JP2001331280A - Information processor and information processing method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce the load of application software. SOLUTION: As for recording data or reproduction data for an external recording medium such as a memory card, necessary format conversion, that is, conversion between a data format to be used inside an information processor and a universal data format recognizable in an external information processor is executed by a recording control means as an API instead of application software.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus and an information processing method, and more particularly to a process for recording and reproducing data on an external recording medium.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A personal computer or a PDA (Pers
Information processing devices such as onal Digital Assistants (portable information devices) record and reproduce files and the like on and from various external recording media such as optical disks, magneto-optical disks, magnetic disks, and memory cards. Will be

[0003]

The purpose of recording data on an external recording medium is to store the data and to make the data available to another information processing apparatus. Considering a case where data stored in a recording medium such as a memory card in a PDA device is to be reproduced and used by another personal computer or the like, the data stored in the recording medium is, of course, a personal computer. Must be in a format that can be recognized by For this reason, when some application software is activated in the PDA device, and data recording on a recording medium occurs in the operation process of the application software, the data format internally used by the PDA device is It is necessary to convert the data into a data format recognizable by an external personal computer or the like before recording.

FIG. 26 shows a processing procedure for recording data on a memory card adopting, for example, the FAT file system. When certain data is recorded in the memory card 70 by the application software 200, the format conversion is performed by the format conversion function 200a incorporated in the program of the application software 200. A function for executing access to the memory card 70, that is, A as a memory card interface
Deliver to PI (Application Program Interface).
As is well known, an API is a group of functions called when application software uses a function of an OS (Operating System). Access to the memory card 70 is realized by the function of a library as an API under the control of the OS. Therefore, the application software executes the recording data access to the memory card 70, that is, the data that has already been converted into a general-purpose format. Will be passed to the function.
The memory card access function includes a FAT file system library 201 for managing FAT and a memory card library 202 for handling a memory card.
Are provided, and a memory drive function is operated by these libraries (APIs).
Is performed.

However, according to such an embodiment, since the format conversion function 200a must be added to the application software 200, the program size of the application software increases, and the load at the time of developing the application software increases. There is a problem of doing. Further, it is wasteful that a plurality of application softwares each have a format conversion function for recording and reproducing on a specific recording medium.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and has as its object to reduce the burden on application software development and to realize the ease of development.

For this reason, the information processing apparatus of the present invention has a recording means for recording data on an external recording medium and a recording means for recording data on the external recording medium when a certain application software requests the recording of data on the external recording medium. A recording control unit implemented by an API configured to execute format conversion according to the type of data relating to the recording and to execute recording on the external recording medium by the recording unit. . Further, the recording control means checks whether the data to be recorded is executable file data or data file data, and if the data is data file data, performs the format conversion. In the format conversion, the format conversion is performed so that data can be recognized in another information device into which the external recording medium can be loaded. Further, the recording control unit recognizes the type of data to be recorded based on type information from the application software or based on file name information supplied from the application software.

Further, the information processing apparatus of the present invention comprises a reproducing means for reproducing data from an external recording medium, and a reproducing means for reproducing data from the external recording medium when a request for reproducing data from the external recording medium is made by a certain application software. A playback control means implemented by an API for executing playback from the external recording medium, performing format conversion according to the type of data related to the playback, and then passing the format conversion to the application software; Be prepared to have. Here, the reproduction control means confirms whether the data to be reproduced is executable file data or data file data, and if the data is data file data, performs the format conversion.
In the format conversion, the format conversion is performed so that data can be recognized by the application software. Further, the reproduction control means recognizes the type of data to be reproduced based on type information from the application software or based on file name information supplied from the application software.

According to the information processing method of the present invention, when a certain application software requests data recording on an external recording medium, the API executes format conversion in accordance with the type of data relating to the recording. Then, the recording on the external recording medium is executed. Further, according to the information processing method of the present invention, when a certain application software requests reproduction of data from an external recording medium, the API performs format conversion according to the type of data reproduced from the external recording medium. After execution, transfer it to the application software.

That is, according to the present invention, data recorded or reproduced on an external recording medium such as a memory card is
The necessary format conversion, that is, the conversion between the data format used inside the information processing device and the general-purpose data format that can be recognized by the external information processing device, is performed not by application software but by a hierarchy as an API. This eliminates the burden of format conversion on application software.

[0011]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in the following order. Note that an example in which a memory card is used as an external recording medium on which the information processing apparatus of the embodiment performs recording and reproduction will be described. 1. 1. Appearance example of information processing device 2. Configuration of information processing device 3. OS structure and database structure Memory Card 4-1 Appearance 4-2 Terminals and Internal Structure of Memory Card 4-3 File System Processing Hierarchy 4-4 Physical Data Structure 4-5 Concept of Physical Address and Logical Address 4-6 Logical-Physical Address Conversion Table 4 -7 directory structure FAT structure 6. Interface between memory card and information processing device 7. Processing structure example 1 when recording / reproducing to / from memory card Processing structure example 2 when recording / reproducing to / from memory card 9 Example 3 of processing structure when recording / reproducing to / from memory card

1. Example of Appearance of Information Processing Apparatus FIG. 1 shows an example of the appearance of an information processing apparatus of this example. The information processing device 1 is a small and lightweight device suitable for being carried as a so-called PDA device. It is assumed that a memory card 70 to be described later is mounted as a recording medium, and recording and reproduction can be performed. Note that the present invention is not limited to a portable information processing apparatus, but can be applied to any type of information processing apparatus including a personal computer, and the recording medium on which the apparatus performs recording is not limited to a memory card. Other types of recording media such as an HDD, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, or a RAM or a flash memory fixedly arranged in the apparatus may be used.

FIGS. 1A, 1B, 1C, and 1D are a plan view, a right side view, a left side view, and an outer appearance example of the information processing apparatus 1, respectively.
FIG. As shown in FIG. 1D, a memory slot 7 in which a memory card 70 to be described later can be inserted is formed on the upper surface side of the device. Various data (computer data, music data, audio data, moving image data, still image data, control data, and the like) can be recorded and reproduced. In the example of FIG. 1, since two memory slots 7 are formed,
One memory card 70 can be inserted at a time. Of course, the number of memory slots 7 to be formed is 1
Or three or more.

In the information processing apparatus 1, a display unit 2 formed of, for example, a liquid crystal panel is formed on a plane, and images and characters as data, data and images to be reproduced, and audio and music to be reproduced when starting application software and various processes. , An operation guide message, a menu screen for reproduction and editing operations, and the like are displayed.

