JPH1021050A - Voice recording and reproducing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable the erasing processing of unwanted voice data without disturbing the operation of user by providing a control means with which valid voice data are copied into the spare area of a non-volatile memory, afterwards, an original block is erased by an erasing means, and operation is temporarily stopped when a prescribed operating member such as a button is operated during such operation. SOLUTION: A terminal D3 of a digital signal processing part(DSP) 5 is connected to a non-volatile memory 7 and a terminal D4 is connected to a terminal T1 of a system control part (CPU) 6 as a recording/reproducing, identifying, erasing warning and control means. Excepting for the erasing operation for instructing the erasure of voice data written in the non-volatile memory 7, the CPU 6 copies the valid voice data inside the erasure block containing invalid voice data into the spare area of erasable block unit inside the non- volatile memory 7 and erases the original block later and when a prescribed operating member such as a button is operated during such operation, the operation is temporarily stopped.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to an audio recording / reproducing apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An audio recording / reproducing apparatus for digitizing input audio, recording the digitalized audio in a semiconductor memory and reproducing the digitalized audio has been known. In such an audio recording / reproducing apparatus, in particular, in a portable type, since a battery is mainly used as a power source, a nonvolatile flash memory is suitable as a recording medium.

[0003] However, when a flash memory is used, the block unit to be erased is large. Therefore, even if it is desired to erase a relatively short recorded portion by editing or the like, the data of the entire block is temporarily saved in the buffer memory and then the block is deleted. Erasing data and then writing back only the unerased data, the response to other operation modes after the erasing operation was slow and the usability could not be improved. .

In order to solve such a drawback, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. Hei 5-173872 uses an identification flag indicating whether the data is valid or invalid for each recording unit, and erases the data at the time of an erasing operation. It discloses a method of invalidating and rewriting a flag of a part of data.

[0005]

However, according to the above method, the responsiveness at the time of the erasing operation is improved, but the recorded voice is erased because unnecessary data remains as invalid data. Disadvantageously that the recordable memory capacity does not increase.

Therefore, it is conceivable to provide an operation button for enabling the user to delete invalid data when the user is not using the apparatus. However, an extra space is required for providing such an operation button. At the same time, there is a problem that the cost increases.

Although a method of automatically erasing data when invalid data has occurred to some extent has also been considered, the erasing process is performed irrespective of the user's intention only by this method. However, the CPU that controls the system and the memory is occupied by the erasing process. That is,
Even if any operation is performed during this time, it is not possible to respond until the erasing process is completed, and particularly when dictation or the like is performed, a problem such as truncation at the time of recording occurs.

The audio recording / reproducing apparatus of the present invention has been made in view of such a problem, and an object thereof is to perform unnecessary audio data erasing processing without hindering a user's operation. It is an object of the present invention to provide an audio recording / reproducing apparatus which can perform the above.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above object, an audio recording and reproducing apparatus according to a first aspect of the present invention writes and reproduces audio data in a nonvolatile memory and reads audio data from the nonvolatile memory. Means, identification means for identifying whether the recorded audio data is valid or invalid, erasing means for erasing audio data in erasable block units,
In an operation state other than the erasing operation at the time of the operation for instructing erasing, the valid voice data in the erasing block including the invalid voice data is copied to the erasable block unit spare area of the nonvolatile memory, and then the erasing is performed. Control means for erasing the original block by means and temporarily interrupting the operation when a predetermined operation member is operated during these operations.

The audio recording / reproducing apparatus according to the second invention is a recording / reproducing means for writing audio data to a nonvolatile memory and reading the audio data from the nonvolatile memory, and for determining whether the recorded audio data is valid or invalid. Identification means for identifying;
Erasing means for erasing audio data in erasable block units; and copying the valid audio data in the erasure block including the invalid audio data to a spare area in the erasable block unit of the nonvolatile memory. Control means for performing an operation of erasing the original block by means;
A warning means for issuing a predetermined warning when a predetermined operation member is operated during the operation.

The audio recording / reproducing apparatus according to the third invention is the audio recording / reproducing apparatus according to the first or second invention, wherein the valid audio data in the erase block including the invalid audio data is stored in the spare area. Display means for displaying the elapsed time when copying and erasing the original block is further provided.

