JP2001275064A - Device and method for recording - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a device and a method for recording which record information so that the information is easily transferred and managed when transferred between different recording media. SOLUTION: A recording area 200 on a hard disk 134 is divided into a tape management area 202 as a recording medium management information area, a block management area 204 as a block management information recording area, and fixed-length blocks 220 as blocks each having an information recording area and a management information recording area. Each fixed-length block 220 is divided into an individual block management area 206 as the management information recording area and a data area block 208 as the information recording area. When information is transferred to a magnetic tape 136, the information in its tape management area 202 is copied to a tape information area 302 of the magnetic tape 136.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a recording method and a recording apparatus, and more particularly, to a recording method and a recording apparatus for recording information in a recording area for recording information.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When a plurality of images are photographed and the photographed image data is stored in a storage medium, the image data is recorded on a recording medium such as a hard disk which can be randomly accessed in consideration of easy access to the image data. It is useful. This is because image data recorded on a randomly accessible recording medium can be directly searched and reproduced as needed. On the other hand, from the viewpoint of storage capacity and cost, the accessibility is sacrificed, but it is useful to record on a recording medium such as a magnetic tape that can be accessed sequentially. In this case, the data recorded on the magnetic tape is sequentially searched and reproduced.

Therefore, in order to maintain accessibility and record large-capacity data at low cost, image data is recorded on a hard disk immediately after shooting, and after a predetermined amount of image data is stored on the hard disk, It is useful to transfer image data to an inexpensive and large-capacity recording medium such as a magnetic tape for storage. If it is necessary to frequently access the recorded data, it would be more useful if the data recorded on the magnetic tape could be easily re-transferred to the hard disk.

[0004]

However, when image data recorded on a random-accessible recording medium is transferred to a sequential-accessible recording medium such as a magnetic tape in the same format, the data is not accessed during the data access. In order to read the additional information data, it is necessary to perform a return process, and it takes time to search and reproduce the data.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and when recording data on a recording medium, a recording medium provided with an area for recording information for maintaining good accessibility to the recorded data is provided. The purpose is to provide. further,
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a recording apparatus that records information so that the information can be easily transferred and managed when data is transferred between different recording media.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, according to a first aspect of the present invention, an information recording area for recording a plurality of pieces of information and management information of each of the plurality of pieces of information are collectively recorded. Provided is a recording method for recording information on a recording medium such that a management information recording area and a recording area divided into a plurality of blocks each including one block are formed.

[0007] As described above, the recording area of the recording medium is a single block of the information recording area for recording a plurality of information and the management information recording area for recording the management information of each of the plurality of information collectively. Since the recording is performed so as to be divided into a plurality of blocks, for example, when the recording medium is a sequentially accessible recording medium, the information of each block can be grasped from the management information of each block, and the return process for reading the information can be performed. The effect of minimizing is obtained.

[0008] Each of the plurality of blocks may have the same size. As described above, since the blocks have the same size, the head addresses of the blocks are present at equal intervals, and the search for the blocks is facilitated.

The information recording area has one small information recording area for recording the information and one individual management information recording area for individually recording the management information of the information recorded in the individual information recording area. The block may be divided into a plurality of small blocks. Thus, an individual information recording area for recording information, an individual management information recording area for individually recording management information of information recorded in the individual information recording area,
Is divided into a plurality of small blocks as one small block, so that it is not necessary to return to the management information recording area in order to obtain the management information of the information recorded in the individual information recording area. This is also a backup when data in the management information recording area is damaged.

[0010] A block management information recording area for recording block management information for managing the block may be further provided. As described above, by having the block management recording area for recording the block management information for managing the block, the current use state of the recording medium can be known from the block management information recording area.

[0011] A recording medium management information recording area for recording recording medium management information for managing the recording medium may be further provided. As described above, by further including the recording medium management information recording area for recording the recording medium management information for managing the recording medium, the management of the data transferred when the data transfer between a plurality of recording media described below is performed. Becomes easier.

