Patent Publication Number: US-2016232936-A1

Title: Transducer array to write data to tape

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     Current storage of computer data is implemented in a vast variety of applications. One technique for storing computer data is to record the data in a tape cartridge using a tape drive. For example, data may be recorded on and read from a moving magnetic tape with an electromagnetic read/write head (also referred to as tape head) positioned next to the magnetic tape. During operation of a tape drive, components of a tape head may suffer wear caused by tape contact. Wear of tape head components generally reduces reliability and operational life of a tape drive. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       In order that the present disclosure may be well understood, various examples will now be described with reference to the following drawings. 
         FIG. 1  is a schematic representation of a tape drive according to an example. 
         FIGS. 2A and 2B  are a schematic representation of bi-directional operation of an example of a tape head in the tape drive of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 3  is a schematic isometric view of a tape head portion corresponding to the example of  FIGS. 2A and 2B . 
         FIGS. 4A and 4B  are a schematic representation of bi-directional operation of an example of a tape head in the tape drive of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 5  is a schematic isometric view of a tape head portion corresponding to the example of  FIGS. 4A and 4B . 
         FIG. 6  depicts a system for operating a tape drive according to an example. 
         FIG. 7  is a block diagram depicting a computer readable medium according to an example. 
         FIG. 8  is a flow diagram depicting a process to implement examples. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     In the following description, numerous details are set forth to provide an understanding of the examples disclosed herein, However, it will be understood that the examples may be practiced without these details. Further, in the following detailed description, reference is made to the accompanying figures, in which various examples are shown by way of illustration. In this regard, directional terminology, such as “top,” “bottom,” “front,” “back,” “left,” “right,” “vertical,”, “upper,” “lower,” etc., is used with reference to the orientation of the figures being described, Because disclosed components can be positioned in a number of different orientations, the directional terminology is used for purposes of illustration and is in no way limiting. Like numerals are used for like and corresponding parts of the various figures. 
     While a limited number of examples have been disclosed, it should be understood that there are numerous modifications and variations therefrom. 
     Elements of a tape head arrangement, in particular portions thereof including transducer elements, are generally exposed to wear through tape contact. This wear may be significant in view of tape abrasivity and the intimate contact that may be required between tape and head elements. Further, wear may be accentuated by the relatively high number of passes of the tape across the recording head, particularly in view of the trend to higher number of tracks in a given tape width. Wear may be a major cause of decrease in reliability and operating life of a tape head due to magnetic spacing loss. 
     Techniques are described herein that facilitate reducing wear of a tape head. According to some examples, a tape head is provided including a first module and a second module. Each of the first and second modules includes a write transducer array with at least one transducer element for writing data to the tape. According to some examples, each of the first and second modules may include a read transducer array disposed such that the tape head can perform bi-directional read-after-write by alternately operating these modules depending on the tape travel direction. According to other examples, a read module is provided between the first and second modules so that the tape head can perform bi-directional read-after-write by, (i) writing data by operating the write transducer elements in the module at leading position with respect to the tape travel direction, and (ii) reading the written data using the read module in both directions. It will be understood that other configurations are feasible for implementing read-after-write operation. 
     Lifting members may be provided so as to cause a lift of a tape portion over the module at the trailing position with respect to the tape travel direction. Such lifting members facilitate reducing the wear caused by tape contact on the write elements, which are generally delicate. In particular, lifting members as described herein facilitate distributing wear between the first and the second module. In some arrangements, wear on write elements during bi-directional operation of the tape head may be halved since tape contacts the write transducer only during tape travel in one of these directions. As further detailed below, lifting members may be implemented by suitably designing the contour of the first or second modules (including the write transducer arrays). 
     The above described lifting members may not interfere with tape head operation since contact with the write transducer array positioned at trailing module is not strictly required. That is, by including two write transducer arrays and at least one read transducer array, at most only two arrays would be in operation at any given time. Further, as illustrated in examples below, only a write transducer array at a leading module performs write during tape displacement in a particular direction. Transducers at a trailing module (over which the tape flies by the effect of the lifting members) may remain idle during tape travel in that direction. 