That is, in the audio recording / reproducing apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention, when the operation state other than the erasing operation at the time of the operation of instructing the erasure of the audio data written in the nonvolatile memory includes the invalid audio data. After the valid voice data in the erase block is copied to the erasable block unit spare area of the nonvolatile memory, the original block is erased, and when a predetermined operation member is operated during these operations, Operation is suspended.

In the audio recording / reproducing apparatus according to the second aspect of the present invention, in the audio data written in the non-volatile memory, the valid audio data in the erase block including the invalid audio data can be erased from the non-volatile memory. When a predetermined operation member is operated while the data is copied to the unit spare area and the original block is erased, a predetermined warning is issued by the warning unit.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided the audio recording / reproducing apparatus according to the first or second aspect, wherein valid audio data in an erase block including invalid audio data is copied to a spare area. The elapsed time when the original block is erased is displayed.

[0015]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an audio recording and reproducing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, a microphone 1 includes a digital signal processor (hereinafter referred to as DSP) 5 via an amplifier (AMP) 2, a low-pass filter (LPF) 3, and an analog / digital (A / D) converter 4. D1 terminal.
The speaker 11 is connected to a DSP 5 via an amplifier (AMP) 10 and a digital / analog (D / A) converter 9.
D2 terminal. The D3 terminal of the DSP 5 is connected to the recording medium 7, and the D4 terminal is connected to a T1 terminal of a system control unit (CPU) 6 as a recording / reproducing unit, an identifying unit, an erasing unit, a warning unit, and a control unit. I have.

The T2 terminal of the system control unit (CPU) 6 is connected to the recording medium 7, the T3 terminal is connected to the power supply control unit 14, and the T4 terminal is connected via the drive circuit 12 to a display as display means. 13 is connected.

The system control unit (CPU) 6 further includes:
A record button REC, a play button PLAY, a stop button STOP, a fast forward button FF, a fast rewind button REW, and an erase button ERASE as operation buttons (operation members) are connected.

In the above configuration, when recording audio,
An analog signal obtained from the microphone 1 is converted into an amplifier (A
MP) 2 and a low-pass filter (LPF) 3
After passing through the analog / digital (A / D) converter 4
To a digital signal and input to the DSP5. The DSP 5 compresses the input voice under the control of the system control unit 6 and sends it to the system control unit 6.

On the other hand, at the time of audio reproduction, the system control section 6 reads the audio data recorded on the recording
Supply to SP5. The DSP 5 decompresses the read audio data, and the decompressed read data is
The signal is converted into an analog signal by an analog (D / A) converter 9, amplified by an amplifier (AMP) 10, and output to a speaker 11.

During the above-described recording and reproducing operations, the system control unit 6 controls the drive circuit 12 to display various information such as the operation mode and the current date and time on the display unit 13.
The power control unit 14 is controlled.

Hereinafter, the erasing process of the audio data according to the present embodiment will be described. Here, a description will be given of an erasing process in the case where a memory card that is removable from the apparatus is used as the recording medium 7 and the memory card is configured by a nonvolatile memory such as a flash memory.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a recording format of audio data in the flash memory. That is, the memory is composed of a plurality of erasable blocks, and the file information area (
BLOCK-0 in FIG. 2), data area (BLOCK-1, BLOCK-2,
BLOCK-3, BLOCK-5) and a spare area (BLOCK-4 in FIG. 2). Here, in the file information area, letter information including the name of a recorded audio file (file name) and the like, and the location of the address table (block
No. and sector No.) are recorded. This file information is usually arranged in a predetermined block, and is read into the RAM of the system at the start of the operation of the apparatus and rewritten at the end of the operation. The data area is composed of a plurality of sectors that are data write / read units on the memory, and audio data (SECTOR-1 to SECTOR- in FIG. 2).
5), address data (SECTOR-6 in Fig. 2), and a block map (SECTOR-0 in Fig. 2) indicating whether the data in each sector is valid or invalid, or whether it is empty data that can be recorded.
It is composed of

Here, for example, how the sound of the file name BBBB is recorded in a specific block will be described step by step. First, in the file information area of block 0 (BLOCK-0), "BBBB" is used as a file name (file name), "2" is used as a block number, which is the address table position of the file, and "sector number" is used as a sector number. 6 "is recorded. The address table 1 at the reference position indicates that the audio data of this file is BLOC
This shows that SECTOR-1 to SECTOR-5 (S1 to S5) of K-2 (B2) are stored in order. Further, the data flag area of the block map of the first sector 0 (SECTOR-0) of block 2 includes the SECTOR-1 to SECTOR-0 in the block.
A data flag indicating that data has already been written up to -6 is recorded. Here, “1” is recorded.

