JPH0714016A - System and device for information recording and reproducing - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To miniaturize a portable recorder and to make it compatible with a memory card by giving the compatibility with the memory card to specifications and the external form of an input/output connector. CONSTITUTION:A first recorder 1 is provided with an IC memory 2, a recording and reproducing part 3 of the IC memory 2, and an input/output connector 5 having the same outside dimensions as a memory card 4 of international standards. For recording of a conference or the like, this card-sized first recorder 1 is enough. When recorded contents are edited or are recorded in another storage device having a large capacity, the first recorder 1 is connected to a second recorder 14. Since the first recorder is compatible with the memory card 4, it is sufficient if the first recorder is inserted to an input/output connector 15 of the second recorder 14 in the same manner as the memory card 4 in this case. This insertion is detected to operate a switch 16, and the control of the memory is transfered from the first recorder 1 to a system controller LSI 17 of the second recorder 14.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention mainly relates to an information recording / reproducing apparatus and an information recording / reproducing system using a semiconductor memory device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, 1) magnetic tapes, 2) disks (magnetic, optical, magneto-optical) and 3) semiconductors have been put into practical use as information storage devices. Semiconductor memory devices (hereinafter referred to as IC memory) are superior to tapes and disks in high speed, random access, impact resistance, etc., and are considered to become the mainstream in the future especially in portable devices and small devices. There is.

In recent years, due to rapid progress in miniaturization of electronic parts, reduction in height, high-density surface mounting technology, high density and large capacity of IC memory, low power consumption, etc. As shown in Japanese Patent No. 52891, an international standard has been established as an IC memory card. This IC
The shape of a memory card is the card size (86 x 54
× 3.3 mm), in which an IC memory and a control circuit for reading or writing the IC memory are mounted. Also, for voice recording / playback such as IC memory, recording / playback system controller, compression / expansion LSI, A / D converter, D / A converter, operation key switch, display device, battery, microphone, headphone terminal, etc. A recorder has been developed that contains all the necessary parts in a card size.

A conventional portable information recording / reproducing device (hereinafter referred to as a recorder) will be described below with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a portable recorder, and FIG. 4 is an external perspective view thereof. As shown in the figure, the memory card 4 is a system controller L of the recorder 20.
Connected to SI10. The audio signal input from the microphone 6 is converted into a digital signal by the A / D converter 8 via the amplifier 7, compressed by the audio compression / decompression LSI 9, and then input to the system controller LSI 10 in a predetermined format in a memory card. Written to 4. The system controller LSI 10 includes a key switch and a display unit 11.
Also controls.

During reproduction, the system controller LSI1
0 reads information from the memory card 4 and compresses / decompresses L
Decompressed by SI9 and restored to the original signal, then D / A converter 12
Is converted into an analog signal by the speaker 2 via the amplifier 13
Output from 1.

When transferring the information recorded in the memory card 4 to another storage device, or when performing editing or special reproduction, the memory card 4 is once removed and used by connecting to another device. I used a cable to connect to the equipment.

[0007]

However, the above-mentioned conventional recorder has the following problems. Although the IC memory has a feature in shock resistance that other media do not have, when the memory card 4 is connected to a device, the connector portion becomes a bottleneck in strength, and the shock resistance is impaired. In addition, there is a limit to miniaturization due to the size of the card. In addition, when connecting to other devices, there was also the annoyance of connecting with a cable.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is intended to solve the above problems, and it is an object of the present invention to reduce the size of a portable recorder and make it compatible with a memory card.

[0009]

To achieve the above object, a recorder according to the present invention comprises an IC memory, a recording / reproducing section,
It has an input / output connector with another device, and the specifications and external shape of the input / output connector are compatible with the memory card.

[0010]

In the above structure, the recorder of the present invention normally has a recording / reproducing function as a single unit and is compatible with a memory card. Information can be input and output by connecting.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. The same numbers are used for the same components as those described in the conventional example. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an information recording / reproducing system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is an external perspective view of the information recording / reproducing device.

