Seagate Assigned Twenty Four Patents

Electrostatic charge build-up prevention for data storage devices
Seagate Technology LLC, Cupertino, CA, has been assigned a patent (10,524,370) developed by Sreenivasan, Sathish Narayanan, Tamil Nadu, India, for an “electrostatic charge build-up prevention for data storage devices.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”A data storage drive includes a memory and a controller communicatively coupled to the memory. A casing encloses the controller and the memory. At least one electrically conductive grounding pad is included on an exterior of the casing. The electrically conductive grounding pad forms a portion of a low impedance path that extends from the grounding pad to a system ground in an interior of the data storage drive. The low impedance path prevents a build-up of static electricity.”

The patent application was filed on June 28, 2017 (15/635,670).

Data storage system with adaptive data path routing
Seagate Technology LLC, Cupertino, CA, has been assigned a patent (10,524,022) developed by Rawal, Kuntal, Erie, CO, for a “data storage system with adaptive data path routing.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”A data storage system can have adaptive data path routing that consists of a network controller connected to a plurality of data storage units that each have a local controller and memory. A front-end module of the network controller may direct a first data set from a first data storage unit of the plurality of data storage units via a primary data. A back-end routing module of the network controller can adapt to an amount of data accesses by transferring a second data set from a second data storage unit of the plurality of data storage units via a back-end data path.”

The patent application was filed on May 2, 2017 (15/584,845).

Coated slider to inhibit contamination accumulation
Seagate Technology LLC, Cupertino, CA, has been assigned a patent (10,522,192) developed by Kwon, Byung Seok, San Jose, CA, and Ellison, David, Minneapolis, MN, for a “coated slider to inhibit contamination accumulation.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”A slider is provided with a conformal coating, (e.g., an oxide) on the air-bearing surface, (ABS) to provide a consistent surface energy to the ABS. The conformal coating may be formed by an atomic layer deposition, (ALD) process. A consistent surface energy inhibits accumulation of contaminants on the slider ABS, such as at topographical transition areas.”

The patent application was filed on May 24, 2018 (15/988,282).

Microwave assisted magnetic recording drive utilizing interlaced track recording
Seagate Technology LLC, Cupertino, CA, has been assigned a patent (10,522,184) developed by Granz, Steven Douglas, Shakopee, MN, and Erden, Mehmet Faith, St. Louis Park, MN, for a “microwave assisted magnetic recording drive utilizing interlaced track recording.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”Bottom tracks are written to a recording medium using a first setting of a spin-torque oscillator of a single microwave assisted magnetic recording, (MAMR) head. Top tracks are written interlaced between and partially overlapping the bottom tracks using the single MAMR head at a second setting of the MAMR head, the first and second settings resulting in different bit aspect ratios for the top and bottom tracks.”

The patent application was filed on July 9, 2019 (16/506,222).

Disc locked clock-based servo timing
Seagate Technology LLC, Cupertino, CA, has been assigned a patent (10,522,177) developed by Bellorado, Jason, and Marrow, Marcus, San Jose, CA, for a “disc locked clock-based servo timing.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”Systems and methods are disclosed for timing servo operations within a channel based on a counter for a disc locked clock. In certain embodiments, an apparatus may comprise a servo channel configured to lock a frequency of a servo channel clock to a rotational velocity of a disc data storage medium, and maintain a counter of clock cycles for the servo channel clock. The servo channel may perform operations to read servo data from a servo sector on the disc data storage medium at a first counter value selected relative to a target counter value corresponding to an expected location of a servo timing mark, (STM).”

The patent application was filed on July 31, 2018 (16/051,234).

Multi-access hard disc drive
Seagate Technology LLC, Cupertino, CA, has been assigned a patent (10,522,175) developed by Horgan, Sean M., Shakopee, MN, for a “multi-access hard disc drive.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”Aspects of the disclosure are directed to apparatuses and methods involving an apparatus operable for read/write access to data storage media. As may be consistent with one or more embodiments, a hard disc drive apparatus includes respective e-blocks mounted in different corners of an enclosure, (e.g., base deck) having storage media therein. Each e-block has one or more actuator arms having a read/write head thereon and a voice coil that rotates the actuator arm about an axis. The respective e-blocks are operable for read/write access to different regions of the storage media, (e.g., with a longer actuator arm utilized for accessing an inner region of disc media, and a shorter actuator arm utilized for accessing an outer region of disc media). The number, size and rotational limits of the respective e-blocks are utilized to facilitate the use of a compact enclosure design while achieving high-speed data access.”

