Dual spindle motor hard disk drive

Abstract

A dual-disk spindle motor hard disk drive includes a first portion having a first spindle motor and a first disk media stack mounted on the first spindle motor and housed in a first housing, and a second portion having a coaxial second spindle motor and a second disk media stack mounted on the coaxial second spindle motor and housed in a second housing, wherein the second portion further includes first actuators and head sliders corresponding to the first disk stack and second actuators and head sliders corresponding to the second disk stack. The first portion and the second portion are coupled together such that open sides of the housings mate, referred to herein as a clamshell configuration, and each individual spindle motor is configured to operate independently of the other spindle motor. Through independent control of the multiple spindle motors, various control functions can be utilized to address power consumption and temperature control issues.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The embodiments of the present invention relate generally to data storage devices, and more specifically to hard disk drives having two disk spindle motors. Background Technology

[0002] A hard disk drive (HDD) is a non-volatile storage device that is housed in a protective casing and stores digitally encoded data on one or more disks with magnetic surfaces. When an HDD is in operation, each magnetic recording disk is rapidly rotated by a spindle system. Read / write heads (or "transducers") positioned above specific locations on the disk by actuators and housed in sliders read data from and write data to the magnetic recording disks. The read / write heads use magnetic fields to write data onto and read data from the surface of the magnetic recording disks. The write head operates by utilizing current flowing through its coils, thereby generating a magnetic field. Electrical pulses are sent to the write head in different modes of positive and negative current. The current in the write head's coils generates a localized magnetic field in the gap between the head and the magnetic recording disk, thus magnetizing a small area on the recording medium.

[0003] Increasing areal density (a measure of the amount of information bits that can be stored on a given area of ​​the disk surface) has been a persistent goal in the evolution of hard disk drive technology. In one form, this goal manifests as the particularly attractive type of high-capacity HDD in enterprise, cloud computing / storage, and data center environments. However, the performance of high-capacity HDDs does not necessarily scale proportionally with the increase in capacity. This necessitates the development and implementation of various means to improve the performance of high-capacity HDDs.

[0004] In recent years, the growth in areal density of HDDs has not kept pace with the trends of the past few years. This has shifted the mechanical burden to increasing capacity by increasing the number of disks within a given form factor. Since these HDDs are primarily used for near-line storage in data centers in hyperscale environments, the performance of these high-capacity drives must also meet IOPs (input / output operations per second) density requirements (in some cases, similarly referred to as IOPs / TB) to minimize latency. This requirement has led to a shift towards multiple actuators for providing parallel access to data.

[0005] Any method described in this section is a feasible method, but not necessarily one that has been previously conceived or implemented. Therefore, unless otherwise stated, no method described in this section should be considered prior art simply because it is included in this section. Attached Figure Description

[0006] The embodiments are illustrated in the accompanying drawings by way of example rather than limitation, in which the same reference numerals refer to similar elements and wherein:

[0007] Figure 1 This is a plan view showing a hard disk drive (HDD) according to one embodiment;

[0008] Figure 2 This is a cross-sectional side view showing a dual-actuator shared-shaft actuator system according to one embodiment;

[0009] Figure 3 This is a side view showing a dual-spindle motor configuration for a hard disk drive according to one embodiment; and

[0010] Figure 4 This illustrates an implementation scheme. Figure 3 Top view of the top and bottom sections of the dual-spindle motor structure. Detailed Implementation

[0011] Generally speaking, methods for using dual-spindle motor hard disk drives are described. As used herein, the term "spindle motor" refers to the spindle motor assembly of the recording disk medium, which is configured to rotate the disk medium for data reading and writing operations, such as in references. Figure 1 The description describes a drive motor. In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth for purposes of explanation in order to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments of the invention described herein. However, it will be apparent, however, that the embodiments of the invention described herein can be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known structures and devices are shown in block diagram form in order to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the embodiments of the invention described herein.

[0012] INTRODUCTION

[0013] TERMINOLOGY

[0014] References to "implementation," "an embodiment," etc., herein are intended to mean that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described is included in at least one embodiment of the invention. However, instances of such phrases do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment.

[0015] The term "substantially" should be understood as describing features that are mostly or nearly structured, constructed, or dimensionally defined, but in practice, manufacturing tolerances and other factors may cause the structure, configuration, dimensions, etc., to not always or necessarily be as precise as described. For example, describing a structure as "substantially vertical" would give the term its general meaning, implying that the sidewalls are vertical for all practical purposes, but may not be precisely at 90 degrees throughout.

