JPH01319820A - Memory medium control system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve the use efficiency of a medium by determining the number of physical sectors to reproduce actually with a control means by the address of the physical block to reproduce by an address converting part. CONSTITUTION:An address converting part 2 to convert a recording reproducing instruction by a logical block address from a file control part 1 to a recording reproducing instruction for the corresponding physical sector is provided. For the instruction from the file control part 1 to control data in the logical block unit of a constant size, the number of the physical sectors to reproduce by the address of the logical block is determined by the address converting part 2. Consequently, without limitation by the logical block size, only the necessary physical sector part can be recorded and reproduced by matching to the information quantity to be recorded. Thus, the memory medium can be used wastelessly and efficiently.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a storage management system for storage media used as external storage devices for computers.

2. Description of the Related Art Traditionally, portable magnetic media such as floppy disks have been used as external storage media for computers, but in recent years other storage media such as optical disks and IC cards have begun to be used. In particular, optical disk drives have attracted attention for their large capacity, and have been widely used in systems such as MS-DO8 (Microsoft Corporation's operating system/registered trademark) and UNIX (A
General-purpose operating systems (hereinafter referred to as O8) such as the operating system/registered trademark developed by TAT
) is being considered for use.

The management method for portable storage media from general-purpose O8 is to divide the medium into logical blocks of a fixed size and assign a serial number to each logical block (Logical Block Number: L B NlLogical Block Number).
It is managed using er). For example, in MS-DO8, the media is divided into logical blocks of several kilobytes called clusters, and FAT (File Allocation Table)
) is used to manage usage status and continuity with other clusters for each cluster.

Furthermore, in the general-purpose O8 file system, the contents stored in the portable storage medium can be divided into normal data files and management information. For example, in O8, which performs hierarchical management using directories, a directory file that records the identifier of the file stored in the corresponding directory and the recording position within the medium is recorded as management information, mixed with regular data files. ing.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention Normally, the amount of management information such as directory files is approximately several hundred bytes. However, from O8, LBH
Since the management information can only be managed in units of logical blocks, several kilobytes of logical blocks are used to record management information, and the remaining unused portions within the logical blocks are wasted, resulting in poor media usage efficiency. In particular, when a write-once optical disc is used, since it is a write-once type, the same area cannot be reused, so this wasted area cannot be used again, further deteriorating the efficiency of use of the medium.

Usually, the size of a physical sector, which is the smallest write unit of a portable storage medium, is smaller than the logical block size (
For example, when writing management information (assuming the logical block size is n times the physical sector size (n≧1)), all n physical sectors are written in response to a writing instruction for one logical block. First, if the required amount of information can be recorded for each physical sector, the efficiency of using the medium can be increased.

Means for Solving the Problems In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a storage medium for recording data, a control means for recording and reproducing data on the storage medium in units of physical sectors, and a system for recording and reproducing data in units of logical blocks. It has a file management section that gives instructions with the file management section, and an address conversion section that converts the instructions from the file management section into instructions for the corresponding physical sector, and the address conversion section actually reproduces the logical block by the control means according to the address of the logical block to be reproduced. The configuration is such that the number of physical sectors is determined.

Effect of the present invention With the above-described configuration, the address conversion unit determines the number of physical sectors to be reproduced based on the address of the logical block in response to an instruction from the file management unit that manages data in units of logical blocks of a fixed size. Without being limited by the block size, it is possible to record and reproduce only the necessary physical sectors according to the amount of information to be recorded, and the storage medium can be used efficiently without waste.

EXAMPLE FIGS. 1 to 7 show detailed explanatory diagrams of the present invention. Figures 1 and 2 are configuration diagrams of the file system, Figure 3 is a diagram showing an example of management information used in a general-purpose O8, and Figures 4 and 6 are a portable logical block type using an address translation table. The allocation diagrams to storage media, FIGS. 5 and 7, are diagrams showing examples of address conversion tables. In FIGS. 4 to 7, a write-once optical disk on which the management system of this embodiment is particularly effective will be exemplified as a portable storage medium.

In FIG. 1, 1 is the file management unit, 2 is the logical block address (logical block number [
:Logcal Block Number (hereinafter abbreviated as LBN)) to a recording/reproducing instruction for a corresponding physical sector; an address conversion unit; 2;
1 is the LBH and physical sector address (physical sector number (:
22 is a sector size change processing unit that records and reproduces PBH according to the processing method of the address conversion table 21; 3 is a physical sector; Portable storage medium control means that performs recording and reproduction in units, 4 is a portable storage medium. The second implementation method for the address conversion section 2 is usually implemented by incorporating it into the basic output section (BIO8 section) under the general-purpose O8, that is, the device driver section. 1 to 7 show the case where the logical block size is twice the physical sector size (for example, the logical block size is 2 KB and the physical sector size is IKB).

