JPH09213003A - Data recording and reproducing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To efficiently record and reproduce an input/output data at a variable data rate and to simply control recording and reproducing operation in this case. SOLUTION: The recording rate of a recording and reproducing part 7 is higher than an input data rate. Input data is once written in a memory 5, and the data read out of the memory 5 is recorded on a tape by the recording and reproducing part. The inflow of data to the memory 5 is started, and when the data amt. stored therein is increased to reach an upper threshold High, a recording commencement trigger is given to the recording and reproducing part. The actual recording is commenced to be delayed by a prescribed time from this trigger, and the data in the memory is decreased. Then, at the time of reaching a lower threshold Low, a stop command is given to stop recording operation. When the data amt. in the memory is increased again to reach the upper threshold High, the recording commencement trigger is generated to commence the actual recording. This recording and stopping operation is repeated until the data in the memory becomes vacant.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a data recording / reproducing apparatus applicable to, for example, a data recorder for industrial measurement.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, a data recording / reproducing apparatus such as a data recorder used for industrial measurement has one or a plurality of fixed heads, and the fixed heads record / reproduce data. By changing the tape speed at the time of recording / reproducing, it is possible to relatively easily record / reproduce data having different rates. However, since the conventional data recording / reproducing apparatus uses a fixed head, in order to increase the relative speed between the tape and the head,
It is necessary to run a huge length of tape at high speed. This method is not practical, and therefore it is practically necessary to increase the recording and reproducing rate.

Therefore, with the advance of information processing technology, a data recording / reproducing apparatus for recording / reproducing by a helical scan using a large-capacity high-speed digital data recorder and a rotary head has been considered. By using this rotary head, the relative speed of the tape can be increased,
Furthermore, the recording wavelength can be dramatically shortened. For example, it is possible to record / reproduce a large amount of data at a recording speed of 256 (Mbps) or the like.

[0004]

However, in the helical scan type data recording / reproducing apparatus, it is difficult to change the number of rotations of the rotary head or the tape speed according to the input data rate, so that the data recording at the fixed rate is performed. Alternatively, the data recording can be selected at a stepwise fixed rate (semi-fixed rate). The semi-fixed rate can be achieved by the drum speed with the rotary head attached and the tape speed. That is, the drum rotation speed N,
When the tape speed is S, for example, when data of 256 Mbps can be recorded, the drum rotation speed is N / 2 and the tape speed is S.
By setting 1/2, 128 Mbps data can be recorded, and the drum rotation speed is N / 4 and the tape speed is S.
By setting / 4, data of 64 Mbps can be recorded. However, if the input data rate is 84M, for example
In the case of bps, a mode of a rate of 128 Mbps or 256 Mbps is used, but there is a problem of inefficiency.

In order to prevent such a decrease in efficiency,
The inventor of the present application has proposed a data recording / reproducing apparatus capable of handling input data at an arbitrary rate. This is equipped with a buffer memory to support variable rate input / output data, and the recording / reproducing data rate is higher than the input / output data rate, resulting in overflow or underflow of the buffer memory. The recording / reproducing operation is performed intermittently so as not to exist.

That is, at the time of recording, when a certain amount of input data is stored in the buffer memory, the contents of the buffer memory are recorded on the recording medium at a higher rate,
After the contents of the buffer memory are recorded to some extent, the recording operation is stopped so that the underflow does not occur, the data is accumulated in the buffer memory, and the recording operation is performed again. During reproduction, the reproduction data is stored in the buffer memory, the reproduction operation is stopped when the buffer memory is about to overflow, and the reproduction operation is restarted when the content of the buffer memory is reduced to some extent. In the data recording / reproducing apparatus capable of supporting such a variable data rate, underflow of the buffer memory,
It is required to control the data flow so that overflow does not occur.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to improve the previously proposed variable data rate compatible data recording / reproducing apparatus, and more particularly to a data recording / reproducing apparatus capable of performing a data flow reliably and easily. To provide.

[0008]

According to the present invention, variable rate input data is written in a buffer memory, data read from the buffer memory is recorded on a recording medium by a recording / reproducing unit, and recorded by a recording / reproducing unit. A data recording / reproducing apparatus in which data reproduced from a medium is written in a buffer memory and output data is obtained from the buffer memory, wherein a recording / reproducing data rate of a recording / reproducing unit is higher than a maximum rate of input data. In the data recording / reproducing apparatus thus configured, the delay time from when the recording start command is given to the recording / reproducing unit until the recording of the output data of the buffer memory is actually started, and the condition that the buffer memory does not overflow is satisfied. When there is a delay between setting the upper threshold for recording and giving a stop command until the recording operation is actually stopped If, sets the lower threshold of the time satisfying recording buffer memory will not underflow,
Controls the operation of the recording / playback unit based on the upper and lower thresholds during recording, gives a playback start command to the recording / playback unit, and then actually starts the flow of playback data to the buffer memory. And the delay time from when the stop command is given to when the recording operation is actually stopped and the buffer memory is set A data recording / reproducing apparatus, characterized in that an upper threshold for reproduction is set so as not to overflow, and the operation of the recording / reproducing unit is controlled based on the upper and lower thresholds for recording. Is.

