KR20060069118A - Repairing method of a memory card - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method of repairing a memory card, and an object of the present invention is to provide a method of repairing a memory card capable of rewriting the internal data of a memory card and bringing it back to a normal state in case of a failure due to destruction of internal data of the memory card. have.

In addition, the present invention provides a method of repairing a memory card that can be used by a user without having to purchase a new memory card when the internal data of the memory card is destroyed.

To this end, the present invention searches for data on the operation of a failed memory card in a storage unit and records the retrieved data in a normal block among the blocks of the memory card.

Description

Repairing method of a memory card

1 is a block diagram illustrating components of an electronic device using a memory card according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating components of the memory card shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a specific configuration of the memory stick shown in FIG. 2.

4 is a flowchart illustrating a method for repairing when a memory card shown in FIG. 1 fails.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a data recording state according to the repair process of the memory card shown in FIG.

Explanation of symbols on the main parts of the drawings

100: Flash Memory

110: Host Controller

120: Memory Stick

200: micom

300: storage unit

10, 20: Boot Block

The present invention relates to a repair method of a memory card, and more particularly, to a repair method of a memory card that can be repaired and reused in the event of a failure due to internal data corruption of the memory card.

Recently, in the electronic devices such as digital still camera (DSC), digital video camera (DVC), IC recorder, personal computer, and the like, a removable semiconductor memory such as a memory card is used as a storage element. It is increasing.

This is typical because one memory card can be used in other compatible electronic devices to the extent that the recording capacity allows. For example, one memory card may be mounted on a digital still camera to record image data, and then mounted on an IC recorder to record audio data, or may be mounted on a personal computer to record arbitrary data. In addition, the memory card can be mounted on a digital still camera to record image data, and then mounted on a personal computer to edit or save the recorded image on a computer.

Since the memory card is designed in consideration of the mountability and portability of the electronic device, the memory card is very small in size, and may be easily damaged by a physical shock. In addition, the memory card may be damaged by various electromagnetic waves or external factors.

However, in the past, a memory card had to be newly purchased and used even in the case of a failure due to destruction of internal data of the memory card, except when the memory card itself was physically broken out of the various causes of the memory card being damaged. Accordingly, there has been a problem in that the economic burden on the memory card user increases with the purchase of the memory card.

In addition, even in the case of failure due to internal data destruction, the memory card is discarded, which causes a problem of increased resource waste.

The present invention is to solve the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a repair method of a memory card that can be made normal by newly recording the internal data of the memory card in the case of a failure due to destruction of the internal data of the memory card Is in.

In addition, the present invention provides a method of repairing a memory card that can be used by a user without having to purchase a new memory card when the internal data of the memory card is destroyed.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention retrieves data relating to an operation of a failed memory card from a storage unit, and records the retrieved data in a normal block among the blocks of the memory card.

In addition, the first block of the normal block is characterized in that the data on the boot block of the searched data is recorded, and the data on the boot block once more in the second normal block.                     

In addition, the data other than the data related to the boot block of the searched data is characterized by allocating a space from the third normal block and recording.

In addition, all the data of the remaining blocks except for the block in which the retrieved data is recorded are deleted, and information about the corresponding block is recorded in the normal block among the blocks from which the data is deleted.

The address of the defective block among the blocks of the memory card is recorded in the first normal block and the second normal block.

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

1 is a view illustrating an electronic device using a memory card according to an embodiment of the present invention. The illustrated electronic device includes an image according to the control of the microcomputer 200 and the microcomputer 200 that control the overall operation of the electronic device. A flash memory 100 in which various data such as data and voice data are recorded, and a storage unit 300 storing all data necessary for the operation of the flash memory 100.

The microcomputer 200 may include a memory interface controller 210 for smoothly adjusting an interface (I / F) with the flash memory 100 and a flash memory 100 as a high-speed storage in the microcomputer. Register 220 that can read and write data faster, and a page buffer 230 that temporarily stores information when exchanging data between the microcomputer 200 and other devices. And an interface (I / F) that connects the microcomputer 200 with an ECC (Error Correction Cord) 240 for transmitting data or fixing errors during processing, and a storage unit 300 and other electronic devices. (250).

