JPH01133264A - Hard disk device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve a writing/reading speed by writing data in parallel for plural hard disks and reading the data in parallel from the respective hard disks. CONSTITUTION:The data, in which 8 bits are made into 1 unit, supplied from a CPU 9 in parallel in units of byte are respectively supplied to writing/reading circuits S1-S8 through a controller 8 for each bit. Thereafter, the data are written in respective magnetic recording surfaces D1-D8 of hard disks 1-4 respectively and in parallel through respective magnetic heads H1-H8. On the other hand, the data read from the respective magnetic recording surfaces D1-D8 of the disks 1-4 with the respective magnetic heads H1-H8 in parallel are supplied to the writing circuits S1-S8 for each bit and outputted to the CPU 9 in units of byte and in parallel through the controller 8. Thus, the writ- ing/reading speed can be rapidly improved.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial FLL Field-1] The present invention relates to a hard disk device with increased writing/reading speed.

``Prior Art'' Although hard disk drives take longer to access than semiconductor memories such as RAM (random access memory), they have low storage costs and a large storage capacity, so they are often used as external storage devices for computer systems. occupies an important position as However, as the data processing speed of computer systems increases, there is a strong desire to improve the writing/reading speed of hard disk drives.

In addition, in the future, semiconductor memories that can be accessed at high speed will have larger storage capacities and become cheaper, and optical disk devices that can provide extremely large storage capacities will be put into practical use. Further improvement of read speed is an important issue.

``Problems to be Solved by the Invention'' By the way, although conventional hard disk drives have a plurality of hard disks and a plurality of magnetic heads that face each magnetic recording surface of the hard disk, there is always a single One magnetic head was selectively operated to write and read data. Therefore, the CPU (Central Processing Unit) of a computer system
Parallel data that is supplied in bytes via a data bus must first be taken into a buffer, converted to serial data, and then sequentially written onto the hard disk. It is necessary to convert the serial data read out via the parallel data into parallel data and supply it to the CPU in byte units. In this way, data is always written and read in series through a single magnetic head, which is one of the factors that slows down the data read/write time.

In addition, in order to improve the data writing/reading speed,
It is possible to increase the write n wave number, but at present, the write frequency has already reached its limit, and the magnetic and mechanical characteristics of the magnetic head and hard disk, as well as the circuit characteristics of the write/read circuit, are limited. Therefore, it is difficult to increase it further.

This invention was made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and it allows data to be written in parallel to multiple hard disks.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a hard disk device that can increase the writing/reading speed without increasing the writing frequency by reading data from each hard disk in parallel.

"Means for Solving the Problems" The present invention comprises a plurality of hard disks arranged coaxially and rotating in conjunction with each other, and a plurality of magnetic heads arranged facing each magnetic recording surface of the hard disks. ,
head feeder grooves for reciprocating each of the magnetic heads in parallel in the radial direction of the hard disk; and a head feeder groove provided in the same number as the magnetic heads, for writing data on each of the magnetic recording surfaces via each magnetic head, and A write/read circuit reads data from a magnetic recording surface, and data supplied from an external device in parallel in bytes is supplied in parallel to each write/read circuit in bits, and /control means for outputting the data output in parallel in bit units from the reading circuit to the external device in parallel in byte units.

"Operation" According to the above configuration, data supplied from the external device in parallel in bytes is supplied to the write/read circuit in bits via the control means, and is sent to each of the hard disks via each magnetic head. While written in parallel on the magnetic recording surface,
The data read out in parallel by the magnetic head from each magnetic recording surface of the hard disk is supplied to the read/write circuit in bit units, and is output in parallel to an external device in byte units via the control means. .

[Embodiments] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

The figure is a diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of the present invention.

In this figure, 1 to 4 are disk-shaped magnetic recording media, so-called hard disks, and these four hard disks 1 to 4 are coaxially connected by a shaft 5.
It is configured to be rotationally driven by a motor 6. H
1 to H8 are eight magnetic heads arranged to face each of the magnetic recording surfaces D1 to D of the four hard disks 1 to 4, respectively, for each track of the magnetic recording surfaces D1 to D. As well as writing data, data is read from each track, and the head feed mechanism 7 reciprocates in parallel in the radial direction of the hard disks 1 to 4. S, ~S6 are magnetic heads II, ~11
, and these magnetic heads H.