In a second aspect of the present invention, a recording means for recording information on a recording medium, an information recording area for recording a plurality of information, and a management information recording for collectively recording management information of each of the plurality of information A recording area formed on the recording medium, the recording area being divided into a plurality of blocks each of which is one block, and control means for controlling the recording means so as to record information on the recording medium. I will provide a.

[0013] The recording means records information on a recording medium.
The control unit is configured to divide the recording into a plurality of blocks, each of which includes an information recording area for recording a plurality of pieces of information and a management information recording area for collectively recording the management information of the plurality of pieces of information. An area is formed on the recording medium, and the recording unit is controlled to record information on the recording medium.

[0014] Each of the plurality of blocks may have the same size. Further, the information recording area includes an individual information recording area for recording the information and an individual management information recording area for individually recording the management information of the information recorded in the individual information recording area in one small block. May be divided into a plurality of small blocks. The image processing apparatus may further include a block management information recording area for recording block management information for managing the block. The information processing apparatus may further include a recording medium management information recording area for recording recording medium management information for managing the recording medium.

As described above, the information recording area for recording a plurality of information and the management information recording area for recording the management information of each of the plurality of information are collectively divided into a plurality of blocks. By forming a recording area on the recording medium and recording the information, the information can be transferred block by block, and the backup of the information between different types of recording media becomes easy. Further, by recording the same information in the recording medium management information recording area of each recording medium, it is possible to easily manage the information transferred between the recording media.

[0016]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. [Hardware Configuration] FIG. 1 shows an example of a block configuration diagram of a recording apparatus according to the present embodiment. Solid arrows indicate the transmission of information, and dashed arrows indicate the direction of control. A plurality of video input terminals 102 are connected to the input selection block 112. An input selection block 112, a video signal decoding block 114, a compression / decompression CORE block 116, and a system control block 118 are connected in series. A temporary storage device 120 and a recording medium I / F control block 124 are connected to the system control block, and a hard disk 134 and magnetic tapes 136 to 142 are connected to the recording medium I / F control block 124. The video output terminal 126 is connected to the video signal encoding block 13
0 and the video signal encoding block 1
Reference numeral 30 is connected to the compression / expansion CORE block 116 via the image display memory block 132 or directly. Input selection block 112, video signal decoding block 114, compression / decompression CORE block 11
6. The system control block 118 and the image display memory block 132 are connected to a control signal generation block 122 for controlling them.

Although a plurality of video input terminals 102 and video output terminals 126 can be provided, the numbers need not be particularly limited. Further, the configurations of the hard disk 134 and the magnetic tapes 136 to 142 are not limited to those described above, and may include an arbitrary number and types of randomly accessible recording media and sequential accessible recording media. [Data Configuration in Random Access Storage Device] FIG.
FIG. 11 shows an example of a data configuration when information is recorded on the hard disk 134 as a recording device capable of random access according to the present embodiment. The recording area 200 of the hard disk 134 includes a tape management area 202 as a recording medium management information area, a block management area 204 as a block management information recording area, and a plurality of blocks as blocks having an information recording area and a management information recording area. It is divided into fixed length blocks 220. Each fixed-length block 220 has an individual block management area 2 as a management information recording area.
06 and data area block 20 as information recording area
It is divided into eight. Setting the fixed length block 220 to a fixed length facilitates data transfer between different media.

The individual block management area 206 is divided into a plurality of areas for recording information 1 to information n of image data described later, as indicated by reference numerals 252 to 256. The data area block 208 is an area (252, 25) for recording image data as an individual management information recording area.
6) and an area (260, 262) for recording image data as an individual information recording area are divided into a plurality of sets as one set.

The individual management information recording area 252 in the individual block management area 206 and the individual management information recording area 252 in the data area block 208 are the same information, and should be backed up when either information 252 is damaged. Can be.

When information recorded by this data recording method is used for a sequentially accessible recording medium as will be described later, the individual data area block 2
08, the presence of the individual management information recording area 252 makes it possible to check the management information of adjacent image data. There is an advantage that it can be completed. That is, the individual block management area 20
There is no need to rewind to 6.

