JP2006351059A - Controller, control method and program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a controller, a control method, and a program capable of avoiding deterioration in system productivity and stop of the system due to vibrations in a less expensive configuration. <P>SOLUTION: It transfers dummy data to an HDD 26 and changes the destination of the actual data from the HDD 26 to a memory 22 when the transfer time (access time) of this dummy data exceeds the threshold preset in advance. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a control device, a control method, and a program for controlling data transfer to a disk drive device.

  In recent years, for example, information equipment having a disk drive device represented by an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) has been widely used. When data is being read from or written to the hard disk device, if the hard disk device is vibrated, retry will be repeated and the read processing and write processing may take a long time. May become impossible.

  As a general method of vibration detection for hard disk devices, a built-in sensor for detecting acceleration is compared, and the acceleration value measured by the sensor is compared with a preset allowable acceleration. A control method for interrupting an information writing operation is known (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

Also, as a different method, if a hard disk device is provided with a sector of a detection track including a read-only sector, when writing, the sector of the detection track is first read and not read within a predetermined time. A disk drive method is known in which it is determined that a recording has occurred and the recording operation is temporarily interrupted (see, for example, Patent Document 2).
JP-A-7-130115 JP 11-337382 A

  However, the conventional method using an acceleration sensor has a problem in that the acceleration sensor itself is expensive, resulting in a high cost for the entire apparatus.

  In addition, the method of providing the read-only sector on the disk detects vibrations in the reading operation, but generally there is a problem that it is difficult to determine the presence or absence of vibrations in the reading operation and cannot be determined with high accuracy. is there.

  Furthermore, any of the above methods is not suitable for processing that requires real-time properties because the operation of writing information to the HDD is temporarily suspended after vibration is detected and the standby state is maintained until disturbance vibration is stopped.

  Real-time performance is particularly required in a copying operation using a hard disk device in a digital / multifunction peripheral (for example, when an electronic sort function is executed). In addition, the amount of data written to the hard disk device is four times that of a monochrome machine when it is a color machine, and the amount of data increases as the resolution increases. In addition, in recent years, the copying speed has been increased, and the data transfer speed to the hard disk device is also required to be high. For this reason, if data transfer retries occur many times due to the influence of vibration and the data transfer speed is lowered, there is a concern that the productivity of the system is lowered and further the system is stopped. Therefore, there is a need for system control capable of avoiding productivity reduction and system stoppage even when vibration occurs.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and provides a control device, a control method, and a program capable of avoiding a decrease in system productivity and a stop due to the influence of vibration or the like with an inexpensive configuration. For the purpose.

  In order to achieve the above object, the control device of the present invention transfers dummy data to a disk drive device and determines whether or not the transfer time of the dummy data exceeds a predetermined threshold value, And switching means for switching the actual data transfer destination from the disk drive device to the internal memory when the determination means determines that the transfer time of the dummy data has exceeded the threshold.

  In this way, dummy data is transferred to the disk drive device, and when the transfer time of the dummy data exceeds a predetermined threshold, the transfer destination of the actual data is switched from the disk drive device to the internal memory. Even if the data transfer to the disk drive device cannot be performed normally due to the occurrence of vibration or the like, the processing can be continued without interrupting the data transfer. In addition, since it can be determined by simply transferring dummy data and measuring the transfer time, it can be realized without adding expensive hardware. Accordingly, it is possible to avoid a decrease in productivity or stoppage of the system due to the influence of vibration or the like with an inexpensive configuration.

  Note that the determination unit is configured to store the dummy data in the disk drive device before transferring actual data to the disk drive device and at least one of when a retry of the data transfer occurs after the start of actual data transfer to the disk drive device. Data can be transferred.

  Further, the data length of the dummy data may be changeable according to at least one of the performance of the disk drive device and the usage condition of the disk drive device, and the threshold value is also the data length of the dummy data, the disk drive device. It may be changeable according to at least one of the performance and the use condition of the disk drive device.

  In addition, the control method of the present invention transfers dummy data to a disk drive device, and determines whether or not the transfer time of the dummy data exceeds a predetermined threshold, and the dummy data is determined by the determination step. Switching step of switching the actual data transfer destination from the disk drive device to the internal memory when it is determined that the transfer time exceeds the threshold.

  Since the control method of the present invention also operates in the same manner as the control device of the present invention, it is possible to avoid a decrease in system productivity and a stop due to the influence of vibration or the like with an inexpensive configuration.

  Further, the program of the present invention transfers a dummy data to a disk drive device to a computer, and determines whether or not the transfer time of the dummy data exceeds a predetermined threshold, When it is determined that the dummy data transfer time exceeds the threshold, a switching step of switching the actual data transfer destination from the disk drive device to the internal memory is executed.

  Since the program of the present invention also operates in the same manner as the control device of the present invention, it is possible to avoid a decrease in system productivity and a stop due to the influence of vibration or the like with an inexpensive configuration.

