Tension transients suppression during acceleration and/or deceleration for storage tape drive

A method, comprising:

• receiving or determining a primary velocity based on at least one of reading information encoded on a magnetic tape and a parameter associated with a motor of a drive mechanism;
• at a switching point, making a reference velocity about equal to the primary velocity;
• after the switching point, determining the reference velocity at various intervals;
• after the switching point, determining a value representative of a difference between the reference velocity and the primary velocity;
• and
• adjusting a speed of the motor of the drive mechanism for minimizing the difference between the reference velocity and the primary velocity.

A method, comprising:

• determining a reference velocity at various intervals;
• receiving or determining a primary velocity based on reading information encoded on a magnetic tape;
• at a switching point, making the reference velocity about equal to the primary velocity;
• receiving or determining a secondary velocity based at least in part on at least one of a parameter associated with a motor of a drive mechanism and reading information encoded on a magnetic tape;
• determining a value representative of a difference between the reference velocity and the secondary velocity;
• and
• adjusting a speed of the motor of the drive mechanism for minimizing the difference between the reference velocity and the secondary velocity.