JP2002207634A - Storage area managing method and storage device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To secure the efficient use of a memory when compressed data are written in a storage area allocated at an acquisition request. SOLUTION: When compressed data are already written to a memory block allocated at the acquisition request, a storage device confirms whether there is an unused area, obtains a memory management block from an emptiness list when there is an unused area, and allocates the unused area to a divided memory block (steps 120 to 130). Then it is decide whether unused memory blocks are successive and when so, they are connected into one memory block to update the contents of the memory management block (steps 132 to 138). Consequently, the unused storage area is prevented from increasing and fragmenting and allocation based upon a new acquisition request is attained.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a storage area management method for managing an area for storing data in a storage medium such as a RAM and a storage device for storing data in a storage medium.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a method of managing a memory such as a RAM, a method is employed in which a storage area is securely written according to a required size, data is written, and all areas secured at the time of release are released.

When performing data compression, the size of the compressed data is generally smaller than the size of the original data. In some cases, however, the size of the compressed data is smaller than the size of the original data. May also be large. For this reason, when storing the compressed data, a predetermined margin is included in the area of the requested size to secure the storage area.

[0004] Therefore, although the reserved area is in an unused state, it is in a management use state and becomes unusable, so that there has been a problem that memory use efficiency is not improved.

On the other hand, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Hei 6-309197 divides a memory into fixed blocks and manages whether each block is in use or not. By using such a management method, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of an unusable area despite being unused.

[0006]

However, even when such a management method is used, an unused area is generated in each block, so that it cannot always be said to be an efficient storage area management.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and a storage area management which enables efficient management of a storage area by suppressing an unused area on a storage medium from becoming unusable. It is an object to propose a method and a storage device.

[0008]

According to a storage area management method for achieving the above object, a management block indicating a storage capacity and a use state of a corresponding storage area is set for each predetermined storage area, and a storage area management method is provided. When an acquisition request is made, an unused area is searched from the management block, a storage area is allocated according to the storage capacity required from the unused area, and one management block is assigned to the allocated storage area. When there is an unused area in the already allocated storage area, one management block is made to correspond to the unused area separately from the used area, and an area continuous with the unused area is an unused area. At one time, these storage areas are linked to correspond to one management block.

According to the present invention, a management block is set for each predetermined area of a storage medium. This management block is provided with information on whether or not at least the corresponding area is unused, together with the storage area and storage capacity to be managed.

Here, when there is a storage area allocation request, a storage area according to the requested storage capacity is allocated from an unused area. That is, one management block is allocated to the storage area allocated according to the acquisition request.

When data is written in the storage area set in this way, it is checked whether or not there is an unused storage area which is a free area. If there is an unused storage area, this storage area is divided. Then, one management block is allocated.

At the same time, when a storage area contiguous to this storage area is an unused area, these unused areas are combined and set as one storage area, and one management block is assigned to this storage area. Assign.

This makes it possible to efficiently manage the storage area while preventing the free area from being fragmented.

Further, the storage area management method of the present invention determines whether or not compressed data is stored in a storage area allocated based on the acquisition request. Divide the unused area in the area,
It is characterized in that one management block corresponds.

According to the present invention, when compressed data is stored in a storage area allocated by an acquisition request, an unused area is divided from the storage area.

By storing compressed data, when a large unused area is generated for the storage area requested to be acquired, the unused area is divided and assigned to a new storage area acquisition request. This makes it possible to efficiently use unused storage areas even if storage areas are allocated in consideration of margins for storing compressed data.

Further, in the storage area management method according to the present invention, when a release request is made to the storage area allocated based on the acquisition request, the management block is set so that the storage area becomes an unused area. Is updated, and when a storage area contiguous to the storage area is an unused area, these storage areas are linked to correspond to one management block.

According to the present invention, when a storage area in which data is stored is released, if there is an unused area in a storage area continuous with this storage area, these storage areas are replaced with one unused area. And assign one management block.

As described above, when the unused areas are continuous, the unused areas are successively combined to prevent the storage area divided for each management block from gradually narrowing.

