Method and apparatus for improving inter-block gap length tolerance and locate accuracy for write appends

摘要

A method and apparatus for accurately locating targeted append points in a tape drive. The effects of interlayer slip (ILS) are eliminated and smaller IBGs are possible thus providing increased data capacity for a given tape cartridge. A coarse tachometer count is used in combination with the read dataflow to accurately locate the proper append point even with a small IBG size. The appended data are assured to be written using the proper tape velocity which virtually eliminates improper write appends and read temporary errors previously caused by ILS effects. The solution also guarantees that customer data previously written to the tape are not accidentally overwritten.