KR100675017B1 - Method for extending a function of disk drive and optical disk drive using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a disk drive drive control method and apparatus, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for extending the function of a disk drive without changing the firmware using a device driver.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of expanding a function of a disk drive, the method comprising: generating status information related to a predetermined function not supported by a firmware of a data processing apparatus, monitoring a occurrence of the status information at a host device, and at the host device, Executing a program corresponding to the state information, retrieving the requested content corresponding to the state information, and transmitting the requested content to the data processing apparatus; and using the content in the data processing apparatus, the predetermined content not supported by the embedded firmware. And executing the function.

Description

Method for extending a function of disk drive and optical disk drive using the same}

1 is a block diagram of a data storage system to which the present invention is applied.

2 is a block diagram of an optical disk drive to which the present invention is applied.

3 is a flowchart of a method of expanding a function of a disk drive according to the present invention.

4 is a flowchart of a method of extending a light storage table in an optical disk drive according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The present invention relates to a disk drive drive control method and apparatus, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for extending the function of a disk drive without changing the firmware using a device driver.

In general, an optical disc used as a storage medium of an optical disc drive may be used only once, such as a CD-R (Compact Disc-Recordable) or a CD-R (Compact Disc-Recordable), depending on its purpose. It can be divided into a recordable optical disc and a rewritable optical disc such as CD-RW (Compact Disc Rewritable). Such various types of discs have their respective specific uses, and are widely used in recent years. Also, with the development of large-capacity discs such as DVDs, PC data as computer peripherals have been developed as a medium for recording various video or audio data with water. By the way, the optical disc not only differs in recording / reproducing characteristics by type, but also in the characteristics according to the manufacturer's manufacturing specifications and speed.

Accordingly, when designing an optical disk drive, each control data table (e.g., a light storage table) for each disk specification is used to ensure that the disk drive performs optimally under different conditions depending on the type of disk, the disk manufacturing specification, and the speed of the disk. ), And store it in flash memory.

Therefore, according to the related art, the memory usage is increased by storing all the control data table information corresponding to the disc type, manufacturing specification, and double speed in the flash memory of the optical disc drive. In addition, after completing the flash memory design, it was inconvenient to design a new flash memory in order to add a control data table for new functions and disk specifications.

The technical problem to be solved by the present invention is to store only the control data table information of the basic function in the flash memory of the disk drive to solve the above problems, and to expand the function of the disk drive by using a device driver built in the host device To provide a method of extending the function of the disk drive for the optical disk drive and data storage system using the same.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of expanding a function of a disk drive, the method including: generating status information related to a predetermined function not supported by a firmware of a data processing apparatus, and monitoring a generation of the status information in a host device. In the step, the host device executes a program corresponding to the state information, retrieves the requested content corresponding to the state information, and transmits the requested content to the data processing device; And executing a predetermined function not supported by the firmware.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of expanding a function of a disk drive, the method comprising: identifying a specification of a disk in a read-in mode, wherein the identified disk is recordable optical In the case of a disc, determining whether the write strategy table information corresponding to the identified disc specification is stored in the optical disc drive, and the write strategy table information corresponding to the identified disc specification is stored in the optical disc drive. If it is not stored, transmitting corresponding status information to a host device, receiving write strategy table information corresponding to the identified disk specification from the host device according to the status information, and receiving the host information. Light streak received from the device By using a pop-table information, it characterized in that it comprises the step of determining the recording power.

In order to achieve the above technical problem, an optical disk drive according to the present invention includes a flash memory for storing control data table information for determining performance of a disk drive for each disk type, and a plurality of detecting light reflected from the disk. A signal processing circuit for generating a servo control signal and a signal processing signal by calculating the signals detected by the plurality of light detecting means, and processing the signal processing signal to restore data, the servo control signal Using the servo control unit for controlling the position of the optical detection means on the disc using the recovered data of the signal processing circuit and identifying the specification of the loaded disc, and controlling data table information corresponding to the identified disc specification. Is not stored in the flash memory In this case, it characterized in that it comprises a system control unit for controlling to transmit the corresponding status information to the host device, and to determine the control status using the control data table information received from the host device according to the status information. .

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

As shown in FIG. 1, a data storage system according to an embodiment to which the present invention is applied includes a host computer 1000 and a disk drive 2000. In detail, the host computer 1000 may include a PC controller 110. , A memory 120, a device driver 130, and a filter driver 140.

The memory 120 includes contents and programs related to various functions executed in the host computer 1000 and contents required according to various application programs for controlling the disk drive 2000 and state information of the disk drive 2000. It is stored. Here, the content required according to the status information includes program and control data related to a specific function not supported by the firmware embedded in the disk drive to expand the function of the disk drive 2000. As an example, the content that can be requested using the status information may be write strategy table information in which disc power and recording power information for each speed are set.

