JPH1145159A - Disk array device and device, and method for data recording and reproduction - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make speedy recovery wherein deterioration of picture quality and sound quality is suppressed by outputting an access command to a specific storage means and controlling access to data on a recording medium. SOLUTION: If one of HDDs 20 to 25 constituting an array part gets out of order, a CPU 6 generates a command requesting a disk array device which records A.V data for restoration to send the A.V data and stores it in a status FILFO 7. This command is sent to a data controller 8 for reproduction in specific timing and sent to other disk array device through a P/S converter 9 while a synchronizing signal is added. Then when the disk array device sends the A.V data for restoration with the command read by the CPU 6 through a command FIFO 3 together with the added status and synchronizing signal, the CPU 6 reads the A.V data for restoration out of the object disk array device where the status is read in and records them on the HDD of the array part.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a disk array apparatus using a plurality of randomly accessible recording media, and a data recording / reproducing apparatus and method for simultaneously inputting / outputting high-quality video data on multiple channels.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, with the increase in the number of channels due to the spread of CATV and the like, there is an increasing demand for simultaneously reproducing a plurality of video and audio data from a single video and audio data recording / reproducing device, unlike the conventional VTR. is there.

[0003] In order to satisfy this demand, apparatuses for recording and reproducing video (V) and audio (A) data using a randomly accessible recording and reproducing medium such as a hard disk are becoming widespread.

[0004] In general, an AV data recording / reproducing apparatus used in a broadcasting station is required to have a high data transfer rate due to a demand for image quality and sound quality, and to record long-time data. It is desirable that the capacity be large. For this reason, a disk array device capable of increasing the transfer rate by operating a large number of hard disks in parallel and securing a large capacity has been used as a recording medium for recording and reproducing AV data. In this A / V data recording / reproducing disk array device, by recording parity data in addition to the A / V data,
Even if one of the hard disks fails, reliability is ensured.

FIG. 8 shows such a disk array apparatus for recording and reproducing AV data. In this disk array device, a plurality (six in this example) of hard disk drives (HD
D) 80-85 are connected. These HDDs 80
HDDs 80 to 84 are used for recording AV data, and input A
・ V data is sorted and recorded. Also, H
The DD 85 records only the parity calculated from each input data.

In this disk array device, even if a failure occurs in the AV data stored in one of the HDDs, the original AV data is re-created from the remaining AV data in the other HDD. Data can be reconstructed by calculation.

However, in such a disk array device, since a large number of HDDs are used at one time, there is a high probability that an HDD failure will occur as a whole. An abnormality occurs in a plurality of HDDs at once, and the A stored in them
-If V data suffers a failure, data recovery becomes impossible.

Therefore, by configuring the above disk array device for each of several HDDs and providing a plurality of disk array devices, even if a failure should occur, a plurality of HDDs can be used in one disk array device. An AV data recording / reproducing device designed so that data can be restored if it is not present has been considered.

In an AV data recording / reproducing apparatus using a plurality of disk array devices, there is a problem that a single disk array device cannot recover even by reconstructing AV data. May occur. In this case, from the repair disk array device that records the repair AV data outside the AV data recording / reproducing apparatus, the A.V. For example, measures such as reading AV data for restoration via a video data controller of the V data recording / reproducing apparatus and reconstructing AV data are taken.

[0010]

However, it takes time to reconstruct the AV data via the video data controller. In addition, the image quality and the sound quality are deteriorated.

Usually, the HDD inside the disk array device
Is running asynchronously. On the other hand, the video data controller operates in a synchronous system. For this reason, the data handled by the video data controller has a certain margin so that even if the time is shifted to some extent in the asynchronous system, the data is handled. Actually, the video data controller divides a predetermined time of, for example, 30 frames into time slots of the number of disk array devices so as not to send data to each disk array device at the same time. The extra time is added to each one. This extra time is a fraction of the time,
If the AV data is a huge data amount, it will take a very long time. For this reason, even if the operation is merely copying the restoration AV data, it takes a long time to recover.

Further, an encoder / decoder is provided inside the video controller, and data is encoded / decoded at the time of input / output, so that image quality and sound quality are deteriorated.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and even if a failure occurs in stored data, data can be transferred without passing through an external higher-level control unit. It is an object of the present invention to provide a disk array device that enables quick recovery while suppressing deterioration of image quality and sound quality.

