JP5150200B2 - Information management device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an information management device including a plurality of storage devices having different reliability.

  This type of management apparatus, such as an image forming apparatus (MFP), has a plurality of functions. Specifically, the MFP includes a printing function, a transmission function, and a storage function, and the storage function stores data read by a scanner or the like in an external storage device (for example, HDD). Note that the transmission function transmits the stored data, and the printing function prints the stored data.

This HDD is configured to be able to store a large amount of data for a long period of time, and with the increase in the amount of information in recent years, cases of storing data in the HDD are increasing.
On the other hand, the above-described management device includes a main storage device (for example, NVRAM) in addition to the HDD. This NVRAM is composed of semiconductor elements, and stores data such as various setting values used in the MFP.

  Thus, these HDD and NVRAM have the same function as a storage device. And when it has a some memory | storage device, the technique which distributes a preservation | save destination according to the importance etc. of data is known (for example, refer patent document 1).

JP 2001-75873 A

  By the way, the degree of importance of the above-mentioned data is not always constant and fluctuates at any time according to the subsequent trend. In other words, although the importance of data is naturally different between the time when it is stored in one of the storage devices and the time when a predetermined period elapses, in the above conventional technique, after the distribution to the storage destination Has a problem that the data cannot be exchanged, and this does not provide optimal performance.

  More specifically, the HDD records a large amount of data magnetically, whereas the NVRAM records a small amount of data electrically, and the HDD and NVRAM have completely different capacities and reliability. That is, in view of the reliability of the HDD, if a large amount of important data is stored in the HDD, the performance of the MFP is deteriorated. If the data is not stored in the HDD, the efficiency of the MFP is decreased. .

As described above, measures are required to change the data storage destination in accordance with the change in the importance of the data, but no special consideration is given to the conventional technology.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an information management apparatus that can solve the above-described problems and obtain an optimum performance corresponding to a change in the importance of data.

  A first invention for achieving the above object comprises an external storage device capable of storing predetermined information for a long period of time, a smaller capacity than the external storage device, and high reliability. A main storage device capable of storing information, and information exchanging means capable of exchanging information stored in the main storage device and information stored in the external storage device.

According to the first invention, the information management device includes the external storage device and the main storage device, and the external storage device can store a large amount of information for a long period of time. On the other hand, the main storage device has higher reliability than the external storage device, but has a small storage capacity.
Here, the information management device includes an information replacement unit, and the information replacement unit is configured to be able to replace the information stored in the main storage device and the information stored in the external storage device.

  Therefore, the information can be dynamically replaced as compared with the conventional case, that is, the information once stored in any one of the storage devices can be replaced along the subsequent trend. As a result, for example, highly important information can be stored again in a highly reliable main storage device, and less important information can be stored again in an unreliable external storage device, and the information management device can obtain optimum performance. Is possible.

According to a second invention, in the configuration of the first invention, the main storage device is configured to be able to store predetermined information using a semiconductor element.
According to the second invention, in addition to the operation of the first invention, the main memory device is configured so as to be able to electrically store information using a semiconductor element. It is possible to store information that is definitely higher and more important than.

The third invention further includes rank setting means for sequentially setting ranks to predetermined information in the configurations of the first and second inventions, while information set to a higher rank is stored in the main storage device. The information set to a lower rank is stored in an external storage device.
According to the third invention, in addition to the operations of the first and second inventions, ranks of predetermined information are sequentially set by the rank discriminating means. High-rank information with high importance is stored in the main storage device, low-rank information with low importance is stored in the external storage device, and each storage device stores data corresponding to its reliability. Therefore, it contributes to the acquisition of optimal performance.

A fourth invention is characterized in that, in the configuration of the third invention, information set to a higher rank is also stored in an external storage device.
According to the fourth invention, in addition to the action of the third invention, if information set at a higher rank is stored in the external storage device in addition to the main storage device, it is used as backup information. Become available.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the configuration of the third or fourth aspect, when there is free space in the main storage device, the number of times the information stored in the main storage device is used is stored in the external storage device. When the number of times of use is less than the number of times of use, the information replacement means saves information with a large number of times of use saved in the external storage device in the main memory instead of information with a low number of times of use saved in the main memory. Features.
According to the fifth invention, in addition to the effects of the third and fourth inventions, the information exchanging means further stores the information stored in the main storage device on the condition that there is a free space in the main storage device. When the number of uses is less than the number of uses of information stored in the external storage device, the information stored in the external storage device is stored in the main storage instead of the information stored in the main storage device with a small number of uses. Stored on the device.