It is possible to efficiently record / reproduce variable-rate input / output data, facilitate control of start / stop of a recording operation and a reproducing operation, and reliably prevent an underflow of a buffer memory. You can

[0010]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION An example of a data recording / reproducing apparatus which is applicable to the present invention and which can cope with a variable data rate will be described below. FIG. 1 shows the configuration of this device. In this data recording / reproducing apparatus, for example, resource exploration data is received as a packet from a satellite,
It is used for recording the received data. The input data is variable rate data.

As shown in FIG. 1, a data bus through which digital data flows has a control CPU 1, a serial / parallel or parallel / serial conversion circuit 2 (hereinafter referred to as S / S).
P (P / S) 2), input / output data control unit 3, F
An IFO 4, a buffer memory 5, a FIFO 6, a data recording / reproducing unit 7, a clock signal generator 8, an input rate measuring unit 9, and an IRIG time code control unit 10 are connected. The input data is variable rate data, while
The recording / reproducing data rate of the data recording / reproducing unit 7 is fixed. The IRIG time code is time information added to the industrial measurement data, and is recorded on the helical track together with the data.

The first data line has an S / P
(P / S) 2, input / output data control unit 3, FIFO 4, buffer memory 5, FIFO 6, data recording / reproducing unit 7, clock signal generator 8, IRIG time code control unit 10
Is connected. Further, the control CPU 1, S / P (P / S) 2, input / output data control unit 3, FIFO 4, buffer memory 5, FIFO 6, and data recording / reproducing unit 7 are connected to the second data line.

The control CPU 1 controls the entire system, and mainly controls the flow of data,
A program for controlling the operation of the data recording / reproducing unit 7 is written. The control CPU 1 is, for example, GPIB.
It is connected to the outside by a communication line such as RS232C or RS232C, and can accept commands from the outside. Then, under the control of the control CPU 1, the data recording / reproducing unit 7
Performs a recording operation and a reproducing operation.

The S / P (P / S) 2 converts data serially input from the outside into parallel data, and
During reproduction by the data recording / reproducing unit 7, the parallel data is converted into serial data and output to the outside. The input / output data control unit 3 controls the S / P (P / S) 2,
It is for selecting parallel data or serial data.

The FIFO 4 is interposed between the input / output data control unit 3 and the buffer memory 5, and the FIFO 5 is interposed between the buffer memory 5 and the data recording / reproducing unit 7. A FIFO (First In First Out Memory) 4 is used when data is recorded by the data recording / reproducing unit 7. The FIFO 4 has a role of a buffer for temporarily storing input data for a time when the interface system shown in FIG. 1 is not involved in data transfer, with respect to continuously input variable rate data. The timing signal required for writing from the input / output data control unit 3 to the FIFO 4 is obtained from an external input / output clock.

The buffer memory 5 is subdivided into 64 banks 0 to 63 as shown in FIG. 3A. The 64 banks can specify write and read operations independently of each other.
This ensures that read and write operations do not overlap for the same bank. In the example shown in FIG. 3A, the total capacity is 256 MB, and the capacity of each bank is 4.
It is megabytes. As a result, the buffer memory 5 can be expanded and a wide range of rates can be accommodated.
Furthermore, each bank is 4 megabytes as an example,
The data size of one track of the data recording / reproducing unit 7 (14
4,432 bytes) enables more efficient data flow control. The data unit of this 1 track is called 1 ID track. As shown in FIG. 3B, in this case, banks of ID0 to ID1857 are configured.

The capacity of the buffer memory 5 actually depends on the speed of data to be recorded and reproduced. In order for the data recording / reproducing unit 7 to lock the servo at the point where recording / reproducing of the data on the tape is started, it is necessary to stop the tape at a position before that and start it from that position. Therefore, the data during this period must be stored in the buffer memory 5. Data is transferred between the FIFO 4 and the buffer memory 5 by DMA (direct memory access) not shown.

The operation of the buffer memory 5 is controlled by the control CPU 1. Data recording / reproducing unit 7
Is a fixed-rate or semi-fixed-rate data recording / reproducing unit for recording the data stored in the buffer memory 5 or reading the data on the tape and storing it in the buffer memory 5. Even if the variable-rate input data is the highest rate, the recording / reproducing data rate is set so that the data recording / reproducing unit 7 can record the input data. The buffer memory 5 and the data recording / reproducing unit 7 are connected via a FIFO 6.

