JPH06309115A - Disk device control method and authoring device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Object] To provide a disk device control method and an authoring device capable of suppressing the occurrence of the waiting time without newly adding a hardware resource. [Structure] In the disk device control method, the data structure analyzing unit 101 analyzes the branch structure of a data string and arranges the head partial group of each branch data string group immediately after the data string before branching or each branch destination data. The head part group of the column group is arranged in the adjacent track of the pre-branch data column. The authoring device also includes a data structure editing unit 110 that edits a branch structure of a data string, and arranges the head partial group of each branch destination data string group immediately after the data string before branching or each branch target data. The head part group of the column group is arranged in a track adjacent to the pre-branch data column.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a logical format of a disk device for use in multimedia,
The present invention relates to a disk device control method according to an access method, and an authoring device for authoring multimedia.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, with the development of video digitization technology, it has become possible to practically handle moving images on a computer. The most anticipated application of this video technology is
Although it is considered to be a home multimedia device, generally, there is an enormous amount of moving image data, and real-time performance is pursued, so high-speed data reading and writing is essential.

A disk device, a semiconductor storage device, and the like are media that can store such enormous amount of moving image data permanently or temporarily. The former disk device reads and writes by magnetism, light, or both, but since it has a mechanical mechanism in principle, for example, head seek time, rotation wait time, rotation speed stabilization time, etc. occur, and access time Is long. The latter semiconductor storage device can be expected to have high-speed access, but in order to secure the capacity to store a huge amount of moving image data, it must be a very large-scale hardware circuit configuration and it must be expensive. . Therefore, a conventional technique for solving the above problems will be described with reference to FIGS.

A shock absorber for solving a time-consuming mechanical mechanism will be described below with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an information processing device that employs a buffer device for speeding up access. Reference numeral 200 is a main control means for controlling the entire information processing apparatus, 201 is a data transfer control means for controlling an external disk device to transfer data, and 202 is a buffer device 203.
A buffer device control unit 203 for controlling the buffer device 203, a buffer device 203 configured by a temporary semiconductor memory between the data transfer control unit 201 and the disk device 204, and a disk device 204 as an auxiliary storage device.

The operation of the information processing apparatus configured as described above will be described below. When the main control means 200 reads data, the data transfer control means 201
Transfer control code (from which address, how many bytes, etc.) to. The data transfer control means 201 analyzes the control code and determines whether the corresponding data exists in the buffer device 203 or the disk device 204, and if it exists in the buffer device 203, the disk device 204 is accessed. Without the buffer device 203, the data transfer control means 20
Transfer to 1.

If it does not exist in the buffer device 203, the disk device 204 is controlled to read the data. The new data read from the disk device 204 is the buffer device 2
If the same data is read out again, the target data can be obtained (it is called a hit) without accessing the disk device 204.

As described above, by holding the data in the semiconductor memory as long as the capacity of the buffer device 203 allows, a high access speed can be obtained, and the continuous reading speed is sufficiently faster than the data transfer speed. If the semiconductor memory 203 has a sufficient capacity, it is possible to compensate for the decrease in access speed during head seek.

A description will be given below with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram showing a method of reducing the access time by reducing the average moving distance at the time of head seek (for example, JP-A-2-162574, write-once optical disk apparatus, JP-A-3-62383, magnetic disk apparatus). Is. In FIG. 3 (A), 301a and 301b are data areas on a disc in which the most-access data storage area 302 is arranged in the central portion,
Reference numeral 302 denotes a directory area, a storage area for storing the most accessible data in which frequently accessed data such as alternative sectors are arranged. In FIG. 3B, 311 denotes an outermost access area in the outermost and innermost areas. 312a, 31
Data area on the disk where 2b is arranged, 312a, 3a
Reference numeral 12b is a most-access data storage area in which data that needs to be frequently accessed such as a directory area and alternative sectors is duplicated and arranged.

The operation of the data layout of the disk device configured as described above will be described below.
When reading the data stored on the disk, the head moves on the disk to move the disk management information (most access data storage area 302, and 312a, 312b).
Is read, and the head is moved to the next data storage position (data area 301, 301, 311) based on the information. During this period, the area in which the management information is stored is repeatedly read.

