JP2006119700A - Information processor and data writing method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To easily write an entire program into a nonvolatile memory. <P>SOLUTION: An information processor is provided with a communication device 4 for performing parallel data communication with a host computer H, a volatile memory 7 installed for storing communication data, and a controller 3 for controlling communication processing of the communication device 4 and information processing for communication data to be stored in the volatility memory 7. The controller 3 is provided with a data storage part 37 in which a program for communication for the communication device 4 is stored beforehand in a nonvolatile state, and a data movement control part 34 which moves the program for communication from the data storage part 37 to the volatile memory 7 so that the program is executed on the volatile memory. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus such as an optical disc apparatus and a method for writing data in a volatile memory included in the information processing apparatus.

  In an information processing apparatus such as an optical disk apparatus, after performing parallel data communication with a host computer, data is generated, and various information processing is performed on the obtained data (for example, processing for writing / reading on an optical disk) To implement.

A program for the entire apparatus (hereinafter referred to as an overall program, generally referred to as firmware) including a program (hereinafter referred to as a communication program) for performing parallel data communication with a host computer in an information processing apparatus is stored in a nonvolatile memory ( Flash ROM etc.). In normal operation, various types of information processing are performed by executing the entire program written in the nonvolatile memory on the nonvolatile memory. At this time, data generated during information processing including data generated by parallel data communication with the host computer is temporarily recorded in a volatile memory (cache memory: SDRAM or the like).
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-075796 JP 2000-105694 A JP 2000-010666 A JP 2002-157137 A JP 2001-243122 A

  At the time of manufacturing or repairing the information processing apparatus, processing for writing the entire program from the host computer side to the nonvolatile memory of the information processing apparatus is performed. However, at this time, the information processing apparatus is in a state where the entire program is not stored (during manufacture), or the entire program is stored but the operation is incomplete (during repair). Therefore, the entire program cannot be transmitted from the host computer to the information processing apparatus by parallel data communication.

  Therefore, conventionally, the entire program is written in the information processing apparatus by the first and second configurations described below. In the first configuration, after removing the non-volatile memory from the information processing apparatus, the non-volatile memory is attached to a dedicated writing device (flash memory writer), and the entire program is written to the non-volatile memory via the writing device. When the writing is completed, the nonvolatile memory is attached to the information processing apparatus again.

  In the second configuration, the information processing apparatus is provided with an auxiliary communication device that performs serial data communication, and the auxiliary communication device is connected to the host computer. In this state, the entire program is downloaded from the host computer to the information processing apparatus by serial data communication and written into the nonvolatile memory.

  However, in the conventional first and second configurations described above, it takes a lot of work and time to write the entire program. Therefore, there is a demand for an apparatus configuration and method that can easily write the entire program in the nonvolatile memory.

  In order to solve the above-described conventional problems, the present invention is configured as follows in an information processing apparatus that performs information processing of communication data obtained by executing parallel data communication with a host computer.

  The information processing apparatus includes a communication device that performs the parallel data communication with the host computer, a volatile memory provided for storing the communication data, a communication process of the communication device, and the volatile memory. And a controller for controlling information processing of the communication data stored in the computer.

  The controller includes a data storage unit in which a communication program of the communication device is stored in a nonvolatile state in advance, and the communication program is moved from the data storage unit to the volatile memory to be stored on the volatile memory. And a data movement control unit to be executed.

  In the configuration of the present invention, even when information processing in the information processing apparatus cannot be executed on software, the communication program of the communication device is executed on the volatile memory. Parallel data communication can be performed with the host computer.

  In addition, since the data storage unit stores only the communication program, which is the minimum necessary data necessary for communication with the host computer, the capacity of the data storage unit is minimized and the cost can be suppressed. . Moreover, since there is no change on the hardware, the cost can be reduced even by that amount.

  Furthermore, if data to be written to the non-volatile memory and a program for writing the data to the non-volatile memory are downloaded from the host computer, a wide variety of data (the entire program of the information processing apparatus, etc.) You can write to non-volatile memory without the need for additional.

  The information processing apparatus further includes a non-volatile memory provided for storing the entire program including the program equivalent to the communication program, and the data storage unit is provided separately from the entire program. In the configuration in which the communication program is stored in advance, the effect of the present invention becomes clearer. That is, in general, in an information processing apparatus, a main program that executes main processing (information processing) is not stored in the information processing apparatus, or is stored but a problem occurs in the main program. The information processing in the information processing apparatus cannot be executed entirely including communication with the host computer. In contrast, in the present invention, as described above, even when the entire program is not stored in the nonvolatile memory in a complete state, parallel data communication is performed with the host computer to download the entire program. be able to.

  Further, the effect of the present invention is further clarified in the configuration in which the processing of the data movement control unit is executed when the information processing apparatus is activated. Here, the time of starting is when the information processing device is turned off and then restarted (power is turned on again), or when the information processing device is reset in software while the power is turned on. Say.

