JP2001312376A - Rotary medium storage device and rotary medium recording control method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To accelerate alternating processing of a defective sector by eliminating head moving to a discontinuous area and rotation waiting when performing alternating processing to an auxiliary sector. SOLUTION: Data transferred from a host device 6 are temporarily stored while using a data buffer 1, and data stored therein are applied to a rotary medium controller 5 and successively recorded on a rotary medium. An auxiliary sector position managing means 2 manages the position of the auxiliary sector on the rotary medium. An address pointer control means 7 defines data scheduled to be recorded in the defective sector as alternation waiting data, manages the storage position of the alternation waiting data on the data buffer 1 and controls recording of the alternation waiting data into the auxiliary sector in the process of continuous data recording operation to the rotary medium. Alternating processing of data recording into the auxiliary sector area is executed without stopping continuous data recording operation from the data buffer 1 to the rotary medium.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a data transfer processing technique in a data storage device having a rotating recording medium, and particularly to a head movement and a rotation waiting of a rotating medium when performing a replacement process to a spare sector area. The present invention relates to a rotating medium storage device with reduced time delay and a rotating medium recording control method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a rotating medium storage device having a rotating recording medium (hereinafter referred to as a rotating medium) as a recording medium, the head movement time and the rotation waiting time of the rotating medium are large when performing high-speed data transfer. Affect. For this reason, in a storage device using a rotating medium, sectors are arranged so as to be physically continuous, and a disk format that is offset so as to minimize the rotation waiting time when switching heads is used.

However, if a defective sector occurs during the execution of writing, it is necessary to use a spare sector prepared in a specific area on the rotating medium in advance in place of the defective sector. The time required to execute the replacement process for the spare sector differs depending on whether or not the spare sector area of the replacement process is on the same track. If they are not on the same track, the replacement processing time (delay time) includes the seek operation time to the target spare sector area and the rotation waiting time to the target spare sector, and the seek operation time to the original track and the rotation waiting time. And the total time. When the replacement processing is performed on the same track, the replacement processing time is a time obtained by adding the rotation waiting time from the spare sector to the sector immediately following the defective sector to the rotation waiting time from the defective sector to the spare sector.

In order to reduce such a delay time, there has been a method in which a nonvolatile memory is additionally mounted to secure data to be recorded in a spare sector on the nonvolatile memory. There is also a method disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 6-180635.

[0005]

However, the above-mentioned method using a nonvolatile memory has a problem that a large-capacity nonvolatile memory needs to be additionally mounted. In the method disclosed in JP-A-6-180635, it is necessary to wait until data other than the defective sector is written to the recording medium. This has the effect of reducing the number of seek operations and rotation waits when processing is required,
A considerable overhead is required, and a problem arises that discontinuous access always occurs.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, and is directed to a rotating medium storage device capable of minimizing a seek operation and a rotation waiting time occurring in a process of replacing a defective sector. And a rotating medium recording control method.

[0007]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a rotating medium storage device for recording data transferred from a higher-level device on a rotating medium, and managing a position of a spare sector on the rotating medium. Spare sector position management means, a data buffer for temporarily storing data transferred from the host device, and data to be recorded in a defective sector of the rotating medium as replacement waiting data, wherein the data buffer for the replacement waiting data Address pointer control means for managing the above storage position and controlling the recording of the data waiting for replacement in the spare sector in the course of the continuous data recording operation on the rotating medium, comprising: Performing a replacement process of recording data in the spare sector without interrupting a continuous data write operation to a medium. Is shall.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a rotating medium storage device for recording data transferred from a host device on a rotating medium, wherein the rotating medium control device records or reproduces data on the rotating medium in sector units. Means, a data buffer output from the host device and temporarily holding data to be recorded on the rotating medium in sector units, and a buffer host transfer control means for managing data transfer between the host device and the data buffer; A buffer medium transfer control means for managing data transfer between the data buffer and the rotating medium control means and recording and reproducing data in a spare sector in addition to a normal sector on the rotating medium; The location of the sector is managed, and when the logical address of the sector where the error occurred is specified, the logical offset to the nearest spare sector in the forward direction is specified. A spare sector position management means for calculating the position of the data in the data buffer, which is to be recorded in a defective sector at a discontinuous position and in which an error has occurred; Address pointer control means for controlling the recording of the data waiting for the replacement in the spare sector during the operation.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the rotating medium storage device according to the second aspect, the address pointer control means is configured to read data from the data buffer when the inter-buffer medium transfer control means performs data transfer processing. Read current pointer generating means for generating a pointer indicating the address of the data buffer, and write current pointer generating means for generating a pointer indicating the write address to the data buffer when the buffer upper transfer control means performs data transfer processing. When data cannot be recorded in a specific sector of the rotating medium, a pointer indicating a head address of a sector on the data buffer in which data to be recorded in a replacement sector is stored. Means and forward from the sector location where the error occurred An offset counter for counting a logical offset to the nearest spare sector position; a current sector pointer generating means for generating a pointer indicating the logical position of the sector being processed by the rotating medium control means; and an address indicated by the current pointer. And a spare sector access flag generating means for instructing the rotating medium control means to record the data of the unit sector in the spare sector area.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a rotating medium recording control method for recording data transferred from a host device on a rotating medium, wherein the host device outputs a data write request to a sector of the rotating medium. When a data write error to the specific sector occurs and a replacement process is required, a spare sector position on the rotating medium is detected, and data is written to the spare sector that has not been written. On the other hand, the data is protected as alternately processed data on the data buffer, and the write operation of the data to the normal sector of the rotating medium is continuously executed without stopping, and the non-continuous data protected on the data buffer is executed. Wherein the alternation processing data existing at the position is collectively read, and the alternation processing data is collectively recorded in the spare sector. A.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A rotating medium storage device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a rotating medium storage device according to the present embodiment. This rotating medium storage device is configured to include a data buffer 1, a spare sector position managing means 2, a buffer upper transfer control means 3, a buffer medium transfer control means 4, a rotating medium control means 5, and an address pointer control means 7. You.

