JPH05298231A - Intelligent secondary storage - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To reduce the load of a host computer by providing a data processing function to a secondary storage of the computer in response to the data format. CONSTITUTION:A command control part B 31 is provided to interprets the data identification name, the command and the message which are sent from a host computer and controls the propriety for the application of the computer data together with a data converting part 33 which converts the format set based on the form of the computer data into a data form that can be processed by the host computer, a disk controller 12 which controls a hard disk device 13, and the device 13 which records and reproduces the data. In such a constitution, a data input/output protocol system of a higher level is attained for the device 13 of a secondary storage of the host computer. Meanwhile the host computer offers only the least information so that the device 13 can read the data.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a secondary storage device of a computer, and more particularly to a secondary storage device which realizes an intelligent interface independent of a data format.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, the sophistication of computer systems
Along with the increase in complexity, the number of intelligent devices for exchanging high-level messages regarding the interface with peripheral devices has also increased (for example, ANSI X3 / 131-19).
86 "Small Computer System Interface"). In such a system, it is possible to finely control hardware in each peripheral device and perform control so as not to burden the host computer side. However, in such a secondary storage device, the disk device itself operates only for a predetermined simple input / output message such as reading or writing of data, and the management of data itself is performed by the host computer. I've been told.
Therefore, even when performing relatively simple processing such as data retrieval, all the processing is performed after reading all the target data into the host computer,
It has been impossible to suppress the amount of data input / output between the host computer and the secondary storage device.

[0003]

In a conventional intelligent interface such as the SCSI interface described above, a message is transmitted / received for data transfer, and then only actual data transfer is performed. In the transmission and reception of messages related to data transfer, the basic method of using the bus while exchanging the transfer protocol and the exchange of data transfer status are mainly performed. Therefore, it does not directly concern the format of the data that is actually transferred. Therefore, the management of the files of the secondary recording device is entirely entrusted to the host computer side, and it is difficult to transfer the data itself regarding the data format that the host computer side cannot manage. For example, when moving image data in the laser disk device is to be managed by a computer, it is necessary to manage the control program and information about the index by another medium such as a floppy disk that can be managed by the host computer.

Further, since an ordinary secondary storage device is not concerned with the contents of data to be input / output, it is necessary to read the data to the host computer before making a judgment as to whether the data is necessary or not. There is a drawback that the amount of data transferred between the secondary storage device and the host computer becomes very large as compared with the data required for the above.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned drawbacks and to realize a high-level data input / output protocol system in a secondary storage device of a computer, thereby making it possible to communicate with a host computer without being aware of the format of recorded data. Achieves intelligent processing on the secondary storage device by implementing data transfer between secondary storage devices and by providing a data conversion function, a search function, and a data link function according to the data format. An object of the present invention is to provide an intelligent secondary storage device that enables processing on the secondary storage device side, which has conventionally been forced to be performed on the host computer side, to reduce the load on the host computer side.

[0006]

The intelligent secondary storage device of the first invention is a command control unit for interpreting an identification name of data sent from a host computer, a command and a message, and a command control unit for interpretation. In an intelligent secondary storage device having a secondary storage device for storing the stored data and a controller section for controlling the secondary storage device, the target data format is set by the secondary storage device based on the command received from the host computer. After reading out and notifying the interface on the host computer side in advance as a message,
It has a function of transferring data to and from the host computer.

The intelligent secondary storage device of the second aspect of the present invention can process the format based on the data format of the data interpreted by the command controller in the host computer in the intelligent secondary storage device of the first aspect of the invention. It has a data conversion unit for converting to various data formats.

The intelligent secondary storage device according to the third aspect of the present invention is the intelligent secondary storage device according to the first aspect of the present invention, wherein the command control section has a function of interpreting a key sent together with a search message. It has a search execution unit that performs a search based on the search result, and a data management unit that newly sends a search command for necessary data to the command control unit based on the search result of the search execution unit.

The intelligent secondary storage device according to the fourth aspect of the present invention is the intelligent secondary storage device according to the first aspect of the present invention, wherein the command controller has a function of interpreting a data ID sent together with a read message. I
It has a data management unit for sending a read command of necessary data to the command control unit based on D.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings.

First, an embodiment of the first invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an intelligent secondary storage device according to an embodiment of the first invention, and FIG. 2 is a flow chart showing a data transfer process of the intelligent secondary storage device according to the embodiment of the first invention. is there.

Although the case where one hard disk device is used as the secondary storage device is shown here, when there are a plurality of hard disk devices, a plurality of optical disk devices, magnetic tape devices and the like are used as the secondary storage device or a mixture thereof. The same can be applied to the case.

In FIG. 1, the intelligent secondary storage device of the embodiment of the first invention is a bus phase control unit 1.
1a, a command interpretation unit 11b, a command control unit A11 having a data format management unit A11c and a data management unit A11d, a disk controller 12, and a hard disk device 13, and a channel CH is formed between the host computer and the host computer. Exchange commands, messages, and data via.

Here, the bus phase control unit 11a of the command control unit A11 manages the data transfer phase shown in FIG. 2, reads a command to the hard disk device 13 from it, and passes the command transmission signal 14 to the command interpretation unit 11b. Communicate to. The command interpreter 11b controls the disk controller 12 by the disk controller control signal 15 when data is input / output, and the disk controller 12 controls the disk control signal C.
The hard disk device 13 is managed by B, and the data bus DB
The data is read out via the and transferred to the data format management unit A11c. Data format management unit A1
In 1c, the priority of the data format of the transferred data is managed, and then the target data format is transferred in the format-in phase shown in FIG. 2 under the control of the command interpreting section 11b by the data format managing section control signal 16. Transfer to the phase control unit 11a.
The bus phase control unit 11a transmits the received data format to the host computer in the format-in phase. Further, regarding the input / output data, similarly, the data management unit A11d and the bus phase control unit 1
It is transmitted to the host computer via 1a.

Next, a data transfer process of the intelligent secondary storage device according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

Here, FIG. 2 shows a processing flow of commands, messages and data via the channel CH between the host computer and the command control unit, and the processing name of each step is a phase name.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, the host computer normally waits for a bus request in the bus free phase when there is no access request to the hard disk device 13 (step 21). When an access request is issued to the hard disk device 13, the bus is acquired, the device selection phase is entered, the receiving hard disk device 13 is selected (step 22), and then the command is output in the command out phase (step 23). Standard commands are specified as commands, but the input / output length / format of data is not specified.

The command control unit A11 which received the command
Performs processing based on the command, but reads the data format for the data input / output command and transmits the data format to the host computer in the format-in phase (step 24). The host computer side judges whether or not the data format can be processed, and if it is possible, the command controller A11 is notified of the transfer permission in the format acknowledge phase (step 25). If the data format is not appropriate, transfer non-permission is notified in the format acknowledge phase (step 25). Command control unit A1
If the transfer permission is 1 (Yes in step 25), the process moves to the data in / out phase (step 26). When the transfer is not permitted (step 25, No), the next candidate format is notified to the host computer again in the format-in phase. If transfer permission cannot be obtained in any of the defined data formats (step 2
4, No), execute the status phase (Step 2
7) After designating the error status, the process returns to the bus free phase (step 21).

In the data in / out phase, data input / output is executed in the format transmitted in the format in phase (step 26).

In the status phase, when the data transfer is normally completed, a normal completion status is returned. Also, if something goes wrong during data transfer,
The error status is returned (step 27).

Next, an embodiment of the second invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an intelligent secondary storage device according to an embodiment of the second invention.

Although the case where there is one hard disk device as the secondary storage device is shown here, when there are a plurality of hard disk devices, there are a plurality of or a mixture of optical disk devices, magnetic tape devices, etc. as the secondary storage device. The same can be applied to the case. Further, although a compression / expansion mechanism is shown as the data conversion unit, a data encryption mechanism or the like can be realized.

In FIG. 3, the intelligent secondary storage device according to the second embodiment of the present invention comprises a bus phase control unit 1
1a, a command interpretation unit 11b, a command control unit B31 having a data format management unit B31c and a data management unit B31d, a disk controller 12, a hard disk device 13, and a data conversion unit 33.

Here, the command control unit B31 controls based on the data transfer sequence with the host computer as described in the embodiment of the first invention. The bus phase control unit 11a manages the data transfer phase shown in FIG. 2, reads a command to the hard disk device 13 from the data transfer phase, and transfers it to the command interpretation unit 11b via the command transfer signal 14. Command interpreter 11b
Then, when data input / output is involved, the disk controller 12 is controlled by the disk controller control signal 15. The disk controller 12 manages the hard disk device 13 by the disk control signal CB, reads the data via the data bus DB, and transfers the data to the data format management unit B31c. The data format management unit B31c manages the data conversion unit 33 by the data conversion unit control signal 37 based on the data format of the data which is controlled and transferred by the format management unit control signal 16 from the command interpretation unit 11b. The data converter 33 converts a format based on the data format of the data into a data format that can be processed by the host computer. Then, the bus phase control unit 11a transfers the received data format to the host computer in the format-in phase shown in FIG.
Further, regarding the input / output data, similarly, the data management unit B3
1d, and is transmitted to the host computer via the data converter 33 and the bus phase controller 11a.

Next, an embodiment of the third invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an intelligent secondary storage device according to an embodiment of the third invention.

Here, the case where one hard disk device is used as the secondary storage device is shown, but when there are a plurality of hard disk devices, a plurality of optical disk devices, magnetic tape devices, etc. are used as the secondary storage device or they are mixed. The same can be applied to the case.

In FIG. 4, the intelligent secondary storage device of the third embodiment of the present invention comprises a bus phase control unit 1
1a, a command interpreting unit 11b, and a search key control unit 41c, a command control unit C41, a disk controller 12, a hard disk device 13, and a search execution unit 43.
It consists of and.

Here, the command control section C41 performs control based on the data transfer sequence with the host computer as described in the embodiment of the first invention, and the search execution section 43 uses the registered search key and Perform collation with data input from the outside. Bus phase control unit 11
2a, the data transfer phase shown in FIG. 2 is managed, a command to the hard disk device 13 is read from the phase, and the command interpreter 11 is sent via the command transmission signal 14.
It is transmitted to b. In the case of a search command, the command interpreting unit 11b uses the search key control unit control signal 46 to search the search key sent as a message, and the search key control unit 41c.
Set to. The search key control unit 41c sets the key designated by the search execution unit control signal 47 in the search execution unit 43, and then requests the command interpretation unit 11b to read the data in the hard disk device 13. The command interpreting unit 11b controls the disk controller 12 by the disk controller control signal 15. The disk controller 12 controls the hard disk device 13 by the disk control signal CB, and inputs / outputs data via the data bus DB. The search execution unit 43 executes matching between the sent data and the search key, and sends the search result to the search key control unit 41c by the search result read signal 48. The search key control unit 41c transmits the result to the command interpretation unit 11b by the reread request signal 49 based on the sent search result. Command interpreter 11b
Then, based on the result, the disk controller 12
To the bus phase control unit 11a, the read request for the necessary data is issued again to the bus phase control unit 11a. Bus phase control unit 1
1a is transmitted to the host computer in the data-in phase shown in FIG.

Next, an embodiment of the fourth invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an intelligent secondary storage device according to an embodiment of the fourth invention.

Although the case where there is one hard disk device as the secondary storage device is shown here, when there are a plurality of hard disk devices, there are a plurality of or a mixture of optical disk devices and magnetic tape devices as the secondary storage device. The same can be applied to the case.

In FIG. 5, the intelligent secondary storage device of the fourth embodiment of the present invention comprises a bus phase control unit 1
1a, a command interpreter 11b, a command controller D51 having an ID controller 51c, and a disk controller 1
2, the hard disk device 13, and the ID management unit 53.

