This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority of the prior Japanese Patent Application No. 2008-212255, filed on Aug. 20, 2008, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
An aspect of embodiments discussed herein relates to a recording method, a recording medium and a storage device.
A magnetic disk drive is used as a storage device in computer systems and various electronic devices. Thus, the magnetic disk drive is always required to be improved to have an increased storage capacity.
An increase in the storage capacity of the magnetic disk drive may be achieved by increasing the recording density on the magnetic disk. An increase in the recording density on the magnetic disk may be achieved by two methods. The first method increases the track density on the magnetic disk in the radial direction. The second method increases the bit density in the track direction (bit direction). The track density is described as TPI (Track Per Inch), and the bit density is described as BPI (Bit Per Inch).
There is a proposal to record data on the magnetic disk in one direction (for example, from the outer side of the magnetic disk to the inner side) in order to increase the track density TPI. The method of writing data in the one direction does not need a margin for side erase on both sides of the track. That is, it is enough to provide the margin for side erase on only one side of the track. It is thus possible to increase the track density.
There is another proposal as described in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2007-250054. This is intended to realize a large capacity of storage. According to this proposal, the recording density of the recording medium is determined based on the warranted number of times of rewriting, and information is recorded on the recording medium at the recording density thus determined.
According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a recording method including: multiplexing data and continuously recording multiplexed data in a continuous recording region of a recording medium having a random recording region; and recording management information about multiplexing and recording in the random recording region.
The object and advantages of the invention will be realized and attained by means of the elements and combinations particularly pointed out in the claims.
It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory and are not restrictive of the invention, as claimed.
First, a description will be given of art related to an aspect of the present invention.
The related art applies the magnetic disk drive capable of writing data in one direction to a hard disk recorder with multiple tuners.
In this application, as illustrated in
However, the reserve region 160 may not be used in practical recording. The pre-established reserve region 160 may decrease the storage capacity of the magnetic disk. If the storage region 150A or 150B is fully used, there is a need to acquire anew storage region. Further, there is another need to acquire another reserve region along with the new storage region. This further decreases the storage capacity.
It is thus desired to realize high-density recording of multiple items of data.
A description will now be given, with reference to
The first tuner 10A and the second 10B may be any types of tuners. In Japan, the first tuner 10A and the second tuner 10B may, for example, be any of a ground digital tuner, a ground analog tuner, a BS digital tuner, and a 110° CS digital tuner or an arbitrary combination thereof. The first tuner 10A and the second tuner 10B receive programs specified by the user through the controller 20. The programs may be specified with the titles thereof.
The first receive buffer 12A and the second receive buffer 12B are respectively associated with the first tuner 10A and the second turner 10B, and are used to temporarily store program data supplied from the first tuner 10A and the second tuner 10B. The sizes of the first and second receive buffers 12A and 12B depend on the unit of writing. For example, when writing is carried out at intervals of one second at a rate of 24 Mbps, the first and second receive buffers 12A and 12B are required to have a buffer size of 3 MB/s.
The multiplexer 14 receives the two data from the first and second receive buffers 12A and 12B and arranges the data in series under the control of the controller 20. In the present embodiment, the multiplexer 14 for multiplexing the two input data is required to operate at a rate or speed equal to twice that of these input data.
The write buffer 16 temporarily stores the data from the multiplexer 14. The write buffer 16 is required to operate at a rate equal to twice the rate of the input data of the multiplexer 14.
The table buffer 18 temporarily stores management information of program data generated by the controller 20. The management information of program data may be arranged in the form of a table. This will be described in more detail later.
The hard disk recording/reproduction controller 30 includes a hard disk controller (HDC), a read channel (RDC) and a motor driver, although these elements are not illustrated for the sake of simplicity.
The disk enclosure 32 includes a head IC 34, a recording/reproduction element (head) 36, and a magnetic disk 40 (see
In reproduction of data, the head 36 reads data from the magnetic disk 40 at a specified position and supplies the data to the head IC 34. Then, the head IC 34 sends the read data to the hard disk recording/reproduction controller 30, which reproduces the original images and/or audios from the read data and sends them to an external device such as a display (not shown).
A description will now be given, with reference to
Referring to
A description will now be given, with reference to
At times 0 through 4, the program title1 is received by the first tuner 10A and is recorded.
As illustrated in the table of
At times 5 and 6, program title2 (equal to two sectors (2LBA)) using the first tuner 10A and program title3 (equal to 2LBA) are recorded in multiplexing.