The storage device according to the present invention comprises a compression means for compressing input data, a decompression means for decompressing and outputting compressed data, and a storage means which has been input from the compression means to a storage area secured by request in advance. A storage medium for storing the compressed data and outputting the stored compressed data to the decompression means, wherein the requested storage area is secured, and the size and use state of the storage area are stored. Area acquisition means for associating a management block with information indicating the above, and storage for associating a new management block with the unused area when an unused area is detected in the storage area secured by the request. Area adjustment means;
When the storage area continuous with the divided storage area is an unused area from the information of the management block newly corresponded by the storage area adjustment unit and the management block continuous with this management block, these storage areas are deleted. Combining means for combining one management block by combining them.

Further, the storage device of the present invention includes release means for updating the management block with the storage area as an unused area based on the release request for the reserved storage area, and the storage block is released by the release means. When the storage area that is continuous with the storage area is an unused area, the connection unit connects the unused areas and associates one management block.

According to the present invention, the compressed data is stored in the storage area allocated by the acquisition request. When there is an unused area in the storage area allocated at this time, the unused area is divided and one management block is allocated. When a plurality of unused areas are continuous, these unused areas are divided into one. One management block is allocated as a storage area.

When a storage area is divided and combined as described above, by allocating a management block for each storage area, efficient management of the storage area can be performed accurately based on the information of the management block. it can.

[0024]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of an IOT (Imaging Output Terminal) controller 10 applied to the present embodiment.

The IOT controller 10 is provided between an output processing unit such as a print controller (hereinafter referred to as "print controller 12") and an output device such as a printer (hereinafter referred to as "IOT 14"). The IOT controller 10 is connected to a print controller 12 via a bus 16 such as a PCI bus, for example, and performs IO based on image raster data or the like (hereinafter, referred to as “raster data”) output from the print controller 12.
The printing process is performed while controlling T14.

The IOT controller 10 includes a control processing section 18, a serial I / F 20, an image output processing section 2
2 and an output information management unit 24. The print controller 1 controls the operation of the IOT 14 based on a control signal input from the print controller 12.
2 has a general configuration for executing a printing process based on raster data or the like input from the device 2.

On the other hand, the IOT controller 10 has a compression processing section 26 as compression means for compressing raster data input from the print controller 12, and an expansion means as expansion means for expanding the data compressed by the compression processing section 26. Along with the processing unit 28, a memory 30 such as a RAM is provided as a storage medium for storing the compressed data.

The IOT controller 10 converts the data input from the print controller 12 into a compression
After compression processing, the data is written in the memory 30. In addition, IO
In the T controller 10, the data is read from the memory 30, the data is expanded by the expansion processing unit 28, and is output to the IOT 14 via the video I / F 32. IOT
14 performs a printing process based on the data (raster data) thus input.

Incidentally, the IOT controller 10 includes:
A memory management unit 38 constituting a storage device 50 is formed together with the compression processing unit 26, the decompression processing unit 28, and the memory 30.

As shown in FIG. 2, the memory management unit 38 includes an initialization processing unit 40, a memory release processing unit 42, a memory acquisition processing unit 44, and a memory area adjustment processing unit 46. The initialization processing unit 40 initializes a predetermined area of the memory 30 at system startup. In addition, the memory release processing unit 42 includes the image set / clear unit 3
When a release request is made from the memory 6, a predetermined area on the memory 30 (the area requested to be released) is released, and the writing of new data is enabled.

Further, the memory acquisition processing section 44 receives a use request (acquisition request) of a storage area in the memory 30 for writing data from the image set / clear processing section 36, and thereby receives the requested storage. Acquires a storage area with a capacity and outputs the start address of the acquired area. Thus, the compressed data output from the compression processing unit 26 can be written to the obtained storage area on the memory 30.

On the other hand, the memory management unit 38
Is divided by a predetermined storage area (storage capacity),
A memory management block 52 is assigned to each storage area.

FIG. 3A shows a memory management block 52.
Is conceptually shown. In the present embodiment, as an example, the storage area in the memory 30 is divided so as to have a fixed storage capacity (see FIG. 3B, hereinafter referred to as “memory block 54”), and the memory management block 52
Manages one memory block memory 54 as a minimum unit. Further, a plurality of continuous memory blocks 54 can be managed by one memory management block 52.

