Weighted error/erasure correction in a multi-track storage medium
AssigneeStorage Technology Corporation
InventorsKeith Gary Boyer, Richard Allen Gill
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method, computer program product, and data processing system for recovering corrupted data in a multi-track storage medium, such as magnetic tape, using a Reed-Solomon or other similar error correcting code system, is disclosed. A correction history keeping a tally of actual corrected instances of corruption in the storage medium is established. The “N” tracks requiring the greatest number of actual error corrections are designated as erasures. Any errors in the remaining tracks must be found on an individual basis before being corrected.
Claims24
A method of correcting errors in a data storage medium having a plurality of tracks, comprising:
- decoding a first quantity of data that is encoded using an error-correcting code and that spans multiple tracks from the plurality of tracks;
- writing to the correction history record to indicate which of the multiple tracks contained errors when the first quantity of data was decoded;
- and
- decoding a second quantity of data that is encoded using the error-correcting code and that spans the multiple tracks, wherein a limited number of the multiple tracks are decoded as erasures in accordance with the correction history record.
A computer program product in a computer-readable medium, for correcting errors in a data storage medium having a plurality of tracks, comprising instructions for:
- decoding a first quantity of data that is encoded using an error-correcting code and that spans multiple tracks from the plurality of tracks;
- writing to the correction history record to indicate which of the multiple tracks contained errors when the first quantity of data was decoded;
- and
- decoding a second quantity of data that is encoded using the error-correcting code and that spans the multiple tracks, wherein a limited number of the multiple tracks are decoded as erasures in accordance with the correction history record.
A data processing system for correcting errors in a data storage medium having a plurality of tracks, comprising:
- a bus system;
- a processing unit having at least one processor and connected to the bus system;
- memory connected to the bus system;
- and
- a set of instructions in the memory, wherein the processing unit executes the set of instructions to perform the acts of:
- decoding a first quantity of data that is encoded using an error-correcting code and that spans multiple tracks from the plurality of tracks;
- writing to the correction history record to indicate which of the multiple tracks contained errors when the first quantity of data was decoded;
- and
- decoding a second quantity of data that is encoded using the error-correcting code and that spans the multiple tracks, wherein a limited number of the multiple tracks are decoded as erasures in accordance with the correction history record.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.