JP2003338131A - Storage device, reproducing device, information storage system, storage method, program, and recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To efficiently read a disk. <P>SOLUTION: When information to be read from the disk are temporarily stored in a cache memory in response to a plurality of times of reading requests to the cache memory, separated situations in the disk among the plurality of pieces of information to be read from the disk in response to the requests are detected. For example, whether a difference between addresses in the disk is not more than a prescribed value or not is detected. When the plurality of pieces of information are physically separated a little, reading is performed from the disk by one continuous reading trace including unnecessary data in the separated part. That is, the plurality of necessary pieces of information are read as an operation by which the reading trace with respect to the track of a disk recording medium is not interrupted by track access. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a storage device, a reproducing device having the storage device, an information storage system including the storage device, a storage method, and a program for implementing the storage device or the storage method. The present invention relates to a recording medium storing the above program.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The development of data storage devices that use media such as optical disks and magneto-optical disks has been diversified, and the data intended for data storage has also been diversified. Various storage devices have been proposed. For example, in a device using a medium such as an optical disk and a magneto-optical disk, it is used as a so-called AV (audio / visual) device for storing (recording / reproducing) music data and video data, and as a storage device as a personal computer peripheral device. A device for storing various data (text data, audio data, video data, various program files, application data, etc.) used in a personal computer has been put into practical use.

In recent years, a disk medium compatible with both AV equipment and personal computer peripheral equipment has been developed. As a recording / reproducing apparatus, for example, it functions as an AV machine by itself and is connected to a personal computer or a network. Therefore, a device that can function as a storage device similar to a PC peripheral device has also been developed.

For the sake of explanation, data having temporal continuity such as music contents and video contents is called "AV data", and various data such as control data, program data and text data handled by a network or a personal computer is called. It is called "PC data".

[0005]

By the way, when considering an AV device that can be connected to a network or a personal computer, versatility and high speed are required. Conventionally, A
With V storage devices, there is no problem unless recording / playback of AV data that is temporally continuous is interrupted, and there has been a demand for power consumption and other convenience rather than for higher speeds. However, when there is a demand for a method of connecting a device to a network and downloading data, while reading and writing various settings such as PC data, AV data can be transmitted several tens to several thousand times faster. It requires high speed and versatility such as reading and writing.

Considering a general data path, the data recorded / reproduced on / from a recording medium such as a disc is
In many cases, the cache memory is temporarily passed. About this cache memory, PC
The purpose of use was different between data and AV data.

The general idea of a cache in a storage device for PC data is that data read from a disk or the like in the past is held in the cache, and if a data read request from the disk occurs, the cache is stored. By hitting the above data, the read / write of the disk in the storage device becomes unnecessary, and the role of speeding up the response to the request is great. And when there is a cache hit, the response is fast, but when there is no cache hit, it is much slower than when there is a cache hit, so increasing the probability of a cache hit is important for improving the responsiveness of the device. is there. For this purpose, a hash algorithm that minimizes collisions and speeds up search by randomly distributing the data to be secured in the cache as ideally as possible is used. This hash algorithm, as a result, promotes fragmentation of the data in the cache memory, but the searchability is good because the address in the cache can be specified by the predetermined algorithm for the requested data.

On the other hand, the general idea of the cache in the recording / reproducing device for AV data is to prefetch as much as possible and store the data to absorb the delay of the processing in the storage device.
It plays a large role as a buffer for saving power by turning off the power source of the motor, etc. AV continuous in time series
Most of the cache is used as a read-ahead area because the data has a very high read-ahead validity. Further, since AV data has a larger data size and higher continuity than PC data, a ring buffer method is often adopted in order to keep a cache area. In the case of such AV data use, the hash algorithm in which the data fragmentation progresses on the cache as described above is not optimal.

Further, in particular, considering a storage device using a disk as a recording medium, if a plurality of read / write processes can be made to have consecutive addresses as much as possible and can be processed in one read / write operation, the speed and power consumption are reduced. Can be achieved. In other words, if tracks can be recorded and reproduced by continuous scanning (light beam tracing), for example, on a spirally formed track on a disk, frequent track jumps, access, disk rotation waiting time, etc. can be eliminated. Because you can. However, the fragmentation of data on the cache by the above hash algorithm makes it difficult to record / reproduce with continuous addresses in this way, and therefore, in the case of use for recording / reproducing AV data on a disc, The hash algorithm is not optimal.

As described above, due to the difference in the purpose of caching PC data and AV data, when a storage device that supports both PC data and AV data is considered, it is difficult to optimize cache processing. That is, it has been difficult to realize high-speed response and low power consumption by efficiently reading and writing PC data while realizing a high-speed recording / reproducing function of AV data.

When data is read from the disk and written in the cache memory, efficient processing is required as a read operation for the disk. Particularly, since the read operation for the disk requires much time compared to the write / read and the data transfer between the memory elements, the efficiency of the read operation for the disk affects the system performance. There is also a demand for more efficient data reading.

[0012]

Therefore, in the present invention, in consideration of a storage device adapted to a network / personal computer and a device which also functions as an AV device, a high-speed recording / reproducing function of AV data and efficiency of PC data are considered. It is an object of the present invention to provide a cache control method that ensures high speed response, low power consumption, and low cost, and also realizes efficient read operation for a recording medium such as a disk.

The storage device of the present invention comprises: a temporary storage means for temporarily storing information read from a recording medium; a read control means for controlling execution of an information read operation for the recording medium; Detecting means for detecting a separation state on the recording medium between a plurality of pieces of information to be read from a recording medium, and unnecessary information between the plurality of pieces of information to be read and the respective pieces of information according to a detection result of the detecting means And a temporary storage control means for instructing the read control means to read information from the recording medium and temporarily store the information in the temporary storage means. The temporary storage control means may detect the plurality of pieces of information to be read when the detection means detects that the address difference on the recording medium is equal to or less than a predetermined value as the separation state between the plurality of pieces of information to be read. The read control means is instructed to read information from the recording medium and temporarily store it in the temporary storage means, including information and unnecessary information between the information. The recording medium is a disk recording medium, and the read control means is
In response to a read instruction of a plurality of information including the unnecessary information from the temporary storage control means, the read trace for the track of the disk recording medium is executed as a read operation which is not interrupted by the track access. Control.

In the reproducing apparatus of the present invention, the reading means for reading information from the recording medium, the temporary storage means for temporarily storing the information read from the recording medium by the reading means, and the recording by the reading means. Read control means for controlling execution of an operation of reading information from a medium, and detection means for detecting a separation state on the recording medium between a plurality of pieces of information to be read from the recording medium in response to a plurality of requests,
Depending on the detection result of the detection means, the read control means, including the plurality of pieces of information to be read and unnecessary information between the pieces of information, is read out from the recording medium and stored in the temporary storage means. And temporary storage control means for instructing temporary storage.

An information storage system according to the present invention, which comprises, for example, a storage device and an information processing device, executes temporary storage means for temporarily storing information read from a recording medium, and information read operation for the recording medium. Read control means for controlling, detecting means for detecting a separation state on the recording medium between a plurality of pieces of information to be read from the recording medium in response to a plurality of requests, and depending on a detection result of the detecting means,
Temporary storage control means for instructing the reading control means to read information from the recording medium and temporarily store in the temporary storage means, including the plurality of pieces of information to be read and unnecessary information between the pieces of information. Read request means for notifying the temporary storage control means of an address indicating an access position to the recording medium for reading information from the recording medium.

According to the storage method of the present invention, when information is read from a recording medium and temporarily stored in the temporary storage means, a plurality of pieces of information to be read from the recording medium in response to a plurality of requests are recorded on the recording medium. A separation state is detected, and information is read from the recording medium and temporarily stored in the temporary storage means, including the plurality of pieces of information to be read and unnecessary information between the pieces of information, according to the detection result. .

According to the program of the present invention, when information is read from a recording medium and temporarily stored in the temporary storage means, a plurality of pieces of information to be read from the recording medium in response to a plurality of requests are separated from each other on the recording medium. A situation is detected, and information is read from the recording medium and temporarily stored in the temporary storage means, including the plurality of pieces of information to be read and unnecessary information between the pieces of information, according to the detection result. It is a program to do.

In the recording medium of the present invention, when information is read from the recording medium and temporarily stored in the temporary storage means, a plurality of pieces of information to be read from the recording medium in response to a plurality of requests are recorded on the recording medium. Detecting a separation state, and executing information reading from the recording medium and temporary storage in the temporary storage means, including the plurality of pieces of information to be read and unnecessary information between the pieces of information, according to the detection result. It is a recording medium on which a program to be recorded is recorded.

That is, according to the present invention, when the information read from the recording medium (disk) is temporarily stored in the temporary storage means (cache memory) in response to a plurality of requests,
In response to the plurality of requests, the state of separation on the recording medium between the plurality of pieces of information to be read from the recording medium is detected. For example, it is detected whether the address difference on the disc is less than or equal to a predetermined value. When the distance between the plurality of pieces of information is physically small, the disk is read by one continuous read trace including unnecessary data in the separated portion. That is, reading of a plurality of required information can be performed as an operation in which the reading trace for the track of the disk recording medium is not interrupted by the track access.

[0020]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below. The description will be given in the following order. 1. 1. Configuration of recording / reproducing apparatus Configuration of disk and storage unit 3. Basic cache control method 4. Write / read operation 5. Cache search process 6. Read control for disk

1. Configuration of Recording / Reproducing Apparatus The recording / reproducing apparatus as an embodiment is, for example, a recording / reproducing apparatus for a mini disk (MD) type disk which is a magneto-optical disk on which data is recorded by a magnetic field modulation method. However, the recording / reproducing apparatus is not limited to the mini-discs that are already in widespread use, but is also applicable to a high-density disc that enables higher-density recording and can be used for storage of various data for computer use.

The configuration of the recording / reproducing apparatus of this example will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 1, a recording / reproducing apparatus 1 of this example is, for example, a personal computer (or network) 1
00 is shown as a device capable of data communication with an external device. For example, the recording / reproducing apparatus 1 includes a personal computer 100 and a transmission line 101 such as a USB cable.
By connecting with the personal computer 100, the personal computer 100 can function as an external storage device. Also, music or various data is downloaded via the personal computer 100 or by being connected to the network by having a function of directly connecting to the network, and the music and various data are downloaded to a disc loaded in the storage unit 2 in the recording / reproducing apparatus 1. It can also be saved.

