JP2007048366A - Disk device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a disk device capable of varying a disk rotational speed, reducing noise more and smoothly performing command processing. <P>SOLUTION: A rotational speed control unit 107 controls the rotational speed of a motor 103 to increase when a data transfer speed exceeds a threshold value Rth (max) and the continuance time of a state where the threshold value Rth (max) is exceeded continues for a threshold value Tth or more. The control unit 107 controls the rotational speed of the motor to drop when the data transfer speed is reduced to a threshold value Rth (min) or lower, and the continuance time of a state where the speed drops to the threshold value Trh (min) or less continues for the threshold value Tth or more. The threshold value Tth of the continuance time is set based on time required from the start of changing the rotational speed until data writing or reading processing can be started. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a disk device capable of appropriately changing the rotational speed of a disk according to the transfer amount of data transferred to and from a host device.

  In recent years, disk devices using disk-shaped recording media such as hard disks are installed not only in information terminals such as PCs but also in consumer devices such as video recorders and music players. In consumer devices, it is mainly used to store large amounts of data including AV content such as video and audio.

  There are two types of usage in the disk device for AV. One is to record or play back AV content transferred to and from the host device in real time, and it is required to suppress noise rather than high-speed transfer. The other is a case where a large amount of AV content data is moved (transferred) to and from the host device at a high speed, and is required to be recorded or reproduced in a shorter time than in consideration of noise. In this manner, AV disk devices have different requirements depending on the purpose of use.

  In order to meet the above two requirements, the conventional disk device performs recording or reproduction by appropriately changing the rotational speed of the disk. That is, during real-time recording / reproduction, a low-speed rotation is performed to suppress noise, and when data is moved, a high-speed rotation is performed for high-speed recording / reproduction. In this case, a method in which the host device controls the rotation speed according to the purpose of use (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 and 2), and a method in which the disk device side controls the rotation speed based on the data transfer amount (for example, Patent Documents 3 and 4). Have been proposed). Further, Patent Document 2 discloses a technique in which the host device rearranges commands in accordance with a change in the rotation speed, and Patent Documents 3 and 4 detect the data transfer speed per unit time and change the rotation speed accordingly. Switching is disclosed.

Japanese Patent No. 3413731 JP 2001-222380 A JP 2003-203354 A JP 2000-339839 A

  The method in which the host device determines the function and performance of the disk device and controls the rotation speed as shown in Patent Documents 1 and 2 depends on the determination function of the host device. Therefore, it is effective for a disk device to which the connection destination host device is fixed, but optimal control is realized in a disk device to which the connection destination host device is not fixed, such as a portable disk device. It's hard to say.

  In Patent Documents 3 and 4, the rotational speed is controlled on the disk device side, but further consideration is required regarding the targeted noise reduction and smooth switching of speed control. That is, when the data transfer speed is detected and the speed control is performed as it is, the speed change may be frequently performed. As a result, the noise increases and the battery usage efficiency may be reduced. Alternatively, command processing, that is, data read / write operation (read / write operation) is temporarily interrupted along with the speed change, and necessary processing may be delayed.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a disk device in which the rotational speed of the disk is variable, noise can be further reduced, battery usage efficiency can be improved, and command processing can be executed smoothly.

  The disk device according to the present invention includes a motor that rotates the disk and a control unit that controls the rotation speed of the motor based on the data transfer speed of data to be written or read, and the data transfer speed exceeds a threshold value Rth (max), When the duration of the state exceeding the threshold value Rth (max) continues for the threshold value Tth or more, control is performed to increase the rotational speed of the motor. Further, the disk device according to the present invention reduces the rotation speed of the motor when the data transfer speed is lower than the threshold value Rth (min) and the duration of the state where the data transfer speed is lower than the threshold value Rth (min) continues for the threshold value Tth or more. Control.

  Here, the data transfer rate is obtained from the data transfer request amount per unit time received from the host device. The threshold value Tth for the duration time is set based on the time required for the control unit to start the control to change the rotation speed and to start the data writing or reading process. Then, after the rotational speed is changed, if the duration at the changed rotational speed does not continue for the predetermined time To or longer, the duration threshold Tth is increased and set.

