JPH04324158A - Cell control information error detection method for large capacity storage device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To detect the error of cell control information controlling a storing state of a recording medium in a large capacity storage device CONSTITUTION:Referring to a cell 25 storing the recording medium, a medium moving mechanism part 3 transferring the recording medium and cell control information 22 showing a position of the recording medium, and by recognizing whether the transportation is right or wrong for the position where the host device 18 indicates, the medium movement mechanism part 3 is controlled and in the large capacity storing device 24 provided a medium movement control part 26 renewing the cell control information 22, the recording means 28 recording the storing state in the device of the recording medium is provided from the control information of the control part 26, and when the control part 26 recognizes that the transportation of the recording medium with respect to the position indicated with the device 18 is wrong, the recorded contents of the recording means 28 are referred and when it is not coincided to the cell control information 22, it is decided as an error of the cell control information 22.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a mass storage device used as an external storage device for a computer system, and more particularly to cell management of a mass storage device for detecting errors in cell management information that manages the storage status of a recording medium. Related to information error detection method.

[0002] In recent years, as the amount of information in computer systems has increased, various automated large-capacity storage devices that do not require operator intervention have been provided as means for storing this information.

This large-capacity storage device is provided with a storage shelf that accommodates a large number of recording media such as magnetic tape cartridges and optical disk cartridges, and a plurality of cells provided on this storage shelf that store recording media are each filled with a recording medium. A medium moving mechanism unit equipped with a mechanical hand takes out the necessary recording medium from the cell of the storage shelf, transports it to the recording/reproducing unit, sets it, writes/reads data, and writes this data. / When the reading is completed, the recording medium is taken out from the recording/reproducing unit again and transported to the cell of the storage shelf to be stored. At the same time, the recording medium that is no longer needed is transported to the ejection port according to instructions from the host device and sent to the operator. let me take it out,
It is configured as a kind of automatic warehouse in which the recording medium that the operator puts into the input slot is conveyed to a recording/reproducing section and set there, or conveyed to a cell and stored therein.

[0004] Incidentally, a large-capacity storage device stores a recording medium that is instructed to be transported in a cell or a recording/playback section designated by a host device, but it does not store cell management information for managing this storage state in the memory. are doing.

[0005] This cell management information is referred to when taking out a recording medium from a cell, recording/reproducing unit, etc. designated by a host device, but errors in this cell management information are not easily detected. is necessary.

[0006]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of a large-capacity storage device. FIG. 5 shows an example of a large-capacity storage device using optical disc cartridges as recording media, and is provided with storage shelves 15 to 17 to which a plurality of cells for accommodating optical disc cartridges 11 are attached.
A picker 4 attached to a medium moving mechanism section 3 takes out and holds an optical disk cartridge 11 stored in a designated cell, and transports and holds it to a drive device 12 or 13 that writes/reads data. Set the cartridge 11.

[0007] When data writing/reading is completed in the drive device 12 or 13, the drive device 1
The optical disk cartridge 11 is taken out from 2 or 13 and carried to a designated cell of storage shelves 15 to 17 to be stored therein.

For this reason, the medium moving mechanism section 3 moves in the direction of arrows AB.
The picker 4 is moved in the direction of the arrow C--D, and the picker 4 is positioned at the cell position of the designated storage shelf. Then, the picker 4 is moved in the direction of arrow EF to take out or store the optical disc cartridge 11.

Therefore, the medium moving mechanism section 3 has rails 1 and 2.
The picker 4 is moved in the direction of the arrow AB by the screw 9 guided by and driven by the rotation of the motor 8, and the picker 4 is moved in the direction of the arrow CD by the belt 6 driven by the rotation of the motor 7. , the picker 4 is moved in the direction of the arrow EF by a motor (not shown) provided on the picker support mechanism 5 fixed to the medium moving mechanism section 3.

Furthermore, it is necessary to set the optical disc cartridge 11 horizontally in the drive device 12 or 13, and the storage shelves 15 to 17 store the optical disc cartridge 11 vertically, so the main body of the picker 4 is It can be rotated by a shaft that is driven by a motor 10 and rotates.

[0011] Also, the drive device 12 or 13 writes/
When instructed to eject the optical disc cartridge 11 from which reading has been completed to the loading/unloading mechanism unit 14 which also serves as an input port and an output port, the picker 4 moves to the drive device 12 or 13.
The optical disc cartridge 11 taken out from the
It is set in the input/discharge mechanism section 14 that can be pulled out in the direction of.