Further, the present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and even if a failure occurs in stored data, data can be transferred without passing through a higher-level control unit. It is an object of the present invention to provide a data recording / reproducing apparatus and a method capable of performing recovery quickly and with deterioration of image quality and sound quality suppressed.

[0015]

In order to solve the above problems, the disk array device according to the present invention is characterized in that an access control means controls recording of data on a recording medium in accordance with a recording command input from outside. And outputs a status corresponding to the command, outputs a status corresponding to the command by controlling reproduction of data from the recording medium in response to the reproduction command, and outputs an access command to access data to the recording medium. Control.

Therefore, when a failure occurs in the stored data, the data can be read from another disk array device without going through the higher-level control unit.

In the data recording / reproducing apparatus according to the present invention, in order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the access control means controls recording of data on a recording medium in accordance with a recording command input from the outside, and responds to the command. A disk for outputting a status, controlling the reproduction of data from the recording medium in response to a reproduction command, outputting a status for the command, and outputting an access command to control data access to the recording medium. An array device is used.

For this reason, when a failure occurs in the stored data, the data can be read from another external disk array device without going through the upper control unit.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the data recording / reproducing apparatus according to the present invention comprises: first storage means for temporarily storing an access command input from a higher-level control unit or an external device; Access control means for controlling access to the recording medium in accordance with the access command stored in the means; and a second means for temporarily storing a status indicating a state of the data recorded on the recording medium.
Storage means in a plurality of disk array devices,
Further, the access control means controls data recording on the recording medium in accordance with a recording command input to the first storage means, and outputs the status to the second storage means. 1 controls the reproduction of data from the recording medium in accordance with the reproduction command input to the first storage means, and outputs the status to the second storage means. An access command is output to the second storage means to control data access to the recording medium.

Therefore, when a failure occurs in the stored data, the data can be read from another external disk array device without going through the higher-level control unit.

Further, when at least two data recording / reproducing devices are provided, and when data recorded in the disk array device of one data recording / reproducing device is rewritten, the access control means of one data recording / reproducing device is The other data recording / reproducing device controls the data reproduction on the recording medium, and rewrites the data recorded in the disk array device of the other data recording / reproducing device, without requiring the control by the higher-level control unit. At this time, the access control means of one data recording / reproducing device does not require the control by the higher-level control unit, and performs the recording control of data on the recording medium of the other data recording / reproducing device.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a data recording / reproducing method according to the present invention controls data recording on a recording medium in accordance with a recording command input from a higher-level control unit or an external device to change a status to a status. The status is output to the storage unit, and the status is output to the status storage unit by controlling the reproduction of data from the recording medium in response to the reproduction command, and the control of the higher-level control unit is unnecessary, and the data of the data to the recording medium is Controls access and records / reproduces data.

For this reason, when a failure occurs in stored data, quick and high-quality restoration can be performed.

[0024]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments of a disk array device, a data recording / reproducing device and a method according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

First, an embodiment of the disk array device will be described. In this embodiment, an A / V data recording / reproducing apparatus used for configuring an audio / video (AV) data recording / reproducing apparatus for simultaneously inputting / outputting high-quality video data and high-sound-quality audio data on multiple channels. Disk array device. FIG. 1 shows the configuration of the disk array device for recording and reproducing AV data.

This AV data recording / reproducing disk array device uses a hard disk drive (HD) using a large-capacity magnetic disk recording medium capable of random access.
D), for example, in addition to an array unit having six (HDDs 20 to 25), a status FIFO 7 for storing a status for a command input from an upper control unit or an external device in the AV data recording / reproducing apparatus; It controls the recording of AV data in the HDD in response to a recording command input from the upper control unit or the outside, outputs a status to the status FIFO 7, and outputs an A / V data from the HDD in response to a playback command. Controlling the reproduction of the V data to output the status to the status FIFO 7;
A CPU 6 serving as access control means for controlling access to V data by outputting an access command to the status FIFO 7;

Here, the CPU 6 reads the AV data from the outside without passing through the upper control unit when the array unit fails, and the AV data at this time indicates that the array unit has failed. This is restoration AV data for restoration. The operation of the AV data recording / reproducing disk array device when the array unit fails will be described later.

