Method and apparatus for encoding and mapping magnetic disk sector addresses

Addresses corresponding to magnetic disk sectors are encoded using an error correction code (ECC), such that addresses which are in a neighborhood, that is, addresses which are mathematically or numerically close, are mapped to addresses which differ in at least D-1 bits where the ECC is a distance D code. An original n-bit sector address is separated into two segments. One segment is a "k"-bit neighborhood address segment containing the k lower order address bits identifying the location of the selected sector within a neighborhood. The second segment is an "n-k" bit higher order address segment identifying the neighborhood containing the selected sector. The k-bit neighborhood address segment is then encoded with an (n,k) distance D linear code to form an n-bit preliminary code word containing n-k redundancy (ECC) bits appended, as the most significant bits, to the k neighborhood address bits. The (n-k)-bit higher order address segment is encoded by representing the segment in Gray code. The (n-k)-bit Gray coded segment is added modulo 2 to the n-k redundancy (ECC) bits of the preliminary code word. The resulting n-bit address code word is recorded on the disk as the sector address. When a particular sector is to be accessed, the address is first encoded in the manner set forth above, and the read/write head is moved to the logical neighborhood containing the sector. The encoded address is then compared to the addresses written in the various sectors in the neighborhood. When a match within (D-2)/2 bits is found, the sector is identified as the correct sector.