On the other hand, the recording / reproducing apparatus 1 functions as an audio device, for example, without being connected to the personal computer 100 or the like. For example, music data input from another audio device or the like can be recorded on the disc, and music data recorded on the disc can be reproduced and output. That is, the recording / reproducing apparatus 1 of this example can be used as a general-purpose data storage device by being connected to the personal computer 100 or the like, and can also be used as an audio recording / reproducing device by itself.

The recording / reproducing apparatus 1 includes a storage unit 2, a cache memory 3, a USB interface 4, an input / output processing unit 5, a display unit 6, an operation unit 7, a system controller 8, a ROM 9, a RAM 10, a cache management memory 1.
1, NV-RAM 12 is provided.

The storage unit 2 performs recording / reproduction on the loaded disc. The so-called mini disk type disk used in this example and the configuration of the storage unit 2 corresponding thereto will be described later.

The cache memory 3 is a cache memory for buffering the data recorded on the disk by the storage unit 2 or the data read from the disk by the storage unit 2. For example D-R
It is composed of AM2. Writing / reading of data to / from the cache memory is controlled by a task activated in the system controller (CPU) 8.

The USB interface 4 performs processing for data transmission when it is connected to the personal computer 100 via the transmission path 101 as a USB cable, for example. The input / output processing unit 5 performs processing for inputting / outputting recording / reproducing data when the recording / reproducing apparatus 1 functions as an audio device by itself, for example.

The system controller 8 controls the entire recording / reproducing apparatus 1 and controls communication with the connected personal computer 100. ROM9
The operation program of the system controller 8, fixed parameters, and the like are stored in. The RAM 10 is used as a work area by the system controller 8 and also as an area for storing various necessary information. For example, the storage unit 2 stores various management information and special information read from the disk. For example, P-TOC data, U-TOC data, playlist data, FAT data, Unique I
D, hash value, etc. are stored. P-TOC data, U-
The TOC data is management information such as music tracks recorded on the mini disc. Further, as will be described later, the high-density disc conforming to the mini-disc system, which the recording / reproducing apparatus 1 of the present example can support, is a management format by P-TOC and U-TOC, and a FAT file system is constructed. The playlist is A for high-density discs.
This is information for managing addresses and the like of music data in the TRAC system and is recorded as one file on the FAT system. When a high-density disc is loaded, the FAT and play list information is also read. The unique ID, hash value, and the like are information used for authentication processing and encryption / decryption during data transmission with the personal computer 100 or the like.

The cache management memory 11 is, for example, S-
It is composed of a RAM and stores information for managing the state of the cache memory 3. The system controller 8 controls the data cache process while referring to the cache management memory 11. The information in the cache management memory 11 will be described later. NV-RAM (nonvolatile RAM) 12
Is used as a data storage area that is not lost even when the power is turned off.

The display section 6 displays various information to be presented to the user under the control of the system controller 8. For example, operation status, mode status, name information of data such as music, track number, time information, and other information are displayed. Operation keys, a jog dial, and the like are formed on the operation unit 7 as various operators for user operations. The user operates the operation unit 7 to instruct necessary operations for recording / reproduction and data communication. The system controller 8 performs a predetermined control process based on the operation information input by the operation unit 7.

The control by the system controller 8 when the personal computer 100 or the like is connected is as follows, for example. The system controller 8 is communicable with the personal computer 100 connected via the USB interface 4, and receives commands such as a write request and a read request and transmits status information and other necessary information. The system controller 8 reads the management information and the like from the disk when the disk is loaded in the storage section 2, for example.
To the RA and load it via the cache memory 3
Store in M10. By reading the management information of P-TOC and U-TOC, the system controller 8 can grasp the track recording state of the disc. Further, by reading the CAT, the high density data cluster structure in the data track can be grasped, and the personal computer 1
The access request from 00 to the data track is ready. Further, the unique ID or the hash value can be used to perform disk authentication or other processing, or to send these values to the personal computer 100 for processing.

When there is a request for reading certain data from the personal computer 100, the system controller 8 causes the storage section 2 to execute the reading of the data. The read data is written in the cache memory 3. However, if the requested data has already been stored in the cache memory 3, the storage unit 2
Is not required to be read. This is a so-called cache hit. Then, the system controller 8 causes the data written in the cache memory 3 to be read out, and the personal computer 100 is accessed via the USB interface 4.
Control to send to.

When there is a request for writing certain data from the personal computer 100, the system controller 8 causes the cache memory 3 to store the transmitted data. Then, the storage unit 2 records the data stored in the cache memory 3 on the disk. It should be noted that data recording on the disc is performed with a cluster unit as a minimum unit. For example, the cluster is 32 FAT sectors. If the amount of data requested to be recorded by the personal computer 100 or the like is several sectors and the amount is less than one cluster, a process called blocking is performed. That is, the system controller 8 first causes the storage unit 2 to read the cluster including the FAT sector. The read cluster data is written in the cache memory 3. The system controller 8 is the personal computer 10
FAT sector data (record data) from 0 to US
The data is supplied to the cache memory 3 via the B interface 4, and the stored cluster data is rewritten to the data of the corresponding FAT sector. Then, the system controller 8 transfers the cluster data stored in the cache memory 3 in a state where the necessary FAT sector is rewritten, to the storage unit 2 as recording data. The storage unit 2 writes the cluster unit data to the disk.

The above is the control for recording / reproducing data accompanying the transmission with the personal computer 100, for example, the data transfer at the time of recording / reproduction of audio data of the mini disk system is performed by the input / output processing unit 5. Done through. The input / output processing unit 5 includes, for example, an analog audio signal input unit such as a line input circuit / microphone input circuit, an A / D converter, and a digital audio data input unit as an input system. It also comprises an ATRAC compression encoder / decoder. Further, as an output system, a digital audio data output section and an analog audio signal output section such as a D / A converter and a line output circuit / headphone output circuit are provided.

Audio data is recorded on the disc as a process via the input / output processing unit 5, for example, the input T
This is a case where digital audio data (or analog audio signal) is input to the input / output processing unit 5 as IN. The input linear PCM digital audio data or the linear PCM audio data input by the analog audio signal and converted by the A / D converter is ATRA.
It is C-compressed and encoded and stored in the cache memory 3. Then, it is read from the cache memory 3 and transferred to the storage unit 2 at a predetermined timing (a data unit corresponding to an ADIP cluster). The storage unit 2 modulates the transferred compressed data by a predetermined modulation method and records it on the disk.

When the mini-disc audio data is reproduced from the disc, the storage unit 2 demodulates the reproduced data into an ATRAC compressed data state and transfers it to the cache memory 3. Then, it is read from the cache memory 3 and transferred to the input / output processing unit 5. The input / output processing unit 5 sets A for the supplied compressed audio data.
TRAC compression decoding is performed to obtain linear PCM audio data, which is output from the digital audio data output unit. Alternatively, the D / A converter performs line output / headphone output as an analog audio signal.

The configuration of the recording / reproducing apparatus 1 of FIG. 1 is an example, and for example, the input / output processing unit 5 may be provided with an input / output processing system for not only audio data but also video data. . Further, the connection with the personal computer 100 is not limited to USB, and other external interface such as IEEE 1394 may be used.

2. Configuration of Disk and Storage Unit The disk used as a recording medium in the recording / reproducing apparatus 1 of the present embodiment is, for example, a mini disk type disk. In particular, it supports not only conventional mini discs for music, but also high-density discs that can record various data for computer use.

FIG. 2 shows a comparison between the standards of the audio mini disc (and MD-DATA) and the high density disc. As a format of the mini disk (and MD-DATA), the track pitch is 1.6 μm and the bit length is 0.59 μm / bit. Further, the laser wavelength λ = 780 nm, and the numerical aperture NA of the optical head =
It is set to 0.45. As a recording method, a groove recording method is adopted. That is, the groove (groove on the disc surface) is used as a track for recording and reproduction. As an address method, a method is used in which a groove (track) is formed by a single spiral and then a wobbled groove in which wobbles are formed as address information on both sides of this groove is used. In this specification, the absolute address recorded by wobbling is referred to as ADIP (Address in Pregroov
Also called e).

The recording data modulation method is EFM (8
-14 conversion) method is adopted. As an error correction method, ACIRC (Advanced Cross Interleave Reed-
Solomon Code) is adopted, and convolutional type is adopted for data interleaving. Data redundancy is 46.3
%.

The data detection method is a bit-by-bit method. CLV (Const
ant linear velocity) is adopted, and the linear velocity of CLV is 1.2 m / s. The standard data rate during recording and reproduction is 133 kB / s, and the recording capacity is 164 MB (140 MB for MD-DATA). Also, the data unit called cluster is the minimum rewriting unit of data.
It consists of 36 main sectors with 32 main sectors and 4 link sectors.

On the other hand, the high density disc has a track pitch of 1.6 μm and a bit length of 0.44 μm / bit. The laser wavelength λ = 780 nm, the aperture ratio NA of the optical head = 0.45, the recording method is a groove recording method, and the address method is a groove (track) formed by a single spiral. A method of using a wobbled groove in which a wobble as information is formed is adopted. In other words, these points are the same as those of the audio mini-disc, and the configuration of the optical system in the disc drive device, the ADIP address reading method,
Since the servo processing is the same, compatibility is maintained.

As a recording data modulation method, the RLL (1,7) PP method (RL
L; Run Length Limited, PP: Parity preserve / Proh
ibitrmtr (repeated minimum transition runlength))
RS-L with BIS (Burst Indicator Subcode), which has a higher correction capability, is adopted as the error correction method.
The DC (Reed Solomon-Long Distance Code) method is used. A block complete type is adopted for data interleaving. The data redundancy is set to 20.50%. The data detection method is the partial response PR (1,
2, 1) Viterbi decoding method using ML. R
Regarding the LL (1-7) modulation and the RS-LDC error correction method, for example, "Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-346154" is used.
Alternatively, the technology is disclosed in International Patent Publication WO 00/07300.