[0016] While terms such as “optimal,” “minimum,” “maximum,” “maximize” may not have certain values ​​associated with them, if used herein, it is intended that those skilled in the art will understand that such terms will encompass values, parameters, measures, etc., that influence in a beneficial direction consistent with the whole of this disclosure. For example, describing the value of something as “minimum” does not require that the value is actually equal to some theoretical minimum (e.g., zero), but should be understood in a practical sense as the corresponding objective being to move that value toward the theoretical minimum in a beneficial direction.

[0017] CONTEXT

[0018] Recall the observation that the performance of high-capacity HDDs does not scale proportionally with the increase in storage capacity. The high latency of large-capacity HDDs in clustered environments (such as data centers with multiple cluster nodes) is attributed to bottlenecks caused by slower access to the stored data. As HDD capacity continues to increase, the pressure to improve performance (e.g., IOPS) by reducing the latency of data operations on high-capacity HDDs has become increasingly significant. One possible approach to improving HDD performance is to implement a multi-actuator system, where multiple independently operating actuators are assembled onto a single shared pivot axis to independently and simultaneously read from and / or write to multiple recording disks in a disk stack.

[0019] Figure 2 This is a cross-sectional side view illustrating a dual-actuator shared-axis actuator system according to one embodiment. In general, the actuator system 200 includes a shaft 202 having a bore 203 at least partially passing through it. According to one embodiment, the shaft 202 is used as a pivot shaft, or part of an actuator pivot assembly or shared-axis assembly, for constituting multiple actuators in a multi-actuator shared-axis data storage device such as a hard disk drive (HDD). Thus, the actuator system 200 includes a shaft 202, a first or lower rotary actuator assembly 204 (e.g., a voice coil actuator), and includes a carriage 204a, such as... Figure 1 The carriage 134 is rotatably coupled to the shaft 202 at a first position, wherein the lower bearing assembly 206 is inserted therein, and the second upper rotary actuator assembly 205 (e.g., a voice coil actuator, and including the carriage 205a, such as...) Figure 1The carriage 134 is rotatably coupled around the shaft at a second position on shaft 202, with the upper bearing assembly 207 inserted therebetween. Alternatively, and according to one embodiment, the function of shaft 202 as a pivot shaft can be achieved using separate shafts (e.g., one shaft for each respective actuator assembly 204, 205) rather than a shared shaft assembly (such as shaft 202). This provides decoupling from the undesirable structural dynamics associated with the independent operation of multiple actuator assemblies (such as actuator assembly 204 and actuator assembly 205) mounted on a single shared shaft.

[0020] "Clamshell" dual spindle motor configuration

[0021] This article describes the use of hard disk drives (HDDs) (such as...) Figure 1 The so-called "clamshell" dual-spindle motor design method (similar to hard disk drives and other data storage devices). Figure 3 This is a side view showing a dual-spindle motor configuration for a hard disk drive according to one embodiment, and Figure 4 This illustrates an implementation scheme. Figure 3 A top view of the top and bottom portions of the dual-spindle motor configuration. The dual-spindle motor hard disk drive 300 (“HDD 300”) is configured as a so-called clamshell HDD 300 because it comprises two separate parts or components in which their open sides are joined together face-to-face, similar to a clamshell. However, here, the two parts do not necessarily hinge like a conventional clamshell. In some embodiments, the two parts may each be a motor base assembly, wherein the spindle motor is integrated within a base casting with supporting wiring and mechanical features such as through-holes and mounting / sealing structures. In some embodiments, the top and bottom portions may be identical or substantially identical, or have different configurations and / or constructions to accommodate various needs such as wiring routing, mechanical dynamics, sealing optimization, etc.

[0022] HDD 300 includes a first (e.g., top) portion 302, which includes a first spindle motor 304 and a plurality (i.e., multiple) of first disk media 306 rotatably mounted on the first spindle motor 304. The first portion 302 also includes a first housing 308 having an open side 308a and a closed side 308b. HDD 300 also similarly includes a second (e.g., bottom) portion 352, which includes a second spindle motor 354 and a plurality (i.e., multiple) of second disk media 356 rotatably mounted on the second spindle motor 354. The second portion 352 also includes a second housing 358 having an open side 358a and a closed side 358b. The first spindle motor 304 is mounted on or coupled to the first housing 308 of the first portion 302, and the second spindle motor 354 is mounted on or coupled to the opposite second housing 358 of the second portion 352. As shown in the figure, the first part 302 and the second part 352 are joined together such that the opening side 308a of the first housing 308 mates with the opening side 358a of the second housing 358, thereby forming a clamshell structure with a coaxial first spindle motor 304 and a second spindle motor 354. The first part 302 and the second part 352 can be joined together by fasteners or by welding, etc., and one or more seals 309, 359 (e.g., gasket seals) are provided between them. The clamshell structure of the HDD 300 allows for the use of a large number of existing manufacturing infrastructures, such as tools and processes, thus providing a feasible and practical dual spindle motor design.

[0023] According to an implementation plan and as follows Figure 3 As shown, the first spindle motor 304 and the second spindle motor 354 each have separate and independent but coaxial central shafts 305 and 355, respectively. However, a specific implementation with a shared central shaft shared by the first spindle motor 304 and the second spindle motor 354 is contemplated. Regardless of the presence of independent central shafts 305 and 355, each of the first spindle motor 304 and the second spindle motor 354 is configured to rotate the corresponding first disk medium 306 and second disk medium 356 independently of the other, some of which are described in more detail elsewhere herein. Furthermore, as... Figure 4 As shown, the first spindle motor 304 and the second spindle motor 354 are configured to rotate in opposite directions (clockwise and counterclockwise) relative to or from the opening sides 308a, 358a of the respective first housing 308 and second housing 358. Therefore, when the housings 308, 358 are joined together in a clamshell configuration, the first spindle motor 304 and the second spindle motor 354 are then configured to rotate in the same direction, i.e., in Figure 3 In the context of this, such as the top or first part 302, which is now inverted and whose opening side 308a is now facing downwards.

[0024] Part 352 further includes: a second plurality of head sliders, each of which houses a read / write transducer (not visible here; see, for example, the inclusion of...). Figure 1 The second portion 352 further includes: a first plurality of head sliders, each of which houses a read / write transducer (not visible here; see, for example, see the component...) Figure 1 The magnetic read / write head 110a has a slider 110b, which is configured to read from and write to a corresponding disk medium in the first disk medium 306; and a first actuator 310 configured to move the first plurality of head sliders to access portions of the first disk medium 306. Therefore, according to this embodiment, although each of the first portion 302 and the second portion 352 includes a corresponding disk spindle motor 304, 354 on a corresponding central axis 305, 355, and the corresponding first disk medium 306 and second disk medium 356 are clamped or otherwise coupled to that portion, the bottom of the HDD 300 or the second portion 352 accommodates and supports the actuators 310, 360 and the head sliders 110a / 110b operatively corresponding to both the first disk medium 306 and the second disk medium 356. According to one embodiment and as shown... Figure 3 As shown, the first actuator 310 and the second actuator 360 share a common central axis 362, while each is configured to operate independently of the others on the respective disk media 306, 356. However, specific implementations with separate or independent central axes for each respective actuator 310, 360 are contemplated.

[0025] Although the number of recording disks in disk media 306 and 356 (and the corresponding support heads / slider) is... Figure 3 While depicted as equal, in various embodiments, the number of disks in each respective stack of disk media 306, 356 may differ or be unequal. Furthermore, various supporting mechanical and electrical structures and arrangements (e.g., motor size) may be tailored to match the different numbers of media in the respective portions of the first portion 302 and the second portion 352.

[0026] According to one embodiment, the second portion 352 further includes: a printed circuit board assembly 364 (“PCBA 364”) including spindle motor drive (not visible here) electronics (for providing electrical signals to the first spindle motor 304 and the second spindle motor 354 to enable them to rotate and thus provide torque to the spindles, which is then transmitted to a respective first disk medium 306 and second disk medium 356 attached to each spindle; and a cable assembly 366 (such as a flexible cable assembly, or “FCA 366”) coupled to the spindle motor drive. Here, the second spindle motor 354 at the bottom or second portion 352 may be electrically coupled to the drive electronics as is typical and known in the art, while the FCA 366 is routed to and further electrically coupled to the first spindle motor 304 of the first portion 302 to the drive electronics. Therefore, before connecting the first part 302 to the second part 352, the FCA 366 needs to be electrically connected to the first spindle motor 304 of the first part 302 of the multiple spindle motors HDD 300.

