Method and Apparatus for positioning head on target cylinder of disk

Abstract: A method of positioning a magnetic head (73) on a target cylinder of a magnetic disk (72) uses a position signal (POSN, POSQ) derived from a servo signal (CRAMP) which is read from a magnetic disk using a magnetic head. The servo signal includes at least first and second servo signal components on even cylinders of the magnetic disk and including at least third and fourth servo signal components on odd cylinders of the magnetic disk, and the position signal is used for moving the magnetic head to a desired cylinder. The method comprises the steps of obtaining a first position signal (POSQ) for positioning the magnetic head to an odd cylinder on the magnetic disk based on a difference between peak values of the first and second servo signal components and a second position signal (POSN) for positioning the magnetic head to an even cylinder on the magnetic disk based on a difference between peak values of the third and fourth servo signal components, and using only one of the first and second position signals to position the magnetic head to the target cylinder depending on a cylinder address (CAR0, CAR1) of the target cylinder.

Description: The present invention generally relates to methods and apparatus for positioning a magnetic head, and more particularly to a method and apparatus for positioning a magnetic head on a target cylinder of a magnetic disk based on a servo signal which is read by the magnetic head in a magnetic disk unit. Fig. 1 shows an essential part of a head position control part of a conventional magnetic disk unit. This head positioning part is used for positioning a magnetic head on a target cylinder of a magnetic disk and may be considered to comprise: servo signal reading means for reading a servo signal from the magnetic disk using the said magnetic head, which servo signal includes at least first and second servo signal components when the head is located over even cylinders of the disk and at least third and fourth servo signal components, distinguishable from the said first and second servo signal components, when the head is located over odd cylinders of the disk; position signal generating means, including peak hold circuits, for selecting, in dependence upon an address of the target cylinder, whether to position the magnetic head on the target cylinder using a first position signal that is based on a difference between respective peak values of the first and second servo signal components produced by the said peak hold circuits, or by using a second position signal that is based on a difference between respective peak values of the third and fourth signal components produced by the said peak hold circuits, the said first position signal (POSN) being selected when the said target cylinder is one of the said even cylinders, and the said second position signal (POSQ) being selected when the said target cylinder is one of the said odd cylinders; and servo means for controlling the position of the magnetic head in dependence upon the selected position signal. Similar head positioning circuitry is disclosed, for example, in JP-A-56-134362. In Fig. 1, when a control circuit 71 receives a seek instruction, a servo signal which is read from a magnetic disk 72 by a magnetic head 73 is amplified by a servo amplifier 74. The magnetic disk 72 is one of a plurality of magnetic disks (not shown) which form a magnetic disk pack. The servo signal CRAMP from the servo amplifier 74 is supplied to a position signal demodulating circuit 75 and a synchronizing signal demodulating circuit 76. The position signal demodulating circuit 75 is made up of peak hold circuits and position signal amplifiers as will be described later in conjunction with Fig. 3, and generates first and second position signals POSN and POSQ for servo control. The position signals POSN and POSQ are supplied to a servo circuit 77. The servo circuit 77 generates a driving signal DS based on the position signals POSN and POSQ and target position information which is specified by the control circuit 71. This driving signal DS is supplied to a voice coil motor 78 which moves the magnetic head 73. On the other hand, the synchronizing signal demodulating circuit 76 generates a synchronizing pulse *GSYNC1 and supplies this synchronizing pulse *GSYNC1 to a phase locked loop (PLL) counter 79. The PLL counter 79 generates gate signals PL01 and *G1 through *G4 in synchronism with the synchronizing pulse *GSYNC1, where "*" indicates an active-low signal. During a seek operation, the position control of the magnetic head 73 is carried out using the position signal POSN for even cylinders and using the position signal POSQ for odd cylinders of the magnetic disk 72. Hence, the position signals POSN and POSQ are alternately used during the seek operation, and a velocity control is carried out by detecting the moving velocity of the magnetic head 73. Next, a description will be given with reference to Figures 