  The controller further includes a storage determination unit that determines whether or not the entire program is stored in the nonvolatile memory when the information processing apparatus is activated, and the data movement control unit When the storage determination unit determines that the entire program is stored in the nonvolatile memory at the time of starting the information processing apparatus, the storage determination unit causes the entire program to be executed on the nonvolatile memory, When the storage determining unit determines that the entire program is not stored in the nonvolatile memory, it is preferable to execute the processing of the data movement control unit. Then, only when the entire program is not stored, the communication program is executed on the volatile memory and the parallel data communication is realized, so that the control operation is accelerated accordingly.

  Note that an external input terminal that allows an operator to set whether or not to perform the determination process by the storage determination unit is provided, and the data movement control unit sets the external input terminal when the information processing apparatus is activated. It is preferable to switch the control state by reading. If it does so, it will become possible to implement appropriately the control according to the setting state of an external input terminal, and a control operation will speed up by that much.

  The controller further includes a state determination unit that determines a recording state of the nonvolatile memory when the information processing apparatus is activated, and the data movement control unit determines that the state determination unit determines that the recording state is normal. If so, the whole program having a normal recording state is considered to be stored in the nonvolatile memory, the whole program is executed on the nonvolatile memory, and the state determination unit determines that the recording state is abnormal. In this case, it is preferable to execute the processing of the data movement control unit. If it does so, it will become possible to implement appropriately the control according to the judgment result of a state judgment part, and a control operation will speed up by that much.

  The state determination unit preferably determines only a partial area of the non-volatile memory specified in advance. By doing so, the time required for the determination by the state determination unit is minimized, and the control operation is accelerated accordingly.

  The state determination unit preferably determines only the state of the entire program stored in the nonvolatile memory. By doing so, the time required for the determination by the state determination unit is minimized, and the control operation is accelerated accordingly.

  Note that an external input terminal that allows an operator to set whether or not to perform the determination process by the state determination unit is provided, and the data movement control unit sets the external input terminal when the information processing apparatus is activated. It is preferable to switch the control state by reading. Then, only when the operator considers that the determination by the state determination unit is necessary, the determination of the state determination unit is performed, and the control operation is accelerated accordingly.

  When the data movement control unit is restarted after the information processing apparatus is powered off, the data movement control unit reads the setting of the external input terminal, sets its control state, and then inputs the external input. When the setting of the terminal is recorded in the volatile memory so as to be rewritable and restarted on software without turning off the power of the information processing apparatus, the setting of the external input terminal is read without reading the setting. It is preferable to set the control state by reading the setting of the external input terminal from the volatile memory. Then, the setting of the external input terminal different from the actual setting of the external input terminal can be recorded in the volatile memory. In this case, when the information processing apparatus is restarted on the software without being turned off, the control state of the controller can be set from the contents recorded in the volatile memory.

  As is apparent from the above, the information processing apparatus according to the present invention executes the communication program on the volatile memory by the data movement control unit, thereby causing the entire program and the entire program to be volatile. A program to be written from the volatile memory to the non-volatile memory is transmitted from the host computer to the volatile memory, and the transmitted program to be written is operated on the volatile memory so that the entire program is stored in the non-volatile memory. It is preferable to write to the memory.

  In addition, the present invention is configured as follows in a method of temporarily recording communication data obtained by performing parallel data communication with a host computer in a volatile memory and then writing it in a nonvolatile memory.

  In this data writing method, a communication program for parallel data communication with the host computer is held in a non-volatile state separately from the non-volatile memory, and then the held communication program is written into a volatile memory. A first step executed on the volatile memory; a writing program for writing the communication data from the volatile memory to the nonvolatile memory by executing the communication program on the volatile memory; A second step of receiving communication data from the host computer, and a third step of writing the communication data from the volatile memory to the nonvolatile memory by executing the write program on the volatile memory; including.

  In the present invention, it is possible to execute a parallel data communication state with the host computer by executing the communication program on the volatile memory.

  In addition, prior to the first step, it further includes a storage determination step for determining whether data is stored in the non-volatile memory, and when the storage determination step determines that the data is abnormal, the first step It is preferable to perform the third step. If it does so, it will become possible to implement appropriately the control according to the judgment result of a storage judgment step, and the speed of a control process will improve by that much.

  In addition, prior to the first step, a state determination step for determining a state of data stored in the nonvolatile memory is further included, and when the state determination step determines that no data is stored, the first step It is preferable to perform the third step. If it does so, it will become possible to implement appropriately the control according to the judgment result of a state judgment step, and the speed of a control process will improve the part.

  In the state determining step, it is preferable to determine only a partial area of the nonvolatile memory specified in advance. By doing so, the time required for the state determination step is minimized, and the control process is accelerated accordingly.

  In the state determination step, it is preferable that only the area of the nonvolatile memory in use is determined. By doing so, the time required for the state determination step is minimized, and the control process is accelerated accordingly.