       FIG. 1  is a schematic representation of a tape drive  10  according to an example. A magnetic tape  12  is initially wound on a supply reel  14  within a magnetic-tape cartridge  16 . When loaded into tape drive  10 , a tape drive mechanism  11  may cause opening cartridge  16 , grasping a leader pin (not shown) mounted to a leader portion of tape  12 , and threading tape  12  around a first guide roller  18 , over a tape head  20 , and around a second guide roller  22  to a take-up reel  24 . Further, tape drive mechanism  11  is coupled to supply reel  14  and/or take-up reel  24  for causing tape  12  to travel along tape head  20  during operation of tape drive  10  for writing and/or reading. 
     Tape head  20  includes elements (e.g., two or more modules including arrays of transducer elements) to write data in and read data from tape  12 . Tape head  20  may be particularly adapted for facilitating direct read-after-write operation of tape drive  10 . Direct read-after-write is for verifying that a tape drive correctly writes data in a tape by reading written data quasi-simultaneously to writing. 
     Tape drive  10  may be bi-directionally operated. For example, tape drive  10  may have the capability to write data in and/or read data from tape  12  for alternate directions of tape travel. Such alternate directions may be (i) first travel direction  30  corresponding to travel of tape  12  from supply reel  14  to take-up reel  24 , and (ii) second travel direction  32  corresponding to travel of tape  12  from take-up reel  24  to supply reel  14 . Tape drive mechanism  11  may be responsible to cause tape  12  to travel either in first travel direction  30  or in second travel direction  32 . 
     Tape head  20  may be moved in a vertical direction (i.e., normal to the plane of the drawing) by an actuator  26  in order to access different sets of tracks for reading and writing. Actuator  26  is, in turn, controlled by a tape-drive controller  28  that includes one or more processors, electronic memory, and logic circuitry. Functions performed by tape-drive controller  28  include, among others, receiving data from, e.g., an external host computer system, processing the data into data sets, writing the data sets to the magnetic tape by electromechanical control of tape head  20 , reading data sets from magnetic tape  12  by electromechanical control of tape head  20 , or processing the data sets to retrieve the host data that is returned to the host computer system. 
     An example of a tape head that may be implemented in tape drive  10  is shown in greater detail in  FIG. 3 . A tape head arrangement  200  includes a head body  310  adapted to be mounted on a head support (not shown) by suitable mounts. Tape head arrangement  200  includes a tape side  312  configured to face tape  12  during operation of the tape head. Tape head arrangement  200  includes a first module  34  and a second module  36  at tape side  312 . Both modules are formed as forwardly protruding and longitudinally extending rails  314 ,  316 . “Forwardly” refers to the direction pointing towards tape  12  when tape head arrangement  200  is in operation. 
     Outriggers may be implemented in tape head arrangement  200  to facilitate stable dynamic behavior of tape  12  as tape  12  passes over tape side  312 . Outriggers are structures disposed at outward portions of the tape head with respect to tape travel direction and arranged to direct a tape into a predetermined path along the tape head and/or precisely set the angle with which the tape overwraps adjacent module of the tape head. In the illustrated example, outriggers  78 ,  80  are implemented in the form of outer lateral rails  324 ,  326  extending longitudinally along head body  310 . 
     Each of rails  314 ,  316  supports a respective write transducer array  318 ,  320 . In the illustrated examples, each of write transducer arrays  318 ,  320  includes a plurality of write transducer elements  322  extending longitudinally along rails  314 ,  316 . The write transducer elements may be implemented as magnetically sensitive thin-film magneto resistive elements. Rails  314 ,  316  physically interface with tape  12  as it is moved relative to tape head arrangement  200  so that write transducer array  318 ,  320  face a data carrying face of tape  12 . Rails  314 ,  316  may further support servo transducer elements (not shown) that interface with servo tracks (not shown) at tape  12  to position the transducers of the tape head relative to data tracks arranged in parallel along tape  12 . 