2A and 2B of the manner in which the servo signal is recorded on the magnetic disk 72, and the manner in which, when the magnetic head 73 is positioned on a servo track, the servo signal is read from the magnetic disk 72. In Fig. 2A, a synchronizing signal region 80 and first through fourth servo signal component regions 81 through 84 are successively formed in a longitudinal direction of servo tracks of each cylinder. A magnetizing direction reversing region having 1/2 the track width is formed in the first and second servo signal components regions 81 and 82 of the servo tracks of even cylinders n and n+2, and in the third and fourth servo signal component regions 83 and 84 of the servo tracks of odd cylinders n+1 and n+3. Accordingly, the servo signal shown in Fig. 2B is read by the magnetic head 73 in a state where the magnetic head 73 is positioned on the servo track. In Fig. 2B, the first to fourth servo signal components (i) to (iv) correspond respectively to the first to fourth servo signal component regions 81 to 84 in Fig. 2A. In the servo tracks of the even cylinders n and n+2, the first and second servo signal components (i) and (ii) are the same. Similarly, in the servo tracks of the odd cylinders n+1 and n+3, the third and fourth servo signal components (iii) and (iv) are the same. In addition, the above relationships no longer apply if the magnetic head 73 deviates from the center of the servo track. For example, if the magnetic head 73 on the servo track of the cylinder n+2 deviates towards the cylinder n+1, the first servo signal component (i) becomes larger than the second servo signal component (ii). Accordingly, a level difference between a peak value of the first servo signal component (i) and a peak value of the second servo signal component (ii) is obtained and used as the position signal POSN for the even cylinder. On the other hand, a level difference between a peak value of the third servo signal component (iii) and a peak value of the fourth servo signal component (iv) is obtained and used as the position signal POSQ for the odd cylinder. FIG.3 shows the structure of the position signal demodulating circuit 75. The servo signal CRAMP including the first through fourth servo signal components (i) through (iv) is input to each of peak hold circuits 91 through 94. The peak hold circuits 91 through 94 respectively receive the gate signals *G1 through *G4 from the PLL counter 79 shown in FIG.1. The gate signals *G1 through *G4 respectively correspond to the first through fourth servo signal components which are obtained from the synchronizing signal component in the PLL counter 79. Hence, the peak hold circuits 91 through 94 hold peak values of the first through fourth servo signal components (i) through (iv), respectively, in response to the gate signals *G1 through *G4. Output signals of the peak hold circuits 91 and 92 are supplied to a differential amplifier 95, and output signals of the peak hold circuits 93 and 94 are supplied to a differential amplifier 96. The differential amplifier 95 outputs the position signal POSN for the even cylinder based on the difference of the signals (peak values) received from the peak hold circuits 91 and 92. Similarly, the differential amplifier 96 outputs the position signal POSQ for the odd cylinder based on the difference of the signals (peak values) received from the peak hold circuits 93 and 94. The position signals POSN and POSQ from the differential amplifiers 95 and 96 are supplied to a position signal selection circuit 97. The position signal selection circuit 97 selectively outputs one of the position signals POSN and POSQ in response to a selection signal which indicates whether the target cylinder is an even or odd cylinder. For example, the position signal POSN is selectively output from the position signal selection circuit 97 when the selection signal indicates that the target cylinder is an even cylinder. The position signal POSN or POSQ output from the position signal selection circuit 97 is supplied to the servo circuit 77 shown in FIG.1 and used for controlling the position of the magnetic head 73. However, in the above-described conventional position signal demodulating circuit 75, the peak hold circuits 91 and 92 which are used for generating the position signal POSN for the even cylinder and the peak hold circuits 93 and 94 which are used for generating the position signal POSQ for the odd cylinder are independent circuits. For this reason, because there are inevitable differences in the peak value detection sensitivities of the peak hold circuits 91 and 92, on the one hand, and the peak hold circuits 93 and 94 on the other band, the signal levels of the position signals POSN and POSQ become different with respect to the same positional error. In other words, the positioning accuracy for the even cylinder and the positioning accuracy for the odd cylinder become different, and there is a problem in that it is difficult to carry out a stable head position control for