Data is written onto each magnetic recording surface D, -D, via ~l[, and data is read from the valley magnetic recording surface D, -D, via the magnetic head l]1~I-Ie. These write/read circuits Sl to S
, is composed of a head amplifier, a signal processing circuit, etc., similar to the write/read circuit of a conventional hard disk drive. 8 is a controller, which writes/writes 8-bit data supplied in parallel byte by byte from the external CPU 9 via the pass line IO for each bit.
In addition to supplying the read circuits S1 to S8 in parallel, each write/
The 8-bit data output in parallel in units of bits from the reading circuits S1 to S is output in parallel in units of bytes to the CPU 9. Further, the controller 8 performs positioning control of the head feeding mechanism 7, rotation control of the motor 6, etc. under instructions from the CPU 9.

In the above configuration, data in which one unit is 8 bits is supplied from the CPU 9 in parallel in bytes via the pass line IO to the write/read circuits S1 to S8 for each bit via the controller 8. Supplied. Then, the data is written in parallel to each magnetic recording surface D8 of the hard disks 1 to 4 via the respective magnetic heads H1 to Ha. On the other hand, each magnetic recording surface D1 to D11 of hard disks 1 to 4
to each magnetic head I1. The data read out in parallel by ~H, is sent to read/write circuits S1 to S, bit by bit.
is supplied to the controller [C byte unit via Nora 8
Output to PU9 in 1112 columns □ As a result, data with 8 bits as a unit is output to each magnetic recording surface D1 to D of four hard disks 1 to 4 to eight magnetic heads II, to H, iLF is written into 112 columns respectively through the magnetic recording surfaces D1 to 1)a, and 8-bit data is read out in parallel from each magnetic recording surface D1 to D1)a.
Compared to the conventional case where a single magnetic head is always operated selectively, the writing/reading speed can be improved to approximately 8 times faster. In this case, by developing a new IC for parallel processing, the head amplifier, signal processing circuit, etc., and the Naro write/read circuits S and -S8 can be easily integrated within the dimensional constraints of conventional hard disk drives. It is possible to incorporate it into

Note that in the above-mentioned embodiment, the head positioning i
The explanation was based on a data surface servo method in which a servo area is provided for each sector of each track without providing a servo surface for t7, and the servo information is read by a data magnetic head to control movement between tracks. However, we added a new hard disk dedicated to the servo surface and a magnetic head dedicated to the servo,
A servo surface servo method may be applied. Also, C.P.
If the U9 processes 16 bits or 32 bits as one byte, a hard disk, magnetic head, and read/write circuit must be added depending on the number of bits, or the controller 8 can divide one byte into two or four. You can process it by dividing it.

"Effects of the Invention" As explained above, according to the present invention, data supplied in parallel from an external device is supplied to the write/read circuit in bit units, and is sent to each of the hard disks via each magnetic head. While writing in parallel on the magnetic recording surface, the data read in parallel from each magnetic recording surface of the hard disk by each magnetic head is supplied to the read/write circuit in bit units, and output in parallel to an external device in byte units. As a result, the writing/reading speed can be dramatically improved compared to the conventional case where a single magnetic head is always operated in a swampy manner.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The figure is a block diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of the present invention. 1-4...Hard disk, ])1-I)8...Magnetic recording surface, II 1-I
Ia...Magnetic head, 7...Head feed mechanism, S, ~S8...Writing/reading circuit, 8...
controller. Applicant Yamaha Co., Ltd.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] A plurality of hard disks arranged on the same axis and rotating in conjunction with each other, a plurality of magnetic heads arranged to face each magnetic recording surface of the hard disk, and each of the magnetic heads connected to the hard disk. a head feeding mechanism that reciprocates in parallel in the radial direction of the magnetic heads, and is provided in the same number as the magnetic heads, writes data on each of the magnetic recording surfaces through each magnetic head, and reads data from each of the magnetic recording surfaces. The write/read circuit and data supplied in bytes in parallel from an external device are
a control means that supplies data in parallel to each of the write/read circuits in bit units, and outputs data output in parallel in bit units from each write/read circuit to the external device in byte units; A hard disk device comprising: