5047 results about "Hard disc drive" patented technology

A method is presented for determining optimal or preferred configuration settings for wireless or wired network equipment in order to obtain a desirable level of network performance. A site-specific network model is used with adaptive processing to perform efficient design and on-going management of network performance. The invention iteratively determines overall network performance and cost, and further iterates equipment settings, locations and orientations. Real time control is between a site-specific Computer Aided Design (CAD) software application and the physical components of the network allows the invention to display, store, and iteratively adapt any network to constantly varying traffic and interference conditions. Alarms provide rapid adaptation of network parameters, and alerts and preprogrammed network shutdown actions may be taken autonomously. A wireless post-it note device and network allows massive data such as book contents or hard drive memory to be accessed within a room by a wide bandwidth reader device, and this can further be interconnected to the internet or Ethernet backbone in order to provide worldwide access and remote retrieval to wireless post-it devices.

A method is presented for determining optimal or preferred configuration settings for wireless or wired network equipment in order to obtain a desirable level of network performance. A site-specific network model is used with adaptive processing to perform efficient design and on-going management of network performance. The invention iteratively determines overall network performance and cost, and further iterates equipment settings, locations and orientations. Real time control is between a site-specific Computer Aided Design (CAD) software application and the physical components of the network allows the invention to display, store, and iteratively adapt any network to constantly varying traffic and interference conditions. Alarms provide rapid adaptation of network parameters, and alerts and preprogrammed network shutdown actions may be taken autonomously. A wireless post-it note device and network allows massive data such as book contents or hard drive memory to be accessed within a room by a wide bandwidth reader device, and this can further be interconnected to the internet or Ethernet backbone in order to provide worldwide access and remote retrieval to wireless post-it devices.

Provided is a system for identifying vehicles of traffic violators, the system having elements that include: a video camera for providing, in real-time, a video signal that represents plural sequential video image frames (either perceptually continuous video, such as 30 frames per second, or non-perceptually continuous video, such as 1-2 fps); a traffic violation detector (e.g., a radar gun, an in-ground loop, a pair of self-powered wireless transponders or transmitters, a camera-based speed detection system, or any other speed sensor) that provides a trigger signal (e.g., based on vehicle speed and detection of the state of a traffic signal); a video recorder that receives the video signal provided by the camera and records the video signal in a buffer until receipt of a trigger signal, at which point at least a portion of the video signal stored in the buffer is preserved for recording and direct real-time storage of the video signal to a hard drive, or other high-capacity storage medium, commences. As a result, the video signal is preserved during a pre-programmable sliding (or rolling) time interval prior to provision of the trigger signal.

Methods and apparatus of the present invention include multiple flash storage devices that are configured to form a single storage device that is flexible and scalable. Reliability and performance are improved while keeping the power consumption benefits compared to conventional hard disk drives.

A computer apparatus such as a mouse, keyboard, or PC headset with additional devices disposed within the apparatus enclosure, which can enhance the functionality of such computer apparatus. In the preferred embodiment, the additional devices are disposed within or along the length of a mouse apparatus. The additional devices typically function independently of the mouse apparatus. However, the additional components may share one or more wired or wireless paths to a host PC and to other devices, or to a network. The additional devices either integrated within the mouse enclosure or removable from the mouse enclosure, include a wireless adapter (Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, 3G, GSM, etc. . . . ), RAM, ROM, a mini hard drive, a GPS receiver module, a flash memory, flash memory drive reader, a USB Hub, a Trackpoint™ device, a keyboard or keypad, a fingerprint reader, or a SIM card reader. Also disclosed, are software controls for mapping the mouse velocity to a cursor velocity and for controlling the function and settings of the Trackpoint device. Further disclosed is a method for assigning the mouse's data output to a variety of devices connected to a wired or wireless network.

A set-top media system is disclosed which can be combined with an open architecture personal computer (PC) to provide a feature-rich secure integrated media center while meeting security rules of most major conditional access and content protection industry rules such as Cable Labs DFAST and PHILA agreements; and DTLA agreements for 5C-DTCP for IEEE1394, USB, and IP. The set-top media center and PC share common resources such as high definition display, remote control, hard disk drive, and other external unsecure storage devices. All media content is available seamlessly using a PC user interface, including controlled-content media such as high definition TV, within a PC desktop window. All controlled-content media is manipulated and managed within the set-top media system in a seamless manner. A novel mechanism is disclosed to allow controlled-content media to be stored on unsecure devices in encrypted form while overcoming the disk cloning attack problem for move operations.

Data access time in content delivery networks is improved by storing files in cache servers as file bundles. A cache server determines that multiple files are requested by the same client based on information available in the request including the IP address of the client, a URL of a webpage referring to the file, and/or a cookie stored at a client. The cache server stores multiple files requested by the same client on the hard drive as a file bundle with meta data associating the files with one another, such that they can be accessed together. A future request from the client for a file in a file bundle results in multiple files from the file bundle being loaded in the memory. If the client requests another file from the file bundle, the file is accessed directly from the memory instead of the hard drive, resulting in improved performance.

In a method for protecting data of a computer system having a hard drive with an operating system stored on a first partition thereof, the operating system is copied from the first partition of the hard drive to a second partition of the hard drive and selected data is copied from the hard drive to a backup location. Thereafter, if a crash that prevents the computer system from booting from the operating system stored on the first partition of the hard drive occurs, then the computer system is booted from the copy of the operating system stored on the second partition of the hard drive. Next, if the selected data needs to be restored back to the hard drive, then the backup location to which the selected data was copied is accessed and the selected data is restored back to the hard drive. In one embodiment, the backup location is a storage resource connected to the Internet.

A method and system for providing a disk drive is described. The disk drive includes media such as one or more disks, a slider, and a head residing on the slider. The head has an air-bearing surface (ABS), a portion of which contacts the media during touchdown. The head further includes a plurality of touchdown sensors. A first touchdown sensor is proximate to the ABS, while a second touchdown sensor is distal from the ABS. The touchdown sensors are capable of detecting a temperature change of 0.1 degree Celsius or, in some embodiments, smaller.

In the event of a virally infected MBR on a hard disk drive that might prevent booting, a service MBR in a hidden protected area (HPA) can be used to boot a service O.S., and then the service MBR can be replaced with a previously backed-up MBR, also in the HPA, to mount any missing partitions.

A method and system for providing a disk drive is described. The disk drive includes media such as one or more disks, a slider and a head residing on the slider. The head has an air-bearing surface (ABS) and includes a touchdown sensor proximate to the ABS. The touchdown sensor is capable of detecting a temperature change of 0.1 degree Celsius or, in some embodiments, smaller. The disk drive also includes touchdown sensor control circuitry coupled with the touchdown sensor. The touchdown sensor control circuitry drives a current through the touchdown sensor and converts a signal from the touchdown sensor into an indication of whether touchdown has occurred.

The underlying invention generally relates to the field of mobile computing, wireless communication, and interactive multimedia applications in mobile communication networks with high-speed access. Particularly, it refers to a customized multimedia information channel system presenting advertisement information (124a) and, if desired, other multimedia streams on a mobile communication and computing device (100) equipped with a Liquid Crystal Display (102) designed to meet modern business-to-business (B2B) requirements. In this connection, interactive operation is guaranteed by a digital wireless data and control link (108) between said mobile computing device (100) and a product (122) to be advertised. In contrast to conventional solutions, said mobile computing device (100) comprises a User Control Board (101) with an Application Programming Interface (105c) providing an intercommunication between a software routine (105b), said User Control Board (101), the display (102) of said device (100), and an additional hard-disk drive (111) for storing content data (124a) to be rendered on the display (102) of said device (100). Thereby, said User Control Board (101) is capable of communicating with a specific file server (118) over a bi-directional air interface (108) and a Wireless Local Area Network (120) by transmitting user requests (123) and receiving content information (124a), receiving control information (124b) from a remote control device (116), and transmitting status information (124c) to the remote control device (116). Furthermore, said device (100) is capable of receiving identification information (126) about the product (122) from a tag device (114) attached to said product (122).

Methods and apparatuses for optimizing the performance of a storage system comprise a FLASH storage system, a hard drive storage system, and a storage controller. The storage controller is adapted to receive READ and WRITE requests from an external host, and is coupled to the FLASH storage system and the hard drive storage system. The storage controller receives a WRITE request from an external host containing data and an address, forwards the received WRITE request to the FLASH storage system and associates the address provided in the WRITE request with a selected alternative address, and provides an alternative WRITE request, including the selected alternative address and the data received in the WRITE request, to the hard drive storage system, wherein the alternative address is selected to promote sequential WRITE operations within the hard drive storage system.

An inline processing system for patterning magnetic recording layers on hard discs for use in a hard disc drive. Discs are processed on both sides simultaneously in a vertical orientation, in round plate-like holders called MDCs. A plurality (as many as 10) discs are held in a dial carrier of the MDC, and transferred from one process station to another. The dial carrier of the MDC may be rotated and/or angled at up to 70° from normal in each process station, so that one or a plurality of process sources may treat the discs simultaneously. This configuration provides time savings and a reduction in the number and size of process sources needed. A mask enhancement process for patterning of magnetic media, and a filling and planarizing process used therewith, are also disclosed.

An existing video game system is modified to include additional communication and storage capability via a modem and hard disk drive. In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, the primary system security features are incorporated into a video game system expansion device having a hard disk drive. The security system does not rely on the relatively insecure video game system. The present exemplary embodiment focuses security control in a disk drive/mass media controlling engine which is physically disposed within the expansion device housing as close as possible to the hard disk drive and the downloaded video games and other data it is designed to protect. Security features are incorporated into, for example, a disk drive controlling processing engine to provide security features which extend far beyond simplistic password systems which have heretofore been utilized in conjunction with disk drive controllers. In accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the disk controller also incorporates an encrypting engine which encrypts in accordance with a highly secure encrypting algorithm. A further level of security is provided in the illustrative embodiments by partitioning the hard drive into various partitions whose security/accessibility is tightly controlled. Each application program, e.g., a video game, has a predetermined number of private partitions, including a read only encrypted partition.

A method and apparatus to improve the read/write performance of a hard drive is presented. The hard drive includes solid state, non-volatile (NV) memory as a read/write cache. Data specified by the operating system is stored in the NV memory. The operating system provides a list of data to be put in NV memory. The data includes data to be pinned in NV memory and data that is dynamic. Pinned data persists in NV memory until the operating system commands it to be flushed. Dynamic data can be flushed by the hard drive controller. Data sent by an application for storage is temporary stored in NV memory in data blocks until the operating system commits it to the disk.

Methods and systems for updating a virtual machine image. The virtual machine image may be stored as a collection of one or more virtual hard disk files. The virtual machine image is rendered to file-system data. Rendering the virtual machine image to file-system data may comprise mounting the virtual machine image's virtual hard disk drives. An analysis engine is invoked to scan the exposed file-system data to determine the update status of software constructs of the virtual machine image and data indicative of the scanning may be stored. The virtual machine image may be updated while inactive or may be deployed and activated in a protected environment for updating.

A digital video recorder (DVR) is disclosed comprising a unique ID, a hard disk drive (HDD) for storing a plurality of encrypted video programs and an encrypted file system, the encrypted file system comprising a plurality of encrypted file system entries for decrypting the plurality of video programs. The DVR further comprises host circuitry for interfacing with the HDD, the host circuitry comprising a cryptography facility for encrypting plaintext file system entries into the encrypted file system entries stored on the HDD, and for decrypting the encrypted file system entries read from the HDD into plaintext file system entries. The cryptography facility comprises a pseudo-random sequence generator, responsive to the unique ID, for generating a pseudo-random sequence. The cryptography facility further comprises an encoder for combining the pseudo-random sequence with the plaintext file system entries to generate the encrypted file system entries stored on the HDD, and a decoder for combining the pseudo-random sequence with the encrypted file system entries read from the HDD to generate the plaintext file system entries.

Solid State Drives (SSD) can yield very high performance if it is designed properly. A SSD typically includes both a front end that interfaces with the host and a back end that interfaces with the flash media. Typically SSDs include flash media that is designed with a high degree of parallelism that can support a very high bandwidth on input/output (I/O). A SSD front end designed according to a traditional hard disk drive (HDD) model will not be able to take advantage of the high performance offered by the typical flash media. Embodiments of the invention provide improved management of multiple I/O threads that take advantage of the high performing and concurrent nature of the back end media, so the resulting storage system can achieve a very high performance.

A digital recording device that is optimized for field use in motor vehicles, and methods for capturing, storing, and retaining digital information recorded by such digital recording device, are disclosed. The digital recording device comprises a non-removable hard disk drive for data storage, eliminating the need to use removable media cartridges, and a small control panel, and is packaged in a ruggedized, compact form factor.

A graphical user interface for accessing, managing, organizing and using local and online content from a personal computer. The graphical user interface is divided into several modules, displayed on the display screen of the computer. Some of these modules are categories, which contain links to content online and on the hard drive of the computer. The user can customize these categories and the links within them to suit his or her personal needs, interests, and tastes. One of the modules within the GUI are media players. The user can select content by dragging and dropping a link from the desktop, another application, or a category within the GUI onto the media player. Applications required to access content referred to by links within the categories of the graphical user interface are launched at the time that the GUI is launched. The GUI also contains a search tool for searching content stored on the hard drive of the computer as well as accessing online search engines. The GUI is framed by a skin, which is user-customizable. User changes and behavioral logic are tracked and stored in the form of a user profile. The user profile is used to created tailored communications from selected business partners to the user via the GUI.

A secure hard drive comprises a storage medium that stores encrypted digital content and corresponding encrypted content keys. A public key decryption module receives one of the encrypted content keys from the storage medium and decrypts the encrypted content key using a private key to generate a content key. A block decryption module receives the encrypted digital content corresponding to the one of the encrypted content keys from the storage medium and the content key from the public key decryption module and decrypts the encrypted content using the content key. The storage medium is a magnetic storage medium. The public key decryption module and the block decryption module are implemented by a system on chip (SOC). A content player receives the decrypted digital content from the block decryption module and generates at least one of an analog output signal and a digital output signal.

An audio/video (A/V) system for storing A/V programs includes an interface configured to receive a transport stream structured in packets and representing a plurality of A/V programs. Each A/V program is represented by a plurality of packets and is identified by program identification data in each packet. A storage management system is connected to receive the transport stream from the interface and to detect the program identification data of each received packet. A buffer is coupled to the storage management system and has a plurality of separate buffer portions. Each buffer portion is in communication with the storage management system to receive data of packets having program identification data related to a single A/V program and to store the data of the packets separate from data of packets having program identification data related to different A/V programs. A storage medium is coupled to the storage management system and has a plurality of separate storage files for the A/V programs. Each storage file receives data of the packets having program identification data related to a single A/V program and transferred from one of the separate buffer portions of the buffer.