Tape transport control with suppression of time-varying tension disturbances

A tape transport system, comprising:

• a first tape reel having a first reel motor, a second tape reel having a second reel motor, and a tape head;
• circuitry adapted to output one or more signals representing a tape velocity, at least one radius of either the first tape reel or the second tape reel, and a tape tension;
• and
• control circuitry adapted to receive the one or more signals representing the tape velocity, the at least one radius of either the first tape reel or the second tape reel, and the tape tension, and based on the received signals, generate at least one control signal to control at least one of the first reel motor or the second reel motor so as to reduce a tension disturbance at at least one frequency corresponding to a time-varying reel-rotation frequency, based on controller parameters that depend on the tape velocity and on the at least one radius of either the first tape reel or the second tape reel and wherein the control circuitry is further configured to reduce a tension disturbance based on a peak filter with a transfer function defined by the ratio of two second-order polynomials.

In a tape transport system, a method comprising:

• generating one or more signals representing a tape velocity, at least one radius of either a first tape reel or a second tape reel, and a tape tension;
• receiving the one or more signals representing the tape velocity, the at least one radius of either the first tape reel or the second tape reel, and the tape tension;
• based on the received signals, generating at least one control signal to control at least one of the first reel motor or the second reel motor so as to reduce a tension disturbance at at least one frequency corresponding to a time-varying reel-rotation frequency, based on controller parameters that depend on the tape velocity and on the at least one radius of either the first tape reel or the second tape reel;
• and
• reducing a tension disturbance based on a peak filter with a transfer function defined by the ratio of two second-order polynomials.