JP2009017201A - Data recording device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To actualize common use of a plurality of circuits and reduction of hardware composition by circuit composition using existing design resources, and furthermore, improve operation efficiency of a whole system. <P>SOLUTION: While the device connects an interface port provided in a first module and a connection port provided in a second module, and records data from the first module in a recording medium through the second module, it controls recording operation of the first module by a file system controller of the second module. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a data recording apparatus for recording and reproducing various data such as moving image data, still image data, and audio data on a recording medium.

  In recent years, recording and playback devices such as digital cameras, digital video cameras, mobile phones, and audio players using a memory card as a recording medium for recording moving image data, still image data, and audio data are widely known (for example, Patent Documents). 1).

  With the development of semiconductor memory development technology, memory cards are rapidly increasing in recording capacity and transfer speed.

  In such a background, it is necessary for a manufacturer who develops a recording / reproducing apparatus to create an interface unit with the recording medium and a controller unit of the recording medium according to a memory card that is evolving day by day. Furthermore, it is necessary to develop the interface unit and the controller unit as efficiently as possible while diverting existing design assets and design environments.

  A conventional configuration will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 4, two blocks, a block 401 and a block 407, will be described.

  FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram for explaining only the points of each block. First, the block 401 includes a JPEG codec 402 that is an image compression circuit, and further includes a controller 403 that controls the recording medium 405, a port 404 to which the recording medium 405 is connected, and a file system controller 406.

  On the other hand, the block 407 includes an MPEG-2 codec 408 that is an image compression circuit, and further includes a controller 409 that controls the recording medium 411, a port 410 to which the recording medium 411 is connected, and a file system controller 412.

  A block 401 is a block that allows JPEG compressed data (still image data) generated by the JPEG codec 402 to be written to the recording medium 405 via the port 404 under the control of the controller 403.

  A block 407 is a block that allows MPEG-2 compressed data (moving image data) generated by the MPEG-2 codec 408 to be written to the recording medium 411 from the controller 409 and the port 410.

An explanation will be given by taking a digital video camera using the configuration as shown in FIG. 4 as an example. The recording medium will be described as an SD (Secure Digital) memory card. As shown in FIG. 4, there is a digital video camera having a function of accessing JPEG compressed data (still image data) to an SD memory card using a block 401. In addition, there is a digital video camera having a function of accessing MPEG-2 data (moving image data) to an SD memory card using the block 407. If it is a digital video camera that handles only one of the data, a digital video camera system that handles desired data can be realized by using any of the blocks shown in FIG.
JP 2006-54002 A

  However, in the case of a digital video camera having a function of accessing both data of JPEG compressed data (still image data) and MPEG-2 compressed data (moving image data) to the SD memory card, the following inconvenience occurs. . That is, if the block 401 and the block 407 as shown in FIG. 4 are used as they are, two slots of the SD memory card are required. In a popular digital video camera or the like, having two slots is redundant, impractical, and expensive. Considering the cost, it is required to consider the above configuration and to have one slot. Therefore, a configuration that can be easily considered as a configuration in which the blocks in FIG. 4 are used and the slots of the recording medium are combined into one will be described with reference to FIG.

  A block 501 in FIG. 5 has a JPEG codec 502. In addition, when a recording medium is connected to the end of the port 504, a controller 503 for controlling the recording medium is provided. It also has a file system controller 506. A block 507 has an MPEG-2 codec 508, a controller 509 for controlling the recording medium 511, a port 510 to which the recording medium 511 is connected, and a file system controller 512.

  Further, the port 504 of the block 501 conforming to the interface of the recording medium 511 and the port 513 conforming to the interface of the recording medium 511 for connecting via the bus 505 are provided. Further, a selector 515 for switching the connection to the recording medium 511 via the port 510 between the port 513 and the controller 509 is provided.

  The difference from FIG. 4 is that the recording medium 405 of FIG. 4 is removed, the port 404 is used as it is, the new port connects to the block 407, and the selector that switches the access to the block 501 and the connection to the controller 509 5 is the state shown in FIG.