all of the cylinders. FIG.4 shows a seek locus of the magnetic head 73 for a case where the peak hold circuits 93 and 94 which are used for generating the position signal POSQ have an operating offset of the kind mentioned above. In this case, the "electrical center" of the cylinder (i.e. the deemed center position of the cylinder at which the respective peak values held by the peak hold circuits 93 and 94 are equal) shifts as indicated by a dotted line from the actual center of the cylinder on the magnetic disk 72 due to the difference in the peak value detection sensitivities of the peak hold circuits 93 and 94 when compared to those of the peak hold circuits 91 and 92, where the actual center of the cylinder is indicated by a solid line. In other words, when a seek operation is made from the cylinder n to the cylinder n-1, an undershoot occurs as shown. On the other hand, an overshoot occurs as shown when a seek operation is made from the cylinder n to the cylinder n+1. Accordingly, it is a general object of the present invention to provide a novel and useful method and system for positioning a head to a target cylinder of a disk, in which the problems described above are eliminated. According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of positioning a magnetic head on a target cylinder of a magnetic disk, comprising: reading a servo signal from the magnetic disk using the magnetic head, which servo signal includes at least first and second servo signal components when the head is located over even cylinders of the disk and at least third and fourth servo signal components, distinguishable from the said first and second servo signal components, when the head is located over odd cylinders of the disk; selecting, in dependence upon an address of the target cylinder, whether to position the said magnetic head on the said target cylinder using a first position signal that is based on a difference between respective peak values of the first and second servo signal components produced by peak hold circuits, or using a second position signal that is based on a difference between respective peak values of the third and fourth servo signal components produced by peak hold circuits, the said first position signal (POSN) being selected when the said target cylinder is one of the said even cylinders, and the said second position signal (POSQ) being selected when the said target cylinder is one of the said odd cylinders; and controlling the position of the magnetic head in dependence upon the selected position signal; characterised in that the same peak hold circuits are employed to produce the said respective peak values of the first and second servo signal components that are used to derive the said first position signal as are employed to produce the said respective peak values of the third and fourth servo signal components that are used to derive the said second position signal. According to a second aspect of the present invention there is provided head positioning apparatus for positioning a magnetic head on a target cylinder of a magnetic disk, comprising: servo signal reading means for reading a servo signal from the magnetic disk using the said magnetic head, which servo signal includes at least first and second servo signal components when the head is located over even cylinders of the disk and at least third and fourth servo signal components, distinguishable from the said first and second servo signal components, when the head is located over odd cylinders of the disk; position signal generating means, including peak hold circuits, for selecting, in dependence upon an address of the target cylinder, whether to position the magnetic head on the target cylinder using a first position signal that is based on a difference between respective peak values of the first and second servo signal components produced by the said peak hold circuits, or by using a second position signal that is based on a difference between respective peak values of the third and fourth signal components produced by the said peak hold circuits, the said first position signal (POSN) being selected when the said target cylinder is one of the said even cylinders, and the said second position signal (POSQ) being selected when the said target cylinder is one of the said odd cylinders; and servo means for controlling the position of the magnetic head in dependence upon the selected position signal; characterised in that the said position signal generating means employ the same peak hold circuits to produce the said respective peak values of the first and second servo signal components that are used to derive the said first position signal as are employed to produce the said respective peak values of the third and fourth servo signal components that are used to derive the said second position signal. According to the method and apparatus of the present invention, it is possible to use the peak hold circuits which are used to generate the first position signal also to generate