KR20000042998A - Shared storage device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A shared storage device is provided reciprocally to share digital audio and video data among electronic devices, by IEEE 1394 interface. CONSTITUTION: A shared storage device shares digital data reciprocally among the electronic devices for writing or reading. The shared storage device comprises a first interface unit, storage device(110), a convertor(108), and a first micro controller(106). The first interface unit has a same interface protocol as the electronic devices, and is connected to the electronic devices electronically. The storage device(110) stores digital data. The convertor(108) converts the digital data into 1394 protocol, into a digital data properly of the storage(110), to output to the electronic devices from the storage device(110). The first micro controller(106) controls writing/reading the digital data.

Description

SHARED STORAGE DEVICE AND ELECTRONIC APPARATUS FOR USE WITH THE SAME

The present invention relates to a shared storage device capable of sharing digital audio and video data among electronic devices, and more particularly, to a shared storage device capable of sharing data among electronic devices using an IEEE 1394 interface; An electronic device suitable for use thereof.

With the development of multimedia and network systems, digitalization of audio and video electronic devices is rapidly progressing. For example, in order to share digital audio and video data generated from computer systems, audio and video electronics, they use a specific recording medium to move the data.

Therefore, the interface for mutual data sharing between digital AV (Audio / Video) devices and computer systems has emerged as a very important problem.

In addition, as device bays emerge as a method for data sharing, in the future, major devices of a computer system may be easily mounted or detached in a cartridge form. Therefore, a standardized storage device is required for the interface between electronic devices using the device bay.

The IEEE 1394 interface is a hard disk interface specification developed by Apple Computer, Inc. in 1989. It receives audio and video signals from audio and video electronic devices, processes them at high speed, and transmits digital data between the audio and video electronic devices. In addition, by using isochronous transmission method, it is implemented to meet the specification corresponding to next generation multimedia.

The application technology of the IEEE 1394 interface is applied to peripheral devices and consumer electronics of computer systems. For example, computer peripherals include storage devices such as hard disks, CD-ROM drives or DVD-ROM drives, and input / output devices such as printers and scanners. In the home appliance field, video electronic devices such as VCRs, TVs or cameras, and stereo audio electronic devices are being developed.

Referring to FIG. 1, a general computer system 10 includes various types of storage devices. That is, a hard disk drive 16, a floppy disk drive 12, and a CD-ROM drive 14 are provided to store digital audio and video data. These recording media are then used to move or share audio and video data to other computer systems.

Referring to FIG. 2, the computer system 10 is connected to a plurality of digital peripheral devices and audio and video electronic devices using an IEEE 1394 interface.

The peripheral devices include a magnetic disk drive 30 and a stereo interface device 20, each of which is connected to a CD-ROM drive 40, a digital camera 50, a scanner 60, and a printer 70. It is. Therefore, these electronic devices mutually transmit digital audio and video data through the IEEE 1394 interface.

That is, the computer system 10 stores the digital audio data in the magnetic disk drive 30 or directly reproduces the stored digital audio data by using the stereo interface device 20. The digital video data is received from the CD-ROM drive 40 or the digital camera 50 and output through the display device (not shown) included in the computer system 10. In addition, the video data input from the scanner 60 is edited in the computer system 10, and the scanned or edited video data is output to the printer 70.

However, these electronic devices need to be directly connected to a computer system to enable data transmission or data sharing, and electronic devices use inconveniences by using different types of recording media in order to move data.

As mentioned above, a variety of digital audio and video electronic devices use various recording media to store audio and video data. For example, recording media include magnetic disks, magneto-optical disks, AUDIO CDs, VCDs, DVDs, and the like. These recording media move or share digital video and audio data to other electronic devices.

However, various storage devices use different types of interface protocols and various recording media, and thus, there are many problems in compatibility for data sharing between storage devices.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to solve the above problems, and to provide a shared storage device capable of sharing digital audio and video data between a computer system and electronic devices such as audio and video electronic devices.

In particular, the present invention provides a shared storage device that can be used in video, audio electronic devices, and computer systems by the IEEE 1394 interface.

Another object of the present invention is to implement an electronic device suitable for using a shared storage device.