The memory management block 52 includes a head address ad of the storage area, a requested storage capacity (storage size), an allocated storage capacity (storage size), and whether the written data is compressed data. Along with the data type indicating whether the data is data, information such as a status flag F indicating the use status of the corresponding area and memory management block pointers next and pre is added.

Here, the pointer next indicates the first pointer of the memory management block 52 connected next to the relevant memory management block 52, and the pointer pre indicates the memory management block in front of the relevant memory management block 52. The start pointer of the block 52 is indicated.

Thus, for example, among the memory management blocks 52A, 52B and 52C, the pointer next of the memory management block 52A and the pointer pre of the memory management block 50C indicate the head pointer of the memory management block 52B. Further, the pointer next of the memory management block 52B indicates the head pointer of the memory management block 52C, and the pointer pre of the memory management block 52B indicates
This indicates the pointer at the head of the memory management block 52A.

As shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B, the head address ad indicated in the memory management block 52 indicates the head address of the corresponding memory block 54 of the memory 30. That is, the memory management block 5
2A, 52B, and 52C have respective addresses ad ₁ , a
Each of d ₂ and ad ₃ indicates the head address ad of the memory block 54A, 54B, 54C on the memory 30.

Thus, in the memory management section 38, the position (head address ad) of the corresponding storage area 54, the storage capacity, whether the storage area is unused or not, and whether the stored data is compressed data are determined from the management block 52. It is possible to recognize whether or not.

On the other hand, in the memory management section 38, the memory block 54 can be divided and connected. For example, as shown in FIGS. 3B and 3C, when connecting the memory block 54C and the memory block 54D to form a new memory block 54C, as shown in FIG. A new memory management block 54C is allocated to the memory block 54C, and the memory management block 54D
Is “empty”.

Conversely, the memory block 54C shown in FIG. 3C is replaced with the memory block 54C shown in FIG.
C, 54D, the memory management blocks 52C, 54C are assigned to the divided memory blocks 54C, 54D.
52D is allocated (see FIG. 3A).

On the other hand, as shown in FIG.
8, a management list 56 and an empty list 58 are created. The management list 56 includes the memory block 54
Are registered in the memory management block 52 to which the memory block 5 is assigned.
The memory management blocks 52 to which No. 4 is not allocated (for example, the memory management block 52D in FIG. 3D) are pooled.

In the IOT controller 10 configured as described above, when raster data is input from the print controller 12, the data is compressed by the compression processing unit 26 and the compressed data is output to the memory 30.

At the same time, the image set / clear processing unit 36 requires a storage area for storing image data. Thus, the compressed data output from the compression processing unit 26 is written to the allocated memory block 54.

In the IOT controller 10, the IO
The compressed data is read out from the memory 30 according to the operation state of T14 and input to the decompression processing unit 28. As a result, the compressed data is decompressed, and the video I
Output to the IOT 14 via the / F32,
The IOT 14 performs a printing process based on the raster data.

When a release request is input from the print controller 12 to the memory block 54, the memory block 54 allocated for writing the compressed data is released.

Here, referring to FIGS. 4 to 8,
The management of the storage area in the storage device 50 will be described.

The flowchart of FIG.
9 shows an example of the flow of processing in response to a storage area acquisition request input to the storage device. In this flowchart, it is determined whether or not a storage area acquisition request has been input in the first step 100, and a storage area acquisition request has been input and step 1
In the next step 102, an unused memory block 54 corresponding to the requested storage capacity is searched from the memory management block 52 in the management list 56.

Thereafter, in step 104, it is determined whether there is an unused memory block 54 of the requested size, and if there is a corresponding memory block 54, an affirmative determination is made in step 104, and step 106 Move to. In this step 106, this memory block 54
And returns the start address. In step 108, the information of the memory management block 52 for this memory block 54 is updated.

On the other hand, if a negative determination is made in step 104, the process proceeds to step 110, where it is determined whether a new assignment is possible. That is, it is confirmed whether or not an acquisition request can be given by dividing any of the unused memory blocks.

Here, when there is no unused memory block 54 or the storage capacity is insufficient, a negative determination is made in step 110, and the acquisition request is returned as being unallocatable, and processing for the acquisition request is performed. To end.