A FIFO (first-in first-out memory) 6 is used during data recording / reproduction by the data recording / reproducing section 7. Then, the FIFO 6 functions as a buffer for temporarily storing output data for a time when the system is not involved in data transfer, with respect to continuously input data. Data is transferred between the FIFO 6 and the buffer memory 5 by a DMA (not shown). Also, between the FIFO 6 and the data recording / reproducing unit 7,
Data is transferred at high speed by the DMA.

FIG. 2 shows a tape format of an embodiment of the present invention. The data recording / reproducing unit 7 is a recording / reproducing device of a helical scan type, in which four magnetic heads are attached to a rotating drum at opposing intervals of, for example, 90 °, and a magnetic tape wound obliquely on the side surface of the drum. These magnetic heads sequentially trace the magnetic field to form an oblique track as shown in FIG. One rotation of the drum forms four diagonal tracks.

As shown in FIG. 2, in addition to the helical data tracks 12 obliquely recorded on the magnetic tape 11, longitudinal tracks are formed. As the tracks in the longitudinal direction, a control track 13 for recording a track number and a control signal necessary for servo control, and annotation tracks 14 and 15 for recording accompanying data as analog signals are formed. A track set ID is recorded on the control track 13. The track set ID is position information on the tape in units of four tracks.

The operation of the data recording / reproducing apparatus of the above embodiment will be described. First, when recording data,
Input data from the outside is input / output data control unit 3, FI
It is written in the buffer memory 5 via the FO4. The data stored in the buffer memory 5 is supplied to the data recording / reproducing unit 7 via the FIFO 6. Then, in the data recording / reproducing section 7, data is recorded on the tape. Further, during reproduction by the data recording / reproducing apparatus, the data recorded on the tape is reproduced by the data recording / reproducing unit 7, and the reproduced data is written in the buffer memory 5 via the FIFO 6. The data stored in the buffer memory 5 is output to the outside via the FIFO 4 and the input / output data control unit 3.

Further, the correspondence of the data recording / reproducing apparatus to the variable rate will be described. Here, an operation of recording input data at a rate lower than the maximum rate of the data recording / reproducing unit 7 capable of recording at a fixed rate or a semi-fixed rate on a tape will be described. On the contrary, when the input / output data rate is higher than the recording / reproducing rate, the recording operation cannot be stopped for continuous input / output data from the outside, and the buffer memory overflows. .

The amount of data recorded on each track of the tape (or four tracks formed by one rotation of the drum) by the data recording / reproducing unit 7 is 144, 4 as an example.
It is 32 bytes. A track set ID is recorded on the control track 13 of the tape shown in FIG. Using this track set ID, the tape is stopped at a predetermined position and recording / reproduction is started from that position. Therefore, the operation of the timeline processing is possible. Here, the process of moving the position of the tape to a position before the recording / reproducing start position is called preroll. Further, the process of servo-locking at a predetermined position to record / reproduce from a predetermined position on the tape is called a sync. The amount of tape movement such as preroll is defined by the track set ID recorded on the control track 13.

Data input to the data recording / reproducing apparatus at an arbitrary rate (here, lower than the maximum rate of the data recording / reproducing unit 7) is first input to the buffer memory 5. At this time, the tape is moved ahead of the recording / reproducing position by the number to be synced, and a recording / reproducing command is supplied to the data recording / reproducing unit 7 before the buffer memory 5 becomes full of data. Let it run. That is, the pre-roll is performed, the sync operation is performed, the servo lock is applied, and the data from the buffer is recorded on the tape from there.

Ideally, when the data is written at the last address of the buffer memory 5, the data at the first address of the buffer memory 5 is read. Then, it is desirable to control the data read from the buffer memory 5 so that the data recording / reproducing unit 7 records the data at a predetermined position on the tape. But here comes the problem. Since the recording rate recorded on the tape by the data recording / reproducing unit 7 is faster than the input data written in the buffer memory 5, bank overtaking occurs in the buffer memory 5 after a while. To prevent this overtaking,
The recording operation in the data recording / reproducing unit 7 must be stopped. In this embodiment, the switching time of the bank of the buffer memory 5 is absorbed by the FIFO 4 and the FIFO 6.

In this way, the above operation is repeated until there is no input data written in the buffer memory 5. As a result, the buffer memory capacity of the buffer memory 5 can be minimized and the variable-rate recording operation can be realized. Further, by measuring the rate of the input data written in the buffer memory 5 by the input rate measuring unit 9, the time when the buffer memory 5 is full can be predicted. Then, since the pre-roll time and the sync time are known in advance, it is possible to realize an optimal operation without error.