On the information processing apparatus 1, various operators for user operation are provided. For example, operation key 3
a, a jog dial 3b, a push dial 3c, etc. are formed at required portions, respectively. These controls allow the user to perform, for example, a power supply operation, a menu operation, a selection operation, an input operation of characters and the like, and various other necessary operations. These controls are of course only examples. That is, the number, types, and positions of the deployed operators can be variously considered.

Further, a speaker 4, a microphone 5, and an image pickup section 6 are also formed on the information processing apparatus 1, so that sound output, input, image capture by image pickup, and the like can be executed.

Various terminals are formed for connection with various devices. For example, as shown in FIG. 1B, a headphone terminal 10, a line output terminal 12, a line input terminal 11, and the like are formed, and as shown in FIG.
Four terminals 8, USB (universal serial bus) terminals 9, and the like are formed. It should be noted that other examples are also conceivable for the types, numbers, and arrangement positions of these terminals. For example, a digital input / output terminal corresponding to an optical cable is provided, or
A CSI connector, a serial port, an RS232C connector, or the like may be formed.

2. FIG. 2 shows an internal configuration of the information processing apparatus 1. As shown in the figure, in the information processing device 1, first, as a core portion,
System controller 21, CPU 22, Flash R
An OM 23 and a D-RAM 24 are provided. Operation unit 3 as a part for basic user interface
5, a display control unit 27 and a display unit 2 are formed.

The system controller 21 inputs operation information from the operation unit 35 and interrupts the CPU 22 accordingly. The operation unit 35 corresponds to the various operators 3a, 3b, and 3c shown in FIG. Although not described in FIG. 1, a touch panel operator may be formed by displaying operation keys and icons on the display unit 2 and providing a touch detection mechanism on the display unit 2. The touch panel operator is also included in the operation unit 35 shown in FIG.

The CPU 22 has basic software (OS: Operatin).
g System) and application programs. The CPU 22 executes a required process according to the operation information supplied via the system controller 21. The flash ROM 23 is an area for storing a basic operation program, various processing constants, setting information, and the like. D
A RAM 24 for storing information necessary for various processes, buffering data, expanding a work area of the CPU 22,
In addition, it is used variously according to the processing of the CPU 22.
The D-RAM 24 is provided with a storage area (non-volatile area).
And application software are installed. Then, the application software installed in the D-RAM 24 is started in response to an operation from the user, and is executed by the CPU 22. Also, the application software has a user interface screen, and based on the state transition by the user's instruction,
-Drawing is performed in the frame buffer secured in the RAM 24. The drawn image data is sent to the display control unit 27 and displayed on the display unit 2.

As described above, the memory slot 7 for the memory card 70 is formed, and the memory card 70 can be inserted. However, the CPU 22 writes or reads the memory card 70 via the memory card interface 28. Can be accessed. The interface operation between the memory card interface 28 and the memory card 70 will be described later. CPU2
2 can use the inserted memory card 70 as an expanded memory area. If an application program is recorded on the memory card 70, the application program can be installed in the D-RAM 24, or the application or data can be directly stored in the D-RAM 24.
24 to execute required processing. In addition, the CPU 22 can record, on the memory card 70, document data, image data, audio data, spreadsheet data, and the like created by the CPU 22 based on a certain application. By detecting that the memory card 70 is inserted into the memory slot 7, the operation for the memory card 70 can be performed for recording and reproduction, or the application or data recorded on the memory card 70 is automatically A so-called hot plug-in operation such as being developed in the D-RAM 24 is also possible. The memory card interface 28 is also capable of performing encryption processing on data recorded on the memory card 70 and decryption processing of read data.

The image pickup section 6 is formed by, for example, a CCD image pickup device and an image pickup circuit system. The captured image data captured by the imaging unit 6 is transmitted to the imaging data interface 34.
Can be taken into the D-RAM 24 via
The PU 22 edits captured image data and operates the memory card 70 by operating based on a predetermined application program.
Can be executed.

The audio interface 29 includes the speaker 4, the microphone 5, and the headphone terminal 1 described above.
0, an interface part for audio data input / output from the line output terminal 12 and the line input terminal 11. For example, an analog audio signal input from the microphone 5 or the line input terminal 11 is subjected to predetermined amplification processing and filtering in the input audio processing unit 32, and is converted into digital audio data in the A / D converter 33, and is converted into the audio interface 29. Supplied to The audio interface 29 performs processing and output on the input digital audio data based on the control of the CPU 22. For example, after performing necessary compression encoding processing, the data can be supplied to the memory card interface 28 and recorded on the memory card 70. The audio interface 29 performs a predetermined decoding process on the digital audio data supplied by being read from the memory card 70, for example, and supplies the digital audio data to the D / A converter 30. The D / A converter 30 converts digital audio data into an analog audio signal. The output audio processing unit 31 performs predetermined amplification processing, impedance adjustment, and the like according to the output destination on the supplied analog audio signal, and outputs the analog audio signal to the speaker 4, the headphone terminal 10, and the line output terminal 12.

The USB interface 25 is a communication interface with an external device connected to the USB connector 9. CPU 22 is USB interface 2
5, data communication can be performed with an external personal computer or a peripheral device. For example, transmission and reception of control data, computer data, image data, audio data, and the like handled by the information processing device 1 are executed. Similarly, the IEEE 1394 interface 26 is a communication interface with an external device connected to the IEEE 1394 terminal 8. The CPU 22 can perform various data communications with external information devices via the IEEE1394 interface 26.

The configuration of the information processing apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 2 is merely an example, and the present invention is not limited to this. That is, addition of various constituent parts generally used in personal computers and PDA devices or deletion of unnecessary parts as actual products is determined by design convenience.

3. OS Structure and Database Structure Subsequently, in FIG. 3, the OS installed in the information processing apparatus 1 of the present embodiment is shown.
The structure will be described. As shown in FIG. 3, the OS includes a manager layer including a kernel as a central part of the basic software, a hardware layer such as a standard library, and a hardware layer such as a control IC.
r). The application software operates on the basic operation based on the OS structure. For the HAL, a layer is added as one or a plurality of device drivers, and actual hardware (HW) is added.
Is driven.

Here, in particular, in the case of the information processing apparatus 1 of the present embodiment, since the memory card 70 can be driven and the data of the memory card 70 is managed by the FAT as described later, the FAT library is added to the OS. Further, a library (MS library) for handling the memory card is added. The memory drive is configured to drive the memory card 70 based on the FAT library and the MS library.

In the information processing apparatus 1 of this embodiment having such an OS structure, the concept of "database" is further introduced as a concept equivalent to a "file" in a usual manner. The “database” here is not simply a storage of data as in a normal database, but is formatted as a structure that allows the database itself to manage data. In this sense, “database” corresponds to “file”.

