Seagate Assigned Twenty Patents

Humidity control system for HAMR HDD
Seagate Technology LLC, Fremont, CA, has been assigned a patent (10,734,035) developed by Sun, Hao, Singapore, Singapore, Yongrattana, Noppavit, Samut Prakarn, Thailand, Young, Lionel, and Ming, Yap Pow, Singapore, Singapore, for a “humidity control system for heat-assisted magnetic recording hard disk drive.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”A hard disk drive comprises a sensor configured to detect a mixing ratio within the hard disk drive and a membrane electrode assembly. The membrane electrode assembly comprises a gas flow path that couples an inside of the hard disk drive to an outside of the hard disk drive, and the gas flow path includes a cathode and anode that electrolytically remove water vapor from the inside of the hard disk drive. The drive further includes an energy source coupled to the membrane electrode assembly and a controller coupled to the sensor and the energy source. The controller is configured to activate the energy source in response to the sensor detecting a mixing ratio greater than a threshold mixing ratio and to deactivate the energy source in response to the sensor detecting a mixing ratio less than the threshold mixing ratio.”

The patent application was filed on July 30, 2019 (16/526,058).

Shingled magnetic recording storage
Seagate Technology LLC, Fremont, CA, has been assigned a patent (10,734,033) developed by Qiang, Jian, Liu, Xiong, Ng, Choon Wei, and Jung, Sangyun, Singapore, Singapore, for a “shingled magnetic recording storage system.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”Methods and systems that reduce off-track write retry operations in shingled magnetic recording systems. In one implementation, the method includes writing data to an initial track, determining which side of the initial track is a shingled side, calculating a percentage of position error signal (PES) at a shingled side end of the initial track (PES1) when an off-track write operation occurs, determining whether the PES1 meets a first pre-determined threshold, continue writing data to a second track responsive to determining the PES1 is below a first pre-determined threshold, calculating a percentage of PES at a shingled side end of the second track (PES2), determining whether a combined value of PES1 and PES2 is above a second predetermined threshold to determine a probability value of the initial track being erased, and continue writing to a third track if the combined value is below the second predetermined threshold.”

The patent application was filed on November 25, 2019 (16/694,719).

Curved-edge optical mode converter for HAMR
Seagate Technology LLC, Fremont, CA, has been assigned a patent (10,734,019) developed by Harvey, Christopher Neil, Derry, Great Britain, Goggin, Aidan Dominic, Donegal, Ireland, Callan, Kelly Elizabeth, McGurk, John Bernard, Mehfuz, Reyad, Derry, Great Britain, for a “curved-edge optical mode converter for heat-assisted magnetic recording.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”An apparatus includes an input coupler configured to receive light excited by a light source. A near-field transducer (NFT) is positioned at a media-facing surface of a write head. A layered waveguide is positioned between the input coupler and the NFT and configured to receive the light output from the input coupler in a transverse electric (TE) mode and deliver the light to the NFT in a transverse magnetic (TM) mode. The layered waveguide comprises a first layer extending along a light-propagation direction. The first layer is configured to receive light from the input coupler. The first layer tapers from a first cross track width to a second cross track width where the second cross track width is narrower than the first cross track width. The layered waveguide includes a second layer that is disposed on the first layer. The second layer has a cross sectional area in a plane perpendicular to the light propagation direction that increases along the light propagation direction. The cross sectional area of the second layer is smaller proximate to the input coupler and larger proximate to the NFT. The layered waveguide includes an interface between the first layer and the second layer, the interface comprises a curve.”

The patent application was filed on July 31, 2019 (16/528,174).

Shingled magnetic recording storage system with reduced time to recover
Seagate Technology LLC, Fremont, CA, has been assigned a patent (10,733,097) developed by Qiang, Jian, and Tan, Sze Chek, Singapore, Singapore, for a “shingled magnetic recording storage system with reduced time to recover.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”The disclosed technology provides a method that reduces time to recover in storage systems. In one implementation, the method comprises entering an idle status, determining if there is an incomplete band update operation, invalidating a media scratch pad (MSP) by clearing headers responsive to determining there is no incomplete band update operation, performing a power cycle, reading an MSP header, and determining if an MSP header is valid. If a rude power cycle occurs and the MSP header is determined to be valid, an MSP is examined, and restored if required. If a safe power cycle occurs, an MSP restore operation is not required, reducing time to recover.”

The patent application was filed on March 2, 2018 (15/910,750).