1 is a perspective view of a general computer system;

2 is a block diagram showing a connection configuration between a computer system shown in FIG. 1 and a plurality of electronic devices through an IEEE 1394 interface;

3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a shared storage device using an IEEE 1394 interface according to an embodiment of the present invention;

4 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration according to a protocol of the shared storage device illustrated in FIG. 3; And

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating some components for an IEEE 1394 interface in an electronic device such as a computer system, a peripheral device, or an audio / video electronic device using the shared storage device of the present invention.

Explanation of symbols on the main parts of the drawings

100: storage device 102: connector

104: PHY layer 106: 1394 controller

108: converter 110: data storage

112: power supply 114: microcontroller

116: Rom 200: Electronic device

202: interface unit 204: ROM

206: Register 208: Asynchronous Transmitter

210: asynchronous receiver 212: serial I / O port

214: packet transmitter 216: packet receiver

218: power supply 220: PHY layer

222 connector 224 microcontroller

According to an aspect of the present invention for achieving the above object, a storage device capable of sharing digital data among electronic devices for writing or reading data, comprising: the same interface protocol provided by the electronic device A first interface unit electrically connected to the electronic device; Storage means for storing the digital data; A converter for converting the digital data from the storage means to the electronic device and converting the digital data into an IEEE 1394 interface protocol or for converting the digital data from the electronic device to the storage means into digital data suitable for the storage means; And a first microcontroller to control writing / reading of the digital data, to transmit mutual data to / from the electronic devices.

In a preferred embodiment of this aspect, the first interface unit comprises: a first connector electrically connected to the electronic device to mutually input / output the digital data to / from the storage means / the electronic device; ; Link means for recognizing the digital data and linking the electronic device and the storage means to an IEEE 1394 interface protocol or an interface protocol suitable for the storage means when the storage device is connected to the electronic device; And a 1394 controller for controlling the link means in response to the interrupt signal when an interrupt signal for writing / reading the digital data is input from the electronic device.

In a preferred embodiment of this aspect, the apparatus further includes a nonvolatile memory that stores a program for driving all operations of the storage device.

In a preferred embodiment of this aspect, the apparatus further includes a power supply circuit for outputting a DC voltage for overall operation of the storage device.

According to another aspect of the present invention for achieving the above object, an electronic device for writing / reading digital data, comprising: a storage device for writing / reading the digital data to / from the electronic device; A second interface circuit connected with the same interface protocol to mutually transmit digital data between the storage device and the electronic device; A second microcontroller for controlling data transfer with the storage device and the interface protocol; The storage device is mountable / detached to / from the electronic device, receives and writes the digital data from the electronic device through an IEEE 1394 interface, converts the stored digital data into an IEEE 1394 interface, and outputs the same to the electronic device. do.

In a preferred embodiment of this aspect, the second interface circuit comprises: a second connector connected with the storage device; A PHY layer for interfacing the electronic device / storage device to process data transmitted from / to the second connector; A data transceiving unit converting data written / read from / to the storage device into packets and asynchronously transmitting the data; Storage means for storing setting information corresponding to the connection of the storage device; And a serial input / output port configured to receive a signal according to a connection with the storage device from the inside of the electronic device.

In this embodiment, the storage means comprises: a ROM for storing configuration information by connection of the storage device; And a register for storing control and status information for performing data transfer with the storage device.

Therefore, according to the present invention, digital devices are shared by mounting and separating storage devices having IEEE 1394 interfaces to different electronic devices. The storage device generates an interrupt signal for writing and reading the digital data in the IEEE 1394 interface data format onto a storage device that can be mounted / removed from / to another electronic device (eg, a computer peripheral device or an AV device). In response to the interrupt signal, the 1394 controller converts the data into a desired form in the storage device or converts the data in the storage device into the IEEE 1394 interface data format to transmit data to the electronic device.

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

3 illustrates a shared storage device using an IEEE 1394 interface according to the present invention. The storage device 100 is connected to electronic devices suitable for use therein and stores digital data for writing or reading digital video and audio data. To this end, the storage device 100 has a mechanical mechanism (eg, external type, device bay or cartridge type) detachable and mountable to the electronic device.

Referring to the drawings, the storage device 100 includes a connector 102, a PHY layer 104, a 1394 controller 106, and a converter 108. And a data storage 110 and a power supply 112. It also includes a microcontroller 114 for controlling the overall operation of the storage device and a ROM 116, which is a nonvolatile memory.

The connector 102 includes signal lines suitable for an IEEE 1394 interface, and is directly connected to the electronic device to input and output data to which the digital data is written or read in the data storage unit 110. For example, four data signal lines and two power supply lines are provided.

When the storage device is connected to the electronic device, the PHY layer 104 recognizes a self node ID of the storage device and stores digital data input / output from / to the connector 102. Link to the 1394 controller 106.

The 1394 controller 106 controls the converter 108 in response to an interrupt signal for writing and reading digital data from the electronic device.

That is, the converter 108 converts the digital data into the IEEE 1394 interface protocol from the data storage unit 110 to the electronic device under the control of the 1394 controller 106, or outputs the data from the electronic device. The storage unit 110 converts the data into digital data suitable for the data storage unit 100 and outputs the digital data.

The data storage unit 110 is provided as one of various recording media, and records or deletes digital video and audio data generated from the electronic devices. In addition, the power supply unit 112 outputs a power supply voltage required for all operations of the storage device 100.

When the microcontroller 114 is connected to the electronic device, the microcontroller 114 controls the operation of the storage device 100 in response to an interrupt signal resulting from writing and reading the digital data from the electronic device. This is handled by the program stored in the ROM 116. The ROM 116 stores firmware and an operating system for driving the storage device.

FIG. 4 illustrates a schematic configuration according to the IEEE 1394 interface protocol of the shared storage shown in FIG. 3.

Referring to the drawing, the storage device 100 is largely composed of a firmware layer and a hardware layer. The firmware layer includes a serial bus management layer 120, a converter layer 108, and a transaction layer 126 for data transmission of the hardware layer.

The serial bus management layer 120 performs basic functions for node control and bus resource management based on a CSR structure. And bus management, isochronous resource management, and node control. For example, node control is a CSR, which includes communication between the physical layer 122, the link layer 124 and the transaction layer 126, and nodes according to an application technology. And bus management provides an interface for bus control to the application technology.

The converter layer 108 provides mutual bus control with the serial bus management layer 120, mutual firmware write with READ TRANSACTION with READ TRANSACTION with the TRANSACTION layer 126, and LOCK TRANSACTION. ) And mutually form isochronous channels with the hardware layer.

The transaction layer 126 is a driver that actually operates and processes an interface, and performs asynchronous data transmission. In addition, the transaction layer 126 includes a WRITE TRANSACTION, a READ TRANSACTION, and a LOCK TRANSACTION.

The hardware layer includes a connector 100, a physical layer 122, and a link layer 124. The connector 102 inputs and outputs data through an electrical connection to the electronic device through, for example, a conductor cable consisting of six lines according to the IEEE 1394 interface. The conductor cable is composed of four data signal lines and two power lines.

The physical layer 122 performs data encoding / decoding, interface, and arbitration with the data storage unit 110 of the storage device 100. That is, functions to interface with the storage medium are performed. The link layer 124 processes addressing data inspection, clock cycle control, and packet transmission and reception corresponding to data writing or reading.

This is described in the IEEE 1394 serial bus interface standard, which defines the IEEE 1394 interface protocol, and will not be described in detail because it is obvious to those skilled in the art.

And FIG. 5 illustrates a configuration for an IEEE 1394 interface in an electronic device such as a computer system, a peripheral device or an audio / video electronic device using the shared storage device of the present invention.

Referring to the drawing, the electronic device 200 is connected to the storage device 100 and electrically connected to the connector 222 and data transmitted from / to the connector 222 to the electronic device / the storage device Includes a PHY layer 220, a data transceiver 208, 210, 214, 216, and a power supply 218 for interfacing to process.

The data transceiver 208, 210, 214, and 216 may include a first in first out (FIFO) asynchronous transmitter (208) and an asynchronous receiver (210), and a packet transmitter (214) for transmitting the data in a packet form. ) And a packet receiving unit 216. The electronic device 200 also includes a ROM 204 for storing configuration information and a register 206 for storing control and status information. And a microcontroller 224 for controlling data transmission through the storage device 100 and the interface protocol, and a serial input / output port 212 for inputting and outputting a signal according to the connection of the electronic device 200.

Accordingly, the storage device 100 may be attached / detached to / from the electronic device 200, and receives and writes the digital data from the electronic device 200 through a 1394 interface. The stored digital data is converted into the 1394 interface and output to the electronic device 200.