Next, the procedure of rewriting data in the memory when the user deletes the audio data 3 and 4 in the file BBBB of BLOCK-2 using the delete button ERASE will be described with reference to FIG. First, a new address table 2 excluding SECTOR-3 and SECTOR-4 storing audio data to be deleted is created in SECTOR-7. Next, SECTOR-3 and SECTOR-4 audio data 3 and 4 to be deleted, and SE
In order to indicate that the address table 1 of CTOR-6 is invalid, the invalid flags S3 and S of the block map of SECTOR-0 are used.
4, "1" is recorded in the area corresponding to S6. Also SE
In order to indicate that a new address table has been added to CTOR-7, "1" is recorded in an area corresponding to S7 of the data flag of the block map of SECTOR-0. Since these are all additional records that do not include actual data deletion, they can be processed instantaneously. Finally, the address table position of the file information on the RAM is rewritten to 7, and the process is completed.

Next, the operation when the invalid data generated by the above-described erasing operation is actually erased will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 4 and the data layout in the memory of FIG. Here, it is assumed that the erasing process is performed in an operation state other than the erasing operation at the time of the operation of instructing the erasing, for example, during the reproduction of the sound.

First, the system control unit (CPU) 6 searches a block map of each block in the memory card,
It is determined whether the number of invalid flags is equal to or more than a predetermined number (step S1). If there is one or more blocks having a certain number of invalid flags or more, after confirming that a memory card is inserted (step S2), the block having the largest number of invalid flags among the searched blocks is determined. Select (step S3). Here, it is assumed that BLOCK-2 in FIG. 3 has been selected.

In this case, first, only the valid data (audio data 1, 2, 5) of BLOCK-2 and the latest address table (address table 2) are sequentially copied from the audio data 1 to BLOCK-4 as a spare area. A copy process is performed (step S4). As a result, as shown in FIG.
OCK-4 SECTOR-1 through SECTOR-4 contain audio data 1-3
And the address table 2 are sequentially recorded. Next, BLOCK-4
After a new block map is created in the first sector (SECTOR-0) (in this case, “1” is recorded in the data flag area corresponding to S1 to S4 as shown in FIG. 5),
A block erasing process is performed to erase the original block, that is, the data of BLOCK-2 and make it a new spare area (step S5). Finally, the address table position of the BBBB file in the file information area on the RAM is updated to the copied block number 4 and sector number 4.

Next, the control operation of the CPU 6 when the operation button is pressed during the above-described copy processing will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. First, after the copy processing is started in step S11, it is determined whether or not the operation button is pressed (step S12). If the operation button is not pressed, it is further confirmed that the copy processing is not ended ( Step S13), and wait until the operation button is pressed. When the operation button is pressed, the copying process is interrupted (step S14), and a warning is issued to the user to indicate that the copying process is being performed (step S15). Here, an alarm is sounded through the speaker 11. Alternatively, the display on the display 13 may be changed. Next, operation button processing corresponding to the operation button pressed by the user is performed (step S16), and after this processing is completed, the copy processing is restarted (step S17), and standby is performed until the next operation button is pressed. (Step S12).

FIG. 7 shows the CP during the above-mentioned copy processing.
It is a flowchart which shows the modification of control operation of U6.
This modification is different from the first embodiment in that a time display step (step S12 ') for increasing the display time from the start of the copy processing on the display unit 13 or subtracting and displaying the remaining processing time on the display unit 13 is added. Although different from the process shown in FIG. 6, the other steps are exactly the same.