[0027] Operational control of dual spindle motor hard disk drives

[0028] The processing, functions, procedures, actions, method steps, etc., described herein may include execution by executing one or more sequences of one or more instructions stored in one or more memory units, and produce such performance when such sequences are executed by one or more processors. The reference controller may be implemented in any form and / or combination of software, hardware, and firmware. Electronic controllers in this context typically include circuitry such as one or more processors for executing instructions, and may be implemented as system-on-a-chip (SoC) electronic circuitry, which, for non-limiting examples, may include memory, microcontrollers, digital signal processors (DSPs), application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), hard-wired logic, analog circuitry, and / or combinations thereof. Firmware that may be stored in the controller memory includes components for operation of the HDD 300 (…). Figure 3 Computer-executable instructions that are executed at the time of execution.

[0029] As described, one way to improve HDD performance is by implementing a multi-actuator system, in which multiple independently operating actuators independently and simultaneously read from and / or write to multiple recording disks in a disk stack. Dual-actuator or separate-actuator HDDs involve using dual VCMs (voice coil motors) to improve performance. Furthermore, for a "separate single-actuator" configuration, it is envisioned that only one actuator is actively used at a time. By adding a second motor within the drive and dividing the disks between the motors, finer control over the usage and power consumption of each disk stack becomes possible. That is, dual-spindle motor designs such as the dual-spindle motor HDD 300 (… Figure 3 The use of ) can address the increased power challenges caused by increased activity on the medium by improving performance through the use of discrete actuator designs.

[0030] In other words, since a portion of the drive is not used at any given time, power consumption is significantly reduced. Therefore, each set of spindle motors and actuators can be independently controlled to operate in low-power or idle mode or be completely shut down to save power. For example, the HDD 300 can be used to enable a portion of the drive to be set to a low-power idle mode by parking the actuators and turning off some electronics, while the remaining electronics remain on for any active workload. Thus, according to one embodiment, the electronic controller can be configured to control the first actuator 310 and the second actuator 360 (… Figures 3-4 One of the following and the corresponding first spindle motor 304 or second spindle motor 354 Figures 3-4The actuator can be set to a low-power (e.g., power required relative to full operation) idle mode, whereby the spindle motor rotates at a low speed, while the other of the first actuator 310 and the second actuator 360, as well as the corresponding first spindle motor 304 or second spindle motor 354, is set to an active (e.g., fully operational) mode. Similarly, and according to one embodiment, the electronic controller can be configured to set one of the first actuator 310 and the second actuator 360, as well as the corresponding first spindle motor 304 or second spindle motor 354, to a power-off mode, whereby the spindle motor is not powered at all to rotate (and the corresponding actuator can be parked and the corresponding electronics are de-energized), while the other of the first actuator 310 and the second actuator 360, as well as the corresponding first spindle motor 304 or second spindle motor 354, is set to an active (e.g., fully operational) mode. Furthermore, according to one embodiment, the electronic controller can be configured to set one of the first spindle motor 304 or the second spindle motor 354 to rotate at a first rotational speed (or RPM, revolutions per minute), while setting the other of the first spindle motor 304 and the second spindle motor 354 to rotate at a different second rotational speed. An exemplary application of such technology would be for monitoring products where most I / O (input-output) activity is sequential write operations, whereby these operations can typically be performed by one half of the HDD 300, while the other half of the HDD 300 can remain idle (e.g., rotating at a lower speed, or not rotating at all) to reduce power and temperature.