  The data further includes an authentication step of checking whether or not preset authentication data is attached to the data transmitted from the host computer, and the authentication step determines that the authentication data is attached. In this case, it is preferable to execute the second and third steps. Then, inappropriate data can be prevented from being downloaded from a fake host computer.

  In the second step, it is preferable that the communication result is inspected for each fixed amount of data, and communication is continued only when the inspection result is normal. Then, a bad download operation can be stopped reliably during the download.

  According to the present invention, the entire program can be quickly and reliably written to the nonvolatile memory easily and reliably.

  The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an optical disc apparatus which is an embodiment of an information processing apparatus of the present invention. In FIG. 1, a single-line arrow indicates a control flow, and a double-line arrow indicates a data flow.

  The optical disk device 1 writes communication data received with the host computer H through parallel data communication to the optical disk D and transmits data read from the optical disk D to the host computer H through parallel data communication. Processing is in progress.

  An optical disk device 1 includes an optical disk driver 2, a controller 3, a communication device 4, a decode / encode processor 5 (hereinafter referred to as a DC / EN processor 5), a nonvolatile memory 6, and a volatile memory. 7 and an external input terminal 8. In the optical disc apparatus 1, the controller 3 and the DC / EN processor 5 are configured on software incorporated in the optical disc apparatus 1.

  The optical disc driver 2 reads / writes data from / to the optical disc D via an optical pickup (not shown). The communication device 4 performs parallel data communication with the host computer H. In this optical disc apparatus 1, parallel data communication of ATAPI (Attachment Packet Interface) standard, which is one type of parallel data communication, is performed, but communication may be performed based on other parallel data communication standards.

  The DC / EN processor 5 performs a decoding process and an encoding process on data transmitted to and received from the host computer H via the communication device 4.

  The non-volatile memory 6 is configured by a so-called flash ROM, and is a recorder that stores the entire program (so-called firmware) of the optical disc apparatus 1 in a non-volatile state (a state that does not disappear even when the power is turned off). The overall program here includes a program for driving the optical disc driver 2 and a program equivalent to the communication program for the communication device 4.

  The volatile memory 7 is composed of SDRAM or the like, and is volatile (disappears at 0 ff of power) for temporarily recording (buffering) communication data exchanged with the host computer H via the communication device 4. In the normal operation of the optical disc apparatus 1, the communication data buffering process is performed.

  The controller 3 is a control device (software in this optical disc apparatus 1) that controls the entire optical disc apparatus 1, and includes a controller main body 31, a drive control unit 32, an interface control unit 33, and a data movement control unit 34. A determination unit 35, an authentication unit 36, and a data storage unit 37.

  The controller main body 31 performs overall control of the entire optical disc apparatus 1. The drive control unit 32 performs drive control of the optical disc driver 2 based on an instruction from the controller main body 31. The interface control unit 33 controls a communication protocol of parallel data communication (ATAPI communication) performed by the communication device 4. The determination unit 35 determines whether or not data (such as the entire program of the optical disc apparatus 1) is stored in the nonvolatile memory 6, and determines whether the recording content of the nonvolatile memory 6 is normal or abnormal. It has a function with the state judgment part to perform. The authentication unit 36 authenticates communication data between the two (optical disc apparatus 1 / host computer H) based on an authentication command set in advance with the host computer H. The data storage unit 37 stores only the communication program of the communication device 4 provided in a non-volatile state separately from the entire program of the optical disc device 1 (this program includes a program equivalent to the communication program of the communication device 4). Has been. The communication program is stored in the data storage unit 37 in a program code state. The data movement control unit 34 performs a control to copy the communication program of the communication device 4 stored in the data storage unit 37 to the volatile memory 7 and install it. The data movement control unit 34 performs the installation operation when the optical disk device 1 is started up.

  The external input terminal 8 is composed of, for example, a plurality of setting switches 81 to 84, and is controlled by the controller 3 by changing the ON / OFF setting combination of these setting switches 81 to 84 by the operator of the optical disc apparatus 1. This is a hardware or software switch that can switch modes. The control mode set in the external input terminal 8 is recorded in a volatile state in an internal register 7 a provided in the recording area of the volatile memory 7.

  Hereinafter, a data write operation (write control method) to the nonvolatile memory 6 in the optical disc apparatus 1 will be described. In the writing operation of the optical disc apparatus 1, four operation step groups including an internal register update step group, a storage / state determination step group, an authentication step group, and a reception / write step group are sequentially executed.

  The internal register update step group is an operation group that updates the recorded contents of the internal register 7a. In the internal register 7a, the operation mode of the write operation is recorded while being sequentially updated. Each step of the internal register update step group is shown in FIG.

  The storage / state determination step group is an operation group for determining the recording state of the nonvolatile memory 6. Each operation step of the storage / state determination step group is shown in FIG.

  The authentication step group is an operation group that performs data authentication of communication data (program for writing, entire program) received from the host computer H when the entire program is downloaded. Each operation step of the authentication step group is shown in FIG.