Since the size of the individual image data 260 is variable depending on the data compression method or the content of the image data, n indicating the number of image data differs depending on the size of the image data to be recorded.

The data configuration of the hard disk 134 is not limited to the above. Individual block management area 20
6 and the fixed-length block 220 having the data area block 208 are preferably 1 GB in capacity, but are not limited to this, and are arbitrarily set according to the capacity of the hard disk used, the compression method of image data, and the like. May be.

FIG. 4 shows the configuration of the tape management area 202. The tape management area 202 is recorded in a plurality of sets each including a block No. 422 and a recording DATE 424 as one set 402. In each block No. 422,
Block number and recording DATE 424 when information is recorded on a magnetic tape which is a sequential access storage device
Indicates the date when the information was recorded in the block indicated by the corresponding block number.

The last area 404 of the tape management area 202
Is a set 404 of an empty area 432 and a recording DATE 434.
It is. The empty area 432 is provided to match the size with other sets, and the recording DATE 434 records the recording date of information currently recorded on the hard disk 134.

When information is transferred to the magnetic tape, the information in the tape management area 202, except for the last area 404, is copied to a tape information area 302 (FIG. 3) of the magnetic tape, which will be described later. Information management before and after data transfer between the devices can be facilitated.

Preferably, the block No. 422 is 1 byte.
e, the recording DATE 424 is desirably 14 bytes,
It is not limited to this.

FIG. 5 shows the configuration of the block management area 204. The block management area 204 includes a block start address 522, a flag 524, and a set 502 of a recording DATE 526. Block start address 522
Are the start address of the fixed-length block 220 when information is recorded in the random access storage device, and the flag 524.
Is a fixed-length block 22 having a corresponding start address.
0 indicates whether information is recorded (used) or not recorded (unused). Record DATE
In 526, the date when the information was recorded in the fixed length block 220 is recorded.

The block in which data can be recorded can be known from the block management area 204. If the data is in a full state where there is no block in which data can be recorded, the control signal generation block 12 is controlled to back up to a magnetic tape.
2 can be requested.

FIG. 6 shows the configuration of the individual block management area 206.
Shown in The individual block management area 206 has a data length of 60
2, a plurality of sets 6 in which the data Name 604, the data Date 606, the data No. 608, the alarm sign 610, and the input channel 612 are one set 622.
22. Data length 602, Data Name 6
04, data Date 606 and data No. 608 respectively correspond to the number of bytes of image data, name, shooting date,
The number is recorded. The alarm sign 610 records whether or not an alarm has occurred while the image is being captured, and the input channel 612 records which camera connected to the video input 102 has captured the image.

The data configuration of the tape management area 202, block management area 204, individual block management area 206, and data area block 208 described above is not limited to this. A backup management area having a plurality of sets each including the ID number of the magnetic tape at the backup destination and the date of the backup may be provided as the header. [Data Structure in Sequential Access Storage Device] FIG. 3 shows an example of the data structure of the magnetic tape 136 as the sequential access storage device in the present embodiment. The magnetic tape 136 is located in the tape information area 30.
2 and a plurality of transfer blocks 304 each having a fixed length. The data configuration of the tape information area 302 and the data configuration of the tape management area 202 in the hard disk 134 are the same. Each transfer block 304 is provided in the individual block management area 2 in the random access storage device.
The fixed length block 220, which is a set of the data area block 06 and the data area block 208, is a storage area to be transferred.

Since the size of the transfer block 304 is equal to the size of the fixed-length block 220 in the hard disk 134, data transfer is facilitated by transferring data for each transfer block 304. Further, the contents of the tape information area 302 and the tape management area 202 of the hard disk are stored in the recording area 40 of the tape management area 202.
By making them the same except for 4, the management of data after transfer can be facilitated.

The size of the transfer block 304 is preferably 1
GB, but is not limited to this, and may be any size corresponding to the fixed length block 220 shown in FIG.

