JP2011113625A - Recording/reproducing device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To efficiently execute processing other than original processing for assisting user operation in a computer without affecting the user operation. <P>SOLUTION: The recording/reproducing device includes a detection section for detecting an access request from a host device (computer), and a built-in host controller controlling write/read of data recorded in the recording area of the recording/reproducing device. The device also includes an OS to process the data recorded in the recording/reproducing device when there is no access request from the host device to the recording/reproducing device. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

The present invention relates to a recording / reproducing apparatus.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-216445 (Patent Document 1)
In response to the “virus check method that does not place a heavy load on hardware that performs virus checks using a computer virus database”, the virus check is performed the first time using the data list stored in the FAT. A flag that has already been checked is attached to the data of the file that has been completed, and the virus check is performed only for the data of the file that has not been flagged the second time, and the data that has undergone the virus check has been rewritten. In that case, the virus check is performed by removing the flag, and the virus check can be performed by sorting from the new data of the time stamp indicating the file update date and time. " Is described.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-288224 (Patent Document 2)
In response to the problem of “providing a technique for executing processing other than the original processing for supporting user work in the processing device in the idle time of the processing device”, “a processing device that executes a predetermined process, Means for referring to the schedule information of the user to be used, means for determining the vacant time of such a processing device in which the user does not use the processing device based on the schedule information, and executing predetermined processing in the vacant time It is described that the solution means “is provided with an execution means”.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-216445 JP2003-288224

  Today, computers are popular and support users' work and daily life. Although the performance of computers has greatly improved, the amount of data to be processed has also increased, so it cannot be said that the processing capability is always in time for user work. Further, in addition to the original work for supporting the user work, various processes for properly maintaining the computer are executed. For example, with the widespread use of the Internet, various information can be exchanged on the Internet, but damage caused by computer viruses is unending. On the other hand, software for checking and removing computer viruses is used, and the user is required to perform operations such as periodic virus check processing and updating of virus pattern files used for virus check processing. In the virus check process, the inspection is performed by comparing the data to be inspected with the data pattern of the computer virus. In this process, the number of virus patterns is constantly increasing in order to cope with virus information discovered every day. In addition, an enormous computer virus database is required, which increases the processing load on the hardware. When a heavy processing is performed on a computer, the response speed of the user who uses the computer to the original work is often lowered, and the work efficiency of the user is often lowered. For example, Patent Literature 1 and Patent Literature 2 are known as load reduction techniques for this.

  In Patent Document 1, by reducing the number of times virus checking is performed, the amount of computer processing is reduced, and the load on the computer as a whole is reduced. However, since the virus check process is performed using a CPU (Central Processing Unit) of the computer, the load on the computer increases during the virus check process. Impact will occur.

  Patent Document 2 executes processing such as virus checking when the computer is idle. Therefore, for example, even if the computer has a plurality of recording / reproducing devices and only one recording / reproducing device is accessed, the other recording / reproducing device which is not accessed because the computer is in use Virus check cannot be performed for.

  An object of the present invention is to solve the above-described problems of the prior art and efficiently execute data processing on data recorded in a recording / reproducing apparatus without affecting the user's work.

  The above object is achieved by the invention described in the claims as an example.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to perform data processing with a large load such as virus check processing without affecting user operations.

It is a block diagram of a recording / reproducing apparatus. It is a processing flowchart of a recording / reproducing apparatus.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a recording / reproducing apparatus showing a first embodiment of the present invention. First, the configuration shown in the block diagram will be described. 000 indicates a host PC which is a host device, and 100 indicates a recording / reproducing apparatus capable of writing and reading data. Reference numeral 001 denotes a host controller that controls writing and reading of data with respect to the recording / reproducing apparatus 100 by the host PC 000. Although not shown, the host PC 000 has an OS (Operating System) and performs various calculations.

  The recording / reproducing apparatus 100 includes a CPU 101, a memory 102 for the CPU 101, an external interface unit (external I / F) 103 that communicates with the host PC 000, and a built-in host controller 104 that internally controls writing to and reading from the recording / reproducing apparatus 100. The host controller selection unit 105 for selecting one host controller, the recording area 106 for recording data, and the host controller selection unit 105 selected from the two host controllers of the host controller 001 and the built-in host controller 104 of the host PC 000. Whether there is an access request from the storage interface unit (storage I / F) 107, the CPU bus 108, and the host controller 001 that performs data transfer instructed by the host controller to the recording area 106 And a detection unit 109 for knowledge. The CPU 101 controls each unit in the recording / reproducing apparatus 100, and arrows in the figure indicate data communication between the units. Although not shown, the recording / reproducing apparatus 100 is also equipped with an OS (Operating System), and the recording / reproducing apparatus 100 can perform various calculations independently without using the host PC 000.

  Next, the operation of the recording / reproducing apparatus 100 will be described. When there is an access request from the host PC 000 to the recording / reproducing apparatus 100, the host controller selection unit 105 selects the host controller 001 as the host controller, and the recording area 106 performs data transfer in response to the request from the host controller 001. That is, it operates as a normal recording / reproducing apparatus connected to the host PC.

  When there is no access request from the host PC 000 to the recording / reproducing apparatus 100, the recording / reproducing apparatus 100 performs independent data processing on the recording area 106 without using the host PC 000. When there is no access request, data processing may be performed immediately, or data processing may be performed after a predetermined time has elapsed. This is because controllability and user convenience are improved. Next, the operation will be described by taking as an example the case where this data processing is, for example, virus check processing. When the detection unit 109 detects that an access request is not issued from the host PC 000, the host controller selection unit 105 selects the built-in host controller 104 as the host controller. The built-in host controller 104 issues an access request corresponding to the virus check process to the recording area 106 and reads necessary data to the memory 102. Then, the recording / reproducing apparatus 100 performs a virus check process on the read data. The result of the virus check process is notified to the user, for example, by outputting it to a predetermined area of the recording area 106. Here, when an access request is issued from the host PC 000 to the recording / reproducing apparatus 100 while the recording / reproducing apparatus 100 is independently performing the virus check process, the independent virus check process is interrupted or stopped. Control is performed so that the host controller 001 is selected as the host controller instead of the built-in host controller 104.

  FIG. 2 shows an operation flowchart of the recording / reproducing apparatus 100. First, the detecting unit 109 detects whether or not there is an access request from the host PC 100 to the recording / reproducing apparatus 100 (S201). If there is an access request, the host controller selection unit 105 next selects the host controller 001 as the host controller (S202). Next, the data recorded in the recording area 106 is transferred according to the request of the selected host controller (S203). In the next S204, the process ends if the transfer of all data necessary for the user operation is completed, and if not completed, the process returns to S203 to perform the necessary data transfer. Thereafter, S203 and S204 are repeated.

  Next, when there is no access request from the host PC 000 in S201, the host controller selection unit 105 selects the built-in host controller 104 as a host controller immediately or after a predetermined time has elapsed (S205). Next, the recording / reproducing apparatus 100 requests the recording area 106 through the built-in host controller 104 for data necessary for executing data processing internally, and transfers the data to the memory 102 of the recording / reproducing apparatus 100. (S206). Then, internal processing is performed on the data read to the memory 102 (S207). In step S208, the recording / reproducing apparatus 100 determines whether an access request has been newly issued from the host PC 000 to the recording / reproducing apparatus 100 while the internal processing is being performed. If there is an access request, the internal process is stopped or interrupted in S209, and the process proceeds to S202. If there is no access request from the host PC 000, it is determined in S210 whether all internal processes have been completed. If not, the process proceeds to S206 and the built-in host controller 104 again stores the necessary data in the recording area 106. Request and perform internal processing. If the processing is completed in S210, the processing in this flow is completed.

  In this way, the recording / reproducing apparatus 100 normally operates as a recording / reproducing apparatus connected to the host PC 000. When there is no access request from the host apparatus, the recording / reproducing apparatus 100 alone is used for the recording area 106 using the free time. Data processing such as virus check processing can be performed. If an access request is generated from the host PC 000 during data processing, the request can be prioritized. Further, since this data processing is processing not via the host PC 000, even if the user performs another processing on the host PC 000, it can be performed without affecting the user operation. In particular, in the case where the host PC 000 is equipped with a plurality of recording / playback devices such as HDD (Hard Disc Drive) or SSD (Solid State Drive), the number of recording / playback devices accessed by the user is limited, and access from the user is limited. There are recording / reproducing apparatuses that have not been requested, and there are many opportunities to perform data processing using the proposed method.

  In this embodiment, the virus check process is taken as an example. In addition to the virus check process, the process of clearing the actual state of the deleted computer file and the date and type of data are scanned to improve the data search performance. It can be applied to various processes such as an index creation process such as data size. When the data structure of the recording area 106 is changed, there is a possibility that it cannot be normally read from the host PC 000. Therefore, an area that can only be read is provided in the recording area 106 of the recording / reproducing apparatus 100, and the result of independent processing is provided there. Can be stored and presented to the host device when the host PC 000 is started up next time.

  Further, as a connection between the host PC 000 and the recording / reproducing apparatus 100, a communication means conforming to ATA (Advanced Technology Attachment), ATAPI (Advanced Technology Attachment Packet Interface), SATA (Serial Advanced Technology Attachment), or the like can be considered. By corresponding to these, ATA, ATAPI, and SATA commands can be issued directly from the host PC 000 to the recording / reproducing apparatus 100. Of course, you may connect by the means based on other communication standards.

  Next, a case where the recording / reproducing apparatus 100 is operated when the host PC 000 is not turned on will be described. First, the recording / reproducing apparatus 100 obtains power from the outside, not from the host PC 000. Then, the external I / F 103 determines whether the host PC 000 is powered on. As a determination method, for example, in the SATA or USB (Universal Serial Bus) standard, there is a power supply means through each cable. By checking the presence or absence of the power supply, it can be determined whether or not the host PC 000 is powered on. If the host PC 000 is not turned on, no access request is sent to the recording / reproducing apparatus 100 from the host PC 000. Therefore, the host controller selection unit 105 selects the built-in host controller 104 as the host controller, and the same as in the first embodiment. In addition, data processing within the recording / reproducing apparatus 100 can be performed. Further, since the host PC 000 and the recording / reproducing apparatus 100 are not connected, it is possible to stop power supply to the detection unit 109 to save power.

  By doing so, the recording / reproducing apparatus 100 can perform data processing independently even when the host PC 000 is not powered on.

  Note that whether or not the host PC 000 is powered on may be determined by another method rather than by the external I / F 103.

  Next, a case where the host PC 000 uses a cache memory will be described. Note that the cache memory is a memory for increasing the speed by storing frequently used data in a high-speed storage device, thereby eliminating waste of reading from the low-speed device. When this cache memory is used, the host PC 000 may edit the data of the recording / reproducing apparatus 100 recorded in the cache memory without directly accessing the data recorded in the recording / reproducing apparatus 100. There is. Therefore, the latest data is recorded on the cache memory, and the data recorded on the recording / reproducing apparatus 100 is not necessarily the latest. Therefore, the recording / reproducing apparatus is provided with means for confirming the cache memory status of the host PC 000. As a confirmation method, a special command may be issued from the host PC 000 and received by the external I / F 103 for recognition. Before the recording / reproducing apparatus 100 starts independent data processing, the state of the cache memory of the host PC 000 is confirmed. If the data of the recording / reproducing apparatus 100 does not exist in the cache memory, the data is recorded in the recording area 106. Data processing is performed on the data as described in the first embodiment. On the contrary, if the data of the recording / reproducing apparatus 100 exists in the cache memory, the data processing is not executed.

  Thus, by checking the state of the cache memory on the host PC 000 side, the old data recorded in the recording area 106 of the recording / reproducing apparatus 100 even though the updated data is recorded in the cache memory. It is possible to avoid a situation where data processing is performed on the.

  Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and can be embodied by modifying the components without departing from the scope of the invention in the implementation stage. Various inventions can be formed by appropriately combining a plurality of constituent elements disclosed in the embodiment. For example, some components may be deleted from all the components shown in the embodiment. Furthermore, the constituent elements over different embodiments may be appropriately combined.

000 host PC
001 Host Controller 100 Recording / Reproducing Device 101 CPU
102 Memory 103 External interface unit (external I / F)
104 Embedded Host Controller 105 Host Controller Selection Unit 106 Recording Area 107 Storage Interface Unit (Storage I / F)
108 CPU bus 109 detector

Claims (6)

A recording / reproducing apparatus for recording information in a recording area or reproducing information from the recording area,
An external interface unit that transmits and receives information to and from an external device;
A detection unit for detecting presence or absence of access from the external device;
A built-in host controller for controlling recording or reproduction in the recording area;
A host controller included in the external device and a controller selection unit that selects the built-in host controller;
The recording / reproducing apparatus, wherein the selection unit selects a controller according to the presence or absence of the access. The recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 1,
The recording / reproducing apparatus, wherein the external interface unit performs data communication conforming to ATA (Advanced Technology Attachment) and / or ATAPI (Advanced Technology Attachment Packet Interface) and / or SATA (Serial Advanced Technology Attachment). The recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein
The recording / reproducing apparatus is equipped with an OS,
A recording / reproducing apparatus that performs data processing on information recorded in the recording area by the OS. The recording / reproducing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The recording / reproducing apparatus can perform data processing on data recorded in the recording area by acquiring power from outside rather than from the external apparatus. The recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 4,
The recording / reproducing apparatus stops power supply to a unit necessary for data communication with the external apparatus. The recording / reproducing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
The external device has a cache memory;
The recording / reproducing apparatus includes means for confirming a status of the cache memory.

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