  Note that if the command received from the host device includes a time-constrained command, the current rotational speed is continued regardless of the determination result of the rotational speed change.

  Also, commands are received from the host device during the rotation speed change process, and the received commands are rearranged based on the changed rotation speed during the rotation speed change process or when the change process is completed.

  According to the present invention, noise associated with a change in rotational speed is reduced, battery usage efficiency is improved, and command processing when the rotational speed is changed can be executed smoothly, improving practical characteristics.

  The present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a disk device according to the present invention. In the disk device 10 of the present embodiment, the hard disk medium 101 is mounted as a recording medium, but the present invention is not limited to this, and an optical disk medium may be used. The disk device 10 is connected to a host device 20 such as a PC via a host interface 21. The disk device is suitable for a portable device using a battery or the like as a power source.

  The configuration of the disk device 10 includes a head 102 for writing data to the disk 101 and reading data from the disk, a motor 103 for rotating the disk, a voice coil motor (VCM) 104 for moving the head, and driving the motor and VCM. A motor driver 105 that controls the rotation speed of the disk 101 and the movement of the head 102 by controlling the motor driver 105.

  The rotation speed control unit 107 detects a data transfer request amount from the host device 20 side and calculates a data transfer rate. The data transfer rate detection unit 108 continues to measure a duration time when the data transfer rate exceeds the threshold value Rth. Time measurement unit 109, management table 110 that stores threshold value Rth of data transfer rate and threshold value Tth of duration when changing the rotation speed, rotation speed change unit that issues a command to change the rotation speed to servo control unit 106 111. The interface unit 112 inputs and outputs commands and data with the host device 20.

  Here, the data transfer amount detection unit 108 calculates the data transfer rate R from the data transfer request amount per unit time by monitoring the data transferred by the interface unit 112. Then, the calculated data transfer rate R exceeds the threshold value Rth and exceeds the threshold value Rth measured by the duration measurement unit 109 as compared with the data transfer rate threshold value Rth and the duration threshold value Tth stored in the management table 110. When the time continues for the threshold value Tth or more, the rotation speed change is determined and the servo control unit 106 is instructed to change the rotation speed.

  As described above, in this embodiment, the rotation speed control unit 107 detects not only whether the data transfer rate R exceeds the threshold value Rth but also how long the time T exceeding the threshold value Rth has continued. The speed is controlled. Therefore, frequent rotation speed changes can be avoided, noise generated can be reduced, and the battery usage efficiency can be improved.

  In this embodiment, the rotational speed is controlled by the determination on the disk device side without depending on the host device, and the performance of the disk device can be optimized according to the purpose of use. Therefore, this method is particularly effective in a portable disk device that is used by connecting to an arbitrary host device.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a specific example of the rotational speed control in the disk device of this embodiment, and shows the relationship between the data transfer speed R and the rotational speed V. Here, for the sake of simplicity, the case where the rotation speed is switched in two steps (7200 rpm and 3600 rpm) is shown. As can be seen from FIG. 2, when the data transfer rate R exceeds the threshold value Rth (max) = 300 Mbps, the rotation speed V is increased from 3600 rpm to 7200 rpm. When the data transfer rate R falls below the threshold value Rth (min) = 225 Mbps, the rotation speed V is decreased from 7200 rpm to 3600 rpm. The threshold value Rth (max) determined here is determined based on the maximum transfer speed that the apparatus can process at the current rotational speed of 3600 rpm. The threshold value Rth (min) is preferably an average data transfer speed at a rotational speed of 3600 rpm, which is one step lower than the current rotational speed of 7200 rpm. As described above, since the difference in rotational speed switching point (threshold value Rth) is provided during acceleration and deceleration, hysteresis control is performed and the control characteristics are stabilized.

