JP2005108345A - Recorder and program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a recorder with which relocation for real-time data is executed in order to keep its real-time characteristics when the data relocation for a storage medium is performed and processing can be resumed in succession by considering usage for the storage medium by a user with the highest priority even after the processing is once interrupted. <P>SOLUTION: Necessity for the relocation is decided for each of the unit blocks consisting of four blocks. When only the real-time data is stored on a unit block m and the real-time data is not stored on the head for this unit block, the relocation for the unit block is decided to be required. In this occasion, the relocation is executed for each of the blocks constituting the unit block, or for each of the four blocks in other words. In the fig., B11-13 for a unit block m and a head block 14 for the unit block m+1 are relocated. In this process, an address for the relocation destination is an unused unit block. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

The present invention relates to a recorder that stores and reproduces data in a storage medium, and is particularly suitable for use in rearranging recorded data.

  With the development of IT (Information Technology), it has become possible to store content such as music and video as digital data (hereinafter referred to as content data) on a digital storage medium and play it back.

  It starts with playing content data stored on the content provider side on playback-only digital storage media such as CD (Compact Disc) and DVD (Digital Versatile Disc), and in recent years DVD-RAM (DVD-Random Access Memory) Users can now record content data using random-access rewritable storage media such as HDDs (Hard Disk Drives).

  Commercialization of video recorders with built-in HDDs has started, using HDDs as storage media.

  Two types of data are stored in the HDD built in such a video recorder. Real-time data and non-real-time data. Real-time data is video data itself, and non-realm data is management data for managing stored video data, program data such as EPG (Electric Program Guide), reservation data for reserved recording, and the like.

  Real-time data must be stored or reproduced continuously at a predetermined bit rate in order to be stored or reproduced in real time. In practice, the bit rate is compensated by limiting the response time at the time of writing to and reading from the HDD and adjusting the data reading speed from the buffer memory. On the other hand, non-real time data is data that does not require real-time characteristics.

  The access (write / read) unit in the HDD is a 512-byte sector, and a logical address is given to each sector. By specifying the logical dress, the position on the storage medium is specified.

  When real-time data is stored in a series of sectors specified by consecutive logical addresses in the HDD, the access waiting time due to seek is shortened, so the access time to the data is also shortened, and there is room for writing or reading. It is processed.

  However, the amount of real-time data represented by video data is enormous, and it is not feasible to secure a sector in the HDD so that this enormous amount of data is always allocated to a sector with continuous logical addresses.

  On the other hand, when the sectors are arranged so as to be scattered in the HDD, frequent seek (movement of the magnetic head) occurs when data is written or read. For this reason, the access time required for writing data is delayed by the seek time and the rotation waiting time spent for each seek, and there is a fear that access may not be in time.

  Therefore, the real-time data is accessed by using a predetermined number of continuous sectors as one storage unit, that is, “unit” so that a certain amount of data can be continuously accessed.

  On the other hand, since non-real time data has no time limit, it is not necessary to define an access unit and it is not necessary to use a buffer memory. Further, the non-real time data has a smaller data amount than the real time data. Therefore, it is more efficient to handle the storage unit in the smallest unit that can be managed by the video recorder.

  This minimum unit is referred to as a “block”. A block is a unit smaller than a unit determined by a file system adopted in this video recorder, and is composed of sectors specified by successive logical addresses.

  A block is referred to as a “cluster” in a FAT (File Allocation Table) file system, and is referred to as a logical block in a UDF (Universal Disk Format) (for example, see Non-Patent Document 1).

  In addition, since the unit also needs to be managed by the file system, it is optimal that the unit is constituted by continuous blocks.

  Management of data in which two types of data are mixed is realized by using a file system unique to a video recorder that divides and manages an area for storing real-time data and an area for storing non-real-time data. be able to.

  On the other hand, the development of IT has removed the boundary between AV devices and personal computers (PCs) that have been treated independently. For this reason, when the digital storage medium is a portable digital storage medium that can be inserted into and removed from the video recorder, the portable digital storage medium can be handled as a digital storage medium that can also be used in a PC.

  Therefore, in a video recorder that has evolved HDD from built-in type to portable type, using the video recorder's unique file system, not only can not store data on the PC, it can not even interpret that video data is stored, There is a risk that stored video data will be deleted, and it is not preferable to adopt a unique file system.

  On the other hand, video recorders using DVD-RAM, which is a portable digital storage medium, have been commercialized. For example, in a video recorder using a DVD-RAM, data management is performed using a UDF file system file system.

  However, the unit does not match the logical block that is the management unit of the UDF file system. Therefore, under the management of the file system, a dedicated file for storing real-time data composed of continuous blocks is secured in advance, and management is performed so that units are arranged in the dedicated file. Management of different types of data is realized.

  The dedicated file is a large-capacity dedicated file to which consecutive blocks are allocated in advance, and is an area dedicated to real-time data that does not depend on the amount of stored real-time data. Deleting real-time data never releases a block (sector). This method can be employed in recorders using HDDs regardless of whether they are built-in or portable.

  In this way, a method for pre-allocating an area for arranging units in advance, that is, management of two types of mixed data by dividing an area for storing real-time data and an area for storing non-real-time data in advance. A unit arrangement method for realizing the above is called a static unit arrangement method.

