JPH08329610A - Recording medium formatting method - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To prolong the life by uniformly using a recording medium. CONSTITUTION: When the format of the recording medium 12 is rewritten, present format information shown in a format 1 is read out from a control area 14 consisting of the FAT area and the ROOT DIRECTORY of the recording medium 12. Then, this method is constituted so that an alternate area 13, a control area 14 with more frequency in use become the user data area 15 of the format 1 with less frequency in use in a format 2 set next, and a part of the user data area 15 is moved successively so as to become the alternate area 13, the control area 14 of the format 1.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a formatting method for allocating a logical address of a recording medium to a physical address.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Hard disks, floppy disks, rewritable optical disks, magneto-optical disks and the like are used as rewritable recording media. These lifetimes can be rewritten, for example, on the order of 100,000 times. Most of this life is determined by deterioration of the recording medium due to rewriting. For example, in the case of an optical disc, 400 ° C
Writing is performed by heating to a certain degree to amorphize the structure. It is assumed that the life is reached when the deterioration of the material progresses due to the repetition of such heating and the number of errors increases. In a recording medium such as an optical disk that can be rewritten a small number of times in response to the occurrence of such an error, increase the replacement area for rewriting the data in the area where the error has occurred, and secure a replacement area for the area degraded by the rewriting. However, the number of rewritable times has substantially been increased.

[0003]

Data stored in a recording medium is generally classified into data in a management area where rewriting is frequently performed and data in a data area where rewriting does not occur frequently. For example, in the MS-DOS (registered trademark) environment, a FAT area and a ROOT DIRECTORY area, which are in a management area that is rewritten many times, and a USER DA of a data area, which is rewritten many times
It is divided into TA areas. Since the management area and the data area are always set to the area of the same physical address, if the management area deteriorates and becomes unusable, the data area having a wider area is healthy,
There is a problem that the recording medium is discarded as having a long life.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and it is an object of the present invention to extend the life by uniformly using a recording medium.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the invention of claim 1, a range of logical addresses representing an area having a high rewriting frequency when rewriting the format of a recording medium represents an area having a low rewriting frequency. Allocate to a physical address range.

According to the second aspect of the invention, when the format of the recording medium is rewritten, the range of the physical address corresponding to the range of the logical address representing the frequently rewritten area is sequentially shifted so as not to overlap the range corresponding to the previous time. Assign to a range.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the number of times the format of the recording medium is rewritten is counted, and the physical address range corresponding to the range of the logical address representing the area having a high rewriting frequency is previously set each time the predetermined number of times is reached. Allocate to a range that is sequentially shifted so that it does not overlap the range corresponding to.

[0008]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, when the format is rewritten, the logical addresses are assigned to the physical addresses by associating the logical address range representing the area having the high rewriting frequency with the physical address of the area having the low rewriting frequency. As a result, it is possible to prevent an area of the recording medium that is frequently used from occurring, and it is possible to extend the life.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, when the format is rewritten, the range of the physical address corresponding to the range of the logical address representing the area having a high rewriting frequency is sequentially shifted so as not to overlap the range corresponding to the previous time. Since the recording medium is allocated to the range, the recording medium can be used uniformly and the life is extended.

According to the third aspect of the invention, every time the format is rewritten a predetermined number of times, the area of the physical address corresponding to the area of the logical address representing the area having a high rewriting frequency is sequentially arranged so as not to overlap with the corresponding range of the previous time. Since the recording medium is allocated in the shifted range, the recording medium can be used uniformly and the life is extended.

[0011]

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

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a personal computer including the recording apparatus of the embodiment. The personal computer includes a main body 1 and each device connected to the main body 1, and the main body 1 includes a CPU 2 that controls the whole according to a program, a RAM 3 that is a work area of the CPU 2, and a recording device 4 that reads and writes a recording medium. A display unit 5, a keyboard 6, and a printer 7 are connected to the main body 1, and an external device 8 such as a hard disk is also connected.

FIG. 2 shows the structure of the recording device 4. The interface unit 9 engages with the CPU 2, and the format controller unit 10 sets the format of the recording medium 12 and controls writing and reading on the recording medium 12. The drive unit 11 is the format controller unit 1
The recording medium 12 is driven based on the control of 0.

