KR19980058664A - Memory card formatting device and its method - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a memory card formating apparatus and method thereof, comprising: control means for performing an operation of formatting a memory card in accordance with PCMIA regulations; And a memory interface means for interfacing control signals and data transfer operations between the control means and the memory card. When the memory card is mounted, the memory card is formatted according to the Dawson standard, thereby storing data in the form of a DOS file into the memory card. It can record, and the memory card can be used more efficiently.

Description

Memory card formatting device and method

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a memory card format apparatus and a method thereof, and more particularly, to a memory card format apparatus and a method for initializing a memory card according to the Personal Computer Memory Card Interface Association (PAMCIA) standard.

In general, a memory card is made using a memory chip, and since the tape recording speed is fast and compact, it is convenient to carry and can be easily mounted on a personal computer (PC) or another host.

Such a memory card is a recording medium capable of recording or erasing data, such as a floppy disk or a hard disk used in a PC. In addition to a PC, a digital still camera (DSC) or a still image can be used. It is applicable to a device for storing an image or a portable device such as a lap-top computer.

Since the portable device is basically equipped with a PCMCIA port, the memory card can directly record data, and the memory card can be attached or detached to easily record data on the memory card as needed.

In order to record the memory card data as described above, a certain format is required. For this purpose, a standard using the DOS (Disk: Operating System) format used in a PC has been enacted.

The PCMCIA regulations stipulate the DOS format for data management in memory cards, and specify how to record still images and audio signals and related data used in digital still cameras.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a memory card formating apparatus and method for formatting a memory card for recording data in the form of a DOS file on a memory card in a portable device such as a digital still camera.

The configuration of the present invention for achieving the above object,

Control means for performing an operation of formatting the memory card in accordance with PCMCIA regulations;

Memory interface means for interfacing control signals and data transfer operations between the control means and the memory card.

Another configuration of the present invention for achieving the above object,

If the memory card is mounted, the control means formatting the boot sector of the memory card;

Formatting a fat area of the memory card;

Formatting a directory area of the memory card;

Formatting the data area of the memory card.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a memory card formatting apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention;

2 is a map of a memory card according to an embodiment of this invention,

3 is an operation flowchart of a method for formatting a memory card according to an embodiment of the present invention;

4 is a diagram showing a directory area format state of a memory card according to an embodiment of the present invention.

With the above configuration, the most preferred embodiment which can be easily carried out by those skilled in the art with reference to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a memory card formatting apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention;

2 is a map of a memory card according to an embodiment of this invention,

3 is an operation flowchart of a memory card formatting method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

4 is a diagram showing an area format state of a directory of a memory card according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, a configuration of a memory card formatting apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention is performed by a memory card 1, a PCMCIA 2 serving as a memory interface device, and a format operation of the memory card 1; It consists of the central processing unit 3 to control.

The capacity of the memory card 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention is 2M bytes, which corresponds to a small partition method having a total memory capacity of less than 32M bytes.

The operation of the memory card formating apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention by the above configuration will be described.

In the present invention, a 2 Mbyte memory card is formatted, and the size of a boot sector, fat area, and directory area is allocated according to the PCMCIA standard.

When power is applied and the memory card 1 is mounted on a portable device such as a portable computer or a digital still camera, the central processing unit 3 is shown in FIG. 2 with the memory card 1 attached via the PCMCIA 2. As shown, each area is divided by its size.

The memory card 1 having a memory capacity of 2M bytes is divided into a boot sector area from addresses 000000h to 000200h, a fat area from addresses 000200h to 001A00h, a directory area from addresses 001A00 to 002A00h, and a data area from addresses 002A00h to 200000h. Lose.

First, the central processing unit 1 formats the boot sector of the memory card 1 via the PCMCIA 2 as described in Table 1 below (S110).

TABLE 1

As described in Table 1 above, a corresponding boot sector is formatted from addresses 000000h to 000200h of the memory card 1, and then a fat area corresponding to addresses 000200h to 001A00h is formatted.

In PCMCIA regulations, the fat area is managed as 12 bits for the total memory capacity and initialized to 00 when formatting (S120).

Next, the central processing unit 2 formats the directory area corresponding to the addresses 001A00h to 002AOOh of the memory card 1 as shown in Fig. 4 attached (S130).

The first byte of the file name is formatted as '00' and the rest as 'E5'.

After formatting the directory area as above, the data area from addresses 002A00h to 200000h is formatted as 'F6' (S140).

(Please explain the implications of formatting F6).

After starting to format the data area, the CPU 1 determines whether all 2M byte areas of the memory card 1 have been formatted (S), and if the entire format operation is not completed, the data continues. When the region format operation is performed and the format operation for the entire region is performed, the format operation is terminated and the corresponding routine is exited.

As described above, in the portable device using the memory card according to the embodiment of the present invention, when the memory card is mounted, by formatting the memory card according to the DOS standard, it is possible to record the data in the form of the dossail to the memory card, It is an object of the present invention to provide a memory card formating apparatus and method having the effect of using the card more efficiently.

Claims (5)

Control means for performing an operation of formatting the memory card in accordance with PCMCIA regulations; And memory interface means for interfacing a control signal and a data transfer operation between the control means and the memory card. The memory card formatting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the memory capacity of the memory card to be formatted is 2M bytes. 3. The memory card of claim 2, wherein the memory card is divided into sector areas from addresses 000000h to 000200h, sector areas from addresses 000200h to 001A00h, directory areas from addresses 001A00h to 002A00h, and data areas from addresses 002A00h to 200000h, respectively. Format device. The method of claim 1, wherein the control means, When a memory card is loaded, the first device is to format the boot sector, then to format the fat area of the memory card, then to format the directory area of the memory card, and then to format the data area of the memory card. . If the memory card is mounted, the control means for formatting a sector from the memory card; Formatting a fat area of the memory card; Formatting a directory area of the memory card; And formatting the data area of the memory card.