  The ability to use portable HDDs across video recorders and PCs has great advantages for users. In this case, it is desirable that a general-purpose file system is used for managing the stored data, and that the data storage state can be confirmed in any device, and that an empty area where no data is stored can be used efficiently. It is.

Based on this, the dynamic unit arrangement method that dynamically arranges the units as needed is preferable to the static unit arrangement method that secures the unit arrangement area in advance regardless of whether or not the video data is stored. .
OSTA (OSTA: Optical Storage Technology Association), “Universal Disk Format Specification Revision 2.01”

  When the dynamic unit placement method is adopted for an HDD that stores real-time data and non-real-time data in a mixed format, the discretization of the block (sector) that stores the data advances each time storage or deletion is performed. The empty blocks (sectors) are gradually scattered.

  Furthermore, in the case of using a portable HDD, when non-real-time data is repeatedly stored and erased, the scatter of empty blocks (sectors) becomes more prominent. As a result, even though there are enough free sectors in the HDD, it is not possible to secure continuous sectors, so it is not possible to provide a unit that guarantees real-time performance, and the remaining storage capacity calculated from the number of free sectors There is a significant difference between the remaining storage capacity calculated from the units that can be secured. In order to eliminate such inconvenience, the HDD or the like performs a rearrangement process for rearranging already recorded data and securing a continuous block (sector).

  However, the relocation processing on the PC is to grasp the usage status of blocks (sectors) for all storage areas and execute data replacement, so it takes time for the relocation processing. The load of will also increase. Also, if real-time data is recorded or played back during relocation execution, processing may not be in time. Furthermore, when the rearrangement process is temporarily interrupted and then restarted, the rearrangement process is performed from the beginning, which impairs the convenience for the user. Furthermore, in a file system that does not consider real-time characteristics, there is a possibility that data stored in consideration of real-time characteristics may be rearranged so as to impair the real-time characteristics.

Therefore, in the case of performing the data rearrangement processing of the storage medium, the present invention rearranges the real-time data so as to maintain the real-time property, and further considers the use of the user's storage medium as the highest priority. It is an object of the present invention to provide a recorder that can resume processing even after the processing is once interrupted.

  In order to solve such a problem, in the rearrangement of the data stored in the storage medium, the present invention is arranged such that other used blocks are scattered with respect to a unit where used blocks are scattered. Consecutive empty sectors are constructed by preferentially moving to units. In particular, real-time data is rearranged so that the blocks constituting the unit are continuously arranged in the unit.

  The features of the invention according to each claim are as follows.

  The invention according to claim 1 is a recorder including rearrangement processing means for rearranging stored data in which data is managed in block units, wherein the rearrangement processing means is a unit block unit composed of an integral multiple of a block. When the necessity of the rearrangement processing in the unit block is sequentially determined, only the block storing the real-time data in the unit block is stored, and when the real-time data is not stored in the head block of the unit block, When it is determined that the block needs to be rearranged, and it is determined that the block needs to be rearranged, the real-time data of the unit block and the real-time data of the next unit block treated as a unit together with this real-time data The unit block is rearranged.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a recorder including rearrangement processing means for rearranging stored data in which data is managed in block units, wherein the rearrangement processing means is a unit block unit composed of an integral multiple of a block. The necessity of rearrangement processing is sequentially determined, and when a block storing non-real-time data and a block storing unused blocks and / or real-time data are mixed in the unit block, the relevant unit block If it is determined that rearrangement is necessary, and it is determined that rearrangement is necessary, the non-real-time data of the relevant unit block is replaced with another unit block in which blocks storing non-real-time data and unused blocks are mixed. It is characterized by rearranging.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the recorder according to the second aspect, when the rearrangement processing unit determines that rearrangement is necessary, the non-real time data of the unit block is a block storing the non-real time data. In addition to other unit blocks in which unused blocks are mixed, they are rearranged in empty unit blocks.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the recorder according to the second or third aspect, the rearrangement processing unit selects the m th (one or more natural number) unit block determined to be rearranged from the head to (m -1) The unit block is rearranged to the unit block closest to the top among the unit blocks.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the recorder according to the fourth aspect, the rearrangement processing means reads the non-real-time data of the mth (one or more natural number) unit block determined to be rearranged, The (m−1) th unit block is rearranged until the unstored block is used up.

  The invention according to claim 6 is the recorder according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the rearrangement processing unit stores information indicating a progress status of the rearrangement processing when the rearrangement processing is interrupted. When relocation processing is resumed, it is necessary to refer to this information and execute the relocation processing sequentially from the next unit block following the last unit block that has been relocated in the previous relocation processing. Features.

  According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in a program for giving a computer a function of rearranging stored data whose data is managed in units of blocks, it is necessary to perform rearrangement processing in units of unit blocks composed of integer multiples of blocks And a step of executing a rearrangement process when it is determined that the rearrangement is necessary by the determination step, and the determination step stores only a block in which real-time data is stored in the unit block. When real-time data is not stored in the head block of this unit block, it is determined that the unit block needs to be rearranged, and the rearrangement step determines that rearrangement is necessary in the determination step When the real-time data of the unit block Real-time data of the next block units are treated as one unit with Mudeta, characterized by relocating the unit blocks of free.

