KR100640619B1 - Method for setting operation parameters of harddisk drive and recording media therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a control method of a hard disk drive, and more particularly, to a method for setting operating parameters of a hard disk drive according to a type of data, and a recording medium suitable therefor.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of setting operating parameters of a hard disk drive, the method comprising: setting region information according to data types and region information having operation parameters suitable for the regions; Detecting an address accessed by the host computer; And setting an operation parameter of a hard disk drive with reference to the detected address and the region information.

The operating parameter setting method of the hard disk drive according to the present invention has the effect of optimally setting the operating parameter of the hard disk drive according to the type of data.

Description

Method for setting operation parameters of harddisk drive and recording media therefor}

1 is a schematic view showing a method of setting operating parameters of a hard disk drive according to the present invention.

2A to 2C show an example of the area table shown in FIG.

3 shows an embodiment of a hard disk drive operating parameter setting method according to the present invention.

4 is a flowchart illustrating another embodiment of a method for setting operating parameters of a hard disk drive according to the present invention.

5 shows the configuration of a hard disk drive to which the operating parameter setting method of the hard disk drive according to the present invention is applied.

FIG. 6 shows an electrical circuit of the hard disk drive shown in FIG. 5.

The present invention relates to a control method of a hard disk drive, and more particularly, to a method for setting operating parameters of a hard disk drive according to a type of data, and a recording medium suitable therefor.

A hard disk drive is a recording device used for storing information. Typically information is recorded on concentric tracks on either side of one or more magnetic recording disks. The disk is rotatably mounted on the spin motor, and the information is accessed by read / write means mounted on an actuator arm that is rotated by a voice coil motor. The voice coil motor is excited by the current to rotate the actuator and move the head. The read / write head senses the change of magnetism coming out of the surface of the disk and reads the information recorded on the surface of the disk. To write to the data track, current is supplied to the head. The electric current generates a magnetic field, which magnetizes the disk surface.

The data area of all hard disk drives is basically managed by a partition table (PT) existing in a master boot record (MSR) and a file allocation table (FAT) existing in each partition.

LBA (Logical Block Address) is a method of representing the physical location inside the hard disk drive by using a linear address method, one block is usually composed of 512 bytes. LBA 0 is the first physical part, where the partition table is located, which is called the master boot record. The partition table contains partition information of the hard disk drive, and each partition area divided by the partition table is managed by its own file allocation table, which enables logical partitioning of the hard disk drive. .

 In recent years, hard disk drives are increasingly used in combination with A / V systems. This is because a hard disk drive can record / reproduce large-capacity A / V files in real time as storage capacity increases and data transfer speeds increase. An example of an A / V system combined with a hard disk drive is a personal video recorder (PVR), a set top box, and the like.

Integrity is important for general data, that is, data for programs, documents, databases, etc., but real-time processing is more important for A / V data. In A / V data, different processing is required depending on the compression ratio, resolution, and the like.

On the other hand, since the hard disk drive records / reproduces not only A / V data but also general data, it is efficient to deal separately according to the type of data, that is, general data or A / V data. That is, it is efficient to separately process its operating characteristics, for example, channel parameters, operating parameters for error processing, etc. according to the type of data processed by the hard disk drive.

An object of the present invention is to provide a method for setting an operating parameter of a hard disk drive which sets the operating parameter of the hard disk drive according to the type of data.                         

Another object of the present invention is to provide a computer-readable recording medium suitable for the above method.

Operation parameter setting method of the hard disk drive according to the present invention for achieving the above object is

Setting region information having regions according to data types and operation parameters suitable for the regions;

Detecting an address accessed by the host computer; And

And setting an operating parameter of the hard disk drive with reference to the detected address and the region information.

In addition, the operating parameter setting method of the hard disk drive according to the present invention, if a command belonging to the Stream Configure set is applied from the host computer, detecting the area address and the operation parameter specified by the command belonging to the Stream Configure set; And updating the area information with reference to the detected area address and operation parameters.