Multi-device storage with consolidated channel and control circuitry
Seagate Technology LLC, Fremont, CA, has been assigned a patent (10,732,906) developed by Jurey, Philip, Riley, Dale T., Longmont, CO, and Shaw, John W., Frederick, CO, for a “multi-device storage with consolidated channel and control circuitry.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”Apparatus and method for managing data in a multi-device data storage system. In some embodiments, a plurality of data storage devices are provided, each data storage device having a local driver circuit adapted to transfer data with a local memory module. A main driver circuit external to the plurality of data storage devices is configured to stream frequency modulated write data via parallel data transfer paths to the respective local driver circuits for concurrent transfer of the frequency modulated write data to the respective local memory modules.”

The patent application was filed on February 26, 2015 (14/632,766).

Storage device self-recovery exception engine
Seagate Technology LLC, Fremont, CA, has been assigned a patent (10,725,851) developed by Shen, Jin Quan, Lee, Tse Jen, Liu, Hui, and Chng, Yong Peng, Singapore, Singapore, for a “storage device self-recovery exception engine.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”A data storage device that includes a data storage medium and a controller communicatively coupled to the data storage medium. The controller is configured to receive commands from a host and to detect a hung state in the data storage device. The controller is also configured to determine an execution status of a command, of the commands from the host, associated with the hung state. The controller is further configured to dynamically carry out a self-recovery operation in the data storage device to clear the hung state. The self-recovery operation includes steps that depend upon the execution status of the command associated with the hung state.”

The patent application was filed on April 27, 2018 (15/965,561).

WORM drive for security or large storage needs
Seagate Technology LLC, Fremont, CA, has been assigned a patent (10,725,676) developed by Allo, Christopher Nicholas, Longmont, CO, for a “Write once read many, (WORM) drive for security or large storage needs.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”Apparatus and method for configuring a data storage device as a write once read many (WORM) drive. In some embodiments, the storage device has a rotatable disc with at least one data recording layer, and a data transducer that is selectively moveable with respect to the rotatable disc. The data transducer has a write element configured to write data to the data recording layer, and a read element configured to read data from the data recording layer. A control circuit is configured to physically disable the write element in response to a write element disable signal. The disabling of the write element prevents further writing of data to the data recording layer. The read element remains operative to continue reading data from the data recording layer after the write element has been disabled.”

The patent application was filed on December 13, 2018 (16/219,351).

Reduced latency I/O in multi-actuator device
Seagate Technology LLC, Fremont, CA, has been assigned a patent (10,720,200) developed by Dallmann, Devon, Westminster, CO, Kowles, Andrew Michael, Lyons, CO, Buch, Bruce Douglas, Westborough, MA, and Gaertner, Mark A., Vadnais Heights, MN, for a “reduced latency I/O in multi-actuator device.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”An exemplary data refresh method disclosed herein reading data into volatile memory from a first storage region using a read element controlled by a first actuator assembly and writing the data from the volatile memory to a second storage region using a write element controlled by a second actuator assembly, where the first actuator assembly and the second actuator assembly are configured to receive data from control circuitry via independent read/write communication channels.”

The patent application was filed on April 25, 2018 (15/962,756).

Mode hop mitigation solutions in HAMR head
Seagate Technology LLC, Fremont, CA, has been assigned a patent (10,720,177) developed by Ng, ChoonWei, Zhang, Wei, Tiotantra, Harry, Kan, Utt Heng, and Lim, AikChuan, Singapore, Singapore, for a “mode hop mitigation solutions in a heat-assisted magnetic recording head.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”A method includes writing first data to a first track of a magnetic recording medium of a storage device. First parity sectors corresponding to the first data are written. The first parity sectors have a first size. Second parity sectors corresponding to the first data are written. The second parity sectors have a second size. Second data is written to a second track of the magnetic recording medium. The second track is adjacent to the first track. It is determined whether an unrecoverable data error has occurred on the second track. After writing to the second track and determining that no unrecoverable data error has occurred, the first and second parity sectors corresponding to the first data are released.”

The patent application was filed on April 8, 2019 (16/377,585).

Command splitting for high-cost data access operations
Seagate Technology LLC, Fremont, CA, has been assigned a patent (10,719,459) developed by Kowles, Andrew Michael, Lyons, CO, and Rice, David Andrew, Longmont, CO, for a “command splitting for high-cost data access operations.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”A method for improving write throughput of a storage device includes receiving a data access command targeting an LBA extent and determining that logical execution of the data access command includes reading or writing data logically across an identified high-performance-cost boundary. Responsive to the determination, the data access command is split into two or more separate data access commands that are separately queued in memory for execution.”