  According to the invention of claim 8, in a program for giving a computer a function of rearranging stored data in which data is managed in block units, it is necessary to perform rearrangement processing in unit block units composed of integer multiples of blocks. A step of sequentially determining the characteristics, and a step of executing a rearrangement process when it is determined that the rearrangement is necessary by the determination step, and the determination step includes a block storing non-real time data in a unit block; When unused blocks and / or blocks storing real-time data are mixed, it is determined that the unit block needs to be rearranged, and the rearrangement step determines that rearrangement is necessary by the determination step. The non-real time data of the unit block Wherein the storing Mudeta blocks and unused blocks are relocated to other block units are mixed.

  According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in the program according to the eighth aspect, when the rearrangement step determines that rearrangement is necessary, the non-real time data of the unit block is not changed from the block storing the non-real time data. In addition to other unit blocks in which used blocks are mixed, they are rearranged in empty unit blocks.

  According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in the program according to the eighth or ninth aspect, the rearrangement step includes the m th (unit number greater than or equal to 1) unit block determined to be rearranged from the first to (m− 1) The first unit block is closest to the top and rearranged in the corresponding unit block.

  According to an eleventh aspect of the present invention, in the program according to the tenth aspect, in the rearrangement step, the non-real-time data of the mth (one or more natural number) unit block determined to be rearranged m-1) rearrangement until the unstored block of the unit block is exhausted.

According to a twelfth aspect of the invention, in the program according to any one of the seventh to eleventh aspects, the rearrangement step stores information indicating a progress status of the rearrangement process when the rearrangement process is interrupted. When relocation processing is resumed, this information is referred to, and relocation processing is executed sequentially from the next unit block following the last unit block subjected to relocation processing in the previous relocation processing. And

According to the present invention, since the recorder performs rearrangement processing in units of unit blocks, rearrangement can be performed without impairing the real-time property of data. Moreover, since the interrupted rearrangement process can be resumed continuously at an arbitrary timing, the convenience for the user can be improved.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of a video recorder 100 according to an embodiment.

  The video recorder 100 is equipped with an HDD unit 123, which is a portable storage medium with a built-in HDD 115, as an example of a randomly accessible storage medium. Analog TV waves and analog external inputs are used as inputs.

  The video recorder 100 includes a received wave input terminal 101, a tuner 102, an external input terminal 103, a selector 104, a CCI (Copy Control Information) detector 105, an NTSC decoder 106, an encoder 107, a scrambler 108, a buffer memory 109, a system Controller 110, operation panel 111, remote control receiver 112, clock 113, HDD controller 114, HDD 115, descrambler 116, decoder 117, NTSC encoder 118, CCI embedder 119, external output terminal 120, rearrangement processing controller 121 , The insertion / removal detection unit 122, the HDD unit 123, the HDD socket 124, and the bus A.

  Further, the buffer memory 109 has two areas, an area 109a used for storage and an area 109b used for reproduction.

  The received TV wave is received by an antenna (not shown) and input to the tuner 102 via the received wave input terminal 101. Then, the tuner 102 extracts it as an input signal for a desired channel in accordance with a user instruction and inputs it to the selector 104.

  On the other hand, an input signal using another video device (not shown) as a signal source is input to the selector 104 via the external input terminal 103. The selector 104 selects either an input signal input via the tuner 102 or the external input terminal 103 in accordance with a user instruction, and inputs this to the CCI detection circuit 104 and the NTSC decoder 105.

  The CCI detection circuit 104 detects CCI embedded in the video signal in the input signal and determines whether or not copying is possible. CCI includes Macrovision, CGMS-A (Copy Generation Management System for Analog Signal), etc., and extracts these signals embedded in video signals and stores whether or not the input video signals can be stored. Make a state decision. In other words, when macrovision embedding is detected, storage is impossible, and when non-detection is detected, storage is possible.

  When the CGMS-A signal is detected and the content is “copy not possible”, it cannot be stored, when “only one generation can be copied”, it is stored in a scrambled state, and when “copy is possible”, it is not stored. Memorize in scrambled state.

  Note that analog terrestrial waves are stored in a non-scrambled state because CCI is not embedded. The determination result is transmitted to the system controller 110 via the bus A.

  On the other hand, NSTC decoder 106 separates the video signal and the audio signal from the input signal and digitizes both signals, and outputs the digitized video and audio to encoder 107. Then, the encoder 107 converts the data into a compression sequence for reducing the amount of data, for example, a code string according to the MPEG2 (Motion Picture coding Experts Groups phase 2, ISO / IEC13818) format, that is, video data. The converted video data is input to the scrambler 108. This conversion to video data significantly reduces the amount of data.

  The scrambler 108 scrambles the converted video data. Scramble is a process of encrypting video data for the purpose of making it unplayable even if copied to another device.

  The scramble instruction is issued by the CCI detector 104 for the video data corresponding to the input signal that is detected to be “copyable for one generation” and determined to be stored in the scrambled state. Video data without an instruction is output as it is.

  The output video data is temporarily stored in the area 109a of the buffer memory 109. When a predetermined amount of data is stored, the video data stored in the area 109a of the buffer memory 109 is stored in the direction of the system controller 110. Accordingly, the data is stored in the HDD 115 which is a digital storage medium via the bus A and the HDD controller 114.

  During playback, the video data read from the HDD 115 is temporarily stored in the area 109b of the buffer memory 109 via the HDD controller 114 and the bus A in accordance with an instruction from the system controller 110. At this time, the system controller 110 stores the data amount so that a certain amount of video data is always stored in the area 109b of the buffer memory 109 so that video data necessary for decoding by the decoder 117 is supplied in a timely manner. Is controlling.