The disk drive system is CLV (Constant
Linear Verocity) or ZCAV (Zone Constant Angu)
lar Verocity) and its standard linear velocity is 2.7 m /
s, and the data rate at the standard linear velocity during recording and reproduction is 4.9 Mbit / s. As a recording capacity, 297 MB can be obtained. Modulation method is E
By adopting the FM to RLL (1,7) PP method, the window margin is changed from 0.5 to 0.666, and in this respect, 1.33 times higher density can be realized. In addition, from the CIRC system as the physical format, RS- with BIS
The data efficiency is 53.7% to 7 due to the difference between the LDC method and the sector structure and the method using Viterbi decoding.
This is 9.5%, and a 1.48 times higher density can be realized in this respect. Overall, 1.97 times (about 2 times)
The data capacity of is realized. In other words, recording capacity is 297M
It can be double the size of a mini disc for audio called B. The minimum data rewriting unit is 64 KB.

The area structure on the disc is schematically shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 3, the innermost side of the disc is PT
It is an OC (pre-mastered TOC) area, which is a pre-mastered area as a physical structure. That is,
This is an area in which reproduction-only data is recorded by embossed pits, and P is the management information as the reproduction-only data.
-TOC is recorded.

The outer periphery of the premastered area is a recordable area (a magneto-optically recordable area), and is a recordable / reproducible area in which a groove as a guide groove for a recording track is formed. The innermost side of the recordable area is the U-TOC area. In the U-TOC area, a buffer area with the pre-mastered area and a power calibration area used for adjusting the output power of the laser light are provided, and in the section of specific 3 clusters in the U-TOC area. U-TOC data is recorded repeatedly three times. Although details of the contents of the U-TOC are omitted, the address of each track recorded in the program area, the address of the free area, etc. are recorded, and information such as the track name and recording date and time attached to each track is recorded. The U-TOC sector is defined so that it can be done.

In the recordable area, an alert track and a data area are formed on the outer peripheral side of the U-TOC area. The alert track is a warning track in which a warning sound indicating that this disc is a high-density disc and cannot be reproduced by a conventional mini disc player is recorded. The data area is an area used for recording audio data and computer use data. That is, in the case of a normal music mini disk,
One or more music tracks are recorded in the data area. In the case of a high density disc, the data area is used as a storage area for various data.

The management structure of the disk will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4B shows a management structure in the music mini disk system. In this case, the management information is P
-TOC and U-TOC are recorded. P-TOC is recorded by pits as non-rewritable information. This P
-TOC includes basic management information of the disc, such as the total capacity of the disc, the U-TOC position in the U-TOC area, the position of the power calibration area, the start position of the data area, and the end position of the data area (readout). (Position) etc. are recorded.

On the other hand, U recorded in the recordable area
-TOC is management information that is rewritten according to recording and erasing of tracks (audio tracks / data tracks), and each track (parts that make up the track)
Manage start position, end position, and mode. It also manages a free area in which no track is recorded in the data area, that is, a part as a writable area. For example, in the data area as shown,
When three audio tracks are recorded as ATRAC data, the U-TOC manages the start address, end address, mode information, recording date and name information of each of the three tracks.

In the case of a high density disc, it becomes as shown in FIG. Even in the case of high density disc, U-TOC and P-
The TOC is recorded by a method that complies with the conventional mini disk system. And in the data area of FIG. 4 (a),
One high density data track is shown, U-TO
In C, the high-density data track is managed as one track. In other words, the U-TOC manages the position of one or more parts of the data track as a whole on the disc. The position of the alert track described above is also managed by the U-TOC.

The high-density data track is a track formed by high-density data modulated by RS-LDC and RLL (1-7) PP system. A cluster attribute table (CAT) that manages a high-density data cluster included in the data track is recorded in the high-density data track. C
The AT manages attributes (open / not open, normal / defective, etc.) for each of the high-density data clusters forming the data track.

A unique ID (UID) unique to the disc, which is used for copyright protection and the like, by using a high-density data cluster that cannot be disclosed in this data track.
Also, a hash value (hash) for checking data tampering is recorded. Of course, other than this, various kinds of non-public information may be recorded. In the area that cannot be published,
Only specially authorized equipment shall have limited access.

An area (exportable area) formed by a high-density data cluster that can be disclosed in the data track is accessed by an external computer or the like via a general-purpose data interface such as USB or SCSI and is used as a recording area. It is considered as a usable area. For example, in the case of FIG. 4A, in the exportable area, the FAT and the FAT management data file
The state where the AT file system is constructed is shown. That is, the data recorded in the exportable area is not managed by the U-TOC but is managed by general-purpose management information such as FAT, and can be recognized by an external computer that does not comply with the mini disk system. It becomes data.

Music data such as ATRAC system is FAT
When recorded on the system, a playlist is recorded as management information for managing files such as music data. This playlist is created as one file on the FAT system, and the recording / reproducing apparatus 1
The system controller of (1) grasps the address and the like from the playlist when reproducing the music data file.

In some cases, a plurality of data tracks having such a structure are recorded on the disc. In this case, each data track is managed by the U-TOC as one track, and the data in the exportable area in each data track is F
Managed by AT, etc. For example, each data track has its own FAT file system. Alternatively, one F can be used across multiple data tracks.
The AT file system may be recorded.

Further, the information such as the unique ID has been described as an example in which the data is not FAT managed in the data track. However, if the information is not FAT managed, it may be recorded in any logical form. . For example U-TOC
A track for private information should be provided as a track directly managed by the U-TOC.
It may be recorded in / P-TOC. Furthermore, in the U-TOC area, by using a part not used for U-TOC,
A recording area for private information may be provided.

For the sake of explanation, the conventional mini disc is called a "music mini disc".
The mini disc known as is also in the category of this music mini disc. Further, it is naturally possible that music data is recorded as a data file on the high density disc. For example, when downloading a music file from a network or a personal computer.

The storage unit 2 shown in FIG. 1 is a disc drive unit capable of supporting the above-mentioned music mini disc and high-density disc as a general-purpose data recording medium. FIG. 5 shows an example of the configuration of this storage unit 2.

The illustrated disc 90 is the above-mentioned music mini disc or high-density disc. In the storage unit 2, the loaded disk 90 is rotationally driven by the spindle motor 29 by the CLV method. The optical head 19 is used for recording / reproducing with respect to the disk 90.
Is irradiated with laser light. The optical head 19 outputs a high level laser output for heating the recording track to the Curie temperature during recording, and a relatively low level laser output for detecting data from the reflected light by the magnetic Kerr effect during reproduction. . Therefore, although not shown in detail here, the optical head 19 is equipped with a laser diode as a laser output means, an optical system including a polarization beam splitter and an objective lens, and a detector for detecting reflected light. There is. Optical head 19
As the objective lens provided in the disk, for example, it is held by a biaxial mechanism so as to be displaceable in the disk radial direction and the direction in which the disk comes in and out of contact with the disk.

Further, the optical head 1 with the disk 90 sandwiched therebetween.
A magnetic head 18 is arranged at a position opposed to 9. The magnetic head 18 operates to apply a magnetic field modulated by the recording data to the disk 90. Although not shown, a sled motor and a sled mechanism are provided for moving the entire optical head 19 and the magnetic head 18 in the radial direction of the disk.

In this storage unit 2, the optical head 1
9. In addition to the recording / reproducing head system using the magnetic head 18 and the disk rotation driving system using the spindle motor 29, a recording processing system, a reproducing processing system, a servo system, and the like are provided. In the recording processing system, modulation of the first modulation method (EFM modulation / ACIRC encoding) is performed at the time of recording on a mini disc for music.
And a part for performing modulation of the second modulation method (RLL (1-7) PP modulation, RS-LDC encoding) at the time of recording on a high density disc. In the playback processing system, music mini discs (and high-density discs U-
When reproducing TOC, demodulation (EF) for the first modulation method
M demodulation / ACIRC decoding) and demodulation (partial response PR (1,2,1) for the second modulation method when reproducing a high density disc and RLL (1-7 based on data detection using Viterbi decoding) ) Demodulation, RS-
A part for performing LDC decoding) is provided.

Information (photocurrent obtained by detecting the laser reflected light by the photodetector) detected as the reflected light by the laser irradiation of the optical head 19 onto the disk 90 is supplied to the RF amplifier 21. RF amplifier 2
In 1, the input detection information is subjected to current-voltage conversion, amplification, matrix calculation, etc. to reproduce R as reproduction information.
An F signal, a tracking error signal TE, a focus error signal FE, groove information (ADIP information recorded on the disk 90 by track wobbling) and the like are extracted.

At the time of reproducing the mini disk for music, the reproduced RF signal obtained by the RF amplifier is supplied to the EFM demodulation unit 24 and A.
It is processed by the CIRC decoder 25. That is, the reproduced RF signal is binarized by the EFM demodulation unit 24 to form an EFM signal sequence, then EFM demodulated, and further, the ACIRC decoder 2
In step 5, error correction and deinterleave processing is performed. That is, at this point, the ATRAC compressed data state is set. Then, at the time of reproducing the mini disc for music, the B contact side is selected in the selector 26, and the demodulated ATRAC compressed data is output as the reproduction data from the disc 90.
In this case, the compressed data is supplied to the cache memory 3 of FIG.

On the other hand, when reproducing a high density disc, the reproduced RF signal obtained by the RF amplifier is RLL (1-7) PP.
It is processed by the demodulation unit 22 and the RS-LDC decoder 25. That is, the reproduced RF signal is reproduced in the RLL (1-7) PP demodulation unit 22 by data detection using PR (1,2,1) and Viterbi decoding to obtain reproduced data as an RLL (1-7) code string. RLL (1-7) demodulation processing is performed on this RLL (1-7) code string. And further RS
-Error correction and deinterleave processing are performed by the LDC decoder 23. During reproduction of the high density disc, the A contact side of the selector 26 is selected and the demodulated data is output as reproduction data from the disc 90. In this case, the demodulated data will be supplied to the cache memory 3 of FIG.

The tracking error signal TE and the focus error signal FE output from the RF amplifier 21 are supplied to the servo circuit 27, and the groove information is supplied to the ADIP decoder 30.