The storage unit 300 stores data necessary for the operation of the flash memory 100. The storage unit 300 classifies and stores the flash memory 100 that can be used in the electronic device according to its type and manufacturer. This is to store the flash memory 100 for repair in case of failure due to internal data destruction of the flash memory 100.

Flash memory 100 is a non-volatile memory removable storage medium removable from the electronic device. The flash memory 100 has a compact flash type (C / F: Compact Flash type), a microdrive (MD: Microdrive), an SD (Secure Digital) card, an MMC (Multi Media Card), a Memory Stick, a SMC. (Smart Media Card), etc. There are various kinds of flash memory depending on the manufacturer of each electronic device. In the present invention, a memory stick is taken as an example.

Hereinafter, the flash memory 100 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 2. The flash memory 100 analyzes data entered through a memory interface from the memory stick 120 and the microcomputer 200 where data is actually stored, and then stores the memory stick 120. It consists of a host controller (Host Controller) (110) for managing the data storage state.

In principle, the host controller 110 operates according to a control command of the microcomputer 200. That is, the host controller 110 does not store or delete data in the memory stick 120 at its own discretion, but accurately stores the data in the memory stick 120 according to a control command of the microcomputer 200. , To act as a relay to delete stored data according to the command of the microcomputer 200.

The host controller 110 receives a control command related to data management from the microcomputer 200 through the parallel interface 1 / F 1140, and the transmitted signal is transmitted by the file manager 112. It is analyzed. The file manager 112 analyzes the transmitted signal to write or delete data in the memory stick 120. At this time, the data transfer to the memory stick 120 is first operated in the serial interface (Serial I / F) mode when the memory stick 120 is turned on, and after a predetermined time elapses, the parallel interface 114 is operated. To transmit data.

The memory stick 120 receives data through the parallel interface 128 or the serial interface 126, and the received data is transferred to the memory I / F sequencer 124 and then the memory ( 122 is finally stored.

Hereinafter, the data storage form in the memory will be described with reference to FIG. 3. The memory 122 is composed of a plurality of blocks, each of which has a size of about 8 KB or 16 KB. The block is divided into detailed units called pages, and one block is composed of about 16 pages or 32 pages. If the blocks are classified according to their physical form, they can be largely divided into a boot area and a user area.

The boot area is composed of two boot blocks 10 and 20 that store the same data. One boot block is stored as a backup 20. The boot block 10 is divided into a header 12, a disabled block data 14, and the like.

The header portion 12 is further divided into an ID recording area of the block and a data entry area in which the number of valid blocks in the boot block is recorded. The defective block data 14 is a portion in which the number of blocks which are not available in the memory stick 120 is recorded. A defective block remembers the number to prohibit access to that block because it can have a devastating effect on another block.

The user area may be classified into a user block and an information block 30. Among these, a part in which data about an image or an audio captured by an actual user is stored is a user block.

The information block 30 stores information about the user area in an integrated manner so that the boot block 10 can easily find information about the user area. The information block 30 stores the number of the defect blocks described above. It is also where you are. The number of the information block 30 is recorded in the actual defect block data 14, so that when the data of the information block 30 is searched, the number of the defect block can be known.

As described above, the user block is divided into a plurality of pages, each of which contains an extra data area (Data Area) 40 where actual data is recorded, and an extra data area containing information about the data area 40. Area 50). The external data area 50 stores general information about the data area 40, such as the size and address of the data area 40, so that the host controller 110 can grasp information about the data area 40 at once. Do it.                     

On the other hand, if the block is divided according to a logical format, it may be divided into a Master Boot Record (MBR), a Partition Boot Record (PBR), a File Allocation Table (FAT), and a Root Directory Entry. .

The MBR contains information that identifies where and how the operating system is located. The address of the PBR is also recorded. The PBR is a block of memory or whether a page is allocated in what size unit. This is the part where information about the number of pages is recorded.

FAT is a part that manages files recorded in memory. One file is composed of a plurality of clusters, but since the location on the physical disk of the cluster is not always contiguous for each file, there is a part to manage the order in which clusters constitute one file. FAT. In addition, the FAT will be written once more for backup purposes.

The root directory entry is the directory at the top of the drive in the hierarchical directory structure. In general, a directory entry contains a long file name, extension, file size, MS-DOS file name, modification date, starting cluster of the file, and so on.

