Claims
- 1. In an I/O control apparatus comprising a temporary memory circuit divisible into a plurality of segments according to the type of an I/O request for temporarily storing data to and from an external system and a notification means for notifying the external system of the amount of the data that can be transferred continuously between said external system and said temporary memory circuit in response to a data transfer amount request from said external system, an I/O control method comprising the steps of:
selecting a data transfer method between said external system and said storage apparatus in accordance with said amount of the data that can be transferred continuously; selecting the number of data blocks that can be transferred continuously based on said amount of the data that can be transferred continuously; and controlling the transfer of the data I/O to and from said storage apparatus.
- 2. The I/O control method according to claim 1, comprising the steps of:
reading periodically the amount of the data that can be transferred continuously; segmenting the data to be transferred into transfer data blocks each having not more than said amount of the data that can be transferred continuously; and controlling the input and the output of said segmented transfer data blocks.
- 3. A storage apparatus comprising:
a temporary memory circuit divisible into a plurality of segments according to the type of an I/O request and for temporarily storing data to and from an external system; and a preread means for reading data from a designated area of a recording medium and storing the data only temporarily in a corresponding segment, wherein the size of the corresponding available segment is given as a data size that can be preread in response to a preread size request, and the size of the data of a segment that has been preread in response to a read size request is given as a readable data size.
- 4. A storage apparatus comprising:
a management information memory means for storing file management information corresponding to a position of data recorded in a recording medium; a temporary memory circuit divisible into a plurality of segments according to the type of an I/O request and capable of storing the data temporarily to and from an external system; and a control circuit for: (1) reproducing said management information in response to an auto read request from the external system, (2) determining the position of a block of said data on said recording medium for recording said data block in said temporary memory for transfer to said external system, and (3) prereading said data block.
- 5. A storage apparatus according to claim 4, wherein said management information memory means stores at least a data block number and the recording position information of the data corresponding to said data block number, and wherein said control circuit receives said data block number from the external system at the time of receiving the auto read request from the external system, and selects the recording position information corresponding to said data block number from among the file management information.
- 6. A storage apparatus comprising:
a temporary memory circuit divisible into a plurality of segments according to the type of an I/O request and for storing data temporarily to and from an external system; a prefetch means for transferring the data reproduced from a recording medium to said temporary memory circuit; and a control circuit for discriminating between the different types of an I/O request from the external system, and for selecting and executing a prefetch method corresponding to the type of said I/O request from among a plurality of prefetch methods, the type of I/O request selecting one of different data amounts to be prefetched and different time lengths required for the prefetching process.
- 7. A storage apparatus comprising:
a temporary memory circuit divisible into a plurality of segments according to the type of an I/O request and for storing data temporarily to and from an external system; a preread means for reproducing a data block from a recording medium and transferring said data block to said temporary memory circuit; and a control circuit for receiving the I/O request with an identifier attached thereto from said external system and selecting and transferring to said external system a data block to be transferred to said external system, from among a plurality of said data blocks preread in accordance with said identifier.
- 8. A storage apparatus comprising:
a temporary memory circuit divisible into a plurality of segments according to the type of an I/O request and for storing data temporarily to and from an external system; and a control circuit for temporarily storing the data from said external system in said temporary memory in response to a write data request from said external system, determining the type of said write data request, and selecting the amount of the data to be recorded continuously in a recording medium in accordance with the type thus determined.
- 9. A storage apparatus comprising:
a temporary memory circuit divisible into a plurality of segments according to the type of an I/O request and for storing data temporarily to and from an external system; an accumulation means for accumulating read data requests from the external system; and a control circuit for determining the type of the read data requests received from said external system, selecting and accumulating the read data requests in accordance with the type of read data requests, and continuously reproducing the data from a recording medium in response to the accumulated requests.
- 10. A storage apparatus comprising:
a temporary memory circuit divisible into a plurality of segments according to the type of an I/O request and for storing data temporarily to and from an external system; an accumulation means for accumulating I/O requests from the external system; and a control circuit for determining the type of the I/O requests accumulated, and selecting and executing the type of the I/O request to be processed in priority in accordance with the remaining time before a deadline calculated based on a limit time when said I/O request has attached thereto said time limit.
- 11. A storage apparatus according to claim 10, further comprising:
a detection means for detecting a continuously storable data amount in said temporary memory circuit received from said external system as a data amount that can be transferred; and a control circuit for selecting as a request to be executed an I/O request with a minimum remaining time before a predetermined deadline calculated based on a time limit from among the I/O requests with a time limit accumulated in said accumulation means, and extending said time limit of said request to be executed in accordance with a possible delay time calculated in accordance with said data amount that can be transferred.
- 12. A storage apparatus comprising:
a temporary memory circuit divisible into a plurality of segments according to the type of an I/O request and for storing data temporarily to and from an external system; and a control circuit including means for accumulating said I/O requests, means for calculating the time remaining before a deadline based on a time limit of the accumulated I/O requests, means for selecting an I/O request with a minimum remaining time among said accumulated I/O requests, and means for executing said I/O request when said minimum remaining time is smaller than a predetermined value and for executing in a selected order the accumulated I/O requests in accordance with the recording position of the data corresponding to each of said I/O requests when the above-mentioned conditions are not met.