[0031] By utilizing the independent control of multiple or dual spindle motors, such as HDD 300, incoming data can be initially stored on one half of the drive, such as on a first disk medium 306 serviced by the first spindle motor 304. This allows the power to the second spindle motor 354 and the second actuator 360 to be reduced to lower idle power (e.g., head parking, reduced spindle revolutions per minute (RPM)) during a portion of the HDD 300's lifespan, resulting in reduced power and operating cycles while still maintaining full performance for newer and potentially more frequently accessed data. Then, once a sufficient amount of data has accumulated on the drive, data storage can begin on the other half of the drive, such as on a second disk medium 356 serviced by the second spindle motor 354. When the HDD 300 is used at lower capacities, the drive will be able to use significantly less power to accelerate rotation and operation, where power consumption increases as the capacity approaches, for example, the need to accelerate the rotation of the second spindle motor 354. Therefore, according to one embodiment, the accelerated rotation of each spindle motor 304, 354 can be based on the current usage capacity of the drive, thereby allowing the HDD 300 to be controlled to only accelerate the spindle motors of the disk media to which data is written or read. In other words, the HDD 300 is controlled to start accelerating the rotation of one of the first spindle motor 304 and the second spindle motor 354 at a first time, and to start accelerating the rotation of the other of the first spindle motor 304 and the second spindle motor 354 at a later time (possibly in the distant future). When both spindle motors 304, 354 are required, the HDD 300 can also interleave the accelerated rotation of the spindle motors 304, 354 to reduce the 12V (volt) acceleration peak, thereby allowing the HDD 300 to remain within specified power source limits.

[0032] Furthermore, according to one embodiment, a dual-disk spindle motor, such as HDD 300, can be used so that when specific data on the drives matures and requires less writing (e.g., older data), the data can be moved to the first disk medium 306 and the second disk medium 356. Figures 3-4 A specific portion of the disk media 306 and 356 is allocated, while the remaining portion is allocated to data accessed more frequently. In practice, it is conceivable that at some point in the lifespan of the HDD 300, it can be configured such that one of the first disk media 306 stack and the second disk media 356 stack is used for mature data, while the other is used for newer, more operationally active data. Therefore, the first spindle motor 304 or the second spindle motor 354 corresponding to the first disk media 306 or the second disk media 356 to which mature data is moved can be set to a first rotational speed, which is less than a second rotational speed simultaneously set to the other of the first spindle motor 304 and the second spindle motor 354.

[0033] Typically, power and temperature issues are mitigated by balancing power and performance using various algorithms. In the context of dual-motor HDDs such as the HDD 300, greater temperature control is also possible. For example, based on temperature values ​​or other SMART (Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology) properties, in response to the HDD 300 recognizing an increase in internal temperature reaching a predetermined threshold, the HDD 300 can selectively reduce the RPM of either the first spindle motor 304 or the second spindle motor 354. This response to temperature increases will thus enable non-slight temperature reductions, such as for motor base assemblies, for example, the first housing 308 or the second housing 358 (…). Figures 3-4 ).

[0034] Furthermore, in scenarios where a dual-spindle motor design, such as the HDD 300, is implemented by combining data storage devices constructed with both SMR (Shingled Magnetic Recording) and CMR (Conventional Magnetic Recording), the dual-spindle motor design further enables greater spindle motor control capabilities, which can be utilized to improve the power, performance, and reliability of such products, depending on customer needs. In this context, and according to one embodiment, the first actuator 310 and the corresponding read / write transducers 110a of the first plurality of head sliders 110b are configured to read from and write to the corresponding disk media in the first disk medium 306 using one of CMR and SMR technologies, while the second actuator 360 and the corresponding read / write transducers 110a of the second plurality of head sliders 110b are configured to read from and write to the corresponding disk media in the second disk medium 356 using the other of CMR and SMR technologies.

[0035] Therefore, for non-limiting examples, the aforementioned control functions can be used to generally address the following problems: (i) reducing power consumption when only half of the disks are needed for reading / writing; (ii) reducing power consumption when a known number of disks are used less frequently; (iii) reducing the large 12V acceleration peak caused by the drive capacity by increasing the number of disks on the drive; and (iv) allowing for greater temperature control.

[0036] Physical description of an exemplary operational context

[0037] The implementation scheme can be used in the context of digital data storage devices (DSDs) such as hard disk drives (HDDs). Therefore, according to one implementation scheme, Figure 1 A floor plan of a typical HDD 100 is shown to help illustrate how a typical HDD usually operates.

[0038] Figure 1 The functional arrangement of components of an HDD 100, including a slider 110b, is shown. The slider includes a magnetic read / write head 110a. The slider 110b and head 110a are collectively referred to as the head slider. The HDD 100 includes at least one head gimbal assembly (HGA) 110 with the head slider, a lead suspension 110c typically attached to the head slider via a bend, and a load beam 110d attached to the lead suspension 110c. The HDD 100 also includes at least one recording medium 120 rotatably mounted on a spindle 124 and a drive motor (not visible) attached to the spindle 124 for rotating the medium 120. The read / write head 110a (also referred to as a transducer) includes write elements and read elements for writing and reading information stored on the medium 120 of the HDD 100, respectively. The medium 120 or multiple disk media can be attached to the spindle 124 using a disk clip 128.

