Compensation for nonlinearity in servo patterns

A computer program product for compensating for nonlinearity in a timing based servo pattern, the computer program product comprising a computer readable storage medium having program instructions embodied therewith, the program instructions readable and/or executable by a controller to cause the controller to:

• generate, by the controller, a y-position estimate based on a servo readback signal;
• determine, by the controller, a nonlinearity-correction value corresponding to the y-position estimate by using a function for directly computing the nonlinearity-correction value as a function of the y-position estimate;
• and
• adjust, by the controller, the y-position estimate using the nonlinearity-correction value.

An apparatus, comprising:

• a controller configured to:
• generate a y-position estimate based on a servo readback signal;
• determine a nonlinearity-correction value corresponding to the y-position estimate,
• wherein determining the nonlinearity-correction value corresponding to the y-position estimate includes retrieving the nonlinearity-correction value from a table,
• wherein the table includes a plurality of nonlinearity-correction values corresponding to known locations relative to a servo band,
• wherein the servo readback signal includes a signal from a servo reader reading the servo band;
• and
• adjust the y-position estimate using the nonlinearity-correction value.