FIG. 3 shows an example of a directory file (hereinafter abbreviated as DF) that realizes file management using a hierarchical directory in a general-purpose O8. DF is subdirectory etc.
It consists of a directory entry that records the recording position, size, and identifier of F, and a file entry that records the recording position, size, and identifier of the file stored in the corresponding directory. Position information and size within an entry are specified in units of logical blocks, which are management units of O8. For this reason, an unused portion other than the two-entry portion (the shaded portion in FIG. 3) is normally generated, and a NULL code (00) or the like is stored in this portion.

When recording F on a write-once optical disc as shown in FIG. 3, the NULL code portion recorded in the latter IKB sector is wasted. Therefore, in this example, the third
In the case of recording management information in one physical sector as in the DF shown in the figure, the latter part is removed and only one physical sector in the first half is recorded. Furthermore, when recording management information such as a DF (hereinafter abbreviated as normal DF) or a normal file whose entry portion exceeds one physical sector, two physical sectors corresponding to the logical block size (2 KB) are recorded.

In FIG. 1, in response to a reproduction instruction in LBNk from the file management unit 1, the address management table 21 determines that the address LBNk is management information, the sector size change processing unit 22 reproduces PSNn, and the second half IKB
A size adjustment process is performed to add a NULL code to the file, and the file is transferred to the file management unit 1 (for fixed-length management information, size adjustment process may not be necessary). Further, in response to a reproduction instruction for LBNs, it is similarly determined that the file is a normal DF or a file, and the physical sectors corresponding to the logical block size, that is, PSNm and PSN(m+1) are reproduced and passed to the file management section 1.

By performing this sector size change process,
It is possible to record and reproduce the required amount of information in the physical sector, and it is possible to improve the usage efficiency of the optical disc.

In this embodiment, the recording process requires a process of determining the LBH to be recorded depending on the type and amount of information to be recorded.

This processing can also be realized by specially incorporating a recording processing section 12 that determines the recording LBN based on information, as shown in FIG.

For example, when the recording processing unit 12 determines that the recorded content is a DF, it determines whether the DF is F (hereinafter abbreviated as special DF), where one physical sector is sufficient, and whether one physical sector is sufficient or F. If so, record in the area where sector size change processing is performed (corresponding to the special DF area in Figure 4); if not, record in the area where the normal logical block size is reproduced (
(corresponding to the normal DF area in FIG. 4). This instruction to the recording processing section 12 may be passed through the file management section 11, but may also be created as a special external command. When the recording processing section 12 is specially incorporated in this way, the file management section 117 that performs playback processing can be used without modifying the playback processing section of a general-purpose O3 (for example, MS-DO3, etc.). It can be used as is, and the general-purpose O8 can also be made playback compatible with magnetic media such as floppy disks.

As for the LBH determination using the address translation table 21, it is also possible to determine whether each logical block is a special DF, a normal DF, or a file, but this method increases the address translation table 21 and is difficult to implement in practice. It is thought that.

Therefore, in this embodiment, the determination is made in units of logical pages grouped into a certain number of logical blocks. Examples of this case are shown in FIGS. 4 to 7. The figure shows a case where 100 logical blocks are one logical page.

In FIG. 4, 9 is the LBH identified by the file management unit 1.
This is the logical address space allocated to the logical page, and the broken lines indicate where on the optical disk the contents of each logical page are recorded. For example, LBN00-99 is PSNO
O~99, LBN300~399 is PSN100~29
This indicates that the content corresponding to 9 has been recorded. In the logical address space 9 of this embodiment, LBNOO to 299 are special DF areas, that is, areas where sector size change processing is performed, and LBNs 300 to 9000 are normal DF and file areas (hereinafter referred to as
(abbreviated as normal processing area). Therefore, one logical page corresponds to 100 physical sectors in the sector size change processing area and 200 physical sectors in the normal processing area.

The logical address space 9 can be arbitrarily set except for the information defined as a fixed area by the file management unit 1.

FIG. 5 is an example of the address translation table 21 in the case of FIG. Figure 5 31 shows the first LBN 132 of each logical page.
is access information indicating the access method for the LBH in this logical page, and 33 is the first PSN of this page allocated in the optical disk. A logical page in which 33 is unused indicates that there is no corresponding page in the optical disk (hereinafter abbreviated as unused page).

The access information 32 can have a sector size change processing area and a normal processing area mixed in each logical page, but
Normally, each logical page is arranged at one consecutive logical address for each access information 32, as shown in the logical address space 9 as shown in the figure. With this arrangement, the access information 32 only needs to be managed for the start LBH or end LBN of the area, and there is no need to have access information for each page, which simplifies area management. For example, in the logical inability space 8 in FIG. 4, the logical address 300 and access method can be determined.

As shown in FIG. 4, the arrangement of each page in the logical address space 9 and the allocation to optical disks are managed by the address conversion table 21, so the logical address space 8 can be freely set. .

