U.S. patent application number 11/039892 was filed with the patent office on 2006-04-06 for storage control apparatus capable of analyzing volume information and a control method thereof.
Invention is credited to Chia-Li Chen, Hsiang-An Hsieh.
Application Number | 20060075182 11/039892 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 35404521 |
Filed Date | 2006-04-06 |
United States Patent
Application |
20060075182 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Hsieh; Hsiang-An ; et
al. |
April 6, 2006 |
Storage control apparatus capable of analyzing volume information
and a control method thereof
Abstract
A storage control apparatus capable of analyzing volume
information and a control method thereof is provided. The present
storage device controller comprises a volume information analysis
module, volume information memory, a display device interface and a
power regulation circuit to display the volume information on the
display device through the display device interface so that a user
can independently read the storage medium and analyze the volume
information, regardless of whether it is connected or
disconnected.
Inventors: |
Hsieh; Hsiang-An; (Hsintien
City, TW) ; Chen; Chia-Li; (Hsintien City,
TW) |
Correspondence
Address: |
Morton J. Rosenberg, Esq.;Rosenberg, Klein & Lee
Suite 101
3458 Ellicott Center Drive
Ellicott City
MD
21043
US
|
Family ID: |
35404521 |
Appl. No.: |
11/039892 |
Filed: |
January 24, 2005 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
711/100 ;
G9B/20.002; G9B/20.009 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06F 3/0632 20130101;
G06F 3/0605 20130101; G11B 20/10 20130101; G06F 3/0676 20130101;
G11B 20/00086 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
711/100 |
International
Class: |
G06F 12/14 20060101
G06F012/14 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
May 18, 2004 |
TW |
93113998 |
Claims
1. a storage control apparatus capable of analyzing volume
information, the application system connects and controls a storage
medium and a display device through a storage device controller,
the storage device controller comprising: a storage medium
interface, provided as an interface to transmit and access digital
information between the storage device controller and the storage
medium; a host system interface, provided as an interface to
transmit and access the commands and the digital information
between the storage device controller and the application system; a
data transfer buffer, connected electrically to the storage medium
interface and the host system interface, the data transfer buffer
is a buffer for data transmission between the application system
and the storage medium and transmits to a microprocessor unit; a
microprocessor unit, connected electrically to the module of the
storage device controller, executes the operations through the
signal transmitted within the data transfer buffer; a volume
information analysis module, used for analyzing the volume
information of the storage medium according to the information
loaded in the storage medium; and a display device interface,
connected to the microprocessor unit for controlling the display
device.
2. The storage control apparatus capable of analyzing the volume
information of claim 1, further comprising: a volume information
memory, connected electrically to the volume information analysis
module and the microprocessor unit, for recording the volume
information of the storage medium; a program memory, connected
electrically to the microprocessor unit, for saving the firmware
program of the storage device controller; a data memory, connected
electrically to the microprocessor unit, for saving the control
variants or the data structure that is necessary for the firmware
control process; a regulation circuit, for providing electrical
power to the modules included in the storage device controller; a
clock oscillation circuit, connected to a RC circuit, for
generating a oscillation to produce a clock with a specified
frequency and providing the clock to the modules included in the
storage device controller 20.
3. The storage control apparatus capable of analyzing the volume
information of claim 1, wherein the volume information of the
storage medium at least comprises an available space, a file system
and a volume label.
4. The storage control apparatus capable of analyzing the volume
information of claim 1, wherein the display device is a bi-stable
liquid crystal display.
5. A control method capable of analyzing storage volume
information, the method includes a start-up method and an analysis
method, the control method comprising: initializing the operating
system; reading the master boot record (MBR); obtaining the storage
volume parameters; calculating the volume information from the
storage volume parameters; displaying the volume information on a
display device; and entering a standby status.
6. The control method capable of analyzing storage volume
information of claim 5, wherein the volume information of the
storage medium at least comprises an available space, a file system
and a volume label, the volume information is saved on a volume
information memory.
7. The control method capable of analyzing storage volume
information of claim 5, wherein the step of displaying the volume
information displays the volume information on the display device
through a display device interface.