  As described above, as a problem in the case of using the configuration of FIG. 4 described above, for example, in a popular digital video camera, a configuration in which two recording media are connected is redundant and expensive. In contrast to the configuration of FIG. 4, in the configuration of FIG. 5, the connection of the recording media can be integrated into one. Also, in block 501, the port 504 that has been connected to the conventional recording medium is used as it is, so that it is possible to use the design assets without changing the block 501. In addition, the selector 515 of the block 507 realizes both access to the block 501 and access to the block 507. As described above, by using two independent blocks as shown in the configuration of FIG. 4, redundancy in cost due to the need for two slots of the recording medium can be improved.

  However, a configuration having a file system in each of a plurality of blocks as in the circuit configuration of FIG. 5 has the following problems. Access to the recording medium 511 may be switched between access to JPEG compressed data in block 501 and access to MPEG-2 compressed data in block 507. Each time, the process of synchronizing the file system information of each block is required. In particular, when the access between the two frequently changes, this processing has an effect on the speed of the entire system. In addition, when the data recording status of the connected recording medium is fragmented because a large number of small units of data are recorded, the data transfer rate of the bus 505 connecting the blocks is also set. It is possible to influence.

  The present invention has been made in view of such a problem, and by using a circuit configuration that diverts existing design assets, it is possible to share a plurality of circuits and reduce the hardware configuration, and further improve the operation efficiency of the entire system. For the purpose.

  In order to achieve the above object, a data recording apparatus according to the present invention includes a first module having an interface port with a recording medium, a controller for reading and writing data to the recording medium, and an interface port with the recording medium. A controller that reads / writes data from / to the recording medium, a file system controller that manages a file system of the recording medium, a connection port to the first module, and a buffer that holds data input from the connection port In a data recording apparatus comprising a second module having a memory, data from the first module is connected by connecting an interface port provided in the first module and a connection port provided in the second module. Through the second module And records on the recording medium, and controlling a recording operation by the file system controller.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a first data recording apparatus comprising: an interface port with a recording medium; a controller that reads / writes data from / to the recording medium; and a file system controller that manages a file system of the recording medium. A module, an interface port for the recording medium, a controller for reading and writing data to the recording medium, a file system controller for managing a file system of the recording medium, a connection port for the first module, and the connection A data recording apparatus comprising: a second module having a buffer memory for holding data input from a port;
The interface port included in the first module and the connection port included in the second module are connected to record data from the first module on the recording medium via the second module; When recording data from the first module, pseudo file system information is transmitted from a file system controller included in the second module to a file system controller included in the first module. To do.

  According to the present invention, sharing of a plurality of circuits and reduction of the hardware configuration can be realized by a circuit configuration using existing design assets, and the operation efficiency of the entire system can be improved.

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

(First embodiment)
FIG. 1 shows a circuit configuration of a data recording apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The first block 101 (first module) includes a JPEG codec 102 that is an image compression circuit, and generates JPEG image data. Furthermore, a controller 103 that can control recording and reproduction of the same type of recording medium as the recording medium 112 and an interface port 104 that can connect the same type of recording medium as the recording medium 112 are provided.

  Next, the second block 107 (second module) controls the recording / playback of the file system controller 108 that manages the file system of the recording medium, the MPEG-2 codec 109 that is an image compression circuit, and the recording medium 112. And controller 110. The MPEG-2 codec 109 generates MPEG-2 image data. Furthermore, an interface port 111 for connecting to the recording medium 112 and a connection port 106 of the bus 105 for transferring data with the first block 101 are further provided. In addition, the controller 110 has a buffer memory 113. The buffer memory 113 holds data transmitted from the first block 101.

  In the configuration of FIG. 1, different types of data from JPEG data and MPEG-2 data can be written to one recording medium 112. For example, when JPEG data generated in the first block 101 is written to the recording medium 112, the data generated by the JPEG codec 102 is converted from the interface port 104 by the controller 103 based on the specifications of the recording medium 112. To output.

  In the second block 107, the JPEG data is input from the connection port 106 by processing based on the specifications of the recording medium 112. The input data is once held in the buffer memory 113 in the controller 110. When input data exceeding a certain threshold is accumulated in the buffer memory 113, the controller 110 reads the input data from the buffer memory 113 and transfers the data to the recording medium 112. That is, the recording operation of the data input from the first block 101 is performed.