The ADIP decoder 30 extracts a wobble component by band-limiting the groove information with a bandpass filter, and then performs FM demodulation and bi-phase demodulation to extract an ADIP address. The extracted ADIP address, which is the absolute address information on the disc, is supplied to the system controller 8 shown in FIG. The system controller 8 executes a required control process based on the ADIP address. The groove information is also supplied to the servo circuit 27 for spindle servo control.

The servo circuit 27 reproduces a clock (PLL system clock at the time of decoding) for the groove information, for example.
C based on the error signal obtained by integrating the phase error between
A spindle error signal for LV servo control is generated. Further, the servo circuit 27 sends a spindle error signal,
As described above, various servo control signals (tracking control signal, focus control signal, sled control) based on the tracking error signal, the focus error signal supplied from the RF amplifier 21, or the track jump command, the access command from the system controller 8 and the like. Signal, spindle control signal, etc.) and output to the motor driver 28. That is, various servo control signals are generated by performing necessary processing such as phase compensation processing, gain processing, and target value setting processing on the servo error signals and commands.

In the motor driver 28, the servo circuit 27
A required servo drive signal is generated based on the servo control signal supplied from. The servo drive signal here is a biaxial drive signal (two types of focus direction and tracking direction) for driving the biaxial mechanism, a sled motor drive signal for driving the sled mechanism, and a spindle motor drive signal for driving the spindle motor 29. Becomes With such a servo drive signal, focus control, tracking control for the disc 90 and CLV control for the spindle motor 29 are performed.

When the recording operation is executed on the disk 90, the data is supplied from the cache memory 3. When recording a mini disc for music, the selector 16 is set to B
The ACIRC encoder 14 and the EFM modulator 15 are connected to the contacts, and thus function. In this case, the compressed data from the audio processing unit 10 is interleaved and the error correction code is added by the ACIRC encoder 14, and then the EFM modulation unit 15 performs the EFM modulation. Then, the EFM-modulated data is supplied to the magnetic head driver 17 via the selector 16, and the magnetic head 18 applies a magnetic field to the disk 90 based on the EFM-modulated data to perform data recording.

When recording on a high density disc, the selector 16
Is connected to the A contact, and thus the RS-LDC encoder 1
2 and the RLL (1-7) PP modulator 13 will function. In this case, the high-density data from the memory transfer controller 3 is interleaved by the RS-LDC encoder 12 and an error correction code is added by the RS-LDC method, and then the RLL (1-7) PP modulator 13 performs the RLL.
(1-7) Modulation is performed. Then, the recording data as the RLL (1-7) code string is supplied to the magnetic head driver 17 via the selector 16, and the magnetic head 18 applies a magnetic field to the disk 90 based on the modulation data, thereby recording data. Done.

The laser driver / APC 20 causes the laser diode to perform the laser emission operation during the reproduction and recording as described above.
c Lazer Power Control) also operates. That is, although not shown, a detector for laser power monitoring is provided in the optical head 19, and the monitor signal is fed back to the laser driver / APC 20. The laser driver / APC 20 compares the current laser power obtained as the monitor signal with the set laser power and reflects the error in the laser drive signal,
The laser power output from the laser diode is controlled to be stable at the set value. As the laser power, the values of the reproduction laser power and the recording laser power are set in the register inside the laser driver / APC 20 by the system controller 8.

The above operations (accesses, various servos, data writing, and data reading) are executed based on instructions from the system controller 8.

3. Basic Cache Control Method As described above with reference to FIG. 1, the recording / reproducing apparatus 1 serves as an AV device for the audio data (AV
In addition to recording / reproducing data), the device is connected to a personal computer (or network) 100 to record / reproduce PC data or AV data. Then, the data read from and written to the disk 90 passes through the cache memory 3.

In this example, the cache area of the cache memory 3 is divided into predetermined units N and controlled. Figure 6
Indicates a state in which the cache area is divided and set into N clusters × M blocks. One area (cell) indicated by a box in FIG. 6 is an area of one cluster (32 KBytes), and is an area of N × M clusters as a whole. For convenience of explanation, it is assumed that N clusters are shown in a vertical column and that M blocks are set as one division unit (block). In this way, the cache area in the cache memory 3 is logically divided and set to N clusters × M blocks.

Addresses on the cache memory 3 (cache addresses) are consecutive as cache IDs (Cid). FIG. 7 shows the address Cid of each cell when N = 8. That is, as the address Cid, physically, Cid = 0 to Cid = 8 for each cell.
(M-1) +7 are continuously given, but by setting this as N = 8, Cid = 0 to 7, 8
~ 15, 16-23 ... 8 (M-1) to 8 (M-1)
Up to +7, every eight cells are divided into one block, which is managed in a continuous state.

When data is written to such a cache area, cells are sequentially allocated starting from the remainder value obtained by dividing the data attribute (specifically, the address of the data on the disk 90) by N. N = 8 as shown in FIG.
In this case, cells corresponding to the remainders “0” to “7” exist in each block, but the cells corresponding to the remainder value in the block designated by the value of the pointer cnt are included in the data. It becomes the corresponding cell. The block including the cell serving as the starting point is designated by the value of the pointer cnt that is simply counted up. This pointer c
nt is a pointer that sequentially designates each block as it is counted up. Note that the pointer cn
When t reaches the last block “(M−1) N”, t is reset to a value that specifies the first block “0N”, so that the cache area can be used as a ring buffer capable of handling long data. It can also be used for.

That is, basically, if the addresses (adrs) on the disk 90 are continuous, the cache is filled vertically from the upper left cell in the figure, and when the bottom is reached, the pointer cnt is set. Go forward one. By repeating this, when the pointer cnt reaches the rightmost end (final block), the pointer cnt is returned to the left end (first block).

Specifically, the cache ID (Cid) is assigned to the address (adrs) on the disk of the data requested to be read from or written to the disk 90 by the following formula. Cid = (N x cnt) + remainer (adrs ÷ N)

Specific examples of such allocation of the cache address Cid are shown in FIGS. Although the address Cid of each cell in the cache area is not shown in FIGS. 8 to 11, it is assumed to be as shown in FIG. Now disk 90
Address as above (adrs) = 3 as 25, 26, 27
It is assumed that a request for writing or reading data for the cluster has occurred.

The "cluster" unit in the above-mentioned high-density disk and the "cluster" unit in the cache area are, for convenience of the disk format and the design of the device,
Although not necessarily coincident with each other, it is assumed here that they coincide with each other for simplification of description, and it is assumed that one cluster of data on the disk is stored in one cell of the cache area. Of course, even if they do not match, the cache control method of this example can be realized by performing the required address conversion calculation.

First, the address (adrs) of the data to be written in the cache area is 25, and the cache area is N = 8.
If the block "0N" is specified with the pointer cnt = 0 at the present, the above formula becomes Cid = (8 × 0) + remainer (25 ÷ 8), and it becomes the retainer (25 ÷ 8). The remainder value "1" is derived. That is, the address Cid = in the cache area
"1" is assigned and the address adrs is displayed as shown in FIG.
= 25 data is written to the cell with the cache address Cid “1”. Continued, address (adrs) = 26,
The respective data of 27 also have residual values “2” and “3”, respectively, and are continuously written in the cells of the cache addresses Cid “2” and “3”.

Next, address (adrs) = 32, 33, 3
It is assumed that a request for writing or reading data for 3 clusters as No. 4 has occurred. Then, N of address (adrs) = 32
The remainder value divided by is 0, but in this case, the remaining cells of the block “0N” are Cid = 4,5,6,7, and past the cells of Cid = 0, so the pointer cn
t is incremented to cnt = 1. Therefore, the above formula becomes Cid = (8 × 1) + remainer (32 ÷ 8), and the address Cid = 8 is set. As shown in FIG. 9, the data at the address adrs = 32 becomes the cache address Cid “8”. Written to cell. The following data at addresses (adrs) = 33 and 34 also have Cid =
9, 10 are calculated, and the cache address Cid “9”
It is written in the cell of "10". In this case, Cid =
The cells of 4, 5, 6, and 7 are invalid cells.

Further next, addresses (adrs) = 14, 15,
If a request to write or read data for 3 clusters as 16 is issued, these data are similarly stored in C
The cells with id = 14, 15, 16 are allocated and written as shown in FIG. Similarly, the address (ad
rs) = 50, 51, 52, 53, data write or read request for 4 clusters, address (adrs) = 45,
FIG. 10 shows a state in which a write or read request for data of four clusters as 46, 47, and 48 is generated, and Cids are respectively assigned and written in the cache area.

In the above example, for example, about 3 clusters,
This is an example when a write or read request for data of a relatively short data size occurs, but the same applies to the case of long data such as AV data. For example, when the pointer cnt = 5, the address (adrs) = 100, 101, 102 ...
.. When a request for writing or reading a large amount of data is generated, as shown in FIG.
Cid = 44 is assigned to the data of = 100 by the above formula, and the cells of Cid = 44 are sequentially assigned and written as shown in the drawing.

Although a write / read request for continuous data of a large size as in the case of AV data is actually generated by being divided into a plurality of times, data having consecutive addresses (adrs) is sequentially written. / Because it is a read request, it will be written as a result as shown in FIG.

With such a cache control system, the following advantages can be obtained. First, continuity is ensured on the cache memory for consecutive addresses (adrs). However, as can be seen from FIGS. 8 to 10,
If the addresses (adrs) are not consecutive, maximum N-
A gap of 1 cluster (cell) is generated.

When searching the cache, the cache address Cid is changed from the requested address (adrs).
It is only necessary to search for one round to the left from that point as the starting point, and the number of searches (the number of search target cells) at the time of cache search is 1 / N of the case of searching all cells,
The search process can be speeded up. This cache search process will be described later.

Further, the cache address Cid allocation processing can be performed by the simple arithmetic processing shown by the above equation. In particular, it is a remarkably simple operation as compared with the allocation processing by the conventional hash algorithm. This makes it possible to simplify the calculation program, reduce the processing load, and speed up the calculation. In particular, by setting the value of N to a power of 2 as in the above “8”, it is possible to speed up the calculation of the cache address Cid by the CPU (system controller 8).

