JP2005044032A - Hard disk drive built-in device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a hard disk drive built-in device allowing long-time battery drive. <P>SOLUTION: In this hard disk drive built-in device, an image compression processing part 8 and a hard disk control part 10 or the like that is necessary to be operated only when inputting/outputting data from/to a hard disk drive 15 constitute a unit 22 configured on a single board. When the unit 22 is operated by power supply from a battery 17, a power supply control part 18 stops the power supply to the unit 22 when the power supply is not required for the operation, to reduce the power consumption of the whole device. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a hard disk drive built-in device.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In recent years, the use of hard disk drive built-in devices as data storage devices has increased. For example, in addition to home appliances such as hard disk recorders used in place of video tape recorders, recording of images taken by surveillance cameras, storage of data displayed on information devices that provide various types of information using display devices such as liquid crystals, etc. Therefore, it is widely used in the industrial field.
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
The monitoring device is desired to operate even when the external power supply is interrupted due to a power failure or the like. Similarly, some information devices are desired to operate during a power failure. For example, a display device that displays a situation and a response method at the time of occurrence of a power failure in an elevator corresponds to this.
[0004]
Normally, such a device that is required to operate even in the event of a power failure includes a battery, and operates with this battery when the external power supply is interrupted.
[0005]
However, a hard disk drive built-in device composed of a hard disk drive with large power consumption and a large number of ICs has a problem that it can operate only with a battery for a short time because of high power consumption. Furthermore, recently, as the size of the apparatus has been reduced for the purpose of reducing the installation space and ease of handling, the battery has also been downsized, and long-time operation by the battery has become more difficult.
[0006]
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a hard disk drive built-in device that can be driven by a battery for a long time.
[0007]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the invention described in claim 1 is a hard disk drive built-in device that operates by switching to power supply from a battery when power supply from an external power supply stops, and stores various data A hard disk drive; data input / output means for inputting / outputting data to / from the hard disk drive; and a device group including the data input / output means and the hard disk drive when operated by power supply from the battery. And power supply control means for controlling whether to supply power collectively or stop supplying power collectively.
[0008]
A second aspect of the present invention is the hard disk drive built-in device according to the first aspect, wherein the device group includes data processing means for performing predetermined processing on data.
[0009]
A third aspect of the present invention is the hard disk drive built-in device according to the first or second aspect, wherein the power control means is configured to supply power only when data is input / output to / from the device group. Means for supplying.
[0010]
The invention according to claim 4 is the hard disk drive built-in device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein power is supplied to the device group from the same substrate. It is what.
[0011]
A fifth aspect of the present invention is the hard disk drive built-in device according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, wherein the device group operates when the device is operated by power supply from the external power source. It operates every time interval, and when operating by supplying power from the battery, it operates every second time interval longer than the first time interval.
[0012]
A sixth aspect of the present invention is the hard disk drive built-in device according to any one of the second to fifth aspects, wherein the data processing means compresses input image data to perform the data input / output. Image compression processing means for outputting to the means.
[0013]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
<Device configuration>
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a hard disk drive built-in device according to an embodiment of the present invention. This device is a hard disk recorder 1 used as a part of a monitoring device, and a user can use a display device or a hard disk provided in a control room located away from the hard disk recorder 1 via the network 2 by the monitoring device. A monitoring image can be displayed on the display device 4 connected to the recorder 1 for confirmation. Here, the monitoring video is video data output in real time from the monitoring camera 3 or image data captured by the monitoring camera 3 in the past recorded in the hard disk recorder 1.
[0014]
The hard disk recorder 1 includes a CPU 5 that controls the overall operation, a first memory 6 that is connected to and used by the CPU 5, a video processing unit 7, an image compression processing unit 8, and a display processing unit that are connected to the CPU 5 and perform various processes. 9, the hard disk control unit 10, the network processing unit 11, the second memory 12 used for the display processing unit 9, the oscillator 13 and the third memory 14 connected to the image compression processing unit 8, and the hard disk control unit 10 The hard disk drive 15 is connected to the external power source 16 and the battery 17 for supplying power to the hard disk recorder 1, and the power control unit 18 and the switches 19A and 19B for controlling the supplied power.
[0015]
The image compression processing unit 8, the oscillator 13, the third memory 14, the hard disk control unit 10, and the hard disk drive 15 constitute one unit 21 related to the image data recording operation. On the other hand, the CPU 5, the first memory 6, the video processing unit 7, the display processing unit 9, the network processing unit 11, and the second memory 12 constitute another unit 20. Further, the external power supply unit 16, the battery 17, the power supply control unit 18, and the switches 19A and 19B may constitute a part of the unit 20 or may constitute an independent unit different from the units 20 and 21. It doesn't matter. However, the component of the unit 20 and the component of the unit 21 are connected via one connector, and the power supply from the switch 19B to the unit 21 is also performed via this connector. That is, data input / output and power supply to the unit 21 can be centrally managed by one connector.