The reference numerals for explaining the control of the buffer memory are shown below. Bo: Number of offset banks,
Bpso: Recording rate of the data recording / reproducing unit 7 [Mbps
], Bpsi: input rate [Mbps] to the data recording / reproducing unit 7, and Bp: pre-roll of the data recording / reproducing unit 7.
During standby, the number of banks written from the FIFO 4 to the bank of the buffer memory 5, BL: The number of banks written from the bank of the buffer memory 5 to the data recording / reproducing unit 7 in one timeline processing, Bse: The data recording / reproducing unit 7 is a sync And the number of banks to be written from the FIFO 4 to the bank of the buffer memory 5 during recording. The timeline here is a counter that generates a count value as a scheduling scale, or a schedule that is made using the counter value of the timeline (counter) as a scale.

FIG. 4 shows the control operation of the control CPU 1. In step S1, data of the bank number Bo is written from the FIFO 4 to the bank of the buffer memory 5, and the process proceeds to step S2. In step S2, an event is defined, the defined event is supplied to the data recording / reproducing unit 7, and the process proceeds to step S3. In step S3, a preroll start command is supplied to the data recording / reproducing unit 7, and the process proceeds to step S4. In step S4, F
Number of banks Bp from IFO 4 to bank of buffer memory 5
Data is written, and the process proceeds to step S5.

In step S5, the data recording / reproducing unit 7 confirms that the preroll is completed, and the process proceeds to step S5.
Go to 6. In step S6, a timeline run command is supplied to the data recording / reproducing unit 7, and the process proceeds to step S7. In step S7, the data of the bank number Bse is written from the FIFO 4 to the bank of the buffer memory 5, and the process proceeds to step S8. In step S8, the data recording / reproducing unit 7 confirms that the event is completed, and the process proceeds to step S9. In step S9, it is determined whether or not there is other data in the buffer memory 5. If there is other data, the process returns to step S2. If there is no other data in the buffer memory 5, the process ends.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing the flow of operation of the data recording / reproducing unit 7. In step S10, an event is accepted from the control CPU 1, and the process proceeds to step S11. In step S11, the control CPU 1
The preroll start command is accepted from and the process proceeds to step S12. In step S12, preroll is executed, and the process proceeds to step S13. In step S13, the standby state is entered, and the process proceeds to step S14.

In step S14, the control CPU 1 is informed that the preroll has been completed, and the process proceeds to step S1.
Go to 5. In step S15, a run command of the timeline is accepted from the control CPU 1, and the process is step S1.
Go to 6. In step S16, the sync state is set, and the process proceeds to step S17. In step S17, the data of the number of banks BL from the banks of the buffer memory 5 is
Writing on the tape, the process proceeds to step S18. In step S18, the control CPU 1 is notified of the event completion, and the process proceeds to step S19. In step S19, it is determined whether or not there is other data in the buffer memory 5. If there is other data, step S
Return to 10. If there is no other data in the buffer memory 5, the process ends.

FIG. 6 shows a temporal flow of the operation of the data recording / reproducing apparatus. The upper part of FIG. 6 shows the number of banks written from the FIFO 4 to the bank of the buffer memory 5. Next, the middle row represents time, and the lower row below it represents the state of the data recording / reproducing unit 7. First, at the time of tbo + tp + ts + te1, data of the number of banks (Bp + Bse) is written from the FIFO 4 to the bank of the buffer memory 5. The number of banks (Bp + Bse) is set as the number of banks BL, and data is recorded on the tape by the data recording / reproducing unit 7 at time teo.

Therefore, the equation of the number of banks is Bo + Bp + (Bse−Bo) = BL (1) From this, Bp + Bse = BL (2)

Here, when the bank size, the number of banks, the input rate, and the speed of the data recording / reproducing unit 7 are constants, the values of Bp, BL, and Bse for operating correctly as a variable rate buffer memory may be obtained. . In this case, as described above, there are two conditions as a variable rate buffer memory. The first condition is to prevent the buffer memory 5 from overflowing when the data recording / reproducing unit 7 is in an idle state other than the recording state. The second condition is that the buffer memory 5 should not overtake the data from the FIFO 4 when the data recording / reproducing unit 7 is in the recording state.

According to the first condition, since the capacity of the buffer memory 5 is 256 megabytes and the offset amount of the preceding write is 4 megabytes, (tp + ts) × Bpsi <(256-4) = 252 [Mbyte] (3) Become.

By the way, the amount of data written from the FIFO 4 to the bank of the buffer memory 5 at time tp is tp × Bpsi = Bp × 4 [Mbyte] (4).

Therefore, tp = 4 Bp / Bpsi (5), and by substituting the equation (5) into the equation (3) and rearranging, Bp <(252−ts × Bpsi) / 4 (6).

On the other hand, te1 <teo (7) because the completion time of the timeline is longer than the data write completion time for one cycle under the second condition.

By the way, the amount of input data written from the FIFO 4 to the bank of the buffer memory 5 in one cycle is 1
Since it is equal to the amount of data written to the data recording / reproducing unit 7 in a cycle, it becomes 4 [Mbyte] + (tp + ts + te1) × Bpsi = 4 [Mbyte] × BL (8). Here, when formula (5) is substituted into formula (8) and rearranged, te1 = (4BL-4-4Bp) / Bpsi-ts (9).