- 13. A storage apparatus comprising:
a temporary memory circuit divisible into a plurality of segments according to the type of an I/O request and for storing data temporarily to and from an external system; a temporary memory circuit control means for selecting said segments based on identification information within a write request from the external system, temporarily storing in said segments the data input from said external system in said selected segments, and outputting said data as write data; and a write means for writing said write data in a recording medium.
- 14. A storage apparatus comprising:
a temporary memory circuit divisible into a plurality of segments according to the type of an I/O request and for storing data temporarily to and from an external system; a read means for reading data from a recording medium; and a temporary memory circuit control means for selecting said segments based on identification information within a read request from said external system, temporarily storing the data read from said recording medium in said selected segments, and outputting said data to said external system.
- 15. A storage apparatus comprising:
a temporary memory circuit divisible into a plurality of segments according to the type of an I/O request and for storing data temporarily to and from an external system; a segment setting means for setting at least one segment size, for transferring data from the external system and for transferring write data to a recording medium, based on setting information supplied from said external system; and a temporary memory circuit control means for selecting one of said segments based on identification information within a write request from said external system, temporarily storing the data input from said external system in said selected segment, and outputting said data as write data; and a write means for writing said write data into said recording medium.
- 16. A storage apparatus comprising:
a temporary memory circuit divisible into a plurality of segments according to the type of an I/O request and for storing data temporarily to and from an external system; a read means for reading data from a recording medium; a segment setting means for setting at least one segment size, for transferring data read from said recording medium and for transferring data to said external system for each segment based on setting information supplied from said external system; and a temporary memory circuit control means including means for selecting one of said segments based on identification information within a read request from said external system, means for temporarily storing in said selected segment the data read from said recording medium based on said transfer of said data, and means for outputting said data to said external system.
- 17. A storage apparatus according to claim 15, wherein said segment setting means sets at least one condition for starting/stopping the data transfer to or from said external system and the condition for starting/stopping the transfer of read data from said recording medium for each segment is based on the setting information from said external system.
- 18. A storage apparatus according to claim 16, wherein said segment setting means sets at least one condition for starting/stopping the data transfer to or from said external system for each segment and the condition for starting/stopping the transfer of write data to said recording medium is based on the setting information from said external system.
- 19. A storage apparatus according to claim 15, wherein said segment setting means is configured in such a manner as to set the order of priority of the read data transfer from said recording medium for each segment based on the setting information supplied from the external system.
- 20. A storage apparatus according to claim 16, wherein said segment setting means is configured in such a manner as to set the order of priority of the write data transfer to said recording medium for each segment based on the setting information supplied from the external system.
- 21. A storage apparatus according to claim 15, wherein said segment setting means is configured in such a manner as to set at least one segment size, wherein the data input from the external system for each segment and data transferred to said recording medium for each segment, is based on the setting information supplied from said external system.
- 22. A storage apparatus according to claim 16, wherein said segment setting means is configured in such a manner as to set at least one segment size, wherein the data output from said recording medium for each segment and data transferred to said external system for each segment, is based on the data setting information from said external system.
- 23. A storage apparatus according to claim 15, wherein said segment setting means is configured in such a manner as to set an access unit constituting a unit of data transfer from said external system for each segment, based on the setting information supplied from said external system.
- 24. A storage apparatus according to claim 16, wherein said segment setting means is configured in such a manner as to set an access unit constituting a unit of data transfer to said external system for each segment, based on the setting information supplied from said external system.
- 25. A storage apparatus comprising:
a temporary memory circuit divisible into a plurality of segments according to the type of an I/O request and for storing data temporarily to and from an external system; an access unit setting means for setting an access unit constituting a unit of data transfer to or from the external system for each segment, based on setting information supplied from said external system; a temporary memory circuit control means for selecting said segment based on identification information of a write request or a read request from said external system and for writing or reading data into or from said selected segment randomly in units of said access unit; and a write/read means for writing or reading data into or from said selected segment.
- 26. A storage apparatus comprising:
a temporary memory circuit divisible into a plurality of segments according to the type of an I/O request and for storing data temporarily to and from an external system; a recording-reproducing area setting means for setting a recording-reproducing area of a recording medium for each segment based on setting information supplied from the external system; a temporary memory circuit control means for selecting one of said segments based on identification information within a write request or a read request from said external system, and temporarily storing in said selected segment write data input from said external system or outputting data stored in said temporary memory from said selected segment to said external system; and a write/read means for writing data from said selected segment into said set recording-reproducing area or reading data from said set recording-reproducing area into said selected segment.
Priority Claims (3)
Number |
Date |
Country |
Kind |
9-026755 |
Feb 1997 |
JP |
|
9-045585 |
Feb 1997 |
JP |
|
9-141926 |
May 1997 |
JP |
|
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a division of application Ser. No. 09/020,929, filed Feb. 9, 1998 entitled Recording-Reproducing Apparatus and Input/Output Control Method for the Recording-Reproducing Apparatus, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
Divisions (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09020929 |
Feb 1998 |
US |
Child |
10309847 |
Dec 2002 |
US |