Since the seek time of the head generated at this time is not zero, it is obvious that the shorter the moving distance is, the shorter the access time is. Therefore, by arranging the closest access data storage areas 302, 312a, and 312b at the disk center or at the outermost and innermost circumferences so that the average movement distance is the shortest from the inner circumference and the outer circumference, the average movement distance decreases. And the access speed is improved.

[0011]

However, in the system as described above, when a head seek occurs when a data string having a branch structure capable of multiple selection is read without interruption, in the case of the buffer device 203 composed of a semiconductor memory. The hit rate can be increased by increasing the capacity of the semiconductor memory, but this leads to an increase in hardware resources. Further, when the average moving distance in FIG. 3 is reduced, the size of the most-access data storage areas 302, 312a, 312b is limited when handling a huge group of data strings.

In order to solve such a problem, the present invention provides a disk device control method and an authoring device which can suppress the occurrence of this waiting time without newly adding hardware resources. To aim.

[0013]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a disk device control method according to the present invention provides a method for reading a data string having a branch structure in which a plurality of data can be selected from a disk device. When reading data without interruption, analyze the branch structure of the data string and place the head subgroup of each branch destination data string immediately after the data string before branching, or the head of each branch destination data string group. The subgroup is characterized in that it is arranged in a track adjacent to the pre-branch data string.

Further, the authoring apparatus of the present invention edits the data structure of the data string when reading data without interruption between the plurality of data strings when producing a data string having a branch structure capable of selecting a plurality of data strings. A data structure editing means is provided for arranging the head part group of each branch destination data string group immediately after the data string before branching, or the head part group of each branch destination data string group It is characterized by being placed on a nearby truck.

[0015]

According to the present invention, with the above-described structure, the data structure of the input data string, that is, the number of choices for branching, etc. is analyzed, and the leading partial group of the branch destination data string group is analyzed from the data structure before the branching data string. By arranging them from a short distance, it becomes possible to perform high-speed access of a disk device compatible with multimedia equipment without increasing the circuit scale.

[0016]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings, but the present invention is not limited to the following embodiments. First, referring to FIG. 1, FIG. 4, FIG.
This will be described with reference to FIGS. 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the basic structure of an embodiment of the present invention. The basic operation of the present embodiment is to analyze the branch structure of the input data string and arrange the head partial group of the branch destination data string at a short distance from the pre-branch data string group.

FIG. 1A is a block diagram of an apparatus embodying a disk device control method. As constituent elements, 100 is a main control means for controlling the entire disk device 102, 101.
Analyzes the input data string, obtains the data branch structure,
It is a data structure analysis means for outputting a data string to the disk device 102.

Now, let us say that the branch structure of the input data string is a three-branch user selection type as shown by the disk device 410 in FIG. A specific example of such a data branch structure is an interactive movie (viewer participation type multi-story movie). When the user is watching this interactive movie, that is, the data string A401 is read out, the main control means 411 processes the data (plays back), and then the user selecting section 402 continuously changes the data string of the next scene in real time. B403, data string C
When any one of 404 and data string D405 is selected, the conventional arrangement of data strings in the disk device is as shown in FIG.

6, FIG. 7, FIG. 8, FIG. 9, and FIG. 10, a disk on a disk is developed into a rectangular shape for easy understanding, as shown in FIG.

In FIG. 6, assuming that the data string B502 is arranged continuously to the data string A501, the user's selection is made at the transition between the scene of the data string A401 just read and the scene selected later. Can be continuously reproduced when the scene is the data string B502, the scene of the data string C503 or the data string D5
In the case of the scene No. 04, a head seek occurs up to the location where the data is stored, so that data reading is interrupted during that time, giving the user the impression that the function has stopped.

Therefore, the arrangement of the data strings is changed as shown in FIGS. That is, as shown in FIG. 7, after arranging the data string A601, the head portion 60 of the data string B502 is arranged.
2, the head portion 603 of the data string C503, the data string D50
4 head portion 604 is arranged. These 602, 603, 60
4 together with the data string A601 and read by the main control means 4
11 is the data string A601 and then the data string B5 is reproduced.
02 head portion 602, data string C503 head portion 60
3, one of the head portions 604 of the data string D504 is reproduced. During the reproduction by the main control means 411, if the head of the disk device 410 is moved to any of the locations 605, 606 or 607 where the continuation of the target data string is arranged, the scene of which data string the user has. Even if the user wants to select, the main control means 411 can reproduce without interruption.