The patent application was filed on November 27, 2017 (15/823,143).

Garbage collection of storage
Seagate Technology LLC, Fremont, CA, has been assigned a patent (10,719,439) developed by Goss, Ryan James, Shakopee, MN, Panda, Siddhartha K., Bangalore, India, Benjamin, Daniel J., and Weidemann, Ryan C., Shakopee, MN, for a “garbage collection of a storage device.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”A method operable with the storage device includes determining a workload to the storage device based on host Input/Output (I/O) requests to the storage device. When the workload is above a threshold, a first portion of the storage device is selected for garbage collection based on the I/O requests. Otherwise, when the workload is below the threshold, a second different portion of the storage device is selected for garbage collection based on a storage ability of the second portion of the storage device.”

The patent application was filed on September 6, 2017 (15/696,462).

Selective sampling for data recovery
Seagate Technology LLC, Fremont, CA, has been assigned a patent (10,719,392) developed by Sridhara, Deepak, Longmont, CO, and Patapoutian, Ara, Hopkinton, MA, for a “selective sampling for data recovery.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”Systems and methods are disclosed for error recovery in a digital data channel. In an error recovery approach when the hardware fails to recover a sector, the sample for that sector can be saved along with a metric measure that indicates the quality of the sample. This process can begin from a first on-the-fly receiving and decoding of data. During each step of error recovery, a retry attempt may either use samples obtained during a new decoding attempt or may use a sample, or a combination of samples, having the best metric from an earlier attempt, or a combination of earlier attempts, to perform the recovery during a current retry recovery attempt.”

The patent application was filed on June 27, 2018 (16/020,013).

Encryption key shredding to protect non-persistent data
Seagate Technology LLC, Fremont, CA, has been assigned a patent (10,715,509) developed by Secatch, Stacey, Longmont, CO, Conklin, Kristofer C., Burnsville, MN, Simonson, Dana L., Owatonna, MN, and Moss, Robert W., Windsor, CO, for an “encryption key shredding to protect non-persistent data.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”Systems and methods for encryption key shredding to protect non-persistent data are described. In one embodiment, the storage system device may include a storage drive and a controller. In some embodiments, the controller may be configured to power on the storage drive, identify an encryption key on the storage drive created upon powering on the storage drive, and encrypt data in a cache of the storage drive using the encryption key. In some embodiments, the controller may be configured to power off the storage drive and delete the encryption key upon powering off the storage drive. In some cases, the storage drive may include at least one of a solid state drive and a hard disk drive. In some embodiments, the storage drive may include a hybrid storage drive that includes both a solid state drive and a hard disk drive.”

The patent application was filed on October 30, 2018 (16/174,539).

Near-field transducer having peg surrounded by metal aperture plate
Seagate Technology LLC, Fremont, CA, has been assigned a patent (10,714,137) developed by Krishnamurthy, Vivek, Edina, MN, Lee, TaeWoo, Eden Prairie, MN, Seigler, Michael Allen, Eden Prairie, MN, Zhang, Peng, Bloomington, MN, and Blaber, Martin Giles, Minneapolis, MN, for a “near-field transducer having a peg surrounded by a metal aperture plate.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”A recording head includes a waveguide core layer that delivers light from a light source to a region proximate a magnetic write pole. A near-field transducer that is formed of a thin metal film is deposited over the waveguide core layer. The near-field transducer includes an enlarged part with two straight edges facing a media-facing surface and at obtuse angles relative to the media-facing surface. A peg extends from the enlarged part towards the media-facing surface. The near-field transducer includes a metal aperture plate at the media-facing surface. The metal aperture plate surrounds at least three sides of the end of the peg.”

The patent application was filed on March 14, 2019 (16/353,237).

Temporarily sealing data storage
Seagate Technology LLC, Fremont, CA, has been assigned a patent (10,706,893) developed by Erickson, Kurt LeRoy, Apple Valley, MN, Hutchinson, Andrew J., New Prague, MN, Mahoney, Kerry J., Apple Valley, MN, Forbord, Kent J., Minneapolis, MN, and Tyler, Paul S., Apple Valley, MN, for “method of temporarily sealing data storage device and device.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”It has been discovered that the cavity of data storage devices may be temporarily sealed to inhibit loss of gasses from the cavity by use of a sealing solution comprising a sealing component that is in contact with the gasket of the device, so that the gasket and sealing solution, together with the structural cover and base deck of the device, temporarily seals the cavity. The sealing solution comprises a sealing component having molecular weight of from about 1000 to about 30,000 Daltons.”

