JP2001273724A - Magnetic storage device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a magnetic storage device which prevents the deterioration in information by the thermal fluctuation of a recording medium recorded to high density. SOLUTION: The magnetic storage device has the recording medium in which recording regions from the inner periphery to the outer periphery is divided into plural zones, an input/output interface section for receiving the recording reproducing instructions from a host and a recording and reproducing control section for recording and reproducing the information on the recording medium by the received recording and reproducing insurrections. The recording and reproducing control section of the magnetic storage device described above has a reference information acquiring means which previously records and reproduces the prescribed information in the prescribed zones and stores the reproduced output characteristics as reference information into a memory, an information deterioration zone detecting means which compares the reference information of the respective zones and the output characteristics of the reproduction information of the respective zones and detects the information deterioration zone larger than the prescribed attenuation factor when the reproduction instruction from the host is received and a rerecording execution means which executes the rerecording relating to the detected information deterioration zone.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a magnetic storage device for magnetically recording and reproducing information on a hard disk or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, the recording density of a magnetic storage device has increased remarkably. In all fields constituting a magnetic storage device such as a recording / reproducing head, a recording medium, a mechanism, etc., a large recording capacity, a high density, and a high speed Research on transfer is being conducted. Regarding the recording medium, when high-density recording is performed, the pitch is narrowed, so that the thermal reliability of the recording bit is a problem. This is a problem that the recorded signal is attenuated due to a change with time. At a high temperature, the problem is that the attenuation factor increases, which is called "thermal fluctuation" of the recording medium. Since the problem of thermal fluctuation is a physical problem of the recording medium, it is a problem that can be slowed down but cannot be eliminated. In order to retain information before recording demagnetization occurs, a method of rewriting is adopted, which recognizes that this problem may occur.

For example, reference information having a reference output characteristic is previously recorded on a recording medium, and it is determined whether or not re-recording is to be performed based on whether or not the output characteristic of reproduction of the reference information shows a predetermined value or less due to aging. This is the method that is being determined.

FIG. 4 shows a configuration diagram of a conventional magnetic storage device 1.

The magnetic storage device 1 includes an input / output interface unit 2, a recording / reproducing control unit 9, and a magnetic recording / reproducing mechanism unit 4.

The recording / reproducing control unit 9 comprises a recording / reproducing processing unit 3, a nonvolatile memory 5, an elapsed time measuring unit 11, a reference information quality judging unit 12, and a reference information monitoring unit 13.

First, at the time of starting recording and accumulating information in the magnetic storage device 1, reference information serving as a reference is recorded in a predetermined recording area of a recording medium, and at the same time, the recording time and recording position of the reference information are stored in a nonvolatile memory. 5 is stored.

[0008] The reference information monitoring unit 13 periodically monitors the reference information at the time interval specified in advance by the elapsed time measurement unit 11 and stores the reference information in the nonvolatile memory 5.

The reference information quality judging unit 12 judges whether the deterioration is below a predetermined value based on the reference information stored by the monitor. When the signal quality falls below the threshold, it is determined that the signal quality has deteriorated, and all information recorded on the recording medium at the same time as the reference information is reproduced, temporarily stored in a buffer, and then re-recorded in the same recording area.

[0010]

However, in the conventional example,
Since the deterioration is monitored by providing the reference information in a specific area, the deterioration in the monitor area is determined to be the deterioration of the information recorded in the same period. Since the recording method of the magnetic recording medium has a constant angular velocity, the track adjacent to the inner periphery of the recording medium has the highest recording density, and the track adjacent to the outer periphery has the lowest recording density. The higher the density, the higher the change. That is, when the recording density increases, the number of magnetic particles forming one bit decreases, so that the magnetization intensity also decreases and the deterioration due to the change over time is accelerated.

Therefore, the output signal characteristics at the time of reproduction differ depending on the recording density. Therefore, the judgment of the deterioration in the monitor area does not mean the deterioration of all the information recorded in the same period, but the deterioration of the area having a high recording density. Progresses and playback may not be possible.