The patent application was filed on August 28, 2018 (16/114,933).

Enclosure management over PCIE
Seagate Technology LLC, Cupertino, CA, has been assigned a patent (10,521,376) developed by Mitra, Sumanranjan, Mumbai, India, Patil, Ajit, Bangalore, India, and Rajaram, Sivaprakash, Madurai, India, for an “enclosure management over PCIE.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”An apparatus may include a baseboard management controller, (BMC) configured to monitor one or more statuses of a storage array enclosure of the BMC. The BMC may further communicate with a host device of a PCIe network topology via a PCIe port of the BMC including performing a direct memory access, (DMA) write to store status information of the enclosure to a memory of the host device via the PCIe network topology and performing a DMA read to retrieve control information from the memory of the host device via the PCIe network topology. In addition, the BMC may control one or more devices of the storage array enclosure based on the retrieved control information.”

The patent application was filed on March 15, 2018 (15/922,691).

Background reads to condition programmed semiconductor memory cells
Seagate Technology LLC, Cupertino, CA, has been assigned a patent (10,521,287) developed by Khoueir, Antoine, Apple Valley, MN, Secatch, Stacey, Niwot, CO, Gomez, Kevin, Eden Prairie, MN, and Goss, Ryan, Prior Lake, MN, for a “background reads to condition programmed semiconductor memory cells.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”Method and apparatus for managing data in a semiconductor memory, such as but not limited to a three dimensional, (3D) NAND flash memory array. In some embodiments, the memory has non-volatile memory cells arranged into addressable blocks. Each memory cell is configured to store multiple bits. A program/read control circuit programs data sets to and reads data sets from the memory cells in the addressable blocks to service a sequence of host access commands. The circuit concurrently performs background reads in conjunction with the servicing of the host access commands. The background reads result in the reading of a different data set from each of the addressable blocks over each of a succession of time intervals of selected duration. The background reads condition the memory cells prior to a first read operation associated with the host access commands.”

The patent application was filed on October 5, 2018 (16/153,225).

Near field transducer having secondary atom higher concentration
Seagate Technology LLC, Cupertino, CA, has been assigned a patent (10,519,540) developed by Zhao, Tong, Eden Prairie, MN, Kautzky, Michael C., Eagan, MN, Sahoo, Sarbeswar, Shakopee, MN, Brons, Justin, Savage, MN, Gong, Jie, Eden Prairie, MN, and Cheng, Yuhang, Edina, MN, for a “near field transducer having secondary atom higher concentration at bottom of the peg.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”Devices having an air bearing surface, ABS, the device including a near field transducer, the near field transducer having a peg and a disc, the peg having a region adjacent the ABS, the peg including a plasmonic material selected from gold, Au, silver, Ag, copper, Cu, ruthenium, Ru, rhodium, Rh, aluminum, Al, or combinations thereof, and at least one other secondary atom selected from germanium, Ge, tellurium, Te, aluminum, Al, antimony, Sb, tin, Sn, mercury, Hg, indium, In, zinc, Zn, iron, Fe, copper, Cu, manganese, Mn, silver, Ag, chromium, Cr, cobalt, Co, and combinations thereof, wherein a concentration of the secondary atom is higher at the region of the peg adjacent the ABS than a concentration of the secondary atom throughout the bulk of the peg. Methods of forming NFTs are also disclosed.”

The patent application was filed on January 29, 2019 (16/260,925).

Mode splitter between TE and TM polarization for heat-assisted magnetic
Seagate Technology LLC, Cupertino, CA, has been assigned a patent (10,515,659) developed by Harvey, Christopher Neil, Derry, Great Britain, Goggin, Aidan Dominic, Donegal, Ireland, Hamilton, Kelly Elizabeth, and Mehfuz, Reyad, Derry, Great Britain, for a “mode splitter between TE and TM polarization for heat-assisted magnetic.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”An apparatus includes a first waveguide core extending along a light-propagation direction and configured to receive light from a light source at a combined transverse electric, (TE) mode and a transverse magnetic, (TM) mode. A second waveguide core is spaced apart from the first waveguide core and is configured to couple light at a TM mode to the second waveguide core. A near-field transducer, (NFT) is disposed at a media-facing surface of a write head, the NFT receiving the light from the first waveguide core or the second waveguide core and heating a magnetic recording medium in response thereto.”