The AV data recording / reproducing disk array device has a command FIFO 3 for storing commands input from the upper control unit. The above CP
U6 controls recording / reproducing of the AV data to / from the array section based on the contents of the command stored in the command FIFO 3.

When data is recorded in this AV data recording / reproducing disk array device, the above A
Input data from a predetermined video data controller, which will be described later, which is a higher-order control unit inside the V data recording / reproducing apparatus, is supplied to the S / P converter 1 through a serial transfer line S-IN.

The format of the input data will be described below. Here, the input data is input to an A / V data recording / reproducing apparatus having six AV data recording / reproducing disk arrays and six video data controllers. This will be described as data to be performed. The input data follows a format as shown in FIG. 2 and includes a synchronization signal (SYNC), command data, and video data.

A synchronization signal (SYNC) for setting a timing is provided at the head of each data. Following this synchronization signal, a certain amount of command data or status data is transferred. The six video data controllers insert and transfer commands for the six disk array devices into this portion. Further, the six disk array devices insert the status corresponding to the command and the status indicating the current status into this portion, and transfer them to the six video controllers.

Following this command / status, 1.01
Video data for a second (30 frames) is equally divided by the number of disk array devices (six), and video data is transferred from the six video data controllers to the respective disk array devices. From 6 above
Or transferred to one video data controller.

This input data is converted into parallel data by an S / P converter 1 in one AV data recording / reproducing disk array device, and the recording data controller 2 generates a leading synchronization signal of the input data. When detected, a certain amount of command data following this synchronization signal is supplied to the command FIFO 3 and stored.

On the other hand, video data following the command data is supplied from the recording data controller 2 to the data multiplexer 4. This data multiplexer 4 has SCSI protocol controllers (SPC) 10 to 14
HDDs 20 to 24 constituting the array unit through
Is connected.

A parity operation circuit 5 is connected to the data multiplexer 4.
An HDD 25 for parity data constituting the array unit is connected via a line 15. Also, SPC10-1
5 is connected in series, one end of which is connected to the CPU 6. The data multiplexer 4 distributes video data, and the distributed video data is recorded on the HDDs 20 to 24. At this time, the parity data calculated by the parity calculation circuit 5 is recorded in the HDD 25.

When these series of recording operations are completed normally, the CPU 6 issues status data corresponding to the normal completion. The status data is stored in the status FIFO 7 and then supplied to the reproduction data controller 8 at a predetermined timing. The reproduction data controller 8 generates a synchronization signal, adds status data to the synchronization signal, and supplies the data to the P / S converter 9. These synchronization signals and status data are converted into serial data by the P / S converter 9 and transmitted to the corresponding video data controller through the serial transfer line S-OUT as recording completion information.

When data is reproduced from the disk array device, first, command data for requesting reproduction is supplied from a predetermined video data controller through the serial transfer line S-IN. In accordance with the request for the command data, the video data recorded in the HDDs 20 to 24 and the parity data recorded in the HDD 25 are read out, and the data multiplexer 4 combines the video data. This video data is supplied to the reproduction data controller 8. Further, status data corresponding to the reproducing operation is generated by the CPU 6.
The status data is stored in the status FIFO 7 and then supplied to the reproduction data controller 8 at a predetermined timing. In the reproduction data controller 8, a synchronization signal is generated, and status data and video data are added to the synchronization signal.
It is supplied to the S converter 9. And these synchronization signals,
The status data and the video data are converted into serial data by the P / S converter 9 and the serial transfer line S-
Output data is transmitted through OUT.

The A.V. data recording / reproducing disk array device is constructed by using six such A / V data recording / reproducing disk arrays as described above.
A V data recording / reproducing apparatus will be described as an embodiment of the data recording / reproducing apparatus and method with reference to FIG. In addition,
The detailed operation and effect of the disk array device for recording and reproducing AV data will be described in the operation and effect of the recording and reproducing device for AV data.

In the AV data recording / reproducing apparatus, as described above, the six video controllers 31 to 3 are used.
6 are provided, and these video controllers 31 to 36 are provided.
One channel of video data is input / output to each of them. Here, the video data is MPEG
It is data compressed by, for example,.