As shown in the figure, the first recorder 1 is an IC
The memory 2, the recording / reproducing unit 3 of the IC memory 2, the same external dimensions as the memory card 4 of the international standard, and the input / output connector 5 are provided. The IC memory 2 has a built-in 20 MB flash memory and can record about 40 minutes at a bit rate of 64 Kbps. In the recording / reproducing unit 3, the audio signal input from the microphone 6 is input to the system controller LSI 10 via the amplifier 7, the A / D converter 8 and the compression / expansion LSI 9, and written in the IC memory 2. The system controller LSI 10 also controls key switches and the display unit 11. At the time of reproduction, information is read from the IC memory 2 by the system controller LSI 10, the compression / expansion LSI 9, the D / A converter 12, and the amplifier 1
It is output to the headphones via 3.

Recording such as meetings is the first of this card size.
This is possible only with the recorder 1 of. Next, when the recorded contents are edited or rerecorded in another large capacity storage device, the first recorder 1 is connected to the second recorder 14. In this case, since the first recorder 1 is compatible with the memory card 4, the second recorder 14 as well as the memory card 4.
It is only necessary to insert into the input / output connector 15 of the above, the switch 16 operates upon detecting the insertion, and the control of the memory shifts from the first recorder 1 to the system controller LSI 17 of the second recorder 14. The second recorder 14 not only has the recording / playback function of the first recorder 1,
It has a mass storage device 18 and an editing special reproduction section 19. Further, the conventional memory card 4 can be used for the second recorder 14 in exactly the same manner.

On the contrary, when it is desired to record music software in the first recorder 1, the music is recorded in the storage device of the second recorder 14 in advance, or the second recorder 14 in which the music is recorded is recorded.
It is possible to record by simply inserting the first recorder 1 into the input / output connector 15 of the second recorder 14 using.

Although the recording / reproducing apparatus has been described in this embodiment, recording of character data and graphic data, still images,
Of course, it may be used for recording a moving image or the like. In addition, the first recorder 1 is an international standard memory card 1
Although the size is set to, the size may be changed to another size for use in games. In addition, the second recorder 1
4 may be a vending machine for games and music software.

[0016]

The recorder of the present invention has a built-in IC memory, has a recording / reproducing function as a single device, and has an input / output connector with other devices, and the above input / output connector and shape are compatible with a memory card. The following effects are obtained by having

1) By incorporating an IC memory, it becomes smaller than a device using a memory card and
It has excellent impact resistance because it has no connector and is mechanically simple.

2) By making the built-in IC memory compatible with the input / output connector so that it can be handled like a memory card, it is possible to record / reproduce or edit information using existing equipment using a memory card. Therefore, there is no need to worry about wiring with cables.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an information recording / reproducing system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the recorder.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a conventional recorder.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the recorder.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 First Information Recording / Reproducing Equipment (First Recorder) 2 Semiconductor Memory Device (IC Memory) 3 Recording / Reproducing Section 4 Memory Card 5 Input / Output Connector

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An input / output connector for reading / writing information between a semiconductor memory device, a recording / reproducing unit having a function of recording or reproducing information in the semiconductor memory device, and another device. A first information recording / reproducing device having the specification of the input / output connector and the external shape compatible with a memory card. 2. An input / output connector for reading / writing information between a semiconductor memory device, a recording / reproducing unit having a function of recording or reproducing information in the semiconductor memory device, and another device. A first information recording / reproducing device having specifications of the input / output connector and an outer shape compatible with a memory card; and a semiconductor memory device built in the first information recording / reproducing device, Alternatively, an information recording / reproducing system including a second information recording / reproducing device using a memory card as a storage medium. 3. The first information recording / reproducing apparatus and the second information recording / reproducing apparatus each include a system controller LSI for recording / reproducing on / from a semiconductor memory device, and the first information recording / reproducing apparatus comprises:
When the semiconductor memory device incorporated in the information recording / reproducing apparatus of (1) uses the first information recording / reproducing apparatus alone, it is connected to the first information recording / reproducing apparatus and the second information recording / reproducing apparatus. Second system controller LSI
The information recording / reproducing system according to claim 2, wherein the information recording / reproducing system is connected to.