The size required for the tape management area 202 is block No. 422 1 byte, recording DATE 4
If it is 24 14 bytes, 15 bytes (= 14
(byte + 1 byte) × (the number of blocks recordable on the magnetic tape), but the number of blocks recordable on the magnetic tape is changed according to the capacity of the magnetic tape.

The data structure of the magnetic tape described above is not limited to this. [Operation of the present apparatus] The operation of the recording apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to the flowcharts shown in FIGS.

FIG. 7 shows a flowchart of the main routine. When the start of shooting is instructed by means not shown, the start of shooting is determined in step 704. In step 706, an image is captured by a camera connected to any of the plurality of video input terminals 102 selected by means not shown.

Control signal generation block 1
In accordance with an instruction from the video signal decoding block 11, image signals captured by a plurality of cameras (not shown) and generated are sequentially transmitted through the input selection block 112.
4 and converted from an analog signal to a digital signal in step 708. The image data converted into the digital signal is transmitted to the compression / expansion CORE block 116, and is compressed in step 710 into the JPEG format. The compressed image data is transmitted to the system control block 118.

In step 712, the system control block 118 converts the image data and information related to the image data into a format similar to a format for recording on a recording medium. The image data is transmitted from the system control block 118 to the temporary storage device 120 and, at step 714, is temporarily stored with information pertaining to the image.

In step 716, the temporary storage device 1
It is determined whether or not the amount of data stored in the storage unit 20 is close to 1 GB, that is, whether or not the remaining recordable data exceeds 1 GB when the next image is recorded, and is equal to or less than a predetermined amount. If the data amount is not close to 1 GB, the process returns to step 706 and shooting is continued. When it is determined that the data amount is close to 1 GB, in step 718, the image data recorded in the temporary storage device 120 and information related to the image data are recorded on the hard disk.

FIG. 8 shows a recording routine (step 718).
The details are shown below. In step 804, by moving to the free area of the hard disk by checking the block management information of the hard disk. In step 806, the recording date of the image data temporarily recorded in the temporary storage device 120 is additionally written in the tape management area 202 together with the block number. The block number is a value obtained by adding 1 to the block number of the previous entry.

In step 808, the flag 524 corresponding to the block start address 522 of the block in which the current data is recorded in the block management area 204 is changed from unused to used (specifically, from 0 to 1), and the recording DA is changed.
The recording date is recorded in TE526.

In step 810, information of each image data and image data are set and recorded in the data area block 208. In step 812, it is determined whether the block recorded this time is the last block of the hard disk. If it is the last block, step 81
At 8, the control flag is set to 1. If it is not the last block, it is determined in step 814 whether or not there is free space in the tape management area.

If it is determined that there is no free space in the tape management area, the control flag is set to 2 in step 820. If there is free space in the tape management area, step 81
Then, the control returns to step 720 (see FIG. 1).
In step 720, a backup process is performed.

FIG. 9 shows the details of the backup process (step 720). In step 904, it is determined whether the control flag is 0. If the control flag is 0, it indicates that the hard disk has a sufficient free space for recording the image data to be captured next, and that there is also a free space in the tape management area. Accordingly, control proceeds to step 916, where the backup routine ends.

If the control flag is not 0, that is, if it is set to 1 or 2 in the recording routine, in step 906, the contents of the tape management area 202 of the hard disk are added to the tape information area 302 of the magnetic tape. Be recorded. The contents of the individual block management area 206 and the data area block 208 of the hard disk are additionally recorded in the transfer block 304 of the magnetic tape 136. That is, the data is sequentially recorded in an area that is not currently used.

In step 908, the block management area 204 of the hard disk is erased, and the next image data can be recorded on the hard disk. If image data is to be recorded on the hard disk after this processing has been performed, the last set 4
The recording date is written in the recording DATE 434 of 04.

In step 910, whether the flag is 2 or not, that is, the current recording
Then, it is determined whether or not 6 has no free space. If the magnetic tape 136 runs out of free space, step 91
2, the tape management area 2 of the hard disk 134
02 is erased, and the image data to be recorded on the hard disk 134 from the next time are stored on the magnetic tape 1 currently used.
Preparation is made for recording on a magnetic tape (138 to 142 or a replaced magnetic tape 136) different from 36.

