JP2009163845A - Data storage and communication system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a data storage for securing remaining capacity of a storage medium without moving data used frequently from the storage medium, and to provide a communication system. <P>SOLUTION: A navigation apparatus mounted on a vehicle has a music server function for recording music on a hard disk HDD for management, and moves music data for securing the remaining capacity of the HDD. When the vehicle returns home (S110-YES), the music data is moved by connecting to a home server through a radio LAN (S120) by detecting low-frequency music data (S150) through retrieving a recorded music management DB when the remaining capacity is less than a threshold N (S140-YES), and by moving the music data to a network storage connected to the home server (S170), so that the capacity of the HDD remains at least at the threshold N. A write error during drive can be prevented by setting a larger threshold N as vibration applied to the HDD during drive is larger. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention includes a storage medium capable of storing a large number of data, a data storage device for portable or mobile objects that reads data from the storage medium and writes data to the storage medium, and data in the device It is related with the communication system suitable for moving.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a recording / reproducing apparatus that records audio data and video data on a storage medium such as a hard disk and reads the data from the storage medium and reproduces audio and video as necessary is known (for example, Patent Document 1). Etc.).

  In addition, in such an apparatus for writing data to a storage medium, when the remaining capacity for writing data to the storage medium decreases, it is already stored in the storage medium as in 1) and 2) below. It has also been proposed to increase the remaining capacity by processing a part of the data.

  1) Search the data stored in the storage medium for data that has not been used for a predetermined period of time, compress the data, store it in the compressed data storage area of the storage medium, and further store the original data before compression. Is deleted from the storage medium to increase the free space (remaining capacity) of the storage medium (see, for example, Patent Document 2).

2) When the remaining capacity of the storage medium (memory) is less than the capacity required to store the image data, the oldest image data stored in the storage medium is moved to the mail server, and the remaining capacity of the storage medium is increased. (See, for example, Patent Document 3).
JP 2002-218393 A JP-A-9-219647 JP 2005-269254 A

  However, in order to increase the remaining capacity of the storage medium, as in 1) above, in the method of compressing and re-storing a part of the data stored in the storage medium, the storage area per data is reduced by compressing the data. Although the number can be reduced, the number of data stored in the storage medium cannot be reduced, so the more data stored in the storage medium, the more compressed data, and finally There is a problem that the remaining capacity of the storage medium cannot be increased.

  On the other hand, in the method of moving a part of the data stored in the storage medium to the mail server as in 2) above, the number of data stored in the storage medium can be reduced by the movement of the data. The remaining capacity of the medium can be surely reduced.

  However, in the method 2), since the oldest data stored in the storage medium is moved to the mail server, even frequently used data that is frequently read from the storage medium is moved to the mail server. (In other words, it is erased from the storage medium), and there is a problem that the usability becomes worse for the user.

  The present invention has been made in view of these problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a data storage device and a communication system that can ensure the remaining capacity of a storage medium without moving frequently used data from the storage medium. And

  The data storage device according to claim 1, which has been made to achieve the above object, is extracted when the remaining capacity of the storage medium becomes less than a preset threshold value by storing data in the storage medium. The means determines that, and extracts data with low usage frequency from the data stored in the storage medium, and the moving means externally extracts the extracted data with low usage frequency via the communication means. Move to storage.

  Therefore, according to the first aspect of the present invention, when the remaining capacity of the storage medium becomes less than the threshold, a part of the data in the storage medium is moved to the external storage device, and the remaining capacity of the storage medium Can be prevented from erasing frequently used data from the storage medium in order to secure the remaining capacity of the storage medium. Therefore, according to the present invention, the usability of the data storage device can be improved.

  Next, in the data storage device according to claim 2, the communication means accesses the external storage device connected to the external server by performing wireless communication with the external server installed in a specific place. When the data storage device approaches the external server, the communication start unit activates the communication unit to start communication with the external server.

  For this reason, according to the data storage device of the second aspect, when the communication means can perform wireless communication with the external server, the communication means can be automatically connected to the external server. For this reason, when the remaining capacity of the storage medium is less than the threshold value, the movement of the data to the external storage device by the moving means can be executed more quickly, and the storage medium is insufficient due to the shortage of the remaining capacity of the storage medium. Thus, it is possible to better prevent the data from being stored.

  In the data storage device according to claim 2, for example, a home server on a home network built in the home of the user of the data storage device is registered as an external server with which the communication means performs wireless communication. Then, when the user (or the user's vehicle) of the data storage device returns to his / her home, the infrequently used data stored in the storage medium is stored in the desired storage on the home network via the home server. It is possible to automatically move the device (external storage device) to ensure the remaining capacity of the storage medium.

  Note that a wireless LAN may be used for the wireless communication performed by the communication unit with the home server. That is, the wireless LAN can be easily realized by providing an access point on the home server, and the data storage device only needs to be provided with a communication terminal for the wireless LAN, so that the present invention can be easily realized. .

On the other hand, a data storage device according to a third aspect of the present invention includes a hard disk as a storage medium, is used by being mounted on a vehicle, and includes a first threshold setting unit.
The first threshold value setting means monitors the running state of the vehicle that gives vibration to the storage medium during the running of the vehicle, and based on the monitoring result, the running state of the vehicle is a running state that easily gives vibration to the storage medium. A threshold value of the remaining capacity used by the extraction unit for data extraction is set so that the value increases as the value increases.

  In other words, even if there is a free space in the hard disk where data can be stored, if the space is dispersed, a data write error is likely to occur, and this write error is caused by the hard disk (in other words, the vehicle). The greater the vibration, the more likely it is to occur.

  Therefore, in the present invention, the running condition of the vehicle preferred by the vehicle driver is detected by monitoring the running condition of the vehicle while the vehicle is running, so that an error in writing to the hard disk does not occur under the running condition. In addition, a threshold value for the remaining capacity used by the extraction means for data extraction is set.

  As a result, according to the present invention, as the vehicle driving state preferred by the vehicle driver is a driving state in which the storage medium is more likely to vibrate, the remaining capacity in the hard disk, that is, continuous data can be stored continuously. It is possible to secure a larger storage area and reduce the probability that a write error will occur when the vehicle is running.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a data storage device comprising a hard disk as a storage medium, mounted on a vehicle and used with a vehicle navigation device, and further comprising a second threshold setting means. Features.

  The second threshold value setting means has a rough road database in which locations where data writing errors to the storage medium are likely to occur during traveling of the vehicle are registered, and the planned traveling route to the destination by the navigation device Is calculated, a portion where the data writing error is likely to occur on the planned traveling route is detected by comparing the planned traveling route with the rough road database, and an error is likely to occur based on the detection result. The remaining capacity threshold is set so that the value increases as the number of locations increases.

  Therefore, according to the present invention, when data is written to the storage medium when the vehicle is traveling along the planned travel route, the continuous storage area is insufficient in the storage medium, and the data is written. The probability that an error will occur can be reduced.

  The rough road database may be prepared in advance, but as described in claim 5, when an error occurs in writing data to the storage medium while the vehicle is running, By providing the rough road database update means for detecting the current position of the vehicle and registering it in the rough road database, it is not necessary to prepare the rough road database in advance. The data storage device of the invention can be easily realized.

  Next, the data storage device according to claim 6 is provided with storage means for acquiring new data from the external storage device via the communication means and storing it in the storage medium. For this reason, according to the sixth aspect of the present invention, among the data stored in the storage medium, the data with low usage frequency is moved to the external storage device, and the remaining capacity of the storage medium is secured above the threshold value. In addition, by taking in new data in the external storage device into the storage medium, the data in the storage medium can be automatically updated to a new one.

  Next, when the data storage device according to any of claims 1 to 6 approaches an external server such as the home server described above, the invention according to claim 7 The present invention relates to a communication system for moving infrequently used data to an external storage device connected to an external server by performing wireless communication, and maintaining the remaining capacity of the storage medium in the data storage device above a threshold value. is there.

  This communication system is provided with a plurality of external servers distributed in different places, and one of the external servers is a home server installed at the home of the user of the data storage device It is composed of. Further, the home server acquires data moved by the data storage device from another external server, and stores it in the external storage device connected to the home server.

  According to this communication system, the data storage device has a plurality of external servers that are used to move data that is less frequently used, so that the remaining capacity of the storage medium is less than the threshold in the data storage device. After that, it is possible to shorten the time until data that is less frequently used is moved to the external storage device (in other words, the time when data cannot be stored due to the decrease in the remaining capacity of the storage medium).

  Further, since the data moved by the data storage device to the external server is collected at the home server installed at the home of the user of the data storage device and stored in the external storage device at home, the use of the data storage device The person can easily process the data at home.

Embodiments to which the present invention is applied will be described below with reference to the drawings.
[First Embodiment]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the entire communication system according to the first embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the communication system of this embodiment includes a navigation device 10 mounted on a vehicle (automobile) 2 and a home server 30 installed at the home of the user of the vehicle.

  The navigation device 10 includes a GPS receiver 12 for detecting the current position of the vehicle, a display unit 14 for displaying various images, a speaker 16 for reproducing voice and music for driving guidance, and various commands issued by the user. An operation unit 18 for inputting information, a hard disk (HDD) 20 for storing various information such as a map, and a control unit (comprising a microcomputer) 22 connected to these units to execute various controls, This is a known device that displays a road map on a display unit or guides a travel route based on a command from an occupant.

  Further, the navigation device 10 of the present embodiment is provided with a CD / DVD player 24 for reading information such as music and video from a CD or DVD, and the control unit 22 follows the command from the operation unit 18. / The DVD player 24 is controlled to read information, and music and video are reproduced via the speaker 16 and the display unit 14.

  Further, the control unit 22 converts music data stored in the CD or DVD into music data of a format that can be stored in the HDD 20 in accordance with a command from the operation unit 18 and records (rips) the music data in the HDD 20. The management database (recorded music management DB) is generated / updated, and music data recorded on the HDD 20 is reproduced, additional information such as a song name is edited, and a list of recorded music is displayed.

That is, the navigation device 10 of the present embodiment also has a function as a so-called music server.
The recorded song management DB is for each recorded song, song name, song length (time), data size, album name, artist name, genre name, release date, recording date, playback count, last access, etc. (Reproduction / editing) This is for managing dates and the like, and is stored in a predetermined area of the HDD 20.

  Furthermore, the navigation device 10 of the present embodiment is provided with a communication unit 26 having a function as a wireless LAN communication terminal. When the vehicle 2 returns to the user's home, the communication unit 26 is Thus, various information can be exchanged with the home server 30 installed at the home of the user.

The control unit 22 is also connected to a vehicle ignition (IG) switch 6 and a vehicle speed sensor 8 so that the vehicle running state and the engine driving state can be detected.
On the other hand, the home server 30 is provided on a home network (LAN) built at a user's home, and other devices on the home network, such as a personal computer (PC) 32, a network storage 34, and a printer 36. Data communication can be performed with each other.

  The home server 30 also has a function as a wireless LAN access point (AP), and connects a network device accessed via the wireless LAN to another device on the home network, or a home network device. Are controlled via a wireless LAN.

  Then, if there is a connection request via the wireless LAN from the communication unit 26 of the navigation device 10 to which connection is permitted in advance, the home server 30 permits the connection of the communication unit 26 to the home network. It becomes possible to access devices on the home network (such as the network storage 34).

Next, FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing song data movement processing executed by the control unit 22 of the navigation device 10.
This music data movement process uses the music server function of the navigation device 10 to record various kinds of music (music data) on the HDD 20 and when the remaining capacity of the HDD 20 decreases, This is a process for moving a part of the song data to the network storage 34 on the home network so that new music can be recorded on the HDD 20, and when the ignition switch 6 is on (that is, the engine is running) This is repeatedly executed as one of the main routines when the navigation device 10 is powered on.

  As shown in FIG. 2, in the music data movement process, first, in S110 (S represents a step), based on the current position of the vehicle detected by the GPS receiver 12, whether or not the vehicle is near the home, In other words, it is determined whether or not communication with the home server 30 at home is possible via the communication unit 26. If the vehicle is not near the home, the determination process of S110 is executed again to wait for the vehicle to move near the home.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in S110 that the vehicle is near the home and can communicate with the home server 30 at home, the process proceeds to S120, and the navigation device 10 is connected to the home server 30 (extension) via the communication unit 26. Connected to the home network).

In the subsequent S130, the remaining capacity of the HDD 20 is confirmed. In S140, it is determined whether or not the remaining capacity is less than a preset threshold value N [Bytes].
If it is determined in S140 that the remaining capacity of the HDD 20 is equal to or greater than the threshold value N [Bytes], it is not necessary to secure the remaining capacity by moving the song data in the HDD 20, so the song data moving process is temporarily terminated. To do.

  Conversely, if it is determined in S140 that the remaining capacity of the HDD 20 is less than the threshold value N [Bytes], the process proceeds to S150, the recorded music management DB in the HDD 20 is searched, and the home network storage 34 is retrieved. The recorded music management DB search process for extracting music data to be moved to is executed.

  As shown in FIG. 2, in the recorded music management DB search process, first, in S210, the counter i is initially set to a value of 0, and in the subsequent S220, the value of the counter i is incremented (+1), and then the process goes to S230. Thus, it is determined whether or not the value of the counter i is equal to or less than the total number of recorded songs registered in the recorded song management DB.

  If the value of the counter i is equal to or less than the total number of recorded songs, the process proceeds to S240, and the management information of the i-th recorded song corresponding to the value of the counter i (specifically, the management information) The recording date, the last access date, and the number of times of reproduction) are read, and in S250 to 270, the use frequency of the i-th recorded music is determined based on the read management information.

  That is, in S250, it is determined whether or not X days or more have elapsed from the recording date of the i-th recording song to the present. If X days or more have not elapsed from the recording date to the present, the usage frequency of the recording song is If it is determined that it is high, the process proceeds to S220. If X days or more have elapsed from the recording date to the present, the process proceeds to S260.

  Next, in S260, it is determined whether or not a predetermined number of days (Y days) has passed since the last access date to the recorded song, and if not more than Y days have passed since the last access date, It is determined that the frequency of use is high, the process proceeds to S220, and if more than Y days have elapsed from the last access date to the present, the process proceeds to S270.

  In S270, it is determined whether or not the number of times the recorded song is played is less than a predetermined number (Z times). If the number of times the recorded song is played is equal to or greater than Z times, it is determined that the frequency of use of the recorded song is high. , The process moves to S220, and if the number of playback times of the recorded song is less than Z times, it is determined that the use frequency of the recorded song is low, and the process moves to S280, and the i-th recorded song is moved to the home network storage 34 The corresponding song is set as the song to be recorded, and the recorded song management DB search process is terminated.

  In S230, if it is determined that the value of the counter i exceeds the total number of recorded songs registered in the recorded song management DB, there is no less frequently used recorded song to be moved to the home network storage 34. As a thing, the recording music management DB search process is terminated.

When the recorded music management DB search process is executed as described above, this time, the process proceeds to S160, and it is determined whether there is a corresponding music to be moved to the network storage 34 at home.
If there is no corresponding song, the music data moving process is temporarily terminated. If there is a corresponding song, the process proceeds to S170, and the song data of the corresponding song is transferred via the communication unit 26 and the home server 30. It moves to the network storage 34 at home and shifts to S130 again.

  That is, if the song data of the corresponding song is moved to the network storage 34, the remaining capacity of the HDD 20 increases by the amount of the song data, but the remaining capacity is not necessarily equal to or greater than the threshold value N, so the process proceeds to S130 again. The processes after S130 are executed again.

  Note that the music data movement process is a process that is repeatedly executed by the control unit 22 when the ignition switch 6 is on (that is, the engine is running) and the navigation device 10 is turned on. When the ignition switch 6 is turned off while moving the song data to the network storage 34, the navigation device 10 is not turned off. After the movement of the song data is completed, the navigation device 10 is turned off. Has been.

  As described above, the navigation device 10 of the present embodiment has a music server function for recording and reproducing music on the HDD 20. When the remaining capacity of the HDD 20 becomes less than the threshold N due to music recording or the like, the music stored in the HDD 20 is restored when the vehicle returns to the home and can perform wireless communication with the home server 30. By moving a part of the data to the network storage 34 at home, the remaining capacity of the HDD 20 is maintained at a threshold N or higher that allows new recording sound of music.

  In the navigation device 10, song data to be moved from the HDD 20 to the home network storage 34 is song data with low usage frequency. Even if the remaining capacity of the HDD 20 is less than the threshold value N, song data with low usage frequency is stored. Otherwise, the music data is not moved to the network storage 34.

  For this reason, according to the navigation device 10 of the present embodiment, when the remaining capacity of the HDD 20 becomes less than the threshold value N, a part of the music piece data is moved to the network storage 34, and the remaining capacity of the HDD 20 is equal to or greater than the threshold value N. In addition, in order to secure the remaining capacity of the HDD 20, it is possible to prevent erasing of frequently used song data from the HDD 20, thereby improving the usability of the user.

  In the present embodiment, the navigation device 10 corresponds to the data storage device of the present invention, the HDD 20 corresponds to the storage medium of the present invention, and the communication unit 26 corresponds to the communication means of the present invention. Further, the song data moving process executed in the control unit 22 corresponds to the moving means of the present invention, and the recorded song management DB search process executed in S150 of the song data moving process corresponds to the extracting means of the present invention. Similarly, the processing of S110 and S120 corresponds to the communication start means of the present invention. The home server 30 at home corresponds to the external server of the present invention, and the network storage 34 corresponds to the external storage device of the present invention.

Next, a modification of the first embodiment will be described.
[Modification 1]
In the navigation device 10 of the above-described embodiment, music is recorded on the HDD 20 in order to realize the function as a music server. However, if the HDD 20 has scattered free areas where data can be stored, a data write error occurs. In addition, the writing error is more likely to occur as the vibration of the HDD 20 (in other words, the vehicle) increases.

For this reason, in order to prevent a writing error from occurring during recording of music, it is desirable to increase the remaining capacity of the HDD 20 as the vibration of the vehicle increases.
Therefore, when recording music while the vehicle is running, the location where the writing error has occurred is detected by executing the rough road database (bad road DB) construction process shown in FIG. When the planned travel route is set before the departure of the vehicle from the home by the travel guidance function of the navigation device 10, the threshold setting process shown in FIG. It is preferable to detect a place where a write error is likely to occur on the planned travel route and set a threshold N for determining the remaining amount of the HDD 20 based on the detection result.

  That is, in the rough road DB construction process, it is determined whether or not a writing error has occurred during recording of music (S310), and if a writing error has occurred, vehicle position information is acquired from the GPS receiver 12 (S320). Then, the acquired position information is written into the rough road DB (S330), thereby generating / updating the rough road DB.

  Further, in the threshold setting process, the latest rough road DB generated and updated by the rough road DB construction process is read (S410), and the rough road DB and the planned travel route are collated to write on the planned travel route. The location of the rough road where an error is likely to occur is specified (S420), the number of the locations is calculated (S430), and the number of the locations and a preset threshold calculation coefficient are used to perform music data movement processing. A threshold value N for determining the remaining capacity of the HDD 20 is set (S440).

  In this way, the music data movement process can be executed using the threshold value N set according to the number of bad roads on the planned travel route before the vehicle leaves the home. Then, when the user records music on the HDD 20 while the vehicle is running, it is possible to prevent a write error from occurring due to a shortage of the remaining capacity of the HDD 20.

The rough road DB construction process shown in FIG. 3 corresponds to the rough road database update means of the present invention, and the threshold value setting process similarly corresponds to the second threshold value setting means of the present invention.
[Modification 2]
Next, since the modified example 1 is a technique for setting the threshold N according to the road state of the planned travel route when the planned travel route of the vehicle is set by the function of the navigation device 10, the planned travel route When is not set, the standard threshold value N that is normally used is used. If this threshold value N is fixed to a constant value regardless of the type of vehicle and the user, it is conceivable that a writing error tends to occur during traveling depending on the vehicle.

Therefore, while the vehicle is running, the vibration of the vehicle (in other words, the HDD 20) causing the write error may be detected, and the threshold value N may be set based on the detection result.
Specifically, as illustrated in FIG. 4, the acceleration applied to the vehicle (more preferably, the acceleration applied to the front, back, left, and right) is measured using an acceleration sensor (G sensor) while the vehicle is running (S510). Then, the average value of the acceleration (specifically, the average value of the peak of acceleration: average G) is calculated (S520), and the calculated average G is used as a parameter representing the magnitude of vibration generated during vehicle travel. The threshold value setting process may be executed in the procedure of setting a threshold value N that is a vehicle-specific reference using a threshold calculation coefficient (S530).

  In this way, even if the driving state of the vehicle preferred by the vehicle driver is a driving state in which the storage medium is likely to vibrate or the vehicle itself is likely to vibrate, depending on the vibration state. As the vehicle tends to vibrate, the threshold value N of the remaining capacity is set to a larger value, and an error in writing to the HDD 20 is prevented while the vehicle is traveling without unnecessarily increasing the remaining capacity of the HDD 20. become able to.

The threshold setting process shown in FIG. 4 corresponds to the first threshold setting means of the present invention.
[Modification 3]
Next, in the above embodiment, when the vehicle is near home and the navigation device 10 can wirelessly communicate with the home server 30, in order to secure the remaining capacity of the HDD 20, one piece of music data stored in the HDD 20 is stored. However, in addition to the movement of the song data, a process for acquiring new data (such as newly recorded song data) from the network storage 34 and writing it to the HDD 20 is executed. You may make it do.

  Specifically, as shown in FIG. 5, in the music data movement process, if a negative determination (NO) is made in S140, new music data to be loaded into the HDD 20 in the network storage 34 is stored in S180. Judge whether there is.

  If it is determined in S180 that there is new song data to be loaded into the network storage 34, the process proceeds to S190, the song data is acquired from the network storage 34, stored in the HDD 20, and then the process proceeds to S130. Transition. Conversely, if it is determined in S180 that there is no new song data to be loaded into the network storage 34, the song data movement process is terminated.

  If the music data moving process is executed in this way, a part of the music data stored in the HDD 20 can be moved to the home network storage 34, and the remaining capacity of the HDD 20 can be ensured to be equal to or greater than the threshold value N. Instead, new song data stored in the network storage 34 can be automatically taken into the HDD 20 and the song data in the HDD 20 can be automatically updated.

In FIG. 5, the processing of S180 and S190 corresponds to the storage means of the present invention.
Here, in the flowcharts of FIGS. 1 and 5, if it is determined in S160 that there is no corresponding song to be moved, the song data moving process is temporarily terminated. In this case, however, the remaining capacity of the HDD 20 is limited. A notification process for notifying that the amount is small, or a process of prompting the user to specify a song to be moved because the remaining capacity of the HDD 20 is small, and then a process for moving the specified song may be executed.
[Second Embodiment]
Next, in the above embodiment, the navigation device 10 moves part of the song data in the HDD 20 to the network storage 34 by performing wireless communication with the home server 30 installed at the user's home. In the above description, the remaining capacity of the HDD 20 is ensured to be equal to or greater than the threshold N. Since it cannot be moved to the home network storage 34, there is no choice but to delete a part of the song data in the HDD 20, which is inconvenient.

  Therefore, in order to prevent such a problem, as illustrated in FIG. 6, the storage servers 40 that can store the song data transmitted from the navigation device 10 are distributed and arranged along the road on which the vehicle travels. The management server 50 manages the position of each storage server 40 and the music data stored in each storage server 40, so that the music data moved (uploaded) to the storage server by the navigation device 10 mounted on the vehicle 2 is stored. The home server 30 corresponding to the navigation device 10 may be automatically acquired (downloaded).

Hereinafter, the communication system shown in FIG. 6 configured as described above will be described as a second embodiment of the present invention.
In the following description, the home server 30, the storage server 40, and the management server 50 are accessible to each other using a wide area network such as a telephone line or the Internet, and are installed in the vehicle 2. 10 includes a communication apparatus for accessing the management server 50 via a wireless communication line such as a mobile phone in addition to the configuration shown in FIG.

  Similarly to the home server 30, the storage server 40 has a function as a wireless LAN access point and can be accessed from the navigation device 10 using the wireless LAN.

  As in the first embodiment, the navigation device 10 executes the music data movement process shown in FIG. 2 or FIG. 5 and when it can be connected to the home server 30 via the wireless LAN (S110: YES), the steps after S120 are performed. By executing the processing, a part of the music piece data is directly moved to the network storage 34 so that the remaining capacity of the HDD 20 is equal to or greater than the threshold value N. Conversely, when the home server 30 cannot be connected (S110: NO) The music data movement process shown in FIG. 7 is executed.

In the music data movement process of FIG. 7, first, in S510, the remaining capacity of the HDD 20 is confirmed, and in S520, it is determined whether or not the remaining capacity is less than a preset threshold value N.
If the remaining capacity of the HDD 20 is less than the threshold value N, the process proceeds to S530 to execute the recorded music management DB search process in the same procedure as S150 shown in FIG. It is determined whether there is music data (corresponding music) to be moved for securing.

  If there is a corresponding song, the process proceeds to S550, the song data of the corresponding song is set for movement, and the remaining capacity of the HDD 20 is reduced by the data size of the song data of the corresponding song. Update and go to S520 again.

That is, in S520 to S550, music data to be moved in order to make the remaining capacity of the HDD 20 equal to or greater than the threshold value N is extracted from music data with a low usage frequency.
Next, if it is determined in S520 that the remaining capacity of the HDD 20 is equal to or greater than the threshold value N, or if it is determined in S540 that there is no corresponding song to be moved, the process proceeds to S560 and the above S550 is performed. It is determined whether or not there is music data set for movement at.