In the above multiplexed recording, two programs title2 and title3 are alternately written in the continuous recording region 60B of the magnetic disk 40 in one direction on the single LBA base. As illustrated in
At times 7 and 8, the recording of only the program title2 using the first tuner 10A is carried out. This recording is not multiplexed recording. Thus, the program title2 is continuously recorded in LBA “9” and LBA “10” of the magnetic disk 40 in one direction, as illustrated in section C in
At times 9 and 10, the program title2 (equal to 2LBA) using the first tuner 10A and the program title4 (equal to 2LBA) using the second tuner 20A are recorded in multiplexing. In this case, the two programs title2 and title4 are alternately recorded in LBA “11” through LBA “14” of the continuous recording region 60B in one direction (see (2-4, 4-0, 2-5, 4-1) in the column of the write buffer in
At times 11 and 12, only the program title4 (equal to 2LBA) using the second turner 10B is recorded. This recording is not multiplexed recording, the program title4 is continuously recorded in LBA “14” and LBA “15” in the continuous recording region 60B of the magnetic disk 40 in one direction (see section E in
The contents of the table illustrated in
A description will now be given, with reference to a flowchart of
The flowchart of
At step S10, the controller 10 determines whether there is a change in the recording status. It is noted that a change in the recording status takes place when the instruction to start recording or the instruction to end recording is issued. In the example of concern, the instruction (s0) to start recording the program title1 is issued at time 0. Thus, the answer of step S10 is YES, and the process proceeds to step S12. At step S12, the controller 20 carries out the settings of tuner and receive buffers, and updates the table information. At the stage of time 0, the first tuner 10A is set to the program title1, and sets the receive buffer 12A accordingly. The table information (management information) is associated with the instruction (w) to end recording. Thus, the table information is not updated when the instruction (s) to start recording is issued.
Step S12 is followed by step S14 at which the controller 20 determines whether multiplexing should be performed. At time 0, multiplexing is needed and the answer of step S14 is NO. Then, the controller 20 proceeds to step S18.
The controller 20 determines whether table writing should be carried out. The table writing is needed when the instruction to end the recording (any of w0 through w6) is issued. At the present stage, the instruction to end the recording has not yet been issued, and the answer of step S18 is NO. Then, the controller 20 proceeds to step S22.
At step S22, the controller 20 issues an instruction to record data buffered in the write buffer 16 on the magnetic disk 40 via the hard disk recording/reproduction controller 30 and the disk enclosure 32.
Then, the controller 20 proceeds to step S24 when data has been recorded on the magnetic disk 40, and determines whether all the processes have been processed. The controller 20 refers to the status of timer recording. When it is determined that the process should be continuously carried out, the answer of step S24 is NO, and the process returns to step S10.
At time 1, the controller 20 executes the process illustrated in
At time 4, the controller 20 issues an instruction w0 to stop recording, and the answer of step S10 is YES. In this case, the controller 20 carries out the settings of first tuner 10A and the first receive buffer 12A, and updates the contents of TBL ADS “0” in the table information (see
At time 5, instructions s1 and s2 to start recording the programs title2 and title3 are issued and the recording status is changed. Thus, the answer of step S10 is YES. In this case, the controller 20 moves to step S134 via step S12.
At step S14, the controller 20 determines whether multiplexing should be performed. In this case, two programs title2 and title3 should be recorded, and the answer of step S16 is YES. The controller 20 sets the multiplexer 14 so that the programs title2 and title3 are alternately recorded on the LBA base. At step S22, the controller 20 writes the programs title2 and title3 in the continuous recording region 60B of the magnetic disk 40 in one direction through the determination of step S18 (here the answer is NO).
Then, the answer of step S24 is NO, and the process returns to step S10.
At time 6, the controller 20 issues instructions w1 and w2 to stop recording the programs title2 and title3. Thus, the recording status is changed, and the answer of step S10 is YES. In this case, the controller 20 proceeds to step S14 via step S12.
At step S14, the controller 20 determines whether multiplexing should be performed. In the present case, the two programs title2 and title3 are recorded, and the answer of step S14 is YES. At step S16, the controller 20 sets the multiplexer 14 so that the programs title2 and title3 are alternately written on the LBA base. When the answer of step S18 is affirmative, the controller 20 issues an instruction to write the table information to the table buffer 18 and the hard disk recording/reproduction controller 30. Thus, new table information (TBL ADS “1” and TBL ADS “2”) is written in the random recording region 60A.
At step S22, the controller 20 issues instructions to write the programs title2 and title3 in one direction in multiplexing, and returns to step S10 when the answer of step S24 is NO.
