Electrical computers and digital data processing systems: input/ – Input/output data processing – Peripheral configuration
Reexamination Certificate
1999-03-27
2001-07-24
Shin, Christopher B. (Department: 2182)
Electrical computers and digital data processing systems: input/
Input/output data processing
Peripheral configuration
C360S097020
Reexamination Certificate
active
06266712
ABSTRACT:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
Not Available
BACKGROUND—FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention is an optical data-storage hard disk drive that uses stationary Magneto-Optical Microhead Array Chips in place of conventional “Flying-Heads”, “Rotary Voice-Coil Actuators”, and other similar types of “Servo-Tracking” mechanisms. Furthermore, each Magneto-Optical Microhead Array Chip Hard Disk Drive will consist of at least, but not confined too, one disk-platter having two data-surfaces; wherein, the aforesaid data-surface will contain a multiplicity of concentric data-tracks that are rotated at a substantially constant angular velocity. In addition, each Magneto-Optical Microhead Array Chip is to be placed into a stationary position above each disk platter data-surface by a chip-positioning circuit board; wherein, the number of cylinder/tracks available to each Magneto-Optical Microhead Array Chip is determined by the number of (VCSEL) “Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Laser” microheads contained within a Magneto-Optical Microhead Array Chip's microhead array (e.g., “325,000” vertical cavity surface emitting laser microheads would therefore equal “325,000” corresponding cylinder/tracks).
Moreover, each Magneto-Optical Microhead Array Chip will contain, within a single chip device, a VCSEL microhead array (e.g., an array containing a minimum of one thousand or a maximum of four billion individually addressable VCSEL microheads individually used as a light source during a read-data or write-data disk-operation), a microhead “Address Latch And Chip Select Circuit”, a microhead “Address Decoder Circuit”, a microhead “Address Buffer Circuit”, a “VCSEL Microhead Power Control Circuit”, a “Read Preamp Circuit”, a “Read Decision Circuit”, a “Read Buffer Circuit”, a “Planar Induction Coil Control Circuit”, a “Write Driver Circuit”, a “Write Preamp Circuit”, a “R/W Control Circuit”, two reversed-biased “Semiconductor Photo-Conductor” linear position-sensing “Cadmium-Sulfide” photocell-array read-elements, or as an optional embodiment two reversed-biased “Semiconductor Silicon Photo-Diode” photocell-array read-elements (e.g., providing a optical read-data reference signal-voltage output and an optical read-data read signal-voltage output during read-data disk-operations), and two (BIMPICs) “Bi-Metal Planar Induction Coils” (e.g., used to vertically magnetize thermally confined disk-surface magnetic data-domains during write-data disk-operations).
Furthermore, and, with the exception of the beforementioned semiconductor photocell arrays, and (BIMPICs) “Bi-Metal Planar Induction Coils”, each aforesaid Magneto-Optical Microhead Array Chip will have its various photonic and electronic semiconductor components constructed from a single “Silicon-Oxide” wafer; moreover, using conventional manufacturing methods, like (MBE) Molecular Beam Epitaxy, lithography, and chemically etching. In addition, if the beforementioned Magneto-Optical Microhead Array Chip contains a microhead array of three hundred and twenty-five thousand individual VCSEL microheads; wherein, each microhead within said microhead array has a diameter of 200-nm (i.e., “200” nanometers), the aforesaid Magneto-Optical Microhead Array Chip would measure “2.358” inches in length. And, furthermore, if a “2.358” inch Magneto-Optical Microhead Array Chip were used in a Magneto-Optical Microhead Array Chip Hard Disk Drive design, the beforementioned hard disk drive's form-factor would be a standard “3.5” inches. Every Magneto-Optical Microhead Array Chip installed into a hard disk drive's unit-assembly is assembled into one stationary fixed position; wherein, one Magneto-Optical Microhead Array Chip is positioned approximately one-micron above and perpendicular to every disk-platter data-surface used in a hard disk drive's unit-assembly. Furthermore, the individual VCSEL microheads contained within a microhead array have an emitter centerline to emitter centerline dimension of 300-nm; wherein, each VCSEL microhead emitter's top-surface has an elliptical dimension of “200”ד210” nanometers. Furthermore, these VCSEL dimensions are a-typical for any Magneto-Optical Microhead Array Chip installed into a hard disk drive unit-assembly.
In addition, the use of standard semiconductor lithography, etching, and masking techniques are used to manufacture a Magneto-Optical Microhead Array Chip's two (SPD) “Semiconductor Photo-Diode” photocell array circuits, microhead-address latch-decoder circuits, Chip-Selection chip-control circuits, data I/O circuits, pre-amplification circuits, data encoding/decoding circuits, and digital-signal processing circuits, along with a Magneto-Optical Microhead Array Chip's address, data, and control-bus circuits. In addition, the VCSEL microhead arrays contained within the Previously Mentioned Magneto-Optical Microhead Array Chips are created using (MBE) “Molecular Beam Epitaxy”, or (MOVPE) “Metal-Organic Vapor-Phase Epitaxy”; moreover, two methods used in electro-optic manufacturing.
As demonstrated, within prior art, conventional flying-head assemblies (i.e., what are sometimes called “head stack assemblies”) are simultaneously moved, as a group, to or from cylinder/track locations during a host-requested read-data or write-data disk-operation. As defined, data-tracks are closed concentric circles of sectored digital-data, which begin at the center of a disk-platter's data-surface and radiate out away from that center, one concentric circle after another, toward a hard disk drive disk-platter's outer-most circumference. Moreover, conventional prior art technologies use a Rotary Voice-Coil Actuator or (i.e., what is sometimes called a “Rotary Positioner”) to accomplish track-to-track head-stack movements (i.e., the movement of a head-stack across a hard disk drive disk-platter's data surface from one concentric circle of sectored data to another).
However, during host-requested Magneto-Optical Microhead Array Chip Hard Disk Drive's disk-operations mechanical movements of the beforementioned Magneto-Optical Microhead Array Chips' VCSEL microheads, from one concentric cylinder/track to another, is unnecessary. Moreover, the beforementioned Magneto-Optical Microhead Array Chips, while containing a multitude of stationary VCSEL microheads, would already have, ready for use, one of its stationary VCSEL microheads positioned at a host-requested cylinder/track location. Therefore, unlike conventional electromechanical Rotary Voice-Coil head switching, and head stack positioning, the Magneto-Optical Microhead Array Chips electronically switch from one VCSEL microhead to another, digitally.
Furthermore, a Magneto-Optical Microhead Array Chip Hard Disk Drive's cylinder/track addressing numbers, and the beforementioned VCSEL microheads positioned above them, have the same address number locations. For example, during a host-requested disk-operation; wherein, a Magneto-Optical Microhead Array Chip Hard Disk Drive Disk Controller will address a single stationary VCSEL microhead; contained within a chip-selected Magneto-Optical Microhead Array Chip's microhead array; wherein, the aforesaid Disk Controller is also selecting a cylinder/track location, which is directly underneath the beforementioned microhead's fixed stationary position. Therefore, a cylinder/track location, and the beforementioned VCSEL microhead positioned above it, would consequently have the same addressing number and location. Furthermore, during a read or write-data disk-operation, a Magneto-Optical Microhead Array Chip Hard Disk Drive's Disk Controller will receive from a host computer, a request, to either read or write data at a particular disk-platter's data-surface and data-sector location and, therefore would contain:
(i) A data-head selection number (e.g., head number five, but sent as a binary code signal, like 00000101)*, which is translated and used by the aforesaid Disk Controller to select one particular stationary Magneto-Optical Microhead Array Chip tha
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