The AV data recording / reproducing apparatus has a parallel / serial (P / S) converter 40 to 40 corresponding to the AV data disk array apparatus connected thereto.
45 and serial / parallel (S / P) converters 50-5
5 are provided. These video data controllers 31 to 36, P / S converters 40 to 45 and S / P converters 50 to 55 constitute a data processing block.

In this AV data recording / reproducing apparatus, the AV data recording / reproducing disk array devices 60 to 65 as shown in FIG. 1 are provided, and these constitute a recording / reproducing block. I have.

Here, the video data controllers 31 to 31
36 shares an independent 48-bit data bus for input and output. Video data controllers 31 to 36
Video data together with command data etc.
The data is supplied to the output data bus as 8-bit parallel data, divided on the output data bus by 8 bits, supplied to the P / S converters 40 to 45, converted into serial data, and converted into serial data. Is supplied to the above-mentioned disk array devices 60 to 65.

The disk array devices 60 to 65
Is supplied to the S / P converters 50 to 55 through the serial transfer line S-OUT as serial data together with status data and the like, and is converted into 8-bit parallel data, and then combined to form a 48-bit parallel data. It becomes data and is supplied to the video data controllers 31 to 36 through the input data bus.

Since the serial transfer line S-IN and the serial transfer line S-OUT are independent of each other, data is received from the serial transfer line S-IN at a certain moment when viewed from the disk array devices 60 to 65. Thus, a simultaneous operation of transmitting data from the serial transfer line S-OUT becomes possible.

FIG. 4 shows a video data controller 31 to 36 in the AV data recording / reproducing apparatus shown in FIG. 3 provided with the six disk array devices as shown in FIG.
Shows the timing of sending data to the disk array devices 60 to 65. As shown in FIG. 4, for example, a time of 1.01 second of video data of 30 frames is divided into time slots corresponding to the number of connected video data controllers, and one video data controller is assigned to each time slot. I have. As a result, the video data controllers 31 to 36 are controlled so that the disk array devices 60 to 65 do not simultaneously make data recording / reproduction requests.

For example, when the video data controller 1 records video data, the video data of 1.01 seconds (30 frames) previously stored in the memory is transferred to the serial transfer line S in the assigned time slot. The data is transmitted to the disk array devices 60 to 65 through -IN. At this time, each of the disk array devices 6
Following 0 to 65, the synchronization signal and command C1, 1.
Video data W1 of an amount obtained by equally dividing video data for 01 seconds by the number of disk array devices (six in this case) is transferred through the serial transfer line S-IN. Here, the command C1 is a command requesting that video data transferred following the command C1 be recorded on a hard disk in the disk array devices 60 to 65.

As described above, when the command C1 is received inside the disk array devices 60 to 65, the following video data W1 is transmitted to the data multiplexer 4.
4, the respective hard disk drives 20 to 24
At the same time, the parity data generated by the parity operation circuit 5 is recorded in the hard disk drive 25. When these operations are completed normally, a series of operations is completed by adding a status S1 indicating normal completion to the synchronization signal and informing the video data controller 31 through the serial transfer line S-OUT.

On the other hand, when the video data controller 34 reproduces the video data R4 recorded in the disk array devices 60 to 65, the video data controller 34 issues a command to the disk array devices 60 to 65. The reproduction of the video data R4 is requested by C4. When this request is received, each disk array device 6
As described above, the video data R distributed to the hard disk drives 20 to 24 of the respective disk array devices 60 to 65 are recorded on the 0 to 65 side.
4 is read out, is unified by a data multiplexer in reverse to the time of recording, the video data R4 is added to the synchronization signal and status S4, and then the serial transfer line S-OUT Forward through. The transferred data is converted into parallel data by "S / P", and is converted into a video data controller 34.
Receive.

The operation of reading the video data R4 is as follows.
It is performed almost simultaneously in each of the disk array devices 60 to 65, and is a synchronized signal on the serial transfer line S-OUT. Therefore, from the viewpoint of the video data controller 34, only the video data is transferred using the high-speed data bus, and there is no need to be aware of a plurality of disk array devices and no complicated processing is required.

In this AV data recording / reproducing apparatus,
The independent serial transfer lines S-IN and S-OUT are used for the following reasons. That is, when the above-described operation is performed using a single serial transfer line, the transfer of the video data R4 in response to the command C4 is performed next in the time slot allocated to the video data controller 34. A buffer memory must be provided for storing. In addition, a circuit for controlling it is required. This complicates the device configuration.

