Patent Application
20100017670
The present invention relates generally to information processing systems and more particularly to a methodology and implementation for enabling an automatic recovery of user data and/or program code.
Digital storage media are easily damaged if owners are not careful in the handling of the material and/or because of hardware failures. Once a storage medium, for example an optical disc, becomes scratched or damaged, portions of the disc may become unreadable by the system. This, in turn, may result in an inability to read and play data from the damaged storage medium.
In order to prevent the loss of data and/or poor playback, owners must resort to making backup copies of the code and/or data stored on the medium and revert to the copies if needed. This requires the use of extra media and software that is able to write the data/code to the media. This process is time consuming and many times backup copies are not made. As a result, in many cases, damaged media results in a permanent loss of user data.
Thus, there is a need to provide a data retrieval system which is effective to restore data that is lost or rendered unreadable.
A method, programmed medium and system are provided for recovering media-stored program code and/or user data when data on the same media are lost or corrupted. The system includes retrieving user data and/or program code from an external source when the actual data/code is not readable. When initiating the load of local storage, an initial scan for damaged regions is performed. If the initial scan determines that there are damaged/bad regions, the media player will look for the necessary data and/or code to patch the digital media. In one embodiment, a hardware or software look-ahead reader function, for example, is enabled to retrieve the original undamaged data/code from the local storage when an attempt to read a region from an optical disk fails due to a bad region. If the region in question is not stored locally, then a request is automatically transmitted to the original data provider to re-send the original data/code, which may include original program code. The data provider will then respond by sending the missing data/code to the user system where it will, in turn, be stored within the local storage device for further access and use.
A better understanding of the present invention can be obtained when the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment is considered in conjunction with the following drawings, in which:
The various methods discussed herein may be implemented within a computer system which includes processing means, memory, updateable storage, input means and display means. Since the individual components of a computer system which may be used to implement the functions used in practicing the present invention are generally known in the art and composed of electronic components and circuits which are also generally known to those skilled in the art, circuit details beyond those shown are not specified to any greater extent than that considered necessary as illustrated, for the understanding and appreciation of the underlying concepts of the present invention and in order not to obfuscate or distract from the teachings of the present invention. Although the invention is illustrated in the context of a networked computer system, it is understood that disclosed methodology may also be applied in many other available and future devices and systems to achieve the beneficial functional features described herein.
In an exemplary implementation, when a user downloads application program code from a server over an interconnection network such as the Internet, the code is processed for execution on the user system and stored on local storage, for example a hard drive, within the user's system. Alternatively, the initial load to the user system may be accomplished from another medium such as an optical disc or portable flash memory device. After storage, the user is enabled to retrieve the application from local hard drive or flash storage and run the application on the user system. Further, in many applications, the user is enabled to input user data which is stored with the application for subsequent access by the user.
In the present example, if the original optical disc medium or flash memory device is damaged, when the user tries to load the application and data into user memory for execution, the application will not execute and the user will be unable to run the application. In accordance with the present invention, when the user initializes an application from a storage medium, the medium is first scanned for readable data. This function may be implemented in hardware or software. In the present example, a look-ahead hardware device is used. If the initial scan detects that one or more regions of the medium contain unreadable or defective data, the system calls for replacement code first from local storage and if the code or data is not available form local storage, then the system will determine a server source for the original code or other location where backup data may be stored, and automatically request replacement code either for only for the damaged regions or for the entire medium content. This replacement function is carried out in the background, and, depending upon the speed of the system, may be totally transparent to the user. In other words, the defective code or data may be detected and replacement code may be automatically requested and loaded to the user system without the user ever knowing that the code replacement operation has occurred. This function would be very useful, for example, when a user loads a digital video disc to watch a movie and the disc contains defective or unreadable code. Instead of being unable to view the DVD and having an error message displayed, the user, after the automatic scanning and detection of the defective regions and the automatic replacement of the code and data, will be able to play the movie without interruption and without any user intervention. In the preferred embodiment, only unreadable regions are replaced rather than the entire media. This methodology enables increased digital data management by only maintaining the minimal amount of data, instead of backing up the entire media, and allows for the use of external third parties to provide and verify the authenticity of the media to provide the missing data. An alternative to this process would be to allow the owner to skip the need to back up the data, and have method or apparatus to determine what data is within the damaged region thus allowing the data to be read in its entirety by the hardware.
In another example, when a user is playing a DVD movie that contains scratches on the disk, when an attempt to read from the damaged area fails, an attempt is automatically made to retrieve the unreadable portion to allow the DVD to remain playing with no interrupts or quality degradation. The medium may also be initially scanned for defective or damaged regions when the medium is initially loaded into the user's system so that the replacement, if necessary can be accomplished ahead of the time when the DVD is to be played.
After the replacement code and/or data is reloaded to the user system from the source server 315, the downloaded code/data is again scanned for readability 317. If no unreadable regions are detected 319, the application is run in a normal manner 321 without user intervention. If, however, the code and/or data which was downloaded from the source server is found to contain unreadable code/data 319, then an error message may be displayed 323 on the user's display device and the user can then take appropriate action. Alternatively, if unreadable code/data is found on the downloaded code/data from the first source server, additional backup servers may be accessed automatically until readable code/data has been located and downloaded to the user system. In this manner, a user application or file may be played in a seamless manner from a user command to execute the application even though the original medium containing application code and/or data has been damaged and rendered unreadable. Unreadable code/data are replaced automatically, in the background, from a second or additional storage source, without requiring any positive user intervention or program interfacing.
The method and apparatus of the present invention has been described in connection with a preferred embodiment as disclosed herein. The disclosed methodology may be implemented in a wide range of sequences, menus and screen designs to accomplish the desired results as herein illustrated. Although an embodiment of the present invention has been shown and described in detail herein, along with certain variants thereof, many other varied embodiments that incorporate the teachings of the invention may be easily constructed by those skilled in the art, and even included or integrated into a processor or CPU or other larger system integrated circuit or chip. The disclosed methodology may also be implemented solely or partially in program code stored in any media, including any portable or fixed, volatile or non-volatile memory media device, including CDs, RAM and “Flash” memory, or other semiconductor, optical, magnetic or other memory storage media from which it may be loaded and/or transmitted into other media and executed to achieve the beneficial results as described herein. Accordingly, the present invention is not intended to be limited to the specific form set forth herein, but on the contrary, it is intended to cover such alternatives, modifications, and equivalents, as can be reasonably included within the spirit and scope of the invention.