  Further, in this embodiment, the time exceeding the threshold value Rth is also determined. When the time T exceeding the threshold value Rth exceeds the preset threshold value Tth, the rotation speed is changed. The threshold Tth is appropriately a value of several seconds or several tens of seconds according to the size of data to be transferred. Alternatively, the threshold value Tth is set based on the time required for the disk device to start the rotation speed change control and to start the read (read) process or the write (write) process. As a result, frequent speed changes can be avoided, noise associated with acceleration or deceleration can be reduced, battery usage efficiency can be improved, and smooth read / write operations can be realized. Also, avoiding frequent speed changes contributes to a reduction in power consumption of the apparatus. That is, predetermined additional power is required even in the step of changing the rotation speed. Therefore, by reducing the frequency of the speed change so that the duration after the speed change is a certain time or more, a power saving effect can be expected.

  The data transfer rate threshold Rth and the duration threshold Tth are stored in the management table 110. Although the two-stage rotational speed control has been described with reference to FIG. 2, it is needless to say that this can be extended to be applied to control in a plurality of stages including three or more stages.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a flowchart of the rotational speed control in the disk device of the present embodiment. Here, not only the two-stage rotation speed control shown in FIG. 2 but also a plurality of stages of control of three or more stages are targeted.

  The disk device 10 rotates the disk at a predetermined rotation speed (initial value) according to a command from the host device 20 (step S301). Then, data transfer with the host device 20 is started and a read / write operation to the disk is started (step S302). The data transfer amount detection unit 108 monitors the interface unit 112, calculates the total amount of data transfer request amount from the command received within the unit time ΔT, and calculates the average data transfer request rate R (bps) (step S303). .

  Next, it is determined whether or not the calculated average data transfer request speed R exceeds a threshold value Rth (max) that is the maximum transfer speed at the current rotation speed V1 (step S304). If the average data transfer request speed R exceeds the threshold value Rth (max), whether or not the time exceeding the threshold value Rth (max) measured by the duration measurement unit 109 continues for a predetermined time Tth or not is determined. Determination is made (step S305). If it continues for time Tth or more, the rotational speed is increased from V1 to V2 which is one step higher (step S306). If it does not continue for the time Tth or longer, the rotation speed is not changed.

  If the average data transfer request speed R does not exceed the threshold value Rth (max) in step S304, it is determined whether or not the average data transfer request speed R is lower than the threshold value Rth (min) that is the minimum transfer speed at the current rotation speed V1 (step S307). . If it is below the threshold value Rth (min), it is further determined whether or not the time period that is further below the threshold value Rth (min) continues for a predetermined time Tth (step S308). If it continues for time Tth or more, the rotational speed is lowered from V1 to V0, which is one step lower (step S309). If the threshold value Rth (min) is not decreased, or if the time does not continue for the time Tth or longer even if the threshold value Rth (min) is not exceeded, the rotation speed is not changed. Subsequently, returning to step S303, the average data transfer request speed R is calculated, and the above steps are repeated.

  By performing such rotation speed control, frequent speed changes can be avoided, noise can be reduced, and battery usage efficiency can be improved, thereby realizing a smoother read / write operation.

  Note that steps S305 and S308 are steps for determining the time that exceeds (or falls below) the threshold value Rth, but only one of the steps may be used. Preferably, only step S305 for determining acceleration is prioritized so that low-speed rotation can be prioritized and noise can be further reduced.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of setting a threshold value for duration that can be added to the flowchart of FIG. 3. After the rotation speed is changed (steps S306 and S309 in FIG. 3), it is determined whether the changed rotation speed continues for a predetermined time To (step S401). If the duration time is insufficient, the threshold value Tth of the duration time used for the determination of the rotation speed change (steps S305 and S308 in FIG. 3) is set to be increased by the time corresponding to the shortage amount ( Step S402). As a result of the determination in step S401, if the changed rotation speed continues for a predetermined time To or longer, the process ends. By the above processing, it is possible to prevent the rotation speed from being frequently changed even when the predicted value of the duration and the execution time differ due to fluctuations in the average data transfer request speed.

