Defective data sector management system
AssigneeSTMicroelectronics S.r.l.
InventorsAARON WADE WILSON, WAYNE AARON THORSTED
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Abstract
A firmware based technique related to managing defective data sector information in a disk drive. Specifically, the technique provides for a dynamic method by which the number of spare or reserved alternate sectors and their locations can be allocated in the event defective data sectors exist. One advantage of the present invention exists for certain applications where the capacity and/or configuration of the drive are configured at run time. The present invention also has the advantage of improving performance when accessing “grown” defects by allowing the block relocation information to be placed physically closer to the defective blocks.
Claims14
A method for configuring reserved alternate areas in a disk drive system for relocation of blocks thereto, the method comprising:
- spinning up the disk drive system;
- determining the configuration of the disk drive system;
- determining the number, size, and location of the reserved alternate areas;
- and
- storing the number, size, and location of the reserved alternate areas in memory.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.