On the other hand, the recording medium according to the present invention to achieve the above other object

In a recording medium that can be read by a computer containing a program for controlling a hard disk drive,

Setting region information having regions according to data types and operation parameters suitable for the regions;

Detecting an address accessed by the host computer; And

A program including a process of setting an operating parameter of a hard disk drive with reference to the detected address and the region information is recorded.

Hereinafter, the configuration and operation of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a schematic view showing a method of setting operating parameters of a hard disk drive according to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, an example in which the disk 100 is divided into four regions 102 to 108 that are independent of each other is shown. Each of the regions 102 to 108 is provided for different kinds of data. For example, first region 102 is typically provided for data, and second region 104 is provided for A / V data.

Area information, that is, the start and end of the area, operation parameters, error processing operation parameters, and the like are managed by the area table 202. Referring to Fig. 1, the area table 202 is recorded in the maintenance cylinder of the disk, but may be stored in the memory of the hard disk drive. In addition, the area table 202 may be stored in the volatile memory as well as the nonvolatile memory.

The hard disk drive refers to the area table 202 to determine operating characteristics according to data types.

2A to 2C show an example of the area table shown in FIG. 2A to 2C, the area table 202 is composed of 512 bytes, the first two bytes are allocated for the version number of the area table, and the remaining bytes are allocated to descriptors by being divided into 13 bytes. do. Descriptors are allocated for each region and have region addresses (leading address and end address), flags, and retry allowances. The start address and end address are represented by LBA. And the flag is to define the operating parameters of the hard disk drive, in particular the operating parameters for A / V data.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the area table may be prepared in advance but may be created in real time. If the zone table is created in real time, the hard disk drive refers to the stream feature set defined in the ATA / ATAPI-7 specification. When the stream feature set defined in the ATA / ATAPI-7 specification is input, the hard disk drive sets an area (hereinafter referred to as A / V area) in the area table 202 for A / V data. When the / V region is set, access to the corresponding A / V region is performed by operation parameters obtained by referring to the region table 202.

3 shows an embodiment of a hard disk drive operating parameter setting method according to the present invention. The example shown in FIG. 3 corresponds to a case where the hard disk drive has a preset area table.

The recording / reproducing command is applied from the host system (s302).

The hard disk drive detects the LBA accessed by the recording / playback command (s304).

The hard disk drive checks whether the detected LBA belongs to the A / V area (s306). For this purpose, the hard disk drive compares the detected LBA with the area address included in the descriptor entries contained in the area table 202. do.

If the detected LBA belongs to the A / V area, the operating parameter of the hard disk drive is set to the flag value specified by the descriptor. (S308) In addition, the number of retry allowances is also set by the descriptor. Set to.

The recording / reproducing operation is performed according to the operation parameter set in step S308. (S310) If a retry occurs in the recording / reproducing operation, the retry operation is performed up to the retry allowance number set in step S308.

If the detected LBA does not correspond to the A / V area, a normal recording / reproducing operation, that is, a recording / reproducing operation for general data is performed (s312).

4 is a flowchart illustrating another embodiment of a method for setting operating parameters of a hard disk drive according to the present invention. The method illustrated in FIG. 4 corresponds to a case of generating an area table in real time when a stream feature set is input.

The Stream Feature Set is a newly defined instruction set in ATA / ATAPI-7. The Stream Feature Set is for the transmission of time-critical data, that is, A / V data, rather than integrity-oriented standard data. The Stream Feature Set contains the following commands.

CONFIGURE STREAM

READ STREAM EXT

-WRITE STREAM EXT

-READ STREAM DMA EXT

-WRITE STREAM DMA EXT

-READ LOG EXT

-WRITE LOG EXT

Each command must be processed within the time specified by the CONFIGURE STREAM command or by the CONFIGURE STREAM command itself to ensure stream requests for A / V type applications.

The CONFIGURE STREAM command specifies the default Command Completion Time Limit (CCTL), Stream ID, and so on. If CCTL is not specified by the CONFIGURE STREAM command, the hard disk drive refers to the CCTL specified by each STREAM command. If the Stream ID is not specified by the CONFIGURE STREAM command, the hard disk drive refers to the Stream ID specified by each STREAM command. Data having the same Stream ID is continuously recorded on the disk.