In step 910, the magnetic tape 13
If it is determined that there is free space in step 6, step 91
At 4, the control flag is reset to 0. Proceeding to step 916, control proceeds to step 722 of the main routine.
Proceed to. In step 722, it is determined whether or not to end shooting. The instruction to end the photographing is given by means not shown. If it is determined that the photographing is to be ended, the process proceeds to 724 (see FIG. 1), and the process ends. If it is determined that the photographing is not to be ended, the control returns to step 706 and the processing is continued.

In the above description, the hard disk 134 is used as a recording device that can be accessed randomly, and the magnetic tape 136 is used as a recording device that can be accessed sequentially. However, the present invention is not limited to this. Step 708
Although the A / D conversion of the image data shot in is performed, the image data may be shot in a digital format.
In step 710, the compression of the image data is
Although the compression is performed in the format, the present invention is not limited to this, and compression in another format may be performed, or the image data need not be compressed.

In order to simplify the description of the process, in step 714, the data is temporarily stored in the temporary storage device 120, and the image data is transferred to the hard disk 134 after a predetermined amount is accumulated. The present invention is not limited to this, and the image data may be stored in the hard disk 134 every time a picture is taken.

In order to simplify the description of the backup process, when the storage area of the hard disk 134 is completely used, or when the tape management area 202 is completely used (that is, when the backup magnetic tape 136 is The backup process is performed when the storage area is completely used by the next backup. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the backup process is performed at predetermined time intervals or at a time when the load on the recording device is small. May be performed.

Although the control flag is used to determine whether or not to perform the backup processing, the present invention is not limited to this, and it may be determined whether or not to perform the backup processing using another method.

In step 906, the tape management area 202 was transferred to the tape information area 302 before the individual block management area 206 and data area block 208 of the hard disk 134 were transferred to the transfer block 304 of the magnetic tape 136. However, the present invention is not limited to this.
02 may be transferred to the tape information area 302.

To search for image data recorded on a recording medium, the tape management area 20 of the hard disk 134 is searched.
By examining the recording DATE 434 of the last set 404 of the hard disk 13
4 or is already backed up to a magnetic tape (136 to 142).
If it is determined that there is data in the hard disk 134, the recording DATE 526 in the block management area 204 is checked, and the corresponding block start address 522 is obtained. The target image data can be reached by checking the information in the individual block management area 206 starting from the obtained block head address 522.

If it is determined that the target image data has been recorded on the magnetic tape (136 to 142), a block number corresponding to the recording DATE 424 on which the target date is recorded is checked in the tape information area 302. The block address on the magnetic tape (136 to 142) is read by assigning an approximate block number and a marker is attached to each transfer block, so that data access can be performed by detecting the marker.

Next, by using any information among the information recorded in the individual block management area 206, it is checked which image data in the data area 208 is the target data. Further, the data length 6 until the target image data recorded in the individual block management area 206 is reached.
02, the magnetic tape (136) up to the head address where the target image data is recorded is obtained.
To 142). At this time, before the tape is advanced to the head address of the image data, the information (252,
The user may advance the magnetic tape (136 to 142) to 256) to check whether each image data is the target data.

The method of accessing the transfer block is not limited to the method of using the marker as described above, and utilizes the fact that the tape information area 302 and each transfer block 304 have a fixed length. The head address of the block 304 is obtained, and the magnetic tape (13
6 to 142) may be advanced to the head of the target transfer block 304.

As described above, the magnetic tapes (136 to 14)
When accessing 2), the magnetic tape (136 to 1)
42) by examining the tape information area 302 provided in the header and further examining the individual block management area 206 provided in each transfer block 304, without disturbing the running system of the magnetic tapes (136 to 142). It is possible to access necessary data recorded on the magnetic tapes (136 to 142) without performing the reversion.