The data buffer 1 is located between the host device 6 and the rotating medium control means 5 and temporarily stores data output from the host device 6. The buffer upper transfer control means 3 manages data transfer between the upper device 6 and the data buffer 1. The inter-buffer medium transfer control means 4 manages data transfer between the data buffer 1 and the rotating medium control means 5 and records and reproduces data in a spare sector area in addition to a normal data area on the rotating medium. is there. The spare sector position management means 2 manages the position on the rotating medium where the available spare sector exists,
When a logical address at which an error has occurred in the rotating medium is specified, a logical offset to the nearest spare sector in the forward direction is calculated. Address pointer control means 7
Manages the position in the data buffer 1 of the data to be recorded in the defective sector at the discontinuous position, and records the data waiting for the replacement in the spare sector area during the continuous recording operation on the rotating medium. Is controlled. The rotating medium control means 5 includes a rotating medium, and records data on the rotating medium and reproduces data from the rotating medium. A plurality of tracks are provided on the rotating medium, and each track is divided into a predetermined number of sectors.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the internal configuration of the address pointer control means 7. Current pointer 10
Is a pointer indicating the address of data to be read from the data buffer 1 when the inter-buffer medium transfer control means 4 performs data transfer processing, and is output from the read current pointer generating means. Write current pointer 15
Is a pointer indicating a write address to the data buffer 1 when the buffer upper transfer control means 3 performs data transfer processing, and is output from the read current pointer generating means. The replacement waiting sector address pointer 11 is
When data cannot be recorded in a specific sector of the rotating medium, the pointer indicates the start address of the sector on the data buffer 1 in which data to be recorded in the replacement area is stored. Is output. The offset counter 13 is a counter that counts the logical offset from the error occurrence sector position to the nearest spare sector position in the forward direction.

The current sector pointer 14 is a pointer indicating the logical position of the sector being processed by the rotating medium control means 5, and is output from the current sector pointer generating means. The spare sector access flag 12 is a flag requesting the rotating medium control means 5 to record the data of the unit sector starting from the address indicated by the current pointer 10 in the spare sector area. Is done. When the function of managing a plurality of sets of information is provided to the replacement waiting sector address pointer 11 and the offset counter 13, a plurality of replacement processes can be supported.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing the structure of the data sector and the spare sector of the rotating medium controlled by the rotating medium control means 5. This figure shows a track as a continuous access unit.
Track 20, track 21, and track 22 are shown. A spare sector is provided at the end of each track. Here, a spare sector 23, a spare sector 24, and a spare sector 25 are prepared. As described above, the spare sector is allocated to the end of each track so that the rotating medium control unit 5 can continuously access.

The operation of the rotating medium storage device having such a configuration will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation algorithm of the address pointer control means 7. If a request for replacement processing to a spare sector is issued in the recording operation of the rotating medium control means 5, step S0
Starts the process of continuous access to the replacement area.
In the next step S1, detection processing of a sector address to be replaced is performed. That is, the start address on the data buffer 1 where the data of the sector to be replaced is stored is set in the replacement waiting sector address pointer 11 in FIG. In the next step S2, a replacement sector (spare sector)
Calculate the offset up to. That is, the offset from the logical sector position where the error has occurred to the spare sector calculated by the spare sector position management means 2 is calculated and set in the offset counter 13 in FIG.

In the next step S3, it is checked whether or not the replacement waiting address matches the current address. That is, it is determined whether the value of the current pointer 10 in FIG. 2 matches the value of the replacement waiting address pointer 11, and if they match, the process proceeds to step S5, and if not, the process proceeds to step S4.

In step S5, the read position from the data buffer 1 is set to the sector address pointer 1 to be replaced.
Skip to an area one sector later. If the replacement waiting address does not match the current address in step S3, or if the processing in step S5 ends,
Proceeding to step S4, an offset decrement process is performed. That is, in step S4, the number of sectors newly transferred is subtracted from the offset of the offset counter 13. In the next step S6, it is determined whether or not the value of the offset counter 13 is zero. If it is not zero, the processing after step S3 is repeatedly executed, and if it becomes zero, the process proceeds to the next step S7.