  The reception / write step group is an operation of receiving (downloading) communication data (write program, overall program) from the host computer H and writing (installing) the received communication data in the nonvolatile memory 6. Each operation step of the reception / write step group is shown in FIG.

  Hereinafter, an operation of writing the entire program in the nonvolatile memory 6 in the optical disc apparatus 1 will be described. The optical disk apparatus 1 cannot download the entire program from the host computer H by operating the entire program in a state where the entire program is not stored or stored in the nonvolatile memory 6 but there is a problem. Therefore, the entire program is downloaded from the host computer H and installed in the nonvolatile memory 6 as follows.

  The entire program writing operation performed by the optical disc apparatus 1 of the present invention is a new process in the middle of the manufacturing operation of the optical disc apparatus 1 and the entire program of the optical disc apparatus 1 is not stored in the nonvolatile memory 6. An operation of writing the entire program into the nonvolatile memory 6 and an operation of updating and writing the entire program into the nonvolatile memory 6 during repair of the optical disc apparatus 1 having a defect in the entire program. Therefore, the writing operation includes an operation for determining whether or not any trouble has occurred in the entire program after storage, and an operation for updating the whole program in which the trouble has occurred to a normal one.

  In the optical disc apparatus 1, the entire program writing operation is performed when the optical disc apparatus 1 is reset. The optical disk apparatus 1 is reset (activated) when the optical disk apparatus 1 is turned off (OFF) and then restarted (hereinafter referred to as a hard reset), and the optical disk apparatus 1 is powered on. Are maintained, and there are the entire program in the nonvolatile memory 6 and a reset (hereinafter referred to as a soft reset) executed on the software by the host computer H.

  First, the mode setting input to the external input terminal 8 will be described before the entire program write operation is described. The external input terminal 8 is provided with a plurality of ON / OFF setting switches 81-84. Each of the setting switches 81 to 84 includes a setting switch 81 for switching the entire program writing mode / normal operation mode, a setting switch 82 for switching whether or not the storage determination is performed, a setting switch 83 for switching whether or not the state determination is performed, And a setting switch 84 for switching whether to read the setting of the external input terminal 8 at the time of soft reset.

When writing the entire program, the operator of the optical disk device 1 (in this case, the person in charge of manufacturing) sets the setting switches 81 to 84 in advance as follows.
Set the setting switch 81 to the entire program writing mode.
Set the setting switch 82 to the storage judgment execution mode.
Set the setting switch 83 to the state judgment execution mode.
Set the setting switch 84 to the non-execution mode for reading the external input terminal setting at the time of soft reset. The reason for setting the setting switch 84 in this way will be described later.

  After such setting of the external input terminal 8, the entire program writing operation is performed. This writing operation starts with the optical disc apparatus 1 being reset as a control trigger. As described above, the entire program write operation is configured by sequentially executing the internal register update step group, the storage / state determination step group, the authentication step group, and the reception / write step group.

[Internal register update steps]
In the entire program write operation, first, an internal register update step group shown in the flowchart of FIG. 2 is performed. That is, the optical disc apparatus 1 in which the entire program is not stored in the nonvolatile memory 6 is connected to the host computer H so as to be able to perform parallel data communication. In this state, the optical disc apparatus 1 is reset. Then, the data movement control unit 34 determines whether the current reset operation is a soft reset or a hard reset (S101). Here, the internal register update operation starts with any reset (hard reset / soft reset) triggered by the reset.

  First, the operation at the time of hard reset will be described. In this case, when the reset data movement control unit 34 confirms that a hard reset is made in S101, the reset data movement control unit 34 reads the setting content of the external input terminal 8 and records it in the internal register 7a (S102). After that, the data movement control unit 34 reads the contents of the internal register 7a (S103), and shifts to the storage / state determination step group in that state.

  Next, the operation at the time of soft reset will be described. In this case, if the data movement control unit 34 confirms that it is a soft reset in S101, it reads the recorded contents of the internal register 7a provided in the volatile memory 7 (S104). Furthermore, the data movement control unit 34 determines how the reading mode of the external input terminal 8 at the time of soft reset is set in the recorded contents of the read internal register 7a (S105).

  In the internal register update operation, as described above, reading of the external input terminal setting at the time of soft reset is set to the non-execution mode. The data movement control unit 34 having detected this in S105 shifts to the storage / state determination step group in that state without reading the setting of the external input terminal 8.

  In addition, when the reading execution mode of the external input terminal setting at the time of the software reset is set, the data movement control unit 34 that has detected this in S105 reads the setting of the external input terminal 8 even at the time of the software reset. After recording in the internal register 7a (S102), the contents of the internal register 7a are read (S103), and in that state, the process proceeds to the storage / state determination step group. The reason for providing a case where the setting of the external input terminal 8 is read and a case where the setting is not read during the soft reset will be described later.

