JPH0250354A - External memory - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To easily grasp cleansing timing by calculating the number of processing data, the number of data error corrections and the number of data errors, obtaining a data error rate, forecasting the dirt of a recording/ reproducing head and a medium running system from the deterioration of the error rate, and sending a cleaning request. CONSTITUTION:A processing data number counting part 15 counts the number of the data READ/WRITTEN by a recording/reproducing mechanism 13 in units of a byte, a data error constant counting part 16 counts the number of times of the automatic data error corrections, and a data error counting part 17 counts the number of times of the data error of automatic error correction impressibility. When the contents of a data error correction counting part 16 or the contents of the data error counting part 17 exceed a constant value before the automatic flow of the contents of the processing data number counting part 15, it is regarded as the deterioration of the error rate, and a microprocessor 12 requires a host device 2 to clean the recording/reproducing head and the magnetic tape running system. Thus, the necessity of the cleaning in the recording/reproducing mechanism can be easily known.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an external storage device, and particularly to an external storage device that requires cleaning of a recording medium running system and a recording/reproducing head.

[Prior Art] Some external storage devices require cleaning of the recording/reproducing section. This is because dirt on the recording/reproducing head or the like affects memory errors.

By the way, in conventional external storage devices, there are the following guidelines for cleaning the recording medium running system and the recording/reproducing head.

One is a method in which the process is performed periodically by closing at a certain time, and the other is a method in which the process is performed after the medium has been processed a certain number of times.

In particular, magnetic tape processing devices store the number of media rolls processed in an external storage device, and when the number of media rolls processed exceeds a certain number, a report is sent to the host device requesting cleaning of the recording/playback head and media transport system. I was doing it.

[Problems to be solved] In the conventional external storage devices mentioned above, the recording and reproducing heads were cleaned after a certain period of time or after a certain number of processing operations, so dirt and dust suddenly adhered to the recording and reproducing heads and the media transport system. However, there is a problem in that it is not possible to deal with cases where the recording/reproducing condition deteriorates due to the above-mentioned method.

In other words, when a data error or the like occurs, the operator has no choice but to clean the recording/reproducing head and the medium transport system.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an external storage device that allows the timing of cleaning to be easily known.

[Means for Solving Problems] In order to achieve the above object, the external storage device of the present invention has a recording/reproducing mechanism, and detects a decrease in recording/reproducing performance based on the number of times of recording/reproducing and the number of data errors of this recording/reproducing mechanism. A recording and reproducing performance deterioration detecting means, and a control means for controlling the recording and reproducing mechanism and predicting the necessity of cleaning in the recording and reproducing mechanism based on the detection result of the recording and reproducing performance deterioration detecting means. It is.

[Example] Hereinafter, the present invention will be explained in detail based on the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a magnetic tape processing apparatus to which an external storage device according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied.

In the figure, 1 is a magnetic tape processing device, which is connected to a higher-level device 2.

Further, in the magnetic tape processing device 1, 11 is a higher-level device connection section, which is used for command transfer, data transfer, and the like with the higher-level device 2.
Controls the interface when performing status transfer. Next, 12 is a microprocessor, which controls the entire operation of the magnetic tape processing apparatus 1.

Reference numeral 13 denotes a recording/reproducing mechanism, which writes and reads data to and from a magnetic tape medium. Further, reference numeral 14 denotes a recording/reproducing control section, which controls data transfer to the recording/reproducing mechanism 13, gives operation instructions, detects errors, and the like.

On the other hand, 15 is a processing data number counting section, which is a memory that counts the number of data read/written/written by the recording/reproducing mechanism 13 in units of bytes. A data error constant counter 16 is a memory for counting the number of times automatic data error correction is performed in READ/WRITE. Furthermore, 17 is a data error counter, which is a memory that counts the number of data errors that cannot be automatically corrected. The microprocessor 12 manages these processing data number counting section 15, data error correction counting section 16, and data error counting section 17.

In the above configuration, from the host device 2 to the host device connection section 11
Instructions sent via the microprocessor 12 are analyzed by the microprocessor 12. Then, the parsed command is sent to the recording/reproducing mechanism 13.
In the case of a READ/WRITE command for READ/WRITE!, the microprocessor 12 sends a READ/WRITE command to the recording/playback mechanism 13 via the recording/playback control unit 14. & Instructions for making. At this time, the microprocessor 12 adds the data bytes actually placed in the READ/WRI to the processing data number counting section 15. Furthermore, when automatic data error correction occurs during READ/WRITE, 1 is added to the data error correction counter 16, and when data that cannot be automatically corrected occurs, the data error counter 17
Add 1 to .

With the above operations, READ/WRITE commands are sequentially processed.

In normal cases, automatic data error correction and data errors occur very rarely, so even if the processed data number counting unit 15 overflows, the number of data error corrections and the number of data errors are extremely small. Therefore, the processing data number counting section 15
If the contents of the data error correction counter 16 or the data error counter 17 exceed a certain value before the contents of the data error correction counter 16 overflow, it is considered that the error rate has worsened.

In such a case, the microprocessor 12 reports a status requesting cleaning of the recording/playback head or magnetic tape running system to the host device 2, as the cause is likely to be dirt on the recording/playback head or the magnetic tape running system. do. Once the microprocessor 12 reports the cleaning request, the processing data number counting unit 15 and the data error correction counting unit 1
6 and the contents of the data error counter 17 are cleared and counting is started again.

On the other hand, if the processing data number counting unit 15 overflows first, that is, in the normal case, the contents of all the counting units are cleared without sending a cleaning request, and counting is started again.

When a cleaning request is sent to the upper LII station 2, it is generally desirable for the device operator to clean the recording/reproducing head and the magnetic tape running system.

As described above, the external storage device of this embodiment includes, in addition to means for recording and reproducing, means for counting the number of data recorded and reproduced, and means for counting the number of data errors during recording and reproduction.
It has means for detecting a decline in recording and reproducing performance in the recording and reproducing means from the contents of the means for counting the number of data recorded and reproduced and the contents of the means for counting data errors during recording and reproduction, and Anticipates the need to clean the means by which regeneration takes place.

In other words, in external storage devices that require cleaning of the recording/reproducing head and medium running system, recording/reproducing performance deterioration detection is performed to determine the data error rate by counting the number of processed data, the number of data error corrections, and the number of data errors. It constitutes a means to predict contamination of the recording/reproducing head or medium transport system based on the deterioration of the data error rate, and sends a cleaning request to the host device.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, but includes various modifications within the scope of the gist. For example, in the above-described embodiment, a decrease in the data error rate is detected by the processed data number counting unit, the data error correction counting unit, and the data error counting unit, but it may be detected by other data error rate detection means. You can also do that.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, the present invention provides an external storage device that not only can notify a host device of a decline in the recording and reproducing performance of a device due to dirt and dust, but also allows preventive maintenance of the device to be easily performed. It has the effect of being able to provide

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a magnetic tape processing apparatus to which an external storage device according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied. l l : l 2 : l 3 : l 4 : l 5 : 16 : 17: Upper device connection part Microprocessor recording/playback control part Recording/playback mechanism processing data number counting part Data error correction counting part Data error counting part

Claims (1)

[Claims] a recording and reproducing mechanism; a recording and reproducing performance deterioration detecting means for detecting a deterioration in recording and reproducing performance based on the number of times of recording and reproducing and the number of data errors of the recording and reproducing mechanism; An external storage device comprising: control means for predicting the necessity of cleaning the recording/reproducing mechanism based on the detection result of the detection means.