In step S7, the current pointer 10
Is set to the value of the sector address pointer 11 waiting for replacement. In the next step S8, data for the defective sector is collectively recorded continuously in the replacement area. That is, the rotating medium control means 5 of FIG. 1 sets the spare sector access flag 12 of FIG. 2, and records data of the sector waiting for replacement (defective sector) continuously in the spare sector area existing in the target track.

In the last step S9, the value of the replacement waiting sector address pointer 11 in FIG. 2 is rewritten to a value that does not exist on the memory address and is cleared.

As described above, based on the defective sector position information in the data buffer, the data is collectively recorded in the spare sector area that passes in the course of the continuous write operation without interrupting the write operation on the rotating medium. I do.

Further, the specification is such that the replacement process is executed only by one error, and the sector in which the error has occurred is registered as a spare sector, thereby skipping the retry operation at the time of error and the operation of determining the necessity of the replacement process. Can be. In this case, a higher-speed recording operation can be realized even when an error occurs.

[0023]

According to the rotating medium storage device and the rotating medium recording control method of the present invention, by providing the spare sector position management means and the address pointer control means, the head movement and the rotation which occur at the time of executing the replacement processing to the spare sector are performed. The waiting time delay can be eliminated. Therefore, a high-speed write operation is realized, and the transfer rate is stabilized without depending on the presence or absence of a defective sector or the number of occurrences. The effect is particularly great when handling video and audio data that require a stable transfer rate.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a rotating medium storage device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of an address pointer control unit used in the rotating medium storage device according to the embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a layout diagram of spare sectors on a rotating medium according to the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a continuous access algorithm to a replacement area according to the present embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Data buffer 2 Reserve sector position management means 3 Buffer upper transfer control means 4 Buffer medium transfer control means 5 Rotating medium control means 6 Upper device 7 Address pointer control means 10 Current pointer 11 Replacement waiting sector address pointer 12 Reserve sector access flag 13 Offset Counter 14 Current Sector Pointer 15 Write Current Pointer 20, 21, 22 Tracks 23, 24, 25 Spare Sector

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A rotating medium storage device for recording data transferred from a host device on a rotating medium, comprising: a spare sector position managing means for managing a position of a spare sector on the rotating medium; A data buffer for temporarily storing the data that has been transferred, and data to be recorded in a defective sector of the rotating medium as replacement waiting data; managing a storage position of the replacement waiting data on the data buffer; Address pointer control means for controlling the recording of data waiting for replacement in the spare sector in the course of the data recording operation described above, without interrupting a continuous data writing operation from the data buffer to the rotating medium. And performing a process of changing data recording to the spare sector. 2. A rotating medium storage device for recording data transferred from a host device on a rotating medium, comprising: a rotating medium control unit for recording or reproducing data on the rotating medium in sector units; A data buffer that temporarily stores data to be recorded on the rotating medium in units of sectors, a buffer upper-layer transfer control unit that manages data transfer between the higher-level device and the data buffer, and the data buffer and the rotation. A buffer medium transfer control means for managing data transfer between the medium control means and recording / reproducing data in a spare sector in addition to a normal sector on the rotating medium; and managing a location of an available spare sector. When the logical address of the sector in which the error has occurred is designated, the spare sector for calculating the logical offset to the nearest spare sector in the forward direction is calculated. Data position management means, manages the storage position on the data buffer of data that is at a discontinuous position and is to be recorded in a defective sector where an error has occurred, in the course of a continuous recording operation on the rotating medium, A rotating medium storage device, comprising: address pointer control means for controlling recording of data to be replaced in a spare sector. 3. The read current pointer generating means for generating a pointer indicating an address of data to be read from the data buffer when the inter-buffer medium transfer control means performs data transfer processing, When upper-layer transfer control means performs data transfer processing, a write current pointer generating means for generating a pointer indicating a write address to the data buffer; and when data cannot be recorded in a specific sector of the rotating medium, A replacement waiting sector address pointer generating means for generating a pointer indicating a head address of a sector on the data buffer in which data to be recorded in the replacement sector is stored; a spare sector closest in the forward direction from the sector position where the error has occurred; Off counting logical offset to position A current sector pointer generating means for generating a pointer indicating a logical position of a sector being processed by the rotating medium control means; and recording data of a unit sector starting from an address indicated by the current pointer in a spare sector area. 3. The rotating medium storage device according to claim 2, further comprising: a spare sector access flag generating means for instructing the rotating medium control means. 4. A rotating medium recording control method for recording data transferred from a host device on a rotating medium, wherein a request for writing data is output from the host device to a sector of the rotating medium, and the data is transmitted to the specific sector. If a data write error occurs and replacement processing is required,
Detecting a spare sector position on the rotating medium, protecting the data as replacement data on a data buffer for data that has not been written to the spare sector, The write operation is continuously executed without stopping, and the alternation processing data existing at the discontinuous position protected on the data buffer is collectively read, and the alternation processing data is collectively recorded in the spare sector. A recording control method for a rotating medium.