Here, a single serial transfer line is time-divided using a margin generated by performing a high-speed recording / reproducing operation in a sufficiently short time with respect to the transfer time in the serial transfer line. Although a method of transferring data by using the disk array is also conceivable, this cannot be said to effectively use the increased transfer rate by adopting a disk array structure.

According to the AV data recording / reproducing apparatus,
Since the data reproduced from the disk array devices 60 to 65 are synchronized, there is no need to perform control for synchronization as in the related art.
5, it is only necessary to continuously record or reproduce data in accordance with commands from the video data controllers 31 to 36, so that an extra buffer memory and control thereof are unnecessary, so that the apparatus is simplified and the price is reduced. can do.

Since the command and the data are simultaneously transmitted in a fixed format, the circuit of the interface part is simple, and the exchange of the video data / command / status of the video data controllers 31 to 36 is performed in the time slot. Is performed at the time allotted by the video data controllers 31 to 36.
Does not require arbitration work to prevent simultaneous data issuance or to prevent data discontinuity caused by a specific one of the video data controllers 31 to 36 accessing the disk array devices 60 to 65 intensively. Since control can be simplified, data transfer can be performed efficiently.

Since each of the disk array devices 60 to 65 can operate on the basis of the synchronization signal sent by the serial transfer line S-IN, it is not necessary to perform extra wiring to notify the time slot.

Further, independent serial transfer lines S-IN,
Video data controllers 31 to 36 and disk array devices 60 to 6 by S-OUT serial interface
5 is connected, the connection is easy, and the required mounting area of the connector is smaller than when a large number of cables are used, so that maintenance and inspection are easy and troubles can be suppressed. Furthermore, the cost of the cable can be reduced.

By the way, in a conventional AV data recording / reproducing apparatus using a plurality of AV data recording / reproducing disk array apparatuses, even if the AV data reconstructing operation is performed in one disk array apparatus itself. When a failure that makes recovery impossible occurs, a disk array device for repair which records AV data for repair outside the AV data recording / reproducing apparatus is used to read a disk. For the array device, the repair A is performed via the video data controller of the AV data recording / reproducing device which is a higher-level control unit.
-Measures were taken, such as reading V data and reconstructing AV data.

However, it takes time to reconstruct the AV data via the video controller. In addition, the image quality and the sound quality are deteriorated.

Therefore, in the AV data recording / reproducing apparatus shown in FIG. 3, by using a plurality of disk arrays for AV data shown in FIG. 1, abnormalities occurred in a plurality of HDDs at once. Even in this case, it is possible to quickly restore data and to perform restoration without deterioration of image quality and sound quality. In this case, it is assumed that the AV data for restoration is recorded inside another disk array device.

Normally, when no failure occurs, this A · V
In the data recording / reproducing apparatus, as described above, the disk array devices 60 to 65 are controlled by the video data controllers 31 to 36 to record and reproduce AV data. Here, the video controllers 31 to 36
In the disk array device for AV data shown in FIG. 1, it is a higher-level control unit.

The disk array device for AV data shown in FIG. 1 has the same structure as the disk array device itself.
When a failure that makes recovery impossible even in the reconstructing operation of the V data occurs, the CPU 6 causes the CPU 6 to execute an algorithm program as shown in FIG. The video data controller serving as the upper-level control unit has a mode in which the status FIFO 7 is used to transmit a command and the status is used to read a status from another disk array device having the command FIFO 3. Instead, the connected array section is controlled. Then, necessary data is read from another disk array device that has recorded the restoration AV data, and is recorded in the HDD inside the device. Conversely, it is also possible to read out the internal data, send it to the failed array unit, and record it.

When the CPU 6 determines in step S1 of FIG. 5 that one of the HDDs constituting the array unit has failed and activates the data restoration function, the process proceeds to step S2, where the AV data for restoration is recorded. A command to send repair AV data to the current disk array device is generated and stored in the status FIFO 7. This command is sent to the reproduction data controller 8 at a predetermined timing, and the P / S converter 9
Through the other disk array device.

Then, the other disk array device is
When the repair AV data is sent by adding a status, a synchronization signal, or the like according to a command read by the CPU via the command FIFO, the CPU 6 reads this status and reads the status from the target disk array device. The AV data is read out and recorded on the HDD of the array unit.

