JP2000057038A - Recording device and method, reproducing device and method and recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To easily deal with the data which are written in a parallel storage system by storing the information showing a range that includes the head through the end of a logical file. SOLUTION: A file management information storage part 2 stores the file management information to manage the data recorded on a recording medium 1 in every file. The following facts can be recognized by the stored file management, information. That is, three logical files which are specified by the names files F[0] to F[2] are recorded on the medium 1, the sizes of files F[0] to F[2] are equivalent to 12, 23 and 13 sectors (pages) respectively and then the head blocks of files F[0] to F[2] recorded on the medium 1 are equal to the blocks CB[1:0], CB[1:1] and CB[0:3] corresponding to the entries of a block management information storage part 3 whose physical addresses are expressed in T[1:0], T[1:1] and T[0:3] respectively.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a recording apparatus, a recording method, a reproducing apparatus, a reproducing method, and a recording medium, and more particularly, to a recording apparatus, a recording method, and a reproducing apparatus capable of handling data flexibly. And a reproducing method, and a recording medium.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The applicant of the present invention has disclosed, for example,
No. 1371, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Hei 6-215010, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Hei 6-301601, etc., describe a portable user terminal incorporating a recording medium such as a semiconductor memory.
A system that transfers data from an information providing apparatus that provides data (especially digital data) such as video, audio, characters, and computer programs to provide various services has been previously proposed.

[0003] According to such a system, the user:
For example, by carrying a user terminal, going to a place where an information providing apparatus is set, receiving audio data or the like from the information providing apparatus, recording the data on a recording medium, and playing back the music on the user terminal, You can listen to. That is, in this case, the user can receive the music without purchasing a CD (Compact Disc) or a magnetic tape on which the audio data is recorded. By receiving the audio data of a song, it becomes possible to listen to the new song.

[0004]

Since the above-mentioned user terminal is required to be portable, it is necessary to retain data without using a backup medium such as a battery as a recording medium used for the user terminal. Preferably, a non-volatile memory such as a flash memory is used.

However, the flash memory requires a relatively long program time to actually write the input data to the flash memory, compared to the data input time required to input the data to be written into the flash memory. If the amount of data to be written is larger than the amount that can be input to the flash memory at one time, after the data has been input to the flash memory and before the next data is input,
A waiting time corresponding to the program time occurs. The occurrence of the above-mentioned waiting time for writing data requires a lot of time to provide data to one user. On the other hand, since an information providing apparatus is used by many users, it takes a lot of time to provide data to one user, which causes other users to wait. Then, the number of users who receive the service is reduced.

Therefore, the applicant of the present application has proposed a recording method (hereinafter, referred to as a “memory”) for shortening the time required for writing data by using a plurality of chips in a flash memory and writing data to the plurality of chips in parallel. Where appropriate, referred to as a parallel recording method).

In the parallel recording method, for example, data is input to one chip of a plurality of flash memories, and when the input is completed, the next data is input to another chip.
When the input is completed, the next data is further input to another chip, that is, while the input data is being written in one chip, the next data is input to another chip. In this way, the next data can be input without waiting for the programming time of one chip, and as a result, the time required for writing data can be shortened. Can be.

In the flash memory, data is read and written in units called pages.
A unit called a block that collects several pages,
Data is erased.

Therefore, in the parallel recording method, data is managed in block units for efficient data writing and erasing. For this reason, it was difficult to handle data in page units, which are smaller units than blocks. That is, specifically, for example, it is difficult to edit audio data or perform random access in page units.

The present invention has been made in view of such a situation, and enables flexible handling of data written by a parallel recording method.

[0011]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a recording apparatus which is file management information for managing a logical file in association with a physical file recorded on a recording medium. File management information storage means for storing information including range information representing the range from to the end in page units, which are units smaller than blocks.

[0012] A recording method according to a twenty-fifth aspect is file management information for managing a logical file in association with a physical file recorded on a recording medium, wherein a range from the beginning to the end of the logical file is defined. And a file management information storing step of storing information including range information expressed in page units, which are smaller units than blocks.

[0013] The playback apparatus according to claim 46 is file management information for managing a logical file in association with a physical file recorded on a recording medium, and includes a range from the beginning to the end of the logical file. A reading unit for reading data of a physical file corresponding to a logical file based on information including range information expressed in page units, which are smaller units than blocks.

[0014] A reproducing method according to claim 64 is file management information for managing a logical file in association with a physical file recorded on a recording medium, wherein a range from the beginning to the end of the logical file is defined. A reading step of reading data of a physical file corresponding to a logical file based on information including range information expressed in a page unit which is a smaller unit than a block.

A recording medium according to claim 79 is file management information for managing a logical file, which is a logical file, in association with a physical file, and includes a range from the beginning to the end of the logical file. , Data is managed on the basis of information including range information expressed in page units, which are units smaller than blocks.

In the recording apparatus according to the first aspect, the file management information storage means manages a logical file, which is a logical file, in association with a physical file recorded on a recording medium. In this case, a file including range information that represents the range from the beginning to the end of the logical file in page units, which are units smaller than blocks, is stored.

[0017] In the recording method according to claim 25,
File management information for managing a logical file, which is a logical file, in association with a physical file recorded on a recording medium. The range from the beginning to the end of the logical file is a unit smaller than a block. The information including range information expressed in page units is stored.

[0018] In the reproducing apparatus according to claim 46,
File management information for managing the logical file in association with the physical file recorded on the recording medium, wherein the read unit manages the logical file in a range from the beginning to the end of the logical file in units of pages smaller than blocks. The data of the physical file corresponding to the logical file is read out based on the information including the range information represented by.

[0019] In the reproducing method according to claim 64,
File management information for managing a logical file in association with a physical file recorded on a recording medium,
The data of the physical file corresponding to the logical file is read based on the range from the beginning to the end of the logical file, which includes range information that is expressed in page units, which are units smaller than blocks.

[0020] In the recording medium according to claim 79,
Based on file management information for managing a logical file in association with a physical file and including range information representing a range from the beginning to the end of the logical file in page units, which are units smaller than blocks. , Data is managed.

[0021]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be described below, but before that, the correspondence between each means of the invention described in the claims and the following embodiments will be clarified. For this reason, the features of the present invention are described as follows by adding the corresponding embodiment (however, an example) in parentheses after each means.

That is, the recording apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention is a recording apparatus that manages a recording area of a recording medium in a predetermined block unit and records data in parallel. Configuration means for configuring one or more parallel blocks composed of one or more blocks for writing a certain physical file in parallel to one or more blocks of a recording medium (for example, a recording medium control shown in FIG. 8) Part 42, etc.)
A writing unit (for example, a recording medium control unit 42 shown in FIG. 8) for writing data of a physical file in parallel with blocks constituting a parallel block, and a physical file recorded on a recording medium. A block management information storage unit (for example, the block management information storage unit 3 shown in FIG. 8) for storing block management information for managing in block units, and a logical file as a logical file are recorded on a recording medium. File management information for managing the file in association with the physical file, including the range information representing the range from the beginning to the end of the logical file in page units, which are units smaller than blocks. And a storage unit (for example, the file management information storage unit 2 shown in FIG. 8).

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a recording device which is operated when inputting a predetermined command (for example, the operation unit 11 shown in FIG. 8), and performs file management in response to the predetermined command. A change unit (for example, the recording medium control unit 42 shown in FIG. 8) for changing the information or the block management information is further provided.

According to the recording apparatus of the present invention, data of a physical file corresponding to another logical file is recorded in a block to be erased which is a block in which data of a physical file corresponding to a logical file to be erased is recorded. Determination means (for example, processing step S86 of the program shown in FIG. 20) for determining whether or not
When the data of the physical file corresponding to another logical file is not recorded in the block to be erased, the change unit changes all the file management information including the file identification information of the logical file to be erased to invalid. At the same time, the block management information for managing the block to be erased is changed to information indicating that the block to be erased has become a free area.

According to a seventeenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a recording device that supplies a physical file supplied from an external device to a writing device (for example, a transfer control unit 41 shown in FIG. 8).
Is further provided.

According to a twenty-second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a recording apparatus for reading data of a physical file corresponding to a logical file based on the file management information and the block management information (for example, a recording medium control unit shown in FIG. 8). Is further provided.

A reproducing apparatus according to claim 46, wherein a recording area is managed in a predetermined block unit, and data is reproduced from a recording medium in which data is recorded in parallel. A parallel file obtained by configuring one or more parallel blocks composed of one or more blocks for writing a physical file, which is a dynamic file, to one or more blocks of a recording medium in parallel. When reading data of a physical file corresponding to a logical file, which is a logical file, from a recording medium on which data of a physical file is written in parallel with respect to a block to be Block management information for managing files in block units, and logical files for physical files recorded on a recording medium. Physical file corresponding to the logical file based on file management information for managing the logical file based on the file management information including the range information representing the range from the beginning to the end of the logical file in page units, which are units smaller than blocks. (For example, the recording medium control unit 42 shown in FIG. 8).

The playback device according to the fifty-first aspect is provided with operating means (for example, FIG. 8) operated when a predetermined command is input.
And the like, and a change unit (for example, the recording medium control unit 42 shown in FIG. 8) for changing file management information or block management information in response to a predetermined command. And

The reproducing apparatus according to claim 59 further comprises an output unit (for example, a reproduction control unit 43 shown in FIG. 8) for outputting the data of the physical file read by the reading unit to the outside. I do.

Of course, this description does not mean that each means is limited to those described above.

Next, a parallel recording method to which the present invention is applied will be described. For the parallel recording method,
For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-200 filed by the applicant of the present application
The details are disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No. 181 and Japanese Patent Application No. 9-109784. Also, Japanese Patent Application Nos. 9-109784 and 9-10978.
In No. 4, writing is performed in units called pages,
Although the present invention is directed to a recording medium in which erasing is performed in units larger than a page, which is called a block, the scope of the present invention is not limited to such a recording medium.

FIG. 1 shows an example of the configuration of a recording medium on which data is written by the parallel recording method.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the recording medium 1
It is composed of one recording medium piece 1A to 1D. Note that each of the recording medium pieces 1A to 1D is basically
For example, it corresponds to one chip of the memory, but it is also possible to divide the recording area of one recording medium into four recording areas and correspond to each of the four recording areas.

The recording medium piece 1A is composed of, for example, 16 pages with 512 bytes as one page. Further, in the present embodiment, one block is composed of four pages. Therefore, the recording medium piece 1A is composed of four blocks (= 16/4). Other recording medium piece 1B
1D have the same configuration as the recording medium piece 1A.

Here, in the present embodiment, the physical address of the recording medium 1 is represented as follows.

That is, here, the physical address is represented using three units of a chip number c (Chip), a block number b (Block), and a page number p (Page). Chip number c
Is for specifying the recording medium pieces 1A to 1D,
The recording medium pieces 1A to 1D are C [0] to C
It is represented by [3].

The block number b corresponds to the recording medium pieces 1A to 1A.
D to identify the block in each,
For example, the first to fourth blocks from the bottom in each of the recording medium pieces 1A to 1D are represented by B [0] to B [3], respectively. The lowermost block of the recording medium piece 1A is represented as CB [0: 0] using the chip number c and the block number b. Also, a recording medium piece 1A
Is represented by CB [0: 1], the third block from the bottom is represented by CB [0: 2], and the top block is represented by CB [0: 3]. It is represented by Similarly, the first to fourth blocks from the bottom of the recording medium piece 1B are represented by CB [1: 0] to CB [1: 3], respectively, and the first to fourth blocks from the bottom of the recording medium piece 1C are , CB [2: 0] to CB [2: 3], and the first to fourth blocks from the bottom of the recording medium piece 1D are respectively represented by CB [3: 0] to CB [3: 3]. Is done.

The page number p is used to specify a page in each block. The first to fourth pages from the bottom of each block are represented by P [0] to P [3], respectively. The bottom page of the bottom block of the recording medium piece 1A is represented as CBP [0: 0: 0] using the chip number c, the block number b, and the page number p. The second page from the bottom of the lowermost block of the recording medium piece 1A is represented by CBP [0: 0: 1], and the third page from the bottom is CBP [0: 0:
2], and the top page is CBP [0:
0: 3]. Pages of other blocks of the recording medium 1A, and pages of blocks of the other recording media 1B to 1D are similarly represented.

Therefore, for example, if the recording medium pieces 1A to 1D are respectively referred to as first to fourth chips, the p-th page from the bottom in the b-th block from the bottom of the c-th chip is , CBP [c-1: b-
1: p-1].

Here, one page has 512 bytes, but this is equivalent to the FAT (File Allocation
ble) In order to easily cope with a file system or the like, the capacity is set to 512 bytes which is the capacity of one sector (however, the capacity of one page is not limited to this).

In FIG. 1, FS [f: s] described on the pages of the recording medium pieces 1A to 1D corresponds to the recording medium 1
Represents the data of a physical file, which is a physical file, recorded in the file No., f represents a file number specifying a physical file, and s represents a sector number specifying a sector. Therefore, in FIG. 1, for example, the uppermost page (physical address CBP [0:
3: 3]) has a file number of 2
And the data FS [2: 1] specified by the sector number 12
2] is recorded. Also, for example, the recording medium piece 1D
Page (physical address CBP [3: 0: 0])
The data FS [0: 2] specified by the file number 0 and the sector number 2 is recorded in the page represented by.

In FIG. 1, hatched portions (blocks) represent portions where data cannot be written at that time (including the case where data writing is prohibited). That is, for example, a hatched portion is a block that has been damaged from the beginning of manufacturing or due to excessive rewriting (hereinafter, referred to as an invalid block as appropriate), or a block that has been secured as a so-called system area or spare area (hereinafter, referred to as a block). (Referred to as a system block as appropriate).

The data recorded on the recording medium 1 shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 2, it is managed in file units and block units.

That is, FIG. 2 shows a file management information storage unit 2 for storing file management information for managing data recorded on the recording medium 1 in file units,
2 shows a configuration example of a block management information storage unit 3 that stores block management information for managing in block units.

In FIG. 2, the file management information storage unit 2
Has entries corresponding to eight physical addresses M [0] to M [7]. Basically, one entry can store file management information relating to a logical file, which is one logical file. Therefore, in the embodiment of FIG. The file management information for one logical file can be stored (recorded) (however, the file management information storage unit 2 can store the file management information for a number of files other than eight). It is also possible to configure as follows.

Here, the file management information includes file identification information (for example, a file name) for specifying (identifying) a logical file, the file size of the logical file, and the block management information in the block management information storage unit 3. It consists of a pointer to the stored entry (start entry). In the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, the file name is F [n] (n is, for example, a file number corresponding to a logical file), and the file size is the number of sectors (in this embodiment, the number of pages). equal)
The pointer to the entry is represented by the physical address T [c: b] of the block management information storage unit 3 using the chip number c and the block number b.

Here, in the file management information, the pointer to the entry points to the entry of the block management information for managing the block in which the head of the physical file corresponding to the logical file is recorded.
Hereinafter, it is referred to as a start entry as appropriate.

According to the file management information stored in the file management information storage unit 2 in FIG. 2, the following can be recognized.

That is, first, three logical files specified by the file names F [0] to F [2] are recorded on the recording medium 1, and their logical order is
[1], F [2], and F [0]. Second, the sizes of the logical files F [0] to F [2] are amounts corresponding to 12 sectors (pages), 23 sectors, and 13 sectors, respectively. Third, in the recording medium 1,
The first blocks in which the logical files F [0] to F [2] are recorded have physical addresses T [1:
Blocks CB [1: 0], CB [1: 1], and CB [0] corresponding to the entries of the block management information storage unit 3 represented by [0], T [1: 1], and T [0: 3], respectively. : 3].

In the file management information storage unit 2 (similarly in the block management information storage unit 3), a portion where a hyphen (-) is described is invalid file management information (not valid file management information). ).

Next, the block management information storage unit 3 stores the blocks of the recording medium 1 (FIG. 1),
Each of the recording medium pieces 1A to 1D has an entry corresponding to a total of 16 blocks of four blocks, and each entry stores block management information of the corresponding block.

Here, the physical addresses of the entries constituting the block management information storage section 3 are the recording medium pieces 1A to 1A.
D is represented by T [c: b] using a chip number c of a block having a block corresponding to the entry and a block number b of the corresponding block. Accordingly, in the block management information storage unit 3, the entry whose physical address is represented by T [c: b] is a block of the recording medium pieces 1A to 1D whose chip number is c but whose block number is b. Block management information on CB [c: b] is stored (recorded).