On the other hand, if a new assignment is possible, an affirmative determination is made in step 110 and the process proceeds to step 112. In this step 112, first, the empty list 58
Of the memory management block 52 in the following step 1
At 14, the unused memory block 54 is divided so as to have the requested storage capacity, and the memory block 54 is allocated to the acquisition request.

In the next step 116, the memory management block 52 obtained from the empty list 58 is allocated to one of the divided memory blocks 54. At this time, the information of the memory management block 52 assigned to the memory block 54 before division is also updated.

Thereafter, at step 118, the newly allocated memory management block 54 is registered in the management list 56.

In this way, by outputting the head address of the allocated memory block 54 to the requested storage area, the compressed data is written to this memory block 54.

By the way, in the storage device 50, it is checked at a predetermined timing whether or not there is an unused area in the storage area allocated by the acquisition request, and if there is an unused area, the storage area is adjusted. I have.

That is, the actual use area may be significantly smaller than the storage area reserved for storing the compressed data. At this time, the storage device 50 adjusts the memory area for the memory management block 52.

FIG. 5 shows an example of memory area adjustment. This flowchart is executed by, for example, allocating a new storage area based on an acquisition request and writing data to the allocated storage area. In the first step 120, the memory block 54 assigned to the memory management block 52 is used. It is checked whether the data written in the corresponding memory block 54 is the compressed data from the data in. In step 122,
It is confirmed whether or not there is an unused area in the memory block 54 based on the information to be set in the memory management block 52. The presence or absence of this unused area can be determined from the acquired storage area and the amount of data written.

Here, when the data written in the memory block 54 is not compressed data (step 120).
No) or when there is no unused area (step 12)
If the determination is negative in 2), the processing is terminated without performing the storage area adjustment.

On the other hand, if the compressed data is written in the memory block 54 and there is an unused area, a positive determination is made in steps 120 and 122, and the process proceeds to step 124. The presence or absence of an unused area is determined based on whether or not there is an unused area having a storage capacity equal to or larger than the minimum capacity (the smallest memory block) managed by the memory management block 52.

In step 124, the memory management list 52 is obtained from the empty list 58. In step 126, an unused area is calculated from the allocated storage capacity and data capacity. Are divided into a memory block 54 in which is written and an unused memory block 54.

Thereafter, the memory management list 52 obtained from the empty list 58 is allocated to the divided unused memory block 54, and the information of the memory management block 52 for the memory block 54 in which the compressed data is written is transferred. Update (step 130).

When the division of the memory block 54 and the assignment of the memory management block 52 are completed in this way, in the next step 132, the divided unused memory block is obtained from the information marked on the next memory management block 52. It is confirmed whether or not the memory block 54 following the 54 is unused.

Here, when the next memory block 54 is unused (Yes at step 132), the process proceeds to step 134 to connect the two memory blocks 54. Thereafter, in step 136, one memory management block 52 is assigned to the connected memory block 54.
And the other memory management block 52 is registered in the empty list 58.

When the memory management block 52 is allocated to the memory block 54 in this way, the memory management block 52 is registered in the management list 56 in step 136.

That is, as shown in FIG. 6A, when there is an unused area in the memory block 54 in the memory management block 52A, as shown in FIG. 6B, in addition to the memory management block 52A, Memory management block 52
A memory management block 52C is added between A and the memory management block 52B. 6 (A) to FIG.
3C shows only the memory management block 52, and omits the illustration of the memory block 54 corresponding to each of the memory management blocks 52.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 6B, the memory management block
When the memory block 54 corresponding to 2B is in an unused state, the memory block 54 corresponding to the memory management block 52B and the memory block 54 corresponding to the memory management block 52B are connected, as shown in FIG. 6C. For example, a memory management block 52C is assigned to the connected memory block 54. At this time, the memory management block 52B from which the corresponding memory block 54 has disappeared is registered in the empty list 58.

On the other hand, the storage device 50 does not need to allocate a storage area by outputting image data or the like. When a request to release the allocated storage area is made, the release processing of the allocated storage area is performed. Do.

FIG. 7 shows an example of processing for a release request. This flowchart shows the first step 1
It is determined whether or not a release request for the storage area allocated in step 40 has been input, and a release request has been input to execute an affirmative decision. In the next step 142, the storage area requested from the management list 56 is determined. Is searched for the memory management block 52 for.