This operation can be performed independently as compared with the case where the operation is performed via the video controllers 31 to 36 which are the above-mentioned higher-level control units. As in the normal operation shown in FIG. It eliminates the need for a time slot operation for realization.

Therefore, in this AV data recording / reproducing apparatus, there is no limit on the amount of data that can be transferred at a time between the disk array apparatuses, and the HD in each disk array apparatus is not limited.
Since the amount of data access to D can also be increased, high-speed data restoration is possible as a result. For example, when restoring 9 GB of AV data recorded on one HDD, it takes about 50 hours to restore via the video data controller, whereas the disk array shown in FIG. The repair can be completed in about two hours using the device.

Further, since the AV data for restoration is not input / output to / from the video data controller, it is possible to prevent deterioration of image quality and sound quality without passing through the encoder / decoder.

In a broadcasting station to which these AV data recording / reproducing apparatuses are introduced, the same system is used in order to prevent the broadcasting from being stopped when the system is abnormal.
More and more so-called mirror systems have been adopted. This is because if one system stops, the other system can broadcast.

FIG. 6 shows an AV data recording / reproducing apparatus having a mirror configuration. A controller 69 for controlling the entire system includes a router 70 as a switch means and each AV data recording / reproducing device 71,
72 is controlled to record AV data from each channel inputted from the input terminal, and to output a reproduction signal to each channel of the output terminal.

In the AV data recording / reproducing system having such a mirror configuration, a failure that cannot be recovered by the data reconstructing operation of the disk array device inside the main AV data recording / reproducing apparatus is caused. Even if it occurs, if the data can be copied from a spare AV data recording / reproducing apparatus that can operate normally, the entire system can be restored.

However, the above-mentioned A having the conventional mirror configuration is used.
In the V data recording / reproducing system, since the A / V data recording / reproducing disk array device as shown in FIG. 1 is not used, the A / V data is copied via the respective video data controllers. No, recovery takes time as described above. In addition, the image quality and the sound quality are deteriorated.

Therefore, the same A · V as shown in FIG.
An A / V data recording / reproducing system having a mirror configuration as shown in FIG. 7 using a data recording / reproducing disk array device was constructed. In this AV data recording / reproducing system,
Disk array device 61 and video controllers 31 and 3
6 and 7 for serial connection to connect 6
4 is directly connected to the disk array device 61 'which is the target of the other AV data recording / reproducing device, AV data is transferred between the disk array devices 61 and 61', and the system is restored. Is going.

Since the disk array devices 61 and 61 'are also the disk array devices for recording / reproducing AV data shown in FIG. 1, the AV data recording / reproducing system having the mirror structure shown in FIG. It is not necessary to input and output restoration AV data to and from the video data controllers 31 and 36, thereby enabling high-speed data restoration. Further, without passing through an encoder / decoder, deterioration of image quality and sound quality can be prevented. Actually, the system can be restored only by the switching operation using the above-mentioned router.

[0072]

According to the disk array device of the present invention, even if a failure occurs in stored data, the data can be transferred without passing through an external higher-level control unit. In addition, it is possible to perform restoration while suppressing deterioration of image quality and sound quality.

Further, according to the data recording / reproducing apparatus and method of the present invention, even if a failure occurs in stored data,
Since data can be transferred without passing through a higher-level control unit, it is possible to quickly perform restoration while suppressing deterioration in image quality and sound quality.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an AV data disk array device which is an embodiment of a disk array device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a format diagram of data handled by the AV data disk array device.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an AV data recording / reproducing apparatus using a plurality of the AV data disk array devices.

FIG. 4 is a timing chart showing an operation example of the AV data recording / reproducing apparatus.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the disk array device for AV data.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram for explaining an outline of an AV data recording / reproducing system having a mirror configuration.

FIG. 7 shows an A / V data recording / reproducing apparatus using a plurality of the AV data disk array devices in a mirror configuration.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a V data recording / reproducing system.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a conventional disk array device.

