Hard sectoring circuit and method for a rotating disk data storage device

A method for locating data storage sectors on a magnetic drive have at least one disc with a plurality of tracks, comprising:

• positioning a transducer head over a first track having a first number of sectors;
• receiving a first index signal related to an index location;
• positioning the transducer head over a second track having a second number of sectors different than the first number of sectors;
• determining the position of the transducer head relative to the index location based at least in part on the first index signal;
• and
• locating a first sector in the second track before an occurrence of a second index signal based at least in part on a length of a sector in the second track and the position of the transducer relative to the index location.

A method for determining a location of a sector of a disk, comprising:

• positioning a transducer head over a first track having a first number of sectors;
• detecting a first index signal;
• positioning the transducer head over second track having a second number of sectors;
• reading a sector value related to a time it takes for a sector to pass the transducer head along the second track;
• determining an angular location of the transducer head while it is positioned over a first sector in the second track;
• and
• determining the location of a next sector to pass under the transducer head before an occurrence of a second index signal.

A method for locating data storage sectors, comprising:

• positioning a transducer over a first track having a first number of sectors;
• receiving a first index signal related to an index location;
• positioning the transducer over a second track having a second number sectors;
• determining a position of the transducer based on the first index signal;
• and
• locating a first sector in the second track before an occurrence of a second index signal.

A rotating disk data storage device, including a disk whereon data is intended to be written in sectors on data tracks to be subsequently read therefrom by a transducer, wherein at least a first track has a first number of sectors and at least a second track has a second number of sectors, comprising:

• a location circuit synchronized with the rotation rate of the disk, the location circuit configured to determine the angular location of the transducer head with respect to a selected index location on the disk;
• a memory used to store a first value corresponding to a selected angular distance along a selected track on the disk;
• an accumulator circuit connected to the memory, wherein the accumulator adds the first value to the contents of the accumulator in response to an accumulator clock signal;
• a first comparator connected to the location circuit and the accumulator, wherein the first comparator is configured to compare data related to the angular location of the transducer head with the contents of the accumulator and generate corresponding comparison results;
• and
• a sector location signal generator circuit coupled to the first comparator, wherein the sector location signal generator circuit is configured to provide sector location signals in response to at least selected ones of said comparison results.

A circuit for generating sector location signals used to locate data storage sectors on data tracks of a rotating disk data storage device having a transducer head adjacent the surface of a rotating disk for writing to and reading from the data storage sectors located on disk tracks, wherein at least a first track has a first number of sectors and at least a second track has a second number of sectors, comprising:

• a location circuit disk configured to determine the angular location of the transducer head with respect to a first reference location;
• a first memory configured to store a plurality of values related to sector lengths associated with corresponding tracks;
• and
• a sector location signal generation circuit configured to generate a sector location signal at least partially based on the value associated with the sector length for the track over which the transducer head is being positioned and the angular location of the transducer head with respect to the first reference location.

An apparatus comprising:

• a location circuit configured to determine an angular location of a transducer head according to a selected index location on a disk;
• a memory used to store a first value corresponding to a selected angular distance along a selected track on the disk;
• an accumulator configured to add the first value to a content of the accumulator in response to an accumulator clock signal;
• a first comparator coupled to the location circuit and the accumulator to compare data related to the angular location and the content and generate a result;
• and
• a generator coupled to the first comparator to provide a sector location signal in response to the result.

An apparatus comprising:

• a location circuit configured to determine an angular location of a transducer head;
• a first memory configured to store a value related to a sector length associated with a track of a disk;
• and
• a generator configured to generate a sector location signal base on the value associated with the sector length for a track over which the transducer head is being positioned and the angular position of the transducer head.

A system comprising:

• an interface coupled to a computer to receive information;
• a controller coupled to the interface to control read/write information on a disk having a surface;
• a transducer head adjacent to the surface for writing to and reading from a sector located on a disk, and
• a device configured to locate the sector on the disk, the device comprising:
• a location circuit configured to determine an angular location of the transducer head;
• a first memory configured to store a value related to a sector length associated with a track of the disk;
• and
• a generator configured to generate a sector location signal base on the value associated with the sector length for track over which the transducer head is being positioned and the angular position of the transducer head.