the second position signal. Hence, the magnetic head can be positioned at the target cylinder with the same precision, regardless of whether the target cylinder is an odd or even cylinder. Therefore, the seek operation is stabilized according to the present invention. Reference will now be made, by way of example, to the accompanying drawings, in which: FIG.1 is a system block diagram showing an essential part of a head position control part of a conventional magnetic disk unit; FIGS.2A and 2B are diagrams for explaining a servo signal which is read from a magnetic disk by a magnetic head; FIG.3 is a system block diagram showing the structure of a conventional position signal demodulating circuit shown in FIG.1; FIG.4 is a diagram for explaining a seek locus of the magnetic head when peak hold circuits shown in Fig. 3 have an offset; FIG.5 is a system block diagram for explaining an operating principle of the present invention; FIG.6 is a system block diagram showing an embodiment of a head positioning system according to the present invention applied to a magnetic disk unit; FIG.7 is a cross sectional view showing a magnetic head and a magnetic disk shown in FIG.6; FIG.8 is a system block diagram showing an embodiment of a switching circuit shown in FIG.6; FIG.9 is a system block diagram showing an embodiment of a position signal demodulating circuit shown in FIG.6; FIG.10 is a time chart for explaining an operation of the position signal demodulating circuit shown in FIG.9; FIG.11 is a diagram for explaining a control during a seek operation made in a forward direction; FIG.12 is a flow chart for explaining a control process which is carried out before a start of a seek operation; FIG.13 is a time chart for explaining the control process shown in FIG.12; FIG.14 is a diagram for explaining a seek locus of the magnetic head in the embodiment; FIG.15 is a system block diagram showing an embodiment of a synchronizing signal demodulating circuit and a PLL counter shown in FIG.6; and FIG.16 is a time chart for explaining an operation of the system block shown in FIG.15. First, a description will be given of an operating principle of the present invention, by referring to FIG.5. In FIG.5, a servo signal CRAMP is supplied to peak hold circuits 11 and 12. Gate signals *G1 and *G3 are supplied to the peak hold circuit 11 via a switching circuit 14, while gate signals *G2 and *G4 are supplied to the peak hold circuit 12 via the switching circuit 14. The switching circuit 14 switches the gate signals *G1 and *G3 in response to a switching signal S, and also switches the gate signals *G2 and *G4 in response to the switching signal S. A differential amplifier 15 obtains a difference between the respective output signals of the peak hold circuits 11 and 12, and outputs a position signal which corresponds to an even or odd cylinder. The procedure for generating the position signal POSN for the even cylinder and the position signal POSQ for the odd cylinder are basically the same as that used in the conventional circuit described above. However, because the Fig. 5 circuitry uses the switching circuit 14, the same peak hold circuits 11 and 12 can be used in common when generating the position signal POSN for the even cylinder and when generating the position signal POSQ for the odd cylinder. In other words, by supplying the switching signal S to the switching circuit 14, selecting one of the gate signals *G1 and *G3 in the switching circuit 14, and selecting one of the gate signals *G2 and *G4 in the switching circuit 14, it is possible to generate the position signal POSQ corresponding to odd cylinders using the same peak hold circuits that are used to generate the position signal POSN corresponding to even cylinders. Accordingly, the position signals POSN and POSQ for the even and odd cylinders will provide uniform positioning accuracy (i.e. the same positional error). As a result, only one of the position signals for the odd and even cylinders is used for the positioning of the magnetic head depending on the cylinder address of the target cylinder. Next, a description will be given of an embodiment of a head positioning system according to the present invention, by referring to Fig. 6. Fig. 6 shows as essential part of a head position control part of a magnetic disk unit, and in Fig. 6, those parts which are the same as those corresponding parts in Fig. 1 are designated by the same reference numerals, and a description thereof will be omitted. According to this embodiment, the gate signals *G1 through *G4 which are output from the PLL counter 79 are supplied to a switching circuit 21. This switching circuit 21 converts the gate signals *G1 through *G4 into gate signals *NG1 through *NG4 for operating the peak hold circuits, using lower cylinder addresses CAR0 and CAR1 from the control circuit 71 as switching signals. The gate signals *NG1 through *NG4 are supplied to the position signal demodulating circuit 75, so that the magnetic head 73 can be positioned