Data access for shingled magnetic recording media

A method for writing data to at least one disk of a disk drive in communication with a host to facilitate pre-read and/or post-read operations in the disk drive, the method comprising:

• receiving a write command from the host including a logical block address (LBA) for user data in the write command;
• generating parity data for error correction of the user data by encoding the LBA and the user data;
• writing the user data and the parity data on the at least one disk;
• wherein the LBA for the user data is not written to the at least one disk and can be recovered using the parity data when read from the at least one disk;
• and
• based on the recovered LBA, determining whether to store the user data in a data cache memory of the disk drive when the user data is read during a pre-read or post-read operation.

A disk drive in communication with a host, the disk drive comprising:

• a data cache memory for storing data;
• at least one disk with a plurality of sectors for storing data;
• and
• a controller configured to:
• receive a read command from the host requesting user data from a first sector of the plurality of sectors;
• read user data and parity data from a second sector of the plurality of sectors during a pre-read or post-read operation in performing the read command, wherein the second sector is adjacent the first sector on the at least one disk, and wherein the parity data can be used for error correction of the user data read from the second sector;
• recover a logical block address (LBA) for the user data read from the second sector using the parity data, wherein the LBA is not stored on the at least one disk with the user data;
• and
• determine whether to store in the data cache memory the user data read from the second sector during the pre-read or post-read operation based on the recovered LBA for the user data read from the second sector.

A disk drive in communication with a host, the disk drive comprising:

• at least one disk for storing data;
• and
• a controller configured to:
• receive a write command from the host including a logical block address (LBA) for user data in the write command;
• generate parity data for error correction of the user data by encoding the LBA and the user data;
• write the user data and the parity data on the at least one disk;
• wherein the LBA for the user data is not written to the at least one disk and can be recovered using the parity data when read from the at least one disk;
• and
• based on the recovered LBA, determine whether to store the user data in a data cache memory of the disk drive when the user data is read during a pre-read or post-read operation.