Internal data may be destroyed by various causes such as an external physical shock or exposure to electromagnetic waves. Internal data is destroyed when a boot block (in case of backup data is destroyed), information block, external data area, MBR, PBR, FAT (if backup data is also destroyed) in which various information necessary for using flash memory is recorded. If the data is corrupted, such as the root directory entry. If these parts are damaged, the flash memory cannot perform its normal function and must be repaired.

Hereinafter, a method of repairing a flash memory according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5.

First, when the user determines that the flash memory 100 is damaged and inputs a command to repair it, the microcomputer 200 may store information on the flash memory 100 among the information about the flash memory 100 stored in the storage unit 300. Retrieves whether information is available. Of course, it is assumed that the electronic device is an electronic device having a built-in repair function of the flash memory 100 (S100).

When the information about the flash memory 100 is found, the microcomputer 200 transmits a command to sequentially check the blocks of the memory 122 to the host controller 110. (S110) The host controller 110 stores the memory. In step 122, the blocks are sequentially inspected and the inspection is performed until a block in a normal state is obtained.

When the block in the normal state is found, the microcomputer 200 transmits specification data about the boot block 10 among the data retrieved from the storage 300 to the host controller 110 through the memory interface. The host controller 110 writes the received boot block specification data in the first normal state block. In FIG. 5, when block 0 is found as a normal block, boot block specification data is recorded in block 0 (S130).

Then, the second steady state block is searched and the boot block specification data is written once more to the second steady state block. If it is determined in FIG. 5 that block 1 is a defective block, the block 1 is skipped and the boot block specification data is written once again for backup in block 2 which is a normal state block (S140).

The search proceeds until the steady state block appears. When the steady state block is found, the microcomputer 200 hosts information on MBR, PBR, FAT, and root directory entries among the data retrieved from the storage unit 300. The controller 110 transmits the data through the memory interface, and the host controller 110 records the received data of the MBR, PBR, FAT, and root directory entries in each steady state block. If blocks 3 and 4 are determined to be defective blocks in Fig. 5, block 5 is searched without writing data. When block 5 is a steady state block, data about MBR is recorded in FIG. 5, and data about PBR is recorded in block 6 which is a next steady state block. After the block 7, which is a defective block, data relating to the FAT is recorded in block 8, which is a steady state block. Data about the FAT is written once more to the next steady state block 9 for backup. After that, the block 10 records the data related to the root directory entry in the steady state block 11 after passing through the defective block 10 (S150).

When the recording is completed up to the data related to the root directory entry, the entire block in the next block after the recording, that is, block 12, from all blocks is erased (S160).

After the deletion is completed, the normal state block is searched again and the information received from the microcomputer 200 is recorded only in the external data area 50 among the data area 40 and the external data area 50 in the normal state block 12. Hereinafter, all blocks are searched for and information about the external data area 50 is recorded in the steady state block (S170).                     

When the recording of all information is completed, the number of the defective blocks among the blocks searched so far is recorded in the defective block data portion of block 0 in which the boot block data is recorded (S180).

Also, in block 1, in which the boot block data is recorded for backup, the number of the defective block is recorded once again in the same position (S190).

When the internal data of the flash memory is damaged as described above, all information necessary for the flash memory to be newly recorded can be restored to the normal state.

As described in detail above, when the internal data of the memory card is damaged, all the data necessary for the operation of the memory card can be newly recorded, so that the defect of the memory card can be corrected and reused.

In addition, if a memory card is damaged, it can be easily fixed and used without repurchasing, which can provide economic benefits to users and prevent waste of resources.

Claims (5)

The storage unit can retrieve data about the operation of the failed memory card, Repair method of a memory card for recording the retrieved data in the normal block of the block of the memory card. The method of claim 1, And recording the data related to the boot block among the searched data in the first normal block among the normal blocks, and recording the data related to the boot block once more in the second normal block. The method of claim 2, And retrieving data other than the data related to the boot block from the retrieved data by allocating a space from a third normal block. The method of claim 3, wherein And deleting all data of the remaining blocks except for the block in which the retrieved data is recorded, and recording information on the corresponding block in the normal block among the blocks from which the data is deleted. The method of claim 4, wherein And fixing the addresses of defective blocks among the blocks of the memory card in the first normal block and the second normal block.

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