Since 4BL = teo.Bpso (10), therefore, teo = 4BL / Bpso (11), and by substituting equations (9) and (11) into equation (7), , BL <(4Bp + ts · Bpsi + 4) · Bpso / 4 (Bpso−Bpsi) (12).

Therefore, the values of Bp, Bse, and BL are
It can be calculated by obtaining a value that satisfies the expressions (2), (6), and (12).

FIG. 7 and FIG. 8 are examples that satisfy the above-mentioned formula, and show the calculated values by the above-mentioned formula.
As shown in FIG. 7, the upper row shows Bpso and Bp, respectively.
It represents si, Bp, BL, and Bse. When Bpso is 32 [Mbyte / sec] and Bpsi is 32 [Mbyte / sec], Bp is 36 banks, BL is infinite, and Bse is also infinite. Also, when Bpso is 32 [Mbyte / sec], Bp is
When si is 16 [Mbyte / sec], Bp is 49 banks,
BL has 122 banks and Bse has 73 banks. Furthermore, Bpsi is 32 [Mbyte / sec] and Bpsi is 8 [Mb.
yte / sec], Bp is 56 banks, BL is 83 banks, and Bse is 27 banks.

Further, as shown in FIG. 8, in the upper stage, similarly to FIG. 7, Bpso, Bpsi, Bp, BL and B are respectively provided.
represents se. When Bpso is 16 [Mbyte / sec] and Bpsi is 16 [Mbyte / sec], Bp is 49 banks, BL is infinite, and Bse is also infinite. Also, Bp
so is 16 [Mbyte / sec] and Bpsi is 8 [Mbyte / sec]
], Bp is 56 banks, BL is 125 banks,
Bse becomes 76 banks. Furthermore, Bpso is 16
When [Mbyte / sec] and Bpsi is 4 [Mbyte / sec],
Bp is 59 banks, BL is 83 banks, and Bse is 27 banks.

First, in the calculation of Bp, ts = 2.8
[Sec], Bpsi may be calculated, for example, 20% earlier in consideration of clock error and the like (3.75 [Mb
yte / sec] → 4.5 [Mbyte / sec]). That is, the buffer memory 5 is provided with a margin in a direction in which it is difficult for the buffer memory 5 to overflow.

Next, in the calculation of BL, ts = 2.8
[Sec] and Bpso are 32 [Mbyte / sec] and 16 [Mbyt]
e / sec]. And
In the calculation of Bse, Bse = BL-Bp is obtained.

In the above-mentioned data recording / reproducing apparatus, when the input rate measured by the input rate measuring unit 9 shown in FIG. 1 is lower than the maximum recording rate of the data recording / reproducing unit 7, the control CPU 1 controls the data recording / reproducing unit. The tape is moved ahead of the recording / reproducing position by a predetermined position with respect to 7. Then, the data recording / reproducing unit 7 controls to start recording / reproducing from this predetermined position. at least,
Before data is stored from the foremost part to the last part of the plurality of recording parts of the buffer memory 5,
The data recording / reproducing unit 7 controls the data stored in the frontmost storage unit to be recorded / reproduced from a predetermined position. Therefore, it is possible to record and reproduce variable-speed data and automatically measure the input data rate. Further, it is possible to always perform optimum control without having to change the rate setting again.

The buffer memory 5 is a buffer memory having a plurality of banks as a plurality of storage units capable of independently storing and reading data. Then, when it is determined that the recording / reproducing operation of the data recording / reproducing unit 7 is performed before the data writing / reading operation performed on the plurality of banks of the buffer memory 5, the control CPU 1 performs a plurality of operations in the buffer memory 5. The recording / reproducing operation of the data recording / reproducing unit 7 is stopped until the writing / reading of data to / from the bank. As a result, the recording / reproducing operation of the data recording / reproducing unit 7 can be prevented from overtaking the data writing / reading operation performed on the plurality of banks of the buffer memory 5, and the optimum control can always be performed.