Further, there is a problem that the use efficiency of the recording medium is deteriorated by occupying the area on the recording medium.

An object of the present invention is to provide a magnetic storage device that prevents information deterioration due to thermal fluctuation of a recording medium recorded at high density.

[0014]

A recording medium in which a recording area from the inner periphery to the outer periphery is divided into a plurality of zones, an input / output interface for receiving a recording / reproducing command from a host, a received recording / reproducing command. A recording / reproduction control unit for recording / reproducing information on / from a recording medium, wherein the recording / reproduction control unit records / reproduces predetermined information in each zone in advance, and uses reproduced output characteristics as reference information. A reference information acquisition unit to be stored in a memory, and when a reproduction command is received from the host, the reference information of each zone is compared with an output characteristic of the reproduction information of each zone, and an information deterioration zone larger than a predetermined attenuation rate is compared. And a re-recording execution unit for re-recording the detected information deterioration zone.

According to this configuration, reference information for confirming deterioration is acquired in advance for each zone and stored in the memory, and the reference information of each zone and the reproduction of each zone are generated due to a reproduction command from the host. Since the information is compared with the information, it is possible to confirm the deterioration of the information in each zone having a different recording density and to re-record the information in real time.

Further, the information deterioration zone detecting means compares the output characteristic when reproducing the information specified by the reproduction command from the host with the reference information of the zone to which the reproduction information belongs, and the attenuation factor is larger than a predetermined value. When the output characteristic of each zone from the zone to the outer periphery is compared with the reference information of each zone, the information degradation zone searching means for further searching for a zone whose attenuation rate is larger than a predetermined value; And a re-recording range determining means for selecting a zone closest to the outer periphery from the zones whose attenuation rate is larger than a predetermined value on the basis of the re-recording range from each zone from the zone to the inner periphery.

With this configuration, when the reproduced information is degraded by a reproduction command from the host, the information at a predetermined position in each zone is further confirmed toward the outer periphery,
The presence or absence of a zone with deterioration equal to or higher than a predetermined attenuation rate is searched.

This is because, in a zone having a higher recording density, the deterioration progresses faster, and in the zone from the zone where the deterioration of the reproduced information is confirmed to the inner periphery, it is considered that the deterioration is progressing, and the information deterioration is confirmed. Omit it to be the re-recording range. Therefore, deterioration is confirmed only toward the outer periphery. Based on this confirmation result, each zone from the deterioration zone closest to the outer circumference to the inner circumference is re-recorded. This makes it possible to prevent information deterioration in advance by checking a small number of locations.

[0019]

FIG. 1 shows a configuration diagram of a magnetic storage device according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of zone division of a recording medium.

The magnetic storage device 1 comprises an input / output interface unit 2, a recording / reproducing control unit 9, and a magnetic recording / reproducing mechanism unit 4.

The recording / reproduction control unit 9 comprises a recording / reproduction processing unit 3, a nonvolatile memory 5, a reproduction information detection unit 6, and an information deterioration zone detection unit 7.

Recently, for the purpose of increasing the storage capacity, a zone bit recording (ZBR) method has been adopted as a recording method on a recording medium. In this ZBR, the recording medium is divided into a plurality of zones, the transfer speed of each zone is changed, the recording density of the outer zone is improved, and the recording density from the inner zone to the outer zone is increased. The curve of the decrease is made gentle as shown in FIG. 2 (b).

In the example shown in FIG. 2, the recording area is divided into five zones.
The recording density is sequentially changed.

The magnetic storage device 1 records and reproduces predetermined data in a head sector of a track at a predetermined position of each zone during an assembly test at a manufacturing factory, and reproduces the output characteristics, for example, reproduction information of one sector. The average value of the amplitude values of the output voltage is calculated and recorded in the nonvolatile memory 5 as reference information. This is done in all zones.