[0016]
Here, the unit refers to a group of components that operate in association with each other, and these components are configured on one substrate or connected to the one substrate. And if electric power is supplied to this one board | substrate, electric power will be supplied with respect to all the components of the unit connected to this board | substrate.
[0017]
The CPU 5 has a function for overall control of the operation of the hard disk recorder 1, and controls processing units having various processing functions such as image processing and data transfer processing over a network.
[0018]
The first memory 6 is a semiconductor memory such as a ROM or a RAM that is used as a storage area for commands and data by the CPU 5.
[0019]
The video processing unit 7 has a function of converting image data input from the surveillance camera 3 such as NTSC format into digital format data that can be handled by the hard disk recorder 1. The video data subjected to the conversion process is input to the image compression processing unit 8 and the display processing unit 9.
[0020]
The image compression processing unit 8 operates according to the clock frequency generated by the oscillator 13, and has a function of compressing and converting the video data input from the video processing unit 7 into a still image of a predetermined format such as JPEG for each frame. Here, the third memory 14 is a semiconductor memory such as an SDRAM used for temporarily storing intermediate data generated in the compression conversion process. The generated image data is input to the display processing unit 9 and the hard disk control unit 10.
[0021]
Here, the image compression processing unit 8, the oscillator 13 and the third memory 14 used for the operation constitute an image compression processing means as one data processing means. The data processing means may be in any other form as long as it has a function for converting data, such as decompression processing of compressed images and encryption.
[0022]
The display processing unit 9 has a function of converting the video data input from the video processing unit 7 or the image data input from the image compression processing unit 8 into analog format data that can be displayed on the display device 4. Here, the second memory 12 is a semiconductor memory such as an SDRAM used for temporarily storing data when data is displayed on the display device 4. The user can check the video and images captured by the monitoring camera 3 on the display device 4 by inputting the analog signal output from the display processing unit 9 to the display device 4.
[0023]
The hard disk control unit (data input / output means) 10 writes the image data input from the image compression processing unit 8 to the hard disk drive 15 and reads the image data from the hard disk drive 15. The read image data can be displayed on the display device 4 connected to the hard disk recorder 1 via the image compression processing unit 8 and the display processing unit 9, or via the network processing unit 11 and the network 2. It is also possible to display on a display device provided in a control room located away from the hard disk recorder 1.
[0024]
The network processing unit 11 has a function of reading image data stored in the hard disk drive 15 of the hard disk recorder 1 and transferring it to a control room located away from the hard disk recorder 1 via the network 2. In addition to this, it also has a function of transferring video data being captured by the monitoring camera 3 to the control room in real time via the network 2.
[0025]
The external power supply unit 16 is connected to an AC power supply (not shown) such as a single-phase 100V or a three-phase 200V supplied from an electric power company as an external power supply, that is, a household or industrial power supply. It has a function of converting to a DC voltage of several volts and outputting it.
[0026]
The battery 17 is used as a backup power source when a failure such as a power failure occurs and the external power supply to the external power supply unit 16 is cut off. The battery 17 may be a primary battery or a secondary battery. Further, in the case of a secondary battery, the battery may be replaced with a charged battery 17 as the stored electric capacity decreases, or may be charged and used while being fixed inside the hard disk recorder 1. You may be the aspect to do. Furthermore, in the present embodiment, a mode in which the battery 17 is built in the apparatus is shown. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the hard disk recorder 1 and the battery 17 installed outside thereof are connected and used. It may be an aspect.
[0027]
The power supply control unit (power supply control means) 18 detects the presence or absence of external power supply, and as a result, the external power supply unit 16 if there is external power supply, the battery 17 if there is no external power supply, and the hard disk recorder 1 It has a function of switching and controlling the switch 19A so as to be used as a power source. In addition, the power supply to the unit 22 is controlled by the switch 19B. Further, the power supply control unit 18 is connected to the CPU 5, and the power supply control unit 18 and the CPU 5 are controlled with respect to the control state of power supply to the unit 22 of the power supply control unit 18 and the operation state of each unit constituting the unit 22 controlled by the CPU 5. Can exchange information with.
[0028]
Each unit and each function of the hard disk recorder 1 described above are realized by dedicated hardware and software programs.
[0029]
<Operation of the device>
The operation of the hard disk recorder 1 having the above configuration will be described.
