Method and apparatus for writing clock data to a storage medium

A method of writing clock data to tracks on a storage medium using a read element and a write element that are offset relative to each other and which are skewed relative to the storage medium by a skew angle which varies according to position of the read and write elements relative to the storage medium, the storage medium having a data storage region having first and second boundaries, the method comprising the steps of:

• (A) writing first clock data to a first clock track on the storage medium at a position at which the skew angle is substantially a minimum using the write element;
• (B) reading the first clock data using the read element;
• (C) generating clock data for a subsequent track from data obtained by reading the first clock data;
• (D) writing said generated clock data to said subsequent track using the write element, said subsequent track being closer to the first boundary than said first clock track;
• (E) writing clock data to further tracks using the write element, each of said further tracks being successively closer to the first boundary, the clock data for each of said further tracks being generated from data obtained by reading the clock data of a previous track;
• (F) moving the read and write elements substantially to said position at which the skew angle is substantially a minimum;
• (G) writing clock data to a track using the write element, said track being closer to the second boundary than said first clock track;
• and
• (H) writing clock data to further tracks using the write element, each of said further tracks being successively closer to the second boundary, the clock data for each of said further tracks being generated from data obtained by reading the clock data of a previous track.

Apparatus for writing clock data to a storage medium, the apparatus comprising:

• a storage medium which has a data storage region having first and second boundaries to which clock data is to be written;
• a read element and a write element that are offset relative to each other and which are skewed relative to the storage medium by a skew angle which varies according to position of the read and write elements relative to the storage medium;
• a controller arranged to cause the write element to write first clock data to a first clock track on the storage medium at a position at which the skew angle is substantially a minimum;
• a clock data generator for generating clock data for a subsequent track from data obtained by reading the first clock data using the read element;
• a controller arranged to cause said generated clock data to be written to said subsequent track using the write element such that said subsequent track is closer to the first boundary than said first clock track;
• a controller arranged to cause clock data to be written to further tracks using the write element such that each of said further tracks is successively closer to the first boundary, the clock data for each of said further tracks being generated from data obtained by reading the clock data of a previous track;
• a controller arranged to cause the read and write elements to be moved substantially to said position at which the skew angle is substantially a minimum;
• a controller arranged to cause clock data to be written to a track using the write element such that said track is closer to the second boundary than said first clock track;
• and,
• a controller arranged to cause clock data to be written to further tracks using the write element such that each of said further tracks is successively closer to the second boundary, the clock data for each of said further tracks being generated from data obtained by reading the clock data of a previous track.