  If it is determined in S560 that there is no music data for movement, the music data movement process is temporarily terminated. Conversely, if it is determined that there is music data for movement, the process proceeds to S570, and the management server 50 By connecting to the management server 50 via the communication device for connection and transmitting the current position of the vehicle, a search for the storage server 40 accessible by the host vehicle is requested.

  Then, the management server 50 searches the storage server database (storage server DB) in which the installation position of the storage server 40 is registered by executing the movement storage server search process shown in FIG. The storage server arranged around the vehicle that requested the search is detected (S720), and the search result is transmitted to the requested vehicle (S730).

  For this reason, on the navigation device 10 side, after requesting the management server 50 to search the storage server 40 in S 570, the process proceeds to S 580 and the search result of the storage server 40 is transmitted from the management server 50. When the search result is transmitted, the search result is stored, and then the connection with the management server 50 is cut off.

  In subsequent S590, based on the search result acquired from the management server 50, it is determined whether or not there is a storage server 40 that can communicate with the wireless LAN around the host vehicle, and the storage server 40 that can communicate around the host vehicle. If there is not, the process proceeds to S570 again. Note that the reason for shifting to S570 in this manner is that the storage server 40 that can communicate with the vehicle moves out.

  Next, when it is determined in S590 that there is a storage server 40 that can communicate with the wireless LAN around the host vehicle, the process proceeds to S600, and the storage server 40 is transmitted via the wireless LAN communication unit 26. In step S610, all the song data set for movement in S550 and the address information of the home server corresponding to the host vehicle are sent to the storage server 40 side. Stored in an external storage device such as a hard disk. The navigation device 10 deletes the moving song data transmitted to the storage device on the storage server 40 side from the HDD 20.

  When all the music data for movement in the HDD 20 are moved to the storage server 40 in this way, the connection with the storage server 40 is cut off in S620, and the music data movement process is temporarily ended.

  As a result, in the navigation device 10, when the remaining capacity of the HDD 20 becomes less than the threshold N, the song data that is less frequently used is moved to the home network storage 34 via the home server 30 to increase the remaining capacity of the HDD 20. Not only can this be performed, but song data that is less frequently used is moved to a storage device (external storage device) provided in the storage server 40 that is distributed along the vehicle's travel path, thereby increasing the remaining capacity of the HDD 20. can do. Therefore, in the navigation device 10, it is possible to better prevent the remaining capacity of the HDD 20 from being reduced and music from being newly recorded.

Next, the home server 30 periodically executes the data collection process shown in FIG.
In this data collection process, the music data moved to the storage server 40 by the navigation device 10 of the vehicle 2 corresponding to the home server 30 to secure the remaining capacity of the HDD 20 is collected from each storage server 40 and the network of the home This is a process for re-saving in the storage 34.

  Then, when this data collection process is started, the home server 30 is connected to the management server 50 and the address information of the home server 30 itself is transmitted to save the data addressed to the server at S810. The search for the storage server 40 is requested.

  Then, the management server 50 activates the data storage / accumulation server search process shown in FIG. 8, and stores whether or not the data addressed to the home server 30 that requested the search is stored in the storage servers 40 distributed in each area. Is received (S910), and a response from each storage server 40 is received to detect a data storage / storage server storing data addressed to the home server 30 (S920), and the detection result (that is, data storage / storage) Server) is notified to the home server 30 that requested the search (S930).

  For this reason, on the home server 30 side, after requesting the management server 50 to search the storage server 40 in S810, the process proceeds to S820, and the search result of the storage server 40 is transmitted from the management server 50. When the search result is transmitted, the search result is stored, and then the connection with the management server 50 is cut off.

  In subsequent S830, based on the search result acquired from the management server 50, whether or not there is a storage server 40 that stores transmission data (music data) from the navigation device 10 of the vehicle 2 corresponding to the home server 30. If there is no storage server 40 storing the data, the data collection process is terminated.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in S830 that there is a storage server 40 that stores data addressed to its own server, the process proceeds to S840 to connect to the data storage storage server and request transfer of data addressed to its own server. Send.

  Then, after transmitting the transfer request, the process proceeds to S850, where the data transmitted from the storage server 40 is received and stored in the network storage 34, and then the connection with the storage server is cut off. End the data collection process.

  Thus, in this embodiment, when the navigation device 10 of the vehicle 2 moves part of the song data in the HDD 20 to the storage server 40 installed at a location different from the home, the home corresponding to the navigation device 10 is used. The server 30 acquires music data from the storage server 40 and stores it in the network storage 34 at home. Therefore, the user of the navigation device 10 can easily process the song data moved from the HDD 20 of the navigation device 10 at home.