Specifically, for example, if the physical address is T
The entry represented by [0: 0] includes the recording medium piece 1A.
Block management information on the lowest block (B [0]) in (C [0]) is stored. In the entry whose physical address is represented by T [0: 1], block management information on the second lowest block (B [1]) in the recording medium piece 1A (C [0]) is stored. ing. Further, in the entry whose physical address is represented by T [0: 2], block management information on the third bottom block (B [2]) in the recording medium piece 1A (C [0]) is stored. And the physical address is T
The entry represented by [0: 3] includes the recording medium piece 1A.
Block management information on the top (fourth from the bottom) block (B [3]) in (C [0]) is stored. Hereinafter, similarly, each entry stores the block management information of the corresponding block. Therefore, the top entry of the block management information storage unit 3, that is, the physical address is T [3: 3]. In the entry represented by, the block management information on the top block (B [3]) in the recording medium piece 1D (C [3]) is stored.

Hereinafter, a table composed of all the block management information stored in the block management information storage unit 3 will be referred to as a BAT (Block Allocation Table) as appropriate.
Each entry of the block management information storage unit 3 constituting the BAT is called a BAT entry.

The block management information in each BAT entry is composed of necessary status flags and link information.

As the status flag, here, in
Six types of flags are provided: a valid flag, a system flag, a first flag, a next flag, a last flag, and a loop flag. The invalid flag indicates that the corresponding block is an invalid block. The system flag indicates that the corresponding block is a system block. first
The flag or the last flag indicates that the corresponding block is a block in which the beginning or end of the file is recorded, and the next flag indicates that there is data following the data recorded in the corresponding block (ie, Data following the data recorded in the corresponding block is recorded in another block). The loop flag indicates that the end of the data forming the parallel block described later is recorded in the corresponding block (the corresponding block is the last block forming the parallel block).

In FIG. 2, an invalid flag, a system flag, a loop flag, a first flag, and a next flag are respectively provided from the first bit to the sixth bit of the block management information.
A flag and a last flag are assigned. FIG.
, 0 and 1 representing a status flag indicate whether the status flag is set (here, for example, when the value is 1, it is assumed that the status flag is set).

Here, first in the block management information
If none of the flags, the next flag, and the last flag are set (in the case of 0), the corresponding block is a writable block (a vacant block (including a block that may be overwritten even if some data is recorded). )). Therefore, the free block is fi
It can be detected by referring to the rst flag, next flag, and last flag.

The link information (next entry) indicates the link state of each block constituting the recording medium pieces 1A to 1D. That is, here, as the link information, the physical address of the BAT entry corresponding to the block in which data subsequent to the data recorded in a certain block is recorded. Therefore, since the link information is recorded when there is a block in which data subsequent to the data recorded in the block corresponding to the BAT entry in which the link information is recorded exists, the first flag, n
Recorded together with one of the ext flags (recorded when either the first flag or the next flag is 1).

In the embodiment of FIG. 2, for example, BAT entry T [1: 0] corresponding to block CB [1: 0]
Stores the physical address T [2: 0] of the BAT entry corresponding to the block CB [2: 0] as link information. In the BAT entry T [2: 0], the physical address T [3: 0] of the BAT entry corresponding to the block CB [3: 0] is stored as link information.

Further, BAT entries T [1: 0], T
In [2: 0] and T [3: 0], a first flag, a next flag, and a last flag are respectively stored as status flags (set to 1). From the above, the block CB [1: 0], CB [2: 0], CB
In [3: 0], continuous data of the physical file is recorded in parallel in that order, and further, the block CB
[1: 0] or CB [3: 0] records the data at the beginning or end of the physical file.
It can be seen that the data composed of these three blocks constitutes one physical file.

In FIG. 2, the pointer to the BAT entry T [1: 0] in which the first flag is stored is stored in the entry M [2] of the file management information storage unit 2, and accordingly, the block CB [1: 0], CB [2:
0] and CB [3: 0] are stored in the file management information storage unit 2.
It is managed as the third logical file F [0].

According to the above file management information and block management information, the recording state of the logical file on the recording medium 1 can be recognized as follows.

That is, for example, the logical file F
Focusing on [1], the file management information recognizes that the logical file F [1] is stored as the first file in the logical order, and that its size is 23 sectors. be able to. Further, for the logical file F [1], the BAT entry T [1:
[1] by referring to the block management information recorded in the BAT entry group linked from [1].
It can be seen that the recording state can be recognized.

In the BAT entry T [1: 1], T [2: 2] is recorded as link information.
Therefore, it is found that the BAT entry is linked to the BAT entry T [2: 2]. The BAT entry T [2: 2] has T [3: 1] as link information, the BAT entry T [3: 1] has T [0: 1] as link information,
The BAT entry T [0: 1] has T as link information.
[1: 2], T [3: 2] is recorded as link information in the BAT entry T [1: 2], and link information is recorded in the BAT entry T [3: 2]. No (Invalid link information is recorded)
Therefore, the BAT entries T [1: 1], T [2: 2], T
[3: 1], T [0: 1], T [1: 2], T [3:
2], the data of the file F [1] is divided into blocks CB [1: 1], CB
[2: 2], CB [3: 1], CB [0: 1], CB
It can be seen that [1: 2] and CB [3: 2] are recorded in this order.

Further, a first flag is recorded in the BAT entry T [1: 1]. Therefore, the logical file F is stored in the corresponding block CB [1: 1].
It can be seen that the head data of the physical file corresponding to [1] is recorded. Also, the BAT entry T [1:
1], the next flag is assigned to the BAT entry T [2: 2], the next flag is assigned to the BAT entry T [3: 1] linked to it, and the BAT entry T [0] linked to it. : 1] next flag and
loop flags are respectively recorded, and therefore BA
T entries T [1: 1], T [2: 2], T [3:
1] and blocks CB respectively corresponding to T [0: 1]
[1: 1], CB [2: 2], CB [3: 1], CB
In [0: 1], data of a physical file corresponding to the logical file F [1] is recorded in parallel, that is, blocks CB [1: 1], CB [2: 2], and CB [3]. :
It can be seen that four blocks 1] and CB [0: 1] constitute a parallel block.

The BAT entry T [0: 1] linked to the BAT entry T [1: 2] has a next flag, and the BAT entry T [3:
2], the last flag is recorded, and accordingly, the blocks CB [1: 2] and CB [3: 2] corresponding to the BAT entries T [1: 2] and T [3: 2], respectively.
Also, data of the file F [1] is recorded in parallel, that is, blocks CB [1: 2] and CB [3: 2].
It can be seen that these two blocks constitute a parallel block. Further, the last data of the physical file corresponding to the logical file F [1] is recorded in the block CB [3: 2] corresponding to the BAT entry T [3: 2] in which the last flag is recorded. You can see that.

Therefore, although not described above, when the physical address of the BAT entry is recorded together with the first flag, the physical file is added to the block corresponding to the BAT entry in which the first flag is recorded. Indicates that the first data is recorded, and also indicates that there is data following it. Further, the last flag indicates that the last data of the physical file is recorded in the block corresponding to the BAT entry in which it is recorded, and that the block is the last block of the parallel block. (Thus, both the last flag and the loop flag are common in that they indicate the last block that constitutes a parallel block, but the last flag indicates that the block is the last block in which data of the physical file is recorded. (It differs from the loop flag in that it also indicates a block.)

As described above, the start entry of the file management information is the block management information that manages the block in which the head data of the physical file corresponding to the logical file managed by the file management information is recorded. Indicates the stored BAT entry. And
By following the block management information with reference to the link information included therein, it is possible to recognize the block in which the physical file is recorded. Therefore, it can be said that the file management information associates the logical file with the corresponding physical file.

Next, in the parallel recording method, first, blocks are selected one by one from one or more (basically, a plurality) of the recording medium pieces 1A to 1D, and one block is selected from those blocks. A parallel block is configured. That is, a parallel block, which is a unit for recording data in parallel, is configured.

Assume that a block is selected from each of the recording medium pieces 1A to 1D in order to simplify the explanation. For example, in FIG. CB [0:
1], CB [1: 1], CB [2: 2], CB [3:
1] is extracted, and these four blocks constitute a parallel block. The blocks CB [0: 1], CB [1: 1], CB [2:
2] and CB [3: 1] are written in parallel.

That is, assuming that the physical file to be written is associated with the logical file F [1], the first sector (first sector) FS [1: 0] of the physical file corresponding to the logical file F [1]. ] Is input to the recording medium piece 1B, for example, and is written to the block CB [1: 1] constituting the parallel block therein (FIG. 1). In addition,
As described above, since data is written to the recording medium 1 for each page, the first sector FS [1: 0] is, for example, the lowest page of the block CB [1: 1]. That is, the data is written to the page CBP [1: 1: 0].

After the first sector F [1: 0] of the physical file corresponding to the logical file F [1] is input to the recording medium piece 1B, the next second sector (the second sector from the beginning) FS [1: 1] is input to, for example, a recording medium piece 1C, and a block CB constituting a parallel block therein is input.
[2: 2] (FIG. 1). In this case, as in the case described above, the second sector FS [1: 1] is used.
Is written to the bottom page of block CB [2: 2], that is, page CBP [2: 2: 0].

After the second sector FS [1: 1] of the physical file corresponding to the logical file F [1] is input to the recording medium piece 1C, the next third sector FS [1: 2] is
For example, the data is input to the recording medium piece 1D, and is written to a block CB [3: 1] constituting a parallel block therein (FIG. 1). In this case, as in the case described above,
The third sector FS [1: 2] is a block CB [3: 1]
, The bottom page, that is, page CBP [3: 1: 0]
Is written to.

After the third sector FS [1: 2] of the physical file corresponding to the logical file F [1] is input to the recording medium piece 1D, the next fourth sector FS [1: 3] is
For example, the data is input to the recording medium piece 1A, and is written to the block CB [0: 1] constituting the parallel block therein (FIG. 1). In this case, as in the case described above,
The fourth sector FS [1: 3] is a block CB [0: 1]
, The bottom page, that is, page CBP [0: 1: 0]
Is written to.

After the fourth sector FS [1: 3] of the physical file corresponding to the logical file F [1] is input to the recording medium piece 1D, the next fifth sector FS [1: 4] is
The data is again input to the recording medium piece 1B, and is written to the block CB [1: 1] constituting the parallel block therein (FIG. 1). In this case, the fifth sector FS [1: 4]
Is the second page from the bottom of block CB [1: 1],
That is, the data is written to the page CBP [1: 1: 1].

Hereinafter, similarly, the logical file F [1]
Are the blocks CB [0: 1], CB [1: 1], CB [2:
2] and CB [3: 1] are written in a page unit while being interleaved. If the data amount of the physical file corresponding to the logical file F [1] exceeds four blocks, the block CB
[0: 1], CB [1: 1], CB [2: 2], CB
After the writing to [3: 1] is completed, the remaining data (sectors) are written to the parallel block composed of other blocks.

According to the parallel recording method as described above, as described above, the recording medium 1 has
Eliminate the wait time that occurs when the program time is relatively long, for example, when configured with flash memory,
Alternatively, it can be shortened.

That is, for example, assume that the data input time in each of the recording medium pieces 1A to 1D is t _input and the program time is t _prog . Then, the recording medium piece 1A
3D, data is written without interleaving only for the recording medium 1A, as shown in FIG. 3A, at time t0, the recording medium 1A (C [0]), the input is terminated at time t1 after the data input time t _{input has} elapsed since the input of the first sector. Thereafter, the writing of the first sector for which the input has been completed is started, and the writing is completed at time t4 'after the lapse of the program time t _prog . Then, the input of the second sector is started for the recording medium 1A (C [0]).
Data is written to the recording medium 1A.

As described above, when writing data without interleaving, it is necessary to wait until the program time t _prog elapses after inputting data and then start inputting the next data. There is. Therefore, since writing of one sector requires only the time obtained by adding the data input time t _input and the program time t _prog , for example, when writing six pages of data without interleaving, FIG. As shown in FIG. 3 (A), the time Ts (= 6 × (t), which is six times the time required to write one sector, is used.
_input + t _prog )).

On the other hand, as described above, for each parallel block composed of a total of four blocks extracted one by one from each of the recording medium pieces 1A to 1D (C [0] to C [3]), for example, , Recording medium pieces 1A, 1B, 1C, 1
When data is written while interleaving in the order of the blocks of D, as shown in FIG.
At time t0, for example, the recording medium piece 1A (C
[0]), the input is terminated at time t1 after the data input time t _{input has} elapsed since the input of the first sector. Thereafter, in the recording medium piece 1A, writing of the input first sector is started, and the writing ends at time t4 'after the lapse of the program time t _prog . This is the same as the case in FIG.

However, the recording medium piece 1B (C
With respect to [1]), the input of the second sector can be started from the time when the input of the first sector to the recording medium piece 1A is completed, and therefore, the second sector to the recording medium piece 1B can be started. Input of a sector is started from time t1. After that, at time t2 when the data input time _{tinput has} elapsed, the input is completed, and writing to the second sector where the input has been completed is started in the recording medium piece 1B, and the program time t
_{After prog} , the writing ends.

Hereinafter, similarly, the recording medium piece 1C (C
The input of the third sector for [2]) can be started from time t2 when the input of the second sector to the recording medium piece 1B is completed. Further, the recording medium piece 1D (C
[3]), the input of the fourth sector is also started from the time t2 when the input of the third sector is started, and the data input time t
It can be started from the time t3 when the _input has elapsed.

Then, for example, the program time t
_{If the prog} is about three times less than the data input time t _input , as shown in FIG. 3B, the data input time t input starts from the time t 3 when the input of the fourth sector is started.
_The time t4 at which the _input has elapsed, that is, the time t4 at which the input of the fourth sector ends, is the time at which the time t4 'at which the writing of the first sector ends in the recording medium piece 1A (C [0]) has elapsed. Thus, for the recording medium piece 1A (C [0]), the input of the fifth sector can be started from time t4 when the input of the fourth sector to the recording medium piece 1D is completed. Similarly, for the recording medium piece 1B (C [1]), from the time t5 when the input of the fifth sector to the recording medium piece 1A is completed (the time elapsed from the time t4 by the data input time t _input ), The input of the sixth sector can be started.

Therefore, when data is written while interleaving, in the embodiment of FIG. 3, the waiting time caused by the program time t _prog is 0, and as a result, for example, the data of 6 pages The writing time Tp (= 6) is shorter than the time Ts required for writing without interleaving shown in FIG.
× t _input + t _prog ). That is, according to the parallel recording method, even if the recording medium 1 has a relatively long program time with respect to the data input time,
Data can be written at high speed.

FIGS. 1 and 2 show the recording medium 1 on which data has been written by the parallel recording method described above.
The file management information storage unit 2 and the block management information storage unit 3 are shown, and the data recorded in this manner is read, for example, as follows.

That is, for example, the logical file F
When the reading of [0] is to be performed, the file management information of the logical file F [0] is recognized by referring to the file management information storage unit 2 (FIG. 2). Then, from the file management information of the logical file F [0], the physical address of the BAT entry that manages the block in which the head data of the corresponding physical file is recorded, that is, in the embodiment of FIG. [1: 0] is recognized.

As described above, the BAT entry T [1: 0] manages the block CB [1: 0]. In the block management information storage section 3, the BAT entry T [1: 0] stores the block CB [1: 0]. The corresponding BAT entry T [1:
0] includes block CB [2: 0] as link information.
Physical address T [2: 0] of the BAT entry corresponding to
Is stored. Also, the BAT entry T [2: 0]
Stores the physical address T [3: 0] of the BAT entry corresponding to the block CB [3: 0] as link information. No valid link information is stored in the BAT entry T [3: 0].

Further, BAT entries T [1: 0], T
[2: 0] and T [3: 0] store a first flag, a next flag, and a last flag, respectively, as status flags. From the above, blocks CB [1: 0],
For a parallel block composed of CB [2: 0] and CB [3: 0], while interleaving in that order,
It is recognized that the data of the physical file corresponding to the logical file F [0] has been recorded in parallel. As described above, when the order in which the data of the physical file is written to the parallel block and the blocks constituting the parallel block is recognized, the order in which the data is written to the parallel block is the same as the order in which the data was written. In this order, data is read out while interleaving (deinterleaving). That is, in this case, data is read from the bottom page of the first block CB [1: 0] forming the parallel block, and subsequently, the second block CB [2: 0] forming the parallel block. ] Is read from the lowest page, and thereafter, data is read from the lowest page of the last block CB [3: 0] constituting the parallel block. Last block C constituting a parallel block
After reading the data from the page B [3: 0], the first block CB [1:
0], data is read from the second page from the bottom, and thereafter, data is read in parallel from each of the parallel blocks constituting the parallel block.

