JP2004192299A - Storage device with function of rewriting data - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enhance the operability and convenience of a large-capacity storage device by making it easy to rewrite the data of a small-capacity storage device. <P>SOLUTION: The storage device 1 with the function of rewriting data has a USB port 12 for connection to a flash media 2. The storage device includes an environment setting means 14 for dividing the data storage area of a storage device body part 16 while using as division units the storage capacity of the flash media 2 which has a smaller capacity than the data storage area of the body part, and for imparting an ID name to each of the divided blocks; a block selecting means 11 for displaying the ID name imparted by the environment setting means 14 and for selecting one of the blocks; and a read/write control means 15 for transferring data via the USB port 12 between the stored content of the block selected by the block selecting means 11 and the flash media 2. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO&NCIPI

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a storage device having a data rewriting function having an input / output port connected to a storage device.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In recent years, the storage capacity of storage devices such as hard disks has been increasing, and recently, products exceeding 100 gigabytes have been sold, and are used as storage devices built in or externally connected to personal computers, servers, and the like. On the other hand, relatively small-capacity storage devices such as flash media have also been sold, and have come to be useful as storage devices for portable devices such as digital cameras and music players.
By the way, it is not uncommon for a music CD to be compressed and stored in MP3 (MPEG-1 Audio Layer-III) or the like and then listened to on a personal computer. In addition, portable music players who download music stored in a personal computer and listen to the music while walking are attracting attention as an alternative to a portable CD or MD player. The portable music player reproduces, for example, a sound file stored in a flash medium. The sound file to be saved at this time must be obtained from a personal computer. For this reason, data is transferred between a hard disk built in or external to the personal computer and a music player or flash media connected to the personal computer via a USB (Universal Serial Bus) (see Non-Patent Document 1).
[0003]
[Non-patent document 1]
ASAHI PC, No. 322, Asahi Shimbun, No. 11-15, P.E. 92-97
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, according to the prior art, when data such as music is input to a storage device such as a small-capacity flash medium, an operation of selecting sound files one by one from a large-capacity hard disk built in or externally connected to a personal computer is performed. Required, which required the user time and effort and was very inconvenient.
[0005]
The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and has as its object to provide means for facilitating data rewriting of a small-capacity storage device and improving operability and convenience of a large-capacity storage device. .
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
Among the present invention for solving the above problems, the invention according to claim 1 divides a data storage area of a storage device by using a storage capacity of a storage device that is smaller than the data storage area as a division unit, Environment setting means for giving an identification name to the divided data storage area, area selection means for displaying the identification name given by the environment setting means and selecting the divided data storage area, and area selection means And a read / write control unit for transferring data between the data storage area selected by the storage device and the storage device via the input / output port. According to this configuration, it is possible to execute data transfer in volume units of the storage device. In the embodiment described later, the divided data storage area is referred to as “partition”, and the area selection unit is referred to as “partition selection unit”. Also, the storage device will be described as “flash media” or the like.
[0007]
The invention according to claim 2 is the storage device with the data rewriting function, wherein the environment setting means formats the data storage area of the storage device according to the storage capacity of the storage device connected to the input / output port. According to this configuration, by formatting the data storage area of the storage device according to the storage capacity of the storage device, it is possible to execute data transfer in units of volumes of the storage device.
[0008]
According to a third aspect of the present invention, the read / write control means automatically transfers data between the selected data storage area and the storage device when the connection detection means detects the connection of the storage device. A storage device with a data rewriting function. According to this configuration, automatic batch data transfer can be performed in volume units of the storage device.
[0009]
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the read / write control unit reads the storage content of the selected data storage area from the storage device and writes the read content to the storage device when the connection of the storage device is detected by the connection detection unit. This is a storage device with a data rewriting function, which is a feature. According to this configuration, data can be automatically rewritten in volume units of the storage device.
[0010]
The invention according to claim 5, wherein the read / write control means reads the storage content from the storage device and writes it to the storage device when the connection detection means detects the connection of the storage device, and then selects the selected data storage area. Is a storage device with a data rewriting function, characterized in that the storage contents are written into a storage device. According to this configuration, backup and rewriting of the storage contents of the storage device can be automatically performed for each volume of the storage device.
[0011]
7. The storage device with a data rewriting function according to claim 6, wherein the read / write control unit reads the storage content from the storage device and writes the storage content to the storage device when the storage content of the storage device is updated. It is. According to this configuration, after the storage content of the storage device is rewritten from the storage device, when the storage content of the storage device is updated by another device, the storage content is backed up. Backup operation can be avoided.
[0012]
The invention according to claim 7 is a storage device with a data rewriting function, wherein the storage device is a DVD inserted into a DVD (Digital Versatile Disk) drive integrated with the storage device. According to this configuration, the means for the storage device can be applied to a DVD.