Further, when instructed to transport the optical disc cartridge 11 set in the loading/unloading mechanism section 14 to a designated cell, the medium moving mechanism section 3 moves the optical disc cartridge 11 set in the loading/unloading mechanism section 14 to a designated cell. When the cartridge 11 is transported and the picker 4 is positioned at the designated cell position, the optical disc cartridge 11 is stored.

The picker 4 shown in FIG. 5 is shown holding the optical disk cartridge 11. FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating an example of the prior art.

Media movement control section 21 of mass storage device 19
When the command sent by the host device 18 is received via the interface control unit 20, the command specifies, for example, a cell and a drive device, and instructs to transport the optical disc cartridge 11 from the cell to the drive device. In this case, the cell management information 22 stored in the internal memory is referred to and it is confirmed that the optical disc cartridge 11 exists in the designated cell and that the optical disc cartridge 11 does not exist in the designated drive device.

FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining an example of a cell number, and FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining an example of cell management information. As shown in FIG. 7, cells (19) to (32) are allocated to the storage shelf 17 shown in FIG. 5, and cells (15) to (18) are allocated to the storage shelf 16. Storage shelf 1
Cells (1) to (14) and reserve cells are assigned to cell No. 5.

Corresponding to this cell number, as shown in FIG. 8, cell management information 22 indicating whether or not the optical disk cartridge 11 exists is created. That is, a logic "1" is recorded in the cell in which the optical disk cartridge 11 is stored, the reserve cell, the drive device, and the loading/unloading mechanism section (loading/ejecting), and the logic "1" is recorded in the cell, reserve cell, and drive in which the optical disk cartridge 11 is not stored. Logic "0" is recorded in the device and the input/discharge mechanism section (input/discharge).

Therefore, in FIG. 8, cells (2) (3)
(4) (17) (19) (24) (25) (31) (
32) indicates that the optical disc cartridge 11 is stored in the drive device 12 (OSU #1).

If it is determined through this confirmation that the transport instructed by the host device 18 is possible, the medium movement control unit 21 performs the process shown in FIG.
Driving the motor 8 of the medium moving mechanism section 3 shown in Fig. 3 to move the medium moving mechanism section 3 in the direction of arrow A or B,
The motor 7 is driven to move the picker 4 in the direction of arrow C or D.

Then, the picker 4 is positioned at the cell position designated by the host device 18, and the optical disc cartridge 11 is taken out and carried to the designated drive device 12 or 13 and set therein.

When the medium moving mechanism section 3 notifies the completion of the transport operation, the optical disk cartridge 11 shown in FIG.
The cell management information 22 is updated by recording a logic "0" in the column of the cell from which the optical disc cartridge 11 was taken and a logic "1" in the column of the drive device in which the optical disk cartridge 11 is set.

The drive device control unit 23 controls the host device 18
When the controller 20 instructs to write data, the data received via the interface control unit 20 is sent to the drive device 12 or 13 to be written into the optical disc cartridge 11.

[0022] Furthermore, when data reading is instructed,
Data read from the optical disc cartridge 11 set in the drive device 12 or 13 is sent to the host device 18 via the interface control section 20.

When the medium movement control unit 21 receives an instruction from the host device 18 to move the optical disc cartridge 11 from the drive device 12 or 13 to a cell, the medium movement control unit 21 refers to the cell management information 22 shown in FIG. If the transport instructed by the host device 18 is possible, the picker 4 is positioned at the designated drive device 12 or 13 and the optical disk cartridge 11 is taken out, and the medium moving mechanism 3 and the picker 4 are operated in the same manner as described above. The picker 4 is positioned at the designated cell position and the optical disc cartridge 11 is stored.

[0024] When notified of the completion of the transport operation from the medium moving mechanism section 3, the cell management information 22 is updated in the same manner as described above.

[0025]

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating the problems of the prior art. For example, when receiving a command from the host device 18 to transport the optical disk cartridge 11 from the cell (32) to the drive device 12 (OSU #0),
The cell management information 22 may not be displayed as shown in FIG. 9 due to a memory error or other cause.
As shown, the optical disc cartridge 1 is placed in the cell (32).
If a logical "0" indicating that 1 does not exist is recorded, the medium movement control unit 21 determines that the host device 18 has specified a cell in which the optical disk cartridge 11 does not exist as the movement source, and the interface control unit 20 The host device 18 is then notified that the abnormal instruction was issued due to a software error.

[0026] Therefore, maintenance personnel first
An investigation request is made to the software development department of 19, and then the investigation request is sent to the development department of the mass storage device 19, which poses a problem in that fault investigation takes time and is inefficient.

In view of these problems, it is an object of the present invention to make it possible to detect errors in the cell management information 22, thereby facilitating fault investigation of the mass storage device 19.

