Patent ID: 7587538

Claim:
A disk controller for use in a disk drive comprising: a channel integrated circuit (IC) for writing data to and reading data from the disk drive, the channel IC including a channel register; a controller integrated circuit (IC) that controls the operation of a plurality of drive devices, and that arbitrates execution of read and write commands and the flow of data between a host device and the channel IC, the controller IC including a controller register; a channel interface, operably coupled to the channel IC and the controller IC, the channel interface including: a bidirectional transmission path coupled to the controller IC and the channel IC that transfers disk read data and disk write data between the controller IC and the channel IC; and a first unidirectional transmission path coupled to the controller IC and the channel IC that transfers servo data from the channel IC to the controller IC; wherein the controller IC reads from the channel register and writes to the channel register via the bidirectional transmission path, and the channel IC reads from the controller register and writes to the controller register via the bidirectional transmission path.