[0039] HDD 100 also includes an arm 132, a carriage 134, and a voice coil motor (VCM) attached to HGA 110. The VCM includes an armature 136 containing a voice coil 140 attached to the carriage 134 and a stator 144 containing a voice coil magnet (not visible). The armature 136 of the VCM is attached to the carriage 134 and configured to move the arm 132 and HGA 110 to access the media 120, both mounted together on a pivot shaft 148 with an inserted pivot bearing assembly 152. In the case of an HDD with multiple disks, the carriage 134 may be referred to as an "E-block" or comb because the carriage is arranged to carry a linked array of arms, thus giving it a comb-like appearance.

[0040] An assembly including a head universal joint assembly (e.g., HGA 110) with a bend to which the head slider is coupled, an actuator arm (e.g., arm 132) and / or load beam to which the bend is coupled, and an actuator (e.g., VCM) to which the actuator arm is coupled, can be collectively referred to as a head stack assembly (HSA). However, an HSA may include more or fewer components than those described above. For example, an HSA may refer to an assembly that also includes electrical interconnect components. Generally, an HSA is an assembly configured to move the head slider to access a portion of the medium 120 for read and write operations.

[0041] Further reference Figure 1Electrical signals, including write signals to and read signals from the read head 110a (e.g., current to the voice coil 140 of the VCM), are transmitted via a flexible cable assembly (FCA) 156 (or “flexible cable”, or “flexible printed circuit” (FPC)). The interconnect between the flexible cable 156 and the read head 110a may include an arm electronics (AE) module 160, which may have an onboard preamplifier for the read signal and other read and write channel electronics. The AE module 160 may be attached to a carriage 134, as shown. The flexible cable 156 may be coupled to an electrical connector block 164, which in some configurations provides electrical communication via an electrical feedthrough provided by the HDD housing 168. The HDD housing 168 (or “housing base”, “substrate”, or simply “base”) together with the HDD cover provides a semi-sealed (or hermetically sealed, in some configurations) protective enclosure for the information storage components of the HDD 100.

[0042] Other electronic components, including the disk controller and servo electronics including a digital signal processor (DSP), provide electrical signals to the drive motor, the voice coil 140 of the VCM, and the magnetic head 110a of the HGA 110. The electrical signals provided to the drive motor cause it to rotate, thereby providing torque to the spindle 124, which is then transmitted to the medium 120 attached to the spindle 124. The medium 120 thus rotates in direction 172. The rotating medium 120 forms an air cushion that acts as an air bearing on which the air bearing surface (ABS) of the slider 110b is mounted, allowing the slider 110b to fly above the surface of the medium 120 without contacting the thin magnetic recording layer on which information is recorded. Similarly, in HDDs utilizing gases lighter than air (such as helium used in a non-limiting example), the rotating medium 120 forms an air cushion that acts as a gas or fluid bearing on which the slider 110b is mounted.

[0043] The electrical signal supplied to the voice coil 140 of the VCM enables the head 110a of the HGA 110 to access the track 176 on which information is recorded. Therefore, the armature 136 of the VCM swings through an arc 180, allowing the head 110a of the HGA 110 to access the individual tracks on the medium 120. Information is stored in multiple radially nested tracks on the medium 120, which are arranged in sectors (such as sector 184) on the medium 120. Accordingly, each track is composed of multiple sectorized track portions (or “track sectors”) such as sectorized track portions 188. Each sectorized track portion 188 may include recorded information and a data header containing error correction code information and a servo burst signal pattern, such as the ABCD-servo burst signal pattern (which is information identifying track 176). When accessing track 176, the read element of the head 110a of the HGA 110 reads a servo burst signal pattern, which provides a positioning error signal (PES) to the servo electronics. This controls the electrical signal supplied to the voice coil 140 of the VCM, enabling the head 110a to follow track 176. Upon locating track 176 and identifying a specific sectored track portion 188, the head 110a either reads information from track 176 or writes information to track 176 according to instructions received by the disk controller from an external agent (e.g., the microprocessor of a computer system).