[0028]

Means for Solving the Problems FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating the principle of the present invention. The mass storage device 24 includes a plurality of cells 25 each storing a plurality of recording media, a recording and reproducing section 27 that records/reproduces data on the recording medium,
The medium moving mechanism unit 3 that transports the recording medium and the cell management information 22 indicating the position of the recording medium stored in the mass storage device 24 are referred to, and the recording medium is moved to the position specified by the host device 18. A medium movement control unit 26 is provided, which recognizes whether transport is possible, controls the medium movement mechanism unit 3, and updates the cell management information 22 based on control information for the medium movement mechanism unit 3.

A recording means 28 is provided for recording the storage state of the recording medium in the mass storage device 24 based on the control information of the medium movement control section 26 when the conveyance operation of the medium movement mechanism section 3 is completed. , When the medium movement control unit 26 recognizes that the recording medium cannot be transported to the position specified by the host device 18, it refers to the recorded content of the recording means 28 and if it does not match the cell management information 22. determines that this cell management information 22 is incorrect.

[0030]

[Operation] By configuring as described above, the cell management information 2 that is built in and updated by the medium movement control unit 26
2, the migration source specified by the host device 18, for example, the cell 25
When a difference occurs, such as there is no recording medium at the destination, or there is a recording medium at the destination, for example, the recording/reproducing section 27,
By referring to the recorded contents of the recording means 28, the medium movement control unit 26 can determine whether the error is in the cell management information 22 or in the software of the host device 18.

[0031] Therefore, when investigating a fault in the mass storage device 24, it becomes possible to isolate it from the host device 18, which facilitates fault investigation.

[0032]

Embodiment FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a circuit showing one embodiment of the present invention. The same reference numerals as in FIG. 6 indicate the same functions. The medium movement control unit 26 interfaces with a command sent by the host device 18 to specify the cell (32) and the drive device 12 shown in FIG. 7 and transport the recording medium from the cell (32) to the drive device 12. When received via the control unit 20, based on this command, it refers to the cell management information 22 stored in the internal memory and determines whether the recording medium exists in the designated cell (32) and records in the designated drive device 12. Make sure no media is present.

At this time, as shown in FIG. 9, if logic "0" is recorded in the cell (32), the medium movement control unit 26
The media storage status monitoring unit 29 reports to the host device 18 that an abnormal instruction has been issued due to a software error.
The contents recorded in the cell map 30 are referred to.

Cell map 30 of the medium storage status monitoring unit 29
The recording is performed as follows. The medium movement mechanism section 3 transports the recording medium as described above according to instructions from the medium movement control section 26. When the transportation of the recording medium is completed normally, the medium movement control section 26 and the medium storage state monitoring section 29 Reports successful completion.

When the medium storage status monitoring unit 29 receives this normal completion report, the medium storage status monitoring unit 29 performs the process as shown in FIG. A cell map 30 identical to the cell management information is created.

That is, for example, the medium movement control section 26 instructs the medium movement mechanism section 3 to convey the recording medium from the cell (1) to the drive device 13, and the conveyance operation of the medium movement mechanism section 3 is performed normally. When finished, cell (1) contains logic
“0” is recorded and the drive device 13, that is, OSU#1
Logic “1” is recorded in .

Regarding the input/discharge mechanism section 14, the sensor of the input/discharge mechanism section 14 records logic "1" while notifying the presence of a recording medium, and when notifying that no recording medium exists, Record logic “0”.

Therefore, when a recording medium is loaded into the loading/unloading mechanism section 14, the medium storage state monitoring section 29 detects, for example, the state shown in FIG.
Logic "1" is written in the input/discharge column of the cell map 30 as shown in
” is written.Then, the medium movement control unit 26 writes
Based on the instructions in step 8, the loading/discharging mechanism section 14 is the source of movement,
When the medium moving mechanism unit 3 is instructed to transport the recording medium with cell (2) as the destination, the source and destination are stored in an internal register.

When the medium movement mechanism section 3 reports normal completion, a logic "0" is written in the input/discharge column of the movement source stored in the internal register, and the cell (2) of the movement destination is written.
Write logic “1” in the column.

The medium movement control unit 26 compares the contents of the cell map 30 recorded by the medium storage status monitoring unit 29 with the cell management information 22, and if the logic of the cell (32) matches, It is reported to the host device 18 that the abnormal instruction was issued due to a software error, and if they do not match, the abnormality in the cell management information 22 is reported to the host device 18.

FIGS. 3 and 4 are flowcharts explaining the operation of FIG. 2. In FIG. 3, the medium movement control unit 26 waits for a recording medium transport instruction to be received from the host device 18 in step "1", and when the recording medium transport instruction is received, in step "2" See 22.