When the reading of the data of 12 pages which is the file size of the logical file F [0] stored in the file management information is completed, that is, in this case, it is the last block constituting the parallel block. When the reading of the data from the last page (the fourth page from the bottom) CBP [3: 0: 3] of the block CB [3: 0] is completed, it is assumed that all the data of the logical file F [0] is read. The process ends.

Next, FIG. 4 shows an external configuration example of a first embodiment of a user terminal (recording / reproducing apparatus) for reading / writing data by the above-described parallel recording method.

In this embodiment, on the front,
An operation unit 11 composed of buttons and the like operated when giving various inputs, and displaying various information such as characters and images;
For example, a display unit 12 including a liquid crystal panel or the like is provided. That is, the user terminal has a built-in recording medium 1 (not shown in FIG. 4). For example, by performing a predetermined operation on the operation unit 11, the data recorded on the recording medium 1 is read out. If the data is text or images,
The information is displayed on the display unit 12.

Further, the user terminal includes an earphone 13
When the data read from the recording medium 1 is audio data, the sound is output from the earphone 13.

It is also possible to provide a speaker in the user terminal instead of or together with the earphone 13, and to output sound from the speaker. When the data read from the recording medium 1 is, for example, a computer program, the user terminal executes the computer program to perform various processes.

On the left side of the user terminal, two terminals 14 are provided.
And 15 are provided. The terminal 14 is for inputting various data provided from the information providing apparatus shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 described below. The data input from the terminal 14 is stored in the recording medium 1 built in the user terminal. Be recorded. The terminal 15 is for outputting data reproduced from the recording medium 1, and the data recorded on the recording medium 1 is output from the terminal 15 and supplied to an external display, a speaker, a computer, and the like. It has been made possible. Note that the data recorded on the recording medium 1 can be output from the terminal 14.

Next, FIG. 5 shows an example of an external configuration of a second embodiment of a user terminal which reads and writes data by the parallel recording method. In the figure, the same reference numerals are given to portions corresponding to the case in FIG.

In this embodiment, instead of terminals 14 and 15, a slot 20 for mounting a memory card 21 is provided on the left side of the user terminal.

The memory card 21 has the recording medium 1 built-in, and the user terminal inserts the memory card 21 into the slot 20 and mounts the memory card 21 in the same manner as in the first embodiment of FIG. In addition, data recorded on the recording medium 1 can be used.

That is, a terminal 22A is provided on the front surface of the memory card 21, and this terminal 22A comes into contact with a terminal (not shown) in the slot 20 when the memory card 21 is inserted into the slot 20. Thus, the memory card 21 and the user terminal are electrically connected. When the user terminal and the memory card 21 are electrically connected as described above, the user terminal is in a state where the user terminal can use data recorded on the recording medium 1 built in the memory card 21. That is, data recorded on the recording medium 1 incorporated in the memory card 21 is read (reproduced) via the terminal 22A.

[0100] In addition to the terminal 22A, a terminal 22B is provided on the front of the memory card 21. Terminal 22
B inserts the memory card 21 into a slot 33 of the information providing apparatus shown in FIG.
The terminal is in contact with a terminal (not shown) inside, so that the memory card 21 and the information providing device are electrically connected. When the information providing device and the memory card 21 are electrically connected in this manner, the information providing device is in a state where data can be recorded on the recording medium 1 built in the memory card 21. That is, the data provided by the information providing device is supplied to the memory card 21 via the terminal 22B, and is recorded on the recording medium 1 incorporated therein.

As shown in FIG. 5, for the user terminal,
In a case where the memory card 21 is configured to be detachable, data can be provided by bringing only the memory card 21 to a place where the information providing device is installed. Figure 4 with built-in
It is more convenient to carry as compared with the case of the embodiment.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 5, the memory card 21 has a terminal 22A for outputting data recorded on the recording medium 1, and a terminal 22 for inputting data to be recorded on the recording medium 1. 22B, two terminals are provided on the memory card 21, but only one terminal is provided on the memory card 21, and the one terminal is used to output data recorded on the recording medium 1; In the case where data to be recorded in No. 1 is input, the data may be electrically switched and used.

FIG. 6 shows an example of the external configuration of the first embodiment of the information providing apparatus for providing data to the user terminal shown in FIG. 4 or the recording medium 1 built in the memory card 21 shown in FIG. Is shown.

The information providing apparatus has a display section 31 on its front panel for displaying the contents and price of data to be provided to the user, and a display section 31 for selecting data displayed on the display section 31. Operation buttons 3 to be operated
2 are provided. In the embodiment of FIG. 6,
Six combinations of the display unit 31 and the operation buttons 32 are provided, so that six types of data can be provided.

Further, the front panel is provided with a slot 33 for attaching and detaching the user terminal shown in FIG. 4 and the memory card 21 shown in FIG.

A user who wants to provide data first
The user terminal of FIG. 4 and the memory card 21 of FIG. Thereby, the terminal 1 of the user terminal
4 or the terminal 22B of the memory card is electrically connected to the information providing device.

Then, the user looks at the display unit 31 and operates the operation button 32 corresponding to the desired data. Thereby, the data corresponding to the operated operation button 32 is transferred and recorded (copied) to the user terminal inserted into the slot 33 or the recording medium 1 built in the memory card 21.

That is, the information providing apparatus includes a recording medium on which data corresponding to the six display units 31 provided on the front panel is recorded, and a control required for copying the data recorded on the recording medium. And a copy control unit (not shown). Then, in the information providing apparatus, when the operation button 32 is operated, under the control of the copy control unit, the data is read from the recording medium on which the data corresponding to the operation is recorded, and the data is stored in the slot 33. User terminal or memory card 2 inserted in
The data is transferred to the built-in recording medium 1 and recorded by the above-described parallel recording method.

The information providing apparatus can be connected to a data management center for managing provided data via a wired or wireless communication line.
In this case, in the information providing device, from the data management center,
It is possible to receive the data corresponding to the operated operation button 32 via the communication line and provide the data to the user. In this case, the information providing device records the data to be provided to the user. It becomes unnecessary to provide a recording medium. Alternatively, by updating the recording content of a recording medium incorporated in the information providing apparatus with data transmitted through a communication line, the information providing apparatus can be manually provided every time data is updated. It is possible to save the trouble of exchanging the recording medium built in the apparatus. Further, in this case, once the data is recorded on the recording medium, the data can be provided from the recording medium without receiving the data again from the data management center. It is possible to provide the latest data while suppressing the above.

Next, FIG. 7 shows an example of an external configuration of an information providing apparatus according to a second embodiment.

In this embodiment, a memory card 21 is provided on the upper surface of an information providing apparatus having a height about the waist of a user.
Insertion slot 31A for inserting the
And an ejection slot 31B for ejecting the memory card 21 inserted therefrom.

A user who wishes to provide data inserts the memory card 21 into the insertion slot 31A and walks in the direction indicated by arrow D in the figure. The information providing device moves the memory card 21 from the insertion slot 31A to the ejection slot 3A.
It has a built-in transfer device (not shown) for transferring to 1B.
Data is recorded on the memory card 21 during (or during) the transport. The transfer time of the memory card 21 from the insertion slot 31A to the discharge slot 31B by the transfer device is, for example, substantially the same as the time during which the user walks from the insertion slot 31A to the discharge slot 31B, and accordingly, After the user inserts the memory card 31A into the insertion slot 31A, walks in the direction shown by the arrow D and arrives at the position of the ejection slot 31B, and from the ejection slot 31B, the memory card 21 on which data is recorded. Is discharged.

When the information providing apparatus is configured as described above, it is possible to more quickly provide data to many users.

In the embodiment of FIG. 7, data is provided to a user terminal having a built-in recording medium 1 as shown in FIG. 4 by devising a transport device built in the information providing device. It is also possible to do so.

Next, FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing an example of the electrical configuration of the user terminal shown in FIG.

For example, as described above, the recording medium 1
It has a plurality of four recording medium pieces 1A to 1D and records data. The recording medium piece 1
The type of A to 1D is not particularly limited, but it is preferable to use a semiconductor memory that can perform recording (storage) at a relatively high speed to some extent, is randomly accessible, and has excellent portability. desirable. Here, the recording medium pieces 1A to 1D are non-volatile memories that do not require backup by a battery among semiconductor memories.
For example, a NAND flash memory is used. More specifically, as the recording medium pieces 1A to 1D, for example, an EEPROM (Electrically Era) described in “32 Mbit NAND Flash Memory”, Electronic Materials, June 1995, pp. 32 to 37, etc.
sable and Programmable Read Only Memory) can be used.

The number of recording medium pieces constituting the recording medium 1 needs to be ceil (t _prog / t _input ) +1 or more (t _prog or t _input is, as described above, Represents a program time or a data input time, and ceil (x) means the smallest integer greater than or equal to x). Therefore, the NAND flash memory (EEP)
ROM), for example, the program time t _prog is:
The like which is about 10 times the data input time t _{input The} but such a flash memory, when used as a memory chip, the recording medium 1, using 11 or more memory chips Must be configured.

The file management information storage unit 2 or the block management information storage unit 3 stores the file management information or the block management information described with reference to FIG. 2, respectively.

Here, when the user terminal is configured such that the memory card 21 is detachable as shown in FIG. 5, the memory card 21 may be, for example, the above-described recording medium 1 and file management. It comprises an information storage unit 2 and a block management information storage unit 3.

The operation unit 11 is operated by the user.
A signal corresponding to the operation is supplied to the transfer control unit 41, the recording medium control unit 42, and the reproduction control unit 43. The display unit 12 is configured to display data (displayable) output by the reproduction control unit 43.
The display unit 12 also performs a display according to the control of the recording medium control unit 42.

The transfer control section 41 controls the transfer of the data supplied from the terminal 14 to the recording medium control section 42 and the transfer of the data supplied from the recording medium control section 42 to the terminal 14. It has been done.

The recording medium control section 42 records (writes) the data supplied from the transfer control section 41 on the recording medium 1, reproduces (reads) the data recorded on the recording medium 1, and controls the transfer control. The information is supplied to the unit 41 or the reproduction control unit 43. That is, the recording medium control unit 4
Reference numeral 2 controls recording and reproduction (reading) of data on the recording medium 1 by the parallel recording method based on information stored in the file management information storage unit 2 and the block management information storage unit 3.

The recording medium control unit 42 rewrites the file management information or the block management information stored in the file management information storage unit 2 or the block management information storage unit 3, controls the erasing operation of the recording medium 1, respectively. Further, display control of the display unit 12 is also performed.

The reproduction control unit 43 controls the reproduction of data from the recording medium control unit 42. That is, when the data from the recording medium control unit 42 is encoded, the reproduction control unit 43 decodes the data. If the decoded result can be displayed, it is supplied to the display unit 12, and if it can be output as sound, it is supplied to the earphone 13. Further, the reproduction control unit 4
If the decoding result is an executable computer program, the computer 3 executes the predetermined process by executing the computer program. Further, when the data to be reproduced is real-time data, the reproduction control unit 43 can retain the temporal validity (for example, when the data to be reproduced is audio data). , So that the corresponding sound is output normally),
The data is requested from the recording medium control unit 42.

As a method for encoding video data and audio data, for example, MPEG (Moving)
Picture Experts Group). Further, data obtained by performing decoding in the reproduction control unit 43 can be output from the terminal 15 to the outside.

Here, each block constituting the user terminal shown in FIG. 8 includes hardware, a physical mechanism, and a CP.
It is realized by a U (Central Processing Unit) or the like executing a computer program.

Next, FIG. 9 shows a configuration example of a NAND flash memory as each of the recording medium pieces 1A to 1D constituting the recording medium 1 of FIG.

The flash memory is large and the register 5
1 and a memory cell array 52, into which data, commands, and addresses to be recorded can be inputted. The flash memory outputs data recorded therein and a Ready / Busy signal indicating an internal state.

When recording data in the flash memory configured as described above, a command (input command) for instructing the input of the data to be recorded and the data to be recorded are transferred in page units (here, Then
(512 bytes as described above). in this case,
The data to be recorded corresponds to the input command,
The data is input to the register 51 and is temporarily stored. Thereafter, when a command (write command) for instructing recording and an address for recording data are given to the flash memory, the data recorded in the register 51 is transferred to the memory cell array 52 in response to the write command. Is stored (held) at the address supplied with the write command.

On the other hand, when reading (reproducing) data from the flash memory, a command for instructing reproduction (read command) and an address where data to be reproduced are recorded are given. In this case, in response to the read command, data is read from an address of the memory cell array provided with the read command, supplied to the register 51, and temporarily stored. Then, the data stored in the register 51 is output from the flash memory.

When the Ready / Busy signal can accept a command, it becomes, for example, the L level among the H (High) and L (Low) levels (hereinafter, appropriately referred to as the L level Ready). The / Busy signal is called a Ready signal. When the command cannot be received, the H level is set to the H level (hereinafter, the H level Ready / Busy signal is appropriately changed to the Bus level).
sy signal).

Although not shown in FIG. 9, a chip select signal is supplied to the flash memory together with the address (the chip select signal is included in a part of the address). Can be considered).

Next, the operation of the user terminal shown in FIG. 8 will be described.

First, when data is recorded on the recording medium 1, for example, a signal for instructing recording of a file from the information providing apparatus shown in FIG. 6 or FIG. Is supplied to the recording medium control unit 42 via the terminal 14 and the transfer control unit 41. When the recording medium control unit 42 receives the recording instruction signal, the recording medium control unit 42 refers to the block management information storage unit 3 to
An empty block in the recording medium 1 is recognized. further,
The recording medium control unit 42 calculates 1 from the recognized empty block.
The above blocks are selected, and a parallel block for recording the file to be recorded by the parallel recording method is configured.

On the other hand, when receiving the recording instruction signal supplied from the terminal 14, the transfer control unit 41 outputs the recording instruction signal to the recording medium control unit 42, and thereafter, the transfer instruction signal shown in FIG.
The file to be recorded, which is supplied via the terminal 14 from the information providing apparatus, is fetched according to the lower transfer protocol and transferred to the recording medium controller 42. Here, as the lower transfer protocol, for example, SCSI (Small Co
ANSI (Ameri) called mputer System Interface
can National Standards Institute) X3.131-
1986 standard, IEEE (Institute of Electrical
and Electronics Engineers) 1394 standard, PCMC
IA (Personal Computer Memory Card International
A standard including a physical layer, such as a PC Card standard of the Association) can be adopted. In addition, other proprietary standards can be adopted as the lower-order transfer protocol. However, by adopting the standardized interface as described above, the user terminal can be made highly scalable. Can be.

After constructing the parallel block, the recording medium control unit 42, upon receiving the file transferred from the transfer control unit 41 as described above, deletes the file by the parallel recording method as the upper transfer protocol. The data is transferred to the recording medium 1 and recorded.

That is, the recording medium control unit 42
Of the recording medium pieces 1A to 1D as the flash memory configured as shown in FIG. 9, a chip select signal is given to one to which data is to be written. Give an input command. Thereby, after the data input time t _input has elapsed, the recording medium pieces 1A to 1D to which a chip select signal is given (hereinafter, appropriately referred to as a selected recording medium piece) correspond to the input command. , One page of data is input to and stored in the register 51. Thereafter, the recording medium control unit 42 sets an address for recording data (an address of a predetermined page of a predetermined block of a selected recording medium piece constituting a parallel block).
And a write command to the selected recording medium piece, whereby the data stored in the register 51 is supplied to the memory cell array 52 in the selected recording medium piece, and after the program time t _prog elapses, the given address is given. Will be recorded. The selected recording medium piece stores one page of data stored in the register 51 between the time when the input command is supplied and the data is stored in the register 51 and the time after the write command and the address are supplied. The Busy signal is output until the data is recorded in the memory cell 52, and when the Busy signal is not output, the Ready signal is output.
Signal is being output.

The above-described processing is appropriately performed using a recording medium piece having blocks constituting the parallel blocks as a selected recording medium piece. Here, since data is recorded by the parallel recording method, the recording medium control unit 42
Is input to the recording medium piece 1 (therefore, input of data from the transfer control unit 41 to the recording medium control unit 42) is basically performed without waiting for the program time t _prog .