The patent application was filed on August 27, 2018 (16/113,034).

Laser calibration using temperature compensation equation for HAMR
Seagate Technology LLC, Cupertino, CA, has been assigned a patent (10,515,658) developed by Mader, Drew Michael, Bloomington, MN, for a “laser calibration using temperature compensation equation for heat-assisted magnetic recording device.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”A method includes generating, during manufacture of a heat-assisted magnetic recording, (HAMR) disk drive, a temperature compensation equation for a compensation factor using initial operating currents supplied to a laser diode of the disk drive at different initial operating temperatures and an efficiency value based on the initial operating temperatures. The operating currents are representative of currents for recording data to or erasing data from a magnetic recording medium. The temperature compensation equation is stored in the disk drive. A subsequent efficiency value is determined based on at least one of the initial operating temperatures and an operating temperature differing from the initial operating temperatures. An updated compensation factor at the operating temperature is determined during field operation using the temperature compensation equation and the subsequent efficiency value. An updated operating current is calculated using the updated compensation factor and the operating temperature. A current supplied to the laser diode for a subsequent write operation is adjusted to the updated operating current.”

The patent application was filed on October 4, 2018 (16/151,910).

I/O device and computing host interoperation
Seagate Technology LLC, Cupertino, CA, has been assigned a patent (10,514,864) developed by Cohen, Earl T., Oakland, CA, and Canepa, Timothy L., Los Gatos, CA, for “l/O device and computing host interoperation.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”Methods, systems and computer-readable storage media for receiving, via an external interface of a storage device, a command from a computing host, the command including at least one non-standard command modifier, executing the command according to a particular non-standard command modifier, storing an indication of the particular non-standard command modifier in an entry of a map associated with a logical block address of the command, and storing a shadow copy of the map in a memory of the computing host.”

The patent application was filed on July 27, 2017 (15/661,079).

Timing attack protection in cryptographic processing
Seagate Technology LLC, Cupertino, CA, has been assigned a patent (10,511,433) developed by Courtney, Timothy J., Longmont, CO, for a “timing attack protection in a cryptographic processing system.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”Apparatus and method for enacting data security in a cryptographic processing system, such as a data storage device. In some embodiments, a timer circuit is initiated to denote an elapsed time interval of predetermined duration responsive to a function call by an initiator circuit to perform a selected cryptographic function upon input data. The selected cryptographic function is executed to generate output data which are temporarily stored in a memory location during a waiting period prior to a conclusion of the elapsed time interval. Additional functions may be performed during the waiting period. A notification from the timer circuit is received at the conclusion of the elapsed time interval, and the output data are transferred from the memory to the initiator circuit. In this way, a timing attack may be defended against by configuring the selected cryptographic function to have the same overall execution time for different input data sets.”

The patent application was filed on May 3, 2017 (15/585,535).

Slit full disk shroud
Seagate Technology LLC, Cupertino, CA, has been assigned a patent (10,510,378) developed by Ma, YiChao, Liu, Xiong, and Zhang, Li Hong, Singapore, Singapore, for a “slit full disk shroud.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”Provided herein is an apparatus including a hard drive base. A number of disks are rotatably connected to the hard drive base, and there are a number of disk gaps between the disks. A shroud extends in a circumferential span around the disks, wherein the shroud extends less than the circumference of the disks. The shroud is positioned between the disk gaps and an upwardly sloping gas channel. A number of arcuate gas channels are in the shroud, wherein each arcuate gas channel is horizontally aligned with a corresponding disk gap. The arcuate gas channels connect the disk gaps to the upwardly sloping gas channel.”

The patent application was filed on November 21, 2018 (16/198,467).