In the zone, the recording density is considered to be almost the same because the recording density changes slowly. When the recording densities are substantially the same, since the deterioration of the magnetism is substantially the same, the reference information is obtained at a predetermined track in the zone as a representative of the zone. By adopting this method, the number of inspections when inspecting for deterioration is reduced.

When the acquisition of the reference information is completed, the information recorded on the recording medium is deleted.

Next, the operation when connected to the host 21 will be described.

Here, the zone of the current recording medium position is P
x, a zone adjacent to the inner periphery of the recording medium is referred to as PMin, and a zone adjacent to the outer periphery of the recording medium is referred to as PMout.

In the example of FIG. 2, the fifth zone is PMin, and the first zone is PMout.

First, when the input / output interface unit 2 receives a command to instruct reproduction of a specified file from the host 21, the magnetic storage device 1 sends an information reproduction instruction to the recording / reproduction processing unit 3. Do.

FIG. 3 shows a flow chart of the processing of the recording / reproduction control unit.

It is assumed that the recording command is received from the host and the information is already recorded by the recording / reproducing processing unit 3.

When the recording / reproducing processing unit 3 receives the reproduction instruction, it calculates a specified sector of a specified track from the content thereof and reproduces information from the magnetic recording / reproducing mechanism unit 4. (S31 step) The reproduction information detecting section 6 acquires information on the output characteristics of one sector of the first track in the first zone of the reproduction start zone, and stores the information in the nonvolatile memory 5. The reproduced information itself is
The data is transmitted to the host via the input / output interface unit 2.

When the reproduction instruction covers several zones, the same processing is performed for each sector of the track to be reproduced first in each zone. Hereinafter, description will be made assuming that the reproduction instruction is a plurality of zones.

When the information is reproduced and transmission to the host 21 is completed, the reproduction information detecting section 6 reads the reproduction output information of each zone from the nonvolatile memory 5. Then, the average value of the output characteristic values is calculated for each zone, and stored in the nonvolatile memory 5 as the output characteristic for each zone.

Then, the completion of processing is notified to the information deterioration zone detecting section 7. The information-deteriorated zone detecting section 7 reads out the reference information of each zone stored in the non-volatile memory 5 and the reproduced output characteristics, and compares the read-out output characteristics on a zone basis. (S32 step) Then, with respect to the output characteristic indicated by the reference information, it is checked whether or not there is a zone in which the attenuation rate of the output characteristic by reproduction is equal to or more than a predetermined value.

When there is a zone where the attenuation rate is equal to or more than a predetermined value, the zone is set to Px. When there are a plurality of zones where the attenuation rate is equal to or more than a predetermined value, the zone closest to the outer periphery is defined as Px. Next, first, it is determined whether or not Px = PMout. (Step S33) When Px = PMout, the recording / reproducing processing unit 3 performs re-recording using information of all zones. (Step S34) In the case of re-recording, first, the information of the target area is sequentially stored in the nonvolatile memory, and the information is sequentially re-recorded in the same place. This is repeated until all information of the target area is completed.

If Px = PMout is not satisfied, Px
In each zone from to PMout, one track for quality confirmation is selected.

In the selection method, the history information of the track in the corresponding zone is acquired from the non-volatile memory 5, and the track having the oldest history information is selected.

When there are a plurality of selected tracks, one track closest to the inner periphery is selected from the selected tracks.

Next, for the selected track in each zone, the reproduction output characteristic is sequentially acquired by the reproduction information detecting section 6 from Px to PMout, and stored in the nonvolatile memory.

As for the history information, when the information recording command is received from the host, the recording / reproducing processing unit 3 updates the history information of the rewritten track from the accessed zone and track.