FIG. 4 shows the database structure. That is, in the database, an area including a database name (DTB Name) and other information is formed as a header (DTB header), and a pointer table is arranged.
The actual data recorded in the data area is in a state where positional management is performed based on the point information recorded in the pointer table.

As a database having such a structure,
There are two types. For example, generally, one application software is composed of a plurality of files, among which are an execution file (***. Exe) and a data file (***. Data). .Exe), there is a "resource database (***. Prc)", and as a data file (***. Data), there is a "database database (***. Dtb)". .

In the information processing apparatus 1 of this embodiment, data is handled based on such a concept of "database". Therefore, files recorded and reproduced in the memory card 70 (files handled by FAT) also have the form of the database. In this specification, the term "file" is used according to a general concept, and in this embodiment, "file" means a database having the above structure. Becomes

4. Memory Card 4-1 Appearance Next, the memory card 70 will be described. First, FIG.
Shows the outer shape of the memory card 70. Memory card 7
No. 0 includes, for example, a memory element having a predetermined capacity inside a plate-shaped casing as shown in FIG. 5, for example. In this example, a flash memory is used as the memory element. The casing shown as a plan view, a front view, a side view, and a bottom view in FIG. 5 is formed by, for example, a plastic mold. As a specific example of the size, each of the widths W11, W12, and W13 shown in the drawing is W11 = 60.
mm, W12 = 20 mm, and W13 = 2.8 mm.

A terminal portion 72 having, for example, ten electrodes is formed from the lower front side to the bottom side of the housing, and a read or write operation for an internal memory element is performed from the terminal portion 72. The upper left part in the plane direction of the housing is a cutout 7
It is set to 3. The notch 73 is provided in the memory card 70
For example, when inserting the disk drive into the mounting / dismounting mechanism of the drive device main body, the insertion direction is prevented from being erroneously inserted. Also, from the top surface to the bottom surface of the housing, the label attaching surface 7
4 is formed so that the user can attach a label with the stored contents. Further, a slide switch 75 for preventing erroneous erasure of recorded contents is formed on the bottom side.

In such a memory card 70,
As the flash memory capacity, 4 MB (megabyte), 8 MB, 16 MB, 32 MB, 64 MB, 128
It is defined as one of the MBs. A so-called FAT (File Allocation Table) system is used as a file system for recording / reproducing data.

The writing speed is 1500 KByte / sec.
330KByte / sec, read speed 2.45MBy
te / sec, the write unit is 512 bytes, and the erase block size is 8 KB or 16 KB. The power supply voltage Vcc is 2.7 to 3.6 V and the serial clock SC
LK is set to a maximum of 20 MHz.

4-2 Terminals and Internal Structure of Memory Card FIG. 6 shows an electrode structure of the terminal section 72. As shown in FIG. 5, the terminal portion 72 has a structure in which ten planar electrodes are arranged in one row. As shown in FIG. 6, each of the electrodes (terminals T1 to T1)
0) is as follows.

The terminals T1 and T10 are the detection voltage Vss terminals. The terminal T2 is an input terminal for the serial protocol bus state signal BS. Terminals T3 and T9 are power supply voltage Vcc terminals. The terminal T4 is a data terminal, that is, an input / output terminal for a serial protocol data signal. Terminals T5 and T7 are reserved. The terminal T6 is a detection terminal, and is used by the drive device (memory card interface of the information processing device 1) to detect the attachment of the memory card. The terminal T8 is connected to the serial clock S
CLK input terminal.

FIG. 6 also shows the internal configuration of the memory card 70. Inside the memory card 70, a control IC 80 and a flash memory 81 are provided.
The control IC 80 is a part for executing a write / read operation on the flash memory 81. As can be seen from the figure, the control IC 80 receives the serial protocol bus state signal BS from the terminal T2 and the terminal T8.
From the serial clock SCLK. During a write operation, the control IC 80 controls the serial protocol bus state signal BS and the serial clock S
In accordance with CLK, data supplied from terminal T4 is written to flash memory 81. At the time of reading, data is read from the flash memory 81 according to the serial protocol bus state signal BS and the serial clock SCLK, and is output from the terminal T4 to the drive device side.

The detection voltage Vss is supplied to the detection terminal T6. On the drive device side, the terminal voltage of the detection terminal T6 is detected by the resistor R as shown in FIG. It can be detected whether or not it is connected to the memory slot 7).

4-3 File System Processing Hierarchy Next, a format in a system using the memory card 70 as a recording medium will be described. FIG. 7 shows a file system processing hierarchy of a system using the memory card 70 as a recording medium. As shown in this figure, as a file system processing layer, a file management processing layer, a logical address layer, a physical address layer, and a flash memory access are sequentially arranged below the application processing layer. In this hierarchy, the file management processing layer is a so-called FAT (File Allocation Table). Also,
As can be seen from the figure, the concept of a logical address and a physical address is introduced in the file system of this example, which will be described later.

4-4 Physical Data Structure FIG. 8 shows a physical data structure of the flash memory 81 which is a storage element in the memory card 70.
The storage area of the flash memory 81 is based on fixed-length data units called segments. This segment has a size defined as 4 MB (megabyte) or 8 MB per segment, and the number of segments in one flash memory 81 varies depending on the capacity of the flash memory 81.

Then, as shown in FIG. 8A, one segment is divided into 8 KB (kilobytes) or 16 KB as a fixed-length data unit called a block. In principle, one segment is divided into 512 blocks, so that n = 511 for the block n shown in FIG. 8A. However, in the flash memory 81, the number of blocks as a defect area, which is a damaged area that is not writable, is permitted within a predetermined number range. The above n is smaller than 511.

Of the blocks 0 to n formed as shown in FIG. 8A, the first two blocks 0 and 1 are called boot blocks. However, actually, the first two blocks of the effective block are defined as boot blocks, and there is no guarantee that the boot blocks are blocks 0 and 1. Then, the remaining blocks are user blocks in which user data is stored.

One block is divided into pages 0 to m as shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 8E, the capacity of one page is 528 (= 512), which is composed of a data area of 512 bytes and a redundant portion of 16 bytes.
+16) fixed length of bytes. The structure of the redundant section will be described later with reference to FIG. The number of pages in one block is 16 pages when the capacity of one block is 8 KB, and 32 pages when the capacity of one block is 16 KB.

The page structure in the blocks shown in FIGS. 8D and 8E is common to the boot block and the user block. Also, the flash memory 8
In 1, the data reading and writing are performed in page units, and the data erasing is performed in block units. The data writing is performed only on the erased page. Therefore, actual rewriting or writing of data is performed for each block.

In the first boot block, as shown in FIG. 8B, a header is stored for page 0, and information indicating the position (address) of the initial failure data is stored in page 1. Further, page 2 stores information called CIS / IDS. As shown in FIG. 8C, the second boot block is an area for backup as a boot block.