FIG. 3 is an operation flow chart for setting the format of the recording medium. First, the format information recorded in the management area of the recording medium is read (S1). This format information includes the number of times the format has been set up to the present, and the format parameter, that is, the start of the logical address that indicates from which physical address the first logical address starts. The address and the replacement area start address, which indicate from which of the physical addresses the first logical address of the replacement area starts. The format parameter is referred to from this format information (S2), and the correspondence between the logical address and the physical address to be set is determined (S3). The area represented by the logical address is composed of a management area with a high rewriting frequency and a user data area with a low rewriting frequency in this order. By associating the start address of the logical address with a predetermined physical address, In the subsequent correspondence, the address obtained by adding the predetermined address to the logical address as an offset value becomes the physical address. The offset value is determined so that the physical address of the newly defined management area is the area next to the physical address area of the current management area, and the correspondence between the logical address and the physical address is set. When the recording medium is unused, the offset value between the logical address and the physical address is set arbitrarily. When the physical address is determined from the logical address in this way, a new format is set based on this (S4). In the above-mentioned format setting, the correspondence between the logical address and the physical address is changed every time the format is set, but the same format is set n times in succession, and the offset value is changed every n + 1 times to correspond the logical address and the physical address. May be changed to change the format.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of format setting. The recording area is composed of a replacement area, a management area, and a user data area. The management area is a FAT area and a ROOT DIR.
It consists of the CTORY area. An address on the left side shows a physical address, and an example of a format in which formats 1 to 3 are set in order is shown. The numbers in parentheses indicate logical addresses. The replacement area is the same physical address area for each format, and the management area and the subsequent user data area are sequentially moved. In each format, the physical addresses of the replacement area are 0 to 99,999 and 900,000 to 1.00.
The area is set to 10,000, and 100,000 to 799,99
The management area and the user data area are sequentially moved within the physical address area 9. For example, in format 1, the physical address of the management area is 100,000 to 299,999, and in format 2, 300,000 to 499,9.
99 range, 500,000-69 for format 3
The range is 9,999, and the user data area is located next to the management area and sequentially moved. As a result, the frequency of use is uniform in each area of the recording medium, and the service life is extended.

FIG. 5 shows another example of format setting. This is because the replacement area is often used by the management area, so that the replacement area is moved integrally with the management area. In format 1, the replacement area is 0 to 99,99
9 and 900,000 to 1,000,000, the management area is 100,000 to 299,999, the user data area is 3,000,000 to 799,999, and in format 2, the start address of the replacement area is 300,000.
Format, 700,00 in format 3
It starts from 0, and the management area and the user data area are arranged following this. As a result, the frequency of use is uniform in each area of the recording medium, and the life is extended.

[0017]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, when the format is set in the area of the physical address that is frequently rewritten, the format is changed sequentially so that the recording medium can be used uniformly. And can extend the life.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an apparatus for carrying out the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a recording device

FIG. 3 is an operation flow chart for setting a format.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a format setting example.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing another format setting example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Personal Computer Main Body 2 CPU 3 RAM 4 Recording Device 9 Interface Section 10 Format Controller Section 11 Drive Section 12 Recording Medium 13 Replacement Area 14 Management Area 15 User Data Area

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A method of formatting a recording medium, wherein, when rewriting the format of the recording medium, a range of logical addresses representing an area having a high rewriting frequency is assigned to a range of physical addresses representing an area having a low rewriting frequency. 2. When rewriting the format of a recording medium, a range of physical addresses corresponding to a range of logical addresses representing an area that is frequently rewritten is assigned to a range that is sequentially shifted so as not to overlap with the corresponding range of the previous time. A method for formatting a characteristic recording medium. 3. A number of times of rewriting the format of the recording medium is counted, and a physical address range corresponding to a logical address range representing an area having a high frequency of rewriting at a predetermined number of times is set as a range corresponding to the previous time. A method of formatting a recording medium, characterized by allocating to a range that is sequentially shifted so as not to overlap.