Image recording system, image recorder, and data accessing method

• US 9,088,761 B2
• Filed: 10/22/2013
• Issued: 07/21/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 10/31/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Vivotek, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Vivotek, Inc.
• Inventors: Chang, Chien-Wei
• Primary Examiner(s): Chowdhury, Nigar
• Application Number:
  US14/060,233
• Publication Number:
  US 20140119706A1
• Time in Patent Office: 637 Days
• Field of Search: 386/224, 386/332, 386/334, 386/335
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/772 the recording apparatus and the television camera being placed in the same enclosure
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/907 using static stores, e.g. storage tubes or semiconductor memories H04N5/91 takes precedence

Abstract

An image recording system, an image recorder and a data accessing method are provided. Some of memory blocks of a flash memory are set as first blocks, and the other memory blocks are set as second blocks. When a target image file received from a capturing unit of an image reorder is being written into the first blocks, a control unit of the flash memory detects whether the first block into which a processing unit of the image recorder tries to write a piece of data of the target image file is faulty. When the first block is faulty, the control unit selects normal one of the second blocks and then writes the piece of the data of the target image file into the selected second block instead of the first block.

Claims

1. An image recording system, comprising:

a flash memory comprising a control unit and a plurality of memory blocks and storing a faulty block detection procedure, wherein some of the memory blocks are set as first blocks, and the other memory blocks are set as second blocks, a ratio of a quantity of the first blocks to a quantity of the second blocks is set according to a total capacity of the flash memory, and a total capacity and the quantity of the first blocks and a total capacity and the quantity of the second blocks are reset in a flash memory arrangement procedure; and

an image recorder connecting to the flash memory and comprising a processing unit, a capturing unit and a storage unit, the capturing unit being configured to capture an object to output a target image file, and the processing unit connecting to the capturing unit and the storage unit and being configured to write the target image file into the first blocks;

wherein when the target image file is being written into the flash memory, the control unit performs the faulty block detection procedure to detect whether a first block into which the processing unit tries to write a piece of data of the target image file is faulty; and

when the first block is faulty, the control unit selects normal one of the second blocks and writes the piece of the data of the target image file into the selected second block instead of the first block; and

wherein the second blocks are back-up blocks for the first blocks, and the total capacity of the flash memory does not include a total capacity of faulty block.

2. The image recording system according to claim 1, wherein the storage unit further stores the flash memory arrangement procedure, and when the flash memory connects to the image recorder, the processing unit performs the flash memory arrangement procedure on the flash memory to arrange the memory blocks.

3. The image recording system according to claim 2, wherein the flash memory further stores a data accessing structure mapping table which is updated to record an order of writing the target image file into the memory blocks.

4. The image recording system according to claim 3, wherein the control unit records the faulty first block into the data accessing structure mapping table after the piece of the data of the target image file is written into the selected second block, and then the processing unit writes the rest of the data of the target image file into the other first blocks.

5. An image recorder, adapted to access a flash memory which comprises a plurality of memory blocks, and comprising:

a storage unit;

a capturing unit, configured to capture an object to output a target image file; and

a processing unit, connecting to the capturing unit and the storage unit and configured to write the target image file into the memory blocks;

wherein some of the memory blocks are set as first blocks into which the processing unit writes the target image file, and the other memory blocks are set as second blocks, a ratio of a quantity of the first blocks to a quantity of the second blocks is set according to a total capacity of the flash memory, and a total capacity and the quantity of the first blocks and a total capacity and the quantity of the second blocks are reset in a flash memory arrangement procedure;

when the target image file is being written into the flash memory, the flash memory detects whether a first block into which the processing unit tries to write a piece of data of the target image file is faulty; and

when the first block is faulty, a control unit in the flash memory selects normal one of the second blocks and then writes the piece of the data of the target image file into the selected second block instead of the first block; and

wherein the second blocks are back-up blocks for the first blocks, and the total capacity of the flash memory does not include a total capacity of faulty block.

6. The image recorder according to claim 5, wherein the storage unit further stores the flash memory arrangement procedure, and when the flash memory connects to the image recorder, the processing unit performs the flash memory arrangement procedure on the flash memory to arrange the memory blocks.

7. The image recorder according to claim 6, wherein the flash memory updates a data accessing structure mapping table and records an order of writing the target image file into the memory blocks.

8. The image recorder according to claim 7, wherein after the piece of the data of the target image file is written into the selected second block, the control unit records the faulty first block into the data accessing structure mapping table, and then the control unit writes the rest of the data of the target image file into the other first blocks.

9. A data accessing method, comprising:

setting some of a plurality of memory blocks of a flash memory to be first blocks, and setting the other memory blocks to be second blocks, wherein a ratio of a quantity of the first blocks to a quantity of the second blocks is set according to a total capacity of the flash memory, and a total capacity and the quantity of the first blocks and a total capacity and the quantity of the second blocks are reset in a flash memory arrangement procedure;

obtaining a target image file from an image recorder and writing the target image file into the first blocks; and

detecting whether a first block into which a piece of data of the target image file is written is faulty, via a control unit of the flash memory when the target image file is being written into the flash memory, wherein when the first block is faulty, the control unit selects normal one of the second blocks and then writes the piece of the data of the target image file into the selected second block instead of the first block; and

wherein the second blocks are back-up blocks for the first blocks, and the total capacity of the flash memory does not include a total capacity of faulty block.

10. The data accessing method according to claim 9, wherein when the flash memory connects to an image recorder which includes a processing unit and a storage unit which stores the flash memory arrangement procedure, the flash memory arrangement procedure is performed on the flash memory to set the memory blocks by the processing unit.

11. The data accessing method according to claim 9, further comprising:

updating a data accessing structure mapping table, which is stored in the flash memory, to record an order of writing the target image file into the memory blocks.

12. The data accessing method according to claim 9, further comprising:

recording the faulty first block into the data accessing structure mapping table by the control unit after the piece of the data of the target image file is written into the selected second block; and

writing the rest of the data of the target image file into the other first blocks by a processing unit.