As shown in FIG. 8, the data string A61
Data string storage information 612 storing the jump destination of the branch destination data string group between 1 and the branch destination head group 613, 614, 615 or the head group 613 ', 614', 615 '.
If the data string storage information 612 'storing the jump destination of the data string group of the branch destination is arranged after this and is read at the same time as the data string A611, the main control means 411 controls the disk control device 410 earlier, Next destination location 616,
The head can be moved to either 617 or 618.

On the other hand, as shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, the head portion of each branch data string group may be arranged on a track adjacent to the pre-branch data string. That is, as shown in FIG. 9, the head portion 702 of the data string B502, the head portion 703 of the data string C503, and the head portion 704 of the data string D504 are connected to the data string A.
It is placed on a neighboring track of 701. These data string head groups 702, 703, and 704 can be arranged before and after in the track so that the rotation waiting time generated when the head moves between tracks is minimized.

When arranged in this way, the data string A70
After reading "1", a minimum head seek is performed on a neighboring track in which the head portion of the selected data string is arranged, and any one of the head portions is reproduced by the main control means 411. Continued data sequence 705, 7
Head seek can be performed to a location where either 06 or 707 is arranged. By doing so, it is possible to obtain the same effect as the layout in which the branch destination data string group is arranged in the continuous area of the data string A601, and the data reproducing process in the main control means 411 is not interrupted.

Further, as shown in FIG. 10, in order to speed up the layout of arranging the branch destination data string group in the continuous area of the data string A601 also in the method of arranging the head group of the branch destination data string on the adjacent track. Data string storage information 712
By arranging, the continuation 71 of the selected data sequence
High speed access to either 6, 717 or 718.

Next, the authoring device will be described with reference to FIG. As constituent elements, 109 is a main control means for controlling the entire disk device 111, and 110 is a new data string or an existing data is edited and processed to obtain a data branch structure, and the data string is output to the disk device 111. It is a data structure editing means.

In the authoring device, when a data string is created, or an existing data string is edited and processed to create a new data string, if a branch structure occurs in the data structure, as described above. By controlling the arrangement of various branch-destination data string groups, it is possible to manufacture a disk that can read data strings without interruption.

Although the three-branch structure of FIG. 4 is used as the data branch structure in this embodiment, the same effect can be obtained with any number of branches if the above-mentioned configuration is adopted.

[0030]

As described above, according to the present invention, when a data string having a branch structure is written to a disk, a reaction time delay occurs after selecting a branch destination without increasing the circuit scale of control hardware. Can be relaxed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1A is a basic block diagram of an apparatus that implements a disk device control method according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1B is a basic block diagram of an authoring device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the basic configuration of a conventional buffer device for speeding up disk access.

FIG. 3A is a conceptual diagram showing a layout for reducing the average moving distance at the time of head seek related to the conventional disk access speedup; FIG. 3B is a conceptual diagram showing another layout.

FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram showing a data structure in one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a disk expansion concept of a data row arrangement in the disk.

FIG. 6 is a conceptual diagram of a conventional data arrangement in a disc.

FIG. 7 is a conceptual diagram showing an example of an arrangement of data strings in a disc in this embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a conceptual diagram showing another example of the arrangement of data strings in the disc in the present embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a conceptual diagram showing still another example of the arrangement of data strings in the disc in the present embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a conceptual diagram showing an example of arranging the same data string storage information.

[Explanation of symbols]

 101 data structure analysis means 110 data structure editing means

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. When reading from a disk device a data string having a selectable branch structure, when reading data without interruption between the plurality of data strings, the branch structure of the data string is analyzed and each branch is analyzed. A method of controlling a disk device, wherein a head part group of a destination data string group is arranged immediately after a data string before branching. 2. A disk device control method according to claim 1, wherein the head portion of each branch data string group is arranged in a track adjacent to the pre-branch data string. 3. A data structure editing means for editing the data structure of the data string when reading data without interruption between the plurality of data strings in the case of producing a data string having a branch structure capable of selecting a plurality of data structures. An authoring device, characterized in that the head part group of each branch destination data string group is arranged immediately after the data string before branching. 4. The authoring device according to claim 3, wherein the head portion of each branch data string group is arranged in a track adjacent to the pre-branch data string.