Electrical computers and digital data processing systems: input/ – Input/output data processing – Peripheral configuration
Reexamination Certificate
1999-11-09
2003-09-23
Elamin, Abdelmoniem (Department: 2182)
Electrical computers and digital data processing systems: input/
Input/output data processing
Peripheral configuration
C709S221000, C707S793000, C717S152000, C345S215000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06625668
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to information processing apparatuses and methods, and provision media therefor. In particular, the present invention relates to an information processing apparatus and method in which an information processing apparatus updates data stored in another information processing apparatus connected to a network by transmitting data via the network, and to a provision medium for the information processing apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
When software of a server (e.g., audio-visual (AV) server) is updated, or new software is installed in an AV server, a person who updates software ordinarily uses a read only memory (ROM) writer to write updating-software data in a ROM (e.g., flash memory), and goes to a place where the AV server is located in order to exchange the ROM of the AV server for the updated ROM.
Referring to the flowchart shown in
FIG. 9
, a process for updating software by using the ROM writer is described below.
In step S
31
, the person creates software for updating. In step S
32
, the person uses a ROM writer to write the created software in a ROM. In step S
33
, the person goes to a place where an AV server is located, and exchanges the ROM of the AV server for the ROM obtained in step S
32
. Using steps S
31
to S
33
, the person can update the software of the AV server.
In another process for updating software, as shown in is
FIG. 10
, a person who performs updating installs updating software beforehand in a personal computer (or a workstation)
1
or the like, and moves the personal computer
1
to a place where an AV server
3
is located. The person connects the personal computer
1
and the AV server
3
by a serial line
2
(e.g., the RS232C interface), and installs the updating software from the personal computer
1
into the AV server
3
.
Referring to the flowchart shown in
FIG. 11
, a process for updating software in the case where the personal computer
1
and the AV server
3
are connected by the serial line
2
is described below.
In step S
41
, the person creates updating software, and installs it in the personal computer
1
. In step S
42
, the person moves the personal computer
1
, in which the software created in step S
41
is installed, to a place where the AV server
3
is located, and directly connects the personal computer
1
and the AV server
3
by the serial line
2
.
In step S
43
, the person operates the personal computer
1
to transmit the data of the software installed in the personal computer
1
in step S
42
to the AV server
3
via the serial line
2
. In step S
44
, the AV server
3
writes the software data received from the personal computer
1
in a flash memory built into the AV server
3
. Using steps S
41
to S
43
, the person can update the software of the AV server
3
.
In the above-described processes, unless the person goes to the place where the AV server
3
is located, the software of the AV server
3
cannot be updated. In addition, when the personal computer
1
is located far from the AV server
3
, and the software of the AV server
3
is updated from the personal computer
1
by connecting the personal computer
1
and the AV server
3
to an Ethernet connection instead for the serial line
2
, a problem occurs in that the firewall of the Ethernet connection blocks data transfer to make it impossible to update the software because a transfer protocol for the software of the AV server
3
is for a single use.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an information processing apparatus and method that easily updates software of a physically far information processing apparatus by using a network to transfer updating software to the far information processing apparatus, and to provide a provision medium for the information processing apparatus and method.
To this end, according to an aspect of the present invention, the foregoing object is achieved through provision of an information processing apparatus including a data recorder-reproducer including a nonlinearly accessible recording medium and a plurality of input/output processing means for recording, on the recording medium, first data including externally input video and/or audio data by accessing the recording medium in time slots assigned when the first data are input and for processing and outputting reproduced data to the exterior by accessing the recording medium in the time slots; and an information controller including a first storage means for storing second data controlling the data recorder-reproducer, the information controller connected to the data recorder-reproducer via a communication network, and a first control means performs control so that the second data stored in the first storage means are transferred based on a file transfer protocol to the data recorder-reproducer via the communication network. The data recorder-reproducer includes a second storage means for storing the second data transferred from the information controller, and a second control means for assigning each time slot to each input/output processing means and for controlling based on the second data stored in the second storage means the input/output processing means.
Preferably, the second control means controls each input/output processing means to record the first data on the nonlinearly accessible recording medium, and controls each input/output processing means to reproduce the first data recorded on the recording medium.
The nonlinearly accessible recording medium may be a redundant array of inexpensive disks (RAID) in which a plurality of hard disk drives including a plurality of hard disks are arranged in parallel.
According to another aspect of the present invention, the foregoing object is achieved through provision of a data transfer method for an information processing apparatus including a data recorder-reproducer for recording and/or reproducing first data including video and/or audio data by accessing a nonlinearly accessible recording medium in time slots to which a plurality of input/output means are assigned, and an information controller for storing second data controlling the data recorder-reproducer which is connected to the data recorder-reproducer via a communication network. The data transfer method includes a first step for transferring based on a file transfer protocol the second data stored in the information controller to the data recorder-reproducer via the communication network, a second step for storing the second data transferred in the first step in the data recorder-reproducer, and a third step for controlling based on the second data stored in the second step each input/output means in the data recorder-reproducer to record/reproduce the first data on/from the recording medium.
Preferably, the nonlinearly accessible recording medium is a RAID in which a plurality of hard disk drives including a plurality of hard disks are arranged in parallel.
According to a further aspect of the present invention, the foregoing object is achieved through provision of a provision medium containing a computer-readable program to be executed by an information processing apparatus including a data recorder-reproducer for recording and/or reproducing first data including video and/or audio data by accessing a nonlinearly accessible recording medium in time slots to which a plurality of input/output means are assigned, and an information controller for storing second data controlling the data recorder-reproducer which is connected to the data recorder-reproducer via a communication network. The computer-readable program includes a first step for transferring based on a file transfer protocol the second data stored in the information controller to the data recorder-reproducer via the communication network, a second step for storing the second data transferred in the first step in the data recorder-reproducer, and a third step for controlling based on the second data stored in the second step each input/out
Elamin Abdelmoniem
Frommer William S.
Frommer & Lawrence & Haug LLP
Megerditchian Samuel H.
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