Here, the command control section D51 controls through the channel CH based on the data transfer sequence with the host computer as described in the embodiment of the first invention. The ID management unit 53 sets a data ID for each data stored in the hard disk device 13, manages the data in the hard disk device 13, and stores a data ID table in the ID management unit 53. .. The bus phase control unit 11a manages the data transfer phase shown in FIG. 2, reads a command to the hard disk device 13 from the data transfer phase, and outputs the command transmission signal 1
4 to the command interpreting section 11b. In the case of an input / output request based on the data ID registered in each data, the command interpretation unit 11b sets the data ID sent as a message in the ID control unit 51c by the ID control unit control signal 56. The ID control unit 51c collates the designated data ID with the data in the data ID table held in the ID management unit 53 based on the ID management unit control signal 57, and then reads the hard disk of the data that needs to be read. The address of the device 13 is read, and the I address is read by the data address read signal 58 based on the address information.
It returns to the D control unit 51c. The ID control unit 51c requests the command control unit D51 to read data in the hard disk device 13 by the disk controller control signal 15 by the read request signal 59. Command interpreter 1
In 1b, the disk controller 12 is requested to read the requested data. The disk controller 12
The hard disk device 13 is controlled by the disk control signal CB, data is input and output via the data bus DB,
The data is transferred to the bus phase controller 11a. The bus phase control unit 11a transfers the data to the host computer in the data-in phase shown in FIG.

[0037]

As described above, the intelligent secondary storage device of the present invention realizes a high-level data input / output protocol system in the secondary storage device of a computer so that the format of recorded data is not taken into consideration. There is an effect that an intelligent secondary storage device can be realized and data can be easily handled which has been difficult or complicated to manage by the conventional host computer and secondary storage device.

Further, it is possible to provide only the minimum information required by the host computer to the intelligent secondary storage device from the host computer, minimize the data transfer amount between the host computers, and reduce the host computer side. There is an effect that the load of can be reduced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an intelligent secondary storage device according to an embodiment of the first invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a data transfer process of the intelligent secondary storage device according to the embodiment of the first invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an intelligent secondary storage device according to an embodiment of the second invention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an intelligent secondary storage device according to an embodiment of the third invention.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an intelligent secondary storage device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 11 Command Control Unit A 11a Bus Phase Control Unit 11b Command Interpretation Unit 11c Data Format Management Unit A 11d Data Management Unit A 12 Disk Controller 13 Hard Disk Device 14 Command Transmission Signal 15 Disk Controller Control Signal 16 Format Management Unit Control Signal 31 Command Control Unit B 31c Data format management unit B 31d Data management unit B 33 Data conversion unit 37 Data conversion unit control signal 41 Command control unit C 41c Search key control unit 43 Search execution unit 46 Search key control unit control signal 47 Search execution unit control signal 48 Search result read signal 49 Reread request signal 51 Command control unit D 51c ID control unit 52 Disk controller D 53 ID management unit 56 ID control unit control signal 57 ID management unit control signal 58 data Address read signal 59 read request signal CH channel DB data bus CB disk control signal

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A command control unit for interpreting an identification name of data and a command and a message sent from a host computer, a secondary storage device for storing the data interpreted by the command control unit, and the secondary storage device. In the intelligent secondary storage device having a controller unit for controlling the, the format of the target data is read from the secondary storage device based on the command received from the host computer, and is notified in advance to the interface on the host computer side as a message. After that, an intelligent secondary storage device having a function of transferring data to and from the host computer. 2. The intelligent secondary storage device according to claim 1, further comprising a data conversion unit that converts a format based on the data format of the data interpreted by the command control unit into a data form that can be processed by the host computer. An intelligent secondary storage device having. 3. The intelligent secondary storage device according to claim 1, wherein the command control unit has a function of interpreting a key sent together with a search message, and a search execution unit that performs a search based on the key, An intelligent secondary storage device, further comprising: a data management unit that sends a search command for necessary data to the command control unit based on a search result of the search execution unit. 4. The intelligent secondary storage device according to claim 1, wherein the command control unit has a function of interpreting a data ID sent together with a read message,
An intelligent secondary storage device having a data management unit for sending a read command of necessary data to the command control unit based on the data ID.