Media drive control system and method

• US 20050248538A1
• Filed: 12/29/2004
• Published: 11/10/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 03/22/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: VIA Technologies Incorporated (VIA Technologies)
• Original Assignee: VIA Technologies Incorporated (VIA Technologies)
• Inventors: Huang, King
• Granted Patent: US 7,664,893 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/169
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 19/02 Control of operating function, e.g. switching from recording to reproducing
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 20/10 Digital recording or reproducing
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 2020/10638 First-in-first-out memories [FIFO] buffers
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 2020/10777 instructions or commands
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 2020/10805 involving specific measures to prevent a buffer overflow

Abstract

Media drive control system and method. The media drive control system comprises a player console, a user operation filter, and a plurality of playback management devices. The player console provides an instant user operation (UOP) according to a received user command. The user operation filter comprises a queue and a management device. The queue receives and stores a plurality of UOPs, and outputs stored UOPs as control instructions on a first-in-first-out basis. The management device determines whether the queue is full. If the queue is full, the management device discards at least one of the stored UOPs prior to storing the instant UOP in the queue. Each playback management device receives control instructions for controlling corresponding playback devices.

Claims

1. A media drive control system, comprising:

a player console, providing an instant user operation (UOP) when receiving a user command;

a user operation filter, comprising;

a queue, receiving and storing a plurality of UOPs, and outputting stored UOPs as control instructions on a first-in-first-out basis; and

a management device, for determining whether the queue is full;

if the queue is full, the management device discards at least one of the stored UOPs to free capacity for storing the instant UOP in the queue; and

a plurality of playback management devices for receiving the control instructions to accordingly control corresponding playback devices.

2. The media drive control system of claim 1, wherein the management device further determines whether the instant UOP meets a predetermined condition;

if the instant UOP meets the predetermined condition, the management device stores the instant UOP in the queue and prioritizes the instant UOP as first among the stored UOPs to be output.

3. The media drive control system of claim 2, wherein, the management device further empties the queue and stores the instant UOP in the queue if the UOP meets the predetermined condition.

4. A control method for a media drive control system, comprising the following steps of:

receiving an instant UOP from a player console;

determining whether a queue is full;

discarding at least one of a plurality of UOPs stored in the queue to free capacity for storing the instant UOP if the queue is full; and

sequentially outputting the stored UOPs as control instructions to control a plurality of corresponding playback devices.

5. The control method of claim 4, wherein, the control method further comprises the steps of:

determining whether the instant UOP is a particular playback instruction; and

storing the instant UOP in the queue if the UOP is the particular playback instruction, and prioritizing the instant UOP as first among the stored UOPs to be output.

6. The control method of claim 5, wherein, if the particular playback instruction is a termination instruction for at least one playback device,

emptying the queue;

storing the particular playback instruction in the queue; and

outputting the particular playback instruction to a corresponding playback device.