# US 11,308,992 B1 · Storage medium reader physical location access > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 11,308,992 B1 - Document ID: US11308992B1 - Status: Granted - Kind: B1 - Application number: 16/711,959 - Filed: 2019-12-12 - Granted: 2022-04-19 - Earliest claimed: 2019-12-12 - Assignees: Amazon Technologies, Inc. - Applicants: Amazon Technologies, Inc. - Inventors: Keun Soo Jo; Munif M. Farhan; Andrew Kent Warfield; Seth W. Markle; Roey Rivnay - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US11308992B1 ## CPC - G11B 21/083: {on discs} - G11B 21/086: {on tapes} - G11B: INFORMATION STORAGE BASED ON RELATIVE MOVEMENT BETWEEN RECORD CARRIER AND TRANSDUCER (recording measured values in a way that does not require playback through a transducer G01D9/00; recording or playback apparatus using mechanically marked tape, e.g. punched paper tape, or using unit records, e.g. punched or magnetically marked cards G06K; transferring data from one type of record carrier to another G06K1/18; circuits for coupling output of reproducer to radio receiver H04B1/20; gramophone pick-ups or like acoustic electromechanical transducers or circuits therefor H04R) ## Abstract Technologies are provided for accessing a physical location of a storage medium reader of a storage device. A computing device can transmit a request for the storage medium reader's physical location. The storage device can determine the physical location of the storage medium reader and transmit the location to the computing device. The computing device can use the physical location of the storage medium reader to determine an expected latency for retrieving one or more stored data items. The computing device can transmit a command to change the physical location of the storage medium reader, for example by changing a location of the storage medium reader with respect to a given storage medium and/or changing a storage medium that is accessed by the storage medium reader. The computing device can control the placement of the storage medium reader in order to optimize retrieval of data items from the storage device. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A system, comprising: a host computer configured to: transmit, to a storage device, a first command requesting a current physical location of a storage medium reader of the storage device with respect to a storage medium, receive a response from the storage device, comprising the current physical location of the storage medium reader of the storage device with respect to the storage medium, and determine an expected latency for retrieving a data item using the storage medium reader of the storage device based on the current physical location of the storage medium reader; transmit, to the storage device, a second command requesting a change to the physical location of the storage medium reader of the storage device; and the storage device, wherein the storage device comprises a storage device controller configured to: receive the first command from the host computer, transmit the response, comprising the current physical location of the storage medium reader with respect to the storage medium, to the host computer, receive the second command, and update the physical location of the storage medium reader based on the second command. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein: the storage device comprises a plurality of storage media; and updating the physical location of the storage medium reader comprises moving the storage medium reader from a first storage medium, of the plurality of storage media, to a second storage medium, of the plurality of storage media. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The system of claim 2, wherein the first storage medium and the second storage medium are different types of storage media. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein: the storage device is a first storage device and the expected latency is a first expected latency; the system further comprises a second storage device; and the host computer is further configured to: determine that a second expected latency for retrieving the data item using a storage medium reader of the second storage device based on a physical location of the storage medium reader of the second storage device is less than the first expected latency, and use the second storage device to retrieve the data item instead of the first storage device. ### Claim 5 A method comprising: transmitting a request to a storage device for a current physical location of a storage medium reader within the storage device; receiving a response from the storage device comprising a value indicating the current physical location of the storage medium reader within the storage device; and prioritizing a transmission of a data access command based on the current physical location of the storage medium reader within the storage device, wherein the prioritizing the transmission of the data access command comprises determining a latency of retrieving a data item using the storage device based on the current physical location of the storage medium reader. ### Claim 6 (depends on 5) The method of claim 5, wherein transmitting the request to the storage device comprises transmitting an operational status request to the storage device. ### Claim 7 (depends on 5) The method of claim 5, further comprising: determining another latency of retrieving the data item using another storage device based on a physical location of a storage medium reader of the other storage device; and selecting the storage device or the another storage device to use to retrieve the data item based on the determined latencies. ### Claim 8 (depends on 5) The method of claim 5, further comprising: transmitting a command to the storage device comprising a value indicating another physical location; and receiving a response from the storage device, indicating that the storage medium reader has been moved to the another physical location. ### Claim 9 (depends on 8) The method of claim 8, wherein the transmitting the command to the storage device comprises transmitting a command to switch the storage medium reader from accessing one storage medium to accessing another storage medium. ### Claim 10 (depends on 9) The method of claim 9, wherein the command comprises a storage medium identifier associated with the another storage medium. ### Claim 11 A storage device comprising a storage medium reader and a storage device controller, wherein the storage device controller is configured to: determine an expected latency to access a storage location of a storage medium based on a physical location of the storage medium reader; transmit the expected latency to a computing device connected to the storage device; determine a current physical location of the storage medium reader with respect to the storage medium; and transmit the current physical location of the storage medium reader with respect to the storage medium to the computing device. ### Claim 12 (depends on 11) The storage device of claim 11, wherein the storage device controller is further configured to: receive a request for the current physical location of the storage medium reader from the computing device; and transmit the current physical location of the storage medium reader to the computing device responsive to receiving the request. ### Claim 13 (depends on 11) The storage device of claim 11, wherein the storage device controller is further configured to change a physical location of the storage medium reader responsive to a command from the computing device, wherein the command from the computing device is a command requesting a change to the physical location of the storage medium reader of the storage device. ### Claim 14 (depends on 11) The storage device of claim 11, wherein the physical location of the storage medium reader is transmitted as part of an operational status message. ### Claim 15 (depends on 11) The storage device of claim 11, wherein the storage device controller is further configured to: receive a data access command from the computing device; determine an expected latency of fulfilling the data access command based on the physical location of the storage medium reader; determine that the expected latency exceeds a specified threshold; and transmit a failure response to the computing device. ### Claim 16 (depends on 11) The storage device of claim 11, further comprising a plurality of storage media that are accessible using the storage medium reader. ### Claim 17 (depends on 11) The storage device of claim 11, wherein: the storage device further comprises a magnetic disk storage medium; and the storage medium reader comprises an actuator, an actuator arm, and a magnetic read head.