[Storing / status judgment group]
The data movement control unit 34 that has read the recorded contents of the internal register 7a in S103 executes the storage / state determination step group shown in the flowchart of FIG. First, the data movement control unit 34 determines whether or not the entire program write mode is set in the read contents of the internal register 7a (S201). If it is determined that the entire program write mode is not set and the normal operation mode is set, the data movement control unit 34 notifies the controller main body 31 of the fact. The controller main body 31 performs the normal operation of the optical disc device 1 (normal data communication by the communication device 4 and reading / writing operation of communication data with respect to the optical disc D by the optical disc driver 2) according to the notification of the normal operation mode. (S208).

  In the manufacturing process, for example, the normal operation is performed in the operation inspection of the optical disk apparatus 1 in the manufacturing / completed state. Further, after the manufacture of the optical disc apparatus 1 is finished, the normal operation is also performed by the end user. In order to enable these normal operations, the normal operation mode is set.

  In the whole program write operation, the setting switch 81 (internal register 7a) is set to the whole program write mode instead of the normal operation mode. The data movement control unit 34 that has detected the determination next determines whether or not the storage determination execution mode is set in the recording content of the internal register 7a read in S103 (S202).

  In the present embodiment, as described above, the storage determination execution mode is set in the write operation of the entire program. The data movement control unit 34 that has detected this in S202 causes the determination unit 35 to determine whether or not the entire program is stored in the nonvolatile memory 6 (S203, S204). S203 and S204 constitute a storage judgment step of this data writing method.

  The storage determination of the entire program is performed as follows, for example. That is, the data movement control unit 34 records a specific value in a predetermined area of the nonvolatile memory 6 at the same time when the entire program is written to the nonvolatile memory 6. The determination unit 35 determines whether or not the entire program is stored by determining whether or not a specific value is recorded in a predetermined area of the nonvolatile memory 6 when determining the storage of the entire program.

  In an initial state where the entire program is not stored in the nonvolatile memory 6, the determination unit 35 determines in S204 that the entire program is not stored. The determination unit 35 that has determined that the entire program is not stored in S204 notifies the data movement control unit 34 of this fact. The data movement control unit 34 informed that the entire program has not been stored shifts to the authentication step group without shifting to S206 and S207 (state determination step).

[Authentication step group]
The data movement control unit 34 that has detected that the entire program is not stored in S204 executes the authentication step group shown in the flowchart of FIG. First, the data movement control unit 34 reads out the program data of the communication program stored in the data storage unit 37 in a non-volatile state, copies it onto the volatile memory 7, and installs it in an executable state (S301). Further, the data movement control unit 34 moves the operating subject in the optical disc apparatus 1 to the communication program on the volatile memory 7 to execute the communication program (S302). Thereby, parallel data communication is established between the communication device 4 and the host computer H. S301 and S302 constitute the first step of this data writing method.

  Parallel data communication by the communication device 4 is controlled by the controller main body 31 and the data movement control unit 34 via the interface control unit 33. The parallel data communication is mainly controlled by the data movement control unit 34 during the writing control of the entire program.

  When parallel data communication is established with the host computer H, the host computer H first transmits an authentication command to the communication device 4. When receiving the authentication command reception, the communication device 4 notifies the data movement control unit 34 of this (S303).

  The data movement control unit 34 confirming the reception of the authentication command transfers the received authentication command from the communication device 4 to the DC / EN processor 5 and decodes it here. Further, the data movement control unit 34 transfers the decoded authentication command to the authentication unit 36. The authentication unit 36 stores the authentication command of the host computer H in advance, and analyzes the received authentication command to determine whether or not it matches the stored authentication command of the host computer H. The result is notified to the data movement control unit 34 (S304, S305). The authentication command match determination is performed, for example, by collating each other's ID data.

  When the received authentication command is authenticated in S305, the data movement control unit 34 shifts the operation to the reception / write step group. On the other hand, when the received authentication command is not authenticated, the data movement control unit 34 returns to S303 and continues to receive the authentication command. The authentication step group is continued until the authentication of the received authentication command is completed (IDs match).

  By performing the authentication step group, it is possible to prevent a bad whole program or unexpected data from being received from the fake host computer H and written to the nonvolatile memory 6 in advance. S303 to S305 constitute an authentication step of this data writing method.

[Receive / Write Steps]
Upon confirming that the authentication of the received authentication command has been completed in S305, the data movement control unit 34 continuously executes the communication program on the volatile memory 7 so that the write program (so-called loader) and the entire program are executed. Data of a program (so-called firmware) is received from the host computer H. The entire program is a program for driving the optical disc apparatus 1, and the writing program is a program for writing (installing) the entire program from the volatile memory 7 to the nonvolatile memory 6.

  Data reception is subsequently performed by the communication device 4 (S401). At that time, the communication program checks the received data (whole program, write program) for each fixed data block (S402, S403), and continues only when it is determined that the inspection result is good in S403. The data block is received. On the other hand, if the test result is determined to be bad in S403, the communication program sets an error value and stores it in the volatile memory 7 (S408), and then returns to the authentication data reception in S303 and continues the processing. Let By performing the processes of S402, S403, and S408, the reliability of received data can be improved.