Further, as shown in FIG. 1, a FIFO 4 is provided between the input / output data control unit 3 to which data is supplied and the buffer memory 5. Then, in order to prevent the storage capacity of the buffer memory 5 from overflowing when the data recording / reproducing unit 7 is in an idle state other than the recording operation, the control CPU 1
By this, data is written to and read from a plurality of banks. In this case, the FIFO 4 stores the data supplied from the input / output data control unit 3 so as to absorb the data writing / reading time for the plurality of banks of the buffer memory 5. Further, when the data recording / reproducing unit 7 is in a recording state, the control CPU 1 writes / reads data to / from a plurality of banks of the buffer memory 5 so that the buffer memory 5 does not overtake the data supplied from the FIFO 4. . Therefore, variable speed data can be recorded.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 1, a FIFO 6 is provided on the output side of the buffer memory 5 so that the storage capacity of the buffer memory 5 does not overflow when the data recording / reproducing unit 7 is in an idle state other than the reproducing operation. A control CPU
1 writes / reads data to / from a plurality of banks of the buffer memory 5. In this case, the buffer memory 5 is arranged so that the FIFO 6 absorbs the data writing / reading time with respect to the plurality of banks of the buffer memory 5.
Stores data supplied by. Further, when the data recording / reproducing unit 7 is in the reproducing state, the buffer memory 5 is
The control CPU 1 writes / reads data to / from a plurality of banks of the buffer memory 5 so as not to overtake the data output from O6. And FIF
Since the data is output from O6, it is possible to reproduce the data at a variable speed.

The above-mentioned data recording / reproducing apparatus can record / reproduce variable-speed data and automatically measure the input data rate, and there is no need to change the rate setting again.
Further, it is possible to prevent the recording / reproducing operation from overtaking the data writing / reading operation performed on the plurality of banks of the buffer memory. Further, data is output from the first-in first-out memory. Therefore, optimal control can always be performed without changing the circuit configuration and the mechanical configuration.

The present invention relates to an improvement of the above-mentioned data recording / reproducing apparatus, and more particularly to data flow control. The present invention uses a bank table having a design margin based on the algorithm for the data recording / reproducing apparatus described above. Less than,
An embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 9 illustrates a time code recorded in the helical track. One track set has 144,304 bytes, and a 128-byte header is added to the beginning of each track set. This header has a header ID (5 bytes), a control flag (8
Byte, track set ID (3 bytes), TC (time code) data (6 bytes), TC user data (4 bytes), extended user data (32 bytes), and reserved area (70 bytes).

The track set ID is the same as the track set ID recorded on the control track 13 in the longitudinal direction. The TC data is a time code obtained by encoding an IRIG time code, is read during reproduction, and is output to the outside. The TC user data is data that can be defined by the user. The extended user data is set by the host computer. Track set ID recorded on the control track on the tape
It is possible to position the tape by using any one of the time code recorded on the helical track and the time code recorded on the helical track. A method of performing the search by the time code recorded on the helical track is to obtain a target track set ID from the time information at the time of reproduction and the track set ID at that time and search it.

In this embodiment, it is possible to hold time code history information (time code history) by using 60 bytes in the reserved area.
The time code history is divided into 6 bytes,
Up to 10 IDs and TCs can be written there. The timecode history is recorded by a method of checking at the time of preroll before recording whether or not the history has already been written, and adding to the previous history. For example, a pair of a track set ID value and an IRIG time code value corresponding to the start position of a series of recorded data is recorded. Similarly, a pair of a track set ID value and an IRIG time code value corresponding to the end position of a series of recorded data is recorded.

By recording the above-mentioned time code history, access can be performed at high speed, the joint of append recording can be easily understood, and the entire image of the data recorded on the tape can be easily obtained. There are advantages that can be understood. For example, when using this history for time code search, it is played back at the current position, the time code history is read, and it is checked whether or not the target position exists. If it doesn't exist, feed the tape just before the last recorded position,
Read the time code history again and check if the target position exists. If the target position exists in the time code history, the target position is converted into the track set ID from the track set ID and the IRIG time code recorded there, and pre-roll is performed. After completion of the preroll, make a fine adjustment to find out if the desired IRIG time code is present. As described above, the time code history is a means for moving (searching) at a high speed to the position of the ID of the time information recorded on the tape.

FIG. 10 shows the software configuration of the control CPU 1 for realizing the variable rate buffer. S
The WP task 21 reads a switch input from the switch panel via the SWP driver 22, and transmits the input content to the data recording / reproducing device (DFCC),
The internal state and the error state reported from each task are received, and the light emitting diode of the panel is turned on / off via the SWP driver 22.

The HOST (IOP) driver 23 uses the RS
DF commands from the host controller sent via an interface such as 232C / GPIB
Transfer to CC task 24.

The TC driver 25 reads an IRIG time code input from the outside, converts it into time information, and then DMA0 driver 26 and DMA2 driver 27.
It is stored in the buffer memory 5 via.

The EL task 29 records the error information reported from each task in the backup memory.

The DFCC task 24 decodes the command sent from the switch panel or the host controller, and decodes the command into the VRC task 30 and the PM task 3.
1. Send to the DRC task 32 to realize the recording operation and the reproducing operation.

The VRC task 30 uses the DMA0 driver 2
6 is controlled to store data input from the outside in the buffer memory 5 or output the contents of the buffer memory 5 to the outside.