The PC controller 110 collectively controls the host computer 1000 by using a program stored in the memory 120.

The device driver 130 controls the application of the disk drive 2000 while executing a data input / output process with the filter driver 140, and in particular, executes a program corresponding to the status information received from the disk drive 2000. The content requested by the drive 2000 is read from the memory 120 and output to the disk drive 2000 through the filter driver 140.

That is, if the state information corresponds to information related to a function not supported by firmware built in the disk drive 2000 and the content is stored in the memory 120 of the host computer 1000, the device driver 130 After identifying the contents required by the disk drive 2000 by executing a program corresponding to the status information, the contents are transferred from the memory 120 to the disk drive 2000.

As an example, when the status information indicates a status not supported by firmware built in the disk drive 2000, the device driver may be loaded from the disk drive 2000 by executing a program corresponding to the status information. After receiving the specification information of the disc, the control unit reads the write strategy table information corresponding to the received disc specification information from the memory 120 and transmits it to the disc drive 2000.

The filter driver 140 executes data input / output between the device driver 140 of the host computer 1000 and the disk drive 2000, and in particular, monitors whether the status information is generated in the disk drive 2000, and monitors the status. When information is generated, it is transmitted to the device driver 130 so that a program corresponding to the state information can be executed.

Next, an operation of an optical disk drive, which is an example of the disk drive 2000, will be described.

As shown in FIG. 2, the optical disk drive includes a disk 201, a pickup 202, an RF signal processor 203, an optical driver 204, a flash memory 205A, a RAM 205B, and a digital signal processor ( DSP 206, interface circuit (I / F) 207, system controller 208, servo controller 209, servo driver 210, spindle motor 211, and sled motor 212.

In the present invention, for convenience of description, a circuit block including the RF signal processor 203 and the digital signal processor 206 will be referred to as a signal processing circuit.

First, the basic operation of each component is as follows.

The pickup 202 is composed of a laser diode, a plurality of photodiodes, a lens and a focus / tracking actuator for moving the lens in the vertical / horizontal direction, although not shown in the drawing, to project the optical signal onto the disk 201, The optical signal reflected from the disk 201 is detected.

The RF signal processor 203 combines the optical signals detected by the plurality of photodiodes of the pickup 202 to generate a focus error signal and a tracking error signal for servo control, and also generates a signal used for signal processing. . After filtering the signal used for signal processing, the signal is converted into a binary signal and output to the digital signal processing unit 206.

The optical driver 204 outputs a light quantity driving signal according to the input signal in the recording mode, and outputs a driving signal for generating a constant level of laser power in the reproducing mode. In the recording mode, the level of the laser power is varied in accordance with the control data value of the write strategy table stored in the RAM 205B corresponding to the disc specification and the double speed.

The digital signal processing unit 206 executes signal processing for restoring the binary signal input from the RF signal processing unit 203 to the original data with its phase-locked clock in the reproduction mode. In the recording mode, the data converted into the recording format is reconverted into a bit stream and output to the optical driver 204.

The servo control unit 209 generates a tracking / focus actuator driving voltage for controlling the lens built in the pickup 202 in the horizontal direction or the vertical direction by using the tracking error signal and the focus error signal. Generate a drive voltage of the sled motor 212 to move the pickup 202. Then, the spindle motor driving voltage for driving the spindle motor 211 is generated corresponding to the disc target rotational speed for each speed determined by the system controller 208.

The servo driver 210 generates driving currents for driving the spindle motor 211 and the sled motor 212 according to the driving voltage generated by the servo controller 209, and focuses the lens embedded in the pickup 202. And a focus / tracking actuator drive current for controlling tracking.

The interface circuit 207 executes data interfacing processing for data transmission / reception with the host computer 1000.

The flash memory 205A stores various programs and control data for controlling the disk drive, and in particular, write strategy table information for setting the recording power level for each speed according to the types of recordable disks. Are stored.

In the present invention, in order to reduce the memory capacity, instead of storing the write strategy table information for all recordable disk types in the flash memory 205A, only the flash storage table information for some general-purpose disk types is used. Store at 205A.

The RAM 205B stores programs and control data necessary for controlling the disk drive read out from the flash memory 205A each time the disk drive is initialized. In particular, when the disc type identified in the lead-in mode is a recordable disc, the write strategy table information corresponding to the disc type identified is read from the flash memory 205A or the host computer 1000 is read. Is stored in the RAM 205B. Here, the read-in mode refers to a mode in which disc-specific information is read from a lead-in area of a disc in which disc specification information is stored when a new disc is loaded in the disc drive or power is supplied while the disc is loaded.