The redundant part (16 bytes) shown in FIG. 8E has the structure shown in FIG. In the redundant portion, as shown in the figure, the first three bytes from the 0th byte to the 2nd byte are an overwrite area which can be rewritten according to the update of the data content of the data area. In the overwrite area, the 0th byte stores the block status, and the 1st byte stores the data status (Block Flag Data). Also, a conversion table flag (Page Data
Status1) is stored.

In principle, the third to fifteenth bytes are
The content is fixed according to the data content of the current page,
This is an area where information that cannot be rewritten is stored.
The third byte stores a management flag (Block Info) indicating access permission, copy prohibition designation, and the like. A 2-byte area consisting of the fourth and fifth bytes contains a logical address described later.
(LogicAddress) is stored. 6th to 10th byte 5
The byte area is used as the format reserve area.
The subsequent two bytes of the eleventh and twelfth bytes are shared information E for performing error correction on the format reserve.
This is an area for storing the CC. In the remaining thirteenth to fifteenth bytes, data ECC for performing error correction on data in the data area shown in FIG. 8E is stored.

The management flag stored in the third byte of the redundant part shown in FIG.
The content of each bit from bit 7 to bit 0 is defined. Bits 7 and 6 and bits 1 and 0 are reserved (undefined) areas. Bit 5 is "valid"('1'; Free) of access permission for the current block /
A flag indicating "invalid"('0'; Read Protected) is stored. Bit 4 stores a flag for the copy prohibition designation ('1'; OK / '0'; NG) for the current block.

Bit 3 is used as a conversion table flag.
This conversion table flag is an identifier indicating whether or not the current block is a logical-physical address conversion table described later. If the value of bit 3 is set to '0',
The current block is identified as a logical-physical address conversion table, and if it is '0', it is invalid. That is, it is identified that the current block is not a logical-physical address conversion table.

Bit 2 stores a system flag.
If "1", it indicates that the current block is a user block, and if "0", it indicates that it is a boot block.

Here, the relationship between the segments and blocks and the flash memory capacity will be described with reference to FIG. 13 (see the left three columns). The flash memory capacity of the memory card 70 is 4 MB, 8 MB, 16 MB, 32 M
B, 64 MB, or 128 MB. In the case of 4 MB having the smallest capacity, one block is defined as 8 KB, and the number of blocks is 512. That is, 4MB
Has exactly one segment capacity.
Then, if the capacity is 4 MB, 1 block = 8 similarly
After KB capacity is defined, 2 segments = 1024
It becomes a block. As described above, 1 block =
If it is 8 KB, the number of pages in one block is 16 pages. However, with a capacity of 16 MB, it is permitted that both 8 KB and 16 KB exist as a capacity per block. For this reason, there are two types, that is, 2048 blocks = 4 segments (1 block = 8 KB) and 1024 blocks = 2 segments (1 block = 16 KB). When one block is 16 KB, the number of pages in one block is 32 pages.

Further, with the capacities of 32 MB, 64 MB and 128 MB, the capacity per block is defined as only 16 KB. Therefore, 2048 blocks = 4 segments for 32 MB, 4096 blocks = 8 segments for 64 MB, and 8192 for 128 MB.
Block = 16 segments.

4-5 Concept of Physical Address and Logical Address Next, based on the physical data structure of the flash memory as described above, the physical address in the file system of this embodiment is determined according to the data rewriting operation shown in FIG. And the concept of a logical address will be described.

FIG. 10A schematically shows four blocks extracted from a certain segment. A physical address is assigned to each block. The physical address is determined according to the physical arrangement order of the blocks in the memory, and the relationship between a certain block and the physical address associated with the block remains unchanged. Here, for the four blocks shown in FIG. 10A, values of 105, 106, 107,
108 is attached. The actual physical address is 2
Expressed in bytes.

Here, as shown in FIG. 10A, blocks indicated by physical addresses 105 and 106 are used blocks in which data is stored, and physical addresses 107 and 106 are used.
Assume that the block indicated by 108 is an unused block in which data has been erased (that is, an unrecorded area).

The logical address is an address that is allocated so as to accompany the data written to the block. This logical address is an address used by a FAT file system described later. FIG. 10A shows a state in which 102, 103, 104, and 105 are assigned as logical address values in order from the top to four blocks. Incidentally, the logical address is actually represented by 2 bytes.

Here, it is assumed that, from the state shown in FIG. 10A, for example, rewriting or partial erasing is performed as updating of data stored in the physical address 105. In such a case, in the file system of the flash memory, the updated data is not written again to the same block, but the updated data is written to an unused block. That is, for example, as shown in FIG.
Is erased, and the updated data is written to the block indicated by the physical address 107, which has been an unused block (processing).

Then, as shown in the processing, in the state before the data update (FIG. 10A), the physical address 105
Is changed so that the logical address 102 corresponding to the logical address 102 corresponds to the physical address 107 of the block in which the updated data has been written. Accordingly, before the data update, the physical address 10
The logical address 104 corresponding to 7 has been changed to correspond to the physical address 105.

That is, a physical address is an address uniquely assigned to a block, and a logical address is unique to write data in units of a block, which is accompanied by data once written to a block. Address.

By performing such a block swap process, a certain storage area (block) is not repeatedly and intensively accessed, and the life of a flash memory having an upper limit on the number of rewrites can be reduced. It can be extended. At this time, by treating the logical address as in the above processing, even if the block written in the data before and after the update is moved by the block swap processing, the same address is obtained from the FAT. The address becomes visible, and subsequent access can be executed properly. Note that, for the purpose of simplifying management for updating on a logical-physical address conversion table, which will be described later, the swap processing of blocks is defined as being completed within one segment. Conversely, block swap processing is not performed across segments.

4-6 Logical-physical address conversion table As can be understood from the description with reference to FIG. 10, the correspondence between the physical address and the logical address changes by performing the block swap processing. Therefore, in order to realize access for writing and reading data to and from the flash memory, a logical-physical address conversion table indicating the correspondence between physical addresses and logical addresses is required. That is, the logical-physical address conversion table is
, A physical address corresponding to the logical address specified by the FAT is specified, and a block indicated by the specified physical address can be accessed. Conversely, if there is no logical-physical address conversion table, it is impossible to access the flash memory by the FAT.

Conventionally, for example, when the memory card 70 is inserted into the set main body, the microprocessor of the set main body checks the storage contents of the memory card 70, so that the set main body performs logical-physical address conversion. A table is constructed, and the constructed logical-physical address conversion table is stored in the RAM of the set body. That is, in the memory card 70,
The information of the logical-physical address conversion table was not stored. On the other hand, in the present example, the logical-physical address conversion table is stored in the memory card 70 as described below.