[0013]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
[0014]
構成 Configuration and overview of storage device≪
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a block configuration of a storage device with a data rewriting function according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, a large-capacity hard disk drive (HDD) is illustrated as an example of a storage device with a data rewriting function (hereinafter simply referred to as a “storage device”) 1. The storage device has one USB port as an input / output port. There is. The USB port 12 is connected to a flash medium 2 such as a compact flash (R). The storage device main unit 16 is configured by a hard disk having a large-capacity data storage area. Here, the storage device described in the claims will be described as “flash media”.
[0015]
FIG. 3 shows a memory allocation structure between the storage device main unit 16 and the flash media 2 according to the embodiment of the present invention. Here, the data storage area of the storage device main body 16 is partitioned and used with the storage capacity of the flash medium 2 as a division unit. For example, a structure having a storage capacity of 64 MB of the flash medium 2 is allocated to the data storage area of the storage device main unit 16, and the data of the flash medium 2 is associated with each of the partitions.
Thus, by selecting a section from outside, the storage contents of the section can be copied to the flash medium 2. Alternatively, a partition may be selected after the storage contents of the flash medium 2 are copied (backed up) to the storage device main unit 16. In this case, the data of the flash medium 2 is updated with the storage contents of the selected section. Further, at the time of backup, when it is detected that the storage content of the flash medium 2 has been updated, the storage content may be backed up. Details will be described later in each case. The selection of the section is performed by displaying the addresses (A1 to A5) of the sections and the identification names such as the section names by the section selecting means 11 shown in FIG. 1, and instructing the user to select them. The section selecting means 11 is configured by a liquid crystal display, a selection button, and the like.
[0016]
The description returns to FIG. The connection detecting unit 13 detects that the flash medium 2 as a storage device has been connected to the USB port 12 and notifies the environment setting unit 14. The environment setting unit 14 divides the data storage area of the storage device main unit 16 according to the number of partitions defined by the partition selection unit 11 and the storage capacity of the flash medium 2 connected to the USB port 12, and And a function of giving an identification name to each section. The read / write control unit 15 reads and writes the storage contents of the partition selected by the partition selection unit 11 via the USB port 12. When the connection of the flash medium 2 is detected by the connection detection unit 13, , The bidirectional data transfer between the storage device body 16 and the flash medium 2 is automatically performed. Details will be described later.
[0017]
≫Operation of storage device≫
FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation of the storage device according to the embodiment of the present invention. Hereinafter, the operation of the storage device 1 shown in FIG. 1 will be described in detail with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.
[0018]
FIG. 2A is a flowchart at the time of environment setting. First, the user defines the partitioning of the storage device main unit 16 of the storage device 1. This definition is made at the time of environment setting, and can be changed at startup or at any time during operation. Here, the number of sections is set by the section selecting means 11 as the definition content. Further, the entire storage capacity including the used area and the unused area is read from the flash medium 2 connected to the USB port 12. The environment setting means 14 takes in the number of partitions and the storage capacity (step S21), and formats the storage device body 16 based on the contents (step S22). The contents formatted here are written to a FAT (File Allocation Table) area of the storage device main body 16. Further, the environment setting means 14 assigns an identification name to each section.
[0019]
FIG. 2B is a flowchart at the time of the normal operation. Here, it is assumed that operations other than the partition selection by the user are automatically performed by the storage device 1. First, the connection detection unit 13 detects that the flash medium 2 has been connected to the USB port 12 (Yes in step S23). When the user selects a partition using the partition selection unit 11 (Yes in step S24), the read / write control unit 15 reads the storage content of the storage device main body 16 corresponding to the partition, and connects the USB port 12 to the USB port 12. The contents are written into the flash medium 2 connected via the CPU (step S25).
[0020]
As described above, the partition may be selected after the storage content of the flash medium 2 is copied to the storage device main unit 16. That is, when the partition is not selected (No in step S24), the read / write control unit 15 reads the storage content of the flash medium 2 and writes it in the storage device main unit 16 (step S26). Next, the presence / absence of partition selection is checked (step S27), and if partition selection is performed here (Yes in step S27), the read / write control unit 15 sets the storage device main unit corresponding to the selected partition. The storage contents of No. 16 are written to the flash medium 2 connected to the USB port 12 (step S28). This corresponds to a data rewriting operation of the flash medium 2. Further, when it is detected that the storage content of the flash medium 2 has been updated, the file may be backed up. As a method of detecting the update check of the storage content of the flash medium 2, a flag is set when data is rewritten from the storage device 1, and the flag is reset when data is rewritten by another device. It is conceivable to do so. According to this method, if the flag is on, there is no data update, and if the flag is off, there is data update.