For example, in Figure 4, the LBH for special DF is 00 to 2.
98, but on the actual optical disc this P
There is no need to record this special DF in SNOO~289, and it is possible to allocate it to any position within the optical disk in units of logical pages. In this case as well, it is not necessary to allocate all the logical pages at once (the next logical page can be additionally allocated when the area for the already allocated logical pages becomes insufficient).

Figure 6 shows that the pages already allocated to the optical disk in Figure 4 (corresponding to LBNOO to 99 in Figure 4) are insufficient, and unused pages (LBN100 to 199 in Figure 4) are added to PSNs 700 to 799 of the optical disk. The assigned diagram is shown (shaded area in Figure 6). In this case, the address translation table is
The data is updated as shown in FIG. 7 (shaded area in FIG. 7). Additionally, additional logical pages can be allocated to the normal area in a similar manner.

In this way, it is not necessary to allocate all the addresses in the logical address space θ on the optical disk in advance, and additional allocation can be made in case of shortage, so the logical address space 9 is limited by the size of the optical disk and data arrangement. without being
Can be set freely. In particular, because management information cannot be rewritten on write-once optical discs, file updates and
Each time an optical disc is added, new management information (or history information representing updated content) is added and updated, so the amount of management information actually used varies greatly depending on the usage status of the optical disc. In this embodiment, the area of management information is set large in the logical address space 9, and in reality, it is possible to sequentially allocate additional information on the optical disk whenever the area becomes insufficient. For this reason, the number of times management information can be updated is limited due to lack of space, which occurs when using a fixed physical area on a write-once optical disk.
It is possible to prevent waste such as leaving a large area unused.

Note that although this embodiment shows a method of determining the access method in units of logical pages of a fixed size,
By managing the final LBN and the final LBN, it is also possible to manage pages with variable sizes. Also, the file is P
It is also possible to record the information in address order starting from the SN, and allocate additional pages for management information in reverse order starting from the last PSN of the optical disc. In this case, if you manage only the first PSN for the area for normal processing in which files are recorded, you can know the correspondence with the position on the optical disk, so for the normal area, for each page, There is no need to have an address translation table, and the table can be made smaller. Although we have shown an example of recording management information such as special DF in the sector size change processing area, this area can also be used to record small files such as batch files to prevent waste. . Furthermore, although this embodiment shows a case where only 1 or 2 physical sectors are actually reproduced, the LBH
It is also possible to record the number of sectors to be actually reproduced for each logical page, thereby recording and reproducing an arbitrary number of physical sectors for the LBN. In addition, the address conversion table itself can be recorded in another format such as an update history in the optical disk, and can be converted into a format managed by the address conversion section at the time of initial setting.

Detailed Description of the Invention As described in detail, the present invention provides a file management system that manages storage media using logical blocks of a fixed size. It is possible to realize a management system that can record only minutes and use portable storage media efficiently without waste, and its practical effects are great.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figures 1 and 2 are configuration diagrams of the file system, Figure 3 is a diagram showing an example of management information in a general-purpose O8, and Figures 4 and 6 are portable storage of logical addresses using an address conversion table. The allocation diagrams for media and memory, FIGS. 5 and 7, are diagrams showing examples of address translation tables. 1...File management section, 2...Address conversion section, 2
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Address conversion table, 22... Sector size change processing unit, 3... Fist portable storage medium control means, 4...
・O portable storage medium, 11...Φ file management unit (playback processing unit), 12... recording processing unit, 9... logical address space, 31... starting logical address, 32... access information , 33...Start physical address. Name of agent: Patent attorney Toshio Nakao (1 person) Figure 1? Second cause? Figure 3 Figure 5 Figure 6

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] (1) A storage medium for recording data, a control means for recording and reproducing data on the storage medium in units of physical sectors, and a file management unit for instructing recording and reproduction of the data in units of logical blocks; The controller further includes an address translation section that converts the instruction into an instruction for a corresponding physical sector, and the address translation section determines the number of physical sectors that the control means actually reproduces based on the address of the logical block to be reproduced and the number of blocks. A storage medium management system characterized by: (2) The storage medium management system according to claim 1, wherein the address conversion unit includes a sector size change processing unit that converts the content of the reproduced physical sector into a logical block size and reproduces it. (3) If the data is composed of a file and management information of the file, and the instruction to the address translation unit is a logical block of the management information, the method includes a determination means for determining whether or not to perform sector size change processing. A storage medium management system according to claim 1, characterized in that: (4) The address translation unit has an address translation table in which correspondence information between logical block addresses and physical sector addresses is recorded for each logical page containing a certain number of logical blocks;
2. The storage medium management system according to claim 1, wherein it is determined based on the address conversion table whether or not to perform sector size change processing for each logical page. (5) The storage medium management system according to claim 1, wherein a new recording area for the logical page is set in the storage medium by additionally recording correspondence information of the logical page. (6) The storage medium management system according to claim 1, wherein the storage medium is a write-once storage medium.