FIG. 11 conceptually shows a construction form of a logical-physical address conversion table stored in the memory card 70 of this embodiment. That is, in the present example, for example, according to the ascending order of the logical addresses, table information for storing the corresponding 2-byte physical address is constructed as a logical-physical address conversion table. As described above, both the physical address and the logical address are represented by 2 bytes. This is 12
819 for flash memory with a maximum capacity of 8 MB
Since there are two blocks, at most this 8192
This is based on the requirement that the number of bits be large enough to cover the number of blocks. For this reason, the physical address and the logical address illustrated in FIG. 11 are also expressed in two bytes according to the actual situation. However, here, these two bytes are represented by hexadecimal numbers. That is,
“0x” indicates that the value that follows is in hexadecimal notation. It should be noted that the notation that represents a hexadecimal number by using “0x” is also used in the following description when a hexadecimal number is described. (However, in some drawings, "0x" is omitted in order to prevent the notation from being complicated.)

FIG. 12 shows an example of the structure of a logical-physical address conversion table based on the concept shown in FIG. The logical-physical address conversion table is stored for a certain block in the last segment of the flash memory as shown in FIG. First, as shown in FIG. 12A, of the pages into which the block is divided, pages 0, 1
Are allocated as a logical-physical address conversion table for segment 0. For example,
As described with reference to FIG.
If the capacity is only one segment, the area of only pages 0 and 1 becomes the area of the logical-physical address conversion table. Also, for example, if the flash memory
Since the capacity of the MB has two segments, in addition to pages 0 and 1 assigned as a logical-physical address conversion table for segment 0, pages 2 and
3 pages are allocated as the logical-physical address conversion table for the segment 1.

Thereafter, in accordance with the increase in the capacity of the flash memory, the allocation area of the logical-physical address conversion table for each segment is set for each of the following two pages. Then, in the case of the maximum capacity of 128 MB, there are 16 segments, so the pages up to the segment 15 are allocated as the area of the logical-physical address conversion table at the maximum. Therefore, in a flash memory having a maximum capacity of 128 MB, 30 pages are used.
As the page N shown in (a), N = 29 at the maximum. As can be seen from the above description, the logical-physical address conversion table is managed for each segment.

FIG. 12B shows the structure of a logical-to-physical address conversion table per segment and shows two pages of data area. That is, since the data area of one page is 512 bytes (see FIG. 8E), FIG. 12B shows a state where 1024 (= 512 × 2) bytes are developed. .

As shown in FIG. 12B, the data area for 1024 bytes, which is a data area for two pages, is divided into two bytes, and the area for each two bytes is sequentially assigned to the logical address 0, logical address 0 from the top. For one ...
Finally, the 2-byte area of the 991th and 992th bytes from the beginning is assigned to the logical address 4
It is stipulated that the area should be allocated as an area for 95. A physical address corresponding to each logical address is written in these two-byte areas. Therefore, in the logical-physical address conversion table of this example, when the correspondence between the physical address and the logical address is changed by the swap processing of the block by the actual data update or the like, the storage state of the physical address is based on the logical address. Is updated, and the table information is rewritten.

Also, from the remaining 993 bytes to the last 10 bytes,
An area of a total of 32 bytes up to the 24th byte is allocated as an area for storing a physical address of a surplus block. That is, the physical addresses of the 16 surplus blocks can be managed. The surplus block referred to here is, for example, a so-called work block set as an area for temporarily saving data to be rewritten when updating data in block units.

In the table structure shown in FIG. 12, the number of blocks that can be managed is from the logical address 0 to the logical address 0, although one segment is divided into 512 blocks. There are 496 blocks for the address 495. This is because, in practice, the above-mentioned surplus address is set, and as described above, a defect (unusable area) of a certain number of blocks is permitted in the flash memory. Therefore, in reality, it depends on the existence of a considerable number of defect blocks. Accordingly, in practice, it is sufficient to manage 496 blocks in order to manage blocks for which writing / erasing is effective.

For the block in which the logical-physical address conversion table is stored in this manner, the management flag (FIG. 9) in the redundant portion of each page forming the block is used.
Bit) of the management flag
Is set to '0'. This indicates that the block is a block in which the logical-physical address conversion table is stored.

In the block storing the logical-physical address conversion table, if the contents of the logical-physical address conversion table are rewritten, the block shown in FIG.
The swap processing described in (1) is performed. Therefore, logic-
The block in which the physical address conversion table is recorded is undefined, and it cannot be defined that the logical-physical address conversion table is stored in a specific block. Therefore, the FAT accesses the flash memory and searches for a block in which bit 3 of the management flag is set to “0” so as to identify the block in which the logical-physical address conversion table is stored. Is done. However, considering that the FAT can easily search for the block storing the logical-physical address conversion table, the block storing the logical-physical address conversion table is stored in the flash memory. In the present example, it is specified that the last numbered segment is in the segment with the number. As a result, the FAT can search the logical-physical address conversion table only by searching for the block of the segment to which the last number is assigned. That is, it is not necessary to search all the segments of the flash memory to search the logical-physical address conversion table. The logical-physical address conversion table shown in FIG. 12 is stored when the memory card 70 is manufactured, for example.

Here, the relationship between the flash memory capacity and the size of the logical-physical address conversion table will be described with reference to FIG. 13 again. As described with reference to FIG. 11, the size of the logical-physical address conversion table for managing one segment is 1024 bytes for two pages, that is, 1 KB. Therefore, as shown in the rightmost column of FIG. 13, when the flash memory has a capacity of 4 MB (one segment), the logical-physical address conversion table has a size of 1 KB. When the capacity of the flash memory is 8 MB (2 segments), the logical-physical address conversion table is 2 KB (4 pages). When the capacity of the flash memory is 16 MB, 2048 blocks =
The logical-physical address conversion table is 4 KB (8 pages) for the 4-segment type, and the logical-physical address conversion table is 2 K for the 1024-block = 2 segment type.
B (4 pages). When the capacity of the flash memory is 32 MB (4 segments), the logical-physical address conversion table is 4 KB (8 pages). When the capacity of the flash memory is 64 MB (8 segments), the logical-physical address conversion table is 8 KB (16 pages). When the capacity of the flash memory is 128 MB (16 segments), the logical-physical address conversion table is 16 KB.
(Page 32).

4-7 Directory Structure An example of a directory structure recorded on the memory card 70 is shown in FIG. The main data that can be handled by the memory card 70 includes computer data, moving image data, still image data, message data, audio data, control data, and the like. "VOICE" (message directory), "DCIM" (still image directory), "MOxxxxnn" (moving image directory), "CONTROL" (control directory),
"HIFI" (directory for audio), "PM"
(Directory for information processing device).