     In the illustrated example, tape head arrangement  200  further includes at tape side  312  a read module  48 . Read module  48  is disposed between first module  34  and second module  36 . Read module  48  is formed as a forwardly protruding and longitudinally extending rail  328 . Rail  328  supports read transducer array  330 . In the illustrated example, read transducer array  330  includes a plurality of transducer elements  332  to read data from tape  12 . The read transducer elements  332  may be implemented as read elements including thin-film inductive elements. In the illustrated example, rail  328  of read module  48  includes skiving edges  72 ,  74  formed in outer portions of rail  328 . Each of skiving edges  72 ,  74  is arranged to skive air from the interface between tape  12  and a tape bearing surface  67  of read module  48  when tape  12  approaches read module  48  towards that particular skiving edge. Read module  48  may further include servo transducer elements (not shown). 
     While  FIG. 3 , for purposes of illustration, shows only  18  sets of read/write transducer elements per array, in alternative embodiments arrays  318 ,  320 ,  330  may include any number of transducer elements, for example, sixteen read and/or write elements plus two servo elements per array for sixteen data track tape storage technology, or  32  read and/or write elements plus two servo elements per array for  32  data track tape storage technology. Generally, any convenient alternative number and/or suitable arrangement of arrays and transducer elements can be used. 
     In order to prevent wear, tape head arrangement  200  may include (i) a first lifting member  42  arranged to cause lifting of a tape portion over first module  34  while tape  12  moves in a first direction  46  such that tape  12  encounters, in the following order, second module  36  and first module  34 , and (ii) a second lifting member  56  to cause lifting of a tape portion over second module  36  when tape  12  moves in a second direction  60  such that tape  12  encounters, in the following order, first module  34  and second module  36 . More specifically, lifting members may be provided such that a lift is caused in the tape portion over the module at the trailing position so as to prevent or alleviate wear during operation of tape head arrangement  200 . 
     According to some examples herein, first lifting member  42  is integrally formed in first module  34  and/or second lifting member  56  is integrally formed in second module  36 .  FIGS. 2A, 2B, and 3  show a tape head arrangement according to one of these examples. Further, according to some examples herein, a lifting member is formed at the portion of a module that tape  12  first encounters when moving in the direction in which the lifting member causes tape lift. For example, in these Figures, lifting member  42  is shown implemented at an inward edge of first module  34  and lifting member  56  is implemented at an inward edge of second module  36 . In particular, rails  314 ,  316  include curved portions  68 ,  70  built in inward portions of each rail so as to cause tape lift in a given direction. 
     A curved portion refers to a portion of a module having a surface with an oblique orientation relative to adjacent surfaces in the module. The curved portions illustrated herein cause a pressurization of air entering in the interface formed between the curved portion and the tape, thus creating a self-acting air bearing that causes tape lift over the portion of the transducer portion positioned downstream. A curved portion eliminates skiving on a tape portion approaching towards the curved portion. In the illustrated curved portions  68 ,  70  are curved portions of rails  314 ,  316  disposed, respectively, between flat bearing surfaces  64 ,  65  (supporting the write transducer arrays) and outward vertical surfaces  66  of rails  314 ,  316 . 
     The curved portions  68 ,  70  as illustrated facilitate reducing tape contact on the module at a leading position with respect to the tape travel direction. 
     The curved portion  68  is shown in  FIG. 3  as a curved portion for illustrative purposes. As used herein, a curved portion may be arranged with any profile suitable for facilitating entraining of air under a tape portion such that a tape lift as described herein is imparted. For example, a curved portion may be a portion with a curved profile, a beveled profile, a circular profile, blended profile, round profile, or a combination thereof. For example, curved portion  68  may have a radiused profile with a radius value between 2 and 8 mm, such as 3 mm. As used herein, a radiused profile refers to a profile with a shape according to a portion of a circle. 
     In the illustrated example, rails  314  and  316  include, respectively, skiving edges  62 ,  76  formed at outer portions of the rails. Skiving edges  62 ,  76  are arranged to skive air from the interface between tape  12  and a tape bearing surface  64 ,  65  of the module when tape  12  approaches a module towards its skiving edge. 