The above-mentioned process is repeatedly carried out until time 12 at which the timer recording ends. Thereafter, the answer of step S24 becomes YES, and all the process illustrated in
Thus, as shown in
When the programs recorded in the continuous recording region 60B of the magnetic disk 40 are continuously rewritten, the process illustrated in
A description will now be given, with reference to
When a program is specified by the user, who may applies the title of the program to the hard disk recorder 100, the controller 20 reads the management information described in the form of table from the random recording region 60A of the magnetic disk 40, and sets “Start LBA” on the basis of the program specified. For example, when the user specifies the program title2 for reproduction, the controller 20 extracts items about only the program title2 from the table and sets “Start LBA” involved in reproduction. More specifically, the smallest value of “Start LBA” related to the program title2. In the table of
At step S52, the controller 20 refers to “MPX2 in the table of
At step S54, the controller 20 sets the number of sectors to be jumped. Here, the controller 20 sets the number of sectors to be jumped equal to 1. Thus, Start LBA “5” to End LBA “7” is read every other sector so that LBA “6” is jumped.
At subsequent step S56, the controller 20 issues an instruction to read data from the sector (in the present example, from the sector associated with LBA “5”), and proceeds to step S58. At step S58, the controller 20 determines whether the current sector is End LBA. In the present example, the answer is NO, and the process returns to step S56. Then, the controller issues an instruction to jump one sector (LBA “6”) and read data from the sector (LBA “7”) following the jumped sector.
At step S58, the controller 20 determines whether the current sector is End LBA. Here, the read LBA is “7”, which coincides with “7” of End LBA. Thus, the answer of step S58 is YES, and the process returns to step S50.
At step S60, the controller 20 refers to LINK and determines whether there is a process that should be carried out consecutively. In the present example, LINK for TBL ADS of “1” in the table of
At step S50, the controller 20 reads data with TBL ADS “3” in a manner similar to the above. It is to be noted that MPX is “0” for TBL ADS “3” in the table of
At step S60, the controller 20 refers to LINK and determines whether there is a process that should be carried out consecutively. In the present example, LINK for TBL ADS “3” is “4” in the table of
At step S50, the controller 20 reads data with TBL ADS “4” in a manner similar to the above. In the present example, MPX is “2” for TBL ADS “4” in the table of
The above-mentioned read process makes it possible to easily access data multiplexed and recorded on the continuous recording region 60B of the magnetic disk 40 in one direction.
According to the present embodiment, multiple items of data (for example, programs) are continuously multiplexed and recorded in the continuous recording region 60B. It is thus possible to simultaneously write the multiple items of data in the continuous recording region 60B in which data can be written at a high density. The management information (
According to the present embodiment, multiplexing is implemented by dividing multiple items of data and assigning divided items of data to divided sectors formed in the continuous recording region 60B. This is quite different from the related art in which each tuner is assigned the respective recording region, and the reserve region is provided for each recording region. The present embodiment is capable of securing a greater storage capacity than the related art.
In the present embodiment, the management information arranged in the table of
In the present embodiment, data is recorded in the continuous recording region 60B in one direction. It is thus possible to determine the track pitch by considering only the side erase provided on one side of the track. This makes it possible to set the track pitch in the continuous recording region 60B less than the track pitch in the random recording region 60A and to obtain an increased recording density at which the programs are recorded.
According to the present embodiment, when the program data recorded in the continuous recording region 60B of the magnetic disk 40 is replaced with another program data, the management information about the program data to be written is recorded in the random recording region 60A. Since the management information is updated each time rewriting of program is carried out, it is possible to reliably read the rewritten program data from the continuous recording region 60B.
According to the present invention, as indicated in
The present embodiment may be varied so that the continuous recording region 60B of the magnetic disk 40 is a write-once region.
The hard disk recorder 100 is not limited to the use of two tuners 10A and 10B but may have three tuners or more. It is possible to multiplex and record the programs or more in a manner similar to the above-mentioned manner.
The storage device of the above-mentioned embodiment may be applied to not only the hard disk recorder but also a hard disk drive. The hard disk drive is capable of simultaneously handling multiple applications by the above-mentioned method.
In the present embodiment, the random recording region 60A is provided on the outer side of the magnetic disk 40, and the continuous recording region 60B is further in than the random recording region 60A. The present invention is not limited to this arrangement, but the regions 60A and 60B may be arranged at arbitrary positions on the magnetic disk 40.
All examples and conditional language recited herein are intended for pedagogical purposes to aid the reader in understanding the invention and the concepts contributed by the inventor to furthering the art, and are to be construed as being without limitation to such specifically recited examples and conditions, nor does the organization of such examples in the specification relate to a showing of the superiority and inferiority of the invention. Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail, it should be understood that the various change, substitutions, and alterations could be made hereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2008-212255 | Aug 2008 | JP | national |