Although not shown, sub-directories, files (the above-described database), folders, and the like are arranged under each directory, and have a so-called tree structure. Note that such a directory structure is of course only an example, and a directory structure is actually formed according to the recording status of the information processing apparatus 1 or the like, the type of file to be recorded, and the like.

5. FAT Structure As described in the file system hierarchy of FIG. 7, the file management processing is performed by the FAT. That is, in order to realize the recording / reproducing (data writing / reading) with respect to the memory card 70 by the information processing apparatus 1 having the configuration shown in FIG. 2, the file storage position management by the FAT is referred to in response to the request in the application processing. Then, the above-described logical-physical address conversion is performed, and the actual access is performed. Here, the structure of the FAT will be described.

FIG. 15 shows an outline of a management structure based on FAT. In this example, the FAT and the logical-physical address conversion table are stored in the memory card 70, but the FAT structure shown in FIG.
This is a management structure within 0.

As shown, the FAT management structure includes a partition table, a free area, a boot sector, a FAT,
It consists of a FAT copy, a root directory, and a data area. In the data area, cluster 2, cluster 3,...
The unit data is shown as, but this cluster is
This is one data unit handled by the FAT serving as a management unit. Generally, in FAT, the cluster size is 4 Kbytes as standard, but this cluster size can be a power of 2 between 512 bytes and 32 Kbytes. In the memory card 70 of this example, as described above, one block is set to 8 Kbytes or 16 Kbytes. However, in the case of the memory card 70 where one block is set to 8 Kbytes,
The cluster handled by the FAT is 8 Kbytes. In the case of the memory card 70 in which one block is 16 Kbytes, the cluster handled by the FAT is 16 Kbytes. That is, 8 Kbytes or 16 Kbytes is a data unit in FAT management, and is one data unit as a block in the memory card 70. From the viewpoint of the memory card, the cluster size handled by the FAT =
This is the block size of the memory card. For this reason,
In the following description of this example, it is assumed that blocks = clusters for simplification.

Then, on the left side of FIG. 15, the block numbers x... (X + m-1) and (x + m) (x + m + 1)
(X + m + 2)..., For example, various data for constructing the FAT structure in each block as described above are stored. Actually, each information is not necessarily stored in each physically continuous block.

In the FAT structure, first, the start and end addresses of the FAT partition (up to 2 Gbytes) are described in the partition table. In the boot area, so-called 12-bit FAT, 16-bit FA
The type of T and the FAT structure (size, cluster size, size of each area, etc.) are described.

The FAT is a table indicating the link structure of the clusters constituting each file, as will be described later. For the FAT, a copy is described in a subsequent area. In the root directory, a file name, a leading cluster number, and various attributes are described. These descriptions use 32 bytes per file.

In the FAT, the entries of the FAT correspond to the clusters on a one-to-one basis, and the entry of each cluster describes the link destination, that is, the number of the subsequent cluster. In other words, for a certain file formed by a plurality of clusters (= blocks), the first cluster number is indicated by the directory, and the entry of the first cluster in the FAT indicates the next cluster number. In the next cluster number entry,
Further, the next cluster number is indicated. Thus, the link of the cluster is described in the FAT.

FIG. 16 schematically shows the concept of such a link (the numerical value is a hexadecimal value). For example, assuming that two files “MAIN.C” and “FUNC.C” exist, the leading cluster numbers of these two files are described in the directory as “002” and “004”, for example. For the file “MAIN.C”, the entry of the cluster number “002” is added to the next cluster number “003”.
Is described, and the next cluster number “006” is described in the entry of the cluster number “003”. Further, assuming that the cluster number 006 is the last cluster of the file “MAIN.C”, the cluster number “006”
The entry of “F” indicating the last cluster
FF ”is described. As a result, the file “MAIN.
C ”are stored in the order of cluster“ 002 ”→“ 003 ”→“ 006 ”. That is, assuming that the cluster number matches the block number in the memory card 70, the file “MAIN.C” is stored in the blocks “002”, “003”, and “006” in the memory card 70. Is expressed. (However, the cluster handled by the FAT is handled by the logical address as described above, and therefore does not directly match the physical address of the block)

Similarly, for the file “FUNC.C”, the cluster “004” → “00” is obtained by FAT.
5 "is stored.

The entry of a cluster corresponding to an unused block is set to “000”.

In the directory of each file stored in the area of the root directory, not only the leading cluster number shown in FIG. 16 but also various data are described as shown in FIG. 17, for example. That is, the file name, extension, attribute, change time information, change date information, head cluster number, and file size are each described by the number of bytes shown.

A subdirectory below a certain directory is stored not in the area of the root directory in FIG. 15, but in the data area. That is, the subdirectory is treated as a file having a directory structure. In the case of a subdirectory, the size is unlimited, and an entry for itself and an entry for the parent directory are required.

In FIG. 18, there is a file "DIR1" (attribute = directory: subdirectory) in a certain root directory, and a file "DI1"
An example of the structure in a case where there is an “R2” (attribute = directory: that is, a subdirectory) and a file “FILE” further exists therein. That is, in the root directory area, the head cluster number as the file “DIR1” which is a subdirectory is indicated, and the clusters X, Y, and Z are linked by the above-described FAT. As can be seen from this figure, the subdirectories "DIR1" and "DIR2" are treated as files and incorporated into the FAT link.

6. Interface between Memory Card and Information Processing Apparatus A serial interface system configuration between the memory card 70 and the memory card interface 28 of the information processing apparatus 1 will be described with reference to FIG. Memory card 70
The control IC 80 includes a flash memory controller 80a, a register 80b, a page buffer 80c, a serial interface 80d as shown in FIG.
As each block.

The flash memory controller 80a
Data transfer is performed between the flash memory 81 and the page buffer 80c based on the parameters set in the register 80b. The data buffered in the page buffer 80c is stored in the serial interface 80d.
The data transferred to the memory card interface 28 of the information processing apparatus 1 via the data interface 1, and the data transferred from the memory card interface 28 of the information processing apparatus 1 are buffered to the page buffer 10c via the serial interface 80d.

The memory card interface 28 has a file manager 60, a transfer protocol interface 61, and a serial interface 62 as an interface structure for the memory card 70. The file manager 60 manages files in the memory card 70. For example, in the system of this example, a management file for managing the main data file is stored in the memory card 70, but the information processing apparatus 1 reads the management file from the loaded memory card 70 and
The PU 22 will form the file manager 60. Access to the memory card 70 is executed according to the file manager 60. The transfer protocol interface 61 includes a register 80b, a page buffer 80c.
Perform access to. Serial interface 6
2 is three signal lines to the memory card 70, that is, S
CLK (serial clock), BS (bus state),
In SDIO (serial data input / output), a protocol for performing arbitrary data transfer is defined.