In summary, the storage devices (eg, CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, DVD-RAM, optical disk, and magnetic disk drive, etc.) of a typical computer system are mostly provided inside the computer system or partly externally. Is connected to the computer system. However, these storage devices have been provided in an attempt to use them as storage devices for desktop or portable computers.

As the digitization of AV devices is rapidly progressing, these data are frequently stored or read in a storage device of a computer system. Therefore, the storage device is shared by various peripheral devices and digital AV devices, and then the computer It is a device to connect and use the system.

Therefore, a storage device is configured to have an IEEE 1394 bus. First, digital data having a 1394 data format is generated on a storage device that can be mounted / removed / removed to / from a computer peripheral device or an AV device. In response to the interrupt signal, the 1394 controller converts the data into a desired form in the storage device or converts the data in the storage device into the 1394 data format to perform data transmission.

The system of the present invention is composed of a storage device supporting a 1394 bus, a peripheral device capable of 1394 interface, and an electronic device such as a digital AV device. The storage device must have a unified interface for data transmission of the computer system and its peripherals and digital AV devices.

Data in a computer system is stored using various interfaces. For example, the interface of a hard disk drive or CD-ROM drive may be in the form of IDE, E-IDE or SCSI. Therefore, the data of the above-described interface method should be converted into the IEEE 1394 data format. The converted 1394 data must be converted into a data format that can be processed by the storage device according to the IEEE 1394 protocol. At this time, a 1394-TO-storage data converter and a storage-TO-1394 data converter are used. Since the converters support the isochronous transmission mode supported by IEEE 1394, the converters may be changed in speed so that they can be supported by storage devices having different speeds.

Thus, as described above, the storage device includes the converter, a microcontroller capable of controlling the converter, a driving firmware, and a nonvolatile memory capable of storing an operating system program.

In addition, the 1394 interface in a peripheral device or digital AV device may be connected to various peripheral devices (scanners, printers, etc.) or digital AV devices (eg, digital TVs, Internet TVs, DVDs, D-VCRs, digital cameras, etc.) having a 1394 bus. Can be converted into digital data suitable for a storage device through the IEEE 1394 bus and stored therein, or the data of the storage device can be converted into IEEE 1394 type data and displayed on a display device such as a monitor or a TV.

As described above, the present invention can use a storage device used in a computer system in a peripheral device and a digital AV device by using a 1394 bus used as an interface for a computer, a peripheral device, and a digital AV device.

Therefore, all digital data can be easily used anywhere by sharing storage media of digital electronic devices such as hard disk drives, DVDs, and digital cameras, which are expected to be large in size and miniaturized in the future.

For example, you can attach a shared storage device to a digital camera and shoot it, and then attach the storage device to a computer system to edit or print the stored data. You can connect directly and print by a schedule routine.

Claims (5)

A storage device capable of sharing digital data among electronic devices for writing or reading digital data: A first interface unit having the same interface protocol provided by the electronic device and electrically connected to the electronic device; Storage means for storing the digital data; A converter for converting the digital data from the storage means to the electronic device and outputting the 1394 protocol or converting the digital data from the electronic device to the storage means into digital data suitable for the storage means; And a first microcontroller to control the writing / reading of the digital data, wherein the removable micro-controller transfers mutual data to / from the electronic devices. The method of claim 1, The first interface unit is: A first connector electrically connected to the electronic device to mutually input / output the digital data to / from the storage means / the electronic device; Link means for recognizing the digital data and linking the electronic device and the storage means with a 1394 protocol or an interface protocol suitable for the storage means when the storage device is connected to the electronic device; And a 1394 controller for controlling the link means in response to the interrupt signal when an interrupt signal for writing / reading the digital data is input from the electronic device. The method of claim 1, And a nonvolatile memory configured to store a program for driving all operations of the storage device. The method of claim 1, And a power supply circuit for outputting a DC voltage for general operation of the storage device. In an electronic device for writing / reading digital data: A storage device for writing / reading the digital data to / from the electronic device; A second interface circuit connected with the same interface protocol to mutually transmit digital data between the storage device and the electronic device; A second microcontroller for controlling data transfer with the storage device and the interface protocol; The storage device is mountable / removable to / from the electronic device, receives and writes the digital data from the electronic device through a 1394 interface, and converts the stored digital data into the 1394 interface to output to the electronic device. An electronic device, characterized in that.