In such a cache control method, the possibility of a cache hit is increased as much as PC data, and the responsiveness is improved by improving the searchability. By making data to be written (or read) continuously on the cache memory 3 as well, the write / read operation to / from the disk 90 is made efficient, and the purpose is to continuously buffer a large data size such as AV data. It will be suitable for.

By the way, if the cache address Cid is allocated once in the N × M cache area, the cache address Cid may be allocated in the gap left as an invalid cell in the second cycle. However, in this case, in order to promote fragmentation of the cache data, it may be used to judge that the cache is full after one round and start deregistration.

Deletion of registration means returning a cell in which data has been written (a cell registered as a cell that has data and cannot be used for writing) to an empty cell in which data can be written. The data written in the cache memory 3 is necessary data at least until writing to the disk 90. Writing the data of the cache memory 3 to the disk 90 is called “flash”, but a cell having data that has not been flushed is in a state of being “registered” as a cell that cannot be written. Then, deregistration is performed on at least the flushed cell. However, flash is not a condition for deregistration. Considering a cache hit, for example, it is preferable to reserve data in a registered cell without deregistering it as long as possible. On the other hand, since the cache area is limited, it cannot be kept in the registered state forever. Under such circumstances, the registration deletion is performed at any time according to the cache status, capacity, request generation status, write-requested data size, and the like.

The data writing state in the cache memory 3 and the attribute of the written data are managed in the cache management memory 11 by the cache management data. As shown in FIG. 12A, the cache management data has management information corresponding to each cache address Cid (that is, each cell). Then, corresponding to each cache address Cid, as shown in FIG. 12B, the address Cid, the FAT cluster number (adrs),
It manages flash information and cache sector information.

The FAT cluster number (adrs) indicates the address on the disk 90 as an attribute of the data written in the cache address Cid. As described above, since the high density disc as the disc 90 records data managed by the FAT system, the (adrs) value is stored as the FAT cluster number correspondingly. That is, in the example of the present embodiment, the FAT cluster number is designated as an address when a write or read request is made from the disk. For example, as shown in FIG. 8, the address (adrs) as the FAT cluster number is added to the cell with Cid “1”.
When “= 25” is written, the FAT cluster number (adrs) = “25” is registered as the management information of Cid “1”.

The flush information is information indicating whether or not the data of the cache address Cid has been flushed. When the data is written in the cache address Cid, the value is set to "unwritten", and when the data is flushed, the value is updated to "disk written".

The cache sector information is information indicating whether or not data is written for each sector of the cache address Cid. One cache address Ci
d is added to cells in the region of 1 cluster, and if 1 cluster is composed of 32 sectors, for example, the cache sector information is 32 bit flag information in which 1 bit corresponds to 32 sectors, The presence or absence of data for each sector is indicated.

For example, by configuring the cache management data in this way, the system controller 8 refers to the cache management data in the cache management memory 11 to grasp the state of each cell in the cache area,
It is possible to perform necessary cache control such as flush processing, deregistration processing, and pointer cnt counting processing. Further, the cache search described later actually searches this cache management data.

4. Write / Read Operation Here, the flow of operation at the time of recording / reproduction performed via the cache memory 3 controlled as described above will be described. FIG. 13 shows a data write request to the disk 90 (when a disk is written), and FIGS. 14 and 15 show the disk 90.
3 shows the flow when a data read request is issued from the disk (when a disk is read). Note that FIG. 14 shows a case where no cache hit occurs, and FIG. 15 shows a case where a cache hit occurs.

In each figure, the recording / reproduction management task or P
Processing of C, file task or USB task, cache task, drive task is shown. The recording / reproducing management task, the file task, the USB task, the cache task, and the drive task are tasks activated by the system controller 8 (CPU). PC is a personal computer (or network) in Fig. 1.
The external processing is shown as 100.

The drive task includes a recording / reproducing operation in the storage unit 2 and the cache memory 3 and the storage unit 2.
It has a function of controlling data transfer between the two. The cache task controls the cache memory 3, that is,
It has a function of performing cache control including calculation of the cache address Cid. The USB task has a function of controlling data communication between the USB interface 4 and the personal computer 100 and writing / reading to / from the cache memory 3 for that purpose. The file task has a function of performing management / conversion by the FAT cluster for data input / output via the input / output processing unit 5 and address detection based on FAT or playlist.
The recording / reproducing management task has a function of instructing input / output of audio data via the input / output processing unit 5, that is, recording / reproducing to / from the disc 90 by the recording / reproducing apparatus 1 alone based on a user operation.

As described above, for recording / reproducing data to / from the disc 90, the recording / reproducing apparatus 1 is used alone as an AV device, or is connected to the personal computer (or network) 100 and is a storage device for them. There are two types when used as.
When connected to the personal computer 100, for example, the personal computer 100 issues a data write request and a data read request for the disk 90. In this case, the USB task, cache task, and drive task function to write or read data.

On the other hand, the recording / reproducing apparatus 1 can function as an AV device and can record / reproduce audio data or the like in accordance with a user's operation. In response, the recording / reproducing management task activated on the system controller 8 issues a data write request and a data read request for the disk 90. In this case, the file task, cache task, and drive task function to write or read data.

The operation regarding the data cache and the information to be transmitted, which are the ranges described here, are the same between the recording / reproducing management task and the personal computer 100.
Since the file task and USB task are the same,
These are commonly explained. It should be noted that the personal computer 100 or the like handles the address (adrs) on the disk 90 as a logical address, and the drive task handles the address (adrs) on the disk 90 as a physical address. Therefore, in practice, a logical / physical address conversion task, for example, U
It is interposed between the SB task and the cache task, and the cache task and the drive task use the physical address (adrs), and the USB task and the personal computer 100 side use the logical address (adrs).
Will be treated respectively, but for simplification of explanation,
The logical / physical address conversion is omitted.

First, the disk write operation will be described with reference to FIG. In step W1, the recording / reproduction management task (or PC) issues a write request (write request) and transfers write data. The write request includes information on the address (adrs) and the data length (length) that are the starting points of writing on the disk 90. Then, the write data (Wdata) is transferred.
When a write request is generated and the write data (Wdata) is supplied to the input / output processing unit 5 (or USB interface 4), the file task (or USB task) caches the cache task as the procedure W11. Make a write request. In this cache write request, information on the address (adrs) and the data length (length) is transmitted to the cache task. In step W21, the cache task uses the expression “Cid =” described above based on the address (adrs).
(N × cnt) + remainer (adrs ÷ N) ”, and the cache address Cid calculated in step W22 is used for the file task (or U).
SB task). That is, the cache memory 3 transmits the cache address to which the write data (Wdata) should be written.

In response to this, the file task (or USB
Task) is write data (Wdata) as procedure W12.
Is written in the cache memory 3 starting from the designated cache address Cid. Then, when the cache writing is completed, in step W13, the cache writing is notified to the cache task.
At this time, when the cache writing is completed, the recording / reproducing management task (or PC) is notified of the writing completion. For example, the personal computer 100 and the recording / reproducing management task, after transmitting the write request once, notify the completion of the write to the write request as the notification of the command OK, and after the command OK, the next write request becomes possible. . Therefore, when the personal computer 100 and the recording / reproducing management task continuously make write requests, the next write request can be generated at this point.

When the cache write completion is notified from the file task (or USB task), the cache task requests the drive task to write to the disk 90 in step W23. Drive task is procedure W3
1, in response to a write request from the cache task,
Write data (Wdata) held in the cache memory 3
Is read out, transferred to the storage unit 2, and recorded from the specified address (adrs).
Then, when the data writing to the disk 90 is completed in the storage unit 2, the completion of the disk writing is notified to the cache task as procedure W32. By the processing up to this point, the writing of the write data (Wdata) to the disc 90 is completed.

The flash operation for writing the data stored in the cache memory 3 to the disk 90 in this way does not have to be executed for each write request, and may be executed at a predetermined flash timing. For example, the data written in the cache memory 3 may not be flushed for a certain period of time, and may be collectively flushed at a required time point, so that the flush operation can be made efficient.
In particular, the write operation on the disk 90 can be made efficient.

By the way, the state of the cache memory 3 is managed by the cache management data as described above. In the cache management data, the FAT cluster number (adrs) shown in FIG. 12 is written for the corresponding cache address Cid, and the cache sector information is updated. Also, write data (Wdata) stored in the cache memory 3
Is written (that is, flushed) to the disk 90 in step W31, the write data (Wdat
The flush information of the cache management data is updated so that the cache address Cid in which a) was stored is flushed.

Next, the operation at the time of disc reading will be described with reference to FIG. This is when there is no cache hit. In step R1, the recording / reproduction management task (or PC) issues a read request (read request). As a lead request,
It includes information of an address (adrs) and a data length (length) which are the starting points of reading on the disk 90. When a read request is issued, the file task (or USB task) makes a cache read request to the cache task as procedure R11. In this cache read request, information of address (adrs) and data length (length) is transmitted to the cache task. In the procedure R21, the cache task uses the expression "Cid =" based on the address (adrs).
(N × cnt) + remainer (adrs ÷ N) ”, and the cache address Cid is calculated. Do a search. This search process will be described later. Here, it is assumed that the data of the requested address (adrs) is not found even if the cache search is performed. That is, since no cache hit occurs, the cache task continues with the procedure R22.
Then, a read request from the disk 90 is issued to the drive task. At this time, the address (adrs) to be read from the disk, the data length (length), and the cache address Cid of the cache memory 3 into which the read data is written are notified. In step R31, the drive task controls the storage unit 2 to reproduce the data of the specified data length (length) from the specified address (adrs) in response to the write request from the cache task. Then, the read data is written in the cache memory 3 based on the designated cache address Cid. Then, when the data reading from the disk 90 in the storage unit 2 and the writing to the cache memory 3 are completed, the drive task notifies the cache task of the disk reading completion as procedure R32.

Then, the cache task executes the procedure R23.
As a response corresponding to the cache read request in the above procedure R11, the cache address Ci to be read is to be read.
Notify d. That is, the cache address Cid in which the read data (Rdata) is written by the drive task is notified.