The control operation of the CPU 6 when the operation button is pressed during the above-described block erasing process will be described below with reference to the flowchart of FIG. First, step S
After the block erasing process is started at 21, it is determined whether or not the operation button is pressed (step S22). If the operation button is not pressed, it is further confirmed that the block erasing process is not completed (step S22). S23) Wait until the operation button is pressed. When the operation button is pressed, the block erasing process is interrupted (Step S).
At the same time, a warning is issued to the user to indicate that the block erasing process is being performed (step S2).
5). Here, an alarm is sounded through the speaker 11. Alternatively, the display on the display 13 may be changed.
Next, operation button processing corresponding to the operation button pressed by the user is performed (step S26), and after this processing is completed, the block erasing processing is restarted (step S2).
7), and wait until the next operation button is pressed (step S22).

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a modification of the control operation of the CPU 6 during the above-described block erasing process. This modification is different from the first embodiment in that a time display step (step S22 ') for increasing the display time from the start of the block erasure processing on the display unit 13 or subtracting and displaying the remaining processing time on the display unit 13 is added. Figure 8
However, the other steps are exactly the same.

As described above, in the present embodiment, if a predetermined operation member (operation button) is operated during the copy process or the block erase process, the input process of this operation is performed. Suspends the above operation,
Since the above operation is performed again after the input processing is completed, the copy processing or the block erasing processing can be performed without hindering the operation of the user.

When a predetermined operation member is pressed during the copying process or the block erasing process, the display on the display unit 13 is changed by the control of the system control unit 6 as a warning unit. Or an alarm is generated from the speaker 11, so that the user can know that the copying process or the block erasing process is in progress.

Further, the elapsed time when the copy process and the block erase process are performed is increased and displayed on the display 13.
Alternatively, since the remaining processing time is subtracted and displayed by the display 13, the user can know the transition of the copy processing or the block erasing processing.

[0035]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is an effect that unnecessary voice data can be deleted without hindering the operation of the user. Further, according to the invention described in claim 2, there is an effect that the user can know that unnecessary voice data is being deleted. According to the third aspect of the invention, there is an effect that the user can know the transition of the unnecessary voice data erasing process.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an audio recording and reproducing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a recording form of audio data in a flash memory.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining a procedure for rewriting data in a memory during an erasing process;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating details of an erase processing operation according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a recording form of audio data after an erasing process.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating C when an operation button is pressed during a copy process;
6 is a flowchart illustrating a control operation of a PU.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a modified example of the control operation shown in FIG.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a control operation of a CPU when an operation button is pressed during a block erasing process.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a modification of the control operation shown in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Microphone, 2, 10 ... Amplifier (AMP), 3 ...
Low-pass filter (LPF), 4 ... Digital / analog (A / D) converter, 5 ... Digital signal processor (DS)
P), 6: system control unit (CPU), 7: recording medium,
9: Digital / analog (D / A) converter, 11: speaker, 12: drive circuit, 13: display, 14: power supply control unit, REC: record button, PLAY: play button, S
TOP: stop button, FF: fast forward button, REW: fast reverse button, ERASE: erase button.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A method for writing audio data to a nonvolatile memory,
Recording / reproducing means for reading audio data from the non-volatile memory; identification means for identifying whether the recorded audio data is valid or invalid; erasing means for erasing audio data in erasable block units; In an operation state other than the erasing operation at the time of the erasing operation, the valid sound data in the erasing block including the invalid sound data is copied to the spare area of the erasable block unit of the non-volatile memory, and the original data is erased by the erasing means. Control means for erasing the blocks and temporarily suspending the operation when a predetermined operation member is operated during the operation. 2. Writing audio data to a nonvolatile memory,
Recording / reproducing means for reading audio data from the non-volatile memory; identification means for identifying whether the recorded audio data is valid or invalid; erasing means for erasing audio data in erasable blocks; and invalid audio data Control means for performing an operation of erasing the original block by the erasing means after copying the valid audio data in the erasing block including And a warning means for issuing a predetermined warning when a predetermined operation member is operated. 3. The apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising display means for copying valid audio data in an erasure block including invalid audio data to a spare area, and displaying an elapsed time when the original block is erased. 3. The audio recording / reproducing device according to 1 or 2.