  Here, as the predetermined time To referred to in step S401, for example, the time required from the start of the rotation speed change until the read / write processing can be started may be used. The time required until the read / write process can be started may be set for each disk device in advance.

  According to this, the rotation speed is stable, and it is possible to prevent an increase in noise and a decrease in battery usage efficiency due to frequent changes in the rotation speed.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of processing for a command having a time constraint that can be added to the flowchart of FIG. 3. Even if the rotation speed should be changed in determining the average data transfer request speed, commands with time constraints (for example, commands with high urgency with limited processing time) are queued The change of the rotation speed is prohibited.

  Following step S305 or S308 in FIG. 3, it is checked whether there is a command being queued (step S501), and if there is a command being queued, it is checked whether there is a command having a time constraint (step S501). S502). If there is a command with a time constraint, the rotation speed is not changed. Alternatively, if there is a command with a time constraint and the restricted time is shorter than the time required to start the rotation speed change and start the read / write process, the rotation speed is changed. Without continuing the current rotation speed. If there is no time-constrained command in the command being queued, a process for changing the rotation speed is performed (step S503). In step 501, if there is no command being queued, rotation speed change processing is executed (step S503).

  In step S502, even when there is a time-constrained command and the rotation speed change processing is not executed, if the rotation speed change is still requested as a result of the determination of the average data transfer request speed, The process returns to step S501 again. Then, the above steps are repeated to check whether a command with a time constraint is queued, and the rotation speed changing process is determined.

  When a time-constrained (high urgency) command is queued by the process shown in FIG. 5, the process can be executed with priority, and the process of such a command is delayed. Can be avoided.

  Further, when copying the data to the disk device while reproducing the video on a PC or the like, it is possible to prevent the video from dropping or skipping by changing the rotation speed in the middle.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a control flowchart of the read / write process when the rotation speed is changed. It is determined whether there is a process being executed (step S601), and if there is a process being executed, it is determined whether it is a write process (step S602). If it is a write process, the write process of the data at the head of the queue is completed (step S603). Next, the rotation speed is changed (step S604). Then, parameters such as the rotation time (rotation cycle) associated with the rotation speed after the change are changed, and the rearrangement process of the command queued before the rotation speed change and the newly queued command is executed (step S605). ).

  If it is not a write process in step S602, it is determined whether it is a read process (step S606). If it is read processing, data transfer of the command being executed is completed (step S607). Next, the rotation speed is changed (step S608).

  FIG. 6 shows an example in which queuing is performed only in the write process. Further, when queuing is also performed in the read process, the command at the head of the queue is executed regardless of the read / write command, the rotation speed is changed, and the command rearrangement is executed.

  According to the read / write processing shown in FIG. 6, the rotation speed is changed at the disc device side determination, and parameters (rotation time, etc.) necessary for command rearrangement are changed accordingly, and command rearrangement is executed. To do. Conventionally, the command to change the rotation speed and the accompanying command rearrangement were executed on the host device side, but in this embodiment, it is completed by a series of processing in the disk device, so smoother read / write processing is realized. it can.

  FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating command rearrangement during the rotation speed changing process. When the rotation speed changing process is started (step S701), parameters such as a rotation time associated with the rotation speed change are changed, and a command rearrangement process is executed (step S702). Next, it is checked whether or not the rotation speed changing process has been completed (step S703), and if completed, the process is terminated. If the rotation speed changing process has not been completed, it is checked whether a command has been received (step S704). If a command is received, command queuing is performed (step S705), and a command response is returned (step S706). Thereafter, the process returns to step S702 and the command rearrangement process is repeated. In step S704, if no command has been received, the process returns to step S703 and waits for command reception until the rotation speed change processing is completed.

  According to the process shown in FIG. 7, the rotation speed changing process and the command rearranging process are executed in parallel. Then, as soon as the rotation speed change process is completed, the process is resumed in the order of the new command that is optimal at that time, so the command process associated with the rotation speed change can be interrupted and resumed more efficiently in a shorter time. be able to.