In response to this, the file task (or USB
Task) reads the read data (Rdata) from the specified cache address Cid in step R12,
The data is transferred to the input / output processing unit 5 or the personal computer 100 side. When the cache read and transfer are completed, the recording / reproduction management task (or PC) is executed as procedure R13.
Notify the completion of reading. Actually, the procedure R1
In some cases, the notification of the completion of reading in step 3 is given at the same time as the data transfer in step R12.

For example, the personal computer 100 or the recording / reproducing management task can make the next read request in response to the read completion notification. By the way, when the data is continuous and long data such as audio data, and it is necessary to maintain temporal continuity as an output from the input / output processing unit 5, a new completion of the reading is waited for after the notification of the reading completion. Requesting data may not be in time, and as the reproducing operation in the storage unit 2, even if the data is continuous on the disk 90, the reading is temporarily stopped and the read request is waited for. Starting reading again is a very inefficient operation and consumes extra power. Therefore, normally, on the drive task side, a pre-read operation is performed as a read operation of the storage unit 2 based on, for example, an instruction of the cache task, and data not requested yet is also buffered in the cache memory 3. .

For example, when the data requested in the procedure R31 is read from the disk 90 and written to the cache memory 3, the disk 90 is continuously read continuously, and the data is continuously written to the cache memory 3. . Of course, the address on the disk 90 (ad
Since rs) is continuous, the cache address Cid on the cache memory 3 is also written to continuous addresses. By such a prefetch operation, the buffering as shown in FIG. 11 is performed. In particular, in the case of audio data, it is highly probable that the next requested data will be a continuous data following the previously requested data. Therefore, if the read-ahead buffering is performed, the data can be transferred very quickly by the cache hit described below when the next read request is made. As a result, even when the input / output processing unit 5 outputs data continuously in terms of time, the input / output processing unit 5 should be in time.
Can be supplied with read data.

In the cache management data for managing the state of the cache memory 3, the read data (Rdata) is written in the cache memory 3 in the above procedure W32, and the cache address Cid shown in FIG. The FAT cluster number (adrs) shown in is written and the cache sector information is updated.

By the way, it has been stated that the personal computer 100 and the recording / reproducing management task can make the next read request after the completion of the read notification in step R31.
For example, depending on the file task based on the instruction of the recording / reproducing management task, the cache read request may be continuously issued to the cache task before the reading completion notification is given to the recording / reproducing management task. For example, the file task
By managing the correspondence between the cache read request for the cache task and the data read from the cache memory 3 related to the cache read request, when the response from the cache task for a certain cache read request has not arrived yet, Can issue a cache read request. For such a plurality of consecutive cache read requests, the cache task only needs to sequentially perform the processing after the procedure R21, but in this example, the cache task makes a plurality of consecutive cache read requests. The disc reading operation can be executed efficiently by judging the contents of the above. This will be described later.

Further, even in the case of the personal computer 100, the read requests can be continuously issued depending on the design of the operation algorithm for the read requests. Alternatively, for example, if the USB task executes a process of notifying the personal computer 100 of the read completion immediately after issuing the cache read request to the cache task, the personal computer 100 performs the read in the procedure R13 of FIG. It is also possible to issue the next read request without waiting for the completion notification. That is, from the perspective of the cache task, it may be possible to receive a plurality of consecutive cache read requests. However, as described later, at this time, the disk read request for the drive task is made to correspond to the plurality of cache read requests. As a result, efficient disc reading becomes possible.

Next, as a disk read operation, an operation in the case of a cache hit will be described with reference to FIG. It is the same as in the case of FIG. 14 that the recording / reproduction management task (or PC) issues a read request in step R1 and the file task (or USB task) issues a cache read request to the cache task in step R11. . In the procedure R21, the cache task uses the expression “Cid = (N × cnt) + remainer (adrs) based on the address (adrs) in the procedure R21.
÷ N) ”to calculate the cache address Cid,
With the cache address Cid as a starting point, a search is performed on the rows having the same residual value in the above-described N × M matrix-set cache areas. Assuming that the data of the requested address (adrs) exists in the cache memory 3 as the cache search result, the cache task reads in step R23 as a response corresponding to the cache read request in step R11. Is notified of the cache address Cid to be executed. That is, the read data (Rd
The cache address Cid in which ata) is written is notified.

In response to this, the file task (or USB
Task) reads the read data (Rdata) from the specified cache address Cid in step R12,
The data is transferred to the input / output processing unit 5 or the personal computer 100 side. When the cache read and transfer are completed, the recording / reproduction management task (or PC) is executed as procedure R13.
Notify the completion of reading.

As described above, when the read data (Rdata) required for the read request is already stored in the cache memory 3, the read operation in the storage unit 2 is not required and the input / output processing unit 5 or the personal computer is not required. The requested read data (Rdata) can be supplied to the computer 100 side, and the responsiveness becomes very good as compared with the case where no cache hit occurs as described above.

5. Cache Search Process The cache search process executed by the cache task as described above will be described. That is, this is a process of determining whether or not the requested data exists in the cache memory 3.

In the case of the present example in which the N × M matrix management of the cache area is performed as described above, cells (cache address Ci
d) is “Cid = (N × cnt) + remainer (adrs ÷ when the address (adrs) on the disk 90 is designated.
N) ”. Here, the value of the pointer cnt is the count value at the time of writing the data in the cache memory 3, and does not always match the value at the time of search.
The value of (N × cnt) cannot be specified at the time of search, but the cache address Ci for storing the data of a certain address (adrs)
d will be defined by the term for obtaining the remainder value as remaining (adrs ÷ N).

For example, as shown in FIG. 7, assuming N = 8, there are rows with a remainder value of 0 to rows with a remainder value of 7 in the N × M matrix. Therefore, some address (ad
When the data of (rs) is requested, its address (adr
It is only necessary to retrieve the row of the residual value obtained by the operation of remainr (adrs ÷ N) using (s).

A specific example will be described. For example, consider a case where data is stored in the cache memory 3 as shown in FIG. It is assumed that the pointer cnt = 4 at this point. Here, it is assumed that the data of the address (adrs) = “25” is requested. At this time, the cache task is Ci
By performing the calculation of d = (N × cnt) + remainer (adrs ÷ N), the cache address Cid = 33 shown in FIG.
You will get Where remainr (adrs ÷ N) = 2
And Cid = 33 is the cache address of the row with the remainder value “2”. The cache task has Cid = 33
Starting from, each cache address Cid in the row of the remainder value 2 shown by the thick frame in FIG. 16 may be searched.

In this case, no data is stored in Cid = 33. Next, for Cid = 25, no data is stored. Next, no data is stored for Cid = 17. The data of adrs = 33 is stored in Cid = 9. Then, when Cid = 1 is confirmed, the data of adrs = 25 is discovered, and it can be determined that the cache hit.

If Cid = 1 does not apply, the search target is the cache address of the remainder value 2 of the final block (M-1) N (Cid = 8 (M-1) +1).
Proceed to. Finally, if the corresponding data does not exist even if all the cache addresses having the remainder value 2 are searched, it is determined that no cache hit has occurred.

As can be seen from this specific example, the cache search process is executed by the target cache address Cid.
(Cell) may be 1 / N of all cells. That is, normally, in the case of a cache search, it is necessary to check the presence / absence of requested data for all cache addresses Cid in the cache area, but the processing can be reduced to 1 / N, and the cache search processing can be significantly performed. It can be speeded up. This makes it possible to improve the responsiveness when requesting data. The actual search is performed on the cache management data. That is, in the case of the above example, the process is to confirm the FAT cluster number of each cache management data for Cid = 33, 25, 17 ...

FIG. 17 shows a flow chart for realizing such a retrieval process in the cache task. In step F101, the cache address Cid is obtained by calculating Cid = (N × cnt) + remainer (adrs ÷ N) based on the requested address (adrs). In the case of the above example, the cache address Cid = 33 is obtained by this processing. Then, through step F102, F1
03, the cache address Cid (Cid =
With reference to the cache management data for 33), it is confirmed whether the requested data (adrs = 25 in the above example) is stored. If the requested data does not exist, the process proceeds to step F104, and the value of the cache address Cid to be searched is set to Cid-N. In the above example,
The new cache address Cid becomes Cid = 25 due to 33-8 = 25, and steps F102 → F10.
3, the cache address Cid (Cid =
With reference to the cache management data of 25), it is confirmed whether the requested data (adrs = 25 in the above example) is stored. With this loop, for example ad
When data of rs = 25 is requested, each cell in the row having the remainder value “1” is sequentially searched forward. In step F104, when the cache address Cid reaches the value of the first block (0N), it is set to the value of the cache address of the row having the same remainder value in the last block.

If the requested data is found in step F103, the flow advances to step F105 to notify the cache address Cid as a cache hit. That is, in step R23 of FIG. 15, the cache address Cid is notified to the file task (or USB task).

On the other hand, if the search is continued without finding the requested data in step F103 and the line having the surplus value is circled, the process proceeds from step F102 to F106, and it is assumed that no cache hit occurs. In this case, the processing shown in FIG. 14 is performed.

By the way, as can be seen from the cache search process, the cache search process can be made more efficient as the value of N is larger in the case where the cache control is performed by treating it in an N × M matrix. On the other hand, FIG.
As can be seen from the cache write operation described with reference to FIG. 10, the cache control method of this example uses the cache address C
When the id is determined, the larger the value of N, the higher the possibility that more invalid cells are left. That is, in the cache control method of this example, the search speed and the memory utilization efficiency (fragmentation suppression rate) are in a trade-off relationship.

For example, as schematically shown in FIG.
If (a) is a matrix with N = 8 and the N value is smaller than 8 as shown in FIG. 18 (b), the memory utilization efficiency can be improved. That is, on average, the number of cells left in an empty state during writing is relatively small. On the other hand, the number of cells in the horizontal direction, that is, the number of blocks M
Since b increases and the number of addresses having the same remainder value increases, a larger number of cache addresses Ci during search
The search of d becomes necessary, and the search speed decreases. On the other hand, when the N value is larger than 8 as shown in FIG. 18C, the number of cells in the horizontal direction, that is, the number of blocks Mb decreases, and the number of addresses having the same remainder value decreases. The number of cache addresses Cid that are sometimes searched is reduced, and the search speed is improved. On the other hand, on average,
Many cells are left in an empty state at the time of writing, and the memory utilization efficiency is reduced.