       FIGS. 2A and 2B  illustrate, by way of example, operation of tape head arrangement  200  for bidirectional operation of tape drive  10 . For performing read or write operations, tape  12  is brought close to or directly into contact with tape side  312  (see  FIG. 3 ) of tape head arrangement  200  by following a pre-determined path with a pre-determined tension. Generally, the path and tension of tape  12  is determined by the relative spatial configuration of first guide roller  18 , tape head arrangement  200 , and second guide roller  22 . 
     In order to implement, bi-directional read-after-write operation, a tape drive may operate modules  34 ,  36  to alternately perform writing depending on the particular tape direction, and read module  48  to perform reading. For example, tape drive  10  may be configured to perform the following process for a read-after-write operation in tape direction  46  using tape head arrangement  200 : (i) move tap,  12  in direction  46  such that the tape encounters a) second module  36  at a leading position  54 , b) read module  48  in a position  52  in-between first module  34  and second module  36 , and first module  34  at a trailing position  50 ; (ii) write data to tape  12  using transducer array  320  of second module  36  and (iii) read the written data at (ii) from tape  12  immediately after performing (ii) using read transducer array  330  of read module  48 . During this process, curved portion  68  causes a lift of tape portion  44  over first module  34  at trailing position  54 . This lift does not interfere with the read-after-write operation since, in direction  46 , write transducer array  318  of first module  34  remains idle while write transducer array  320  at second module  36  performs writing. 
     Further, tape drive  10  may be configured to perform the following process for a read-after-write operation in tape direction  60 : (iv) move tape  12  in direction  60  such that the tape encounters a) first module  34  at a leading position  54 , b) read module  48  in a position  52  in-between first module  34  and second module  36  at trailing position  50 ; (v) write data to tape  1  using transducer array  318  of first module  34 ; (vi) read the data written at (v) from tape  12  immediately after performing (v) using read transducer array  330  of read module  48 . During this process, curved portion  70  causes a lift of tape portion  58  over second module  36  at trailing position  50 . This lift does not interfere with the read-after-write operation since, in direction  60 , write transducer array  320  at second module  36  remains idle while write transducer array  318  at first module  34  performs writing. 
     Bi-directional write-only operation may be analogously implemented by following the above processes omitting reading. 
     The process taking place during the above operation of tape head arrangement  200  is detailed in the following. As illustrated in  FIG. 2A , when tape  12  is moved in direction  46 , it encounters second module  36  at leading position  54 , first at its skiving edge  76  and then at its curved portion  70 . Skiving edge  76  causes tape  12  to come into intimate contact with write transducer array  320  of second module  36  so as to facilitate writing of data by the second module. Tape  12  then encounters skiving edge  74  of read module  48 , disposed at position  52  in-between modules  34 ,  36 . Skiving edge  74  causes tape  12  to come into intimate contact with read transducer array  330  of read module  48  so as to facilitate reading of data from tape  12 . Tape  12  then encounters first module  34  and curved portion  68  of lifting member  42  which causes a lift of tape portion  44  over first module  34 , which is at trailing position  50 . Since in direction  46 , tape  12  encounters second module  36  before read module  48 , write transducer array  318  at first module  34  does not perform writing in this direction. Tape  12  flies over write transducer array  318  of first module  34   
     As illustrated in  FIG. 2B , it will be understood that, when tape  12  is moved in direction  60 , the roles of first module  34  and second module  36  are interchanged so that tape flies over second module  36  and write transducer array  318  at first module  34  performs writing in the read-after-write operation described above. In that direction, skiving edge  62  causes intimate contact of tape  12  with write transducer array  318 , responsible for writing while tape  12  travels in direction  60 . 
     An arrangement including two lifting members as illustrated herein significantly decreases wear of a module while the tape moves in a direction such that that module is at a trailing position. Actually, wear of a write transducer array may be halved as compared to an arrangement which does not implement lifting members as described herein, since tape  12  contacts the outward write transducers only during tape translation in one of the two directions in which the tape drive can be operated. That means that operating life of a tape drive may by doubled since, generally, wear of write transducer elements delimits operating life of the tape drive. In one example, for a given amount of pole tip recession due to wear, performance degradation of a read transducer element may be generally higher as compared to a write transducer element. 