  The video data stored in the area 109b of the buffer memory 109 is input to the descrambler 116, and when this is scrambled video data, the scramble applied in the scrambler 108 is released, and the unscrambled video In the case of data, it is output to the decoder 117 as it is.

  The decoder 117 interprets the video data (code string), restores the input video data to the original video and audio digital data, and outputs this to the NTSC encoder 110. Then, the NTSC encoder 118 converts it into an analog video signal and audio signal and outputs a reproduction signal to the CCI embedder 119.

  The CCI embedder 119 embeds CCI information indicating “copy not possible” in the input reproduction signal in accordance with an instruction from the system controller 110, and outputs it as an output signal to the outside via the external output terminal 120. The instruction to embed CCI information indicating “uncopyable” is instructed with respect to a reproduction signal obtained by reproducing video data for which “copying for only one generation” is detected by the CCI detection circuit 104 during storage. A reproduction signal that does not receive an instruction is output as it is as an output signal to the outside via the external output terminal 120.

  Note that the buffer memory 109 is a volatile memory, and provides a buffering function to alleviate the difference in access between the encoder 107, the decoder 117, and the HDD 115, respectively.

  The HDD controller 114 provides a control function for exchanging data with the HDD 115 and an interface for providing an electrical connection.

  The system controller 110 controls the entire video recorder, manages data in the HDD 115, etc., realizes video storage and playback, and is mainly configured by a microcomputer.

  The operation panel 111 and the remote control receiving unit 112 are input devices for receiving user instructions, and the operation panel 111 directly receives user instructions. The remote control receiving unit 112 receives a user instruction indirectly via a remote control (not shown).

  The clock 113 is for performing scheduled recording. Note that reservation data for managing reserved recording is stored in the HDD 115.

  The rearrangement process control unit 121 rearranges stored data in response to a rearrangement process start instruction. In addition, a memory that holds information indicating the progress of the rearrangement process, for example, a reference index of the unit, is provided internally.

  The insertion / removal detection unit 122 detects that the HDD unit 123 is attached to or removed from the HDD socket 124.

  The HDD unit 123 has a built-in HDD 115. The HDD unit 123 is provided on the outer shell in order to make the HDD 115 portable, and has only the function provided by the HDD 115 except that it is detachably attached to the socket 124 of the video recorder 100.

  In the following description, the HDD unit 123 itself is regarded as equivalent to the HDD 115 for convenience. The writing of data to the HDD unit 123 attached to the socket 124 and the reading of data from the HDD unit 123 are controlled and executed by the HDD controller 114 in the same manner as the HDD 115.

  In addition, the video recorder 100 includes a system memory (not shown) used under the control of the system controller 110, and since the HDD unit 123 is detachable, the video recorder 100 does not depend on the HDD unit 123, and Information related to the operation of the recorder 100, for example, information to be referred to inside the video recorder 100 such as reserved recording and EPG information is stored in the system memory.

  Next, information stored in the HDD 115 that is a storage medium of the video recorder 100 in the present embodiment will be described.

  The HDD 115 stores real-time main data of content data such as video and audio, and non-real-time sub-data such as file management information for managing the main data and program attached information. As this file management information, a block management table described later is stored.

  Further, since the HDD 115 is a portable storage medium, it can be detached from the video recorder 100 and mounted on another video recorder or PC. A general-purpose file system is used to enable use on a PC. Then, in the PC, data storage / deletion is repeated under the management of this general-purpose file system, so that the percentage of empty blocks scattered on the storage medium increases.

  In a PC, the main data stored or deleted is non-real time data. However, real-time data can be recorded on a PC when the same function as the video recorder of the present invention is realized by a program.

  Next, data rearrangement processing by the rearrangement processing control unit 121 of the video recorder 100 will be described.

  The rearrangement control processing unit 121 operates in response to an instruction from the system controller 110. The system controller 110 issues a rearrangement start event and activates the rearrangement processing control unit 121 based on the detection result of the HDD unit 123 mounted in the HDD socket 124 by the insertion / removal detection unit 122.

  At this time, when the recording or playback of the content, which is the main function as a video recorder, is issued, an event for interrupting the rearrangement is issued, the rearrangement process is paused, and when the above-mentioned interrupt request is completed, Issue an event to resume relocation. The interruption request means that when the user starts playback using the operation panel 111 or the remote control of the video recorder, when the content is deleted or duplicated, the recording process is performed when the clock 113 reaches the scheduled recording time. For example, the user may try to take out the HDD unit 123.

  As described above, the data rearrangement process is performed using the free time by giving priority to the main function of the video recorder desired by the user.

  In addition, the video recorder 100 according to the present embodiment determines whether the data stored in the HDD 115 is real-time data or non-real-time data. This determination is made by, for example, using a file system capable of specifying real-time data attributes such as UDF, storing the attribute management file in the HDD 115 separately from the file system, and determining the file name of the real-time data to be constant. It can be realized by a method of storing rules and storing them. Furthermore, it is possible to identify the beginning of the real-time data by paying attention to the fact that the real-time data is a data string according to a specific rule.

  However, here, as long as it is possible to confirm that the data stored in the HDD 115 is real-time data or non-real-time data, the data may be confirmed by any method.

  Next, the flow of the rearrangement process will be described.

  FIG. 2 is a flowchart of data rearrangement processing in the video recorder 100.

  3 and 4 are schematic diagrams of data rearrangement in the present embodiment.