Under these circumstances, in the cache control method of this example, the N value should be set to an appropriate value according to the usage mode of the device, the recording medium, the type of data to be handled, and the like. Further, for example, the setting of the N value may be changed according to the usage state or the user setting. Further, if the N value is automatically optimized and controlled according to the operating condition, the most preferable cache control can be executed.

6. Disk Read Control In this example, the cache address Cid is set and searched for the cache memory 3 as described above, but it is suitable as a cache control method for both AV data and PC data. Become. That is,
When AV data is downloaded from a network or a personal computer, or AV data is recorded / reproduced as an AV device, data continuity can be buffered and high-speed performance can be realized. Further, since the cache memory can be searched by the position corresponding to the remainder when the address on the disk is divided by N (predetermined value), efficient and quick search is realized. Therefore, it is possible to secure high-speed response when reading and writing PC data. Furthermore, since complicated calculations such as a hash algorithm are not required, the address allocation on the cache can be simplified, the processing load can be reduced, and the cost of the device can be reduced. Further, since the continuity is ensured on the cache memory for the data of consecutive addresses, the recording / reproducing efficiency on the disk can be improved,
Power saving effect can be expected by reducing the number of access.

In this example, in addition to such effects, the read operation control for the disk 90 is further devised to realize an efficient operation in the storage section 2. That is, when the file task (or USB task) issues a plurality of cache read requests to the cache task in succession, the cache task uses the disk 9 for the data related to each request.
If the separation status as the address on 0 is detected and each data is close in address, continuous data including unnecessary data (data not requested) between the data is continuously generated. Disk 9 for one trace
The data is read from 0.

As added in the explanation of FIG. 14, for example, the file task may issue the next cache read request before the cache task responds to a certain cache read request. It should be noted that even with respect to read requests from a personal computer, such continuous read requests can be possible, but in the description here, it is assumed that the file task continuously issues cache read requests. When a cache read request is issued continuously, the cache task uses the address (adrs) and data length (length) on disk for each data that is the subject of each cache read request, The separation status on the disk 90 is detected. And
It issues a disk read request to the drive task according to the detection result.

The operation of this example will be schematically described with reference to FIG. Now, as the cache read request from the file task, as shown in FIG. 19A, RQ1, RQ2 ...
・ ・ It is assumed that RQ7 is issued continuously. The cache read requests RQ1, RQ2, ... RQ7 may be issued in any order.

FIG. 19A shows, as addresses (adrs) on the disk 90, the position of data which is the target of each cache read request. For example, the cache read request RQ1 has an address (adrs) = A1 and a data length (le
ngth), it is shown that the data recorded at the address (adrs) = A1 to A2 on the disk 90 is requested as shown in the figure. Address (adr
The traveling direction of s) corresponds to the line direction of the spiral track. That is, it is the tracing direction by the optical head 19.

Here, the cache read requests RQ1, RQ
Looking at the situation on the disk 90 of the data obtained as 2, the address (adrs) is shown as unrequested data (unnecessary data) between each of these requested data.
There are portions A2 to A3. Similarly, between the data requested by the cache read requests RQ2 and RQ3, the address (adrs) A4 to A5 is provided, and between the data requested by the cache read requests RQ3 and RQ4, the address ( adrs) A6 to A7 exist as unnecessary data. At this time, it is assumed that the length of these unnecessary data portions, that is, the separation distance (address difference) ds between the two requested data pieces is smaller than the predetermined value dsth as follows. Data separation distance ds = A for requests RQ1 and RQ2
3-A2 <dsth Data separation distance ds = A for requests RQ2 and RQ3
5-A4 <dsth Data separation distance ds = A for request RQ3, RQ4
7-A6 <dsth

On the other hand, cache read requests RQ4 and RQ5
The length of the addresses (adrs) A8 to A9, which are unnecessary data portions between the data requested by the above, is relatively long, and the data separation distance ds = A9 related to the requests RQ4 and RQ5.
It is assumed that −A8 ≧ dsth. Also, the request RQ5,
Also regarding the separation distance ds of the data related to RQ6, ds
= A11−A10 ≧ dsth.

In such a case, the cache task executes the reading from the disk 90 for the portion where the separation distance ds is smaller than the predetermined value dsth regardless of the unnecessary data. That is, the cache task is shown in FIG.
As shown in (b), cache read requests RQ1 to RQ
As a disk read request including 4 addresses, addresses A1 to
The drive task is requested to read the disk in the range of A8, and the storage unit 2 is caused to execute the disk reading and write it in the cache memory 3. In other words, the disc 90 including unnecessary data between the data for each request
A single continuous trace of the optical head 19 with respect to .gtoreq. For example, in FIG.
, The cluster size is shown as a numerical value in parentheses, but disk read requests RQ1, RQ2, RQ3, RQ
The data length for 4 is 2 clusters each,
Assuming that there are 5 clusters, 3 clusters, and 4 clusters, and the unnecessary data in each gap part is the interval of 1 cluster, the disk read request is 17
It will request data for the cluster. That is, a disk read request for address (adrs) = A1 and data length (length) = 17 clusters is issued.

On the other hand, with respect to the data related to the cache read request RQ5, since the separation distance from the data related to the other requests (RQ4, RQ6) is the predetermined value dsth or more, the data related to the cache read request RQ5 is As shown in FIG. 19B, the cache task is processed independently and addresses A9 to A10 are sent as disk read requests.
Requests the drive task to read the disk in the range.

With respect to the cache read requests RQ6 and RQ7, since the separation distance of the target data is less than the predetermined value dsth, the cache task requests the cache read request RQ.
As a disk read request including 6 and RQ7, the drive task is requested to read the disk in the range of addresses A11 to A14.

In other words, in this example, the cache task detects a disk separation condition (address difference) between a plurality of data to be read from the disk 90 in response to a plurality of cache read requests. And, depending on the detection result,
If the address difference is less than the predetermined value dsth, a plurality of cache read requests are concatenated and one disk read request is issued, so that the disk 90 including a plurality of data to be read and unnecessary data between the respective data is included. The reading is performed from the. On the other hand, if the address difference is equal to or greater than the predetermined value dsth, the cache read requests are not concatenated, and the disk read request is issued in accordance with the cache read request as usual.

FIG. 20 shows the processing of the cache task for executing such control. The process of FIG. 20 is
When no cache hit occurs with respect to the cache read request, the process is executed in step R22 of FIG.
In step F201, if there is no cache hit with respect to a certain cache read request, the process proceeds to step F202, and the next cache read request is issued immediately after that, and is this also a cache hit? Determine whether or not. Note that this step F20
For the determination of 2, it may be possible to wait for some time and then determine whether or not a plurality of cache read requests are continuously issued from the file task.

If it is not a plurality of consecutive cache read requests, the flow advances to step F207 to issue a disk read request corresponding to the original cache read request. In this case, since the next consecutive request is not issued, the processing is terminated and the system stands by (return). That is, the normal processing described in FIG. 14 is performed. On the other hand, if there is a continuous next cache read request, and there is no cache hit, then in step F203, the disk 90 for the data relating to the initial cache read request and the data relating to the subsequent cache read request. The address difference ds above is determined. Then, in step F204, it is determined whether or not the address difference ds is less than the predetermined value dsth.

If the address difference ds is greater than or equal to the predetermined value dsth, the flow advances to step F206 to register as a cache read request to be issued as the next disk read request after the current disk read request. . Then, in step F207, after the present disk read request (disk read request corresponding to the original cache read request) is issued, execution of the next disk read request is registered, so steps F208 to F2.
In step 02, it is confirmed whether the next cache read request has been issued. If not issued, a disk read request is issued in step F207. Figure 1
The disk read request corresponding to the cache read request RQ5 of No. 9 is issued by such processing.

In step F204, the address difference ds
Is determined to be less than the predetermined value dsth, step F
In step 205, the request concatenation process is performed. That is, the initial cache read request and the next cache read request are 1
Connect as one cache read request. Then, the process returns to step F202, and it is confirmed whether or not the next cache read request is issued. With respect to the cache read requests RQ1, RQ2, RQ3, RQ4 in FIG. 19, the cache read requests are sequentially linked in step F205. Then, if no other cache read request is generated, or if another cache read request is generated, but the address difference is equal to or greater than the predetermined value dsth, the cache read requests before the linked cache read requests are issued. After the issuance of the disk read request corresponding to the cache read request described above is completed, the process proceeds to step F207 at a certain point in time, in which case the disk read request corresponding to the linked cache read request is issued. For example, as described with reference to FIG. 19, cache read requests RQ1, RQ2, R
Corresponding to Q3 and RQ4, a disk read request for an address (adrs) = A1 and a data length (length) = 17 clusters is issued.

In response to the cache task issuing a disk read request by such processing, the drive task controls the storage unit 2 so that the data read operation according to the disk read request is performed. That is, the optical head 19 is accessed at the position of the address (adrs) indicated by the disk read request, and the data length (lengt
Execute the read trace in the range indicated by h). Therefore, when a disk read request corresponding to the cache read request that has been concatenated as described above is issued, continuous read trace is performed including the unnecessary data portion.

That is, according to the control of this example, for example, as shown in FIG.
For a plurality of cache read requests for data in the vicinity on the disk 90 as shown in (a), the disk read operation is collectively read in one trace, so that each cache read request is individually handled. Compared to performing the disk access and read trace, the disk read operation will be much more efficient. Particularly in the disk read operation, the time required for access is large out of the time required for the entire read operation, and the number of accesses is reduced even if some unnecessary data is read. That is, it is possible to realize a remarkably high speed. Moreover, the effect of reducing the power consumption in the storage unit 2 can be obtained by reducing the number of accesses and improving the efficiency of reading.

Therefore, for the predetermined value dsth,
It may be set in consideration of the access time and the reading time of unnecessary data. That is, even if the unnecessary data portion is read, the predetermined value dsth may be determined as an address difference corresponding to a boundary time at which time reduction is realized rather than execution of access.

Further, although the unnecessary data portion is read and written in the cache memory 3, this is not necessarily a wasteful operation. That is, the unnecessary data portion read in this case is data in the vicinity of the requested plurality of data. This is because the unnecessary data portion is likely to be the target data of the cache read request later. Then, when such a cache read request is issued later, the target data is already stored in the cache memory 3, so that it can be processed by the cache hit described in FIG. That is, the effect of improving the cache responsiveness can also be obtained.