Next, the information-deteriorated zone detecting section 7 reads out the reference information of the zone and the output characteristics by reproduction, and checks whether or not there is any zone whose attenuation rate is equal to or more than a predetermined value. (Step S35) When the information deterioration zone detecting unit 7 detects a zone whose attenuation rate is equal to or more than a predetermined value, the information degrading zone detection unit 7 sets a zone from the zone closest to the outer periphery of the detected zones to PMin as a re-recording range. If zones with attenuation rates equal to or greater than a predetermined value continue to PMout, all zones are set as re-recording ranges. When the range is determined, re-recording is performed by the recording / reproducing processing unit. (S36
(Step ゜) When there is no zone where the attenuation rate is equal to or more than the predetermined value, Px
The re-recording of the information in the range from to is determined, and the recording / reproducing processing unit re-records the information. (S37 step) Further, when the reproduction of the information by the read command from the host is completed, the reference information corresponding to the zone to which the reproduced track belongs is compared with the output characteristic by the reproduction, and the attenuation within the predetermined value range is obtained. If the rate is determined, PMout
From 1 to all the zones of PMin.

Next, for the selected tracks in each zone, the reproduction information detecting section 6 sequentially acquires the output characteristics by reproduction from PMout toward PMin, and calculates the average value of the output characteristics for each zone. , In the nonvolatile memory 5.

Then, the information-deteriorated zone detecting section 7 reads out the reference information of the zone and the output characteristics by reproduction from the nonvolatile memory 5 and checks whether or not there is any zone whose attenuation rate is equal to or more than a predetermined value. (S38 step) When there is a zone where the attenuation rate is equal to or more than a predetermined value, the PMi starts from the zone closest to the outer periphery among the detected zones.
Re-recording of information in the range up to n is determined, and re-recording is performed by the recording / reproducing processing unit. (S39 step) At this time, only zones whose attenuation rate is equal to or more than a predetermined value may be selected and re-recorded.

If there is no zone where the attenuation rate is equal to or greater than the predetermined value, the process is terminated without doing anything.

[0048]

As described above, according to the present invention,
In a high-density magnetic storage device in which recording demagnetization due to thermal fluctuation cannot be ignored, deterioration of information output characteristics is checked in units of zones based on information to be actually reproduced. There is an effect that the deterioration of the device can be confirmed in real time. In addition, since the basic information for determining the deterioration is stored in the memory, the use efficiency of the recording medium is improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a magnetic storage device according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of zone division of a recording medium.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of processing of a recording / reproduction control unit;

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram of a conventional magnetic storage device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 magnetic storage device 2 input / output interface unit 3 recording / reproducing processing unit 4 magnetic recording / reproducing mechanism unit 5 nonvolatile memory 6 reproduction information detecting unit 7 information degradation zone detecting unit 9 recording / reproducing control unit 11 elapsed time measuring unit 12 reference information quality judgment Unit 13 Reference information monitoring unit 21 Host

Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat II (reference) G11B 20/18 572 G11B 20/18 572B 572F

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A recording medium in which a recording area from an inner periphery to an outer periphery is divided into a plurality of zones, an input / output interface unit for receiving a recording / reproducing command from a host, and recording information by the received recording / reproducing command. A magnetic storage device having a recording / reproducing control unit for recording and reproducing on a medium, wherein the recording / reproducing control unit records and reproduces predetermined information in each zone in advance, and stores the reproduced output characteristics in a memory as reference information. The reference information acquisition means, when receiving a reproduction command from the host, comparing the reference information of each zone with the output characteristics of the reproduction information of each zone,
A magnetic storage device comprising: an information deterioration zone detection unit that detects an information deterioration zone larger than a predetermined attenuation rate; and a re-recording execution unit that performs re-recording on the detected information deterioration zone. 2. The information deterioration zone detecting means compares an output characteristic when reproducing information specified by a reproduction command from a host with reference information of a zone to which the reproduction information belongs, and determines that the attenuation rate is larger than a predetermined value. Information degraded zone searching means for comparing output characteristics of reproduction information of each zone from the zone to the outer periphery with reference information of each zone, and further searching for a zone whose attenuation rate is larger than a predetermined value; And a re-recording range determining means for selecting a zone closest to the outer periphery among the zones whose attenuation rate is larger than a predetermined value based on the re-recording range from each zone from the zone to the inner periphery. The magnetic storage device according to claim 1.