  While performing the reception processing of S401 to S403 and S408, the communication program monitors whether or not all data of the entire program and the writing program have been received (S404). When the completion of data reception is confirmed, the communication program notifies the data movement control unit 34 of this. S401 to S404 constitute the second step of this data writing method.

  The data movement control unit 34 notified of the reception completion installs the writing program on the volatile memory 7 so as to be executable on the volatile memory 7. Further, the data movement control unit 34 moves the current operating subject from the communication program on the volatile memory 7 to the writing program on the volatile memory 7 (S405). The program for writing on the volatile memory 7 that is the main operating body writes the data of the entire program downloaded to the volatile memory 7 to the nonvolatile memory 6 and the written entire program is executed on the nonvolatile memory 6. Installation is possible (S406). S405 and S406 constitute the third step of this data writing method.

  When the writing of the entire program is completed, the writing program notifies the data movement control unit 34 of this. The data movement control unit 34 notified of the completion of writing maintains the setting state of the internal register 7a as it is, performs a soft reset of the system of the optical disc apparatus 1, and returns to the processing of the internal register update step group. (S407).

[Internal register update steps]
After the system update (soft reset) in S407, the data movement control unit 34 confirms the reset operation performed (S101). In this case, of course, the data movement control unit 34 detects that it is a soft reset. To do.

  If the data movement control unit 34 confirms that it is a soft reset in S101, it reads the recorded contents of the internal register 7a provided in the volatile memory 7 (S104). Furthermore, the data movement control unit 34 determines how the reading mode of the external input terminal 8 at the time of soft reset is set in the recorded contents of the read internal register 7a (S105).

  At this time, as described above, in the system update step (S407), the setting of the external input terminal setting reading non-execution mode at the time of soft reset is continued. Therefore, the data movement control unit 34 that has detected this in S105 moves to the storage / state determination step group in that state without reading the setting of the external input terminal 8.

[Storing / status judgment group]
The data movement control unit 34 that has detected that the external input terminal read non-execution mode is continued in the internal register 7a again checks whether or not the entire program write mode is set in the read contents of the internal register 7a. Judgment is made (S201). At this point, of course, the data movement control unit 34 determines that the normal operation mode is not set and the entire program write mode is set. Then, the data movement control unit 34 determines whether or not the storage determination execution mode is set in the recorded contents of the internal register 7a read in S103 (S202).

  In the present embodiment, as described above, the storage determination execution mode is set in the entire program write operation, and this mode continues even after the system update step S407 has elapsed. The data movement control unit 34 that has detected this in S202 causes the determination unit 35 to determine whether or not the entire program is stored in the nonvolatile memory 6 (S203, S204).

  At this point, the determination unit 35 determines that the entire program is stored in the nonvolatile memory 6. The determination unit 35 that has determined that the entire program is stored in S204 notifies the data movement control unit 34 of this fact. The data movement control unit 34 informed of the storage of the entire program determines whether or not the state determination execution mode is set in the read recorded contents of the internal register 7a (S205).

  In the present embodiment, as described above, the state determination execution mode is set in the write operation of the entire program. The data movement control unit 34 that has detected this in S205 causes the determination unit 35 to determine whether or not there is a problem in the entire program stored in the nonvolatile memory 6 (S206, S207). S206 and S207 constitute a state determination step of this data writing method.

  The state determination of the entire program is performed as follows, for example. That is, the data movement control unit 34 sets a checksum area for each data section to be written at the same time when the entire program is written to the nonvolatile memory 6. When determining the state of the entire program, the determination unit 35 determines the state of the entire program by checking a checksum set at the time of writing in a predetermined area of the nonvolatile memory 6.

  When writing the entire program to the nonvolatile memory 6, a checksum area may be set only for the data section written to the nonvolatile memory 6. By doing so, the process of determining the state of the entire program by the determination unit 35 is only the actual recording area on the nonvolatile memory 6 in which the checksum area is set, and the processing time can be shortened accordingly.

  Among the data areas of the entire program written in the non-volatile memory 6, areas such as a power adjustment table and a constant management area that require installation status determination, areas that are padded because they are unnecessary, and dynamic variables Some areas do not require state judgment. For this reason, a checksum may be set only in an area in which data requiring state determination is stored. Even in such a case, the process of determining the state of the entire program by the determination unit 35 is only the inspection-required recording area on the nonvolatile memory 6 in which the checksum area is set, and the processing time can be shortened accordingly.

  Further, when a state defect occurs continuously in the entire written program and the update is performed a plurality of times, the following processing may be performed. That is, the checksum of the update area determined to be good by the determination unit 35 is deleted, and the checksum is set only for the recording area determined to be bad. By doing so, it is possible to carry out state determination only for defective portions, and the processing time can be shortened accordingly.

