Electrical computers and digital processing systems: memory – Addressing combined with specific memory configuration or... – Dynamic-type storage device
Reexamination Certificate
2001-12-13
2004-08-31
Kim, Matthew (Department: 2186)
Electrical computers and digital processing systems: memory
Addressing combined with specific memory configuration or...
Dynamic-type storage device
C711S103000, C711S165000, C713S001000, C713S100000, C717S168000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06785762
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an information recording/reproducing device having plural disk drive units each including a reproduction control program and a CPU (Central Processing Unit) for executing it, and, for example, to techniques applied adaptively to bug corrections or upgrades of reproduction control programs in an information recording/reproducing device capable of reproduction of audio CD (Compact Disk) and dubbing to audio CD-RW (Compact Disk-rewritable) or audio CD-R (Compact Disk-recordable), or an information recording/reproducing device including plural DVD (Digital Video Disk) drive units capable of dubbing.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Audio disk (CD, etc.) drives or video disk (DVD, etc.) drives have optical and mechanical components and a control circuit that controls them and performs data processing such as signal processing including filtering. The control circuit comprises a microcomputer and an operation program thereof. The operation program, if a bug is found, must be corrected, and must be upgraded to extend functions. To satisfy such demands, a technique is provided for enabling bug corrections and upgrades without using a host device such as a personal computer. According to this technique, a dedicated disk in which new control programs are recorded is mounted in a disk drive to thereby rewrite program memories such as flash memories incorporated in a microcomputer. This technique is described in Japanese Published Unexamined Patent Application Nos. Hei 7-262690, 11-45496, and 7-248914.
Recently, a law for making it possible to levy music royalties on the media side has been enacted, with the result that it has become possible to provide an information recording/reproducing device capable of reproduction of audio CD and dubbing to audio CD-RW or audio CD-R. The inventor studied the handling of bug corrections and upgrades of reproduction control programs for plural disk drives in audio equipment and video equipment. The study showed that, if a host device such as a personal computer is not used, the prior art dictates remounting an information recording medium in which new control programs are recorded in respective drives to individually perform program rewriting. This would worsen operability such as updating of an access control program and other programs and function extensions by end users immediately before shipment of an information recording/reproducing device. Individually providing a medium in which new control programs are recorded for each of disk drives would be troublesome to information recording/reproducing device manufacturers. The same is also true for optical disk mounting equipment such as car audio systems in which navigation and audio are integrated.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is to provide an information recording/reproducing device that permits a reproduction control program or the like in each of plural disk drive units to be subjected to bug corrections and upgraded without using a host device, even if an information recording medium in which new control programs are recorded is not remounted in the respective drives to individually perform program rewriting.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a computer-readable recording medium in which new control programs are recorded and which need not be provided for each of plural disk drive units, when a reproduction control program or the like in each of the disk drive units is subjected to bug corrections and upgraded without using a host device.
The above described objects and other objects, and novel characteristics of the present invention will become apparent from this specification and the accompanying drawings.
Typical ones of inventions disclosed by this application will be described briefly.
[1] In an information recording/reproducing device according to the present invention, programs stored in electrically programmable nonvolatile memories are executed by CPUs, plural disk drive units adapted to enable access to an information recording medium are provided, and the plural disk drive units are connected over an interface bus. To provide for bug corrections and upgrades for the programs stored in the flash memories, one disk drive unit uses predetermined recording information of a mounted information recording medium to rewrite a program stored in a nonvolatile memory of the one disk drive unit, and transfers a program to another disk drive unit to instruct program rewriting. According to the rewriting instruction from the one disk drive unit, the other disk drive unit rewrites a program stored in a nonvolatile memory thereof.
From the foregoing, if the information recording medium is reproduced in one disk drive unit, since program information can be transferred to a different disk drive unit, without having to remount an information recording medium in which new control programs are recorded in the respective disk drive units to individually perform program rewriting, a reproduction control program or the like in each of the plural disk drive units can be subjected to bug corrections and upgraded without using a host device. Therefore, updating of an access control program and other programs and function extensions by end users immediately before shipment of a product can be achieved with simple operations.
When program rewriting is performed in the one and other disk drive units, preferably the one disk drive unit performs program rewriting after program rewriting has been performed in the other disk drive unit. Since access control for the information recording medium may be disabled due to power failure, data errors, or other faults occurring in the course of program rewriting, if program rewriting is performed last in the one disk drive unit that accesses the information recording medium in which new control programs are recorded, access to the information recording medium can be retried however often failures occurred previously, providing safety and reliability for the program rewriting operation.
[2] As a more detailed method of program rewriting for the nonvolatile memories, in terms of program rewriting efficiency, preferably, the one disk drive unit temporarily holds a rewriting program read from an information recording medium in a buffer RAM before writing it to a nonvolatile memory, while the other disk drive unit temporarily holds a rewriting program supplied from the one disk drive unit before writing it to a nonvolatile memory.
The one disk drive unit has the storage area of an interface control program and the storage area of a rewriting control program wherein the interface control program stores a program for the one disk drive unit stored in the mounted information recording medium in one buffer RAM of the one disk drive unit, and transfers a program for another disk drive unit stored in the mounted information recording medium to the other disk drive unit to instruct writing to the other buffer RAM, while the rewriting control program rewrites a program held in a nonvolatile memory of the one disk drive unit to the program held in the one buffer RAM. The other disk drive unit has the storage area of an interface control program and the storage area of a rewriting control program wherein the interface control program, in response to the instruction to write to the other buffer RAM given from the one disk drive unit, stores the program from the one disk drive unit in the other buffer RAM, while the rewriting control program rewrites a program held in a nonvolatile memory of the other disk drive unit to the program held in the other buffer RAM.
The respective nonvolatile memories of the disk drive units may have the storage area of the rewriting control program, and the storage area of the interface control program, in addition to the storage area of an access control program for accessing an information recording medium. The rewriting control program and the interface control program also become rewritable.
In this case, it is desirable that the storage
Iso Yoshimi
Miyaguchi Yoshifumi
Takahashi Hiromasa
Yamato Satoshi
Elmore Stephen
Kim Matthew
Renesas Technology Corp.
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