Patent ID: 8107188

Claim:
A disk controller for use in a self servo writing disk drive having at least one read/write head for writing servo data to a disk in a servo write mode and for reading and writing user data in a user mode, the disk controller comprising: a spiral detection module that analyzes a read signal from the read/write head, detects a plurality of spiral sync marks and a plurality of spiral bursts corresponding to one of a plurality of servo spirals written on the disk, and that generates a timing reference signal based on timing of at least one of the plurality of the spiral sync marks and a position error signal based on timing of at least one of the plurality of spiral sync marks and a magnitude of at least one of the plurality of spiral bursts, wherein the spiral detection module compares a magnitude of the read signal to a signal threshold, and wherein spiral detection module triggers the detection of the plurality of spiral sync marks and a plurality of spiral bursts when the magnitude of the read signal compares favorably to the signal threshold and a decoded binary pattern matches a predefined pattern; a timing generator, operably coupled to the spiral detection module, for generating a clock signal and for generating at least one media event trigger that is based on the timing reference signal; a device controller, operably coupled to the spiral detection module, for controlling at least one drive device based on the position error signal; a servo data generation module that generates the servo data corresponding to a plurality of servo wedges of the disk; and a servo write module, operably coupled to the servo data generation module and the timing generator, that generates write signals for writing the plurality of servo wedges on the disk based on the clock signal and the at least one media event trigger.