[0042] Then, in step "3", it is checked whether there is a recording medium at the movement source. If the cell management information 22 indicates that there is a recording medium at the designated migration source, it is checked in step "4" whether there is a recording medium at the migration destination. If the cell management information 22 indicates that the recording medium does not exist at the specified destination, the medium movement control unit 26 recognizes that the recording medium can be transported, and in step "5" starts the medium movement mechanism. The transfer source and destination are instructed to the unit 3 to transport the recording medium.

Then, when the medium moving mechanism section 3 reports the normal end of the transport operation in step "6", step "6" is carried out.
7" to update the cell management information 22, and then step "1".
” returns to processing.

[0044] Whether the cell management information 22 indicates that there is no recording medium at the migration source in step "3" or
”, if the cell management information 22 indicates that there is a recording medium at the movement destination, the medium movement control unit 26 moves to step “9”.
The cell map 30 of the medium storage status monitoring section 29 is referred to.

[0045] Then, in step "10", it is checked whether it matches the cell management information 22, and if it matches, the process goes to step "11".
After reporting to the host device 18 that there is an error in the software, the operation ends.

If they do not match, the host device 18 is notified in step ``12'' that the cell management information 22 is incorrect, and then the operation is terminated. The medium movement control unit 26
If the conveyance operation is not completed normally in step "6", the abnormality in the conveyance operation is reported to the host device 18 in step "8", and then the operation is terminated.

In FIG. 4, the medium storage state monitoring section 29 monitors the transport information of the recording medium sent out by the medium movement control section 26 in step "13", and when the transport information is sent out, the medium storage state monitoring section 29 moves to step "14". ” to store the movement source and destination in the internal register.

Then, in step "15", it is checked whether the medium moving mechanism section 3 reports the normal end of the transport operation, and when it reports the normal end, the internal memory is stored based on the moving source and moving destination stored in step "16". Cell map 3 created in
Update 0.

That is, the movement source is, for example, cell (1) in FIG.
If the destination is the drive device 13 (OSU #1), the logic of the source cell (1) is set to "0" and the logic of the destination OSU #1 is set to "1".

[0050] Also, if the end is not normal, step ``1''
In step 7, the source and destination data stored in the internal register are deleted, and the process returns to step 13.

[0051]

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, the present invention makes it possible to detect errors in cell management information, so if an abnormality occurs during transport of a recording medium, it becomes easy to isolate the fault, reducing the time required to investigate the fault. I can do it.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

[Figure 1] Block diagram explaining the principle of the present invention

[Figure 2
] Block diagram of a circuit showing one embodiment of the present invention

[Figure 3
] Flowchart explaining the operation in Figure 2 (Part 1)

[Figure 4] Flowchart explaining the operation in Figure 2 (Part 2)

[Figure 5] Diagram explaining a configuration example of a mass storage device

[Figure 6] Block diagram illustrating an example of conventional technology

[Figure 7]
Diagram explaining an example of cell number

[Figure 8] Diagram explaining an example of cell management information

[Figure 9] Diagram explaining the problems of the conventional technology

[Explanation of symbols]

1, 2 Rail 3 Media moving mechanism section 4 Pikka 5 Picker support mechanism 6 Belt 7, 8, 10 Motor 9 Screw 11 Optical disc cartridge 12, 13 Drive device 14 Loading and discharging mechanism section 15, 16, 17 Storage shelves 18 Upper device 19, 24 Mass storage device 20 Interface control section 21, 26 Medium movement control unit 22 Cell management information 23 Drive device control section 25 Cell 27 Recording and playback section 28 Recording means 29 Media storage status monitoring unit 30 Cell map

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of cells (25) each storing a plurality of recording media, a recording/reproducing unit (27) recording/reproducing data on the recording medium, and a medium moving mechanism transporting the recording medium. section (3) and cell management information (22) indicating the location of the recording medium stored in the device,
It recognizes whether or not the recording medium can be transported to the position indicated by the host device (18), controls the medium moving mechanism (3), and based on the control information for the medium moving mechanism (3), In a mass storage device (24) equipped with a medium movement control unit (26) that updates the cell management information (22), when the transport operation of the medium movement mechanism unit (3) is completed, the medium movement control unit (24) updates the cell management information (22). A recording means (2) records the storage state of the recording medium in the device based on the control information of the section (26).
8), and when the medium movement control unit (26) recognizes that the recording medium cannot be transported to the position specified by the host device (18), the recorded content of the recording means (28) is A cell management information error detection method for a mass storage device, characterized in that if the cell management information (22) does not match the cell management information (22), it is determined that the cell management information (22) is in error.