Command determination control apparatus and apparatus control method

Abstract

According to one embodiment, when a command has been detected, while data transfer is in progress, it is determined that the command has been unintentionally issued, and a mode move is limited. A control apparatus has a command decoder circuit, a data control circuit, a state control circuit which analyzes the content of the command, and then, controls states of the data control circuit and a memory unit, a detecting unit which detects a command indicating a state move, a data transfer state determining unit which, when the command has been detected, determines whether or not the data control unit is in data transfer, and a move mode setting unit which, when the data transfer state determining unit is in data transfer, moves an operating mode to an idle state.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

A general architecture that implements the various features of the invention will now be described with reference to the drawings. The drawings and the associated descriptions are provided to illustrate embodiments of the invention and not to limit the scope of the invention.

FIG. 1 is an illustrative block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a flow chart adapted to illustrate an example of an operation of an apparatus according to the present invention; and

FIG. 3 is a timing chart adapted to illustrate an example of an operation of the apparatus according to the present invention.

Claims

1. A command determination control apparatus, comprising: a plurality of external terminals including a command terminal to which a command is inputted and a data terminal for data;a command decoder circuit which decodes a command from the command terminal;a data control circuit connected between the data terminal and a memory unit to capture data from the data terminal to the memory unit and to control data output from the memory unit to the data terminal;a state control circuit which analyzes contents of the command decoded by the command decoder circuit, and then, controls states of the data control circuit and the memory unit;a detecting unit associated with the state control circuit, the detecting unit being capable of indicating a state move to be inputted from the command terminal;a data transfer state determining unit which, when the detecting unit has detected a specific command indicating the state move, determines whether or not the data control unit is in data transfer; anda move mode setting unit which, when the data transfer state determining unit has determined that data transfer is in progress, moves an operating mode to an idle state.

2. The command determination control apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a selector unit relating to a switch of a move mode, wherein whether to disable or enable an operation of determining a data transfer state of the data transfer state determining unit can be set by means of this selector unit.

3. The command determination control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the memory unit is a memory card.

4. The command determination control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the memory unit has a disk shaped memory medium.

5. The command determination control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the specific command is outputted from a host controller of a host device.

6. The command determination control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the specific command is a signal outputted from a host controller of a host device, and the host controller outputs the specific command when a gravity change sense signal has been sensed.

7. A method for controlling an apparatus based on command determination, the apparatus having: a plurality of external terminals including a command terminal to which a command is inputted and a data terminal for data; a command decoder circuit which decodes a command from the command terminal; a data control circuit connected between the data terminal and a memory unit to capture data from the data terminal to the memory unit and to control data output from the memory unit to the data terminal; and a state control circuit which analyzes contents of the command decoded by the command decoder circuit, and then, controls states of the data control circuit and the memory unit, the method comprising: detecting a specific command capable of indicating a state move to be inputted from the command terminal;when the detecting unit has detected a specific command indicating the state move, determining whether or not the data control unit is in data transfer; andwhen the data transfer state determining unit has determined that data transfer is in progress, moving an operating mode to an idle state.

8. The apparatus control method based on command determination according to claim 7, wherein a selection relating to switch of a move mode can be further made, and whether to disable or enable an operation of determining a data transfer state of the data transfer state determining unit can be set by the selection.

9. The apparatus control method based on command determination according to claim 7, wherein the specific command is outputted from a host controller of a host device.

10. The apparatus control method based on command determination according to claim 7, wherein the specific command is a signal outputted from a host controller of a host device, and the host controller outputs the specific command when a gravity change sense signal has been sensed.

11. The apparatus control method based on command determination according to claim 7, wherein a standby state is established in the idle state so as to want for a next command to be issued from the host device.

12. The apparatus control method based on command determination according to claim 7, wherein the memory unit is a disk device, the specific command is a signal outputted from a host controller of a host device, the host controller outputs the specific command when a gravity change sense signal has been sensed, and, in response to the gravity change sense signal, the disk device evacuates a head device.