8. A control method capable of analyzing storage volume
information, the method includes a storage volume information
analysis starting up method and a volume information analysis
method, the control method comprising: starting up a storage device
controller; checking the status of the module of the storage device
controller; checking the status of a storage medium; reading a
master boot record (MBR) of the storage medium; getting the start
address of a partition of the master boot record; reading a BIOS
parameter block (BPB) of the master boot record (MBR); obtaining a
plurality of volume parameters; updating the volume information and
obtaining the volume parameters of a display device; entering the
standby status; and executing the volume analysis method.
9. The control method capable of analyzing storage volume
information of claim 8, wherein the volume information records the
information of a master boot record (MBR), a BIOS parameter block
(BPB) and a file allocation table (FAT).
10. The control method capable of analyzing storage volume
information of claim 8, wherein the volume information at least
comprises an available space, a file system and a volume label, the
volume information is saved on a volume information memory.
11. The control method capable of analyzing storage volume
information of claim 8, wherein the step of displaying the volume
information displays the volume information on the display device
through a display device interface.
12. The control method capable of analyzing storage volume
information of claim 8, wherein the BIOS parameter block (BPB) is
located in a first sector of the master boot record (MBR).
13. The control method capable of analyzing storage volume
information of claim 8, wherein the volume parameter comprises a
sector size, a cluster size, reserved sectors, total volume and a
file system.
14. The control method capable of analyzing storage volume
information of claim 8, wherein the step of executing the volume
analysis method comprises: starting up a host system interface,
which means to start up the storage device controller and the
control interface of the application system to wait for the control
signal from the application system; checking the connection status
between the storage device controller and the application system;
detecting whether the volume information has been altered or not;
updating the volume information when the volume information has
been changed; displaying the updated volume information on the
display device; and entering standby status.
15. The control method capable of analyzing the storage volume
information of claim 8, wherein the step of executing the volume
analysis method comprises: starting up a host system interface that
connects a storage device controller with an application system;
checking whether the storage device is disconnected or not; waiting
for a command from the application system: judging a status of the
command from the application system; triggering the operation of
updating the volume information; executing the writing command and
transmitting the data; updating the content of the volume
information in a volume information memory; updating the content of
the display device; and entering standby status to wait for a next
command.
16. The control method capable of analyzing the storage volume
information of claim 15, wherein the step of checking whether the
storage device is disconnected or not, if it is disconnected, the
connection status between continually monitors the storage device
controller and the application system until a connection is
detected, if it is connected, the application system accesses the
storage device through the host system interface to start up the
operating system protocol.
17. The control method capable of analyzing the storage volume
information of claim 15, wherein the storage device controller
judges whether to update the volume information according to the
command from the application system, if the application system does
not send a command, it maintains its standby status and waits for
the command.
18. The control method capable of analyzing the storage volume
information of claim 15, wherein when the application gives a
reading command, there is no need to update the volume
information.
19. The control method capable of analyzing the storage volume
information of claim 15, wherein the step of triggering the
operation of updating the volume information is dependent upon on
whether the start address of the input data and the length of the
input data affect the volume information. If so, the updating
operation is executed.
20. The control method capable of analyzing the storage volume
information of claim 15, wherein the step of entering the standby
status to wait for next command is a step of entering a waiting for
command from the application system status.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] The present invention relates to a storage control apparatus
capable of analyzing volume information and a control method
thereof. This invention provides a storage apparatus control system
that can read a storage medium, analyze the storage volume
information loaded in the storage medium, control the display
apparatus to display the storage volume information, and provides
the information for reference by a user.
[0003] 2. Description of the Related Art
[0004] As technology improves, information apparatuses, such as
cell phones, notebooks, and personal digital assistants are
becoming more and more portable. As such, portable storage
apparatuses are also being developed. Because flash memory has been
adopted as an industry standard and its manufacturing process is
improving constantly, large volume portable storage apparatuses are
becoming more and more widespread.
[0005] Currently, storage apparatuses that are light, thin, short
and small and have large volumes include such draw type storage
apparatuses as Zip disks, optical disks and memory cards, etc., and
portable storage apparatuses such as portable disks with USB
interfaces, external hard disks, etc. A storage apparatus has the
sole function of providing memory space upon which information can
be recorded. A storage apparatus can only accessed by the operating
system. Moreover, draw type transmitting apparatuses such as Zip
drives, CD-ROMs and card-reading machines, are transmitting mediums
between draw type storage devices and operating systems.