Thereafter, in step 144, the corresponding memory block 54 is retrieved from the searched memory management list 52.
In step 146, it is checked whether the written data is compressed data.

Here, if no data has been written to the memory block 54 corresponding to the release request (negative determination in step 144), or if the written data is not compressed data but data such as RAW (step 146). , The process ends without releasing the requested storage area.

On the other hand, if the recorded data is compressed data (Yes at Steps 144 and 146), the process proceeds to Step 148 to check the storage capacity requested to be released. In the present embodiment, for example, it is determined whether the corresponding memory block 54 is partially released or the entire area is released (whether or not it is partially released).

As a result, if it is requested to release the entire memory block 54 corresponding to the memory management block 52, a negative determination is made in step 148, and step 150 is performed.
Move to. In this step 150, the entire area of the memory block 54 is released on the memory management block 52,
The memory block 54 is set to an unused state.

On the other hand, when partial release is requested, a positive determination is made in step 148, and
Move to. In this step 152, the storage area to be released is calculated from the storage capacity requested to be released and the storage capacity of the memory block 54.

Thereafter, in step 154, the empty list 5
8, the calculated memory area is divided, and a new memory block 54 is created (step 156).
4, the memory management list 52 acquired from the empty list 58 is allocated (step 158). With this,
The information of the original memory management block 52 is updated.

When the requested storage area is released in this way, the process proceeds to step 160, and the joining processing of the memory block 54 is started. In this connection processing, first, in step 160, the unused state (Fre
The memory management blocks 52 corresponding to the memory blocks 54 before and after the memory block 54 set as e) are searched to confirm whether or not each memory block 54 is in an unused state (step 162).

Here, the unused memory block 54
Are affirmative in step 162, and the routine goes to step 164. In this step 164, the unused memory blocks 54 are connected to form one memory block 54. At the same time, in step 166, the memory management block 52 is updated so that one of the memory management blocks 52 is assigned to the linked memory block 54 and the remaining memory management blocks 52 are registered in the empty list 58.

Thereafter, in step 168, the memory management block 52 is registered in the management list 56.

That is, as shown in FIG. 8A, for example, when the entire area of the memory block 54 corresponding to the memory management block 52B is released, the memory management block 52B
From the status flags F of the memory management blocks 52A and 52C before and after the above, it is easy to confirm whether or not the memory block 54 that is continuous with the memory block 54 corresponding to the memory management block 52B is in an unused state. FIG.
8A and 8B, illustration of the memory block 54 is omitted.

Here, the memory management blocks 52A, 54
When C indicates that the corresponding memory block 54 is in the unused state, and the memory management block 52B indicates the unused state, the three memory blocks 54 continue in the unused state.

At this time, the three memory blocks 54
Are connected to form one memory block 54, and FIG.
As shown in FIG. 3, one memory management block 52 (for example, the memory management block 5
2A) and the remaining two memory management blocks 5
2 (for example, the memory management blocks 52B and 52C) are registered in the empty list 58.

As described above, when there is an unused area in the memory block 54 allocated based on the acquisition request,
By dividing this unused area, it can be used for allocation to a new acquisition request.

When the unused memory blocks 54 are divided or released, and when the unused memory blocks 54 are continuous, these unused memory blocks 54 are connected to form an unused area on the memory 30. Can be suppressed, and the storage area on the memory 30 can be used efficiently.

Furthermore, by making the storage capacity (storage area) of the memory block 54 corresponding to the memory management block 52 variable, the management of the memory block 54 becomes easy and the efficient management becomes possible.

Therefore, when the compressed data is stored, the memory 3 becomes in use even though only a part of the requested storage area is used.
0 can be reliably prevented from decreasing.

As a result, when the memory 30 having the same storage capacity is used, raster data for a large number of pages can be stored in the memory 30.
Therefore, even when a printer capable of high-speed processing is used as the IOT 14, the processing capacity of the printer does not deteriorate due to the storage capacity of the memory 30.

