Patent ID: 6754026
Filing Date: 2004-06-22
Classification: G11B

Abstract:
A tape transport servo method for controlling a tape drive and moving a tape between a first reel driven by a first motor and a second reel driven by a second motor within the tape drive, wherein servo tracks of a servo band of the tape are read by a servo head and a writer head writes to a data band within the servo band, said method comprising:repetitively determining a velocity of the tape, wherein said step of repetitively determining the velocity includes: determining the velocity of the tape from a primary velocity source when the servo tracks are being read by the servo head, determining the velocity of the tape from a secondary velocity source during at least some other times during which the servo tracks are not being read by the servo head, repetitively comparing the velocity of the tape to a desired non-zero velocity for the tape, and driving the velocity of the tape to the desired non-zero velocity if the velocity is not equal to the desired velocity.