Self-healing in storage
Seagate Technology LLC, Cupertino, CA, has been assigned a patent (10,510,374) developed by Kulkarni, Ajay Narayan, Longmont, CO, and Feldman, Timothy R., Louisville, CO, for a “self-healing in a storage system.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”A storage system such as a hard disc drive, (HDD), solid-state drive, (SSD), hybrid drive, (SSHD), storage rack, set of storage racks, JBOD, array of discs, etc. may include a variety of storage media. Failures may be detected in the storage media of the storage system. Such a failure may affect the physical capacity of the storage system. A storage controller of the storage system initiates a media conversion that converts a portion of the storage media from media storing data according to a first recording scheme to a media storing data according to a second recording scheme. The second recording scheme stores data at a higher density compared to the first recording scheme.”

The patent application was filed on July 5, 2017 (15/642,159).

Multiple-actuator drive
Seagate Technology LLC, Cupertino, CA, has been assigned a patent (10,510,373) developed by Granz, Steven Douglas, Shakopee, MN, and Erden, Mehmet Fatih, St. Louis Park, MN, for a “multiple-actuator drive with separate, radially-defined, zones having reduced skew and/or different track properties.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”First tracks are read via a first head that is moved via a first actuator over a first, radially-defined, zone of a disk surface. Second tracks are read via a second head that is moved via a second actuator over a second zone of the disk surface that is separate from the first zone. The first and second heads are optimized to read data within first and second skew angle ranges associated with the first and second zones. The first and second skew angle ranges are each less than a total skew angle range of the disk surface.”

The patent application was filed on March 29, 2018 (15/939,502).

NFT with mechanically robust materials
Seagate Technology LLC, Cupertino, CA, has been assigned a patent (10,510,365) developed by Blaber, Martin Giles, Minneapolis, MN, Seigler, Michael Allen, Eden Prairie, MN, and Kautzky, Michael Christopher, Eagan, MN, for “NFT with mechanically robust materials.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”A recording head includes a near-field transducer proximate a media-facing surface. The near-field transducer comprises an aperture portion surrounded by walls of plasmonic material, the walls oriented normal to the media-facing surface. A notch protrudes within the aperture. The notch comprises at least one of Rh and Ir. A write pole is proximate the near-field transducer. The write pole has a back surface facing away from the media-facing surface and an aperture-facing surface proximate the aperture.”

The patent application was filed on March 14, 2019 (16/353,702).

Devices including near field transducer, (NFT) with nanoparticles
Seagate Technology LLC, Cupertino, CA, has been assigned a patent (10,510,364) developed by Zhao, Tong, Eden Prairie, MN, Brons, Justin, Savage, MN, Riemer, Steven C., Minneapolis, MN, Kautzky, Michael C., Eagan, MN, Huang, Xiaoyue, Eden Prairie, MN, and Sahoo, Sarbeswar, Shakopee, MN, for “devices including a near field transducer, (NFT) with nanoparticles.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”Devices that include a near field transducer, (NFT) including a crystalline plasmonic material having crystal grains and grain boundaries, and nanoparticles disposed in the crystal grains, on the grain boundaries, or some combination thereof, wherein the nanoparticles are oxides of, lanthanum, La, barium, Ba, strontium, Sr, erbium, Er, hafnium, Hf, germanium, Ge, or combinations thereof, nitrides of zirconium, Zr, niobium, Nb, or combinations thereof, or carbides of silicon, Si, aluminum, Al, boron, B, zirconium, Zr, tungsten, W, titanium, Ti, niobium, Nb, or combinations thereof.”

The patent application was filed on November 9, 2015 (14/935,753).

Memory access operation suspend/resume
Seagate Technology LLC, Cupertino, CA, has been assigned a patent (10,509,747) developed by Ebsen, David Scott, Minnetonka, MN, Simonson, Dana Lynn, Owatonna, MN, Alhussien, AbdelHakim, Haratsch, Erich Franz, San Jose, CA, and Howe, Steven, Rochester, MN, for a “memory access operation suspend/resume.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”A memory controller manages memory access operations through a flash memory interface of a memory array of a solid-state storage device connected to a host. The memory controller executes a first memory access operation in the memory array. The first memory access operation has a first priority. The memory controller detects a suspending memory access operation available for execution in the memory array and having a higher priority than the first priority. The detection operation distinguishes between suspending memory access operations and non-suspending memory access operations. The memory controller suspends execution of the first memory access operation in the memory array and executes one or more memory access operations having higher priorities than the first priority and being available for execution in the memory array. The memory controller resumes the execution of the first memory access operation in the memory array.”