[0006] The operation of a portable or draw type storage apparatus
such as sector partitioning, sector formatting, reading and writing
file, can only be operated and controlled by the operating system.
Therefore, storage apparatuses that store information can't display
relevant information (such as free space, the volume or a label,
etc.) about the storage apparatus itself after it is disconnected
from the operating system.
[0007] The prior controller embedded in the storage apparatus has
the sole function of showing how much memory space is occupied.
Please refer to FIG. 1 that shows a schematic diagram of the prior
storage control system. The storage control system 10 comprises of
a microprocessor unit 11, a host system interface 12, a storage
medium interface 13, a data transfer buffer 14, a program memory
15, a data memory 16, a power regulation circuit 17 and a clock
oscillation circuit 18.
[0008] The host system interface 12 of the storage control system
10 connects to an application system 101. The application system
101 is an information product, for example a computer system or a
digital still camera. The storage control system 10 also connects
to a storage medium 102 through the storage medium interface 13.
The microprocessor unit 11 of the storage control system 10
connects to the application system 101 through the protocol of the
host system interface 12, analyzes commands coming from the
application system 101, and accesses the storage medium 102. By use
of the above method, the application system 101 transmits data to
and gets information from the storage medium 102 via the storage
control system 10.
[0009] The operation of the prior portable or draw type storage
apparatus, for example, sector partitioning, sector formatting,
reading and writing file, is operated and controlled by the
external application system. The drawbacks of the prior art are
described below: [0010] 1. It is inconvenient for the user. The
user can only know what information is stored on the storage
apparatus when the storage control system is working and operating
through a specified operating system. If the available volume of
the storage apparatus is inadequate, the user needs to buy another
one or replace it with another type of storage apparatus. [0011] 2.
The load of the storage system increases. A storage apparatus is a
mainstream storage apparatus can't calculate the storage volume and
the available volume by itself. It still needs an application
system to do this task. This is opposite to the trend of reducing
the loading an application system. Moreover, when a draw type
storage apparatus, such as a memory card, is applied to a portable
device with a limited power source, such as a digital still camera,
it must be restarted in order to obtain the residual volume of the
storage apparatus. It is wasteful of power to do such a redundant
action.
[0012] This present invention adds a volume information analysis
module, a volume information memory, a display device interface,
and a power regulation circuit to the storage control system. The
present invention doesn't increase power usage or costs, and
achieves the goal of analyzing and displaying the volume
information.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0013] The main objective of the present invention is to provide a
storage control system with a volume information analysis module
and a volume information memory. The storage control system can
access the storage medium by itself regardless of whether the
storage apparatus is connected or unconnected and can analyze the
volume information of the loading storage apparatus.
[0014] Another objective of the present invention is to provide a
storage control system with a control-driving interface for the
display device. The storage control system can be easily connected
to the display device and can display the volume information on the
display device.
[0015] The present storage control system comprises a storage
medium interface, a host system interface, a data transfer buffer,
a microprocessor unit, a program memory, a data memory, a volume
information analysis module, a volume information memory, a display
device interface, a power regulation circuit and a clock
oscillation circuit.
[0016] The host system interface connects to an application system,
the storage medium interface connects to a storage medium, and the
display device interface connects to a display device. The power
regulation circuit connects to an external power source to regulate
and supply the power to all the units in the storage control
system. The clock oscillation circuit connects to an external RC
resonance circuit to generate a clock and supply the clock to all
the units in the storage control system. The control firmware is
loaded into the program memory; the microprocessor unit executes
the control procedure to control the module process. The control
firmware starts up the storage medium analysis, records and
displays the storage volume information under the storage apparatus
regardless of whether it is connected or disconnected. During
operation, the data memory provides storage space to save the
control procedure, the necessary variables and data structures,
etc. The volume information memory is used to save the volume
information and as a reference when doing analysis. The volume
information analysis module is used for analyzing the volume
information.