Thereafter, when the writing of the data constituting one file is completed, the recording medium control unit 42 sets the file management information storage unit 2 or the block management information storage unit 3 in accordance with the result of writing the data to the recording medium 1. Update each file management information or block management information.

Here, the data recording capability (how quickly data can be recorded) of the entire user terminal depends on the fact that the transfer control unit 41 stores the data in the recording medium control unit 4.
2 or the ability of the recording medium control unit 42 to record data on the recording medium 1, whichever is lower, the recording medium control unit 42 increases the data transfer capability of the transfer control unit 41. It is desirable to have the ability to write data to the recording medium 1 without loss, but the parallel recording method is particularly useful for the recording medium control unit 42 that requires such ability. .

When writing data to the recording medium pieces 1A to 1D which are flash memories, if the data at the address to which the writing is to be performed has not been erased, the recording medium control unit 42 erases the data. After that, data is written.

Next, when reading (reproducing) the data (file) recorded on the recording medium 1, for example, the user operates the operation unit 11 to reproduce the data. An operation signal corresponding to this operation (hereinafter, appropriately referred to as a reproduction instruction signal) is supplied to the recording medium control unit 42. When the recording medium control unit 42 receives the reproduction instruction signal from the operation unit 11, it stores the file management information. The file name of the file recorded on the recording medium 1 is displayed by controlling the display unit 12 with reference to the file management information stored in the unit 2. Then, when the user refers to the file name displayed on the display unit 12 and operates the operation unit 11 to specify what is read from the recording medium 1, the instruction of the file name is transmitted to the recording medium control unit 42. Supplied. When receiving the instruction of the file name of the file to be read from the operation unit 11, the recording medium control unit 42 refers to the file management information and the block management information of the file so that the address at which the file is recorded, the file Recognize the full capacity of Further, the recording medium control unit 42
Executes the upper-layer transfer protocol (reading of data recorded by the parallel recording method), and thereby the operation unit 1
1 reads the data of the file designated from the recording medium 1.

That is, the recording medium control unit 42
Among the recording medium pieces 1A to 1D serving as flash memories configured as shown in FIG. 9, a chip select signal is given to the one from which data is to be read (selected recording medium piece). A read command and an address at which data to be read are recorded are given to one of the pieces. As a result, in the selected recording medium piece, the given address (the address of the memory cell array 52) after the lapse of a predetermined time (the time required for transferring data from the memory cell array 52 to the register 51 in the flash memory) has elapsed. , One page of data is read out and stored in the register 51. Then, the data stored in the register 51 is supplied to the recording medium control unit 42, whereby the reading of one page of data is completed. The selected recording medium piece outputs a Busy signal from the time when the read command is given to the time when the reading of one page of data is completed as described above.

The above-described processing is appropriately performed using a recording medium piece having a block in which a file instructed to be read is recorded as a selected recording medium piece.

Then, the recording medium control unit 42
The data read from is supplied to the transfer control unit 41 or the reproduction control unit 43. It should be noted that whether to supply the data read from the recording medium 1 to the transfer control unit 41 or the reproduction control unit 43 can be instructed by operating the operation unit 11, for example. .

When the data read from the recording medium 1 is supplied to the transfer control unit 41, the transfer control unit 41 outputs the data from the terminal 14 by executing the lower transfer protocol. .

When the data read from the recording medium 1 is supplied to the reproduction control unit 43, the reproduction control unit 43
Decodes the data as necessary, and displays
2 or the earphone 13 to be displayed or output, or output from the terminal 15 to the outside. Also,
If the data is a computer program,
The reproduction control unit 43 executes the computer program or outputs the computer program from the terminal 15 to a computer (not shown).

Next, as described above, in the parallel recording method,
For efficient writing and erasing of data, data is managed in units of blocks. When reading a logical file with reference to the file management information and the block management information shown in FIG. 2, Starting from the block corresponding to the BAT entry pointed to by the start entry described in the file management information of the logical file,
Data for a page corresponding to the file size described in the file management information is read. Therefore,
The logical file must have the data at the beginning recorded at the beginning of the block (the bottom page of the block). Furthermore, in the parallel recording method, a parallel block is composed of one or more blocks. Since the blocks constituting the parallel block are arbitrarily selected from the recording medium pieces 1A to 1D, the blocks in which the physical file is recorded are stored. Are basically not consecutive. As a result, despite the fact that data is recorded in units of pages, it is difficult to divide, combine, add an index, and the like, for example, at an arbitrary page position in a logical file. In other words, when performing division, combination, addition of an index, and the like for a logical file, division, combination, and addition of an index are performed unless the position to be divided or combined or the position to add an index is the head of a block. Can not do.

Therefore, in the embodiment of FIG. 2, the file management information includes the file name F [n] of the logical file, its file size, and the start entry T [c: b].
However, here, for example, as shown in FIG. 10, instead of the file size, a file range (range information) representing the range from the beginning to the end of the logical file in page units is used. To form file management information.

That is, FIG. 10 shows file management information and block management information when data (physical file) is recorded on the recording medium 1 as shown in FIG.

The file range R [s: e] represents the range from the beginning to the end of the logical file in page units. That is, the file range R [s: e] described in the file management information is based on the first page in which the data of the physical file specified from the start entry described in the file management information is recorded. Represents data from an s + 1-th page (hereinafter, appropriately referred to as a start page) to an e + 1-th page (hereinafter, appropriately referred to as an end page). Therefore, a logical file whose file range is R [s: e] is constituted by data of e-s + 1 pages.

Here, FIG. 10 shows the file management information and the block management information when the data is recorded as shown in FIG. 1, as in the case of FIG. , Logical files F [0], F
File ranges R [0: 1] of [1] and F [2]
1], R [0:22], R [0:12]
When −s + 1 is calculated, the calculation result becomes equal to the file sizes 12, 23, and 13 shown in FIG.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 10, for example, when attention is paid to the logical file F [1], the block management information is traced from the BAT entry T [1: 1] which is the start entry. As described above, the physical files corresponding to the logical file F [1] are the blocks CB [1: 1], CB [2: 2], CB [3: 1],
It is recorded in the order of CB [0: 1], CB [1: 2], CB [3: 2], and further, the block CB [1:
1], CB [2: 2], CB [3: 1], CB [0:
1], and blocks CB [1: 2], CB
It can be seen that the two blocks of [3: 2] each constitute a parallel block. Here, from the start entry T [c: b] of the file management information,
A physical file specified by following the block management information is referred to as a physical file specified by the start entry T [c: b].

Since the file range of the logical file F [1] is R [0:22], the logical file F [1]
[1] is from the first (= 0 + 1) th page to the 23rd page of the physical file specified by the start entry T [1: 1].
It can be seen that the data is recorded on the (= 22 + 1) page.

Here, the physical file specified by the start entry T [1: 1] is the block CB [1:
1], CB [2: 2], CB [3: 1], CB [0:
1] are recorded as a first parallel block, and blocks CB [1: 2] and CB [3: 2] are further recorded.
Are recorded as the second parallel block. Since one block is composed of four pages, the first parallel block has a capacity of 16 pages (= 4 blocks × 4 pages), and the second parallel block has a capacity of 8 pages (= 2 pages). × 4 pages). Accordingly, the logical file F [1] has all 16 pages of the first parallel block and the first to seventh pages (= page 23 to page 16) of the second parallel block.
Will be recorded by now.

As described above, the n-th page of the parallel block is the n-th page when data is written in parallel in units of pages for blocks constituting the parallel block. Means the page to be performed. That is, for example, for the physical file specified by the start entry T [1: 1], the blocks CB [1: 2] and CB [3: 2] forming the second parallel block
For the block CB from the status flag
Since data is written in parallel in the order of [1: 2] and CB [3: 2], if expressed in page units, page C
BP [1: 2: 0], CBP [3: 2: 0], CBP
[1: 2: 1], CBP [3: 2: 1], CBP [1:
2: 2], CBP [3: 2: 2], CBP [1: 2:
3], and data is written in the order of CBP [3: 2: 3] (FIG. 1). Therefore, in this case, the first to seventh pages of the second block are respectively the page CBP [1: 2:
0], CBP [3: 2: 0], CBP [1: 2: 1],
CBP [3: 2: 1], CBP [1: 2: 2], CBP
[3: 2: 2] and CBP [1: 2: 3].

Next, focusing on the logical file F [2], the BAT entry T, which is the start entry thereof,
From [0: 3], when the block management information is traced, B
AT entry T [0: 3] has T as link information.
[1: 3] is recorded, and thus it can be seen that it is linked to the BAT entry T [1: 3]. And
The BAT entry T [1: 3] has T as link information.
[2: 3], and T [3: 3] is recorded as link information in the BAT entry T [2: 3], respectively, so that the BAT entries T [0: 3] and T [1: 3]. ], T
Links are established in the order of [2: 3] and T [3: 3]. Therefore, the physical file specified by the start entry T [0: 3] includes blocks CB [0: 3] and CB
It can be seen that recording was performed in the order of [1: 3], CB [2: 3], and CB [3: 3].

Further, the first flag is recorded in the BAT entry T [0: 3], so that the head data of the physical file is recorded in the corresponding block CB [0: 3]. I understand. Also, BAT
The BAT entry T [1: 3] linked to the entry T [0: 3] has a next flag, and the BAT entry T [2: 3] linked to it has a next flag. BAT entry T [3: 3]
The last flag is respectively recorded, and therefore BA
T entries T [0: 3], T [1: 3], T [2:
3] and blocks CB respectively corresponding to T [3: 3]
[0: 3], CB [1: 3], CB [2: 3], CB
In [3: 3], data of a physical file is recorded in parallel, that is, blocks CB [0: 3], CB
It can be seen that four blocks of [1: 3], CB [2: 3] and CB [3: 3] constitute a parallel block. Further, the BAT entry T in which the last flag is recorded
It can be seen that the block CB [3: 3] corresponding to [3: 3] is the last block for recording data of the physical file.

Therefore, the physical file specified by the start entry T [0: 3] is the block CB [0:
3], CB [1: 3], CB [2: 3], CB [3:
3] is recorded in one parallel block composed of four blocks.

On the other hand, the file range of the logical file F [2] is R [0:12].
[2] is from the first (= 0 + 1) th page to the thirteenth page of the physical file specified by the start entry T [0: 3].
It can be seen that it is recorded on (= 12 + 1) page.

As described above, the start entry T
Physical files specified by [0: 3] include blocks CB [0: 3], CB [1: 3], CB [2: 3], C
Four blocks of B [3: 3] are recorded as parallel blocks, and the parallel blocks have a capacity of 16 pages (= 4 blocks × 4 pages). Therefore, the logical file F [2] is recorded in the first to thirteenth pages of the 16 pages constituting the parallel block for the physical file specified by the start entry T [0: 3]. Become.

Next, paying attention to the logical file F [0], the BAT entry T, which is the start entry thereof,
From [1: 0], when the block management information is traced, B
AT entry T [1: 0] has T as link information.
[2: 0] is recorded, and thus it can be seen that it is linked to the BAT entry T [2: 0]. And
The BAT entry T [2: 0] has T as link information.
Since [3: 0] is recorded, the BAT entry T
[1: 0], T [2: 0], and T [3: 0] are linked in this order, so that the start entry T [1:
0] is the block CB
It can be seen that recording was performed in the order of [1: 0], CB [2: 0], and CB [3: 0].

Further, the first flag is recorded in the BAT entry T [1: 0]. Therefore, the head data of the physical file is recorded in the corresponding block CB [1: 0]. I understand. Also, BAT
The BAT entry T [2: 0] linked to the entry T [1: 0] records a next flag, and the BAT entry T [3: 0] linked to the BAT entry T [3: 0] records a last flag. And therefore the BAT entry T
Blocks CB [1: 0], CB [2: 0], CB respectively corresponding to [1: 0], T [2: 0], T [3: 0]
In [3: 0], data of a physical file is recorded in parallel, that is, blocks CB [1: 0], CB
It can be seen that three blocks [2: 0] and CB [3: 0] constitute a parallel block. Further, it can be seen that the block CB [3: 0] corresponding to the BAT entry T [3: 0] in which the last flag is recorded is the last block for recording the physical file.

Therefore, the physical file specified by the start entry T [1: 0] is the block CB [1:
0], CB [2: 0], and CB [3: 0] are recorded in one parallel block.

On the other hand, the file range of the logical file F [0] is R [0:11].
[2] is from the first (= 0 + 1) th page to the twelfth page of the physical file specified by the start entry T [1: 0].
It can be seen that it is recorded on (= 11 + 1) page.

As described above, the start entry T
The physical file specified by [1: 0] is composed of blocks CB [1: 0], CB [2: 0], and CB [3: 0].
The block is recorded as a parallel block, and the parallel block has 12 pages (= 3 blocks × 4 pages)
With a capacity of Therefore, the logical file F [0] is recorded on all 12 pages constituting the parallel block for the physical file specified by the start entry T [1: 0].

Next, referring to the flow chart of FIG. 13, the recording medium control unit 4 of FIG.
The process (write process) 2 will be described.

When data is recorded, a recording instruction signal is given from the transfer control unit 41 to the recording medium control unit 42 as described above. Accordingly, the recording medium control unit 42 recognizes that the operation of writing the data of the file (the file to be written) transferred from the transfer control unit 41 to the recording medium 1 should be performed in step S1.

Further, in step S2, the recording medium control unit 42 includes, for example, the file name and the data amount (capacity) as information on the file to be written.
Are recognized. The information on the file to be written is obtained from the information providing apparatus shown in FIGS. 6 and 7.
For example, it is supplied together with a recording instruction signal.

Thereafter, the flow advances to step S3, where the recording medium control unit 42 executes a process for recording the file to be written.
A parallel block group composed of the above parallel blocks is secured.
That is, the recording medium control unit 42 recognizes an empty block among the blocks configuring the recording medium pieces 1A to 1D by referring to the block management information. Further, the recording medium control unit 42, from each of the recording medium pieces 1A to 1D,
At most one empty block is selected, and the selected empty block constitutes one parallel block. Then, the recording medium control unit 42 repeats the same process until a parallel block group (one or more parallel blocks) having a capacity sufficient to record the file to be written is obtained.
Thereby, 1 for recording the file to be written
A parallel block group composed of the above parallel blocks is secured.

After securing the parallel block group, the process proceeds to step S4, and one parallel block to be written is selected from the parallel blocks constituting the parallel block group secured in step S3 (here, The selected parallel block is hereinafter appropriately referred to as a noted parallel block),
Proceed to step S5.

In step S5, one of the recording medium pieces 1A to 1D constituting the recording medium 1 having a block constituting the parallel block of interest is selected as a selected recording medium piece. Thus, a chip select signal is supplied. Here, in step S5, for example, when configuring a parallel block, a recording medium piece having a block selected earlier is given priority,
It is designed to be selected as a selected recording medium piece.

Thereafter, the flow advances to step S6, where the state of the selected recording medium piece is determined. If it is determined in step S6 that the selected recording medium piece is in the Busy state in which a Busy signal is being output, the process returns to step S6 because the selected recording medium piece cannot be accessed.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S6 that the selected recording medium piece is in the Ready state in which the Ready signal is being output, that is, if the selected recording medium piece can be accessed, the process proceeds to step S7. A page write process is performed in which data for one page of the recording target file is written to a page in a block constituting a parallel block of interest on a selected recording medium piece.

In the course of performing the loop processing from step S5 to step S8 described later,
In step S7, writing of data for one page to a certain block is performed sequentially from the head address of the block. That is, for example, a parallel block is configured from first to fourth four blocks, and each block is
In the case where data is written to such a parallel block in the case where the first to fourth pages are formed from the first address, the first page of the first block and the first page of the second block are written. Page, first page of third block, first page of fourth block,
Data is being written. Then, thereafter, data is stored in the order of the second page of the first block, the second page of the second block, the second page of the third block, and the second page of the fourth block. Written in the same manner, and so on until the fourth page of the fourth block.
Data is being written. Further, the data writing in step S7 basically includes, as described above,
This is performed without waiting for the program time t _prog .