[Explanation of symbols]

7 Status FIFO, 6 CPU, 3 Command FIFO

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code FI H04N 5/93 H04N 5/93 E

Claims (14)

[Claims] 1. A disk array device using a plurality of recording media that can be randomly accessed, storage means for storing a status for an externally input access command, and the recording medium according to a recording command among the access commands Controlling the recording of data to the storage means and outputting the status to the storage means, and controlling the reproduction of data from the recording medium in response to a reproduction command to output the status to the storage means; and Access control means for outputting an access command to the means to control data access to the recording medium. 2. The disk array device according to claim 1, wherein said recording medium is a hard disk drive. 3. Command access means for storing the externally input access command, wherein the access control means performs data access to the recording medium based on the access command stored in the command storage means. 2. The disk array device according to claim 1, wherein 4. A data recording / reproducing apparatus in which a transfer rate at the time of recording / reproducing is increased by using a disk array apparatus provided with a plurality of recording media, wherein the disk array apparatus is provided with an access command input from outside. Storage means for storing a status, and controlling the data recording on the recording medium according to the recording command of the access commands to output the status to the storage means, and from the recording medium according to the reproduction command. Access control means for controlling data reproduction and outputting the status to the storage means, and outputting an access command to the storage means to control data access to the recording medium. Data recording and reproducing apparatus. 5. The recording medium according to claim 1, wherein the recording medium is a hard disk drive, and includes at least two disk array devices each including a plurality of hard disk drives, and each disk array device is connected to a host control unit. The data recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein 6. The disk array device has command storage means for storing an access command input from the host control unit or another external device, and the access control means stores the access command stored in the command storage means. 5. The data recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein access to the recording medium by the data is controlled based on an access command. 7. A data recording / reproducing device in which a transfer rate at the time of recording / reproducing is increased by using a plurality of disk array devices provided with a plurality of recording media. First storage means for temporarily storing an externally input access command; access control means for controlling access to the recording medium in accordance with the access command stored in the first storage means; And a second storage means for temporarily storing a status indicating a state of the data recorded in the storage means. The access control means further comprises: a storage unit which stores the status according to a recording command input to the first storage means. The status is output to the second storage means by controlling the data recording on the medium, and the status is input to the first storage means. The reproduction of the data from the recording medium in response to the reproduction command is controlled to output the status to the second storage means, and the access command is transmitted to the second storage means without the need for control by the higher-level control unit. A data recording / reproducing apparatus for outputting data to control data access to the recording medium. 8. A data recording / reproducing device comprising at least two data recording / reproducing devices according to claim 7, wherein when rewriting data recorded in the disk array device of one data recording / reproducing device, the other data recording / reproducing device is used. The access control means controls the reproduction of the data on the recording medium of the other data recording / reproducing apparatus by eliminating the control by the upper control unit, and records the data in the disk array apparatus of the other data recording / reproducing apparatus. When rewriting the data that has been written, the access control means of one of the data recording / reproducing devices eliminates the need for control by the higher-level control unit and performs the recording control of data on the recording medium of the other data recording / reproducing device. Characteristic data recording / reproducing device. 9. The recording medium is a hard disk drive, each of the data recording / reproducing devices includes at least two disk array devices including a plurality of hard disk drives, and the higher-level control unit includes a disk array device. 9. The data recording / reproducing device according to claim 8, wherein the data recording / reproducing device is connected to the device. 10. The apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the at least two data recording / reproducing apparatuses are used for a main and a backup, and common data is written to a hard disk drive inside the disk array apparatus. Data recording and reproducing device. 11. The system according to claim 8, wherein said higher-level control section is provided for each channel of each input data.
A data recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 1. 12. A switching means for switching between the higher-level control unit and the plurality of disk array devices and / or the plurality of disk array devices between the higher-level control unit and the plurality of disk array devices, When re-recording the data recorded on the recording medium inside the disk array device on the recording medium inside another disk array device,
9. A data recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 8, wherein said switching means is controlled to switch and switches and transfers data. 13. The data recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 12, wherein said switching means is a switcher. 14. A data recording / reproducing method for recording / reproducing data by increasing a transfer rate, controlling data recording on a recording medium in accordance with a recording command input from a higher-level control unit or an external device, and storing a status in a status. Unit, and controls the reproduction of data from the recording medium in response to the reproduction command to output a status to the status storage unit, and eliminates the need for control by the higher-level control unit to access data on the recording medium. A data recording / reproducing method characterized by controlling data recording and reproducing.