  If the determination unit 35 determines in S207 that the state of the entire program installed in the nonvolatile memory 6 is still defective, the authentication step group illustrated in FIG. 4 and the reception / write step group illustrated in FIG. 5 are performed. Thus, the entire program on the nonvolatile memory 6 is updated again.

  After performing the entire program writing process (see FIGS. 2 to 5) one or more times, if the determination unit 35 determines in S207 that the installed overall program is in good condition, the determination unit 35 This is notified to the data movement control unit 34. The data movement control unit 34 notified that the entire program is installed in the non-volatile memory 6 in a good state changes the setting state of the internal register 7a (S209), and then changes the system of the optical disc apparatus 1 The entire program is activated by soft reset (S208). As a result, a series of entire program writing processing is completed.

  Here, the setting correction of the internal register 7a performed by the data movement control unit 34 is as follows. That is, at this point, the entire program writing process has been completed, so the entire program writing mode set in the setting switch 81 is switched to the normal operation mode. As a result, it is possible to carry out other processes (inspection process, etc.) performed after installing the entire program after performing the soft reset in S208 without performing a hard reset that turns off the power of the optical disc apparatus 1. In addition, at that time, it is possible to prevent the execution of processing unnecessary for other processes such as storage determination and status determination of the entire program, and the processing time can be shortened. Furthermore, since the rewriting of the internal register 7a is automatically performed on the software, an extra process of the operator such as rewriting the setting of the external input terminal 8 can be omitted.

  In the above-described other processing, when it is necessary to determine the storage of the entire program in the nonvolatile memory 6 (S203) or the state determination (S206), the internal register 7a is set in the system update processing in S209. The initial state may be maintained.

  In order to implement the system update process of S209 described above (including changing the setting of the internal register 7a), it is necessary not to read the setting of the external input terminal 8 at the time of soft reset. On the other hand, when the setting of the external input terminal 8 is read in the soft reset, the system update process in S209 (including the setting change of the internal register 7a) is not enabled. Therefore, in the optical disc apparatus 1, as a configuration for switching between valid / invalid of the system update process of S209, the external input terminal 8 is provided with a setting switch 84 for controlling reading of the external input terminal setting at the time of soft reset. After changing the setting of the setting switch 84, the validity / invalidity of the system update process in S209 is controlled in the determination process in S105 described above.

  In the above description with reference to FIG. 2 to FIG. 5, the processing when a whole program is newly installed in the nonvolatile memory 6 of the optical disc apparatus 1 has been described. However, it goes without saying that this processing can also be carried out in the same manner when repairing the optical disc apparatus 1 in which a software problem has occurred in the entire program.

  In the above-described embodiments, the present invention is implemented in an optical disk device, or the present invention performs information processing of communication data transmitted to and received from a host computer and stores the entire program in a nonvolatile memory. The same can be implemented in the configuration.

  In the embodiment described above, the external input terminal 8 is initially set so as to execute both the storage determination and the state determination during the writing process of the entire program. However, these determination processes are performed in the external input terminal 8. In the initial setting, non-implementation may be selected as necessary. By doing so, the processing time can be shortened as much as the processing is not performed.

  The present invention is useful for a configuration that performs information processing of communication data transmitted to and received from a host computer such as an optical disk device.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the optical disk apparatus in embodiment of this invention. 4 is a flowchart showing a first operation of a writing operation of the optical disc apparatus according to the embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the 2nd operation | movement of the write-in operation | movement of the optical disk apparatus of embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the 3rd operation | movement of the write-in operation | movement of the optical disk apparatus of embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the 4th operation | movement of the write-in operation | movement of the optical disk apparatus of embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Optical disk apparatus 2 Optical disk drive 3 Controller 31 Controller main body 32 Drive control part 33 Interface control part 34 Data movement control part 35 Judgment part 36 Authentication part 37 Data storage part 4 Communication apparatus 5 DC / EN processor 6 Non-volatile memory 7 Volatile memory 7a Internal register 8 External input terminals 81 to 84 Setting switch H Host computer

Claims (21)