[0021]
Note that the read / write control unit 15 may erase the contents of the selected partition after reading the storage contents of the selected partition from the storage device main body 16. Before rewriting the storage contents of the flash medium 2, the contents of the flash medium 2 may be erased. Further, here, the storage device has been described as the flash medium 2, but a DVD (not shown) inserted into a DVD drive integrated with the storage device 1 may be used instead of the flash medium 2. It is.
[0022]
具体 Specific examples of usage≫
The usage of the storage device 1 as described above will be specifically described. First, the flash medium 2 will be described. Here, since the storage device 1 is provided with an input / output USB port 12, the USB connection flash medium 2 is connected here. Then, the data storage area of the storage device main unit 16 composed of a hard disk is divided into a plurality of pieces by the capacity (for example, 64 MB) of the connected flash medium 2, and sections for copying files are prepared for each application. Here, it is assumed that seven partitions of 64 MB are prepared for each day of the week. Each of the seven sections is formatted, and “day of the week” is given as an identification name.
[0023]
When the user connects the flash medium 2 to the USB port 12 and selects “day of the week”, a file of 64 MB capacity is automatically copied from the storage device body 16 to the externally connected flash medium 2. . When the file of the flash medium 2 is updated, if the flash medium 2 is connected to the USB port 12, the contents of the flash medium 2 are automatically backed up in the storage device main body 16. At this time, by setting an identification number for each flash medium 2, reading and writing may be performed only for a specific flash medium 2. This is convenient when a plurality of persons commonly use the storage device main unit 16.
[0024]
On the other hand, when a music file such as an MP3 file is rewritten to the compact flash (R), rewriting can be performed in the same manner as described above. At this time, if the data storage area of the storage device main unit 16 is divided and used for each artist and genre, the files can be easily arranged and classified. In addition, for example, it is conceivable to divide the storage device main unit 16 composed of a 160 GB hard disk into four partitions and rewrite or copy the contents of a 40 GB hard disk connected to the USB port 12. At this time, it is assumed that data can be automatically deleted, formatted, and the like before copying depending on a user request. Further, in a large-capacity hard disk device for recording and reproducing AV data, when the content is read from the device, the read content may be automatically deleted. Here, the rewritable medium is described as a compact flash (R), but may be a writable or rewritable recordable DVD medium or the like.
[0025]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to easily and quickly rewrite the storage content of a small-capacity storage device or a DVD, and to treat a large-capacity storage device as a plurality of small-capacity devices. , The data storage area can be used effectively. In addition, since operations for copying and backing up stored contents are automatically performed in units of small-capacity storage devices or DVD volumes, the burden on the user for such operations is greatly reduced, and large-capacity storage devices can be implemented. Operability and convenience at the time of use can be improved.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a block configuration of a storage device with a data rewriting function according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIGS. 2A and 2B are flowcharts showing an operation of the storage device with a data rewriting function according to the embodiment of the present invention, wherein FIG. 2A shows an operation at the time of setting an environment, and FIG.
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a memory allocation structure between a storage device main unit and flash media according to the embodiment of the present invention.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Storage apparatus 2 with a data rewriting function 2 ... Flash media 11 ... Partition selection means 12 ... USB port 13 ... Connection detection means 14 ... Environment setting means 15 ... Read / write control means 16 ... Storage device main body

Claims (7)

A storage device with a data rewriting function having an input / output port connected to the storage device,
Environment setting means for dividing the data storage area of the storage device by using the storage capacity of the storage device, which is smaller than the data storage area, as a division unit, and assigning an identification name to the divided data storage area When,
Area selection means for displaying an identification name given by the environment setting means and selecting the divided data storage area;
Read / write control means for performing data transfer via the input / output port between the data storage area selected by the area selection means and the storage device;
A storage device with a data rewriting function, comprising: The environment setting means,
The storage device with a data rewriting function according to claim 1, wherein a data storage area of the storage device is formatted according to a storage capacity of a storage device connected to the input / output port. A connection detection unit that detects that the storage device is connected to the input / output port,
The read / write control unit includes:
2. The data transfer method according to claim 1, wherein when the connection of the storage device is detected by the connection detection unit, data transfer is automatically performed between the selected data storage area and the storage device. Storage device with data rewriting function. The read / write control unit includes:
4. The storage device according to claim 3, wherein when the connection of the storage device is detected by the connection detection unit, the storage content of the selected data storage area is read from the storage device and written to the storage device. Storage device with data rewriting function. The read / write control unit includes:
When the connection of the storage device is detected by the connection detection unit, the storage content is read from the storage device and written to the storage device, and then the storage content of the selected data storage area is written to the storage device. The storage device with a data rewriting function according to claim 3, wherein: The read / write control unit includes:
6. The storage device with a data rewriting function according to claim 5, wherein when the storage content of the storage device is updated, the storage content is read from the storage device and written to the storage device. The storage device with a data rewriting function according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the storage device is a DVD inserted into a DVD drive integrated with the storage device.

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