Further, by using this format, data recorded on the magnetic tapes (136 to 142) can be transferred to the hard disk 134 without changing the format.
, The random accessibility of the hard disk 134 is not hindered. Therefore, when it is necessary to frequently access the data, the data can be easily transferred to the hard disk 134 by the reverse procedure of the backup, and the data can be utilized.

The hard disk 134 has, as a header, a tape management area 2 having a data structure corresponding to the tape information area 302 which is the header of the magnetic tape (136 to 142).
02. In addition, the hard disk 134
The fixed length block 220 is divided into magnetic tapes (136 to 142) in the same format as the fixed length block.
To the transfer block 304. This allows
A small-capacity hard disk 134 that has excellent data accessibility and is easy to search and reproduce image data but has a small capacity, and a magnetic tape (136 to 142) that is inferior in data accessibility but has a large capacity and is suitable for backup. Transfer of image data between the printer and the printer becomes easy. That is, the storage medium provided in the present embodiment can maintain data accessibility and can store large-capacity data at low cost.

[0060]

As described above, according to the present invention, the data recorded on the sequentially accessible recording medium is provided by providing a tape information area on the sequentially accessible recording medium and making the transfer block a fixed length. Has the effect of maintaining good accessibility to Furthermore, the recording medium capable of random access and the data structure of the header of the recording medium capable of sequential access correspond to each other to unify the format of the information recording, thereby enabling easy random access recording. This has the effect that data can be easily transferred between the medium and a recording device that has a large capacity and is suitable for backup and that can be accessed sequentially.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a recording apparatus according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a data configuration of a hard disk according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a data configuration of a magnetic tape according to the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a data configuration of a tape management area and a tape information area according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a data configuration of a block management area according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a data configuration of an individual block management area according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a process according to the embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a recording process according to the embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a backup process according to the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

202 Tape management area (recording medium management information recording area) 204 Block management area (block management information recording area) 206 Individual block management area (individual management information recording area) 208 Data area block (individual information recording area)

──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) H04N 5/78 510 H04N 5/78 510Z 510A 5/91 5/91 Z F-term (Reference) 5C052 AA01 AC08 CC11 DD04 5C053 FA22 FA24 GA11 GB05 GB36 HA29 JA21 KA03 LA01 5D044 AB07 BC01 CC01 CC04 DE03 DE12 DE49 DE53 DE57 EF05 FG18 GK12 HL11 5D110 AA02 AA13 AA29 BB13 BB23 CA05 CA07 CA42 DA09 DE04

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. A recording area divided into a plurality of blocks each including an information recording area for recording a plurality of pieces of information and a management information recording area for collectively recording management information of each of the plurality of pieces of information. A recording method for recording information on a recording medium such that is formed. 2. The recording method according to claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of blocks has the same size. 3. The information recording area includes: an individual information recording area for recording the information; and an individual management information recording area for individually recording the management information of the information recorded in the individual information recording area. 3. The recording method according to claim 1, wherein the recording method is divided into a plurality of small blocks as one small block. 4. The recording method according to claim 1, further comprising a block management information recording area for recording block management information for managing the block. 5. The recording method according to claim 1, further comprising a recording medium management information recording area for recording recording medium management information for managing the recording medium. 6. A block comprising: a recording unit for recording information on a recording medium; an information recording area for recording a plurality of information; and a management information recording area for recording management information of each of the plurality of information collectively. Forming a recording area divided into a plurality of blocks on the recording medium, and controlling the recording means to record information on the recording medium;
A recording device having: 7. The recording apparatus according to claim 6, wherein each of the plurality of blocks has the same size. 8. The information recording area includes: an individual information recording area for recording the information; and an individual management information recording area for individually recording the management information of the information recorded in the individual information recording area. The recording apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the recording apparatus is divided into a plurality of small blocks as one small block. 9. The recording apparatus according to claim 6, further comprising a block management information recording area for recording block management information for managing said blocks. 10. The recording apparatus according to claim 6, further comprising a recording medium management information recording area for recording recording medium management information for managing the recording medium.