     As set forth above, a tape head may include outriggers  78 ,  80  to direct a tape into a predetermined path along the tape head and/or precisely set the angle with which the tape overwraps adjacent modules of the tape head. An outrigger may be arranged as a separate structure of an adjacent module by providing a recess between the outrigger and an adjacent module, as illustrated in  FIGS. 2A, 2B, 3 . Alternatively, outriggers may be integrally formed in an adjacent module. In such integrated outriggers, an upper portion of the outrigger and the module are continuously formed without a recess therebetween. 
     The examples illustrated above include a read module disposed in-between first and second modules arranged to perform reading. According to alternative examples, such read module may be mined by implementing read transducer arrays in the first and second modules. Such examples are illustrated with respect to  FIGS. 4A to 5 . 
       FIGS. 4A and 4B  illustrate bi-directional operation of a tape head arrangement  400  in an analogous manner as described above with respect to the arrangement in  FIGS. 2A and 2B . Referring to  FIG. 5 , it can be appreciated that read module  48  is omitted in this example. Instead thereof, for implementing reading, first module  34  includes a read transducer array  334  with read transducer elements  332 . More specifically, rail  314  may support read transducer array  334 . Read transducer array  334  and write transducer array  318  of first module  34  are aligned such that first module  34  can be operated to perform a read-after-write operation when tape  12  moves in direction  60 . In this example, read transducer elements  332  of read transducer array  334  are disposed parallel to write transducer elements  322  of write transducer array  318 . Further, write transducer array  318  antecedes read transducer array  334  when tape  12  moves in direction  60 . Thereby, when tape  12  translates in direction  60 , at first module  34  it first encounters write transducer array  318  and subsequently read transducer array  334 . 
     Further, second module  36  includes a read transducer array  336  with read transducer elements  332 . More specifically, rail  316  may support read transducer array  336 . Further, read transducer array  336  and write transducer array  320  of second module  36  are aligned such that second module  36  can be operated to perform a read-after-write operation when tape  12  moves in direction  46 . In this example, read transducer elements  332  of read transducer array  336  are disposed parallel to write transducer elements  322  of write transducer array  320 . Further, write transducer array  320  antecedes read transducer array  336  when tape  12  moves in direction  46 . Thereby, when tape  12  translates in direction  46 , at second module  36  it first encounters write transducer array  320  and subsequently read transducer array  336 . It will be understood that other relative arrangements of the read transducer arrays and write transducer arrays are possible that enable read-after-write operation using transducer elements at one module. 
     Analogously as for the arrangements illustrated above, tape head arrangement  400  includes lifting members  42  and  56  to cause lifting of tape  12  over the module at a trailing position. Since the module at leading position may perform read-after-write operation, lifting members  42  and  56  do not interfere in operation of tape head arrangement while alleviating wear at the module at trailing position. 
     The process involved in operating tape head arrangement  400  may be as follows. As illustrated in  FIG. 4A , when tape  12  is moved in direction  46 , it first encounters second module  36  at leading position  54 , first at its skiving edge  76  and then at its curved portion  70 . Skiving edge  76  causes tape  12  to come into intimate contact with write transducer array  320  and then read transducer array  336  of second module  36  so as to facilitate read-after-write operation. In direction  46 , the transducer arrays at first module  34  remain idle (in this direction, the transducer arrays at second module  36  are operated). Tape  12  then encounters first module  34  and flies over read transducer array  318  and write transducer array  334  of first module  34 . 
     As illustrated in  FIG. 4B , it will be understood that, when tape  12  is moved in direction  60 , the roles of first module  34  and second module  36  are interchanged so that tape portion  58  is lifted over second module  36  including read transducer array  336  and write transducer array  320 ; read transducer array  334  and write transducer array  318  at first module  34  are operated to perform the read-after-write operation described above. In that direction, skiving edge  62  causes intimate contact of tape  12  with write transducer array  318  and read transducer array  334 , responsible for performing read-after-write in this direction. Examples providing write transducer arrays at the first and second module as described above facilitate reducing wear of the write transducer elements, since it is facilitated that the tape contacts the write transducer elements only during the tape travel direction in which the write transducer elements are operated. Tape contact with write elements of a module is prevented when that module is at trailing position. 