  The HDD 115 is managed in units of blocks smaller than the unit. In this embodiment, the HDD 115 is composed of a plurality of blocks, and unit blocks having the same data amount as the unit are fixedly arranged. Data relocation is performed in units.

  Hereinafter, in order to simplify the description, 1 unit block = 4 blocks. Therefore, the unit block indicates a data storage area for four blocks including continuous LBA (Logical Block Address) in the HDD 115. All areas in the HDD 115 belong to unit blocks. Also, “R” written in the block in the figure is a block in which real-time data is stored, “N” is a block in which non-real-time data is stored, and a blank is an unused state in which no data is stored. Show.

  With reference to the flow of FIG. 2, first, when the rearrangement processing control unit 121 is activated by a start event of the system controller 110, an index m (natural number) for sequentially processing unit blocks is initialized to 0 ( S1). This index indicates a unit block number during data relocation processing. Thereafter, this data rearrangement process is executed for each unit block until an interruption event is received from the system controller 110 or the index m reaches the number of the last unit block.

  For the unit block m, the rearrangement processing control unit 121 first determines the necessity of data rearrangement with respect to real-time data (S2). Here, when real-time data is stored in the blocks constituting the unit block m and real-time data is not stored at the head of the unit block m, it is determined that data rearrangement with respect to the real-time data is necessary.

  When the reallocation processing control unit 121 determines that reallocation is necessary for realtime data (S2yes), the reallocation data is searched for unused unit blocks (unit blocks including all unused blocks) (S3). ).

  According to the result of this search (S3), if the destination unit block exists in the storage area (S4 Yes), the data of the unit block m is copied to the destination unit block (S5). On the other hand, if there is no unused block at the move destination (S4 No), the replication process (S5) is not performed.

  In the search of S3, the search method is not limited, and the empty unit block obtained as a result of the search may be arranged anywhere in the storage area.

  Hereinafter, the replication process in S5 will be described with reference to the schematic diagram of FIG.

  FIG. 3A shows a state before relocation with respect to the unit block m. In the block constituting the unit block m, three blocks B11, B12, B13 for storing real-time data are arranged. Here, since real-time data is handled in units of four blocks, a series of real-time data is stored in the four blocks from the unit block m to the first block B14 of the unit block (m + 1). Will be.

  As shown in FIG. 3A, when a unit of real-time data is stored across the unit block m and the unit block (m + 1), the data for one unit (blocks B11 to B14) is a target for rearrangement. It becomes.

  On the other hand, when real-time data is stored in the head block constituting the unit block m, one unit of real-time data is included in the unit block m, so that rearrangement is not necessary. Needless to say, there is no need for rearrangement even when real-time data is not stored in the blocks constituting the unit block m.

  In the schematic diagram of FIG. 3, the unit block (m−1) of FIG. 3A is an unused unit block. Here, the units (blocks B11, B12, B13, B14) to be rearranged are copied to the unit block m-1 (state shown in FIG. 3B). By this duplication, the same data as the blocks B11, B12, B13, and B14 are stored in the blocks B21, B22, B23, and B24 in the unit block (m−1), respectively. However, at this time, the block management table has not been updated yet, and is interpreted as the state of FIG.

  Returning to the flow of FIG. 2, when the real-time data replication (S5) ends, or when it is determined that reallocation of real-time data is not necessary (S2no), the necessity of data rearrangement for non-real-time data is subsequently determined. Determine (S6).

  When the block constituting the unit block m includes a block storing non-real time data and an unused block (S6yes), for example, the non-real time data discretely stored in the block constituting the unit block Are rearranged in units of blocks.

  When the rearrangement processing control unit 121 determines that rearrangement is necessary for the non-real-time data (Yes in S6), the unit block 0 to (m-1) is searched to select a unit block that can be a destination ( S7). This destination unit block is a unit block in which unused blocks and non-real time data stored blocks are mixed, and is the unit block closest to the head.

  According to the result of this search (S8), if there is a movement destination unit block in unit blocks 0 to (m-1) (Yes in S8), the data stored in the block of unit block m is moved in block units. Duplication is performed from the unused block close to the head of the unit block as long as there is a free unused block (S8). On the other hand, if there is no unused block at the move destination (S8 No), the replication process (S8) is not performed.

  In the case of S8 No, and in S8, when all the data in the unit block m cannot be copied to the destination unit block, the unit block m becomes the destination unit block by the subsequent processing.

  Hereinafter, rearrangement with respect to the non-real-time data in FIG. 4 will be described with reference to schematic diagrams. In the unit block m in FIG. 4A, a block A1 storing one non-real time data is arranged. The data stored in this block A1 is the object of rearrangement.

  Further, the block A2 that is the movement destination of the rearrangement target block A1 exists in the unit block 2. In S7, unit block 2 is selected as the destination unit block. In S8, the data in block A1 of unit block m is copied to block A2 of unit block 2. The data stored in the block A1 and the block A2 are the same.

  FIG. 4B shows a state after data replication. At this point, the block management table has not been updated. Therefore, the file system interprets the state as shown in FIG.

  Returning to the flow of FIG. 2, the rearrangement processing control unit 121 then updates the block management table to reflect the result of the data rearrangement for the unit block m, that is, the results of S5 and S9, and the unit block m The rearrangement process is terminated (S10). At this time, if data replication is not performed in S5 and S9, the process in S10 is omitted.