READ STREAM / WRITE STREAM commands include Urgent bit, Flush to Disk bit, Not Sequential bit, Read Continuous bit, Write Continuous bit, Handle Streaming Error bit.

Urgent bit indicates that the command should be executed within the time specified by CCTL. The Flush to Disk bit indicates that all data must be written to disk before the command completion report is made. Not Continuous bit indicates that the data does not need to be continuously recorded on the disk. Read continuous bit indicates that all data should be read within the time specified by CCTL even if a read error occurs. Write continuous bit indicates that all data must be written within the time specified by CCTL even if a write error occurs. Meanwhile, the Handle Streaming Error bit indicates that the command is to be executed at a position where an error is recently reported.

The recording / reproducing command is applied from the host system (s402).

The hard disk drive checks whether the command authorized from the host system corresponds to the STREAM Feature Set (s404).

If the command authorized from the host system corresponds to the STREAM Feature Set, the operation parameter of the hard disk drive is set to the flag value specified in the STREAM Feature Set. Refer to to set the feature register.

Performs the operation specified by the operation parameter specified by the STREAM Feature Set (s408).

The hard disk drive creates an area table (s410). The area table is set with reference to the executed command. For example, if the WRITE STREAM EXT command is executed, the start address and end address of the area where data is recorded are set as the start address and end address of the descriptor, and the property bits set by the STREAM CONFIGURE command and the WRITE STREAM EXT command are set to the descriptor. Set to the flag.

In Fig. 2, AV represents AV data, CD represents general data, WC represents Write Continuous bit, RC represents Read Continuous bit, U represents Urgent bit, and F represents Flush to Disk bit. .

If the command does not correspond to the STREAM Feature Set in step s404, the hard disk drive detects the LBA accessed by the record / play command (s412).

The hard disk drive checks whether the detected LBA corresponds to the A / V area (s412). For this purpose, the hard disk drive checks the area address included in the detected LBA and descriptor entries contained in the area table 202. Compare.

If the detected LBA corresponds to the A / V area, the operation parameter is set by referring to the flag designated by the descriptor. (S414) In addition, the number of retry allowances is also set to the number of retry allowances specified by the descriptor. do.

The recording / reproducing operation is performed according to the operation parameter set in step S414. (S416) If a retry occurs in the recording / reproducing operation, the retrying operation is performed up to the retry allowable number set in step S414.

If it is not the A / V area in step S412, the normal operation, that is, the operation of recording / reproducing general data is performed.

5 shows the configuration of a hard disk drive to which the operating parameter setting method of the hard disk drive according to the present invention is applied.

The drive 10 includes at least one magnetic disk 12 that is rotated by a spindle motor 14. Hard disk drive 10 also includes a transducer 16 located adjacent disk surface 18.

The transducer 16 can read or write information on the rotating disk 12 by sensing and magnetizing the magnetic field of each disk 12. Typically each transducer 16 is associated with a respective disk surface 18. On the other hand, although shown and described as a single transducer 16 in FIG. 1, in practice this consists of a write transducer for magnetizing the disc 12 and a separate read transducer for sensing the magnetic field of the disc 12. It should be understood that there is. Typically, write converters consist of magnetic circuits with voids, and read converters consist of Magneto-Resistive (MR) elements. The transducer 16 is also commonly referred to as a head.

The transducer 16 can be integrated into the slider 20. The slider 20 is structured to create an air bearing between the transducer 16 and the disk surface 18. The slider 20 is coupled to the head gimbal assembly 22. The head gimbal assembly 22 is attached to an actuator arm 24 having a voice coil 26. The voice coil 26 is located adjacent to the magnetic assembly 28 that specifies the voice coil motor 30 (VCM). The current supplied to the voice coil 26 generates a torque that rotates the actuator arm 24 relative to the bearing assembly 32. Rotation of actuator arm 24 will move transducer 16 across disk surface 18.