  In addition, what is necessary is just to perform step S702 after step S703, when rearranging a command is performed after a rotational speed change process. In the command rearrangement process in step S702, the commands are rearranged so that the time obtained by adding the rotation waiting time and the seek time is minimized. At that time, the position at which the read / write process can be started is not immediately determined after the rotation speed change, so the first command to be executed is determined from the head position during the rotation speed change process or immediately after the rotation speed change process. It is preferable to select a command with the shortest seek distance and execute a command rearrangement process.

  The disk device of this embodiment can be set to a predetermined rotation speed on the disk device side when no read / write command is received from the host device at the time of starting rotation or returning. For example, it may be set in advance on the disk device side whether the rotation speed at the start / return is low or high, and the initial rotation speed may be set accordingly.

  Also, record the rotation speed log at the end of disk device processing or immediately before standby in the disk device, refer to the recorded rotation speed log at startup / return, and start / return at that rotation speed respectively. It is also possible to do.

  The disk device of the present invention can be applied to a file server system constituted by a disk device, a PC or a consumer device incorporating the disk device, and is particularly useful as a portable disk device.

The block diagram which shows one Example of the disk apparatus by this invention. The figure which shows one specific example of the rotational speed control in a present Example. The figure which shows the flowchart of the rotational speed control in a present Example. The figure which shows an example of the threshold value setting of the continuation time in a present Example. The figure which shows an example of the process with respect to the command with a time constraint in a present Example. The figure which shows the control flowchart of the read / write process at the time of the rotational speed change in a present Example. The figure which shows the flowchart which performs command rearrangement during the rotational speed change process in a present Example.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 101 ... Disk, 102 ... Head, 103 ... Motor, 104 ... Voice coil motor, 105 ... Motor driver, 106 ... Servo control part, 107 ... Rotation speed control part, 108 ... Data transfer amount detection part, 109 ... Duration measurement part , 110 ... management table, 111 ... rotation speed changing unit, 112 ... interface unit, 20 ... host device, 21 ... host interface.

Claims (7)

In a disk device for writing data to a disk or reading data from the disk,
A motor for rotating the disk;
A controller that controls the rotational speed of the motor based on the data transfer speed of data to be written or read,
The control unit increases the rotation speed of the motor when the data transfer speed exceeds the threshold value Rth (max) and the duration of the state exceeding the threshold value Rth (max) continues for the threshold value Tth or more. A disk device characterized by controlling. In a disk device for writing data to a disk or reading data from the disk,
A motor for rotating the disk;
A controller that controls the rotational speed of the motor based on the data transfer speed of data to be written or read,
The control unit reduces the rotation speed of the motor when the data transfer speed is lower than the threshold value Rth (min) and the duration of the state where the data transfer speed is lower than the threshold value Rth (min) continues for the threshold value Tth or more. A disk device characterized by controlling. The disk device according to claim 1 or 2,
An interface unit for inputting / outputting data and commands to / from the host device; and
A data transfer amount detection unit which obtains a data transfer request amount per unit time from the data input and output in the interface unit and sets the data transfer rate;
A time measuring unit for measuring a duration of the state where the data transfer rate exceeds the threshold value Rth (max) or the state where the data transfer rate falls below the threshold value Rth (min);
A disk device comprising: a threshold Rth (max) or Rth (min) for the data transfer rate; and a table for storing the threshold Tth for the duration. The disk device according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The threshold value Tth of the duration time is set based on a time required until the control unit starts control to change the rotation speed and the data writing or reading process can be started. . The disk device according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
After changing the rotational speed, if the duration at the changed rotational speed does not continue for a predetermined time To or longer, the control unit increases the threshold Tth of the duration for determining the change of the rotational speed. The disk device is characterized by being set. The disk device according to claim 3, wherein
When the command received from the host device includes a command with a time constraint, the control unit continues the current rotational speed regardless of the determination result of the rotational speed change. Disk unit to be used. The disk device according to claim 3, wherein
A command is received from the host device even during the rotation speed change process, and the received command rearrangement process is executed based on the changed rotation speed during the rotation speed change process or when the change process is completed. Disk unit to be used.

Images