  In step S5 and S9, the block management table is rewritten to reflect the state in which data is stored in the newly allocated block and the original block is not stored.

  In the real-time data rearrangement as shown in FIG. 3, the blocks B21, B22, B23, and B24 constituting the unit block (m-1) are newly stored in the blocks, the original blocks B11, B12, B13, and B14. Rewrites the block management table to indicate that it is an unused block. As a result, the unit of real-time data stored in the unit block m and the unit block (m + 1) moves to the unit block (m−1).

  Regarding the rearrangement of the non-real time data, the non-real time data stored in the block A1 arranged in the unit block m is moved to the unused block A2 in the unit block 2 as shown in FIG.

  Returning to the flow of FIG. 2, no data rearrangement is required for the unit block m (S6no), or when the data rearrangement for the unit block m is completed (S9), the end of the rearrangement process is confirmed (S9). S11). As a result, when the index m is the last unit block (total number of units-1) (Yes in S11), the data rearrangement process is terminated and the rearrangement process control unit 121 is stopped. On the other hand, if it is not the last unit block (S11no), the index m is incremented (S12), the process proceeds to step S2 again, and is repeated until the processing for all the unit blocks is completed.

  When the video recorder 100 is instructed to store or play back by the user's operation or recording reservation during the rearrangement process, the system controller 110 instructs the rearrangement process control unit 121 to perform the rearrangement process. The relocation processing control unit 121 that has been notified of the interruption immediately interrupts the relocation processing. When the interruption occurs, the reference index m of the unit is stored in the internal memory of the rearrangement process control unit 121 as information indicating the progress of the rearrangement process.

When the storage or reproduction process is completed and the relocation process can be resumed, the relocation process control unit 121 that has received the relocation process resume event from the system controller 110 indicates the progress of the relocation process from the internal memory. The reference index of the indicated unit is read, and the process returns to S2 to resume the processing for the unit block m that has been subject to the rearrangement process at the time of interruption.

  As a data management by the dynamic unit placement method, a dynamic unit placement method using two management tables, a block management table for managing a block unit of a general-purpose file system and a unit management table for managing storage in a unit unit. A rearrangement process performed on the mounted video recorder will be described.

  The video recorder has the same configuration as that shown in FIG. In the storage process executed by the system controller 110, the reproduction process, and the rearrangement process executed by the rearrangement process control unit 121, in addition to the block management table used in the first embodiment as the data storage status on the storage medium changes. Update the unit management table. Note that only a block management table is used in a file system of a general-purpose machine such as a PC.

  FIG. 5 shows an example of data arrangement in the storage area of the storage medium in the dynamic unit arrangement method. Reference numeral 201 denotes a real-time file containing real-time data, and 202, 203, 204, and 205 denote non-real-time files containing non-real-time data.

  A storage area 200 on the storage medium in the figure indicates that a physically continuous area is logically divided into blocks. “R” written in the block indicates a block in which real-time data is stored, “N” indicates a block in which non-real-time data is stored, and a blank indicates an unused block in which no data is stored. Yes.

  These blocks are the smallest units that are stored and read out by a general-purpose file system, and the storage and reading processes are executed in an integral multiple of this unit area.

  The block management table 210 manages the usage status of each block of the storage area 200 described above. The entries 210a, 210b, 210c, 210d,... Constituting the block management table 210 correspond to the respective blocks 200a, 200b, 200c, 200d,... In the storage area 200. “1” indicates that the block is unused, and “0” indicates the usage status.

  The unit management table 220 includes unit information 220a, 220b, 220c,... Corresponding to the unit blocks that handle the storage area 200 in units.

  The unit information is information indicating the usage status of the blocks constituting the unit block, and is “used for real-time data storage” / “partially used for non-real-time data storage” / “full use for non-real-time data storage” / “unused. Indicated by “use”.

  The unit block and the block are uniquely associated by arrangement in the storage medium 200. For example, 200a, 200b, 200c, and 200d in the storage area 200 correspond to 210a, 210b, 210c, and 210d on the block management table 210, respectively, and these all correspond to the unit information of 220a on the unit management table 220. Correspond.

  As described above, the unit management table 220 holds unit information regarding all unit blocks arranged on the storage medium 200, and the block management table holds information regarding all blocks arranged on the storage area 200. .

  With reference to FIG. 5, a data storage process in the video recorder 100 will be described.

  When real-time data is stored, the unit management table is searched to select an unused unit block whose unit information is “unused”, and real-time data for one unit is stored. Then, the unit information for the used unit block is changed to “used for real-time data storage”. Also, the information in the block management table for the block storing the data is changed from “0” to “1”. This process is continued until real-time data storage is completed.

  On the other hand, when storing non-real time data, the unit management table is searched to search for a unit whose unit information is “partially used for non-real time data storage”. If the corresponding unit exists, non-real time data is stored in blocks in the unit block. If there is no corresponding unit, the unit management table is searched, a unit whose unit information is “unused” is selected, and non-real-time data is stored in blocks in the unit block. Next, change the unit information for the used unit block to “use all for non-real-time data storage” or “partly use for non-real-time data storage” according to the usage situation, and block management table for the block that stores the data Is changed from “0” to “1”.

  Data reproduction can be performed by referring to only the block management table by a general-purpose file system.