The information is typically stored in concentric circular tracks on the disc 12. Each track 34 generally includes a plurality of sectors. Each sector includes a data field and an identification field (also called a servo field). The identification field consists of a gray code identifying the sector and the track (cylinder), and burst signals for detecting the extent to which the transducer 16 deviates from the track center. The transducer 16 is moved across the disk surface 18 by the movement of the actuator arm.

FIG. 6 shows an electrical circuit of the hard disk drive shown in FIG. 5.

As shown in FIG. 6, the hard disk drive according to the present invention includes a disk 12, a converter 16, a preamplifier 210, a write / read channel 220, a host interface 230, and a controller 240. , A memory 250, a temperature sensor 260, and a voice coil motor (VCM) driver 270. The circuit configuration including the preamplifier 210 and the write / read channel 220 above will be referred to as a write / read circuit.

The memory 250 stores various programs and data for controlling the hard disk drive. In particular, the retry table and previous retry information are stored to execute the retry control method according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. In this case, the memory 250 is designed as a nonvolatile memory.

The retry table stores parameter values to ensure optimal performance of the hard disk drive.

First, the operation of a general hard disk drive will be described.

In the data read mode, the hard disk drive amplifies the electrical signal sensed by the converter 16 (also called a head) from the disk 12 in the preamplifier 210 to facilitate signal processing. Then, in the recording / reading channel 220, the amplified analog signal is encoded into a digital signal that can be read by a host device (not shown), converted into stream data, and transmitted to the host device through the host interface 230. send.

In contrast, in the data write mode, the hard disk drive receives data from a host device and temporarily stores the data in a buffer (not shown) embedded in the host interface 230, and sequentially outputs the data stored in the buffer. The write / amplify channel 220 converts the write current amplified by the preamplifier 210 to the disk 12 via the converter 16 after conversion to a binary data stream suitable for the write channel.

The controller 240 may be a digital signal processor (DSP), a microprocessor, a microcontroller, or the like. The controller 240 supplies a control signal to the write / read channel 220 to read from or write information to the disk 12. Information is typically sent from the R / W channel to the host interface circuit 2320. The host interface circuit 230 includes a buffer memory and control circuitry that allows a hard disk drive to interface to a system such as a personal computer.

The controller 240 is also coupled to the VCM drive circuit 270 which supplies a drive current to the voice coil 26. The controller 240 supplies a control signal to the VCM driving circuit 270 to control the excitation of the VCM and the movement of the transducer 16.

The controller 240 is coupled to the memory device 250. The memory device 250 stores instructions and data used by the controller 240 to execute a software routine. One of the software routines is a hard disk drive operating parameter setting routine for setting the hard disk drive operating parameters according to the position accessed on the disk. The area table may be stored in the disk 12, the memory device 250, or the like.

The controller 240 detects a location to be accessed when a command is applied in the host system, and sets an operating parameter of the hard disk drive by comparing the area information stored in the area table.

In addition, when a command belonging to the Stream Configure set is applied, the controller 240 detects an address accessed by the command belonging to the Stream Configure set and designated operation parameters, and updates the area information stored in the area table.

As described above, the operating parameter setting method of the hard disk drive according to the present invention has an effect of optimally setting the operating parameter of the hard disk drive according to the type of data.

Claims (4)

Setting region information having regions according to data types and operation parameters suitable for the regions; Detecting an address accessed by the host computer; And And setting an operating parameter of the hard disk drive with reference to the detected address and the region information. The method of claim 1, If a command belonging to the Stream Configure set is authorized from the host computer, detecting the area address and an operation parameter designated by the command belonging to the Stream Configure set; And And updating area information by referring to the detected area address and operation parameters. In a recording medium that can be read by a computer containing a program for controlling a hard disk drive, Setting region information having regions according to data types and operation parameters suitable for the regions; Detecting an address accessed by the host computer; And And a program including setting an operation parameter of a hard disk drive with reference to the detected address and the area information. The method of claim 3, If a command belonging to the Stream Configure set is authorized from the host computer, detecting the area address and an operation parameter designated by the command belonging to the Stream Configure set; And And a program is recorded which further includes updating the area information with reference to the detected area address and operation parameters.

Images