The patent application was filed on July 31, 2019 (16/527,938).

Scheduling low-priority disk seeks for multi-actuator data storage
Seagate Technology LLC, Fremont, CA, has been assigned a patent (10,706,886) developed by Parkash, Vidur Fnu, Shakopee, MN, and Gaertner, Mark Allen, Vadnais Heights, MN, for “scheduling low-priority disk seeks for multi-actuator data storage device.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”A first time period is determined during which a first head driven by a first actuator will be performing a track-following operation. A second time period is also determined during which a second head driven by a second actuator will be performing a low-priority disk access operation that includes a seek. The first and second actuators are independently movable such that the first and second disk access operations are capable of being performed in parallel. If it is determined that the seek of the second head will impact servo control of the track-following operation of the first head, a start time of the seek of the second head is changed to correspond to a time that mitigates impacts to the track-following operation of the first head.”

The patent application was filed on March 29, 2019 (16/369,380).

Servo wedge skipping during track seeking
Seagate Technology LLC, Fremont, CA, has been assigned a patent (10,706,882) developed by Ali, Abbas, Prior Lake, MN, for a “servo wedge skipping during track seeking.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”A method includes processing, via an integrated circuit, data read from a first servo wedge, processing, via the integrated circuit, data from a second servo wedge, and skipping processing data from a third servo wedge positioned between the first servo wedge and the second servo wedge.”

The patent application was filed on August 13, 2019 (16/539,057).

Wire assisted magnetic recording with alternating current driving wire
Seagate Technology LLC, Fremont, CA, has been assigned a patent (10,706,876) developed by Rausch, Tim, Farmington, MN, Gage, Edward Charles, Lakeville, MN, and Liu, Zengyuan, Eden Prairie, MN, for a “wire assisted magnetic recording with an alternating current driving the wire.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”A recording head for writing data on tracks of a data storage medium. The recording head includes a writer having a write pole and a trailing shield. The write pole includes a pole tip configured to write on the tracks of the data storage medium. The recording head also includes a writing-assistance wire that is positioned between the pole tip and the trailing shield in a down-track direction.”

The patent application was filed on June 13, 2019 (16/440,306).

Storage area retirement in storage device
Seagate Technology LLC, Fremont, CA, has been assigned a patent (10,699,797) developed by Danjean, Ludovic, Alhussien, Abdelhakim, and Haratsch, Erich Franz, San Jose, CA, for a “storage area retirement in a storage device.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”Systems and methods presented herein provide for testing degradation in a storage device. In one embodiment, a storage controller is operable to test individual portions of a first of the plurality of storage areas of the storage device by: analyzing individual portions of the first storage area, determining that one or more of the individual portions of the first storage area have failed, and retire the failed one or more portions of the first storage area. The storage controller is further operable to write to the first storage area using an error correction code, ECC, and to test the remaining portions of the first storage area to determine whether the first storage area should be retired in response to writing to the first storage area.”

The patent application was filed on April 27, 2018 (15/964,691).

On wafer laser stability control for HAMR
Seagate Technology LLC, Fremont, CA, has been assigned a patent (10,692,525) developed by Goggin, Aidan Dominic, Gubbins, Mark Anthony, Donegal, Ireland, Callan, Kelly Elizabeth, Mehfuz, Reyad, Derry, Great Britain, Mooney, Marcus B., Donegal, Ireland, El Hallak, Fadi, and McElhinney, Paula Frances, Derry, Great Britain, for a “on wafer laser stability control for heat-assisted magnetic recording.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”An apparatus includes a substrate. A laser is formed on a non-self supporting structure and bonded to the substrate. A waveguide is deposited proximate the laser. The waveguide is configured to communicate light from the laser to a near-field transducer that directs energy resulting from plasmonic excitation to a recording medium. A light detector is configured to detect an amount of light. At least one laser heater is disposed proximate the laser. A controller is configured to control current supplied to the at least one heater based on the detected amount of light.”

The patent application was filed on September 20, 2018 (16/136,389).