       FIGS. 6 and 7  depict examples of physical and logical components for implementing operation of a tape drive.  FIG. 6  depicts a system  600  for operating a tape drive. In the illustrated example, system  600  is illustrated as forming part of controller  28 . It will be understood that system  600  may be provided separately from controller  28 , either communicatively coupled thereto or to components of the tape drive system implementing the functions that system  600  controls. In the example, system  600  includes a motion engine  104 , a write engine  106 , and read engine  108 . 
     Motion engine  104  represents generally any combination of hardware and programming configured to cause moving a tape as described herein. For example, referring to  FIG. 1 , motion engine  104  may be operatively connected to tape drive mechanism  11  for causing travel of tape  12  in first travel direction  30  or second travel direction  32 . Motion engine  104  may cause tape movement in a direction such that the tape encounters a module at a leading position and a module at a trailing position as described above. 
     In some of the examples illustrated above (e.g., with respect to  FIGS. 2A and 2B ), motion engine  104  may cause tape  12  to encounter first module  34  at trailing position  50  when tape  12  moves in direction  46 ; motion engine  104  may cause tape  12  to encounter second module  36  at trailing position  50  when tape  12  moves in direction  60 . As described above, first module  34  and second module  36  may be operated when being at leading position during a read-after-write operation depending on the tape travel direction. Motion engine  104  may cause tape travel according to motion data  110  stored in data store  112 . Motion data  110  may store data regarding, among other parameters, tape travel direction or tape travel speed. 
     Motion engine  104  controls tape motion of tape to cause lift of a tape portion while moving the tape in a particular direction to prevent contact with the module at the trailing position. Such lift of a tape portion is induced by the travel of the tape close to a lifting member as illustrated above with respect to  FIGS. 2 to 5 . Generally, the speed of the tape is chosen such that a lifting member causes a tape lift appropriate to prevent tape contact with a module as described above. 
     Write engine  106  represents, generally, any combination of hardware and programming configured to writing data into a tape using a write transducer array at a module in a leading position as described above. For example, write engine  106  may cause write transducer array  320  at second module  36  to write data when tape  12  moves in direction  46  (see  FIGS. 2A, 4A ). Further, write engine  106  may cause write transducer array  318  at first module  34  to write data when tape  12  moves in direction  60  (see  FIGS. 2B, 4B ). 
     Read engine  108  represents generally any combination of hardware and programming configured to read written data from a tape using a read transducer array at a module as described above. For example, referring to  FIGS. 2A and 2B , read engine  108  may cause read transducer array  330  at read module  48  to read data from tape  12  during tape travel in direction  46  or direction  60 . Further, referring to  FIGS. 4A and 4B , read engine  108  may cause (i) read transducer array  336  at second module  36  to read data when tape  12  travels in direction  46 , and (ii) read transducer array  334  at first module  34  to read data when tape  12  travels in direction  60 . Read engine  106  may cause storing data read from a tape as part of read data  116  in data store  112 . In foregoing discussion, various components are described as combinations of hardware and programming, Such components may be implemented in a number of fashions. 
     Referring to  FIG. 7  the programming may be processor executable instructions stored on a tangible memory medium  118  and the hardware may include a processor  120  for executing those instructions. Memory  118  can be said to store program instructions that when executed by processor  120  implements system  600  of  FIG. 7 . Memory  118  may be integrated in the same device as processor  120  (e.g., as part of controller  28 ) or it may be separate but accessible to that device and processor  120 . 
     In one example, the program instructions can be part of an installation package that can be executed by processor  120  to implement system  600 . In this case, memory  118  may be a portable medium such as a CD, DVD, or flash drive or a memory maintained by a server from which the installation package can be downloaded and installed. In another example, the program instructions may be part of an application or applications already installed. Here, memory  118  can include an integrated memory such as a hard drive. 