After writing one page of data in step S7, the flow advances to step S8 to determine whether or not the data writing to the entire parallel block of interest has been completed. If it is determined in step S8 that the writing of the data to the entire parallel block of interest has not been completed yet, the process returns to step S5, and the next recording medium piece is selected in the priority order as described above. And a chip select signal is supplied. That is, for example, if the target parallel block is composed of first to fourth four blocks, and selection is performed in the order of the first to fourth blocks when configuring the target parallel block, the step In S5, first, the recording medium piece having the first block is preferentially selected, and then the second piece is selected.
The recording medium pieces having the fourth to fourth blocks are sequentially selected. Then, after the recording medium piece having the fourth block is selected, if data recording for the entire first block has not yet been completed, the recording medium piece having the first block is selected again, Hereinafter, similarly,
In step S5, the selection of the recording medium pieces having the blocks forming the parallel block of interest is sequentially performed until the data is recorded in the entire parallel block of interest or the recording of the file to be written is completed. .

If it is determined in step S8 that data writing to the entire parallel block of interest has been completed, the flow advances to step S9 to determine whether recording of all data of the file to be written has been completed. If it is determined in step S9 that the recording of all the data of the write target file has not been completed, the process returns to step S4, and from among the parallel blocks constituting the parallel block group secured in step S3, A parallel block that is not set as a writing target is newly selected as a parallel block of interest, and thereafter, the same processing is repeated.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S9 that the recording of all the data of the write target file has been completed, the process proceeds to step S10, where the block management information is
The data is updated based on the parallel block group in which the data of the write target file has been written, and the process proceeds to step S11. In step S11, the file management information is updated based on the file to be written, and the writing process ends.

It is to be noted that a write target file having a capacity of e−s + 1 pages has a file name F [n].
When the block CB [c: b] is written as the first block, the file name, file range, or start entry of the logical file
F [n], R [s: e] or T [c: b] respectively
Is stored in the file management information storage unit 2
Invalid entry (in FIG. 2, the file name F [],
The entry of the file range R [] and the entry of the start entry T [] are each described in, for example, the lowest one of the entries having hyphens. In this case, the physical file specified by the start entry T [c: b] is equal to the write target file. After writing the write target file, the logical file F [n]
If no operation has been performed, the start page (s + 1) or the end page (e + 1) represented by the file range R [s: e] are respectively the first page in which the write target file is written. Equal to page or last page. Therefore, after writing the write file as the logical file F [n], if no operation is performed on the logical file F [n], the head of the logical file F [n] is determined by the file range R [s: e]. File F representing the range from to
[N] is equal to the physical file specified by the start entry T [c: b] (both the logical file and the physical file are equal to the write target file).

Next, the processing (read processing) of the recording medium control unit 42 shown in FIG. 8 when reading data recorded on the recording medium 1 will be described with reference to the flowchart in FIG.

When reading data (logical file) recorded on the recording medium 1, for example, the user
The operation unit 11 is operated so as to reproduce data. As a result, as described above, the reproduction instruction signal is given from the operation unit 11 to the recording medium control unit 42, and the recording medium control unit 42 determines in step S21 that the recording medium 1
It is recognized that an operation of reading data from the device should be performed.

Recording medium control unit 4 which has received the reproduction instruction signal
In step 2, the file name of the logical file recorded on the recording medium 1 is displayed by controlling the display unit 12 with reference to the file management information stored in the file management information storage unit 2 as described above. Then, the user operates the display unit 1
When the user refers to the file name displayed in 2 to read from the recording medium 1 by operating the operation unit 11, the instruction of the file name is supplied to the recording medium control unit 42, whereby the recording is performed. In the medium control unit 42, step S
At 22, a logical file to be read from the recording medium 1 is recognized. That is, the recording medium control unit 42 stores the file management information in which the specified file name is described,
By retrieving the file management information from the file management information storage unit 2 and referring to the file range, the start page and the end page that constitute the logical file among the pages that constitute the physical file specified by the start entry are recognized.

Then, proceeding to step S23, the recording medium control unit 42 sets the block management information described in the BAT entry that matches the start entry of the file management information retrieved in step S22 (hereinafter, referred to as a noticeable start entry as appropriate). Is retrieved from the block management information storage unit 3, and the process proceeds to step S24. In step S24, based on the block management information searched in step S23, the recording medium control unit 42 recognizes the parallel block configured when writing the physical file specified by the target start entry. That is, the recording medium control unit 42
Is based on the block management information retrieved in step S23.
Based on the link information, the other block management information is sequentially searched (referenced), and the parallel flag is recognized by detecting the loop flag or the last flag. , Called a recognition parallel block).

Thereafter, the flow advances to step S25 to select one of the recording medium pieces 1A to 1D constituting the recording medium 1 having a block constituting the recognition parallel block (this selected recording medium piece is also hereinafter referred to as A chip select signal is supplied to the selected recording medium piece. Here, in step S25 as well, for example, as in step S5 in FIG. 11, at the time of writing the file to be read, the recording medium piece having the block selected earlier when forming the parallel block group is Priority is given to selection as a selected recording medium piece. In this case, the block selected earlier when forming the parallel block group can be recognized from the link information in the block management information as described above.

After the selection of the selected recording medium piece, step S2
The process proceeds to step S6, where a read command is given to the selected recording medium piece, and the process proceeds to step S27. Step S27
Then, the address of the data to be read therefrom is given to the selected recording medium piece, and the process proceeds to step S28.

In step S28, step S in FIG.
6, the state of the selected recording medium piece is determined. In step S28, the selected recording medium piece is Bu
If it is determined that the state is the sy state, it is not possible to access the selected recording medium piece, and the process returns to step S28.

If it is determined in step S28 that the selected recording medium piece is in the ready state, the process proceeds to step S29, where one page of the selected recording medium piece corresponding to one page recorded in the block constituting the recognition parallel block is read. Data is read.

In the course of performing the loop processing from step S24 to step S31 described later, in step S29, one of the blocks constituting the physical file specified by the target start entry is deleted.
To read data for a page, start from the start page
The process is sequentially performed up to the end page. That is, as described above, a physical file is generated in parallel with each block constituting each parallel block in a page unit, with respect to a parallel block group configured by collecting one or more parallel blocks each including one or more blocks. When the start page or the end page recognized in step S22 is represented as s + 1 or e + 1, respectively, in step S29, the data of the physical file is sequentially written to the (e + 1) th page from the (s + 1) th page. Pages are read.

The data for one page read in step S29 is transmitted from the recording medium controller 42 to the transfer controller 41.
Alternatively, it is supplied to the reproduction control unit 43. Then, the process proceeds to step S30, and it is determined whether or not reading of all data of the logical file to be read has been completed. In step S30, when it is determined that the reading of all data of the logical file to be read has not been completed, that is, the reading of data from the start page to the end page recognized in step S22 has not been completed. In this case, the process proceeds to step S31, and it is determined whether the reading of data up to the last page of the recognition parallel block (the page to which data has been written last among the pages configuring the recognition parallel block) has been completed. If it is determined in step S31 that the reading of the data up to the last page of the recognition parallel block has not been completed, the process returns to step S25, and the next recording medium piece is selected with the above-described priority. The chip is selected as a recording medium piece and a chip select signal is supplied. And
Hereinafter, the same processing is repeated.

If it is determined in step S31 that the reading of the data of the entire recognition parallel block has been completed, the process returns to step S24, and as described above,
From the parallel block group in which the physical file specified by the target start entry is recorded, a parallel block from which data has not been read yet is newly selected as a recognized parallel block, and the processing from step S25 is repeated.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S30 that reading of all data of the logical file to be read has been completed, that is, if reading of data from the start page to the end page recognized in step S22 has been completed Then, the reading process ends.

Next, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 10, instead of the file size shown in FIG. 2, the file management information is configured using a file range representing the range from the beginning to the end of the logical file in page units. With this configuration, for example, division or combination of a file, addition of an index, and the like can be easily performed at an arbitrary page position in a logical file.

First, an index adding process for adding an index to an arbitrary page position of a logical file will be described.

For example, as shown in FIG. 10, file management information or block management information respectively
Assuming that the file is stored in the file management information storage unit 2 or the block management information storage unit 3, for example, the operation unit 11 adds an index to the twelfth page from the top of the 23-page logical file F [1] Is operated. In this case, the recording medium control unit 42 changes the file management information of the logical file F [1] stored in the file management information storage unit 2 as shown in FIG. 13, for example.

That is, the recording medium control unit 42 converts the file management information of the logical file F [1] shown in FIG. 10 into the file range R [0:22] without changing the file name and the start entry. By dividing the page at the page corresponding to the position where the index addition is instructed, two pieces of file management information are obtained. Specifically, in this case, the index addition is instructed to the twelfth page from the top of the logical file F [1], so the file range R [0:
22] is divided between the eleventh page and the twelfth page from the top, and is divided into R [0:10] and R [11:22]. As a result, the file management information of the logical file F [1] has the file name F, as shown in FIG.
[1], the first file management information whose file range is R [0:10], the start entry is T [1: 1], the file name is F [1], and the file range is R [11: 2]
2], the start entry is divided into T [1: 1] second file management information.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 13, the first file management information of the logical file F [1] is stored in the entry M [0] in which the original file management information is stored. The management information includes an entry M [1] in which the file management information of the logical file F [2] is stored,
Logical file F [2] or F
The file management information of [0] is the entry M [1] one entry above the entry M [1] or M [2] stored so far.
It has been moved to [2] or M [3] respectively.

Reading of the logical file F [1] to which the index has been added as described above is performed basically in the same manner as the case described with reference to FIG.

That is, when the operation unit 11 is operated to reproduce data and the logical file F [1] is specified as the logical file to be read, the recording medium control unit 42 The file management information of the file F [1] is retrieved from the file management information storage unit 2, and by referring to the file range, the logical file F [ [1] are recognized (steps S21 and S2).
2).

More specifically, when the storage state of the file management information storage unit 2 is as shown in FIG. 13, the logical arrangements of the entries M [0] and M [1] are respectively. The file management information of the file F [1] is searched, and the file range R of each file management information is retrieved.
By referring to [0:10] and R [11:22], for the file range R [0:10], the physical file specified by the target start entry (start entry of the searched file management information) is determined. The first to eleventh pages of the constituent pages have a file range R [11:22], and the twelfth to twenty-third pages of the pages constituting the physical file specified by the target start entry. Are recognized as pages constituting the logical file F [1].

Then, the recording medium control unit 42 searches the block management information storage unit 3 for block management information described in the BAT entry that matches the target start entry, and, based on the block management information, retrieves the target start entry. Recognize the parallel blocks configured when writing the specified physical file. That is, in this case,
The target start entry is T [1: 1]. Therefore, by following the block management information from the BAT entry T [1: 1], as described above, the target start entry T [1: 1] The parallel block constructed when writing the specified physical file is a block C
B [1: 1], CB [2: 2], CB [3: 1], CB
It is recognized that the first parallel block is composed of four blocks [0: 1] and the second parallel block is composed of two blocks CB [1: 2] and CB [3: 2] (step). S23, S24).

Thereafter, as long as random access is not instructed, from the first page of the pages in which the physical file specified by the target start entry is recognized, which is recognized as a page constituting the logical file F [1]. From page 11 to page 12, and from page 12 to 23
The pages up to the page are sequentially read. (Step S24
To S31). That is, the data recorded from the first page to the eleventh page of the first parallel block is sequentially read, and further, the data recorded from the twelfth page to the sixteenth page of the first parallel block, The data recorded from the first page to the seventh page of the two parallel blocks are sequentially read (steps S24 to S31).

On the other hand, the recording medium control unit 42
While the data is being read from, the operation unit 11 is operated by the user. For example, if a command for random access to the next index is received, the data from the page to be read is read. Stop reading. Further, the recording medium control unit 42 searches for a file range including the page whose reading has been stopped, and searches the file range in the file management information arranged in the next entry of the file management information in which the file range is described. Start reading data from the start page in the specified range.

That is, for example, the logical file F
[1] is specified by any one of the first to eleventh pages of the page in which the physical file specified by the target start entry is recorded, that is, the file range R [0:10]. It is assumed that, when data is being read from any of the pages in the range to be operated, a random access to the next index is instructed by operating the operation unit 11.

In this case, the recording medium control unit 42 stops reading data from the page to be read, and searches the file range R [0:10] including the page whose reading has been stopped. . Further, the recording medium control unit 42 sets the file range R [0: 1
[0] is described in the next entry of the file management information, that is, in FIG. 13, the file range R [11:22] in the file management information arranged in the entry M [1]. Starts reading data from the start page in the range specified by. Therefore, in this case, the start entry T [1:
The reading is started from the twelfth page of the page in which the physical file specified by [1] is recorded.
Up to the third page are sequentially read. That is, the reading position is jumped (skipped) to the twelfth page to which the index is added.

As described above, using the file range,
By configuring the file management information, an index can be added at an arbitrary page position with respect to the logical file, and random access can be made to the position where the index is added.

Here, for example, with respect to the logical file F [1], the second from the twelfth page of the page in which the physical file specified by the target start entry is recorded.
When data is being read from any of the pages up to the third page, that is, from any page in the range specified by the file range R [11:22], the operation unit 11 is operated. When a random access to the next index is instructed, the recording medium control unit 42 also stops reading data from the page to be read now, for example.
The reading of data from a page in a range specified by the file range in the file management information arranged in the next entry of the file management information in which the file range including the page whose reading has been stopped is described is started. Therefore, in this case, the file management information arranged in the next entry of the file management information in which the file range R [11:22] including the page whose reading is stopped is described, that is, in FIG. Reading of the logical file F [2] is started based on the file management information of the logical file F [2] arranged in M [2].

As the random access, in addition to the jump to the next index, the jump to the next logical file can be performed. further,
When a page is designated, random access such as jumping to a page corresponding to the designated address is also possible (details of the random access to the predetermined page will be described later).

Next, the index adding process will be further described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

For example, if the user operates the operation unit 11 to add an index in the case where the writing process or the reading process described with reference to FIG. 11 or FIG. 12 is performed, a signal corresponding to the operation is output. Is received by the recording medium control unit 42. In step S41, the recording medium control unit 42 recognizes that it is requested to add an index in response to a signal from the operation unit 11. Thereafter, the user operates the operation unit 11.
When the position of the index to be added (however, in units of pages) is designated by operating, the recording medium control unit 42 recognizes the page to which the index is added in accordance with the operation of the operation unit 11 in step S42. I do.

Here, the position where an index is added to a logical file to be written or read can be specified by, for example, the number of pages from the head of the logical file. Also, an index button for designating a position to add an index is provided as a button constituting the operation unit 11, and a page to which writing or reading is performed when the index button is operated is added with an index. It is also possible to make a page.

After recognizing the page to which the index is to be added, the process proceeds to step S43, where the recording medium control unit 42
The file management information of the logical file to be written or read is divided without changing the file name and start entry, and only the file range is divided by the page corresponding to the position where the index is specified. Thus, two pieces of file management information are obtained. Then, the process proceeds to step S44, where the recording medium control unit 4
2 changes the two file management information to the original file management information (the file management information before dividing the file range) and stores it in the file management information storage unit 2;
As a result, the storage content of the file management information storage unit 2 is changed, and the index addition processing ends.

In the case shown in FIG. 13, the file management information of the logical file F [1] which has been divided into two by adding the index is stored in the continuous entry of the file management information storage unit 2. Although the two file management information items are stored, they need not always be stored in consecutive entries. However, in the reading process, for example, 2
In the present embodiment, if data managed by the information stored in the lower entry of the file management information is reproduced earlier, the file range R [s : E], the smaller the s that defines the start page, must be stored in the lower entry.

Next, a file division process for dividing a logical file into a plurality of logical files in page units will be described.

For example, as shown in FIG. 10, file management information or block management information is
Assuming that the logical file F [1] composed of 23 pages is stored in the file management information storage unit 2 or the block management information storage unit 3, the logical file F [1] composed of the first to eleventh pages is It is assumed that the operation unit 11 is operated so as to divide the file into a second logical file including the twelfth to twenty-third pages. In this case, the recording medium control unit 42 changes the file management information of the logical file F [1] stored in the file management information storage unit 2 as shown in FIG. 15, for example.

That is, the recording medium control unit 42 sets the file range R of the file management information of the logical file F [1].
[0:22] is divided into pages corresponding to the position where the index addition is instructed, to be two file management information. More specifically, in this case, the logical file F [1] is divided into a first logical file consisting of pages 1 to 11 and a second logical file consisting of pages 12 to 23. Has been instructed to divide the file range, the file range R [0:22]
It is divided between the eleventh page and the twelfth page from the top, and is divided into R [0:10] and R [11:22]. Accordingly, the file management information of the logical file F [1] has a file name of F [1] and a file range of R [0:
10], first file management information whose start entry is T [1: 1], file name is F [1], file range is R [11:22], and start entry is T [1:
1] and the second file management information. Furthermore, the recording medium control unit 42 changes, for example, the file name of the second file management information in the first or second file management information to a new file name F [3].

