DISK DRIVE WITH CONTROL OF READ AND WRITE GATE SIGNALS FOR READ AND WRITE OPERATION

A disk drive to be used with the perpendicular magnetic recording method comprises a read/write gate generator that is adapted to regulate the timing of outputting a write gate signal and that of outputting a read gate signal. The generator regulates the output timings on the basis of the gap between the read head and the write head of the magnetic head unit of the disk drive and the data format on the disk. The generator has a DSP generator for generating a data sector pulse and delay circuits for regulating respectively the timing of the read gate signal and that of the write gate signal according to the data sector pulse.