Patent ID: 8840056

Claim:
A method for operating a reel-to-reel system of a storage device having a first reel, a second reel, a first motor and a second motor, wherein the first motor is operable to drive the first reel and the second motor is operable to drive the second reel, and wherein the reel-to-reel system (RTR) is operable to transport a tape which is supplied by one of the first and second reels, and which is taken up by the other of the first and second reels, the method comprising: determining a tape velocity of the tape and a tape tension of the tape between the first reel and the second reel, and determining a longitudinal displacement of the tape, wherein the longitudinal displacement represents a supplied length of the tape with respect to a predetermined reference point positioned between the first reel and the second reel; estimating an estimated state vector based on the tape velocity, tape tension and longitudinal displacement; determining a reference state vector based on a predetermined reference tape velocity and on a predetermined reference tape tension; generating a first control signal and a second control signal based on the estimated state vector and the reference state vector; and using the first control signal to control the first motor and the second control signal to control the second motor.