An apparatus that performs information processing of communication data obtained by performing parallel data communication with a host computer,
A communication device for performing the parallel data communication with the host computer;
A volatile memory provided for storing the communication data;
A controller for controlling communication processing of the communication device and information processing of the communication data stored in the volatile memory;
With
The controller is
A data storage unit in which the communication program of the communication device is stored in a nonvolatile state in advance;
A data movement control unit that moves the communication program from the data storage unit to the volatile memory and executes the program on the volatile memory;
An information processing apparatus comprising: The information processing apparatus according to claim 1,
A non-volatile memory provided for storing the entire program of the information processing apparatus including a program equivalent to the communication program;
In the data storage unit, the communication program provided separately from the entire program is stored in advance.
An information processing apparatus characterized by that. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2,
The data movement control unit executes the process when the information processing apparatus is activated.
An information processing apparatus characterized by that. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2,
The controller further includes a storage determination unit that determines whether or not the entire program is stored in the nonvolatile memory when the information processing apparatus is activated.
And when the said storage judgment part judges that the said whole program is stored in the said non-volatile memory, the said data movement control part makes the said whole program run on the said non-volatile memory, and the said storage When the determination unit determines that the entire program is not stored in the nonvolatile memory, the processing of the data movement control unit is executed.
An information processing apparatus characterized by that. The information processing apparatus according to claim 4,
An external input terminal that allows an operator to set whether or not to perform the determination process by the storage determination unit is provided, and the data movement control unit reads the setting of the external input terminal when the information processing apparatus is activated. Switch its control state,
An information processing apparatus characterized by that. The information processing apparatus according to claim 5,
When the data movement control unit is restarted after the information processing apparatus is turned off, the data movement control unit reads the setting of the external input terminal and sets its control state, and then Record the settings in the volatile memory so that they can be rewritten,
When the information processing apparatus is restarted on software without being turned off, it reads the setting of the external input terminal from the volatile memory without reading the setting of the external input terminal, and controls it. Set the state,
An information processing apparatus characterized by that. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2,
The controller further includes a state determination unit that determines a recording state of the nonvolatile memory at the time of starting the information processing apparatus,
When the state determination unit determines that the recording state is normal, the data movement control unit regards that the entire program in which the recording state is normal is stored in the nonvolatile memory, When it is executed on the nonvolatile memory and the state determination unit determines that the recording state is abnormal, the processing of the data movement control unit is executed.
An information processing apparatus characterized by that. The information processing apparatus according to claim 7,
The state determination unit determines only a partial area of the nonvolatile memory specified in advance.
An information processing apparatus characterized by that. The information processing apparatus according to claim 7,
The state determination unit determines only the state of the entire program stored in the nonvolatile memory;
An information processing apparatus characterized by that. The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 7 to 9,
An external input terminal that allows an operator to set whether or not to perform determination processing by the state determination unit is provided, and the data movement control unit reads the setting of the external input terminal when the information processing apparatus is activated. To switch the control state,
An information processing apparatus characterized by that. The information processing apparatus according to claim 10,
When the data movement control unit is restarted after the information processing apparatus is turned off, the data movement control unit reads the setting of the external input terminal and sets its control state, and then Record the settings in the volatile memory so that they can be rewritten,
When the information processing apparatus is restarted on the software without being turned off, the setting of the external input terminal is read from the volatile memory and the control is performed without reading the setting of the external input terminal. Set the state,
An information processing apparatus characterized by that. The information processing apparatus according to claim 3.
The controller includes an authentication unit that inspects whether or not authentication data set in advance is attached to data transmitted from the host computer, and the data movement control unit includes the authentication unit Execute the process of the data movement control unit when it is determined that the authentication data is attached.
An information processing apparatus characterized by that. The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 2 to 12,
By executing the communication program on the volatile memory by the data movement control unit, the entire program and a writing program for writing the entire program from the volatile memory to the nonvolatile memory, Sending the program for writing from the host computer to the volatile memory, operating the program for writing on the volatile memory, and writing the entire program to the nonvolatile memory;
An information processing apparatus characterized by that. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1,
The communication program inspects a communication result for each fixed amount of data, and continues communication only when the inspection result is normal.
An information processing apparatus characterized by that. A method of writing communication data obtained by performing parallel data communication with a host computer into a nonvolatile memory after temporarily recording it in a volatile memory,
A communication program for performing parallel data communication with the host computer is held in a non-volatile state separately from the non-volatile memory, and the held communication program is written in the volatile memory and stored on the volatile memory. A first step to perform;
By executing the communication program on the volatile memory, a write program for writing the communication data from the volatile memory to the nonvolatile memory, and the communication data are received from the host computer. Steps,
A third step of writing the communication data from the volatile memory to the nonvolatile memory by executing the writing program on the volatile memory;
A data writing method comprising: The data writing method according to claim 15, wherein
Prior to the first step, further comprising a storage determination step of determining whether data is stored in the nonvolatile memory;
When the storage determining step determines that data is not stored, the first to third steps are executed.
A data writing method. The data writing method according to claim 15 or 16,
Prior to the first step, further comprising a state determination step of determining a state of data stored in the nonvolatile memory;
When the state determination step determines that the data is abnormal, the first to third steps are executed.
A data writing method. The data writing method according to claim 17, wherein
In the state determination step, only a partial area of the nonvolatile memory specified in advance is determined.
An information processing apparatus characterized by that. The information processing apparatus according to claim 17,
In the state determination step, only the area of the nonvolatile memory in use is determined.
An information processing apparatus characterized by that. The data writing method according to any one of claims 15 to 19,
Prior to the second step, the method further includes an authentication step of checking whether or not authentication data set in advance is attached to the data transmitted from the host computer,
Executing the second and third steps when the authentication step determines that the authentication data is attached;
A data writing method. The data writing method according to any one of claims 15 to 20,
In the second step, the communication result is inspected every fixed amount of data, and communication is continued only when the inspection result is normal.
A data writing method.

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