JP3136996B2 - Storage device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates is intended that related <br/> to storage equipment having a storage means comprising a plurality of storage elements that may occur a malfunction by repeating rewriting of stored contents is there.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In general, a RAM with a power backup is used as a memory capable of storing a large amount of data without losing data even when the power is cut off.

In recent years, EEPROM has been used as a relatively inexpensive memory that can store a large amount of data without losing data even when the power is turned off.

Some of such EEPROMs or RAMs have a possibility that, when data rewriting is repeated, the storage elements will not function properly due to their life and malfunction.

Conventionally, the storage area of a memory is divided into a plurality of blocks, and if writing or erasing is not performed normally due to the occurrence of an abnormality in a part or all of the storage elements of the block, the block is subsequently used. I was trying not to.

More specifically, by using a buffer memory having a storage capacity equal to the storage capacity of one block of the memory, the contents of the buffer memory are written into one block of the memory. The contents of the buffer memory were written again to another block.

[0007]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional method, a buffer memory having a storage capacity equal to the storage capacity of one block of the memory is required. Had become.

The present invention has been proposed in view of the above points, and has a storage capable of reducing the storage capacity of a temporary storage means for temporarily storing data until the data is normally stored in the storage means. It is an object of the present invention to provide the equipment.

[0009]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a storage device comprising a plurality of storage elements which may cause an operation failure by repeatedly rewriting storage contents. A storage unit in which a storage area is divided into a plurality of blocks, a temporary storage unit for temporarily storing data to be stored in the storage unit, and a block for storing data temporarily stored in the temporary storage unit. By repeating the operation of storing at least two times, a series of data is stored in at least two blocks. If at least two blocks of these blocks store data normally, at least Of the two blocks, leave one block and use the other block to store the next data.
It is characterized in that a storage control means for controlled so.

According to this storage device, the writing of data into at least two blocks of the storage means is performed at least twice for each block, so that the storage capacity of the temporary storage means can be reduced. Manufacturing costs can be reduced. For example, if data writing to at least two blocks of the storage means is performed twice for each block, the storage capacity of the temporary storage means may be half of the storage capacity of each block of the storage means. As described above, the storage capacity of the temporary storage unit can be reduced by half as compared with the case where the storage capacity of the temporary storage unit is required as much as the storage capacity of each block of the storage unit. Of course, at least two of the storage means
If the writing of data to one block is performed a larger number of times for each block, the storage capacity of the temporary storage means can be further reduced.

The storage means may be an EEPROM or a part of a RAM, but is not limited thereto.
The present invention can be generally applied to a storage unit including a large number of storage elements that cause an operation failure by repeating the rewriting of the stored content a predetermined number of times or more.

The temporary storage means may be, for example, a RAM, but is not limited to this. It is preferable that the temporary storage unit does not cause a malfunction even by repeatedly rewriting the storage contents.

[0013] The storage control means can be realized, for example, by operating the CPU based on a predetermined program. This storage control means may erase data in another block while leaving one block immediately after confirming that the data has been normally stored in one block, or may thereafter erase the data in another block. May be performed by overwriting new data. In the case of overwriting new data, if an erasable block can be determined by, for example, setting a flag, a block that needs to be saved is not accidentally overwritten.

Although it is preferable that the number of blocks of the storage means for storing the same data is large from the viewpoint of completely eliminating storage errors, it is considered that the probability that an abnormality occurs in a plurality of blocks at the same time is very low. In practice, two are sufficient.

The determination of abnormality of the storage element constituting the storage means may be performed for each minimum unit of writing from the temporary storage means to the block of the storage means, or the contents of the temporary storage means may be stored in the block of the storage means. It may be performed every time all data is written, or may be performed in block units after all data has been written into blocks of the storage means. Of course, the abnormality of the storage element constituting the storage unit is determined for each minimum unit of writing from the temporary storage unit to the block of the storage unit, or every time the contents of the temporary storage unit are completely written to the block of the storage unit. In this case, if an abnormality has occurred in the storage element, writing to the block including the storage element in which the abnormality has occurred may be stopped at the time when the abnormality is determined.

A storage device according to a second aspect of the present invention is the storage device according to the first aspect, wherein the storage control means stores the data temporarily stored in the temporary storage means in at least the storage means. The operation of storing data in two blocks is performed for each minimum writing unit of data in each block.

According to this storage device, in addition to the effect of the storage device according to the first aspect, data is written from the temporary storage unit to each block of the storage unit for each minimum write unit of data. The storage capacity can be reduced to the limit. For example, if the minimum write unit of data to each block of the storage means is 32 bytes, the storage capacity of the temporary storage means is 32 bytes.

Further, the storage device according to the third aspect of the present invention is the storage device according to the first or second aspect,
If a block in which a series of data is not normally stored occurs, the storage control unit does not write data to the block thereafter.

According to this storage device, in addition to the effect of the storage device according to the first or second aspect, if an operation failure occurs in the storage element, access to a block including the storage element is performed thereafter. Since there is no data, a plurality of blocks to which data has been written do not store a series of data properly, so that a situation in which rewriting is necessary is not caused, and the storage operation can be performed quickly.

[0020]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be specifically described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a circuit block diagram of a main part of a facsimile apparatus provided with a storage device according to the present invention. This facsimile apparatus includes a CPU 1, an NCU 2, a RAM 3,
Modem 4, ROM 5, EEPROM 6, gate array 7, codec 8, buffer memory 9, reading unit 11, recording unit 12, operation unit 13, display unit 14, handset 1
5 and a speaker 16. CPU1, NC
U2, RAM3, modem 4, ROM5, EEPROM
6, the gate array 7, the codec 8, and the buffer memory 9 are mutually connected by a bus line. The bus lines include an address bus, a data bus, and a control signal line. The gate array 7 includes a reading unit 11, a recording unit 12,
The operation unit 13 and the display unit 14 are connected. NC
U2 has modem 4, codec 8, handset 1
5, speaker 16, and telephone line 21 are connected.

The CPU 1 controls the entire facsimile machine. The NCU 2 is connected to the telephone line 21 and performs network control. The RAM 3 stores various digital data. The modem 4 performs modulation of transmission data and demodulation of reception data. The ROM 5 stores various programs and data. The EEPROM 6 stores various registration data, flags, received facsimile data received in the memory,
Voice data such as a response message or a received message in the answering machine mode is stored. Gate array 7
Functions as an input / output interface of the CPU 1. The codec 8 encodes transmission facsimile data and decodes reception facsimile data, compresses and expands audio data, and performs mutual conversion between audio signals and audio data. The buffer memory 9 has an EEPR
The data to be stored in the OM 6 is temporarily stored. The reading unit 11 includes a light source, a CCD sensor, a document feed motor, and the like, reads a document, and outputs an image signal. The recording unit 12 records an image on recording paper based on the image data. The operation unit 13 includes a key switch group and the like, and outputs an operation signal according to a user operation. The display unit 14 includes an LCD or the like, and performs various displays under the control of the CPU 1. The handset 15 is for a user to perform transmission and reception, and includes a speaker and a microphone. The speaker 16 reproduces the received voice recorded by answering machine.

That is, the EEPROM 6 is composed of a large number of storage elements which may cause a malfunction due to repeated rewriting of the stored contents, and constitutes storage means in which the storage area is divided into a plurality of blocks. The buffer memory 9 constitutes temporary storage means for temporarily storing data to be stored in the EEPROM 6. CPU1
The operation of storing data temporarily stored in the buffer memory 9 in a block of the EEPROM 6 is repeated at least twice by operating based on a predetermined program stored in the ROM 5, so that at least A storage control unit that stores a series of data in two blocks is realized. The ROM 5 repeats the operation of storing the data temporarily stored in the buffer memory 9 in the block of the EEPROM 6 at least twice, and
A series of data is stored in at least two blocks of the EPROM 6, and if at least two of these blocks store a series of data normally, one of the at least two blocks is stored in the EPROM 6. This constitutes a storage medium storing a program including a storage control program capable of erasing data of other blocks while leaving it.

Next, the essential points of the operation of the facsimile apparatus configured as described above will be described. First, in the memory reception mode, the facsimile reception signal input to the NCU 2 via the telephone line 21 is demodulated by the modem 4. The facsimile reception data extracted by the modem 4 is sequentially stored in the buffer memory 9. The buffer memory 9 has a storage capacity of, for example, 32 bytes, which corresponds to a minimum unit of writing to the EEPROM 6. When 32-byte facsimile reception data is stored in the buffer memory 9, the facsimile reception data is stored in, for example, a first block and a second block of the EEPROM 6. The EEPROM 6 is divided into a large number of blocks, and it is possible to determine whether or not writing has been normally performed in each block unit. Each block is divided into a large number of master pages, and each master page is divided into a large number of pages, and each page has a capacity of 32 bytes. Write and read addresses are specified by specifying a block, a master page, and a page. When the above operation is repeated and the first and second blocks become full or reception is completed, it is determined whether or not facsimile reception data has been normally stored in the first block. , The stored contents of the second block are erased. If facsimile reception is continued, EE
Facsimile reception data is stored in the second and third blocks of the PROM 6.

If facsimile reception data is not normally stored in the first block, it is determined whether or not facsimile reception data is normally stored in the second block. The fact that facsimile reception data is stored in the second block and the fact that the first block is abnormal are stored in a predetermined block of the EEPROM 6, and thereafter, the first block is not accessed. Then, if the facsimile reception is further continued, the facsimile reception data is stored in the third block and the fourth block of the EEPROM 6.

If facsimile reception data is not normally stored in both the first block and the second block,
The fact that the data could not be stored and the fact that the first and second blocks are abnormal are stored in predetermined blocks of the EEPROM 6, and thereafter the first and second blocks are not accessed. Also, a command indicating that a reception error has occurred is transmitted to the facsimile machine on the calling side.

In the answering machine mode, the telephone line 21
The audio signal input to the NCU 2 via the
, And are sequentially compressed and stored in the buffer memory 9. Subsequent memory operations are:
This is the same as in the case of the memory reception mode. If the voice signal is not normally stored in both the first block and the second block, a voice message indicating that the voice signal could not be stored is transmitted to the calling telephone device.

Next, the procedure of the storage processing in the memory reception mode and the answering machine mode as described above will be described.
This will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

First, the CPU 1 determines whether there is data to be stored (S1). Specifically, modem 4
It is checked whether there is facsimile reception data demodulated by the above or voice data compressed by the codec 8. If there is data to be stored (S1: YE
S), the CPU 1 stores the data in the buffer memory 9 (S2). Then, the CPU 1 sets the buffer memory 9
Is determined whether or not is full (S3). That is, since data is stored in the buffer memory 9 one byte at a time, the buffer memory 9 becomes full when data is stored in the buffer memory 9 32 times. When the buffer memory 9 becomes full (S
3: YES), the CPU 1 writes the contents of the buffer memory 9 into the first block of the EEPROM 6 (S4),
Further, writing is also performed on the second block (S5).

Then, the CPU 1 determines whether the first and second blocks are full of memory (S6).
That is, it can be determined for each block whether or not the writing to the EEPROM 6 has been performed normally.
Then, it is checked whether or not the writing to the second block has been completed. If the first and second blocks are full of memory (S6: YES), the CPU 1 determines whether the writing to the first block has been performed normally (S7). That is, it is checked whether or not the first block of the EEPROM 6 stores the contents of the buffer memory 9 correctly. If the writing to the first block has been performed normally (S7: YES), the CPU 1 sets the EEPRO
The contents of the second block of M6 are erased (S8), and this routine ends. That is, the first of the EEPROM 6
Since the data has been normally stored in the block, the second block having the same storage content is unnecessary, and is erased.

In S7, if writing to the first block has not been performed normally (S7: NO), EEP
The CPU 1 determines that some or all of the storage elements constituting the first block of the ROM 6 have been damaged, and stores the fact that the first block is abnormal in a predetermined block of the EEPROM 6 (S9). This is to prevent access to the first block thereafter. And C
PU1 determines whether or not writing to the second block has been normally performed (S10). That is, EEPRO
It is checked whether the second block of M6 stores the contents of the buffer memory 9 correctly. If writing to the second block has been performed normally (S10: YES),
This routine ends. That is, since the data is normally stored in the second block of the EEPROM 6, there is no problem even if the storage of the first block having the same storage content is abnormal. Of course, information indicating that the content that should be stored in the first block is stored in the second block is stored in a predetermined block of the EEPROM 6. This is to store information that is necessary at the time of reading and that the next block to be written is from the third block.

In S10, if writing to the second block has not been performed normally (S10: NO), E
The CPU 1 determines that some or all of the storage elements constituting the second block of the EPROM 6 have been damaged, and
The fact that this block is abnormal is stored in a predetermined block of the EEPROM 6 (S11). This is to prevent access to the second block thereafter. Further, when facsimile data is being received, a command indicating that a reception error has occurred is transmitted to the call destination facsimile device, and when a voice signal is being received, a command is normally transmitted to the call destination telephone device. A voice message indicating that the recording could not be performed may be transmitted. By doing so, it is possible to notify that the received content was not correctly stored in the call destination. However, it is considered that the probability that the first block and the second block of the EEPROM 6 become abnormal at the same time is very low in probability. Therefore, it is not always necessary to perform such a measure. It is not always necessary to determine whether the writing to the block has been performed normally.

In S6, if the first and second blocks are not full of memory (S6: NO), CP
U1 determines whether the storage is completed (S12).
Specifically, it is checked whether the facsimile reception or the reception of the voice signal has been completed. That is, the EEPROM
Since the reception may be completed before the first and second blocks of No. 6 are not full of memory, it is checked. If the storage is completed (S12: YES), S
Proceeding to step 7, the processing after the judgment of normal or abnormal writing is executed. If the storage is not completed (S12: N
O), returning to S1 to continue writing to the first and second blocks.

Of course, if reception continues even if the first and second blocks become full, the above routine will be repeated again. At this time, if the data is normally stored in the first block, the data is written to the second and third blocks in the next routine, but if the data is not normally stored in the first block, In the next routine, data is written to the third and fourth blocks.

In the above embodiment, the EEPROM 6
Although the same data is written in the two blocks described above, the same data may be written in three or more blocks of the EEPROM 6. Even in this case, after confirming that the data is normally stored in one block, the same data written in the other blocks is of course erased.

Further, in the above embodiment, when it is confirmed that data is normally stored in the first block (S
7: YES), the data of the second block was erased (S8), but when it was confirmed that the data was properly stored in the data of the first block, the data of the second block was not erased. When overwriting another new data, the data of the second block may be erased as a result. In this case, a flag may be set to determine that the data of the second block may be erased.

Further, in the above embodiment, the memory abnormality is
The determination was made after all data writing to the block of the EPROM 6 was completed.
It may be performed every time data is written to the block of OM6. Further, when the storage capacity of the buffer memory 9 is set to be larger than 32 bytes, the abnormality of the storage may be determined every time the entire contents of the buffer memory 9 are written to the block of the EEPROM 6.

In the above embodiment, the EEPROM 6
Although the example of storing data in the RAM 3 has been described, the RAM 3
Of course, the present invention can also be applied to a case where a power supply is backed up and data is stored in the RAM 3.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the present invention is applied to the facsimile apparatus. However, the storage apparatus of the present invention is not limited to the facsimile apparatus, but may be any storage apparatus that needs to store digital data securely. Applicable to

[0040]

As described above, according to the storage device of the first aspect of the present invention, data is written into at least two blocks of the storage means at least twice for each block. In addition, the storage capacity of the temporary storage means can be reduced, and as a result, the manufacturing cost can be reduced.

According to the storage device of the second aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effect of the storage device of the first aspect, in addition to the effect of the minimum write unit of data, the temporary storage unit stores the data in each block of the storage unit. Since the data is written, the storage capacity of the temporary storage means can be reduced to the limit.

According to the storage device of the third aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effect of the storage device of the first or second aspect, if an operation failure occurs in the storage element, the storage device is thereafter stored. Since access to the block including the element is not performed, there is no situation in which all of the blocks to which data is written do not store a series of data properly and thus need to be rewritten, The storage operation can be performed quickly.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a circuit block diagram of a main part of a facsimile apparatus including a storage device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of a storage process performed by the facsimile apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 CPU 2 NCU 3 RAM 4 Modem 5 ROM 6 EEPROM 7 Gate array 8 Codec 9 Buffer memory

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G06F 12/16

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A storage unit comprising a large number of storage elements that may cause an operation failure by repeatedly rewriting storage contents, a storage unit having a storage area divided into a plurality of blocks, and data to be stored in the storage unit. By temporarily storing the data temporarily stored in the temporary storage means in a block of the storage means at least twice, thereby temporarily storing the data in at least two blocks. A series of data is stored, and if at least two of these blocks successfully store the data, one of the at least two blocks is left to the next block .
A storage device, comprising: storage control means for performing control for storing data. 2. The storage control unit according to claim 1, further comprising an operation of storing data temporarily stored in said temporary storage unit in at least two blocks of said storage unit. The storage device according to claim 1, wherein the storage device performs the calculation for each unit. 3. The storage control unit according to claim 1, wherein, when a block in which the series of data is not stored normally occurs, the storage control unit does not write data to the block thereafter. Storage device.