  By such a recording operation, the JPEG data of the first block 101 is transferred to the recording medium 112 and recorded. Further, when the MPEG-2 data in the second block 107 is transferred to the recording medium 112, the transfer is controlled using the controller 110.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the circuit configuration of the block 401 shown in FIG. 4 can be used to configure the first block 101 and the second block 107 of FIG. That is, when 401 and 407 in FIG. 4 are existing, the circuit configuration of the second block 107 in FIG. 1 is partially expanded, so that different types of JPEG data and MPEG-2 data as shown in FIG. A circuit configuration capable of writing data to one recording medium 112 can be realized.

  In the configuration of FIG. 1, only the second block 107 has a file system. In the configuration of FIG. 5 in which the file system is managed in each block, each time the data accessing the recording medium is switched between JPEG data and MPEG-2 data, both file systems must be synchronized. When the access to the recording medium is frequently switched, the file system synchronization processing greatly affects the speed of the entire system. In contrast to the configuration of FIG. 5, in the configuration of FIG. 1, only the second block 107 has the file system. Therefore, the file system synchronization processing does not occur, so that the speed of the entire system can be increased. . In the configuration of FIG. 1, the file system controller 108 controls the recording operations of the first block 101 and the second block 107.

  In the circuit configuration of FIG. 1, the data transfer state between the first block 101 and the second block 107 is not affected by the data recording state of the recording medium 112. For example, even when the recording medium 112 is finely fragmented, when data is transferred from the first block 101, data is continuously transmitted on the bus 105 in the same manner as when the recording medium is not fragmented. Can be transferred automatically.

  Here, a case where the recording medium 112 is an SD (Secure Digital) memory card will be described.

  As a data transfer method to the SD memory card, there are a single block write command and a multi-block write command which are write commands. Here, the single block write is a command for transferring one block (512 bytes) by one command. The multi-block write command is a command for transferring data for a plurality of blocks (a constant multiple of 512 bytes) to consecutive addresses.

  Usually, the amount of data transfer per unit time increases when more data is transferred continuously by a multi-block command write command. In other words, it leads to faster data transfer. Here, when a normal SD memory card is fragmented, a single block write command is used or a small number of blocks are continuously transferred by a multi-block write command. However, in the configuration of FIG. 1, since it is impossible to grasp information as to whether or not the recording medium 112 is directly fragmented from the first block 101, a multi-block write command is used for data transfer on the bus 105. Like that. Thereby, data corresponding to the capacity of the buffer memory 113 of the second block 107 can be transferred continuously. As a result, it is possible to achieve more efficient data transfer than managing the file system in each block.

  Further, in the data transfer between the controller 110 and the recording medium 112, the file system is managed by the second block 107, so that it is affected by the data recording status of the recording medium 112.

  However, a circuit for writing JPEG data and MPEG data to a recording medium can be realized by diverting the existing design assets of the first block 101 and adding a new second block 107 in FIG. Here, the second block 107 has a newly developed configuration. Therefore, it can be assumed that the controller 110 is more likely to be faster than the access speed to the recording medium of the controller 103 in the existing block 101 and the access speed to the recording medium of the controller 110 in the new block 107. Therefore, as described above, by increasing the data transfer efficiency of the bus 105, the data transfer efficiency of the entire circuit configuration shown in FIG. 1 can be increased.

(Second Embodiment)
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically showing a recording state of data on the recording medium. FIG. 2A shows a state where data is fragmented. FIG. 2 (a) shows a state where the amount of data recorded is equal to (a) but is recorded in order from the beginning. FIG. 2C shows a state in which no data is recorded on the recording medium. In addition, the entire recording capacity of the recording medium is from point A to point B in FIGS. Further, the blacked-out portion represents a portion where data is recorded, and the unfilled portion represents a portion where data is not recorded.

  In the state shown in FIGS. 2 (a) and 2 (c), continuous writing is possible because there is a large empty area in which no data is written. However, in the state as shown in FIG. 2A, it is indicated that continuous writing is impossible because the empty areas are finely distributed.

  FIG. 3 shows a circuit configuration of the data recording apparatus according to the present embodiment. 3 is a circuit configuration in which a file system controller 114 is newly added in the first block 101 to the circuit configuration of FIG. That is, the circuit configuration is such that the file system is managed in each of the first block 101 and the second block 107. In FIG. 3, blocks with the same reference numerals as those in FIG.