The system control unit 208 collectively controls the optical disc drive, specifically identifies the type of disc loaded in the lead-in mode, and writes a write strategy table corresponding to the disc specification when the disc is a recordable disc. It is searched whether the information is stored in the flash memory 205A, and if the write strategy table information corresponding to the identified disk specification is stored in the flash memory 205A, the corresponding write strategi from the flash memory 205A. The table information is read out and stored in the RAM 205B. However, if the write strategy table information corresponding to the identified disk specification is not stored in the flash memory 205A, the system control unit 208 provides status information for requesting the write strategy table information corresponding to the disk specification. Is generated and output to the interface circuit 207.

When the requested light storage table information is received from the host computer 1000 via the interface circuit 207 according to the state information, the system control unit 208 stores the received light storage table information in the RAM 205B. Save it to

When the recording command is received from the host computer 1000, the system control unit 208 reads out the control data for determining the recording power for the target double speed from the light storage table information stored in the RAM 205B, and the optical drive unit ( The recording power of 204 is determined.

Next, a method of driving a disk drive using a device driver according to the present invention will be described with reference to the system configuration diagram of FIG. 1 with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 3.

The filter driver 140 of the host computer 1000 monitors whether state information is generated in order to check the state of the disk drive (S310). The status information means information for requesting transmission to the host computer 1000 for functions and information not supported by the firmware embedded in the disk drive 2000. As an example, the state information is information for requesting write strategy table information when a disc that requires write strategy table information that is not supported by firmware embedded in the disc drive 2000 is loaded.

As a result of monitoring the state information by the filter driver 140, whether the state information included in the initially set state requesting content (eg, a program for function expansion, control data, etc.) that can be supported by the host computer 1000 is detected. It is determined (S320).

In the case where the state information included in the initially set state is detected as a result of the determination in step S320 (S320), a program corresponding to the detected state information is executed to search for the desired content in the memory 120 according to the state information, and then the disk drive. In operation S330, the process is transmitted to (2000). In detail, the filter drive 140 generates status information from the disk drive 2000 and transfers the status information to the device driver 130. Then, when the device driver 130 can determine the content requested by the disk drive 2000 based on only the received state information, the device driver 130 reads the corresponding content from the memory 120 and the disk drive 2000 through the filter driver 140. To send.

However, if the device driver 130 cannot determine the content requested by the disk drive 2000 based on only the received status information, the program corresponding to the status information may be executed to determine the requested content from the disk drive 2000. After receiving the information, the content corresponding thereto is read from the memory 120 and transmitted to the disk drive 2000 through the filter driver 140.

Then, the disk drive 2000 performs an extended function that cannot be executed by the disk drive 2000 itself using the content received from the host computer 1000 (S340).

Next, a method of extending a light storage table in an optical disk drive according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the configuration of the optical disk drive of FIG. 2 with reference to FIG. 4.

The system control unit 208 determines whether the optical disk drive goes to the lead-in mode (S401). As mentioned above, the read in mode is used when the disk transitions from the unloading state to the loading state, or the transition state from the power off state to the power on state. It means the mode executed to identify the type of disk.

When the determination result of step 401 (S401) is a transition to the lead-in mode, the system controller 208 controls the servo controller 209 to drive the sled motor 212 to drive the pickup 202 to the lead-in area of the disc. After moving to, the disc information is read from the lead-in area to identify the type of disc (S402).

Then, the system control unit 208 determines whether the disc specification identified corresponds to a recordable disc (S403).

If the result of the determination in step 403 (S403) corresponds to a recordable disc, the system control unit 208 searches for information on the write storage table (WST) stored in the flash memory 205A (S404), and identifies the identified disc. It is determined whether or not the write strategy table information corresponding to the disk specification exists in the flash memory 205A (S405).

As a result of the determination in step 405 (S405), when there is no write strategy table information corresponding to the identified disk specification in the flash memory 205A, the system controller 208 generates status information for informing the host computer of this. To transmit (S406).

When the status information is generated in the disk drive, the host computer executes a program corresponding to the status information and transmits the write strategy table information required by the disk drive to the disk drive (S407).

In the case where the status information is designed to include the disk specification information, when the status information is generated, the host computer searches for and transmits the write strategy table information corresponding to the disk specification included in the status information. However, if the status information does not include information about the disk specification and is designed to contain only information that requires write strtage information, the host computer requests the disk specification information to be sent to the disk drive after the status information is detected. According to the request, the information on the write strategy table corresponding to the disk specification sent from the disk drive is retrieved and transmitted.