  As described above, according to the present invention, dummy data is transferred to the disk drive device, and it is determined whether or not the transfer time of the dummy data exceeds a predetermined threshold, and the transfer destination of the actual data is determined. Since the switching is performed, an excellent effect is obtained that it is possible to avoid a reduction in system productivity and a stop due to the influence of vibration or the like with an inexpensive configuration.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a multifunction machine according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the multifunction machine 10 includes a control unit 12, a memory 22, an input / output interface (I / O) 24, a hard disk drive (HDD) 26, an image input terminal (IIT) 28, a memory controller 30, and a page memory 32. A compression / decompression circuit 34 and an image output terminal (IOT) 36.

  The I / O 24 controls data writing to the HDD 26 and data reading from the HDD 26.

  The HDD 26 stores information such as image data and functions as a disk drive device in the present invention. However, as long as information storage is performed, the present invention is not necessarily limited to an HDD using a magnetic disk, and an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, or the like may be used.

  The IIT 28 reads an image of a document and outputs image data obtained by the reading to the page memory 32 via the memory controller 30. The page memory 32 is a memory that temporarily stores uncompressed image data from the IIT 28 for each page.

  The compression / decompression circuit 34 compresses the uncompressed image data temporarily stored in the page memory 32 or decompresses the compressed image data from the HDD 26 or the memory 22.

  The IOT 36 performs print output to a recording medium based on the image data expanded by the compression / expansion circuit 34.

  The control unit 12 includes a CPU 14, an access counter 16, and a threshold register 18. The CPU 14 controls the overall operation of the multifunction machine 10 by executing various programs stored in a ROM (not shown) or the like. The CPU 14 functions as an access time comparison / transfer switching unit. Specifically, apart from the image data (actual data) actually read by the IIT 28 and printed by the IOT 24, dummy data is transferred to the HDD 26, and the time from the start of the data transfer to the end of the transfer (hereinafter referred to as access time). (Name) and a predetermined threshold value are compared, and processing for switching the transfer destination of the actual data to be transferred by DMA (dynamic memory access) is performed. The access time related to the dummy data transfer is measured (counted) by the access counter 16. A threshold value to be compared with the measured access time is stored in advance in the threshold value register 18. The access time corresponds to the data transfer time of the present invention.

  Further, the control unit 12 includes a DMA controller 20. The DMA controller 20 is a controller for directly accessing (DMA transfer) the HDD 26 or the memory 22 without going through the CPU 14. The DMA controller 20 performs DMA transfer according to the data path set by the CPU 14.

  The memory 22 is composed of, for example, an SDRAM or the like, and normally functions as a work memory. The memory 22 corresponds to the internal memory of the present invention.

  In the multi function device 10, DMA transfer is normally performed as follows.

  First, when a start button (not shown) of the multifunction machine 10 is pressed, the document to be copied is read by the IIT 28. Image data obtained by reading the document with the IIT 28 is temporarily stored in the page memory 32 via the memory controller 30. Thereafter, the compression / decompression circuit 34 compresses the image data in the page memory 32. The compressed image data is transferred (written) to the HDD 26 via the I / O 24. The compressed image data transferred to the HDD 26 is transferred again to the compression / decompression circuit 34 via the I / O 24 and expanded, and then output to the IOT 36. The IOT 36 prints on the print medium based on the decompressed image data.

  On the other hand, if vibration that affects the read / write operation of the HDD 26 occurs, data transfer to the HDD 26 is retried a plurality of times, and the data transfer time significantly increases. Depending on the magnitude of vibration, data transfer may become impossible and the system may be stopped. In order to avoid this, in the MFP 10 according to the present embodiment, when data transfer takes time, it is determined that vibration has occurred, and the following DMA transfer is performed.

  First, since the data flow from reading an original by the IIT 28 to compression by the compression / decompression circuit 34 is the same as that in the case of normal DMA transfer, a description thereof is omitted here.

  When vibration occurs, the compressed image data compressed by the compression / decompression circuit 34 is transferred to the memory 22 instead of the HDD 26. The compressed image data transferred and stored in the memory 22 is transferred again to the compression / decompression circuit 34 and expanded, and then output to the IOT 36. The IOT 36 prints on the print medium based on the decompressed image data.

  Hereinafter, a DMA transfer during a copying operation when copying a plurality of copies will be described in detail as an example.

  FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the flow of a processing routine executed by the CPU 14 for switching the transfer destination during DMA transfer of actual data. This processing routine is started when DMA transfer of image data from the page memory 32 to the HDD 26 is performed.

  In step 100, it is determined whether or not the writing to the HDD 26 is the writing of the first image data among a plurality of sets of image data to be copied. Here, if it is determined that the image data is the first image data, the process proceeds to step 102 where the access counter 16 for measuring the access time is set.

  In step 104, predetermined dummy data (for example, 8 MB data of 300 × 300 × 8 bits for one plane of color A4 size) is written in the outermost peripheral sector of the HDD 26 by DMA transfer. At this time, the access counter 16 starts measuring access time simultaneously with the start of transfer, and ends measuring access time simultaneously with the end of transfer.