on the even or odd cylinder using only one of the position signals POSN and POSQ. In FIG.6, the magnetic disk 72 is one of a plurality of magnetic disks 72 accommodated within a shell part 111A of a housing as shown in FIG.7. The housing supports a spindle 112 of a magnetic disk pack and a magnetic head positioner 113. In FIG.7, six magnetic disks 72 are assembled in a stack around the spindle 112, but the number of magnetic disks may be varied depending on the memory capacity of the magnetic disk unit. The spindle 112 is supported at both ends by ball bearings 117 and 118. These bearings 117 and 118 contain a ferrofluidic seal which keeps airtight the space between the inside and outside separated by the bearing while assuring free rotation of the spindle 112. The magnetic disks 72 are spaced with a predetermined distance between each other and are rotated by the spindle 112 which is powered by a D.C. motor 114 attached to one end of the spindle 112. The magnetic head positioner 113 has a similar structure as that of the known magnetic disk pack. The positioner 113 has arms (not completely shown) fixed to a spindle 115 which is supported by ball bearings 119 and 120. The spindle 115 is driven by the voice coil motor 78 to rotate about its axis to the left and right by a desired angle. Hence, the magnetic head 73 supported by the arms is brought to a desired position over the magnetic disk 72. FIG.8 shows an embodiment of the switching circuit 21 shown in FIG.6. The cylinder address CAR0 is supplied to each input terminal A of multiplexers 31 through 34, and the cylinder address CAR1 is supplied to each input terminal B of the multiplexers 31 through 34. The cylinder addresses CAR0 and CAR1 are obtained from gate switching registers (not shown) within the control circuit 71. The gate signals *G2, *G4, *G1 and *G3 are respectively supplied to input terminals C0 through C3 of the multiplexer 31. The gate signals *G1, *G3, *G2 and *G4 are respectively supplied to input terminals C0 through C3 of the multiplexer 32. The gate signals *G4, *G2, *G3 and *G1 are respectively supplied to input terminals C0 through C3 of the multiplexer 33. In addition, the gate signals *G3, *G1, *G4 and *G2 are respectively supplied to input terminals C0 through C3 of the multiplexer 34. The gate signals *NG1 through *NG4 for peak hold are respectively output from output terminals Y of the multiplexers 31 through 34. The following Table 1 shows the relationship of the input and output signals of each of the multiplexers 31 through 34, where "L" denotes a low level ("0"), "H" denotes a high level ("1") and "X" denotes a don't care. A B C0 C1 C2 C3 Y L L L/H X X X L/H H L X L/H X X L/H L H X X L/H X L/H H H X X X L/H L/H In other words, if the cylinder addresses CAR0 and CAR1 are [0, 0], for example, each of the multiplexers 31 through 34 selects the input from the input terminal C0. Hence, in this case, the gate signal *G1 is converted into the gate signal *NG2, the gate signal *G2 is converted into the gate signal *NG1, the gate signal *G3 is converted into the gate signal *NG4, and the gate signal *G4 is converted into the gate signal *NG3. FIG.9 shows an embodiment of the position signal demodulating circuit 75 shown in FIG.6. In FIG.9, those parts which are basically the same as those corresponding parts in FIG.3 are designated by the same reference numerals, and a description thereof will be omitted. In Fig. 9, the gate signals *NG1 through *NG4 are respectively supplied to the peak hold circuits 91 through 94 and respectively cause peak values O1, E1, O2 and E2 to be held. In this case, the relationship between the cylinder addresses CAR0 and CAR1 and the gate signals *G1 through *G4, and the further gate signals *NG1 through *NG4 that are used to obtain the peak values O1, E1, O2 and E2, is as shown in the following Table 2. CAR0 CAR1 *NG1 *NG2 *NG3 *NG4 0 0 *G2 *G1 *G4 *G3 1 1 *G3 *G4 *G1 *G2 0 1 *G1 *G2 *G3 *G4 1 0 *G4 *G3 *G2 *G1 As indicated by the table, in the Figure 9 embodiment it is possible to employ the same peak hold circuits 91 and 92 to produce the respective peak values O1 and E1 of the first and second servo signal components, used to derive the position signal POSN, as are employed to produce the respective peak values O2 and E2 of the third and fourth servo signal components used to derive the position signal POSQ. Fig. 10 shows an example of the signal waveforms at various parts of the circuits shown in Figs 8 and 9. Figs. 10(A) through (D) respectively show the gate signals *G1 through *G4 which are supplied to the multiplexers 31 through 34. Fig. 10(E) shows the servo signal CRAMP supplied to the peak hold circuits 91 through 94. In this example, the servo signal is derived from the even cylinder (cf. Fig. 2B). Figs. 10(F) and (G) respectively show the peak values O1 and E1 output from the peak hold circuits 91 and 92, and Fig. 10(H) and (I) respectively show the peak values O2 and E2 output from the peak hold circuits 93 and 94. As seen from Figs. 