on Nov. 19, 2010 (12/950,673).

Write fringing reduction
Seagate Technology, Cupertino, CA, has been assigned a patent (8,830,631) developed by Mourad Benakli, Eden Prairie, MN, and Michael Mallary, Sterling, MA, for “features for write fringing reduction.”

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “A recording media design having discrete track recording structure where the trenches between tracks are filled with a soft magnetic material is provided. The soft magnetic material provides a low magnetic impedance path to the soft underlayer such that fringe fields from the write head are conducted to the soft underlayer without having a negative effect such as adjacent track erasure. A method of manufacturing the media includes a nano-imprint step and ion milling out the data layer to create the trenches. A B.sub.2O.sub.3 material allows the data layer to be ion milled out without redeposition bridging the B.sub.2O.sub.3 layer thus preventing lift off of the mask. The trenches are then filled by ion deposition with the layers of ferromagnetic material separated by an anti-ferromagnetic coupling that causes the flux to be conducted to the soft underlayer and remnant flux to rotate within the island and not into adjacent tracks.”

The patent application was filed on June 11, 2013 (13/914,990).