  In other words, even if a problem occurs in the external storage device and the data in the external storage device cannot be read, the information that is frequently used is already stored in the main storage device by the above replacement, and the information management device Makes it easier to reacquire information that is more important than in the past. Therefore, optimum performance can be obtained with certainty.

According to a sixth aspect of the invention, in the configuration of the fifth aspect of the invention, the information stored in the external storage device among the information stored in the main storage device is deleted from the main storage device by storing in the main storage device. Information with a small number of uses is stored in advance in an external storage device when information is registered in the management device.
According to the sixth invention, in addition to the operation of the fifth invention, the information stored in the external storage device is stored in the main storage device, so that the number of times of use stored in the main storage device so far can be determined. Although a small amount of information is deleted from the main storage device, the information is stored in advance in the external storage device when the information is registered in the management device, and remains in the external storage device. Therefore, this point also contributes to obtaining optimal performance.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the information management apparatus which can obtain optimal performance can be provided by replacing the information once preserve | saved at each memory | storage device according to the future trend.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an information management system according to this embodiment. The system 1 is configured by using a network 2 such as a LAN, for example, and includes an image forming apparatus (information management apparatus) 4. And a plurality of client PCs 6 are connected to each other.

  FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of the image forming apparatus. The apparatus 4 is connected to the network 2 via the network interface 26 and further connected to a public line. The apparatus 4 is a digital multi-function peripheral, which is a so-called multiple function peripheral (hereinafter referred to as MFP). The MFP 4 executes various operations in accordance with program instructions.

The MFP 4 includes, for example, a printing function, a transmission function, and a storage function.
More specifically, the HDD (external storage device) 36 of this embodiment magnetically processes a document read by the scanner unit 22, a document transmitted from the client PC 6, and a document received by the FAX communication unit 24, respectively. And has a storage function having a capacity of about 40 to 80 GB, for example.

On the other hand, the FAX communication unit 24 also has a transmission function, and transmits a document stored in the HDD 36 to a destination. The print engine 20 prints a document stored in the HDD 36 and has a printing function.
The print engine 20 includes an automatic document feeder (ASF) that transports a document to an image reading position of the scanner unit 22, a sheet supply unit that supplies a sheet, an image forming unit that transfers an image to a sheet, and a sheet that has been transferred. Are connected to a post-processing device that performs sorting, punching, stapling, and the like.

In addition, the MFP 4 includes an operation panel 28. In addition to buttons for touch operation, the panel 28 displays character information, a guidance image, and the like, and is configured to accept user operations.
On the other hand, the MFP 4 includes an NVRAM (main storage device) 30 as an example of a nonvolatile memory using a semiconductor element. The NVRAM 30 has a capacity of about 256 MB, for example, and is configured to be able to electrically record setting values and various programs associated with printing. Further, the NVRAM 30 of the present embodiment also has a free area for storing data (predetermined information) described later, and the data is also electrically recorded.

  Various operations of the MFP 4 are controlled by the controller 10. The controller 10 is an element that functions as a computer and has hardware resources such as a CPU. The controller 10 uses the hardware resources to execute a predetermined program and operates the print engine 20, the scanner unit 22, and the FAX communication unit 24 described above.

Here, the HDD 36 of this embodiment has a document box area 38 and a user management area 40 as shown in FIG. The document box area 38 stores the above-described various documents, and the user management area 40 stores address books related to a plurality of users who operate the client PCs 6.
On the other hand, the address book can be stored in the empty area of the NVRAM 30 described above.

  Specifically, the NVRAM 30 has a free area for storing this address book in advance, and first has a high rank area 32 (FIG. 3). The NVRAM 30 in FIG. 5 also has a low rank area 34. This low rank area 34 is an area formed when the high rank area 32 does not satisfy all of the empty areas.

  In addition, each data of the address book of this embodiment includes the user identification information such as the user name and the e-mail address, the rank indicating the data security level, and the number of times the data is used attached to the user identification information. Is retained (FIG. 4). This rank corresponds to the importance of the user listed in the address book and is set for the user who operates each client PC 6.

In other words, in the present embodiment, the address book data relating to important users is set at a high rank, and is determined to be guaranteed. The data set to the rank high is always stored in the rank high area 32.
On the other hand, unimportant user data is set to a low rank, and is judged as a level that is normally guaranteed. The data set to the low rank is stored in the user management area 40 of the HDD 36 in principle. However, if free space remains in the NVRAM 30, it is also stored in the low rank area 34.

This is because the NVRAM 30 is more reliable than the HDD 36, and if the NVRAM 30 has enough free space, the performance of the MFP 4 can be improved by storing as much data as possible in the NVRAM 30. It leads to improvement.
For example, the low rank area 34 is divided according to the number of times of use N (FIG. 3), and the rank low area 34 is an expansion of the high rank area 32 even if the data is set to low rank. Is stored in the low rank area 34 on the condition that it has not disappeared.

Here, the number N of times of use is used for determining the importance after the rank. Specifically, the usage count N is the data reference / update frequency after registration in the MFP 4. If the ranks are the same, the importance of the data is determined based on the number of times of use N.
Returning to FIG. 2 again, the controller 10 of this embodiment includes a data replacement unit (information replacement unit) 12, a rank setting unit (rank setting unit) 14, and a rank determination unit 16.

First, the rank setting unit 14 sets the above-described rank when the address book data is registered in the MFP 4. In addition, the rank setting unit 14 increases the number of uses N when the MFP 4 refers to or updates data.
Next, the rank discriminating unit 16 discriminates the magnitude of the rank and the changing use frequency N and outputs the result to the data exchanging unit 12.

Then, the data replacement unit 12 replaces the data stored in the NVRAM 30 and the data stored in the HDD 36 on condition that an empty area remains in the low rank area 34.
More specifically, FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 show processing that the program causes the controller 10 to execute. Hereinafter, the operation according to the present invention of the MFP 4 configured as described above will be described.

First, FIG. 5 shows distribution at the time of registering data in the MFP 4. In step S 501 in FIG. 5, the rank determination unit 16 determines the rank of the data in the address book set for the user via the rank setting unit 14. Determine.
Here, when the rank of the data is low, that is, when the rank determination unit 16 determines YES, the process proceeds to step S502, and the controller 10 determines whether or not there is an empty area in the low rank area 34. If no free area remains in the low rank area 34, that is, if it is determined YES, the process proceeds to step S503, and the controller 10 stores the data in the HDD 36 and exits a series of routines.

On the other hand, when the rank of the data is high in step S501, the process proceeds to step S504, where the controller 10 stores the data in the NVRAM 30 and exits a series of routines.
Further, when an empty area remains in the low rank area 34 in step S502, the process proceeds to step S504, where the controller 10 stores the data in the NVRAM 30 and exits a series of routines. This is because even if the data is low in rank, if the data is stored in the highly reliable NVRAM 30, the number of data that can be reliably protected increases. However, the data in this case is backed up in the low rank area 34 and also stored in the HDD 36 in a duplicated manner.

Next, FIG. 6 shows distribution at the time of referring to or updating data to the MFP 4.
In step S601 in the figure, the rank setting unit 14 increases the number of times of use N by one each when the address book data is referred to or updated.

  In step S602, the rank determination unit 16 determines the rank of the data. If the rank of the data is low, that is, if it is determined YES, the process proceeds to step S603, and the controller 10 has a free area in the low rank area 34. It is determined whether or not. If no free area remains in the low rank area 34, the process proceeds to step S604, where the controller 10 stores the data in the HDD 36 and exits a series of routines.

On the other hand, when the rank of the data is high in step S602, the process proceeds to step S607, and the controller 10 saves the data in the NVRAM 30 and exits a series of routines as in the above registration.
However, when an empty area remains in the low rank area 34 in step S603, the process proceeds to step S605.

In step S605, the rank determination unit 16 reads the current minimum use count Nmin in the low rank region 34 and proceeds to step S606, and determines whether or not the use count N of the data is smaller than the minimum use count Nmin. Is determined.
If the number of uses N is smaller than the minimum number of uses Nmin, that is, if it is determined YES, the process proceeds to step S604. That is, in this case, since the level to be stored in the NVRAM 30 has not yet been reached, the controller 10 stores the data in the HDD 36 and exits a series of routines.

On the other hand, in step S606, when the number N of use of the data is larger than the minimum use number Nmin, the data has reached a level to be stored in the NVRAM 30.
In step S607, the data replacement unit 12 deletes the data corresponding to the minimum use count Nmin from the NVRAM 30, and saves the data corresponding to the use count N in the NVRAM 30 in place of the data corresponding to the use count Nmin. And exit a series of routines.

  As described above, according to this embodiment, the MFP 4 includes the HDD 36 and the NVRAM 30. Although the HDD 36 can store a large amount of data for a long period of time, the HDD 36 magnetically records the data, so its reliability is lower than that of the NVRAM 30. On the other hand, the NVRAM 30 can electrically store information using a semiconductor element, and its reliability is higher than that of the HDD 36, but its storage capacity is small.

Here, the MFP 4 includes a data replacement unit 12, and the replacement unit 12 is configured to be able to replace the data stored in the HDD 36 and the data stored in the NVRAM 30.
Therefore, the data can be dynamically replaced as compared with the conventional case, that is, the data once stored in the HDD 36 or the NVRAM 30 can be replaced according to the subsequent trend. As a result, for example, highly important data is stored again in the highly reliable NVRAM 30, and less important data is stored again in the less reliable HDD 36, and the HDD 36 and the NVRAM 30 store data corresponding to the reliability. The MFP 4 can obtain optimum performance.

The rank setting unit 14 sets the rank of each data when registering the data in the MFP 4, and further increases the use count N of each data when referring to or updating the data to the MFP 4.
Then, when there is free space in the low rank area 34 of the NVRAM 30, the data replacement unit 12 uses this number of times when the number of times of use of the data stored in the NVRAM 30 is less than the number of times of use of the data stored in the HDD 36 Data with less data is deleted from the low rank region 34. At the same time, in place of the small number of uses stored in the NVRAM 30, data having a large number of uses stored in the HDD 36 is stored in the NVRAM 30.

That is, even if a malfunction occurs in the HDD 36 and the data in the HDD 36 cannot be read, data with a large number of uses is already stored in the NVRAM 30 by the above-described replacement. You can protect a lot of necessary data.
Furthermore, since data with a small number of uses deleted from the low rank area 34 is also stored in the HDD 36 at the time of data registration in the MFP 4, the data deleted from the low rank area 34 is reacquired. Is possible. Therefore, this point also contributes to improving the reliability of the MFP 4.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the claims.
For example, in the above-described embodiment, address book data is shown as an example of information, but the present invention is not necessarily limited to this form, and documents and images can be handled in the same manner.

  In the above-described embodiment, rank high data is stored only in the rank high area 32. However, the data may be stored in both the high rank area 32 and the HDD 36. This is because the information stored in the HDD 36 in this case can be used as backup information for the NVRAM 30.

  Further, in the above-described embodiment, the NVRAM 30 is used as the main storage device. However, the main storage device of the present invention may be a non-volatile memory such as FLASH, for example, and may be another main storage device as long as the reliability is higher than that of the HDD 36. The above-described semiconductor element is used. However, the present invention is not necessarily limited to the main storage device.

Furthermore, the above-described MFP 4 is an example of an information management device, and the present invention can be employed in various devices capable of managing information.
In any of these cases, as described above, there is an effect that optimum performance is obtained in response to fluctuations in the importance of data.

It is a block diagram of the information management system which concerns on a present Example. It is a schematic block diagram of MFP of FIG. It is a schematic block diagram of NVRAM of FIG. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of data stored in the MFP of FIG. 2. It is a flowchart at the time of registration by the controller of FIG. It is a flowchart at the time of the reference time and update by the controller of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

4 MFP (information management device)
10 controller 12 data exchange unit (information exchange means)
14 Rank setting section (rank setting means)
16 rank discriminating unit 30 NVRAM (main storage device)
36 HDD (external storage device)

Claims (4)

An external storage device capable of storing predetermined information for a long time;
A main storage device configured to have a smaller capacity and higher reliability than the external storage device and store the predetermined information;
Information exchanging means capable of exchanging information stored in the main storage device and information stored in the external storage device ;
And rank setting means for sequentially setting a rank in the predetermined information,
Information set to a higher rank is stored in the main storage device, while information set to a lower rank is stored in the external storage device and stored in the main storage device according to the free capacity of the main storage device. Are also stored,
The information replacement means includes
An information management apparatus characterized in that information set in the lower rank is used as an object of replacement as information stored in the main storage device and the external storage device. The information management device according to claim 1,
The main storage device is configured to be capable of storing the predetermined information using a semiconductor element. The information management device according to claim 1 or 2,
The information which is set to a higher rank information management apparatus characterized that you have also stored in the external storage device. The information management device according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
When there is free space in the main storage device, when the number of uses of information stored in the main storage device is less than the number of uses of information stored in the external storage device,
Wherein the information interchange unit, instead of the main memory less information of the saved use count to, characterized that you save more information of the usage count stored in the external storage device to the main storage unit Information management device.

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