10(F) to 10(I) in this example the peak hold circuit 91 operates (samples the CRAMP signal) when the *G1 signal is in the active (low) state, the peak hold circuit 92 operates when the *G2 signal is active, the peak hold circuit 93 operates when the *G3 signal is active and the peak hold circuit 94 operates when the *G4 signal is active. This corresponds to the third line of Table 2 (CAR0=0, CAR1=1). In addition, Figs. 10(J) and 10(K) respectively show the position signals POSN and POSQ one of which is selectively output from the position signal selection circuit 97 as the output of the position signal demodulating circuit 75. Next, a description will be given of a control during a seek operation made in a forward direction, in which the position signal POSN changes from the positive polarity to the negative polarity in a state where the magnetic head 73 is on-track, by referring to Fig. 11. In Fig. 11, the position signal POSN is indicated by a solid line, and the position signal POSQ is indicated by a dotted line. When a stop (target) cylinder is denoted by a point SC and the cylinder addresses CAR0 and CAR1 for that cylinder are [0, 0], the position of the magnetic head 73 is controlled by converting the gate signals *G1, *G2, *G3,, and *G4 into the gate signals *NG1, *NG2, *NG3 and *NG4, respectively. Because the gate signals are selected so that the on-track is achieved using only the position signal POSN for the even cylinder, for example, it is possible to substantially eliminate the difference in peak detection sensitivities of the peak hold circuits. Fig. 12 shows a flow chart for explaining a control process which is carried out by the control circuit 71 shown in Fig. 6 before a start of a seek operation. When the control circuit 71 receives a target cylinder value in a step S1, a step S2 calculates a remainder which is obtained when the target cylinder value is divided by four. A step S3 determines which line of Table 2 is appropriate to the obtained remainder, and outputs register values appropriate to the determined line. A step S4 sets these register values in the gate switching registers within the control circuit 71, thereby determining which of the position signals POSN and POSQ will be produced. During the seek operation these register values will be used provide the cylinder addresses CAR0 and CAR1 to the switching circuit 21 (Fig. 8) so that the gate signals *G1 to *G4 are applied to the peak hold circuits 91 to 94 in accordance with the determined line of Table 2. As step S5 sets the position signal demodulating circuit 75 depending on the switching of the gates, an a step S6 starts the seek operation. Fig. 13 is a time chart for explaining the control process of Fig. 12. In Fig. 13, "SET" indicates the moment at which the register values are set in the gate switching registers within the control circuit 71, and "SEEK COMPLETE" indicates the moment at which the seek operation is completed. Figs. 13(A) and (B) respectively show the cylinder addresses CAR0 and CAR1 supplied from the gate switching registers of the control circuit 71 to the switching circuit 21. Figs. 13(C) and (D) respectively show the position signals POSN and POSQ output from the position signal demodulating circuit 75. Fig. 13(E) shows the driving signal DS which is supplied from the servo circuit 77 to the voice coil motor 78. In addition, Fig. 13(F) shows the seek locus of the magnetic head 73 from the cylinder (or track) n to the cylinder (or track) n+1. Fig. 14 shows a seek locus of the magnetic head in the illustrated embodiment of the invention, where the peak circuits 91 and 92 are used to produce both POSN and POSQ. If, as in the conventional circuit of Fig. 3, the peak hold circuits 93 and 94 were used for generating the position signal POSQ, there would be an offset effect, as previously described, such that before the seek operation starts, the electrical center of the cylinder would effectively shift, as indicated by a dotted line in Fig. 14, from the actual center of the cylinder on the magnetic disk 72, owing to the difference in the peak value detection sensitivities of the peak hold circuits 93 and 94 when compared to those of the peak hold circuits 91 and 92 (used to produce POSN), the actual center of the cylinder being indicated by a solid line. However, in the present invention, because the same two peak hold circuits (91 and 92) are used to produce the position signal for the odd and even cylinders of the magnetic disk 72, as shown in Figure 14 no undershoot occurs when the seek operation is made from the cylinder n to the cylinder n-1, and no overshoot occurs when the seek operation is made from the cylinder n to the cylinder n+1. Therefore, the problems described above in conjunction with Fig. 4 are eliminated. Next, a description will be given of the synchronizing signal demodulating circuit 76 and the PLL counter 79 shown in Fig. 6 which generates the gate signals *G1 through *G4 described above. Fig. 15 shows an embodiment of the