[0030]
The hard disk recorder 1 is used as a part of the monitoring device, and has a function of converting image data captured by the monitoring camera 3 into image data of a predetermined format and recording and storing the image data in the hard disk drive 15. Specifically, in accordance with an instruction from the CPU 5, first, imaging data input from the monitoring camera 3 is converted into digital video data by the video processing unit 7, and further, the image compression processing unit 8 performs JPEG format for each frame. For example, the hard disk control unit 10 continuously compresses image data in a predetermined format and writes it to the hard disk drive 15.
[0031]
At this time, when the user visually confirms the video captured by the monitoring camera 3, the video data input from the monitoring camera 3 is processed by the video processing unit 7 and the display processing unit 9, and the hard disk recorder 1 is processed. It is displayed on the connected display device 4. Further, by displaying the data transferred via the network 2 by the network processing unit 11 on the display device provided in the monitoring room located away from the hard disk recorder 1, the user can also monitor the monitoring room. It is possible to visually check the surveillance video.
[0032]
Here, video display on the display device 4 performed for the purpose of visual confirmation by the user is often performed at all times, whereas compression conversion of imaging data input from the monitoring camera 3 into image data and a hard disk are performed. Recording to the drive 15 is performed at predetermined time intervals. Specifically, for example, the video captured by the monitoring camera 3 is always displayed on the display device 4 at a speed of several tens of frames per second, whereas the hard disk drive 15 has 1 every second. Image data thinned out in the time direction, such as frames or one frame every several seconds, is stored. The frame rate for displaying video on the display device 4 and the time interval for storing the image data in the hard disk drive 15 can be changed by the user depending on the purpose of monitoring.
[0033]
Normally, when power is supplied from the outside without any problem, the power supply control unit 18 of the hard disk recorder 1 controls the switch 19A to supply power to the units 21 and 22 from the external power supply unit. As described above, operations such as displaying the image data captured by the monitoring camera 3 on the display device 4 and recording the image data in the hard disk drive 15 are performed.
[0034]
When a failure such as a power failure occurs and power supply from the outside stops, the power supply control unit 18 switches the switch 19A so that the hard disk recorder 1 operates using the battery 17. At this time, as described above, in order to display the image captured by the monitoring camera 3 on the display device 4, since the elements constituting the unit 20 need to operate constantly, after the external power supply is stopped However, the unit 20 is always supplied with power from the battery 17.
[0035]
On the other hand, the elements constituting the unit 21 that performs the operation of compressing the video data input from the monitoring camera 3 via the video processing unit 7 and recording the data on the hard disk drive 15 are necessary for the operation. Only occasionally, power from the battery 17 is supplied.
[0036]
Specifically, after the hard disk recorder 1 is switched to driving by the battery 17, the power supply control unit 18 performs a predetermined time interval such as once per second or once every several seconds specified by the user in advance. The switch 19B is controlled and control of power supply to the unit 22 is started. The power supply control unit 18 turns on the switch 19B and simultaneously notifies the CPU 5 of this. Receiving this, the CPU 5 operates the image compression processing unit 8 and the hard disk control unit 10 to perform compression conversion of the video data and recording the converted image data on the hard disk drive 15. When a series of operations from compression conversion to recording is completed, this is notified from the CPU 5 to the power control unit 18. Receiving this, the power supply control unit 18 turns off the switch 19B and stops the supply of power to the unit 21. In this way, the power supply control unit 18 repeatedly controls the start and stop of power supply to the unit 21 at predetermined time intervals set by the user, and the CPU 5 controls the recording of image data on the hard disk drive 15.
[0037]
Then, when a failure such as a power failure is recovered and power supply from the outside is resumed, the power supply control unit 18 switches the switch 19A to start power supply from the external power supply unit 16, and accordingly, The unit 21 is always supplied with power.
[0038]
As described above, power is supplied from the switch 19B to the unit 21 via one connector that connects the unit 20 and the unit 21. By controlling only the switch 19B, the unit 21 is supplied. It is possible to control the power supply to all the elements constituting the.
[0039]
Further, as described above, the operation when a failure such as a power failure occurs is not limited to the mode in which only the power supply time is controlled without changing the time interval of the recording operation of the image data to the hard disk drive 15, and the image data It is also possible to change the time interval of the recording operation. In other words, while the power supply from the outside is stopped with respect to the normal operation, the power saving mode is set to perform an operation different from the normal operation for the purpose of reducing the power consumption defined in advance. is there.
[0040]
Specifically, for example, image data is normally recorded in the hard disk drive 15 at a time interval (first time interval) once every second, whereas in the power saving mode, once every 10 seconds. The image data is set to be recorded at the time interval (second time interval). As a result, while the external power supply is stopped and the operation by the power supply from the battery 17 is performed, the power is supplied to the unit 22 only during the operation related to the compression conversion and recording of the image data. In addition, by operating in the power saving mode and reducing the recording of image data that is normally performed once per second to one recording every 10 seconds, compared to the case where the power saving mode is not used, Power consumption can be greatly reduced.
