CD-ROM optimization and stream splitting
First Claim
1. A method for minimizing the time required to load data into a computer from a nonvolatile storage device, said data including a plurality of types, each type being associated with a different object of a plurality of objects and including a header section and a tail section, said method comprising the steps of:
- (a) identifying the plurality of objects for which the associated type of data must initially be loaded into the computer;
(b) determining a sequence for loading the objects; and
(c) sequentially storing the header sections for the plurality of objects in contiguous blocks on the nonvolatile storage device, in the sequence in which the objects are to be loaded, the header section associated with the plurality of objects being thereby loaded into the computer with a minimum seek time required to access the header sections when needed by the computer.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method and system for efficiently transferring data for objects on the page of a multimedia work from a CD-ROM to the memory of a computer. An application program is run on a personal computer (10) that enables an author to create a multimedia work. Certain types of objects can be selectively processed so that data for those objects are temporarily stored on a hard drive (16) as the work is being created, in a format that will reduce the time required to load the data and execute the objects when the work is subsequently played from a CD-ROM. In this technique, the sequence in which the objects on a page are required is determined and the data for each of these objects are split into a header portion and a tail portion. The header portions of the data for the objects are stored consecutively in that sequence on the hard drive, preferably followed by the tail portions of the data for the objects. This process is repeated for each of the objects on the other pages of the multimedia work. The data stored in nonvolatile memory are then transferred to a CD-ROM master and stored in the same contiguous sequence. The CD-ROM master is used to make other copies for distribution. As the work is played from a CD-ROM, the header portion of each of the objects on a page is loaded into computer memory at the time that the page is instantiated, enabling the page to appear more quickly. The tail portions of each of the objects are then loaded into the computer memory as each of the objects is called to execute. By employing this technique, less time is required for transferring the data for the objects from the CD-ROM to the computer memory before execution of the multimedia work begins, and the work executes more smoothly, since less time is required to transfer the data for each object as the object is required to execute.
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Citations
30 Claims
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1. A method for minimizing the time required to load data into a computer from a nonvolatile storage device, said data including a plurality of types, each type being associated with a different object of a plurality of objects and including a header section and a tail section, said method comprising the steps of:
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(a) identifying the plurality of objects for which the associated type of data must initially be loaded into the computer; (b) determining a sequence for loading the objects; and (c) sequentially storing the header sections for the plurality of objects in contiguous blocks on the nonvolatile storage device, in the sequence in which the objects are to be loaded, the header section associated with the plurality of objects being thereby loaded into the computer with a minimum seek time required to access the header sections when needed by the computer. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A method for minimizing the time required to load data into a computer from a CD-ROM, said data being associated with different objects of a multimedia work, each object being defined by a header section and a tail section, said method comprising the steps of:
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(a) producing a list of pages comprising the multimedia work, each page including at least one object; (b) for each page, determining a sequence in which the objects comprising the page will be executed when the multimedia work is run; and (c) for each page, storing the header section of the data for the objects comprising the page in contiguous header blocks on the CD-ROM, said header blocks being arranged in accord with said sequence, so that the header sections of the data defining the objects for the page are initially loaded in the order in which the objects are instantiated, thereby reducing the loading time for the page. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A system for creating a multimedia work that is stored on a nonvolatile medium so as to minimize the time required to load the multimedia work for execution on a computer, said system comprising:
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a processor used to create the multimedia work, said processor causing data associated with a plurality of objects comprising the multimedia work to be stored on the nonvolatile medium; and a memory in which machine instructions used to control the processor are stored, said machine instructions, when executed by the processor, causing it to; (a) determine a header data block and a tail data block for each object; (b) store the header data blocks for the objects contiguously and sequentially on the nonvolatile medium; and (c) cause the header data blocks for the objects to be loaded into the computer prior to playing a portion of the multimedia work in which the objects are used, thereby minimizing the time required to load the header data blocks for the objects before playing said portion of the multimedia work. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. An article of manufacture adapted to be used with a computer, comprising:
a memory medium on which are stored machine instructions for use in minimizing the time required to load data into a computer from a nonvolatile storage device, said data including a plurality of types, each type being associated with a different object of a plurality of objects and including a header section and a tail section, said machine instructions when executed by the computer implementing the following functions; (a) identifying the plurality of objects for which the associated type of data must initially be loaded into the computer; (b) determining a sequence for loading the objects; and (c) sequentially storing the header sections for the plurality of objects in contiguous blocks on the nonvolatile storage device, in the sequence in which the objects are to be loaded, the data associated with the plurality of objects being thereby loaded into the computer with a minimum seek time required to access the data when needed by the computer. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
Specification