  When the HDD 115 is used only by the video recorder 100 equipped with this dynamic unit arrangement method, the remaining storage capacity calculated from the number of free blocks and the remaining storage capacity calculated from the units that can be secured are used. There is no difference.

  However, since the HDD 115 is portable, it is used by being mounted on a general-purpose machine such as a PC. Then, the opportunity for storing / deleting non-real-time data by a general-purpose machine such as a PC increases, and the probability that empty blocks are scattered in a discrete manner increases. As a result, even though there are enough free blocks in the HDD, it is not possible to secure continuous free blocks to configure the unit, so the remaining storage capacity calculated from the number of free blocks and the available units There will be a significant difference from the calculated remaining storage capacity.

  In order to solve this, a rearrangement process is performed. This rearrangement process is performed when the HDD unit 123 is mounted on a video recorder, when the block management table on the HDD 115 and the update date of the unit management table are different, and when there is a contradiction between the block management table and the unit management table in the HDD 115. And so on.

  In this embodiment, the system controller 110 detects that the update date / time of the block management table and the unit management table is different after the HDD unit 123 is mounted, and corrects the contradiction that has occurred between the two management tables accordingly. Later, a rearrangement process is performed. Therefore, at the time of relocation processing, the status of each unit block that constitutes the “unit” matches the status specified in the unit management table, and the data that constitutes the “unit” is always stored in the unit block. Be placed.

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a data rearrangement process in the video recorder 100 in the present embodiment.

  First, when the rearrangement processing control unit 121 is activated by a start event of the system controller 110, an index m (natural number) for sequentially processing unit blocks is initialized to 0 (S21). This index indicates the number of the unit block being rearranged.

  Thereafter, data relocation processing in units of unit blocks is executed until an interruption event is received from the system controller 110 or the index m reaches the number of the last unit block.

  The rearrangement processing control unit 121 acquires unit information of the unit block m from the unit management table (S22). When the unit information is “used for real-time data storage” / “all used for non-real-time data storage” / “not used” (No in S22), data relocation is not required. If the unit information is “partially used for non-real-time data storage” (Yes in S22), data relocation processing is required.

  When the unit information is “partially used for non-real-time data storage” (S22 Yes), the reallocation processing control unit 121 searches for unit blocks 0 to (m−1) to search for a unit block that can be a destination. (S23). The destination unit block is a unit block in which unused blocks and non-real-time data are stored together, that is, a unit whose unit information is “partially used for non-real-time data storage” It is.

  As a result of the search for the selected unit block (S24), if the destination unit block exists in the unit blocks 0 to (m-1) (Yes in S24), the data stored in the block of the unit block m is displayed in block units. As long as there is a free space in the unused block of the destination unit block, it is duplicated (S25).

  On the other hand, if there is no unused block to be moved (No in S24), rearrangement is not necessary.

  Next, as the data stored in the copy source block in S25 moves to the copy destination block, the data in the unit management table 220 and the block management table 210 are changed (S26).

  FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram for explaining the rearrangement process when the unit block m is partially used for storing non-real-time data. In the unit block m, blocks A3 and A4 storing data to be rearranged are arranged. The unit block 2 (2 <m) is also a unit block partially used for storing non-real time data, and the blocks A5 and A6 are unused blocks. In this rearrangement processing, the unit block 2 becomes the movement destination unit block, and the data stored in the blocks A3 and A4 of the unit block m are moved to the blocks A5 and A6 of the unit block 2, respectively.

  FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram showing a state after rearrangement with respect to FIG.

  The data of the blocks A3 and A4 of the unit block m are moved to the blocks A6 and A7 of the unit block 2, and the block management table 210 and the unit management table 220 are changed accordingly.

  In the case of S24No and in S25, when all the data in the unit block m cannot be copied to the destination unit block, the unit block m becomes the destination unit block in the subsequent processing.

  When the process for the unit block m is completed, the completion of the data rearrangement process is confirmed (S27). That is, when the index m is the last unit block (total number of units−1) (S27 Yes), the data rearrangement process is terminated and the rearrangement process control unit 121 is stopped. On the other hand, if the index m is not the last unit block (S27no), the index m is incremented (S28), the process proceeds to step S22 again, and the processing is repeated until the processing for all unit blocks is completed.

  When storage or playback is instructed by a user operation on the video recorder 100 or a recording reservation during the rearrangement process, the system controller 110 notifies the rearrangement process control unit 121 of interruption of the rearrangement process. Is done.

  The rearrangement process control unit 121 that has been notified of the interruption of the process interruption immediately interrupts the rearrangement process. When the rearrangement process is interrupted, the rearrangement process control unit 121 stores the unit reference index m in the internal memory as information indicating the progress of the rearrangement process.

  When the storage or reproduction process ends and the relocation process can be resumed, the relocation process control unit 121 that has received the relocation process resumption event from the system controller 110 receives the unit block m that was the target of the relocation process at the time of interruption. In contrast, the process returns to S22 and the process is resumed.