synchronizing signal demodulating circuit 76 and the PLL counter 79, and Fig. 16 shows signals waveforms at various parts of the circuits shown in Fig. 15. In Fig. 15, a comparator 31 receives a D.C. reference voltage CASLV and the servo signal CRAMP shown in Fig. 16(A) from the servo amplifier 74. An output signal *CRASL of the comparator 31 shown in FIG.16(B) is supplied to a monostable multivibrator 32 and is formed into a signal *TMGTG shown in FIG.16(C). The signal *TMGTG is supplied to a monostable multivibrator 33 on one hand and is supplied to an OR circuit 34 on the other. The OR circuit 34 also receives an output signal *TMGT of the monostable multivibrator 33 shown in FIG.16(D). Hence, the OR circuit 34 supplies a signal *GSYNC shown in FIG.16(E) to a phase comparator 36. This phase comparator 36 receives a signal CT7 shown in FIG.16(F) via an inverter 35. An output signal of the phase comparator 36 is supplied to a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) 38 via a lowpass filter 37, and an output signal VCO1 of the VCO 38 is supplied to a clock terminal CLK of a flip-flop 39. An output terminal Q of the flip-flop 39 is fed back to an input terminal D of this flip-flop 39, and an output signal VCO2 shown in FIG.16(G) is output from an output terminal Q of this flip-flop 39. The output signal VCO2 of the flip-flop 39 is supplied to a control circuit 40, and to OR circuits 42 and 43. The control circuit 40 generates signals VCOCNT1, VCOCNT2, VCOCNT4 and VCOCNT8 in response to the signal VCO2. The signals VCOCNT1, VCOCNT2 and VCOCNT4 are supplied to decoders 44 and 45. On the other hand, the signal VCOCNT8 is supplied to the OR circuit 42 directly, and to the OR circuit 43 indirectly via an inverter 41. Output signals of the OR circuits 42 and 43 are respectively supplied to the decoders 44 and 45. The decoder 44 generates signals *CT0, *CT3, *CT6 and *CT7, while the decoder 45 generates signals *CT9 and *CT12. FIG.16(H), (I), (J), (K) and (L) respectively show the signals *CT0, *CT3, *CT6, *CT9 and *CT12. The signal *CT0 is supplied to a flip-flop 46. The signal *CT3 is supplied to flip-flops 46 and 47. The signal *CT6 is supplied to flip-flops 47 and 48. The signal *CT7 is inverted by the inverter 35 which supplies the signal CT7 to the phase comparator 36. The signal *CT9 is supplied to flip-flops 48 and 49. The signal *CT12 is supplied to the flip-flop 49. As a result, the gate signals *G1 through *G4 respectively shown in FIG.16(M) through (P) are output from the flip-flops 46 through 49. These gate signals *G1 through *G4 are supplied to the switching circuit 21 shown in FIG.6. Further, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments, but various variations and modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.

Claims: A method of positioning a magnetic head (73) on a target cylinder of a magnetic disk (72), comprising: reading a servo signal (CRAMP) from the magnetic disk using the magnetic head, which servo signal includes at least first and second servo signal components when the head is located over even cylinders of the disk and at least third and fourth servo signal components, distinguishable from the said first and second servo signal components, when the head is located over odd cylinders of the disk; selecting, in dependence upon an address (CAR0 CAR1) of the target cylinder, whether to position the said magnetic head on the said target cylinder using a first position signal (POSN) that is based on a difference between respective peak values of the first and second servo signal components produced by peak hold circuits (11, 12; 91-94), or using a second position signal (POSQ) that is based on a difference between respective peak values of the third and fourth servo signal components produced by peak hold circuits (11, 12; 91-94), the said first position signal (POSN) being selected when the said target cylinder is one of the said even cylinders, and the said second position signal (POSQ) being selected when the said target cylinder is one of the said odd cylinders; and controlling the position of the magnetic head in dependence upon the selected position signal (POSN/POSQ); characterised in that the same peak hold circuits (11, 12; 91, 92) are employed to produce the said respective peak values of the first and second servo signal components that are used to derive the said first position signal (POSN) as are employed to produce the said respective peak values of the third and fourth servo signal components that are used to derive the said second position signal (POSQ). A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein such positioning of the magnetic head (73) with respect to the said target cylinder is performed during a seek operation. A method as claimed in claim 1 or 2, further comprising the steps of: obtaining first gate signals (*G1 - *G4), corresponding respectively to the first, second, third and fourth servo signal components, based on the said servo signal (CRAMP) which is