By the operation of each unit in the above configuration, read access / write access to memory card 70 (flash memory 81) by information processing device 1 is executed.

7. Processing Structure Example 1 for Recording / Reproducing to Memory Card Hereinafter, the information processing apparatus 1 records or reproduces data to / from the memory card 70 based on the operation of certain application software activated in the CPU 22. The processing at that time will be described. In addition, three examples are given as examples of processing structures. First, processing example 1 is shown in FIG.
This will be described with reference to FIG. The data requested by the application software to record or reproduce is, for example, an execution file (resource database; “***. Pr
c ”) or a data file (database database;“ ***. dtb ”).

FIG. 20 shows the flow of processing when the application software 100 requests data recording on the memory card 70. API below the broken line in the figure
And a processing system related to the OS.
1, MS library 102, F shown in the OS structure of FIG.
It corresponds to an AT library and an MS library. The memory drive 103 corresponds to the memory drive in FIG.
2 and specifically realized by the memory card interface 28 of FIG. 2, and performs the processing described with reference to FIG.

The FAT library 101 basically has the function of the file management processing hierarchy of FIG. 7 as its function, but further has a format conversion function 101a and a type discrimination function 101b as shown in the figure.

The format conversion function 101a is a function for converting a data format used in the information processing apparatus 1 into a data format that can be recognized by another personal computer or the like. Specifically, for example, in the information processing apparatus 1, data files such as document data, audio data, and image data have a predetermined format as the above-mentioned database database “***. Dtb”. Performs conversion between the database “***. Dtb” and the general-purpose format. For example, by removing its own header and tags from the database database “***. Dtb” as document data, general text data “***. Tx
t ”format.

The type determining function 101b is a function for the application software 100 to recognize the type of data requested to be recorded or reproduced. In particular,
It recognizes whether the data is the resource database “***. Prc” or the database database “***. Dtb”. For this recognition, the application software 100 may be capable of recognizing the type by passing the type information FS.
01b itself may determine the type from the file name (extension) received from the application software 100.

In the MS library 102, a logical-physical address conversion function 102a is provided. This is Figure 7
Corresponding to the logical address management layer and physical address management layer of
The address conversion process described above is performed.

In FIG. 20, the application software 100 stores the resource database “***. Pr
c ”and a request for recording the database“ ***. dtb ”. When the application software 100 requests data recording, the type discriminating function 101b in the FAT library 101 first recognizes the data type. If the data to be recorded is the resource database “***. Prc”, the data is not passed through the processing of the format conversion function 101a,
Transfer to MS library 102 or lower, memory card 7
Record at 0. On the other hand, if the data to be recorded is the database database “***. Dtb”, the data is transferred to the format conversion function 101a and converted into a general-purpose format. For example, if it is document data, it is converted to a normal text data format. And MS library 102
The data is transferred to the memory card 70 below.

In the case of a database as audio data, as a general format to be converted, for example, a WAVE data format (linear audio), an ATRAC (registered trademark) system, or an MP
A compressed data format of the EG audio system is conceivable. In the case of a database as image data, as a general format to be converted, for example, a bitmap data format, an MPE
G compressed data format, GIF format, JP
An EG format or the like is conceivable.

By such processing, the resource database normally used only by the information processing apparatus 1 is recorded in the memory card 70 in the sense of being stored without being format-converted as it is, On the other hand, for a database,
The data is converted into a general-purpose format so that it can be used by another personal computer or the like, and recorded on the memory card 70. Therefore, the data can be effectively used by another personal computer or the like.

FIG. 21 shows processing when the application software 100 requests data reproduction from the memory card 70. In this case, the memory drive 103 reads data from the memory card 70 based on the control of the FAT library 101 and the MS library 102 for the reproduction data requested by the application software 100.
After the conversion from the physical address to the logical address is performed in the library 102, the FAT library 101 converts the format from the format
Is performed. That is, when the application software 100 requests the data reproduction as the resource database (**. Prc), the read resource database (**. Prc) is passed to the application software 100 as it is. . On the other hand, when the application software 100 requests data reproduction as a database (***. Dtb), the data to be read is data in a general format such as text data.
The format is converted by the format conversion function 101a, and the database is converted to a database (***. Dtb).
In the form described above.

By such reproduction processing, reproduction corresponding to the above-mentioned recording processing can be performed, and general-purpose format data recorded on the memory card 70 by an external personal computer or the like can also be used in the information processing apparatus 1 by application processing. The software 100 can be handled.

According to such an example of the processing structure at the time of recording / reproducing, the necessary format conversion is performed on the recording data or reproducing data for the memory card 70, that is, the data format used inside the information processing apparatus and the external Since conversion between general-purpose data formats that can be recognized by the device is performed not by the application software but by the FAT library 101 as an API, the application software does not need to have a format conversion function. .

8. Example 2 of processing structure at the time of recording / reproducing on memory card FIGS. 22 and 23 show a second example of the processing structure. In this case, the format conversion described above is performed using an API provided separately from the FAT library 101.
Is performed by the format conversion library 104. That is, the application software 100
Requesting data recording, first, as shown in FIG. 22, the type identification function 101b in the FAT library 101 recognizes the data type. If the data to be recorded is the resource database “***. Prc”, the data is stored in the MS library 102.
The data is transferred to the memory card 70 below. On the other hand, the data to be recorded is the database "**
*. If it is "dtb", the data is transferred to the format conversion library 104 so as to be converted into a general-purpose format. Then, the format-converted data is transferred to the MS library 102 or lower,
The data is recorded on the memory card 70.

The application software 100
23 requests the data reproduction from the memory card 70, as shown in FIG. 23, the data read from the memory card 70 Processing is performed according to the type recognition of the type determination function 101b of the library 101. That is, when the application software 100 requests the data reproduction as the resource database (**. Prc), the read resource database (**. Prc) is passed to the application software 100 as it is. . On the other hand, when the application software 100 requests data reproduction as a database (***. Dtb), the data to be read is data in a general format such as text data. Format converted,
The data is passed to the application software 100 in the form of a database (***. Dtb).

According to such a processing structure example, the same effect as that of the processing structure example 1 can be obtained.

9. Processing Structure Example 3 for Recording / Reproducing to Memory Card FIGS. 24 and 25 show a third example of the processing structure. In this case, the format conversion described above is performed by the format conversion library 104 provided separately from the FAT library 101, as in the processing structure example 2. However, the application software 100 This is a processing structure for requesting format conversion.