  The configuration of FIG. 3 is a configuration in the case of completely diverting the blocks 401 and 407 of FIG. 4 including the file system. The file system is also managed in the first block 101, and when reading the recording information of the data on the recording medium 112 from the first block 101, a pseudo file is transferred from the second block 107 to the first block 101. Send system information. Thus, the efficiency of data transfer is realized.

  Here, as pseudo file system information transferred from the second block 107 to the first block 101, regardless of the data recording status of the recording medium, for example, as shown in FIGS. Pseudo information indicating that a continuous area is available on the recording medium is sent.

  Normally, the file system area of the recording medium is read from the file system controller 114 when the apparatus is turned on and when the recording medium is connected. The case where the recording medium is connected indicates the case where the SD memory card is inserted into the slot, taking the case where the recording medium is an SD memory card as an example. Here, when the address of the file system area of the recording medium is designated, the data of the file system area of the recording medium is not read, but pseudo data is read in the second block 107. That is, control is performed so that pseudo data indicating that no directory or file is placed in the root directory is generated in a configuration equivalent to the data in the file system area of the recording medium, and the pseudo data is read out. To do.

  The file system controller 114 is provided with a cache for efficient processing, but it is necessary to read the file system area of the recording medium even when a cache miss occurs.

  Processing when a cache miss occurs will be described using the flowchart of FIG. In step S601, it is determined whether there is an access request for writing to or reading from the recording medium. If there is no access request, S601 is repeated. If there is an access request in S601, it is next determined in step S602 whether a cache miss has occurred.

  If no cache miss occurs in S602, the process returns to S601 and waits for the next access.

  If a cache miss occurs in S602, the cache data is written back to the recording medium 112 in step S603. In step S604, data in a desired file system area is read out, and the process returns to S601.

  When the data in the desired file system area shown in S604 is read, pseudo data indicating that no directory or file is placed in the root directory is generated in the second block 107 in FIG. 3 as described above. . Then, control is performed to read the pseudo data.

  With the above control, on the first block 101 side that has received pseudo information indicating that no directory or file is placed in the root directory, the recording medium recognizes that there is a continuously vacant area, Data can be transferred continuously.

  Data transferred from the first block 101 to the second block 107 via the bus 105 is stored in the buffer memory 113. Regarding the data transfer from the buffer memory 113 to the recording medium, the file system 108 manages the data transfer. As described above, the speed difference due to the performance difference between the controllers 103 and 110 is absorbed by the buffer memory 113. Therefore, the transfer speed of the bus 105 is improved by sending pseudo information to the block 101, thereby realizing an efficient transfer speed of the entire system.

1 is a block diagram of a circuit configuration of a data recording apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention. It is the schematic diagram which showed the data recording condition of the recording medium. It is a block diagram of the circuit structure of the data recording device which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram for demonstrating a prior art. It is a block diagram of an example which modified the prior art. It is a flowchart figure explaining a process when a cache miss arises.

Explanation of symbols

101 first block (first module)
102 JPEG codec 103 Controller 104 Interface port in the first block 105 Bus 106 Connection port 107 Second block (second module)
108 File System Controller 109 MPEG-2 Codec 110 Controller 111 Interface Port in Second Block 112 Recording Medium 113 Buffer Memory 114 File System Controller

Claims (3)

A first module having an interface port with a recording medium, and a controller for reading and writing data with respect to the recording medium;
An interface port with the recording medium, a controller for reading and writing data to the recording medium, a file system controller for managing a file system of the recording medium, a connection port with the first module, and an input from the connection port A data recording apparatus comprising: a second module having a buffer memory for holding the recorded data;
The interface port included in the first module and the connection port included in the second module are connected to record data from the first module on the recording medium via the second module; A data recording apparatus, wherein a recording operation is controlled by the file system controller. A first module having an interface port with a recording medium, a controller for reading and writing data to the recording medium, and a file system controller for managing a file system of the recording medium;
An interface port with the recording medium, a controller for reading and writing data to the recording medium, a file system controller for managing a file system of the recording medium, a connection port with the first module, and an input from the connection port A data recording apparatus comprising: a second module having a buffer memory for holding the recorded data;
The interface port included in the first module and the connection port included in the second module are connected to record data from the first module on the recording medium via the second module; When recording data from the first module, pseudo file system information is transmitted from a file system controller included in the second module to a file system controller included in the first module. Data recording device.   The data recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first module and the second module have image compression circuits that generate different image data.

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