Although the embodiments of the storage device, the reproduction device, the information storage system, and the storage method of the present invention have been described above with the configuration of the recording / reproduction device 1 and the personal computer 100, the storage device of the present invention, The specific processing procedure of the reproducing device, the information storage system, the storage method, etc. is not limited to the above example, and various modifications can be considered.

The program of the present invention is a program for causing the storage device, the reproduction device, and the information storage system to execute the operation of the storage method described above, and the program causes the storage device, the reproduction device, and the information storage of the present invention to be executed. The system can be realized. Furthermore, according to the recording medium of the present invention in which the program of the present invention is recorded, it becomes easy to provide the program for realizing the present invention,
It is suitable for equipment design and system construction. A recording medium for recording the program is a CD type, a DVD type, an MD type optical disc, a magneto-optical disc, a magnetic disc such as a flexible disc, an HDD (hard disk drive), a memory card using a solid-state memory, or the like. Can be realized by

[0153]

As can be understood from the above description, according to the present invention, information read from a recording medium (disk) is temporarily stored in response to a plurality of read requests to the cache memory side. When temporarily storing in the (cache memory), the separation state on the recording medium of the plurality of information to be read from the recording medium in response to the plurality of requests is detected. For example, it is detected whether the address difference on the disc is less than or equal to a predetermined value. When the distance between the plurality of pieces of information is physically small, the disk is read by one continuous read trace including unnecessary data in the separated portion. In other words, the required plural pieces of information can be read out as an operation in which the read trace for the track of the disk recording medium is not interrupted by the track access. Therefore,
There is an effect that an efficient read operation can be realized for a recording medium such as a disk. Further, since the number of track accesses on the disk is also reduced, the simultaneous shortening and the power saving effect can be obtained. Further, since the unnecessary data is data in the vicinity of the requested necessary data, it is expected that the unnecessary data will be requested later. In that case, since it is already stored in the cache memory, it can be dealt with by a cache hit, and the responsiveness to the request is also improved. Therefore, the performance of the information storage system can be improved.

Further, according to the program of the present invention, or the recording medium recording the program, a storage device, an information storage system, which performs cache control for realizing the above effects,
The recording and / or reproducing apparatus can be easily realized.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a recording / reproducing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a disk format according to the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of an area structure of the disc according to the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a disc management structure according to the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a storage unit of the recording / reproducing apparatus of the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of a cache control method according to the embodiment.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of a cache ID according to the embodiment.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of a data write operation to a cache according to the embodiment.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram of a data write operation to the cache according to the embodiment.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of a data write operation to the cache according to the embodiment.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram of a data write operation to the cache according to the embodiment.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram of cache management data according to the embodiment.

FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram of an operation at the time of disc writing according to the embodiment.

FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram of an operation when reading a disc according to the embodiment.

FIG. 15 is an explanatory diagram of an operation in the case of a cache hit at the time of disk read according to the embodiment.

FIG. 16 is an explanatory diagram of cache search processing according to the embodiment.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart of cache search processing according to the embodiment.

FIG. 18 is an explanatory diagram of a division unit of cache control according to the embodiment.

FIG. 19 is an explanatory diagram of a data read operation for the disc of the embodiment.

FIG. 20 is a flowchart of disk read request processing of the cache task according to the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 recording / reproducing apparatus, 2 storage section, 3 cache memory, 4 USB interface, 5 input / output processing section, 6 display section, 7 operation section, 8 system controller, 9 ROM, 10 RAM, 11 cache management memory, 12 NV-RAM, 100 Personal Computer / Network

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Motoyuki Takai             6-735 Kita-Shinagawa, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo Soni             -Inside the corporation F term (reference) 5B082 FA12 JA12                 5D044 AB01 BC04 BC06 CC06 DE33                       DE37 DE91 EF03 FG10 FG19                       HH07

Claims (18)

[Claims] 1. A temporary storage unit for temporarily storing information read from a recording medium, a read control unit for controlling execution of a read operation of information on the recording medium, and a read unit for reading from the recording medium in response to a plurality of requests. Detecting means for detecting a separation state of the plurality of information on the recording medium; and a plurality of pieces of information to be read and unnecessary information between the pieces of information, in accordance with a detection result of the detecting means. A storage device, comprising: a temporary storage control unit that instructs the read control unit to read information from the recording medium and temporarily store the information in the temporary storage unit. 2. The temporary storage control means should read out when the detecting means detects that the address difference on the recording medium is less than or equal to a predetermined value as the separation status of the plurality of pieces of information to be read out. 2. The read control means is instructed to read information from the recording medium and temporarily store the information in the temporary storage means, including a plurality of pieces of information and unnecessary information between the pieces of information. Storage device according to. 3. The recording medium is a disk recording medium, and the read control means responds to a read instruction including the plurality of information and the unnecessary information from the temporary storage control means.
2. The storage device according to claim 1, wherein a read trace for a track of the disk recording medium is controlled to be executed as a read operation that is not interrupted by a track access. 4. A reading means for reading information from a recording medium, a temporary storage means for temporarily storing information read from the recording medium by the reading means, and a reading of information from the recording medium by the reading means. Read control means for controlling the execution of the operation; detecting means for detecting a separation state on the recording medium of a plurality of information to be read from the recording medium in response to a plurality of requests; and detection results of the detecting means. Accordingly, temporary storage for instructing the read control means to read information from the recording medium and temporarily store it in the temporary storage means, including the plurality of pieces of information to be read and unnecessary information between the pieces of information. A playback device comprising: a control unit. 5. The temporary storage control means should be read when the detection means detects that the address difference on the recording medium is equal to or less than a predetermined value as the separation state of the plurality of pieces of information to be read. 5. The read control means is instructed to read information from the recording medium and temporarily store the information in the temporary storage means, including a plurality of pieces of information and unnecessary information between the pieces of information. The playback device according to 1. 6. The recording medium is a disk recording medium, and the read control means responds to a read instruction including the plurality of information and the unnecessary information from the temporary storage control means.
5. The reproducing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the read trace for the track of the disk recording medium is controlled so as to be executed as a read operation which is not interrupted by the track access. 7. A temporary storage means for temporarily storing information read from a recording medium, a read control means for controlling execution of a read operation of information on the recording medium, and a read control means for reading from the recording medium in response to a plurality of requests. Detecting means for detecting a separation state of the plurality of information on the recording medium; and a plurality of pieces of information to be read and unnecessary information between the pieces of information, in accordance with a detection result of the detecting means. Temporary storage control means for instructing the reading control means to read information from the recording medium and temporarily store in the temporary storage means, and an access position to the recording medium for reading information from the recording medium are shown. An information storage system, comprising: a read request unit that notifies the temporary storage control unit of an address. 8. The temporary storage control means should read the information when the detection means detects that the address difference on the recording medium is equal to or less than a predetermined value as the separation status of the plurality of pieces of information to be read. 8. The read control means is instructed to read information from the recording medium and temporarily store the information in the temporary storage means, including a plurality of pieces of information and unnecessary information between the pieces of information. Information storage system described in. 9. The recording medium is a disk recording medium, and the read control means responds to a read instruction including the plurality of information and the unnecessary information from the temporary storage control means.
8. The information storage system according to claim 7, wherein the read trace for the track of the disk recording medium is controlled to be executed as a read operation which is not interrupted by the track access. 10. When the information is read from the recording medium and temporarily stored in the temporary storage means, the separation state of the plurality of information to be read from the recording medium on the recording medium is detected in response to the plurality of requests. , Depending on the detection result,
A storage method, characterized in that the plurality of pieces of information to be read and unnecessary information between the pieces of information are read from the recording medium and temporarily stored in the temporary storage means. 11. When it is detected that the address difference on the recording medium is equal to or less than a predetermined value as the separation status of the plurality of pieces of information to be read, unnecessary information between the plurality of pieces of information to be read and the respective pieces of information is unnecessary. 11. The storage method according to claim 10, wherein information including information is read from the recording medium and temporarily stored in the temporary storage means. 12. The recording medium is a disk recording medium, and during reading including the plurality of pieces of information and the unnecessary information, a read trace with respect to a track of the disk recording medium is not interrupted by track access. 2. The read operation is executed as a read operation.
0 storage method. 13. When the information is read from the recording medium and temporarily stored in the temporary storage means, the separation status of the plurality of information to be read from the recording medium on the recording medium is detected in response to the plurality of requests. , Depending on the detection result,
A program for executing information reading from the recording medium and temporary storage in the temporary storage unit, including the plurality of pieces of information to be read and unnecessary information between the pieces of information. 14. When it is detected that the address difference on the recording medium is less than or equal to a predetermined value as the separation status of the plurality of pieces of information to be read, it is unnecessary to provide the plurality of pieces of information to be read and each piece of the information. 14. The program according to claim 13, wherein the program including information is read out from the recording medium and temporarily stored in the temporary storage means. 15. The recording medium is a disk recording medium, and during reading including the plurality of pieces of information and the unnecessary information, a read trace with respect to a track of the disk recording medium is not interrupted by track access. The program according to claim 13, which is executed as a read operation. 16. When the information is read from the recording medium and temporarily stored in the temporary storage means, the separation status of the plurality of information to be read from the recording medium on the recording medium is detected in response to the plurality of requests. , Depending on the detection result,
A recording medium having recorded therein a program for executing information reading from the recording medium and temporary storage in the temporary storage unit, including the plurality of pieces of information to be read and unnecessary information between the pieces of information. 17. The program, when the address difference on the recording medium is detected to be equal to or less than a predetermined value as the separation status of the plurality of pieces of information to be read, the program and the plurality of pieces of information to be read. 17. The recording medium according to claim 16, wherein the information reading from the recording medium and the temporary storage in the temporary storage means are executed including unnecessary information between the two. 18. The recording medium is a disk recording medium, and when the program includes the plurality of pieces of information and the unnecessary information, a read trace for a track of the disk recording medium is interrupted by a track access at the time of reading. The recording medium according to claim 16, wherein the recording medium is adapted to be executed as a read operation that does not occur.