[0017] For further understanding of the invention, reference is
made to the following detailed description illustrating the
embodiments and examples of the invention. The description is only
for illustrating the invention and is not intended to be considered
limiting of the scope of the claim.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0018] The drawings included herein provide a further understanding
of the invention. A brief introduction of the drawings is as
follows:
[0019] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of the prior storage control
system;
[0020] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of the present storage control
system and its peripheral devices;
[0021] FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of the present storage control
system;
[0022] FIG. 4 is a flow chart of the starting-up procedure of the
control method of the present storage volume information
analysis;
[0023] FIG. 5 is a flow chart of the detailed starting-up procedure
of the control method of the present storage volume information
analysis;
[0024] FIG. 6 is a flow chart of volume information analysis of the
control method of the present storage volume information analysis;
and
[0025] FIG. 7 is a flow chart of detailed volume information
analysis of the control method of the present storage volume
information analysis.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0026] The present invention is applied to storage apparatuses,
such as hard disks, portable disks, etc. The control system of the
storage apparatus has a volume information analysis module, a
volume information memory, a display device interface and a power
regulation circuit, etc. This control system can read the storage
volume information loaded in the storage medium when the storage
apparatus is disconnected, analyze the storage volume information
and display the volume information on the display device through
the display device interface as a reference for the user.
[0027] Please refer to FIG. 2, which shows a schematic diagram of
the present storage control system and its peripheral devices. The
storage device controller 20 is a control circuit implemented in an
IC, and comprises a plurality of control interfaces that
electrically connect to the external apparatuses. The control
interfaces include a host system interface 22, a display device
interface 24 and a storage medium interface 26, etc. The storage
device controller 20 manages the digital information recorded on
the storage medium through the host system interface 22 and
controls the access processes, for example, reading/writing to the
storage apparatus. The storage device controller 20 is built in or
is externally connected to a storage medium 25 and analyzes it
through the storage medium interface 26. Next, it gets digital
information and generates the corresponding storage volume
information. Finally, it displays the information on the display
device 23.
[0028] The storage medium interface 26 is an interface that the
storage device controller 20 uses to transmit the digital data to
the storage medium 25. The storage medium interface 26 connects
electrically to the storage device controller 20 and transmits data
to the application system 21 and the display device 23 through the
storage device controller 20. The host system interface 22 is an
interface that the storage device controller 20 uses to transmit
read/write commands to and the digital data uses to access the
application system 21, for example a computer system, a portable
access device or a portable digital device, etc. The display device
interface 24 connects to the display device 23 via a built-in or
external method. The storage device controller 20 receives the
control signal from the application system 21 and gets the volume
information from the storage medium 25. It then displays the
storage volume information on the display device 23 as a reference
for the user.
[0029] Referring to FIG. 2, the application system 21 connects to
the storage device controller 20 through the host system interface
22 and connects to the storage medium 25 through the storage medium
interface 26. Then the application system 21 analyzes and deals
with the information from the storage medium 25, such as its
occupied space, residual space, file status and volume label,
through a volume information analysis module (not shown in the
figure) and displays this information on the display device 23
through the display device interface 24. Please refer to FIG. 3
that shows the best embodiment of the present schematic diagram of
the present storage control system. The storage device controller
20 is the dominant frame. The application system 21 connects to the
storage medium 25 and the display device 23 through the storage
device controller 20, it manages the digital information of the
storage medium 25 and controls the process of reading/writing
digital information to generate the volume information of the
storage. Finally, it displays the volume information on the display
device 23. The storage device controller 20 comprises:
[0030] a storage medium interface 26, provided as an interface to
transmit and access digital information between the storage device
controller 20 and the storage medium 25.
[0031] a host system interface 22, provided as an interface to
transmit and access the commands and the digital information
between the storage device controller 20 and the application system
21.
[0032] a data transfer buffer 38, connected electrically to the
storage medium interface 26, the host system interface 22 and a
microprocessor unit 31. The microprocessor unit 31 temporarily
saves the data transmitting between the application system 21 and
the storage medium 25 by the data transfer buffer 38. The mass data
can be transmitted directly between the storage medium interface 26
and the host system interface 22 through the data transfer buffer
38, without passing through the microprocessor unit 31.
[0033] a microprocessor unit 31, connected electrically to the
module of the storage device controller 20. The microprocessor unit
31 executes the firmware control process that is saved in the
program memory, and transmits data to the storage device, the
storage medium management, the volume information analysis, and the
volume information display etc.