     In  FIG. 7 , the executable program instructions stored in memory  118  are depicted as a motion module  122 , a write module  124 , and a read module  126 . Motion module  122  represents program instructions that, when executed, cause the implementation of motion engine  104  of  FIG. 6 . Likewise, write module  124  represents program instructions that when executed causes the implementation of write engine  106 . Likewise, read module  126  represents program instructions that when executed causes the implementation of read engine  108 . 
       FIG. 8  is an example of a flow diagram depicting a process to implement a method as described herein. In particular, process flow  800  represents an example of a method for operating a tape drive (e.g., tape drive  10 ). Process flow  800  may be implemented using a tape head arrangement with multiple modules that can be operated for writing as illustrated above. During tape travel in one particular direction, one of the modules for writing is at a leading position. Further, process flow  800  may be implemented using a tape head arrangement with a read module disposed in between two modules that respectively include write transducer arrays as illustrated with respect to  FIGS. 2A and 2B . Alternatively, process flow  800  may be implemented using modules that include write transducer array and a read transducer array as illustrated with respect to  FIGS. 4A and 4B . 
     At block  810 , a tape is moved in a direction such that the tape encounters a module at a leading position and a module at a trailing position. Motion engine  104  may be responsible for implementing block  810  as described above. At block  820  data is written to the tape using the module at the leading position. Block  820  may further include reading data from the tape using a read module in the neighborhood of at least one of the modules. In a read-after-write operation, the data read at block  820  may be the data that has been previously written by the write transducer, the module at a leading position being used to perform writing and the read module in the neighborhood of at least one of the modules being used to perform reading. Alternatively, block  820  may include writing data into the tape using a write transducer array included in the module at the leading position; read-after-write operation is then implemented by operating the write and read transducers arrays of the module at the leading position. Write engine  106  and, optionally, read engine  108  may be responsible to implement block  820  as described above. 
     Block  810  includes a sub-block  815  of causing a lift of a tape portion by moving the tape over a lifting member. The lifted tape portion is over the module which is at the trailing position so as to prevent tape contact therewith. Motion engine  104  in conjunction with a lifting member as described herein (e.g., lifting member  42 , lifting member  56 ) may be responsible to implement block  815  as described above. More specifically, motion engine  104  may cause tape travel along a lifting module such that an appropriate lift in imparted to a tape portion over a module downstream of the shifting module so as to prevent tape contact therewith. For example, block  815  may include moving the tape over a curved portion (e.g., curved portion  68  in  FIG. 2A  or curved portion  70  in  FIG. 2B ) of the module at the trailing position. 
     The examples described above facilitate alleviating wear of a tape head. As discussed above, the examples may be successfully deployed by implementing two lifting members. In each of the examples illustrated above, the lifting members in one tape head arrangement are of similar design. For example, in the arrangement of  FIG. 3 , each lifting member includes a curved portion to cause lifting of a tape portion over the adjacent module. However, it will be understood that lifting members of different designs may be included in the same tape head arrangement. For example, a lifting member may include a combination of elements described above collaborating so as to cause tape lift. 
     It will be appreciated that examples can be realized in the form of hardware, software module or a combination of hardware and the software module. Any such software module, which includes machine-readable instructions, may be stored in the form of volatile or non-volatile storage such as, for example, a storage device like a ROM, whether erasable or rewritable or not, or in the form of memory such as, for example, RAM, memory chips, device or integrated circuits or on an optically or magnetically readable medium such as, for example, a CD, DVD, magnetic disk or magnetic tape. It will be appreciated that the storage devices and storage media are examples of a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium that are suitable for storing a program or programs that, when executed, for example by a processor, implement embodiments. Accordingly, embodiments provide a program comprising code for implementing a system or method as claimed in any preceding claim and a non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing such a program. 
     In the foregoing description, numerous details are set forth to provide an understanding of the examples disclosed herein. However, it will be understood that the examples may be practiced without these details. While a limited number of examples have been disclosed, numerous modifications and variations therefrom are contemplated. It is intended that the appended claims cover such modifications and variations.