That is, the application software 100
When requesting the recording of data as a database database “***. Dtb”, as shown in FIG.
Get data as a general format. If the data to be recorded is the resource database “***. Prc”, such processing is not required. Then, the application software 100 stores the data to be recorded,
That is, the data in the general format or the resource database “***. Prc” is transferred to the FAT library 101 or lower and recorded on the memory card 70.

The application software 100
Requesting data reproduction from the memory card 70, the data read from the memory card 70 is supplied through the processing of the MS library 102 and the FAT library 101 as shown in FIG. If the data is in a general format,
The data is transferred to the format conversion library 104 and received as data in a format as a database.

According to such a processing structure example, the same effect as that of the processing structure example 1 can be obtained.

The configuration of the information processing apparatus as an embodiment, an example of a processing structure for recording and reproduction, and the like have been described above. However, the present invention is not limited to these examples, and various modifications are possible. The devices to which the present invention can be applied are various.

[0113]

As will be understood from the above description, according to the present invention, the necessary format conversion, that is, the data used inside the information processing apparatus, for the recording data or the reproduction data for the external recording medium such as a memory card. The conversion between the format and a general-purpose data format that can be recognized by an external information processing device is performed not by the application software but by the recording control means as an API, and the application software has a format conversion function. There is no need. This has the effect that the program size of application software can be reduced, development burden and redundant functions can be reduced.

The type of the data for recording / reproducing is confirmed whether it is executable file data or data file data. If the data is data file data, the format conversion is performed, so that the format is converted. When conversion is required, for example, format conversion is executed only when there is a possibility of use in another personal computer, and efficient processing can be realized. In the format conversion, it is appropriate that the format conversion is performed so that data can be recognized in another information device into which an external recording medium can be loaded. The recording control unit recognizes the type of data to be recorded based on the type information from the application software or based on the file name information supplied from the application software. Format conversion operation.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of an information processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention;
It is a right side view, a left side view, and a top view.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the information processing apparatus according to the embodiment;

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of an OS structure of the information processing apparatus according to the embodiment;

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a database structure handled by the information processing apparatus according to the embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a plan view, a front view, a side view, and a bottom view showing the external shape of the memory card according to the embodiment;

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of an internal structure of the memory card according to the embodiment;

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of a file system processing hierarchy according to the embodiment;

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of a physical data structure of the memory card according to the embodiment;

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram of a management flag of the memory card according to the embodiment.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of the concept of a data update process and a physical address and a logical address in the memory card of the embodiment.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram of a management form of a logical-physical address conversion table according to the embodiment;

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram of a structure of a logical-physical address conversion table according to the embodiment;

FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram showing the relationship between the flash memory capacity of the memory card / the number of blocks / the capacity of one block / the capacity of one page / the size of the logical-physical address conversion table.

FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram of a directory structure of the memory card according to the embodiment;

FIG. 15 is an explanatory diagram of a FAT structure.

FIG. 16 is an explanatory diagram of a cluster management mode using FAT.

FIG. 17 is an explanatory diagram of the contents of a directory.

FIG. 18 is an explanatory diagram of a storage mode of a subdirectory and a file.

FIG. 19 is an explanatory diagram of an interface configuration between the information processing device and the memory card according to the embodiment;

FIG. 20 is an explanatory diagram of a processing structure example 1 at the time of recording / reproducing on the memory card according to the embodiment;

FIG. 21 is an explanatory diagram of a processing structure example 1 at the time of recording / reproducing on the memory card according to the embodiment;

FIG. 22 is an explanatory diagram of a processing structure example 2 at the time of recording / reproducing on the memory card according to the embodiment;

FIG. 23 is an explanatory diagram of a processing structure example 2 at the time of recording / reproducing on the memory card according to the embodiment;

FIG. 24 is an explanatory diagram of a processing structure example 3 at the time of recording / reproducing on the memory card according to the embodiment;

FIG. 25 is an explanatory diagram of a processing structure example 3 at the time of recording / reproducing on the memory card according to the embodiment;

FIG. 26 is an explanatory diagram of a conventional process at the time of recording / reproducing on a memory card.

[Explanation of symbols]

Reference Signs List 1 information processing device, 2 display unit, 3a, 3b, 3c operator, 4 speakers, 5 microphones, 6 imaging unit,
7 memory slots, 8 IEEE1394 terminals, 9
USB terminal, 10 headphone terminal, 11 line input terminal, 12 line output terminal, 21 system controller, 22 CPU, 23 flash ROM, 24
D-RAM, 25 USB interface, 26 I
EEE1394 interface, 27 display control unit,
28 memory card interface, 29 audio interface, 70 memory card, 100 application software, 101 FAT library, 101a format conversion function, 101b type identification function, 102 MS library, 103 memory drive

Claims (12)

[Claims] 1. A recording means for recording data on an external recording medium, and when data recording on the external recording medium is requested from a certain application software, the type of data relating to the recording is determined. An information processing apparatus, comprising: a recording control unit implemented by an API configured to cause the recording unit to execute recording on the external recording medium after performing a format conversion in response thereto. 2. The recording control means according to claim 1, wherein said recording control means confirms whether the data to be recorded is executable file data or data file data, and if the data is data file data, performs said format conversion. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: 3. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein in the format conversion, the format conversion is performed so that data can be recognized in another information device into which the external recording medium can be loaded. 4. The recording control device according to claim 1, wherein the recording control unit recognizes a type of data to be recorded based on type information from the application software.
An information processing apparatus according to claim 1. 5. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the recording control unit recognizes a type of data to be recorded based on file name information supplied from the application software. 6. A reproducing means for reproducing data from an external recording medium, and when reproduction of data from the external recording medium is requested by a certain application software, the reproducing means reproduces data from the external recording medium. Playback control means implemented by an API for executing playback, performing format conversion in accordance with the type of data related to the playback, and then passing the data to the application software. Information processing device. 7. The reproduction control means checks whether the data to be reproduced is executable file data or data file data, and if the data is data file data, performs the format conversion. The information processing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein 8. The information processing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the format conversion is performed so that the application software can recognize the data. 9. The apparatus according to claim 6, wherein said reproduction control means recognizes a type of data to be reproduced based on type information from said application software.
An information processing apparatus according to claim 1. 10. The information processing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein said reproduction control means recognizes a type of data to be reproduced based on file name information supplied from said application software. 11. When a certain application software requests data recording on an external recording medium, the API performs format conversion in accordance with the type of data relating to the recording, and then executes the format conversion on the external recording medium. An information processing method characterized by causing recording to be performed on a computer. 12. When a certain application software requests data reproduction from an external recording medium, the API performs format conversion according to the type of data reproduced from the external recording medium. An information processing method, wherein the information is transferred to the application software.