[0034] a program memory 34, connected electrically to the
microprocessor unit 31. The program memory 34 is used for saving
the firmware program of the storage device controller 20 and is
used for recording the firmware control process executed by the
microprocessor unit 31.
[0035] a data memory 35, connected electrically to the
microprocessor unit 31. The data memory 35 is used for saving the
control variants or the data structure that is necessary for the
firmware control process.
[0036] a volume information analysis module 33, is used for
analyzing the information of the storage medium 25 through the
control of the storage device controller 31 to generate the volume
information. The volume information analysis module 33 can be
integrated with the firmware control process of the microprocessor
unit 31 and is executed by the analysis by the microprocessor unit
31.
[0037] a volume information memory 32, is a storage space for the
volume information. The volume information memory 32 connects
electrically to the volume information analysis module 33 and the
microprocessor unit 31 and is used for integrating the common data
memory to record the volume information.
[0038] a display device interface 24, is a data transmission
interface between the storage device controller 20 and the display
device 23.
[0039] a regulation circuit 37, regulates the inputted power and
provides the electrical power to the modules included in the
storage device controller 20.
[0040] a clock oscillation circuit 36, generates an oscillation to
produce a clock with a specified frequency and provides the clock
to the modules included in the storage device controller 20.
[0041] FIG. 3 is an embodiment of the storage device controller 20
with an IC externally connected to the storage medium 25, the
application system 21 and the display device 23. The display device
23 displays the volume information of the storage medium 25. The
volume information analysis module 33 included in the storage
device controller 20 analyzes and generates the volume information
according to the information loaded in the storage medium 25. After
that, the volume information is saved in the volume information
memory 32. The volume information of the volume information memory
32 is provided for comparison with the updated data. The method
records the address of the related data saved in the memory and
checks whether incoming volume information is the same as the
volume information of the volume information memory 32. According
to the result, it is decided whether or not to re-display the
volume information. Finally, the microprocessor unit 31 displays
the update volume information on the display device 23 through the
display device interface 24. The volume information includes the
partition area, a file system and the volume label of the storage
medium 25. Moreover, the volume information analysis module 33 also
scans the storage medium 25 to analyze and calculate the status and
the occupied space of the storage medium 25 (for example, residual
space, occupied space or damaged space, etc.). By reading and
scanning the storage medium 25, the updated volume information is
obtained. Next, the microprocessor unit 31 displays the volume
information on the display device 23 through the display device
interface 24.
[0042] The built-in or external display device 23 can be a
bi-stable liquid crystal display. That means the liquid crystal
display can show the stable status by two different methods. In
other words, the so-called bi-stable liquid crystal display can
display the two stable statuses by changing the incoming voltage
and can be distinguished by its optical characteristics. The
bi-stable liquid crystal display can update the display information
when power is supplied to it, but it can't update the display
information when there is no power supply. In this case it latches
the lasted information on the screen. Therefore, this display
device can display the volume information when it is connected,
disconnected or when its power source has been turned off. This
allows the user to observe the storage volume information with the
least power consumption possible.
[0043] Another characteristic of this invention is that the storage
device controller 20 can carry out the analysis described
previously after the system has been started up and can give a
command through the application system 21 to access the storage
device 25 and transmit information. The present invention can match
up the analysis result of the volume information to detect and
judge whether the previous operation affects the application
information of the storage volume, directly supports the access
operation of the application system when the previous access
operation doesn't affect the volume information, so that the
original efficiency of the operating system is unaffected. When the
previous access operation affects the volume information, this
invention can adjust the volume information of the storage device
controller 20 according to the information changed by the
application system 21 after the application system 21 has finished
the access operation and updated the volume information displayed
on the display device 23 through the display device interface
24.
[0044] This invention also saves the analysis result into the
volume information memory 32 when it executes the first time
analysis to speed up the update operation. That means it revises
the volume information according to the previous volume information
saved on the volume information memory 32 and the data written to
the storage device by the application system to speed up the
analysis and updating the display operation.
[0045] The present control method for a storage control apparatus
capable of analyzing volume information comprises a storage volume
information analysis starting up method and a volume information
analysis method as described below.