[0041]
Furthermore, the present invention is divided into a unit that needs to operate constantly and a unit that only needs to operate while inputting / outputting data to / from the hard disk drive, and controls the latter power supply while operating on a battery. As long as it is a device that reduces power consumption, it is not limited to the hard disk recorder 1 described above, and other modes may be used. For example, the display device provided inside the elevator may be a device with a built-in hard disk drive that displays a floor display, a message, an advertisement, and the like by reading various data such as images and text stored in the hard disk drive. In this case, when the operation by the battery is performed, it is only necessary to control power supply to the hard disk drive and all the processing units related to reading of various data from the hard disk drive only at predetermined time intervals.
[0042]
In this way, when operating with a battery, the power consumption of the entire device is reduced by dividing the unit into a unit that always operates and the unit that does not, and supplying power to the latter only when it is necessary to operate. Thus, it is possible to operate for a long time by battery drive. At this time, it is possible to further reduce the power consumption by including not only the hard disk drive but also the processing unit and memory that need to be operated only when inputting / outputting data to / from the hard disk drive. It is.
[0043]
Further, even when the operation is performed by the battery, it is possible to continuously perform the operation of the entire apparatus by always supplying power to a part thereof.
[0044]
Furthermore, it is possible to easily perform power control by combining power supply lines with each processing unit and memory for controlling power as one unit.
[0045]
【The invention's effect】
According to the first aspect of the present invention, when the operation is performed by supplying power from the battery, the power supply to the device group including the hard disk drive and the data input / output unit is stopped except when the operation of the hard disk drive is necessary. As a result, the power consumption of the entire apparatus is reduced, and it is possible to operate for a long time.
[0046]
According to the second aspect of the present invention, when operating with power supplied from the battery, the power supply to the data processing means for performing operations related to data input / output to the hard disk drive is also stopped. The power consumption of the entire apparatus is reduced, and it is possible to operate for a long time.
[0047]
According to the third aspect of the present invention, only when data is input / output to / from the hard disk drive, power is supplied to the device group, thereby reducing the power consumption of the entire device and reducing the operation of the entire device. Can continue.
[0048]
According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, when operating by power supply from the battery, the power supply control can be easily performed centrally by configuring the element for controlling the power supply on one substrate. It is possible.
[0049]
According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, when the operation is performed by the power supply from the battery, the operation related to data input / output is performed at a longer time interval than when the operation is performed by the power supply from the external power source. Further, it is possible to reduce power consumption.
[0050]
According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, when operating by supplying power from the battery, wasteful power is controlled by controlling not only the hard disk drive but also the processing unit that performs compression processing of image data. It is possible to avoid excessive power consumption.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing a hard disk drive built-in device according to an embodiment of the present invention;
[Explanation of symbols]
1 Hard Disk Recorder 2 Network 3 Surveillance Camera 4 Display Device 5 CPU
6, 12, 14 Memory 7 Video processing unit 8 Image compression processing unit 9 Display processing unit 10 Hard disk control unit 11 Network processing unit 13 Oscillator 15 Hard disk drive 16 External power source unit 17 Battery 18 Power source control unit 19 Switch

Claims (6)

When the power supply from the external power supply stops, the hard disk drive built-in device that operates by switching to the power supply from the battery,
A hard disk drive to store various data,
Data input / output means for inputting / outputting data to / from the hard disk drive;
When operating by supplying power from the battery, whether to collectively supply power to the device group including the data input / output means and the hard disk drive or to stop supplying power collectively A hard disk drive built-in device, comprising: a power source control means for controlling. The hard disk drive built-in device according to claim 1,
The device group is:
Data processing means for performing predetermined processing on data;
A hard disk drive built-in device. The hard disk drive built-in device according to claim 1 or 2,
The power control means includes
Means for supplying power to the device group only when inputting / outputting data;
A hard disk drive built-in device. A hard disk drive built-in device according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
A device with a built-in hard disk drive, wherein power is supplied to the device group from the same substrate. A hard disk drive built-in device according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
When the device group operates by supplying power from the external power source, the device group operates at each first time interval, and when operating by supplying power from the battery, the second time longer than the first time interval. A device with a built-in hard disk drive that operates at intervals. A hard disk drive built-in device according to any one of claims 2 to 5,
The data processing means includes
Image compression processing means for compressing input image data and outputting it to the data input / output means;
A hard disk drive built-in device.

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