[0044] The electronic architecture of an HDD includes multiple electronic components for performing their respective HDD operating functions, such as a hard disk controller (“HDC”), an interface controller, an arm electronics module, a data channel, a motor driver, a servo processor, a buffer memory, etc. Two or more of these components may be combined on a single integrated circuit board called a “system-on-a-chip” (“SOC”). Several (if not all) of these electronic components are typically arranged on a printed circuit board that is attached to the bottom side of the HDD, such as to the HDD housing 168.

[0045] This article references hard drives, such as references Figure 1The HDD 100 shown and described may include an information storage device sometimes referred to as a “hybrid drive.” A hybrid drive generally refers to a storage device that combines the functionality of a conventional HDD (see, for example, HDD 100) with a solid-state storage device (SSD) that uses non-volatile memory (such as flash memory or other solid-state (e.g., integrated circuit) memory) that is electrically erasable and programmable. Because the operation, management, and control of different types of storage media typically differ, the solid-state portion of a hybrid drive may include its own corresponding controller functionality, which may be integrated with the HDD functionality into a single controller. Hybrid drives can be built and configured to operate and utilize the solid-state portion in a variety of ways, such as, as a non-limiting example, using the solid-state memory as cache memory for storing frequently accessed data, for storing I / O-intensive data, etc. Additionally, hybrid drives can be built and configured essentially as two storage devices, namely a conventional HDD and an SSD, within a single housing, with one or more interfaces for host connectivity.

[0046] Extensions and alternatives

[0047] In the foregoing description, embodiments of the invention have been described with reference to numerous specific details, which may vary depending on the specific implementation. Therefore, various modifications and changes can be made without departing from the broader spirit and scope of the embodiments. Accordingly, the invention, and the applicant's intended sole and exclusive indicator of the invention, is the set of claims in the specific form issued by this patent application, including any subsequent amendments. Any definitions of terms expressly set forth herein that are included in these claims shall determine the meaning of those terms as used in the claims. Thus, any limitations, elements, characteristics, features, advantages, or attributes not expressly cited in the claims shall not in any way limit the scope of these claims. Therefore, this specification and the accompanying drawings are to be considered illustrative rather than restrictive.

[0048] Furthermore, in this description, certain process steps may be shown in a specific order, and alphanumeric labels may be used to identify certain steps. Unless explicitly specified in the specification, the implementation is not necessarily limited to any particular order in which such steps are performed. Specifically, these labels are used only for the convenience of identifying the steps and are not intended to specify or require a particular order in which such steps are performed.

Claims

1. A hard disk drive (HDD), comprising: The top first part, the first part includes: First spindle motor, A plurality of first disk media, the plurality of first disk media being rotatably mounted on the first spindle motor, and A first housing having an open side and a closed side; and The second part at the bottom includes: Second spindle motor, A plurality of second disk media, the plurality of second disk media being rotatably mounted on the second spindle motor, A plurality of head sliders, each accommodating a read / write transducer, wherein the read / write transducer is configured to read from and write to a corresponding disk medium within the first disk medium. A first actuator, configured to move the first plurality of head sliders to access a portion of the first disk medium. A second plurality of read / write head sliders, each accommodating a read / write transducer configured to read from and write to a corresponding disk medium within the second disk medium. A second actuator, configured to move the second plurality of head sliders to access portions of the second disk medium, and A second housing having an open side and a closed side; The first part is connected to the second part such that the opening side of the first housing mates with the opening side of the second housing.

2. The HDD according to claim 1, wherein: The first spindle motor is configured to rotate the first disk medium independently of the second spindle motor rotating the second disk medium; and The first actuator is configured to move the first plurality of head sliders to access a portion of the first disk medium independently of the second actuator moving the second plurality of head sliders to access a portion of the second disk medium.

3. The HDD according to claim 1, wherein: The first spindle motor is configured to rotate relative to the opening side of the first housing in either a clockwise or counterclockwise direction; and The second spindle motor is configured to rotate relative to the opening side of the second housing in either the clockwise or counterclockwise direction.

4. The HDD of claim 1, wherein the second portion further comprises a shared axis, wherein both the first actuator and the second actuator are coupled to the shared axis.