  In step 106, the access time is detected based on the access counter 16. In the next step 108, the access time is compared with the threshold value. Here, if it is determined that the access time is equal to or less than the threshold value, it is determined that there is no problem such as vibration, and the data of the DMA controller 20 is transferred so that the actual data is DMA-transferred to the HDD 26 in step 110. Switch the path setting. In step 112, DMA transfer is started from the first image data to the HDD 26 based on the setting.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step 108 that the access time has exceeded the threshold value, it can be determined that vibration or the like has occurred and that writing to the HDD 26 has been hindered. Accordingly, in step 116, the data path setting of the DMA controller 20 is switched so that the actual data is DMA-transferred to the memory 22. In step 118, DMA transfer is started from the first image data to the memory 22 based on the setting.

  After the start of DMA transfer of actual data to the HDD 26 in step 112, or when it is determined in step 100 that writing of the second and subsequent image data has been performed, in step 114, a data transfer retry occurred during the DMA transfer. Determine whether or not. If no retry occurs, the DMA transfer is continued as it is until all data transfer is completed. If a retry occurs, the DMA transfer of actual data is temporarily interrupted, and the processing from step 102 to step 118 is repeated. If the retry occurs, vibration or the like may occur during the transfer, which may hinder the writing of the HDD 26. Therefore, as described above, the dummy data is transferred again, the access time is measured, and the data transfer destination is switched.

  The DMA transfer of the second and subsequent image data may be continued with the above settings, or the access time may be detected by dummy data transfer before DMA transfer for each image. May be.

  As described above, the dummy data is transferred to detect the access time, the access time is compared with the threshold, and if the threshold is exceeded, the data transfer destination of the actual data is switched from the HDD 26 to the memory 22. With an inexpensive configuration, it is possible to avoid a decrease in system productivity and a system stop.

  In the above embodiment, access time is detected and compared by transferring dummy data both before transferring actual data to the HDD 26 and when a retry of the data transfer occurs after starting actual data transfer to the HDD 26. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and only one of the dummy data may be transferred to detect and compare the access time.

  The data length of the dummy data may be changeable according to at least one of the performance of the HDD 26 and the usage conditions of the HDD 26. Further, the change of the data length may be appropriately set by the user.

  Furthermore, the threshold value compared with the measured access time of the dummy data may be changeable according to at least one of the data length of the dummy data, the performance of the HDD 26, and the usage conditions of the HDD 26. Further, the change of the threshold value may be appropriately set by the user.

  In the above embodiment, the example in which the access time is detected and the means (access time comparison / transfer switching unit) for switching the data transfer destination is provided in the multifunction device 10 is different from the multifunction device 10. Such a function may be provided in the apparatus, and the operation of the multifunction machine 10 may be controlled by the apparatus.

  In the above-described embodiment, an example in which dummy data transfer and data transfer destination switching are processed by software by the CPU 14 has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and hardware such as a dedicated ASIC (Application Specified Integrated Circuit) is used. You may comprise by a circuit.

  The present invention is not limited to the multifunction machine 10 of the above embodiment, and can be appropriately changed without departing from the gist thereof. For example, the present invention can be applied to an information device having a disk drive device represented by an HDD, even if it is used in an environment that can receive vibration from an external vibration source such as a car navigation system. Can be applied to.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a multifunction machine according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the processing routine which switches the transfer destination at the time of DMA transfer of real data.

Explanation of symbols

10 MFP 12 Controller 14 CPU
16 Access counter 18 Threshold register 20 DMAC controller 22 Memory 26 Hard disk device

Claims (5)

Determining means for transferring dummy data to the disk drive device, and determining whether the transfer time of the dummy data exceeds a predetermined threshold;
Switching means for switching the transfer destination of the actual data from the disk drive device to the internal memory when the determination means determines that the transfer time of the dummy data exceeds the threshold;
Control device including.   The determination means stores the dummy data in the disk drive device at least one of before the start of actual data transfer to the disk drive device and when a retry of the data transfer occurs after the start of actual data transfer to the disk drive device. The control device according to claim 1, wherein the control device is transferred. The data length of the dummy data can be changed according to at least one of the performance of the disk drive device and the usage conditions of the disk drive device,
The control device according to claim 1, wherein the threshold value can be changed according to at least one of a data length of the dummy data, a performance of the disk drive device, and a use condition of the disk drive device. A determination step of transferring dummy data to the disk drive device and determining whether the transfer time of the dummy data exceeds a predetermined threshold;
A switching step of switching the transfer destination of the actual data from the disk drive device to the internal memory when it is determined by the determination step that the transfer time of the dummy data exceeds the threshold;
Control method. On the computer,
A determination step of transferring dummy data to the disk drive device and determining whether the transfer time of the dummy data exceeds a predetermined threshold;
A switching step of switching the transfer destination of the actual data from the disk drive device to the internal memory when it is determined by the determination step that the transfer time of the dummy data exceeds the threshold;
A program that executes

Images