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 15, the first file management information of the logical file F [1] is stored in the entry M [0] where the original file management information is stored, in the second file. The management information includes the entry M [2] in which the file management information of the logical file F [0] is stored,
The file management information of the logical file F [0] is moved to the entry M [3] one level above the previously stored entry M [2].

Here, in the above case, the logical file F
After dividing the file management information of [1] into first and second file management information, the file name of the first file management information is kept at the original F [1] and the second file management The file name of the information is changed to a new file name. Conversely, the file name of the second file management information is kept at the original F [1] and the file name of the first file management information is changed. The name may be changed to a new file name. In addition, both the file names of the first and second file management information can be changed to new file names (however, different file names are used for the first and second file management information).

The logical file F divided into two as described above
Reading of [1] or F [3] can be performed in the same manner as in the case described with reference to FIG.

That is, when the operation unit 11 is operated to reproduce data, and the logical file F [1] is specified as the logical file to be read, the recording medium control unit 42 15, the logical file F
By retrieving the file management information of [1] from the file management information storage unit 2 and referring to the file range,
Among the pages constituting the physical file specified by the start entry, the start page and the end page constituting the logical file F [1] are recognized (steps S21, S22).

More specifically, when the storage state of the file management information storage unit 2 is as shown in FIG. 15, the logical file F located in the entry M [0]
The file management information of [1] is searched, and by referring to the file range R [0:10] of the file management information, the physical file specified by the target start entry (start entry of the searched file management information) Are recognized as pages constituting the logical file F [1].

Then, the recording medium control unit 42 searches the block management information storage unit 3 for block management information described in the BAT entry that matches the target start entry, and, based on the block management information, retrieves the target start entry. Recognize the parallel blocks configured when writing the specified physical file. That is, in this case,
The target start entry is T [1: 1]. Therefore, by following the block management information from the BAT entry T [1: 1], as described above, the target start entry T [1: 1] The parallel block constructed when writing the specified physical file is a block C
B [1: 1], CB [2: 2], CB [3: 1], CB
It is recognized that the first parallel block is composed of four blocks [0: 1] and the second parallel block is composed of two blocks CB [1: 2] and CB [3: 2] (step). S23, S24).

Thereafter, as long as random access is not instructed, from the first page of the pages in which the physical file specified by the target start entry is recognized, which is recognized as a page constituting the logical file F [1]. The data FS [1: 0], FS shown in FIG. 1 recorded up to the eleventh page, that is, from the first page to the eleventh page constituting the first parallel block, respectively.
[1: 1], FS [1: 2], FS [1: 3], FS
[1: 4], FS [1: 5], FS [1: 6], FS
[1: 7], FS [1: 8], FS [1: 9], FS
[1:10] is read (Steps S24 to S3)
1).

On the other hand, if the operation unit 11 is operated to reproduce data, and the logical file F [3] is specified as the logical file to be read, the recording medium control unit 42 15, the logical file F
By retrieving the file management information of [3] from the file management information storage unit 2 and referring to the file range,
Among the pages constituting the physical file specified by the start entry, the start page and the end page constituting the logical file F [3] are recognized (steps S21, S22).

More specifically, if the storage state of the file management information storage unit 2 is as shown in FIG. 15, the logical file F located in the entry M [2]
The file management information of [3] is searched, and by referring to the file range R [11:22] of each file management information, the physical entry specified by the target start entry (start entry of the searched file management information) is obtained. Of the pages that make up the file, 2 from page 12
Up to the third page are recognized as pages constituting the logical file F [3].

Then, the recording medium control unit 42 searches the block management information storage unit 3 for block management information described in the BAT entry that matches the target start entry, and, based on the block management information, retrieves the target start entry. Recognize the parallel blocks configured when writing the specified physical file. That is, in this case,
The target start entry is T [1: 1]. Therefore, by following the block management information from the BAT entry T [1: 1], as described above, the target start entry T [1: 1] The parallel block constructed when writing the specified physical file is a block C
B [1: 1], CB [2: 2], CB [3: 1], CB
It is recognized that the first parallel block is composed of four blocks [0: 1] and the second parallel block is composed of two blocks CB [1: 2] and CB [3: 2] (step). S23, S24).

Thereafter, unless random access is instructed, the twelfth page of the pages in which the physical file specified by the target start entry is recognized, which is recognized as a page constituting the logical file F [3]. Up to the 23rd page, that is, from the twelfth page to the sixteenth page constituting the first parallel block, and further from the first page to the seventh page constituting the second parallel block.
The data FS [1:11], FS [1:12], FS [1: 1] shown in FIG.
3], FS [1:14], FS [1:15], FS
[1:16], FS [1:17], FS [1:18],
FS [1:19], FS [1:20], FS [1: 2]
1], FS [1:21], and FS [1:22] are read (steps S24 to S31).

Next, the file division processing will be further described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

For example, when the write processing or the read processing described with reference to FIG. 11 or FIG. 12, respectively, is performed, the user operates the operation unit 11 so as to divide the logical file to be processed. When operated, a signal corresponding to the operation is received by the recording medium control unit 42. In step S51, the recording medium control unit 42 recognizes that it is requested to divide the logical file in response to the signal from the operation unit 11. Thereafter, when the user operates the operation unit 11 to specify a position (however, a page unit) at which to split the logical file, in step S52, the recording medium control unit 42
Recognizes a page for dividing the logical file in accordance with the operation of the operation unit 11.

Here, the position at which the logical file to be written or read is divided can be specified by, for example, the number of pages from the beginning of the logical file. Further, a division button for designating a position at which a logical file is divided is provided as a button constituting the operation unit 11, and a page which is written or read when the division button is operated is divided. It is also possible to make a page.

After recognizing the page that divides the logical file, the process proceeds to step S53, where the recording medium control unit 42
The file management information for the logical file that is the target of the write or read process can be divided by the page corresponding to the position where the division was instructed, without changing the file name and start entry. , First and second file management information.
After that, the user operates the operation unit 11 to
When a new file name is input, the recording medium control unit 42
In step S54, for example, the file name of the second file management information is changed to the new file name. Then, proceeding to step S55, the recording medium control unit 42 changes the first and second two file management information to the original file management information (the file management information before dividing the file range) and performs the file management. The information is stored in the information storage unit 2, whereby the storage content of the file management information storage unit 2 is changed, and the file division processing ends.

In the case shown in FIG. 15, 1
Of the logical file F [1] of the new logical file F
[1] and F [3] are divided into two, but one logical file can be divided into three or more logical files.

In the file division processing, it is possible to perform division such that part or all of the file range of the two file management information obtained after division overlaps.

That is, for example, in FIG. 10, the logical file F [1] is composed of pages 1 to 22 of the physical file specified by its start entry T [1: 1]. Logical file F [1]
Of the physical file specified by the start entry T [1: 1], for example, the first logical file composed of the fifth to fifteenth pages and the eleventh to twentieth pages thereof It can be divided into a second logical file to be composed (in this case, 1
(Pages 1 to 15 overlap). In this case, the file management information of the first logical file is obtained by changing the file range R [0:22] of the file management information of the logical file F [1] to R [4:14]. The file management information of the second logical file is such that the file name F [1] of the file management information of the logical file F [1] is changed to another file name, and the file range R [0:22]. ] Has been changed to R [10:19].

In the file division processing, the logical file can be copied by matching the file range of the two file management information obtained after the division with the original file management information. That is, for example, in the case shown in FIG. 15, the logical files F [1] and F [1]
Assuming that the file range of the file management information of [3] is the file range R [0:22] of the file management information of the original logical file F [1] shown in FIG. 10, the logical file F [3] ] Becomes the same as the data of the logical file F [1], and as a result, the copy of the logical file F [1] can be realized.

Next, a file combining process for combining a plurality of logical files into one logical file in page units will be described.

For example, as shown in FIG. 15, file management information or block management information is
Assuming that the two logical files F [3] and F [0] are stored in the file management information storage unit 2 or the block management information storage unit 3, for example, F [3] and F [0] in this order. It is assumed that the operation unit 11 is operated so as to be combined with one new logical file. In this case, the recording medium control unit 42 stores the file management information of the logical files F [3] and F [0] stored in the file management information storage unit 2,
For example, it is changed as shown in FIG.

That is, the recording medium control unit 42 changes only the file names of the file management information of the logical files F [3] and F [0] to the same new file name F [4].

The file name of the file management information for each of the logical files F [3] and F [0] is not a new file name F [4] but is either F [3] or F [0]. It can be changed.

As described above, the logical files F [3] and F [3]
Reading of the logical file F [4] combined with [0] is performed in the same manner as in the case described with reference to FIG.

That is, when the operation unit 11 is operated to reproduce data, and the logical file F [4] is specified as the logical file to be read, the recording medium control unit 42 The file management information of the file F [4] is searched from the file management information storage unit 2, and by referring to the file range, the logical file F [ [4] are recognized (steps S21 and S2).
2).

More specifically, if the storage state of the file management information storage unit 2 is as shown in FIG. 17, the logical arrangements of the entries M [2] and M [3] are as follows. The file management information of the file F [4] is searched, and the file range R of each file management information is retrieved.
By referring to [11:22] and R [0:11], according to the file range R [11:22] of the entry M [2], it is specified by the target start entry T [1: 1]. According to the file range R [0:11] of the entry M [3], the target start entry T [1: 0] specifies the twelfth to twenty-third pages of the pages constituting the physical file. Of the physical file constituting the logical file F [4] are recognized as pages constituting the logical file F [4].

Then, the recording medium control unit 42 searches the block management information storage unit 3 for block management information described in the BAT entry that matches the target start entry, and, based on the block management information, retrieves the target start entry. Recognize the parallel blocks configured when writing the specified physical file.

That is, in this case, for the entry M [2], the target start entry is T [1: 1]. Therefore, it is necessary to follow the block management information from the BAT entry T [1: 1]. As described above, the parallel blocks formed when writing the physical file specified by the target start entry T [1: 1] are the blocks CB [1: 1], CB [2: 2], CB [ 3:
1], a first parallel block composed of four blocks CB [0: 1], and blocks CB [1: 2] and CB [3: 2].
(Steps S23 and S24).

Thereafter, the noted start entry T, which is recognized as a page constituting the logical file F [4],
The 12th to 23rd pages of the page in which the physical file specified by [1: 1] is recorded,
Read sequentially. (Steps S24 to S31). That is, the data FS [1: 1] shown in FIG. 1 and recorded from the twelfth page to the sixteenth page of the first parallel block.
1], FS [1:12], FS [1:13], FS
[1:14], FS [1:15], and the data FS [1:16], FS [shown in FIG. 1 recorded from the first page to the seventh page of the second parallel block. 1:
17], FS [1:18], FS [1:19], FS
[1:20], FS [1:21], and FS [1:22] are sequentially read (steps S24 to S31).

For the entry M [3], the target start entry is T [1: 0].
By following the block management information from the BAT entry T [1: 0], as described above, the parallel block configured when writing the physical file specified by the target start entry T [1: 0] becomes Block CB
It is recognized that the block is a parallel block including three blocks of [1: 0], CB [2: 0], and CB [3: 0] (steps S23 and S24).

Thereafter, the noticed start entry T which is recognized as a page constituting the logical file F [4].
From the page in which the physical file specified by [1: 0] is recorded, the first to twelfth pages are sequentially read. (Steps S24 to S31). That is, the data FS [0: 0: shown in FIG. 1 recorded from the first page to the twelfth page of the above-described parallel block.
0], FS [0: 1], FS [0: 2], FS [0:
3], FS [0: 4], FS [0: 5], FS [0:
6], FS [0: 7], FS [0: 8], FS [0:
9], FS [0:10], and FS [0:11] are sequentially read (steps S24 to S31).

Accordingly, as the logical file F [4],
Data FS [1:11] to FS [1:22], FS
[0: 0] to FS [0:11] are sequentially read.

In the case shown in FIG. 17, two file management information items for the new logical file F [4] are stored in consecutive entries in the file management information storage unit 2. The two file management information need not always be stored in consecutive entries. Also, here, a new logical file F
Since the data managed by the information stored in the lower entry of the two file management information items [4] is reproduced earlier, the two logical files F [3] in FIG. ] And F [0],
Instead of the order of F [3], F [0], F [0], F [0]
When combining with one new logical file F [4] in the order of [3], the entries M [2] and M [3] in FIG.
Needs to be arranged in the reverse order to the case shown in FIG.

Next, the file combining process will be further described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

For example, when the user operates the operation unit 11 so as to perform the file combining process, a signal corresponding to the operation is received by the recording medium control unit 42. In step S61, the recording medium control unit 42 recognizes that it is requested to combine logical files in response to a signal from the operation unit 11. Thereafter, when the user operates the operation unit 11 to specify two logical files to be combined, in step S62, the recording medium control unit 42 responds to the operation of the operation unit 11 to Recognize logical files.

Here, the logical file to be combined can be specified, for example, by the user operating the operation unit 11 and inputting the file name of the logical file. Further, the recording medium control unit 42
By referring to the file management information, a list of file names recorded there is displayed on the display unit 12,
The user looks at the list and determines the logical file to be combined.
It is also possible to specify by operating the operation unit 11.

Thereafter, the user inputs a file name of a new logical file obtained by combining the logical files,
The input is made by operating the operation unit 11, and the recording medium control unit 42 recognizes the file name of the new logical file according to the operation. Then, proceeding to step S64, the recording medium control unit 42 stores the file management information for the logical file to be combined (the logical file recognized in step S62), without changing the file range and the start entry, but only the file name. Is changed to the file name of the new logical file (the file name recognized in step S63), the changed file management information is stored in the file management information storage unit 2, and the file combining process ends.

In the file combining process, in addition to two logical files, three or more logical files can be combined into one new logical file.

Next, with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 19, a description will be given of a random access process for performing random access to a page of a specified logical file when a logical file and a page are specified.

When the user operates the operation unit 11 to specify a logical file and a page to be randomly accessed, the recording medium control unit 42 proceeds to step S7.
In step 1, a logical file and a page targeted for random access are recognized in response to the operation of the operation unit 11.
Further, in step S72, the recording medium control unit 42 recognizes the configuration of the block in which the data of the logical file to be randomly accessed is recorded by referring to the file management information and the block management information.

More specifically, for example, in FIG. 10, when the logical file F [1] is recognized as a logical file to be randomly accessed, the process proceeds to step S7.
2, the block CB in which the physical file specified by the start entry of the file management information is recorded
[1: 1], CB [2: 2], CB [3: 1], CB
[0: 1], CB [1: 2], and CB [3: 2], and it is recognized that the data of the physical file has been recorded in such a block order.

[0257] Thereafter, in step S73, the recording medium control unit 42 determines the parallel block formed when the physical file specified by the start entry of the file management information for the logical file to be randomly accessed is recorded. , By referring to the block management information.

More specifically, for example, in FIG. 10, when the logical file F [1] is recognized as a logical file to be randomly accessed, the process proceeds to step S7.
3, the physical file specified by the start entry T [1: 1] of the file management information includes the blocks CB [1: 1], CB [2: 2],
Four blocks of CB [3: 1] and CB [0: 1] are assigned to the first block.
Are recorded as parallel blocks, and the blocks CB
It is recognized that two blocks of [1: 2] and CB [3: 2] are recorded as the second parallel block.

Then, the flow advances to step S74 to calculate which parallel block corresponds to the page designated as the page to be randomly accessed.

That is, as described above, when the first and second parallel blocks are recognized, one block is composed of four pages, so that the first parallel block is composed of 16 pages (= The second parallel block has a capacity of 4 blocks × 4 pages, and the second parallel block has 8 pages (= 2 pages × 4 pages).
Page). Therefore, for example, if random access is instructed to the 20th page of the logical file F [1], the 20th page is the fourth page (= 20) of the second parallel block. -16).

When the page designated as the page to be randomly accessed is recognized as the page of which parallel block, the process proceeds to step S75, where the recording medium control unit 42 calculates the physical address of the page. Is done. That is, it is assumed that the page specified as the page to be randomly accessed is the Mth page of the Nth parallel block, and that the Nth parallel block is composed of K blocks. Further, among the K blocks forming the N-th parallel block, the block in which data is recorded at the k-th (the k-th block selected when forming the N-th parallel block) is referred to as the k-th block. Block. In this case, the recording medium control unit 42 sets the ((M−M) of the K blocks forming the Nth parallel block.
1) From the bottom of% K) +1 block, INT [(M−
1) / K] +1 physical address CBP of page 1
[C: b: p] is calculated.