[0046] Please refer to FIG. 4, which shows a flow chart for a
starting-up procedure for the control method of the present storage
volume information analysis. The steps comprises:
[0047] Step S41: Turning on the power starts up the storage control
system, including the storage medium, the application system and
the display device that connects to the storage control system.
[0048] Step S42: After the operating system is initialized, the
master boot record--the MBR--is read.
[0049] Step S43: After the operating system starts up, the storage
volume parameters are obtained from the master boot record, e.g. a
volume label, or the volume information from the file system.
[0050] Step S44: The volume information from the storage volume
parameters is calculated, e.g. the used volume or the residual
volume.
[0051] Step S45: The corresponding information is displayed on the
display device through the display device interface.
[0052] Step S46: After finishing the operation the device enters
standby status to wait for the next starting up procedure.
[0053] In order to accelerate the procedure for the volume
information analysis, this invention reads the file allocation
table (FAB) from the storage medium and saves the data in the
volume information memory. Then the microprocessor unit sets and
starts up the volume information analysis module and automatically
accumulates the used space occupied by the files. The previous
process can also be executed by implementing the volume information
analysis module with the firmware and can directly execute the
analysis via the microprocessor unit. After finishing the analysis,
the result of the analysis and the important volume information is
saved in the volume information memory, e.g. 1. the master boot
record (MBR), 2. the BIOS parameter block (BPB), 3. the volume of
the storage device, 4. the residual volume of the storage device.
The important volume information in the volume information memory
is provided as a reference when updating the volume information to
accelerate the speed of the following analysis.
[0054] Please refer to FIG. 5, which shows a flow chart for the
detailed starting-up procedure for the control method of the
present storage volume information analysis.
[0055] Step S501: The storage device controller of the storage
control system is started up.
[0056] Step S502: The status of the module of the storage device
controller is checked.
[0057] Step S503: The status of the storage medium is checked.
[0058] Step S504: The master boot record (MBR) of the storage
medium is read. The master boot record stores the partition table.
Before the data of the storage medium is accessed, the start and
end address of the partition has to be known.
[0059] Step S505: The start address of the partition from the
master boot record is obtained.
[0060] Step S506: The BIOS parameter block from the start address
of the partition is read. The BIOS parameter block is located in
the first sector of the master boot record and stores the
information of the storage medium, e.g. the file system, the boot
program and the volume information of the present invention.
[0061] Step S507: The volume label from the BIOS parameter block is
obtained. The present invention uses the volume label as an
identification mark for the storage device by displaying the volume
label on the display device. It can also be the code of the user,
the name of the user or a number that identifies the user.
[0062] Step S508: The related volume parameters is obtained,
including its sector size, cluster size, reserved sectors, total
sectors and file system, etc.
[0063] Step S509: Checks are run to establish whether the volume
parameters are correct and if the file system is compatible.
[0064] Step S510: The address of the root direction according to
the address of the BIOS parameter block and the volume parameters
is calculated.
[0065] Step S511: The initial address of the file allocation table
and the volume size are calculated.
[0066] Step S512: All of the file allocation tables are read to
accumulate the used volume space and store it on the buffer
memory.
[0067] Step S513: The total used volume and the available volume
are calculated according to the file allocation table.
[0068] Step S514: The volume information is recorded onto the
volume information memory of the storage device controller,
including the address range of the MBR, the BPB and the file
allocation table, the current volume label, the current volume size
and the current available volume, etc. The volume information
memory further includes some volume information that is provided so
that the data can be updated later. This means that the volume
information memory records the storage address of the previous
related data, so that the present invention can quickly check
whether the incoming data will affect the volume information or not
and judge whether to execute the updating display operation.
[0069] Step S515: The microprocessor unit controls the display
device interface to display the latest volume information on the
display device.
[0070] Step S516: After updating the volume information and
finishing the display operation, standby status is entered.
[0071] When the storage device enters standby status, the host
system interface starts up and the storage device connects to the
application system to execute the volume information analysis
procedure, shown in FIG. 6 and FIG. 7. If the storage device is
disconnected (meaning that the controller of the storage device
isn't connected to the application system), the storage device
remains in standby status and maintains displaying the latest
volume information.