read from the magnetic disk (72) by the magnetic head (73), each first gate signal becoming active when its corresponding servo signal component is scheduled to be present in the servo signal; and deriving from the said first gate signals second gate signals (*NG1 - *NG4) in accordance with the said address (CAR0, CAR1) of the said target cylinder such that each second gate signal is associated with a predetermined one of the said first gate signals; the said second gate signals (*NG1-*NG4) being applied respectively to the said peak hold circuits (11, 12, 91-94) for causing each circuit to operate when the servo signal component corresponding to the first gate signal that is associated with the second gate signal concerned is scheduled to be present in the said servo signal. Head positioning apparatus for positioning a magnetic head (73) on a target cylinder of a magnetic disk (72), comprising: servo signal reading means (73, 74) for reading a servo signal (CRAMP) from the magnetic disk using the said magnetic head, which servo signal includes at least first and second servo signal components when the head is located over even cylinders of the disk and at least third and fourth servo signal components, distinguishable from the said first and second servo signal components, when the head is located over odd cylinders of the disk; position signal generating means (71, 75), including peak hold circuits (11, 12; 91 to 94), for selecting, in dependence upon an address (CAR0, CAR1) of the target cylinder, whether to position the magnetic head on the target cylinder using a first position signal (POSN) that is based on a difference between respective peak values of the first and second servo signal components produced by the said peak hold circuits, or by using a second position signal (POSQ) that is based on a difference between respective peak values of the third and fourth signal components produced by the said peak hold circuits, the said first position signal (POSN) being selected when the said target cylinder is one of the said even cylinders, and the said second position signal (POSQ) being selected when the said target cylinder is one of the said odd cylinders; and servo means (71, 77, 78) for controlling the position of the magnetic head in dependence upon the selected position signal (POSN/POSQ) ; characterised in that the said position signal generating means (71, 75) employ the same peak hold circuits (11, 12; 91, 92) to produce the said respective peak values of the first and second servo signal components that are used to derive the said first position signal (POSN) as are employed to produce the said respective peak values of the third and fourth servo signal components that are used to derive the said second position signal (POSQ). Apparatus as claimed in claim 4, wherein the said servo means (71, 77, 78) serve to control positioning of the said magnetic head (73) with respect to the said target cylinder during a seek operation. Apparatus as claimed in claim 4 or 5, further comprising: first means (74, 76, 79) for obtaining first gate signals (*G1 - *G4), corresponding respectively to the first, second, third and fourth servo signal components, based on the said servo signal (CRAMP) which is read from the magnetic disk (72) by the magnetic head (73), each first gate signal becoming active when its corresponding servo signal component is scheduled to be present in the servo signal; and second means (21) for deriving from the said first gate signals second gate signals (*NG1 - *NG4) in accordance with the said address (CAR0, CAR1) of the said target cylinder such that each second gate signal is associated with a predetermined one of the said first gate signals; the said position signal generating means (75) applying the said second gate signals (*NG1 - *NG4) respectively to the peak hold circuits so as to cause each circuit to operate when the said servo signal component corresponding to the first gate signal that is associated with the second gate signal concerned is scheduled to be present in the said servo signal. Apparatus as claimed in claim 6, wherein the associations between the first and second gate signals (*G1 - *G4, *NG1 - *NG4) are shown in the following table in which CAR0 and CAR1 denote respectively the two least significant bits of the target cylinder address, *G1 to *G4 denote the first gate signals corresponding respectively to the first, second, third and fourth servo signal components, and *NG1 to *NG4 denote the second gate signals used to activate respective peak hold circuits (91 to 94) of the said position signal generating means (75). CAR0 CAR1 *NG1 *NG2 *NG3 *NG4 0 0 *G2 *G1 *G4 *G3 1 1 *G3 *G4 *G1 *G2 0 1 *G1 *G2 *G3 *G4 1 0 *G4 *G3 *G2 *G1

Inventors: HASHIMOTO SHUICHI, SHINOHARA TOHRU, HASHIMOTO, SHUICHI, SHINOHARA, TOHRU, Hashimoto, Shuichi, c/o Fujitsu Limited, SHINOHARA, TOHRU, C/O FUJITSU LIMITED
Applicants: FUJITSU LTD, FUJITSU LIMITED
Application year: 1991
Main classification: G11B5
IPC codes: G11B5, G11B21