As mentioned above, although embodiment and the modification of this invention were demonstrated, this invention is not limited to the said description, A various aspect can be taken in the range which does not deviate from the summary of this invention.
For example, in the above description, the case where the data storage device of the present invention is applied to the navigation device 10 mounted on the vehicle 2 has been described, but the present invention may be applied to an in-vehicle device other than the navigation device 10, You may apply to a portable data storage device.

  In the above embodiment, a data storage device (navigation device) that includes the HDD 20 (hard disk) as a storage medium and records and reproduces music on the HDD 20 has been described. However, as a data storage device, A memory device such as a flash memory may be provided, or data other than music may be stored.

It is a block diagram showing the structure of the whole communication system of 1st Embodiment. It is a flowchart showing a music data movement process and a recording station management DB search process. It is a flowchart showing the rough road DB construction process and threshold value setting process of the modification 1. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a threshold setting process according to Modification 2. It is a flowchart showing the music data movement process of the modification 3. It is explanatory drawing showing schematic structure of the communication system of 2nd Embodiment. It is a flowchart showing the music data movement process of 2nd Embodiment. It is a flowchart showing the data collection process performed with the home server of 2nd Embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 2 ... Vehicle, 6 ... Ignition switch, 8 ... Vehicle speed sensor, 10 ... Navigation device, 12 ... GPS receiver, 14 ... Display part, 16 ... Speaker, 18 ... Operation part, 20 ... Hard disk (HDD), 22 ... Control part 24 ... CD / DVD player, 26 ... communication unit, 30 ... home server, 34 ... network storage, 40 ... storage server, 50 ... management server.

Claims (7)

A portable or mobile data storage device comprising a storage medium capable of storing a large number of data, reading data from the storage medium, and writing data to the storage medium,
A communication means for transmitting / receiving data to / from an external storage device by wireless communication;
It is determined whether or not the remaining capacity of the storage medium is less than a preset threshold, and if the remaining capacity is less than the threshold, data with low usage frequency is extracted from the data stored in the storage medium Extraction means to
Moving means for moving infrequently used data extracted by the extracting means to an external storage device via the communication means;
A data storage device comprising: The communication means is configured to be able to access an external storage device connected to the external server by performing wireless communication with an external server installed in a specific place,
2. The data storage device according to claim 1, further comprising a communication start unit that activates the communication unit to start communication with the external server when the data storage device approaches the external server. . The data storage device includes a hard disk as the storage medium and is used by being mounted on a vehicle.
Further, the vehicle traveling state that gives vibration to the storage medium during vehicle traveling is monitored, and based on the monitoring result, the value increases as the traveling state of the vehicle is a traveling state in which vibration is easily applied to the storage medium. 3. The data storage device according to claim 1, further comprising first threshold value setting means for setting a threshold value of a remaining capacity used by the extraction means for data extraction. The data storage device includes a hard disk as the storage medium, and is used with a vehicle navigation device mounted on a vehicle.
Further, the vehicle has a rough road database in which locations of bad roads where data writing errors are likely to occur during travel of the vehicle are registered, and when the planned travel route to the destination is calculated by the navigation device, the travel By comparing the planned route with the rough road database, a location where a data write error is likely to occur on the planned travel route is detected, and based on the detection result, the value increases as there are more locations where a write error is likely to occur. The data storage according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising a second threshold value setting means for setting a threshold value of a remaining capacity used by the extraction means for data extraction so as to increase. apparatus.   Rough road database update means for updating the rough road database by detecting the current position of the vehicle and registering it in the rough road database when an error occurs in writing data to the storage medium while the vehicle is running; The data storage device according to claim 4, further comprising:   6. The data storage device according to claim 1, further comprising storage means for acquiring new data from the external storage device via the communication means and storing the new data in the storage medium. A data storage device according to any one of claims 1 to 6;
A plurality of external servers distributed in different locations, and
When the data storage device approaches one of the external servers, wireless communication is performed with the approached external server, whereby infrequently used data is transferred to the external storage device connected to the external server. A communication system that moves and holds the remaining capacity of the storage medium in the data storage device above a threshold value,
One of the external servers is a home server installed at a home of a user of the data storage device, the home server acquires data moved by the data storage device from another external server, and A communication system characterized by storing in an external storage device connected to a home server.

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