In the first embodiment and the second embodiment described above, a case where two data having different data lengths, that is, non-real-time data stored in units of blocks and real-time data stored in units of units that are integer multiples of blocks is described. However, the present invention is not limited to the case where data is stored in two types of data length units as in the present invention, and is configured with three or more types of units, that is, blocks and a plurality of types of blocks as one unit. This is also effective when managing units. In this case, the unit block is configured by blocks corresponding to the least common multiple of the number of blocks constituting each unit block, and one unit block includes only a block to which a unit stored in a single unit belongs or a non-block. Data relocation may be performed in units of unit blocks so that only real-time data blocks are arranged. In this case, the unit management unit is preferably a divisor of the number of blocks constituting the unit block.
In the second embodiment, inconsistency between the unit management table and the block management table is resolved in advance and relocation processing is performed. However, inconsistency between the unit management table and the block management table while performing the relocation processing. It is also possible to eliminate the problem. Specifically, it can be realized by adding a process of updating the storage state of the processing target unit to the unit management table before S11 of the processing flow of FIG.

Block diagram of the video recorder of the present invention Data rearrangement processing flowchart according to the first embodiment Example of data rearrangement in the first embodiment Example of data rearrangement in the first embodiment Diagram explaining rearrangement in dynamic unit placement method Data rearrangement processing flowchart according to the second embodiment Example of data rearrangement in the second embodiment Example of data rearrangement in the second embodiment

Explanation of symbols

      121 Relocation processing control unit

Claims (12)

In a recorder comprising rearrangement processing means for rearranging already stored data in which data is managed in block units,
The rearrangement processing means sequentially determines the necessity of rearrangement processing in unit blocks composed of integer multiples of blocks,
Here, when only the block storing the real-time data is stored in the unit block, and when the real-time data is not stored in the head block of this unit block, it is determined that the unit block needs to be rearranged,
When it is determined that rearrangement is necessary, the real-time data of the unit block and the real-time data of the next unit block treated as one unit together with the real-time data are rearranged in empty unit blocks.
A recorder characterized by that. In a recorder comprising rearrangement processing means for rearranging already stored data in which data is managed in block units,
The rearrangement processing means sequentially determines the necessity of rearrangement processing in unit blocks composed of integer multiples of blocks,
Here, when a block storing non-real-time data in a unit block and a block storing unused block and / or real-time data are mixed, it is determined that the unit block needs to be rearranged,
Thereby, when it is determined that the rearrangement is necessary, the non-real time data of the unit block is rearranged in another unit block in which the block storing the non-real time data and the unused block are mixed,
A recorder characterized by that. In claim 2,
When the relocation processing means determines that relocation is necessary, the non-real time data of the unit block is replaced with an empty unit, in addition to other unit blocks in which a block storing non-real time data and unused blocks are mixed. Rearrange to block,
A recorder characterized by that. In claim 2 or 3,
The rearrangement processing unit rearranges the m (natural number greater than or equal to 1) -th unit block determined to be rearranged to the unit block closest to the head among the first to (m−1) -th unit blocks. Deploy,
A recorder characterized by that. In claim 4,
The rearrangement processing unit uses up the non-real-time data of the m (natural number greater than or equal to 1) th unit block determined to be rearranged and the unstored blocks of the first to (m−1) th unit block. Rearrange,
A recorder characterized by that. In any of claims 1 to 5,
When the rearrangement process is interrupted, the rearrangement processing unit stores information indicating a progress status of the rearrangement process, and refers to this information when the rearrangement process is resumed. Execute relocation processing sequentially from the next unit block following the last unit block that has undergone relocation processing in
A recorder characterized by that. In a program that gives a computer a function of rearranging stored data whose data is managed in block units,
Sequentially determining the necessity of rearrangement processing in unit block units composed of integer multiples of blocks, and executing the rearrangement processing when it is determined that rearrangement is necessary by this determination step ,
In the determining step, only the block storing real-time data in the unit block is stored, and when the real-time data is not stored in the head block of the unit block, it is determined that the unit block needs to be rearranged,
When the rearrangement step determines that rearrangement is necessary in the determination step, the real-time data of the unit block and the real-time data of the next unit block treated as one unit together with the real-time data are converted into an empty unit block. To rearrange,
A program characterized by that. In a program that gives a computer a function of rearranging stored data whose data is managed in block units,
Sequentially determining the necessity of rearrangement processing in unit block units composed of integer multiples of blocks, and executing the rearrangement processing when it is determined that rearrangement is necessary by this determination step ,
The determination step determines that when a block storing non-real time data in a unit block and an unused block and / or a block storing real time data are mixed, the unit block needs to be rearranged,
In the rearrangement step, when the determination step determines that rearrangement is necessary, the non-real time data of the unit block is rearranged to another unit block in which the block storing the non-real time data and the unused block are mixed. Deploy,
A program characterized by that. In claim 8,
When the rearrangement step determines that rearrangement is necessary, the non-real-time data of the unit block is replaced with an empty unit block in addition to other unit blocks in which non-real-time data is stored and unused unit blocks. To rearrange,
A program characterized by that. In claim 8 or 9,
In the rearrangement step, the m (natural number greater than or equal to 1) -th unit block determined to be rearranged is the closest to the top of the first to (m−1) -th unit blocks and corresponds. Rearrange to unit block,
A program characterized by that. In claim 10,
In the rearrangement step, the non-real-time data of the m (natural number greater than or equal to 1) -th unit block determined to be rearranged until the unstored blocks of the first to (m−1) -th unit block are used up. Rearrange,
A program characterized by that. In any of claims 7 to 11,
In the rearrangement step, when the rearrangement process is interrupted, information indicating the progress of the rearrangement process is stored, and when the rearrangement process is resumed, the information is referred to the previous rearrangement process. The relocation processing is executed sequentially from the next unit block following the last unit block subjected to the relocation processing.
A program characterized by that.

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