[0072] Please refer to FIG. 6, which shows a flow chart for volume
information analysis for the control method of the present storage
volume information analysis.
[0073] Step S61: The host system interface is started up, meaning
that the storage device controller and the control interface of the
application system are started up and they wait for the control
signal from the application system.
[0074] Step S62: The connection status between the storage device
controller and the application system is checked. If it is
disconnected, it keeps checking for the connection status until it
enters connected status.
[0075] Step S63: The storage device controller detects whether the
volume information has been altered or not. If the volume
information doesn't change, the display volume information doesn't
need to be updated.
[0076] Step S64: If the application system executes an operation to
affect the volume information, the volume information is
updated.
[0077] Step S65: The updated volume information is displayed on the
display device.
[0078] Step S66: Standby status is entered after the display
operation is finished.
[0079] Please refer to FIG. 7, which shows a flow chart for
detailed volume information analysis for the control method of the
present storage volume information analysis. The steps
comprises:
[0080] Step S701: The host system interface that connects the
storage device controller with the application system is started
up.
[0081] Step S702: The storage device is checked to establish
whether it is connected or not.
[0082] Step S703: If it is disconnected, the connection status
between the storage device controller and the application system
will be continually checked until a connection is established.
[0083] Step S704: When it is connected, the application system
accesses the storage device through the host system interface to
start up the operating system protocol.
[0084] Step S705: The storage device waits for a command from the
application system, for example deleting, saving or formatting,
etc. The storage device controller judges whether to update the
volume information according to the command from the application
system.
[0085] Step S706: If the application system does not send a
command, standby status is maintained until such time as a command
is received.
[0086] Step S707: The storage device controller judges whether the
command of the application system is a reading command or a getting
the status command.
[0087] Step S708: If it is a reading command, the volume does not
change and the volume information does not need to be updated and
the operation returns to step S707.
[0088] Step S709: If the command from the application is an action
command (e.g. a writing or a deleting command) that will influence
the volume information, it is established whether the command will
affect the volume information or not. If the command does not
affect the volume information, for example overwriting the file,
moving the file, or duplicating the file, the volume information is
updated and the operation goes back to step S707. In other words,
if the application requests a reading information operation or a
responding the status operation, the volume information doesn't
change. Therefore, the storage device controller can response to
the operation instantly and transmit the data according to the
parameters of the command.
[0089] Step S710: If the writing command of the application system
affects the volume information, it triggers the operation of
updating the volume information.
[0090] Step S711: The writing command is executed and the data is
transmitted.
[0091] Step S712: The storage device controller compares the range
of the writing address to judge whether the address belongs to the
address range of the important information, for example, the
address of the MBR, the BPB, the root direction, or the sub
direction, etc. When the range of the writing address is the same
as the previous address range that records the important
information, it will affect the important information. The storage
device controller records this status and the range of the writing
address. Moreover, after finishing the write action and data
transmission, the storage device controller reads the storage
medium and updates the volume information.
[0092] Step S713: The content of the volume information memory is
updated. Because the writing operation doesn't affect all of the
content of the volume information, the storage device controller
only needs to analyze the content that is affected by the writing
operation. The storage device controller analyzes and calculates
the volume information according to the volume information in the
volume information memory and the address range that is changed by
the writing operation. Once the latest result is obtained, it
updates the volume information in the volume information
memory.
[0093] Step S714: The content of the display device is updated.
This is dependent upon on whether or not the start address of the
input data and the length of the input data affect the volume
information. If so, the updating operation is executed.
[0094] Step S715: Standby status is entered and the operation waits
for the next command after finishing the operation.
[0095] The present storage device controller is comprised of the
volume information analysis module, the volume information memory
and a display device interface to display the volume information on
the display device through the display device interface as a
reference for the user. It independently reads the storage medium
and analyzes the volume information. The invention doesn't affect
the efficiency of the operating system caused by adding this
function to the above procedure, such as recording, comparing and
judging and enhances the speed of updating the volume information
when the application system changes the storage volume information.
The description above only illustrates specific embodiments and
examples of the invention. The invention should therefore cover
various modifications and variations made to the herein-described
structure and operations of the invention, provided they fall
within the scope of the invention as defined in the following
appended claims.
* * * * *