Next, the system control unit 208 of the disk drive stores the write strategy table information received from the host computer in the RAM 205B (S408).

If the write strategy table information corresponding to the identified disk specification exists in the flash memory 205A as a result of the determination in step 405 (S405), the write storage corresponding to the disc specification identified from the flash memory 205A is present. The letter table information is read out and stored in the RAM 205B (S408).

It is determined whether a write command is received by the disk drive (S409), and when the write command is received, the system controller 208 reads control data for the target speed from the write strategy table information stored in the RAM 205B. The recording power of the optical drive unit 204 is determined according to the read control data (S410).

The received data is recorded in the target track based on the determined recording power (S411).

In the embodiment of the present invention illustrated in FIG. 4, for convenience of description, an example applied to the extension function of the write strateg table of the optical disk drive has been described, but the present invention is not limited thereto and may be applied to various extension functions. It is a matter of course.

 The invention can be practiced as a method, apparatus, system, or the like. When implemented in software, the constituent means of the present invention are code segments that necessarily perform the necessary work. The program or code segments may be stored in a processor readable medium or transmitted by a computer data signal coupled with a carrier on a transmission medium or network. Processor readable media includes any medium that can store or transmit information. Examples of processor readable media include electronic circuits, semiconductor memory devices, ROMs, flash memory, erasable ROM (EROM), floppy disks, optical disks, hard disks, optical fiber media, radio frequency (RF) networks, Etc. Computer data signals include any signal that can propagate over transmission media such as electronic network channels, optical fibers, air, electromagnetic fields, RF networks, and the like.

Specific embodiments shown and described in the accompanying drawings are only to be understood as an example of the present invention, not to limit the scope of the invention, but also within the scope of the technical spirit described in the present invention in the technical field to which the present invention belongs As various other changes may occur, it is obvious that the invention is not limited to the specific constructions and arrangements shown or described.

 As described above, according to the present invention, the flash memory of the disk drive is designed to store only basic functions of firmware, and contents of functions and specifications that are not supported by the built-in firmware are provided from the host computer and are randomly updated without updating the firmware. By temporarily storing and executing in the access memory, the effect of saving the flash memory capacity is generated, and the effect of expanding the function without changing the firmware of the disk drive is produced.

Claims (9)

Generating status information relating to a function not supported by the firmware of the data processing apparatus; Monitoring the occurrence of the status information at a host device; Executing a program corresponding to the state information in the host device, searching for the requested content corresponding to the state information, and transmitting the requested content to the data processing device; And And executing a function which is not supported by an embedded firmware by using the content in the data processing apparatus. The method of claim 1, wherein the contents include program and control data related to a function not supported by the firmware of the data processing apparatus. The method of claim 1, wherein the content includes write strategy table information in which disc power and recording power information for each speed are set. In the optical disk drive control method, Identifying a specification of the disc in a lead-in mode; If the identified disc is a recordable optical disc, determining whether write strategy table information corresponding to the identified disc specification is stored in the optical disc drive; If the write strategy table information corresponding to the identified disk specification is not stored in the optical disk drive, transmitting corresponding status information to the host device; Receiving write strategy table information corresponding to the identified disk specification from the host device according to the state information; And And determining write power by using the write strategy table information received from the host device. 5. The method of claim 4, wherein the write strategy table information received from the host device is stored in a random access memory of the optical disk drive, and the write strategy table information stored in the random access memory is read in the write mode to write power. How to extend the capabilities of the disk drive, characterized in that determined. In the disk drive, A flash memory for storing control data table information for determining performance of a disk drive for each disk type; A plurality of light detecting means for detecting light reflected from the disk; A signal processing circuit that calculates signals detected by the plurality of light detecting means to generate a servo control signal and a signal processing signal, and processes the signal processing signal to restore data; A servo control unit for controlling the position of the light detecting means on the disc by using the servo control signal; And The specification of the loaded disk is identified using the data restored by the signal processing circuit, and when the control data table information corresponding to the identified disk specification is not stored in the flash memory, corresponding status information is obtained. And a system controller which transmits to a host device and controls to determine a control state by using control data table information received from the host device according to the state information. 7. The optical disc drive according to claim 6, wherein the control data table information includes write strategy table information in which a recording power is set according to a disc specification. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the control data table information received from the host device is stored in a random access memory of the optical disk drive, and the control data table information is stored using the control data table information stored in the random access memory. Optical disc drive characterized in that the specification is determined. 10. The optical disc drive of claim 8, wherein the control data table information includes write strategy table information in which a recording power is set according to a disc specification.

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