Here, in the physical address CBP [c: b: p] obtained in step S75, c is the chip number of the recording medium piece including the ((M-1)% K) +1 block. , B are ((M−1)% K) +
This is the block number of one block. P is INT from the bottom of the ((M−1)% K) +1 block.
[(M-1) / K] +1 is the page number of the first page.

(M-1)% K represents the remainder when M-1 is divided by K, and INT [(M-1) / K]
Represents an integer part of a quotient obtained by dividing (M-1) by K.

Therefore, for example, when the random access is instructed to the 20th page of the logical file F [1], the 20th page is the fourth page of the second parallel block, and , A second parallel block,
Since the block CB [1: 2] or CB [3: 2] is configured as a first block or a second block, respectively, in step S75, of the two blocks configuring the second parallel block, , ((4-1)%
2) From the bottom of the +1 block, INT [(4-1) /
2] + 1st page, that is, the physical address CBP [3: 2: 1] of the second page from the bottom of the block CB [3: 2] as the second block (FIG. 1) is calculated.

[0265] Thereafter, the flow advances to step S76, where the recording medium control unit 42 executes step S29 of the reading process in FIG.
In, control is performed so that data reading is started from the physical address obtained in step S75,
The random access processing ends.

Next, when each of the recording medium pieces 1A to 1D is constituted by a flash memory, for example,
As described above, data is erased in units of blocks. On the other hand, in the present embodiment, as described above, since the logical file can be divided in page units,
There is a case where data of one logical file is recorded in a block in which data of one logical file is recorded. In such a case, a block in which data of one logical file is recorded is erased. Then, the data of another logical file is also deleted.

Therefore, here, when a file deletion is instructed, the file deletion processing according to the flowchart of FIG. 20 is performed, whereby the other logical file as described above is deleted. It is designed to prevent erasure of data.

That is, when the user operates the operation unit 11 to input a logical file to be erased, the recording medium control unit 42 recognizes the logical file in step S81. Further, the recording medium control unit 42
In step S82, file management information in which the same start entry as the file management information for the logical file to be deleted is described is searched, and the file range of the searched file management information is recognized.

Specifically, for example, in FIG. 15, when the deletion of the logical file F [3] is instructed, the same start entry T as the file management information is given.
The file management information having [1: 1] and stored in the entry M [0] is searched, and the file range R is searched.
[0:10] is recognized.

[0270] Thereafter, in step S83, the recording medium control unit 42 determines that only the file name of the file management information retrieved in step S82 is invalid, that is, only the argument of the file name F [] Detect hyphens. Therefore, as described above, when the file management information stored in the entry M [0] in FIG. 15 is searched in step S82, in step S83, only the file name of the file management information is invalid. Is not detected (the file name, file range, and start entry are all valid).

In this embodiment, when all of the file name, the file range, and the start entry are invalidated (hereinafter referred to as “completely invalid” as appropriate), the file management information includes only the file name. It may be invalidated (hereinafter referred to as partially invalidated as appropriate). The details of complete invalidation and partial invalidation will be described later.

After the processing in step S83, step S8
Proceeding to 4, the recording medium control unit 42 recognizes the configuration of the block in which the data of the logical file to be erased is recorded by referring to the file management information and the block management information.

That is, as described above, when the logical file F [3] in FIG. 15 is specified as the logical file to be deleted, in step S84, the start entry T [1: 1] of the file management information is set. ] Is recorded in the block CB [1:
1], CB [2: 2], CB [3: 1], CB [0:
1], CB [1: 2], and CB [3: 2], and it is recognized that the data of the physical file has been recorded in such a block order.

Thereafter, in step S85, the recording medium control unit 42 performs block management of the parallel block formed when the physical file specified by the start entry of the file management information for the logical file to be erased is recorded. Recognize by referring to information.

That is, for example, if the logical file F [3] is
If it is specified as a logical file to be deleted, in step S84, as described above, the physical file specified by the start entry T [1: 1] of the file management information is the block CB [1: 1]. ], CB
Four blocks of [2: 2], CB [3: 1], and CB [0: 1] are recorded as a first parallel block.
It is recognized that two blocks of blocks CB [1: 2] and CB [3: 2] are recorded as a second parallel block.

[0276] Thereafter, in step S86, the recording medium control unit 42 can erase the data recorded in the parallel blocks recognized in step S85 (hereinafter, appropriately referred to as erasable parallel blocks). The file range of the logical file to be deleted,
The determination is made based on the file range recognized in step S82 and the parallel block recognized in step S84. In step S86, when it is determined that there is no erasable parallel block among the parallel blocks recognized in step S85, steps S87 and S88 are skipped, and the process proceeds to step S89.

On the other hand, when it is determined in step S86 that there is an erasable parallel block among the parallel blocks recognized in step S85, the process proceeds to step S87, and the recording medium control unit 42 determines that the erasable parallel block is Erase the recorded data.

That is, for example, if the logical file F [3] is
If it is specified as a logical file to be erased, in step S82, the same start entry T [1 ::] as the file management information for the logical file to be erased.
1], that is, entry M
The file management information recorded in [0] is searched,
Since the logical file F [1] managed by this file management information is not to be deleted, the file recorded in the entry M [0] of the physical file specified by the start entry T [1: 1] Pages corresponding to the file range R [0:10] of the management information, that is, pages 1 to 11 must not be deleted.

On the other hand, the physical file specified by the start entry T [1: 1] is a block CB [1:
1], CB [2: 2], CB [3: 1], CB [0:
1] are recorded as a first parallel block, and blocks CB [1: 2] and CB [3: 2] are further recorded.
Are recorded as a second parallel block, and since one block is composed of four pages, the first parallel block has pages 1 to 16 and the second parallel block has It has the first to eighth pages. Here, if the first page to the 16th page forming the first parallel block and the first page to the 8th page forming the second parallel block are described in a file range, R [0 : 15] or R [1
6:23].

The logical file F to be erased is
The file range of [3] is R [11:22], which represents the 12th to 23rd pages of the physical file specified by the start entry T [1: 1]. The 12th to 23rd pages are recorded on the 12th to 16th pages forming the first parallel block, and the 1st to 7th pages forming the second parallel block. Therefore, originally, the data recorded in the first and second parallel blocks should be erased.

However, in this case, as described above, the first to eleventh pages of the physical file specified by the start entry T [1: 1] corresponding to the file range R [0:10] are used. Since the data must not be erased, the data recorded in the first parallel block including the page cannot be erased. Therefore, in step S86, the first parallel block that should be erased is
It is determined that the block is not an erasable parallel block. Also, data that should not be erased is not recorded in the second parallel block that should be erased, and therefore, step S8
At 6, it is determined that the second parallel block is an erasable parallel block.

As described above, when the logical file F [3] is designated as a logical file to be deleted, it is determined in step S86 that there is an erasable parallel block among the parallel blocks recognized in step S85. And
Proceeding to step S87, the erasable parallel block, that is, the block CB [1:] constituting the second parallel block
2] and CB [3: 2] are erased.

Then, the flow advances to a step S88, where the recording medium control section 42 changes the block management information for managing the block from which the data has been erased in the step S87. That is, in the block management information of the block from which data has been erased, the link information is invalidated, and the first flag, the next flag, and the last flag of the status flags are all set to 0 (the empty block is deleted). Shall be shown). Specifically, for example, as described above, when data recorded in two blocks of blocks CB [1: 2] and CB [3: 2] is erased, blocks CB [1: 2] and CB [1: 2] are deleted. The link information of the block management information for CB [3: 2] is T [-:-].
Furthermore, the first of the status flags, n
The ext flag and the last flag are both set to 0.

[0284] Thereafter, the flow advances to step S89, where the recording medium control unit 42 changes the file management information to be deleted and other necessary file management information, and ends the file deletion processing.

That is, for example, if the logical file F [3]
When the logical file F [3] is specified as the logical file to be erased, as described above, from the 12th to the 23rd page of the physical file specified by the start entry T [1: 1]. Data is recorded. Then, from the twelfth page to the twenty-third page, the twelfth page to the sixteenth page constituting the first parallel block and the first page constituting the second parallel block.
Data recorded from the page to the seventh page, but recorded in the first parallel block is not erased from the above. Therefore, the logical file F [3] is included in the first parallel block from the twelfth page to the sixteenth page.
Data is physically left.

For this reason, in step S89, the file management information of the logical file F [3] indicates that the file range R [11:22] indicates that the data of the twelfth page of the first parallel block in which the physical data still remains. To R [11:15], which represents the first through the sixteenth pages. Further, in step S89, only the file name of the file management information of the logical file F [3] is invalidated, that is, partly invalidated.

Here, since the file management information partially invalidated has no description of the file name, the logical file is equivalent to being deleted. Therefore, partially invalid means logical erasure of a logical file.

The above file erasing process is performed, for example, as shown in FIG.
In the case where the logical file F [3] in No. 5 is to be deleted, the file management information and the block management information are as shown in FIG.

That is, in this case, as described above, the blocks CB [1: 2], CB constituting the second parallel block
Since the data recorded in the two blocks [3: 2] is erased, the blocks CB [1: 2] and CB [3:
The link information of the block management information for [2] is T
[−: −], And among the status flags, the first flag, the next flag, and the last flag are all set to 0.

Furthermore, since the data of the logical file F [3] physically remains on the twelfth page to the sixteenth page of the first parallel block, the logical file F [3]
The file management information of [3] includes the file range R
[11:22] is changed to R [11:15] representing the twelfth to sixteenth pages of the first parallel block in which data remains physically, and only the file name is invalid. Is done.

It should be noted that the logical file F in FIG.
If [3] is to be erased, block CB [1:
1], CB [2: 2], CB [3: 1], CB [0:
1], the data recorded in the second parallel block composed of two blocks CB [1: 2] and CB [3: 2] remains unchanged. The first block C constituting the second parallel block, which is linked to the data recorded in the last block CB [0: 1] of the first parallel block, is erased.
The data recorded in B [1: 2] will be lost. For this reason, in FIG. 15, the next flag and the loop flag of the block management information of the last block CB [0: 1] of the first parallel block are 1, but this block management information is changed in step S88. Then, as shown in FIG. 21, the next flag and the loop flag are set to 0, and la
The st flag is set to 1.

In step S82, file management information in which the same start entry as the file management information for the logical file to be deleted is described is searched. In step S83, the file management information among the searched file management information is searched. If only the first name is invalid (partially invalid) is detected, the page specified by the file range and start entry of the partially invalid file management information includes:
Since the data of the logical file that has been logically deleted is recorded, and it is not a problem if the data is physically deleted, in step S86, the file of the partially invalidated file management information is deleted. In consideration of the range, it is determined whether or not there is an erasable parallel block among the parallel blocks recognized in step S85.

That is, the page specified by the file range of the logical file to be deleted and the page specified by the file range of the file management information that is partially invalidated are the pages from which data is to be deleted. Will be recognized as

More specifically, for example, in the case shown in FIG. 21, when the logical file F [1] is designated as the logical file to be deleted, in step S82, the logical file F [1] to be deleted is determined. The partially invalid file management information stored in the entry M [3] is searched for as the file management information in which the same start entry as the file management information for the file is described. Therefore, in step S83, partially invalid file management information stored in the entry M [3] is detected.

Now, the file range of the logical file F [1] to be erased is R [0:10], which is from the first page of the physical file specified by its start entry T [1: 1]. Represents the 11th page. The file range of the partially invalid file management information stored in the entry M [3] is R [11:15],
This represents the 12th to 16th pages of the physical file specified by the start entry T [1: 1].

On the other hand, in the case shown in FIG. 21, the data recorded in the second parallel block composed of two blocks CB [1: 2] and CB [3: 2] has already been erased. Thus, the physical file specified by the start entry T [1: 1] is the block CB [1: 1], C
It is recorded only in the first parallel block consisting of four blocks B [2: 2], CB [3: 1] and CB [0: 1].

As described above, in the first parallel block, only data that can be physically erased is recorded.
In this case, the data recorded in each block constituting the first parallel block is physically erased in block units.

Accordingly, the logical file F [1] to be erased is
Are not physically left, and in this case, the file management information is completely invalidated. Also, the data of the page specified by the file range and the start entry of the partially invalidated file management information of the entry M [3] detected in step S83 does not physically remain, and thus is also completely invalidated. You. Therefore, complete invalidity means physical erasure of the logical file.

As described above, the file management information for managing the logical file in association with the physical file recorded on the recording medium 1 defines the range from the beginning to the end of the logical file in units smaller than the block. Since the data includes a file range expressed in a certain page unit, data written by the parallel recording method can be flexibly handled in a page unit.

In the present embodiment, the recording medium 1 is
Although the recording medium is composed of four recording medium pieces 1A to 1D, the number of recording medium pieces constituting the recording medium 1 is not limited to four.

In the present embodiment, the recording medium 1 is
Although the recording medium 1 is configured by using a flash memory which is a semiconductor memory, the recording medium 1 may be configured by a semiconductor memory other than the flash memory, or may be randomly accessible other than the semiconductor memory, such as a magnetic disk or a magneto-optical disk. It is also possible to use a disk-shaped recording medium such as a disk or a phase change disk. When a magnetic disk or the like is used as the recording medium 1, a block corresponds to a sector.

As the recording medium 1, a readable / writable medium or a read-only medium can be used. However, when a read-only recording medium is used as the recording medium 1, as long as such a recording medium 1 is used, the user terminal functions only as a reproducing apparatus for reproducing data.

Furthermore, it does not matter in what order the data is written in the blocks constituting the parallel block, but there is no problem. However, the data is written continuously over two or more parallel blocks. In this case, it is desirable that the order in which data is written to a block constituting a certain parallel block corresponds to the order in which data is written into a block which constitutes a parallel block to be written next.

That is to say, for example, one block in each of the recording medium pieces 1A to 1D constitutes first and second two parallel blocks composed of four blocks arranged from left to right. When writing to the second parallel block subsequent to the first parallel block, writing is sequentially performed to the four blocks constituting the first parallel block from the leftmost one to the right. In this case, it is desirable to sequentially write the four blocks constituting the second parallel block sequentially from the leftmost one to the right. This is because, for example, in the above case, after writing to the first parallel block, the four blocks forming the second parallel block are sequentially written leftward from the rightmost one to the four blocks constituting the second parallel block. In this case, after the writing to the rightmost block of the first parallel block is completed, the second
Will be written to the block located on the rightmost side of the parallel block, ie, in this case, writing will be continuously performed on the blocks of the recording medium piece 1D, and the first This is because when the writing to the parallel block is completed and the writing to the second parallel block is started, the effect of suppressing the waiting time by writing data in parallel cannot be obtained.

In the case where the user terminal is configured as shown in FIG. 5, the above-described write processing (FIG. 1)
1) is performed in the information providing apparatus shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 for the memory card 21. Therefore, in this case,
The user terminal does not need the function of performing the writing process (FIG. 11). However, even when the user terminal is configured as shown in FIG. 5, it is possible to perform the writing process with the memory card 21 mounted in the slot 20. .

Further, in FIG. 8, the file management information storage unit 2 for storing the file management information does not always need to be physically provided. That is, the file management information is
For example, recording medium pieces 1A to 1D constituting the recording medium 1
Can be recorded in a system block or the like secured in any of the blocks. This means that
Block management information storage unit 3 for storing block management information
The same applies to

In the present embodiment, a file range R [s: e] representing a range from the head to the end of a logical file in page units based on the head of the physical file specified by the start entry is defined as: Although the value s corresponding to the first page of the logical file and the value e corresponding to the last page of the logical file are represented, the file range may be other, for example, the first page of the logical file and its length or length. , Its last page and its length.