Note that the present embodiment described above does not limit the configuration of the present invention. For example, in the present embodiment, the empty list 58 is provided, and the memory management blocks 52 to which the memory blocks 54 are no longer allocated are pooled in the empty list 58, and the memory management blocks 52 are replaced with the empty list 58 as necessary. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the memory management block 52 may be deleted when it becomes unnecessary, or may be newly generated when it becomes necessary.

The memory management block 52 may correspond to a storage area having an arbitrary storage capacity.
That is, not only connection and division by a preset minimum unit memory block, but also any storage area may be divided and combined.

Further, in the present embodiment, a storage device provided in a printing device such as a printer has been described as an example, but the present invention can be applied to a storage device provided in a device having an arbitrary configuration.

[0089]

As described above, according to the present invention, a management block capable of arbitrarily setting a storage area to be managed is used, an unused area can be divided within the management block, and the management block can be divided between the management blocks. By combining unused storage areas, an excellent effect of increasing unused areas on a storage medium or efficiently preventing unused areas from being fragmented can be obtained.

Further, according to the present invention, efficient management of a storage area using a management block becomes possible. When storing compressed data, a large amount of compressed data can be stored with the same storage capacity.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an IOT controller applied to the present embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a main part of a storage device to which the present invention is applied.

FIGS. 3A and 3D are schematic diagrams conceptually showing a memory management block, and FIGS. 3B and 3C are diagrams schematically showing FIG.
FIG. 4A is a schematic diagram showing a memory block corresponding to the memory management block in FIG. 3D.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an example of processing for a storage area acquisition request.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an example of adjustment of a storage area allocated based on an acquisition request.

FIGS. 6A to 6C are schematic diagrams illustrating an example of increase / decrease of a memory management block based on a storage area adjustment process, FIG. 6A illustrates a state before adjustment, and FIG. This shows a state after the unused area is divided, and (C) shows a state where the unused areas are connected.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating an example of processing for a storage area release request.

FIGS. 8A and 8B are schematic diagrams showing an example of increase / decrease of a memory management block based on a release request;
(A) shows a state before a release request, and (B) shows a state in which unused areas are linked after release.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 IOC controller 12 Print controller 14 IOT 26 Compression processing part (compression means) 28 Decompression processing part (decompression means) 30 Memory (storage medium) 36 Memory management part 42 Memory release processing part 44 Memory acquisition processing part 46 Memory area adjustment part 50 Storage device 52 Memory management block (management block) 54 Memory block 56 Management list 58 Empty list

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A management block indicating a storage capacity and a use state of a storage area corresponding to a predetermined storage area is set, and when a storage area acquisition request is issued, an unused area is searched from the management block. When a storage area is allocated according to the storage capacity required from the unused area, one management block is made to correspond to the allocated storage area, and there is an unused area in the already allocated storage area. To
One management block is made to correspond to the unused area separately from the used area, and when an area continuous to the unused area is an unused area, these storage areas are linked to make one management block correspond. A storage area management method, characterized in that: 2. A method of determining whether compressed data is stored in a storage area allocated based on the acquisition request, and dividing an unused area in the storage area when the compressed data is stored. 2. The storage area management method according to claim 1, wherein one management block is associated with the storage area. 3. When a release request is issued to the storage area allocated based on the acquisition request, the management block is updated so that the storage area is an unused area, and the storage area is updated. 3. The storage area management method according to claim 1, wherein, when continuous storage areas are unused areas, these storage areas are linked to correspond to one management block. 4. A compression means for compressing input data, a decompression means for decompressing and outputting compressed data, and storing the compressed data input from the compression means in a storage area secured as required in advance. And a storage medium that outputs the stored compressed data to the decompression means, and secures the requested storage area and adds information indicating the size and use state of the storage area. Area acquisition means for associating the management block, and a storage area adjustment means for associating a new management block with the unused area when an unused area is detected in the storage area secured by the request; From the information of the management block newly supported by the storage area adjustment unit and the management block continuous to the management block, the information is continuously stored in the divided storage area. When the storage area to be used is an unused area, a storage unit that combines these storage areas to correspond to one management block. 5. A release unit for updating the management block with the storage area as an unused area based on a release request for the reserved storage area, and continuing the storage area released by the release unit. 5. The storage device according to claim 4, wherein when the storage area is an unused area, the connection unit connects the unused area and associates one management block.