Compressed data optical disk storage system
First Claim
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1. An optical media data storage system comprising:
- host interface means for connection to a host computer and including means for receiving a sequence of data storage commands to control a magnetic media data storage device from said host computer;
data compression means for compressing data transferred from said host interface means to said buffer memory means and for decompressing data transferred from said buffer memory means to said host interface;
buffer memory means coupled to said data compression means for receiving compressed data which is to be stored on an optical media storage means, and for transmitting compressed data which has been stored on the optical media storage means to said data compression means;
optical media storage means for storing compressed data thereon, for storing compressed data received from said buffer memory means, and for supplying compressed data stored thereon to said buffer memory means; and
microprocessor means for responding to said sequence of commands received from said host interface means and for controlling data storage and retrieval operations of said buffer memory means and said optical media storage means responsive to said sequence of commands;
a high level directory relating one or more record directories to a particular host data file constructed by said microprocessor means and stored in said buffer memory means;
wherein all compressed data stored by said optical media storage means is stored in said buffer memory means prior to storage on said optical media storage means and prior to supply of said compressed data from said optical media storage means to said host computer;
wherein while said compressed data is stored in said buffer memory means, prior to storage on said optical media storage means, said compressed data is organized by said microprocessor into discrete groupings or segments, and at least one record directory is constructed, each said record directory consisting of information pertaining to lengths of the compressed data records contained in a single discrete group or segment of compressed data;
wherein said segments, their associated record directories and said high-level directory are transferred from said buffer memory to said optical media storage means and stored thereon;
wherein said information contained in said record directory pertaining to length of an individual data record is used to locate within a given data group or segment the particular record sought by the host computer;
wherein said segments are recorded onto said optical medium storage means contiguously and interspersed with said record directories.
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Abstract
An improved optical disk data storage system method are disclosed. In an optical disk storage system, a data compression device is interposed between a host computer and an optical disk controller to permit data storage and retrieval operations on an optical disk to occur at a faster rate than would otherwise be possible. Data is compressed when it is received by the optical disk controller and is decompressed before it is sent to the host computer. In this way data may be efficiently stored on an optical disk while providing plug compatibility with a host computer designed to store and retrieve data on a magnetic media data storage device.
127 Citations
26 Claims
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1. An optical media data storage system comprising:
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host interface means for connection to a host computer and including means for receiving a sequence of data storage commands to control a magnetic media data storage device from said host computer; data compression means for compressing data transferred from said host interface means to said buffer memory means and for decompressing data transferred from said buffer memory means to said host interface; buffer memory means coupled to said data compression means for receiving compressed data which is to be stored on an optical media storage means, and for transmitting compressed data which has been stored on the optical media storage means to said data compression means; optical media storage means for storing compressed data thereon, for storing compressed data received from said buffer memory means, and for supplying compressed data stored thereon to said buffer memory means; and microprocessor means for responding to said sequence of commands received from said host interface means and for controlling data storage and retrieval operations of said buffer memory means and said optical media storage means responsive to said sequence of commands; a high level directory relating one or more record directories to a particular host data file constructed by said microprocessor means and stored in said buffer memory means; wherein all compressed data stored by said optical media storage means is stored in said buffer memory means prior to storage on said optical media storage means and prior to supply of said compressed data from said optical media storage means to said host computer; wherein while said compressed data is stored in said buffer memory means, prior to storage on said optical media storage means, said compressed data is organized by said microprocessor into discrete groupings or segments, and at least one record directory is constructed, each said record directory consisting of information pertaining to lengths of the compressed data records contained in a single discrete group or segment of compressed data; wherein said segments, their associated record directories and said high-level directory are transferred from said buffer memory to said optical media storage means and stored thereon; wherein said information contained in said record directory pertaining to length of an individual data record is used to locate within a given data group or segment the particular record sought by the host computer; wherein said segments are recorded onto said optical medium storage means contiguously and interspersed with said record directories. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3)
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4. An optical media data storage system comprising:
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host interface means for connection to a host computer and including means for receiving a sequence of data storage commands to control a magnetic media data storage device from said host computer; data compression means for compressing data transferred from said host interface to said buffer memory means and for decompressing data transferred from said buffer memory means to said host interface means; buffer memory means coupled to said data compression means for receiving compressed data to be stored on an optical disk, and for supplying compressed data which has been stored on the optical disk to said data compression means; optical media storage means, comprising an optical disk for storing compressed data thereon, for storing compressed data received from said buffer memory means and for supplying compressed data stored on said optical disk to said buffer memory means; and microprocessor means for responding to said sequence of commands received from said host interface means and for controlling data storage and retrieval operations of said buffer memory means and said optical media storage means, responsive to said sequence of commands; wherein all compressed data stored by said optical media storage means is stored in a buffer memory means prior to storage on said optical media storage means and prior to supply of said compressed data from said optical media storage means to said host computer; wherein while said compressed data is stored in said buffer memory means, prior to storage on said optical media storage means, said compressed data is organized by said microprocessor into discrete groupings or segments, and at least one record directory is constructed, each said record directory consisting of information pertaining to lengths of the compressed data records contained in a single discrete group or segment of compressed data; wherein data supplied to said host interface means by said host computer is organized into a sequence of records by said microprocessor means; and wherein information pertaining to individual data records which is contained within each said record directory defines the length of at least one record of a single file which includes such records. - View Dependent Claims (5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A method for storing compressed data, said compressed data being organized into a sequence of records with associated record directories on an optical media storage device wherein said records are not limited to a specific length, except to the extent that they may not exceed the largest record length value which may be expressed in the embedded directory said system comprising a buffer memory, data compression means, a host interface means, and an optical media storage device, means for connecting the buffer memory to the host interface means and to the optical media storage device, and microprocessor means for controlling the transfer of data therebetween,
said method comprising the following steps performed in response to a request from a host computer to store a sequence of records: -
receiving said sequence of records at said host interface means and transferring said sequence of records to said data compression means; compressing said sequence of records at said data compression means; transferring said sequence of compressed records from said data compression means to said buffer memory means; storing said sequence of compressed records in said buffer memory means; creating a record directory in said buffer memory means; associating a record directory with up to a predetermined number of said compressed records; and storing said sequence of compressed records and said record directory on said optical media storage device; and said method comprising the following further steps performed in response to a request from the host computer for supply of one or more of the stored compressed records; copying all of the compressed records associated with the record directory with which the particular record or records sought by the host are associated into the buffer memory means; employing the record directory to locate the particular compressed record or records sought by the host computer; transferring the compressed record or records sought to the data compression means; decompressing the records or records sought in the data compression means; and transferring the record or records sought to the host interface means from the data compression means; transferring the record or records sought to the host from the host interface means. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. A method for storage of a sequence of data records of varying length on an optical disk storage device, said device comprising an optical disk describing a continuous data storage track or a continuous sequence of data storage tracks divided permanently into sectors, whereby said disk is only accessible by associated read/write means at the beginning of said sectors on said tracks, comprising the steps of:
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receiving said sequence of data records to be stored from a source thereof, compressing said sequence of data records, and storing the same temporarily in buffer memory means; generating a record directory associated with up to a predetermined number of said compressed data records, and consisting principally of information concerning the [relative]length of the compressed records associated with the record directory; generating a high level directory relating one or more record directories to a sequence of compressed data records; writing said sequence of compressed records to said optical disk in sequence, beginning at one of said sector boundaries, and extending therefrom essentially continuously along said continuous track or continuous sequence of tracks; writing said record directory to said optical disk contiguously with respect to said sequence of compressed records and at a location fixed with respect to one of said sector and one of said tracks; and writing said sequence of compressed records and said record directories to said disk beginning from one end of the data storage track or tracks and writing said high level directory to said disk beginning from the opposite end of said data storage track.
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Specification