[0308]

As described above, according to the recording apparatus, the recording method, the reproducing apparatus, the reproducing method, and the recording medium of the present invention, file management information for managing a logical file in association with a physical file. Then, data management and the like are performed on the basis of information including range information representing the range from the head to the end of the logical file in page units, which are units smaller than blocks. Therefore, data can be handled flexibly in page units.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a recording state of a recording medium 1. FIG.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing file management information and block management information when data is written by the parallel recording method proposed earlier by the present applicant.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining high-speed data writing by the parallel recording method proposed by the present applicant.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing an external configuration example of a first embodiment of a user terminal to which the present invention has been applied.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing an example of an external configuration of a user terminal according to a second embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing an example of an external configuration of an information providing apparatus for providing data to a user terminal according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view illustrating an external configuration example of a second embodiment of an information providing apparatus that provides data to a user terminal.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating an example of an electrical configuration of the user terminal of FIG. 4;

FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of a flash memory.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing file management information adopting a file range instead of the file size of FIG. 2;

FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating a writing process performed by a recording medium control unit of FIG. 8;

FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating a reading process performed by a recording medium control unit 42 in FIG. 8;

FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining an index adding process.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating an index addition process.

FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating a file division process.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart illustrating a file division process.

FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating a file combining process.

FIG. 18 is a flowchart illustrating a file combining process.

FIG. 19 is a flowchart illustrating a random access process.

FIG. 20 is a flowchart illustrating a file erasing process.

FIG. 21 is a diagram illustrating a file erasing process.

[Explanation of symbols]

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 recording medium, 1A to 1D recording medium pieces, 2 file management information storage section, 3 block management information storage section, 11 operation section, 12 display section, 13 earphones, 14, 15 terminals, 20 slots, 21
Memory card, 22A, 22B terminal, 31 display, 31A insertion slot, 31B ejection slot,
32 buttons, 33 slots, 41 transfer control unit, 42 recording medium control unit, 43 reproduction control unit, 5
1 register, 52 memory cell arrays

Claims (89)

[Claims] 1. A recording device that manages a recording area of a recording medium in predetermined block units and records data in parallel, wherein a physical file, which is a physical file, is stored in one of the recording media. To write in parallel to the above blocks,
A configuration unit configured to configure one or more parallel blocks configured by one or more blocks; a writing unit configured to write data of the physical file in parallel with respect to the blocks configuring the parallel block; A block management information storage unit for storing block management information for managing the physical file recorded on a medium in units of the block; and a physical file recorded on the recording medium, the logical file being a logical file. File management information for storing file management information for managing in association with a file, including range information representing a range from the beginning to the end of the logical file in page units, which are units smaller than the block. A recording device comprising: a storage unit. 2. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the block management information includes link information indicating a link state of the block in which the physical file is recorded. 3. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the file management information further includes file identification information for identifying the logical file. 4. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the file management information further includes head position information indicating a head position of the physical file recorded on the recording medium. 5. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the range information is information indicating a head page and an end page of the logical file. 6. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: operating means operated when a predetermined command is input; and changing means for changing the file management information or the block management information in response to the predetermined command. The recording device according to claim 1, wherein 7. The method according to claim 7, wherein, when an instruction to add an index to the logical file is issued, the change unit divides the range information at the page corresponding to the position where the index is to be added. 7. The recording device according to 6. 8. The file management information further includes file identification information for identifying the logical file, and the change unit converts one logical file into a first logical file and a second logical file. When the instruction to divide is issued, the file identification information of the one logical file is
Changing the file identification information of each of the first or second logical file and changing the range information of the first logical file to the range information of each of the first or second logical file. The recording apparatus according to claim 6, wherein 9. The file management information further includes file identification information for identifying the logical file, and the changing unit converts the first logical file and the second logical file into one logical file. 7. The recording apparatus according to claim 6, wherein when a command to combine is made, the file identification information of the first and second logical files is changed to the same one. 10. The method according to claim 6, wherein when the deletion of the logical file is instructed, the changing unit changes the file identification information of the logical file to be deleted to invalid. Recording device. 11. Determine whether data of the physical file corresponding to another logical file is recorded in a block to be erased, which is a block in which data of the physical file corresponding to the logical file to be erased is recorded. The erasing unit further includes a deciding unit, and when the data of the physical file corresponding to another logical file is not recorded in the block to be erased, the file identification information of the logical file to be erased. Changing all the file management information including invalid to invalid, and changing the block management information for managing the erasure target block to information indicating that the erasure target block has become a free area. The recording apparatus according to claim 10, wherein 12. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the configuration unit selects a block which is an empty area and configures the parallel block for writing the physical file, based on the block management information. 2. The recording device according to 1. 13. The recording medium has a plurality of divided recording areas, and the configuration unit determines the block that constitutes the parallel block from one or more of the plurality of recording areas.
2. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the recording apparatus is selected one by one. 14. The recording apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the recording medium includes a plurality of recording medium pieces corresponding to a plurality of recording areas. 15. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising the recording medium. 16. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the recording medium is detachable. 17. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a supply unit that supplies the physical file supplied from an external device to the writing unit. 18. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the recording content of the recording medium is erased in units of the blocks. 19. The recording medium according to claim 1, wherein:
2. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein data is written. 20. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said recording medium is a semiconductor memory. 21. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the recording medium is a disk. 22. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a reading unit that reads data of the physical file corresponding to the logical file based on the file management information and the block management information. 23. The recording medium according to claim 1, wherein:
23. The recording apparatus according to claim 22, wherein data is read. 24. The method according to claim 24, wherein when the random access is performed in the middle of the logical file, the reading unit recognizes the position of the recording medium to be randomly accessed based on the file management information and the block management information. 23. The recording device according to claim 22, wherein 25. A recording method for recording data in parallel by managing a recording area of a recording medium in a predetermined block unit, wherein a physical file which is a physical file is stored in one of the recording media. To write in parallel to the above blocks,
A configuration step of configuring one or more parallel blocks composed of one or more blocks; a writing step of writing data of the physical file in parallel with respect to the blocks configuring the parallel blocks; A block management information storage step of storing block management information for managing the physical file recorded on a medium in units of the block; and storing the logical file, which is a logical file, in the physical medium recorded on the recording medium. File management information for storing file management information for managing in association with a file, including range information representing a range from the beginning to the end of the logical file in page units, which are units smaller than the block. A recording step. 26. The recording method according to claim 25, wherein the block management information includes link information indicating a link state of the block in which the physical file is recorded. 27. The recording method according to claim 25, wherein the file management information further includes file identification information for identifying the logical file. 28. The recording method according to claim 25, wherein the file management information further includes head position information indicating a head position of the physical file recorded on the recording medium. 29. The recording method according to claim 25, wherein said range information is information representing a head and an end page of said logical file. 30. The recording method according to claim 25, further comprising a changing step of changing said file management information or block management information in response to a predetermined command. 31. The method according to claim 31, wherein in the changing step, when an instruction to add an index to the logical file is issued, the range information is divided at the page corresponding to the position where the index is added. 3
0. The recording method according to item 0. 32. The file management information further includes file identification information for identifying the logical file, and in the changing step, one logical file is assigned to a first logical file.
When an instruction to divide the logical file into the logical file and the second logical file is issued, the file identification information of the one logical file is changed to the file identification information of each of the first or second logical file, and 31. The recording method according to claim 30, wherein the range information of the one logical file is changed to the range information of each of the first or second logical files. 33. The file management information further includes file identification information for identifying the logical file, and in the changing step, the first logical file and the second logical file
31. When an instruction is issued to combine the first and second logical files with the first logical file, the file identification information of the first and second logical files is changed to the same file. The recording method described. 34. The method according to claim 30, wherein in the changing step, when an instruction to delete the logical file is issued, the file identification information of the logical file to be deleted is changed to invalid. Recording method. 35. Determine whether or not data of the physical file corresponding to another logical file is recorded in a block to be erased, which is a block in which data of the physical file corresponding to the logical file to be erased is recorded. The erasing block further includes a determining step of determining,
When the data of the physical file corresponding to another logical file is not recorded, all the file management information including the file identification information of the logical file to be erased is changed to invalid, and the data to be erased is changed. 35. The recording method according to claim 34, wherein the block management information for managing the block is changed to information indicating that the block to be erased has become a free area. 36. The method according to claim 36, wherein, in the configuration step, a block which is an empty area and configures the parallel block for writing the physical file is selected based on the block management information. 3
5. The recording method according to 5. 37. The recording medium has a plurality of divided recording areas, and in the configuration step, one or more of the plurality of recording areas constitutes one of the blocks constituting the parallel block. 26. The method of claim 25, wherein the selection is made at a time.
Recording method described in 1. 38. The recording method according to claim 37, wherein the recording medium is constituted by a plurality of recording medium pieces respectively corresponding to a plurality of recording areas. 39. The recording method according to claim 25, wherein the recording content of said recording medium is erased in units of said blocks. 40. The recording medium, wherein:
26. The recording method according to claim 25, wherein data is written. 41. The recording method according to claim 25, wherein said recording medium is a semiconductor memory. 42. The recording method according to claim 25, wherein said recording medium is in the form of a disk. 43. The recording method according to claim 25, further comprising a reading step of reading data of the physical file corresponding to the logical file based on the file management information and the block management information. 44. The recording medium, wherein the page unit is:
44. The recording method according to claim 43, wherein data is read. 45. In the reading step, when random access is performed in the middle of the logical file, a position of the recording medium to be randomly accessed is recognized based on the file management information and the block management information. 44. The recording method according to claim 43, wherein: 46. A reproducing apparatus for reproducing data from a recording medium in which a recording area is managed in a predetermined block unit and data is recorded in parallel, wherein the physical file is a physical file. For writing in parallel to one or more blocks of the recording medium,
The recording medium on which data of the physical file is written in parallel with respect to the blocks constituting the parallel block obtained by configuring one or more parallel blocks composed of the one or more blocks When reading data of the physical file corresponding to a logical file that is a logical file, block management information for managing the physical file recorded on the recording medium in block units, File management information for managing a file in association with the physical file recorded on the recording medium, the range from the beginning to the end of the logical file in page units, which is a unit smaller than the block The physical file corresponding to the logical file based on the information including the range information Reproducing apparatus comprising: a reading means for reading Le data. 47. The reproducing apparatus according to claim 46, wherein the block management information includes link information indicating a link state of the block in which the physical file is recorded. 48. The reproducing apparatus according to claim 46, wherein the file management information further includes file identification information for identifying the logical file. 49. The reproducing apparatus according to claim 46, wherein the file management information further includes head position information indicating a head position of the physical file recorded on the recording medium. 50. The reproducing apparatus according to claim 46, wherein the range information is information indicating a start position and an end position of the logical file. 51. An apparatus according to claim 51, further comprising: operating means operated when a predetermined command is input; and changing means for changing said file management information or block management information in response to said predetermined command. 47. The playback device according to claim 46. 52. When the addition of an index to the logical file is instructed, the change unit divides the range information at the page corresponding to the position where the index is to be added. The playback device according to 51. 53. The file management information further includes file identification information for identifying the logical file, and the changing unit converts one logical file into a first logical file and a second logical file. When the instruction to divide is issued, the file identification information of the one logical file is
Changing the file identification information of each of the first or second logical file and changing the range information of the first logical file to the range information of each of the first or second logical file. 52. The playback device according to claim 51, wherein: 54. The file management information further includes file identification information for identifying the logical file, and the changing unit converts the first logical file and the second logical file into one logical file. 52. The reproducing apparatus according to claim 51, wherein when a command to combine is made, the file identification information of the first and second logical files is changed to the same file. 55. The recording medium has a plurality of divided recording areas, and the parallel block is configured by selecting the blocks one by one from one or more of the plurality of recording areas. 47. The reproducing apparatus according to claim 46, wherein: 56. The reproducing apparatus according to claim 55, wherein the recording medium is composed of a plurality of recording medium pieces corresponding to a plurality of recording areas, respectively. 57. The reproducing apparatus according to claim 46, further comprising the recording medium. 58. The reproducing apparatus according to claim 46, wherein the recording medium is detachable. 59. The reproducing apparatus according to claim 46, further comprising an output unit that outputs the data of the physical file read by the reading unit to the outside. 60. The recording medium, for each of the pages,
47. The reproducing apparatus according to claim 46, wherein data is read. 61. The reproducing apparatus according to claim 46, wherein said recording medium is a semiconductor memory. 62. The reproducing apparatus according to claim 46, wherein the recording medium is a disk. 63. When the random access is made in the middle of the logical file, the reading means recognizes a position of the recording medium to be randomly accessed based on the file management information and the block management information. 47. The playback device according to claim 46. 64. A reproducing method for reproducing data from a recording medium in which a recording area is managed in predetermined block units and data is recorded in parallel, wherein the physical file is a physical file. For writing in parallel to one or more blocks of the recording medium,
The recording medium on which data of the physical file is written in parallel with respect to the blocks constituting the parallel block obtained by configuring one or more parallel blocks composed of the one or more blocks When reading data of the physical file corresponding to a logical file that is a logical file, block management information for managing the physical file recorded on the recording medium in block units, File management information for managing a file in association with the physical file recorded on the recording medium, the range from the beginning to the end of the logical file in page units, which is a unit smaller than the block The physical file corresponding to the logical file based on the information including the range information Reproducing method characterized by comprising the steps of: reading Le data. 65. The reproducing method according to claim 64, wherein the block management information includes link information indicating a link state of the block in which the physical file is recorded. 66. The reproducing method according to claim 64, wherein the file management information further includes file identification information for identifying the logical file. 67. The reproducing method according to claim 64, wherein the file management information further includes head position information indicating a head position of the physical file recorded on the recording medium. 68. The reproducing method according to claim 64, wherein the range information is information indicating a start position and an end position of the logical file. 69. The reproducing method according to claim 64, further comprising a changing step of changing said file management information or block management information in response to a predetermined command. 70. The method according to claim 70, wherein in the changing step, when an instruction to add an index to the logical file is issued, the range information is divided at the page corresponding to the position where the index is added. 6
9. The reproduction method according to item 9. 71. The file management information further includes file identification information for identifying the logical file, and in the changing step, one logical file is first
When an instruction to divide the logical file into the logical file and the second logical file is issued, the file identification information of the one logical file is changed to the file identification information of each of the first or second logical file, and 70. The reproducing method according to claim 69, wherein the range information of the one logical file is changed to the range information of each of the first or second logical files. 72. The file management information further includes file identification information for identifying the logical file, and in the changing step, the first logical file and the second logical file
70. The apparatus according to claim 69, wherein, when an instruction is issued to combine the logical file with the first logical file, the file identification information of the first and second logical files is changed to the same file. The playback method described. 73. The recording medium has a plurality of divided recording areas, and the parallel block is configured by selecting the blocks one by one from one or more of the plurality of recording areas. 65. The reproducing method according to claim 64, wherein: 74. The reproducing method according to claim 73, wherein the recording medium is constituted by a plurality of recording medium pieces corresponding to a plurality of recording areas, respectively. 75. The recording medium, for each of the pages,
65. The reproducing method according to claim 64, wherein data is read. 76. The reproducing method according to claim 64, wherein said recording medium is a semiconductor memory. 77. The reproducing method according to claim 64, wherein said recording medium has a disk shape. 78. In the reading step, when random access is performed in the middle of the logical file, a position of the recording medium to be randomly accessed is recognized based on the file management information and the block management information. 65. The reproducing method according to claim 64, wherein: 79. A recording medium in which a recording area is managed in a predetermined block unit and data is recorded in parallel, and a physical file, which is a physical file, is stored in one or more of the recording medium. For writing to blocks in parallel,
The data of the physical file is written in parallel with respect to the blocks constituting the parallel block obtained by configuring one or more parallel blocks composed of the one or more blocks. Block management information for managing a file in the block unit; and file management information for managing a logical file, which is a logical file, in association with the physical file. A recording medium wherein data is managed on the basis of information including range information indicating a range up to the end in a page unit which is a smaller unit than the block. 80. The recording medium according to claim 79, wherein said block management information includes link information indicating a link state of said block in which said physical file is recorded. 81. The recording medium according to claim 79, wherein said file management information further includes file identification information for identifying said logical file. 82. The recording medium according to claim 79, wherein said file management information further includes head position information indicating a head recording position of said physical file. 83. The recording medium according to claim 79, wherein said range information is information indicating a start position and an end position of said logical file. 84. It has a plurality of divided recording areas, and the parallel block is formed by selecting the blocks one by one from one or more of the plurality of recording areas. A recording medium according to claim 79. 85. A recording medium comprising a plurality of recording medium pieces respectively corresponding to a plurality of recording areas.
5. The recording medium according to 4. 86. The recording medium according to claim 79, wherein data is written or read for each page. 87. The recording medium according to claim 79, wherein data is erased for each of said blocks. 88. The recording medium according to claim 79, comprising a semiconductor memory. 89. The recording medium according to claim 79, wherein the recording medium is formed in a disk shape.