The patent application was filed on May 17, 2018 (15/982,210).

Modifies seek parameter to remediate cross-actuator interference
Seagate Technology LLC, Cupertino, CA, has been assigned a patent (10,504,545) developed by Gaertner, Mark Allen, Vadnais Heights, MN, Kharisov, Evgeny, Chaska, MN, and Wernow, Josiah Natan, St. Paul, MN, for “method and apparatus that modifies seek parameter to remediate cross-actuator interference.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”A faulty tracking condition affecting a first head driven by a first actuator of a hard disk drive is determined. The faulty tracking condition is caused by a second actuator of the hard disk drive that is moving while the first actuator is performing a tracking operation. Responsive to the determination of the faulty tracking condition, seek forces of the second actuator that cause the faulty tracking condition affecting the first head are reduced. A controller verifies that similar faulty tracking conditions are reduced with the first head in response to the reduction in seek forces.”

The patent application was filed on January 28, 2019 (16/259,108).

Media cache band cleaning
Seagate Technology LLC, Cupertino, CA, has been assigned a patent (10,503,651) developed by Peng, CheeHou, Thein, ThanZaw, Xie, WenXiang, and Lim, PohSeng, Singapore, Singapore, for a “media cache band cleaning.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”A data storage device includes a media cache and a main data store optimized for sequential reads and organized into bands. When the data storage device receives a read request from a host computing system, the requested data may be fragmented across the media cache and the main data store, causing constrained read throughput. Band rewrite operations to improve read throughput are selected based on a hit tracking list including a hit counter associated with each band on the main data store. The hit counter tracks the number of times a host computing system has requested data in logical block addresses corresponding to the various bands. The data storage device may select bands for band rewrite operations based on the number of hits in the associated hit tracking counters.”

The patent application was filed on December 29, 2016 (15/394,558).

Symbol-level declustering of RAID stripes to isolate data corruption
Seagate Technology LLC, Cupertino, CA, has been assigned a patent (10,503,597) developed by Taranta, Eugene, Casselberry, FL, for a “symbol-level declustering of RAID stripes to isolate data corruption.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”Data targeted for storage into a drive array is divided into codewords with data and parity symbols. The symbols of the codewords are randomly distributed across a stripe of the drive array. One or more drives affected by data corruption are found based on a probability that a subset of inconsistent codewords intersects the one or more drives.”

The patent application was filed on September 21, 2017 (15/711,186).

Dual granularity dynamic mapping with packetized storage
Seagate Technology LLC, Cupertino, CA, has been assigned a patent (10,503,425) developed by Feldman, Timothy Richard, Louisville, CO, and Williams, Steven S., Longmont, CO, for a “dual granularity dynamic mapping with packetized storage.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”A data storage device includes a data store optimized organized into allocation units sized according to an sequential writing unit or garbage collection unit of the data store. Information is written to the allocation units as either coarse or fine-grained packets, which are packets of data that are self-describing and written together. Random writes received from a host to data already written into allocation units is written to another allocation unit, and a coarse-grained forward map is updated to reflect the physical location of the valid data that superseded data in the allocation unit until the allocation unit can be rewritten. Promotion operations are disclosed to compact data and garbage collect data by rewriting allocation units.”

The patent application was filed on August 18, 2017 (15/680,815).

Clustering computational event logs
Seagate Technology LLC, Cupertino, CA, has been assigned a patent (10,496,900) developed by Umanesan, Ganesan, Guildford, Great Britain, for “methods of clustering computational event logs.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”Methods are presented suitable for clustering computational event logs, (2) including a method for calculating a metric distance between characters of different event messages, (4) by comparing both characters to a comparative set of characters. Methods are presented for calculating a metric distance between two event messages, (4) comprising determining character metric distances between characters in the compared words and word metric distances between the words in the compared events, (4), Methods are presented for creating an area, (8) in metric space corresponding to a new cluster, (6) when a further event message, (26) is found in an overlap region, (24) of existing clusters, (6, 8). Methods are presented in populating and constructing an event table.”

The patent application was filed on May 8, 2013 (13/890,030).