Patent ID: 8331055

Claim:
A method of monitoring a plurality of servo channels disposed in a data storage device, comprising: moving a sequential information storage medium comprising a plurality of servo patterns across a read/write head comprising a corresponding plurality of servo sensors, wherein said read/write head is disposed in said data storage device, and wherein said data storage device comprises a first servo channel, a second servo channel, and a finite state machine (“FSM”) comprising a single servo channel mode, a combined servo channel mode, an initial state wherein both servo channels are idle, a plurality of intermediate states wherein one servo channel is active and the other servo channel is idle, and a combining state wherein both servo channels are active; when either the first servo channel or the second servo channel is tracking a servo pattern, asserting an acquisition flag for the servo channel tracking the servo pattern; when a longitudinal position “LPOS” bit is decoded by either the first servo channel or the second servo channel, asserting a bit flag for the servo channel that decoded the LPOS bit; and when an acquisition flag and a bit flag are asserted for the same servo channel, determining a relative positioning of each servo sensor with respect to an associated servo pattern.