Caching/prewarming data loaded from CD-ROM
First Claim
1. A method for transferring data from a storage medium to the memory of a computer, the data being divided into discrete portions, each of which is used by a central processor of the computer to perform a different defined task, said method comprising the steps of:
- (a) transferring a first discrete portion of the data from the storage medium to the memory of the computer when initiating execution of the defined task for which the first discrete portion of the data is used; and
(b) prior to initiating use of the first discrete portion of the data by the central processor of the computer and during times when the central processor of the computer is not needed for executing any other task, transferring a second discrete portion of the data that will subsequently be used by the computer for a different defined task, from the storage medium to the memory of the computer, so that at least a part of said second discrete portion of the data is already stored in the memory of the computer for use prior to said data being needed for executing the defined task for which the second discrete portion of the data is used.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Data defining pages and objects of a multimedia work are transferred in the background to minimize delays that would otherwise be incurred. In playing a multimedia work that is recorded on a CD-ROM, a personal computer (10) that includes a central processing using (CPU) (23) transfers data for selected pages and for objects on a page of the multimedia work into a cache, using free CPU cycles, so that the data are available when needed. This technique is particularly useful in transferring data for animation objects of a multimedia work, since it enables two animations to play concurrently without incurring a delay to load the data for the second animation when the page is loaded and avoids interrupting the execution of the first animation at the time that the second animation must start executing. An authoring program used to create the multimedia work enables the author to select the pages and objects on a page that are to be prewarmed in this manner.
66 Citations
40 Claims
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1. A method for transferring data from a storage medium to the memory of a computer, the data being divided into discrete portions, each of which is used by a central processor of the computer to perform a different defined task, said method comprising the steps of:
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(a) transferring a first discrete portion of the data from the storage medium to the memory of the computer when initiating execution of the defined task for which the first discrete portion of the data is used; and (b) prior to initiating use of the first discrete portion of the data by the central processor of the computer and during times when the central processor of the computer is not needed for executing any other task, transferring a second discrete portion of the data that will subsequently be used by the computer for a different defined task, from the storage medium to the memory of the computer, so that at least a part of said second discrete portion of the data is already stored in the memory of the computer for use prior to said data being needed for executing the defined task for which the second discrete portion of the data is used. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A method for transferring data for different objects from a CD-ROM to a computer RAM for use in executing the objects to minimize delays when playing a portion of a multimedia work with a central processor of a computer, comprising the steps of:
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(a) transferring the data for a first object from the CD-ROM to the computer RAM; (b) before beginning to execute the first object with the central processor and during times when the central processor is not needed for executing any other task, prewarming a second object that will subsequently be executed by the central processor, by transferring the data for the second object from the CD-ROM to the computer RAM only when no other task is interrupted or delayed by the transfer of the data; and (c) beginning to execute the first object and the second object with the central processor when play of the first and the second objects is respectively initiated in the multimedia work, said central processor being thus enabled to execute said second object substantially without incurring a delay in the execution of the first object that would otherwise have been incurred to transfer the data for the second object from the CD-ROM, and being enabled to instantiate the first object and the second object, and carry out other tasks without first transferring all of the data for the second object from the CD-ROM to the computer memory. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A system for transferring discrete sections of data from a storage device, so as to minimize delays in using the discrete sections of the data when each discrete section is needed to perform part of a task, comprising:
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a computer that uses the discrete sections of data, different discrete sections of the data being used by the computer at different times to perform the part of the task associated therewith, said computer including; (a) a central processor that executes machine instructions to carry out functions performed by the computer; (b) a memory that is used to store data for programs executing on the computer and to store the machine instructions that control the computer in executing said programs; and (c) an interface that couples the computer to the storage device, enabling the computer to access and transfer related sections of data from the storage device to the memory in order to execute the task, said central processor responding to machine instructions that cause one section of the data to be transferred to the memory initially to initiate said task, and thereafter, when the central processor is not needed for executing any other function, prewarming another section of the data by transferring the other section of data to the memory, so that the other section of the data is subsequently available for use by the central processor before needed to perform the part of said task associated therewith, to minimize any delay in executing the task that would otherwise be incurred in order to transfer the other section of data. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. An article of manufacture, adapted for use by a computer to control caching of data loaded into a memory of the computer, wherein said data are divided into a plurality of discrete portions, each portion of the data being used for a different defined task, said article of manufacture comprising:
a memory medium on which are stored a plurality of machine instructions, said machine instructions, when implemented on a computer, controlling the transfer of data from a storage device into the memory of the computer, so that; (a) a first discrete portion of the data is transferred from the storage device to the memory of the computer when beginning execution of a defined task that requires the data; and (b) prior to initiating the use of the first discrete portion of the data by the computer and during any free system cycles when the computer is not needed for executing any other functions, transferring at least a part of a second discrete portion of the data that will subsequently be used by the computer to perform a defined task for which the second discrete portion is used, from the storage device to the memory of the computer, so that said second discrete portion of the data is already stored in the memory of the computer for use by the computer when needed in executing the defined task for which the second discrete portion of the data is used. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
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31. A method for storing data used in performing a plurality of successive tasks on a computer, said data being recorded on a storage device, comprising the steps of:
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(a) providing a cache in a memory of the computer, said cache including a demand section and an optional section; (b) initially loading said demand section of the cache with data transferred from the storage device that are required to initiate a first task of the plurality of successive tasks; and (c) loading said optional section of the cache with data transferred from the storage device that will subsequently be used for performing a second task of the plurality of successive tasks. - View Dependent Claims (32, 33, 34, 35)
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36. An article of manufacture adapted to be employed on a computer for storing data used in performing a plurality of successive tasks on a computer, said data being stored on a storage device, comprising:
a memory medium for storing machine instructions that are executable on the computer, said machine instructions providing for; (a) creating a cache in a memory of the computer, said cache including a demand section and an optional section; (b) initially loading said demand section of the cache with data from a storage device that are required to initiate a first task of the plurality of successive tasks; and (c) loading said optional section of the cache with data from the storage device that will subsequently be used for performing a second task of the plurality of successive tasks. - View Dependent Claims (37, 38, 39, 40)
Specification