5. The HDD of claim 1, wherein the second portion further comprises: A printed circuit board assembly (PCBA) including a spindle motor driver; and A cable assembly electrically connected to the spindle motor driver.

6. The HDD according to claim 5, wherein: The cable assembly is also electrically connected to the first spindle motor of the first part.

7. The HDD according to claim 1, wherein: The first spindle motor includes a first central shaft; and The second spindle motor includes a second central shaft that is separate from and coaxial with the first central shaft.

8. The HDD according to claim 7, wherein: The first actuator is configured to move the first plurality of head sliders to access a portion of the first disk medium independently of the second actuator moving the second plurality of head sliders to access a portion of the second disk medium; The first spindle motor is configured to rotate the first disk medium independently of the second spindle motor rotating the second disk medium; and The HDD also includes an electronic controller that implements one or more instruction sequences, which, when executed by one or more processors, cause the following operations to be performed: Set one of the first actuator and the second actuator, along with the corresponding first spindle motor or second spindle motor, to a low-power idle mode, while setting the other of the first actuator and the second actuator, along with the corresponding first spindle motor or second spindle motor, to an active mode.

9. The HDD according to claim 7, wherein: The first actuator is configured to move the first plurality of head sliders to access a portion of the first disk medium independently of the second actuator moving the second plurality of head sliders to access a portion of the second disk medium; The first spindle motor is configured to rotate the first disk medium independently of the second spindle motor rotating the second disk medium; and The HDD also includes an electronic controller that implements one or more instruction sequences, which, when executed by one or more processors, cause the following operations to be performed: Set one of the first actuator and the second actuator, along with the corresponding first spindle motor or second spindle motor, to a power-off mode, and simultaneously set the other of the first actuator and the second actuator, along with the corresponding first spindle motor or second spindle motor, to an active mode.

10. The HDD according to claim 7, wherein: The first actuator is configured to move the first plurality of head sliders to access a portion of the first disk medium independently of the second actuator moving the second plurality of head sliders to access a portion of the second disk medium; The first spindle motor is configured to rotate the first disk medium independently of the second spindle motor rotating the second disk medium; and The HDD also includes an electronic controller that implements one or more instruction sequences, which, when executed by one or more processors, cause the following operations to be performed: One of the first spindle motor and the second spindle motor is set to a first rotational speed, while the other of the first spindle motor and the second spindle motor is set to a second rotational speed that is different from the first rotational speed.

11. The HDD of claim 10, wherein the instructions, when executed by one or more processors, cause the following further operations to be performed: Moving mature data from one of the first disk media and the second disk media to the other of the first disk media and the second disk media; and The first spindle motor or the second spindle motor corresponding to the first disk medium or the second disk medium to which the mature data is moved is set to the first rotational speed, the first rotational speed being less than the second rotational speed at which the other of the first spindle motor and the second spindle motor is simultaneously set.

12. The HDD according to claim 7, wherein: The second part also includes a shared shaft to which both the first actuator and the second actuator are coupled; The first spindle motor is configured to rotate the second disk medium around the second central axis independently of the second spindle motor; and The first actuator is configured to move the first plurality of head sliders around the shared axis to access a portion of the first disk medium independently of the second actuator to move the second plurality of head sliders around the shared axis to access a portion of the second disk medium.

13. The HDD according to claim 1, further comprising: An electronic controller implements one or more instruction sequences, which, when executed by one or more processors, cause the following operations to be performed: In response to receiving a data command relating to both the first disk medium and the second disk medium, At the first moment, one of the first spindle motors and the second spindle motor begins to rotate, and The other of the first and second spindle motors begins to rotate at a second time after the first time.

14. The HDD according to claim 1, further comprising: An electronic controller implements one or more instruction sequences, which, when executed by one or more processors, cause the following operations to be performed: In response to identifying an internal temperature that has reached a threshold, the rotational speed of one of the first spindle motors and the second spindle motor is reduced.

15. The HDD according to claim 1, wherein: The first actuator and each read / write transducer of the first plurality of magnetic head sliders are configured to read from and write to the corresponding disk medium in the first disk medium using one of conventional magnetic recording (CMR) and shingled magnetic recording (SMR) technologies. and The second actuator and each read / write transducer of the second plurality of head sliders are configured to read from and write to the corresponding disk medium in the second disk medium using the other of the CMR technology and the SMR technology.

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