The DRC task 32 uses the DMA1 driver 3
3 is controlled to store the data reproduced from the data recording / reproducing unit 7 in the buffer memory 5 or to control the content of the buffer memory 5 to be recorded in the data recording / reproducing unit 7. The recording operation and the reproducing operation of the data recording / reproducing unit 7,
Stop operation, tape position control, etc. are performed.

The PM task 31 monitors the amount of data stored in the buffer memory 5, and the input / output data from the buffer memory 5 to the VR FIFO 4 is not lost by the PM task 31 via the DRC task 32. It also controls. That is, the PM task 31 controls the data flow of the buffer memory 5, controls the write pointer and the read pointer, and controls the table.

FIG. 11 shows the flow of data during recording. FIG. 11 shows that the VRC task is software that controls the input / output of data with the host computer, and the DRC task is the software that controls the input / output of data with the data recording / reproducing unit. , PM tasks control both. In response to the open packet request from the host computer, the VRC task which received the Alloc PACKET from the PM task transfers only the PACKET to the buffer memory 5. When the transfer is complete, PACKET will
It becomes VALID, and the PM task informs the DRC of the number of readable packets. The DRC reads the number of packets read from the buffer memory 5 and transferred to the DIR as PM.
And PM frees the area.

FIG. 12 shows a water flow during recording controlled by the control CPU 1. That is, FIG.
The vertical axis of 2 represents the amount of data in the buffer memory 5,
When there is a change in the data amount between the lowest level shown as Empty and the highest level shown as Full, underflow and overflow of the buffer memory 5 do not occur. Also, as a level slightly above the lowest level, Lo
A lower threshold value for recording shown by w is set, and an upper threshold value (second value) for recording shown as High is set as a level considerably lower than the highest level.

The recording operation starts, and the input data from the outside (specifically, the host computer) starts to flow,
When the amount of data stored in the buffer memory 5 increases and reaches the upper threshold value, the data recording / reproducing unit 7 is given a recording trigger DIR-REC. Then, the actual recording operation is started after a lapse of a predetermined time from the trigger. This delay time is the time required for the above-described pre-roll and sync, and is unique to the data recording / reproducing unit 7. When recording actually starts, the rate of the data recorded on the tape by the recording / reproducing unit 7 is higher than the input data rate, so that the data in the buffer memory 5 gradually decreases. Then, when the amount of data in the buffer memory 5 reaches the lower threshold value, the stop instruction DIR-STOP is given. As a result, the tape is stopped and the recording operation is stopped.

Since the recording operation is stopped, the amount of data in the buffer memory 5 increases again and reaches the upper threshold value. As a result, the recording trigger DIR-RE
C occurs. The actual recording operation is performed after a predetermined time delay. Such a recording operation and a stopping operation are repeated while being controlled by comparing the amount of residual data in the buffer memory 5 with upper and lower threshold values. Then, when the input of the host data is stopped, this causes the recording trigger DIR.
-REC occurs and the recording operation starts after a predetermined time delay. Then, the recording operation is continued until the data in the buffer memory 5 becomes empty, and finally the recording operation is stopped.

FIG. 13 shows the flow of data during reproduction. In FIG. 13, the VRC task is software that controls the input / output of data to / from the host computer, the DRC task is software that controls the input / output of data to / from the data recording / reproducing unit, and the PM task controls both. Shown to manage.
The DRC task, which is ready to receive data from the DIR, asks the PM task to secure a free area in the packet area, and transfers the DIR data to the buffer memory. When the transfer is complete and valid data is available, the PM task tells the VRC task the amount of valid packets. VRC task reads that number of packets, PM
Issues a packet free request to the task.

FIG. 14 shows a water flow during reproduction controlled by the control CPU 1. Ie Empt
Between the lowest level marked y and the highest level marked Full,
When there is a change in the data amount, neither underflow nor overflow of the buffer memory 5 occurs. Also, as a level considerably above the minimum level, Lo
A lower threshold value (first value) indicated by w is set, and an upper threshold value (second value) indicated by High is set as a level slightly lower than the highest level.

When the reproduction trigger DIR-FWD occurs, the buffer memory 5 is empty. The actual reproduction operation starts after a predetermined time elapses from the generation of the reproduction trigger. Since the reproduced data is accumulated in the buffer memory 5, the amount of data in the buffer memory 5 increases. When this reaches the lower threshold value, the transmission of reproduction data to the host is started. As a result, the data in the buffer memory 5 decreases, but since the rate of the data reproduced by the recording / reproducing unit 7 is higher than the data rate for the host, the amount of data in the buffer memory 5 increases, which is the upper side. When the threshold value is reached, a stop command DIR-STOP is given to the data recording / reproducing unit 7. As a result, the tape is stopped and the reproducing operation is stopped.

