Method of operating a disc drive and a host device

• US 20070079014A1
• Filed: 08/30/2006
• Published: 04/05/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 05/13/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Vmedia Research, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Vmedia Research, Inc.
• Inventors: Volk, Steven, Hurst, Jerry, Volan, Gregory
• Granted Patent: US 7,506,347 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 710/1
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 17/032 Positioning by moving the door or the cover G11B17/035 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 17/0407 controlling the loading of the record carrier
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 17/0438 with mechanism for subsequent vertical movement of the disc and opening mechanism of the cartridge shutter
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 20/00007 Time or data compression or expansion audio compression based on psychoacoustics G10L19/00; data processing for reproducing audio data at different playback speeds G10L21/04; video compression H04N19/00; data compression per se H03M7/30
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 20/10 Digital recording or reproducing
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 31/003 with radio receiver
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 33/025 Portable cases
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 7/0037 with discs

Abstract

A battery-operated, hand-held disc drive for an optical data storage disc contains a radio transceiver. Data read from the disc, for example a game or movie, are delivered to the transceiver and transmitted, preferably using a WiFi protocol, to a host device, such as a smartphone, PDA, ultra-light tablet or notebook computer, or digital TV. Preferably, the compression factor of the data on the disc and the transfer rate of the data from the disc drive to the host device are set such that that disc drive has a low duty cycle, thereby conserving battery power while providing the user with an extended usage period. To provide a high-quality experience, the data on the disc are compressed using a highly efficient data compression algorithm such as MPEG-4.

Claims

1. A method of operating a disc drive and a host device, said disc drive comprising:

a cartridge load module for receiving an optical data storage disc;

an optical data storage disc within said cartridge load module, said optical data storage disc containing compressed data content, said compressed data content being compressed by a compression factor;

an optical drive module comprising a spindle assembly and a laser source for reading said compressed data content;

a transceiver coupled to said optical drive module for transmitting said data to said host device via an RF signal at a data transfer rate; and

a battery, said battery being connected to said optical drive module and said transceiver so as to power said disc drive during normal operation, said host device comprising a buffer memory having a storage capacity, said method comprising;

establishing said compression factor and said data transfer such that said disc drive is capable of transmitting said compressed data content to said host device at a duty cycle of 10% or less.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein said disc drive transmits said compressed data content to said host device over a number of spin-ups, said spin-ups being separated by quiescent periods, the number of said spin-ups being approximately equal to a capacity of said buffer memory divided by a volume of said compressed data content.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein said capacity of said host device is equal to 512 MB, said volume of said data content is approximately equal to 1 GB, and said number of said spin-ups is equal to two.

4. A method of operating a disc drive and a host device, said disc drive comprising:

a cartridge load module for receiving an optical data storage disc;

an optical data storage disc within said cartridge load module, said optical data storage disc containing compressed data content, said compressed data content being compressed by a compression factor;

a buffer memory having a storage capacity;

an optical drive module comprising a spindle assembly and a laser source for reading said compressed data content to said buffer memory at a data transfer rate;

a transceiver coupled to said buffer memory for transmitting said data to said host device via an RF signal; and

a battery, said battery being connected to said optical drive module and said transceiver so as to power said disc drive during normal operation, said method comprising;

establishing said compression factor and said data transfer such that said optical drive module is capable of transmitting said compressed data content to said buffer memory at a duty cycle of 10% or less.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein said optical drive module transmits said compressed data content to said buffer memory over a number of spin-ups, said spin-ups being separated by quiescent periods, the number of said spin-ups being approximately equal to a capacity of said buffer memory divided by a volume of said compressed data content.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein said capacity of said buffer memory is equal to 512 MB, said volume of said data content is approximately equal to 1 GB, and said number of said spin-ups is equal to two.