Patent ID: 8233240

Claim:
In a magnetic recording disk drive having write driver circuitry having a source voltage V s and an inductive write head, an integrated lead suspension (ILS) for electrical connection of the write driver circuitry to the write head, the ILS comprising: a flex cable portion for connection to the write driver circuitry and having a fixed characteristic impedance; a gimbal portion for connection to the write head and having a fixed characteristic impedance; and a fixed-length transmission line connecting the flex cable portion and the gimbal portion and comprising N transmission line segments, where N is an integer greater than or equal to 3, each segment having a characteristic impedance with at least three of the segments having different impedances, wherein the impedances of successive segments from the flex cable portion to the gimbal portion do not successively decrease in value; and wherein the signal from the write driver circuitry to the write head is transmitted at a predetermined frequency bandwidth between a low and a high frequency and the characteristic impedances of the N segments results in a substantially flat group delay for the signal from the write driver circuitry to the write head at frequencies across said predetermined frequency bandwidth, said substantially flat group delay being that the group delay across said predetermined frequency bandwidth does not deviate by more than 10 percent of the group delay at said low frequency.