Since the reproducing operation is stopped, the amount of data in the buffer memory 5 decreases, which reaches the lower threshold value. As a result, a reproduction trigger DIR-FWD is generated. The actual reproduction operation is performed after a predetermined time delay. The amount of data in the buffer memory 5 increases again. Such a reproducing operation and a stopping operation are repeated while being controlled by comparing the residual data amount in the buffer memory 5 with upper and lower threshold values. Then, when the transmission of data to the host is stopped, the stop operation is immediately performed.

The upper and lower threshold values in the recording operation shown in FIG. 12 and the upper and lower threshold values in the reproducing operation shown in FIG. 14 depend on the capacity of the mounted buffer memory 5 and the data rate. Since they are different, they are prepared as a table as an example in FIG. This table is stored in the memory in the PM task of the CPU 1. By referring to this table, the appropriate upper and lower thresholds High and Low are set. FIG.
5, the memory capacity is the capacity of the mounted buffer memory 5. In the example of FIG. 15, the buffer memory 5
The maximum capacity is 256 Mbytes, which can be reduced in units of 64 Mbytes. FIG. 15 is a part of the table, in which High and Low are 25
Assuming a buffer memory of 6 Mbytes, the data of one track set ID is represented as one block.

[0073]

As described above, according to the present invention, even if the input data rate is variable, the buffer memory is interposed, the recording operation and the stopping operation are repeated during recording, and the reproducing operation is performed during reproduction. Since the stop operation is repeated, it is possible to efficiently record / reproduce the variable rate data. According to the present invention, when the recording operation, the reproducing operation, and the stopping operation are controlled by setting the threshold value, the control becomes simple and reliable. Specifically, the table has optimum threshold values corresponding to the operation mode (recording / reproducing), the input data rate, the mounted memory amount, and the recording / reproducing rate, which makes the control easier. There is.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an example of a previously proposed data recording / reproducing apparatus to which the present invention can be applied.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a tape format of an example of a data recording / reproducing apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration of a buffer memory as an example of a data recording / reproducing apparatus.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a control operation of a control CPU 1 of an example of a data recording / reproducing apparatus.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an operation state of a data recording / reproducing unit 7 of an example of the data recording / reproducing apparatus.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing a temporal flow of a recording / reproducing operation of an example of the data recording / reproducing apparatus.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram for explaining the operation of an example of a data recording / reproducing device.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram for explaining the operation of an example of a data recording / reproducing apparatus.

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram for explaining a time code according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram for explaining a software configuration of a control CPU according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram showing an outline of a recording operation in one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram for explaining control of a recording operation in an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram showing an outline of a reproducing operation in one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram for explaining control of a reproducing operation in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a schematic diagram for explaining an example of upper and lower threshold values for controlling the recording / reproducing operation in the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Control CPU, 2 ... S / P (P / S), 3
... Input / output data control unit 4, 6, ... FIFO, 5
... Buffer memory, 7 ... Data recording / reproducing unit, 8
... Clock signal generator, 9 ... Input rate measuring unit, 10 ... IRIG time code control unit, 11 ...
・ Magnetic tape, 12 ... Helical data track, 1
3 ... control track, 14, 15 ... annotation track

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A variable-rate input data is written in a buffer memory, the data read from the buffer memory is recorded on a recording medium by a recording / reproducing unit, and is reproduced from the recording medium by the recording / reproducing unit. A data recording / reproducing apparatus for writing data to the buffer memory and obtaining output data from the buffer memory, wherein the rate of the recording / reproducing data of the recording / reproducing unit is higher than the maximum rate of the input data. In the data recording / reproducing apparatus, a delay time from when a recording start command is given to the recording / reproducing unit until recording of output data of the buffer memory is actually started, and a condition that the buffer memory does not overflow. Set the upper threshold for recording that satisfies the condition, and actually stop the recording operation after giving a stop command. The delay time until recording starts and the lower threshold for recording that satisfies the condition that the buffer memory does not underflow are set, and the operation of the recording / playback unit is controlled based on the upper and lower thresholds for recording. Controlling, the delay time from when a reproduction start command is given to the recording / reproducing unit until the reproduction data actually starts flowing into the buffer memory, and reproduction that satisfies the condition that the buffer memory does not underflow. Time, set the lower threshold value, set the delay time from when the stop command is given to when the recording operation is actually stopped, and the upper threshold value during playback when the buffer memory does not overflow. A data recording / reproducing apparatus, characterized in that the operation of a recording / reproducing unit is controlled based on the upper and lower threshold values at the time of recording. 2. The data recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the upper and lower threshold values during recording and the upper and lower threshold values during reproduction are implemented with an input data rate. A data recording / reproducing apparatus having a table for optimal setting corresponding to a capacity of a buffer memory and a data rate of the recording / reproducing unit. 3. The data recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the tape position information recorded on the recording medium is used to determine upper and lower threshold values during recording and upper and lower threshold values during reproduction. A data recording / reproducing apparatus characterized in that a side threshold value is defined.