Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR DIRECT CONNECTION OF A MASS
STORAGE DRIVE TO A DIGITAL APPLIANCE
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application claims priority from U.S. Provisional Application Serial
No. 60/078,192, filed March 16, 1998, the contents of which are hereby
incorporated
by reference.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates in general to data storage devices. More
particularly, the present invention relates to directly connecting a data
storage device to
a digital appliance to provide a direct communications path for digital data
transferred
between the digital appliance and the data storage device.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The application of digital technology is rapidly being applied to a host of
consumer appliances. For example, the digital camera is widely expected to
become a
major application of digital technology. The digital camera employs a
microprocessor and
other supporting circuitry to convert an analog image into a set of digital
pixels, thereby
forming a digital image. The digital pixels are stored in a memory area of the
camera for
later retrieval and processing. The digital images can then be downloaded to a
personal
computer (PC) or a notebook computer for viewing and editing.
2 0 A conventional digital camera has a central processing unit (CPU) which
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functions as a control unit, an image photographing unit, a data converting
and compressing
unit, a memory controller which functions as an interface, a data memory which
is a storage
medium, a first in first out (FIFO) circuit, and a communication port.
The CPU controls operations of the components of the camera. The image
photographing unit, which is typically implemented as a charge coupled device,
converts
a detected image into analog signals. The data converting and compressing unit
converts
the analog signals into digital signals which represent the image data, and
compresses and
encodes the image data. The image data is written into a data memory through
the FIFO
circuit by operation of the memory controller. The data memory is typically a
standard
flash memory PC card or other nonvolatile memory and is typically constructed
in
accordance with the PCMCIA (Personal Computer Memory Card International
Association)
standard. The image data can be read out from the data memory through the FIFO
circuit
by operation of the memory controller. A communication port is provided to
download
image data directly to a PC.
Flash memory is the most common form of digital image storage space in
a digital camera. When the memory area becomes full, the memory area must be
cleared
before more pictures can be taken. In the earliest digital cameras to arrive
in the
marketplace, the flash memory modules were not removable. Those cameras
require that
the camera be connected to a PC or notebook computer to download the images.
Newer
2 0 cameras provide a removable flash memory module. Accordingly, when such a
memory
module is full, it can be replaced with an empty memory module. The user is
then free to
take additional pictures and postpone the download to a later time.
Unfortunately, although
the flash memory modules are removable, they are also relatively expensive. As
a result,
a user is likely to purchase only one or two additional memory modules, which
still limits
the user's picture taking capability.
Thus, at present, digital camera images are stored in the internal memory
(e.g., flash memory, RAM, etc.) of the camera which, when it becomes full,
requires
downloading through a port (e.g. , serial, parallel, SCSI) to a PC. This is
not convenient
to the user if a PC is not readily available. Transfer of images over a serial
port is very
3 0 slow.
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A digital camera is only one example that uses flash memory to provide a
removable storage solution. Other digital information appliances, such as
smart phones,
personal digital assistants, and the like, similarly rely on flash memory to
provide a
removable storage solution.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for a data storage device that can be
selectively coupled to any of a plurality of digital appliances to provide low
cost and
efficient digital data transfer between the digital appliances and the data
storage device.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A data storage device according to the present invention comprises a data
1o storage medium, such as a removable magnetic storage medium; a read/write
head that
writes digital data to, and reads digital data from, the data storage medium;
and an electrical
interface, coupled to the data storage medium, that can be selectively coupled
to a first
communication port of a first digital appliance or to a second communication
port of a
second digital appliance. The data storage device receives digital data
generated by the first
digital appliance via the electrical interface, stores the received digital
data in the data
storage medium as stored digital data, and transfers the stored digital data
to the second
digital appliance via the electrical interface.
The invention is particularly suitable for use where the first digital
appliance
is a digital camera having a compact flash interface port. Nonetheless, the
data storage
device of the present invention can be adapted to transfer digital data
between digital
appliances and the data storage medium regardless of the type of
communications port the
digital appliance has, or the protocol it supports. For example, where either
of the
communications ports is an ATA, SSFDC, parallel, USB, PCMCIA, or SCSI port,
the
electrical interface can include an ATA, SSFDC, parallel, USB, PCMCIA, or SCSI
interface. Similarly, the electrical interface can also include a protocol
adapter to enable
the transfer of data between the digital appliance and the data storage medium
where the
digital appliance and the data storage medium support different protocols.
The data storage device can also include a housing with an optional mounting
member coupled to the housing so that a user can, for example, mount the data
storage
3 0 device to a camera tripod, or clip the device to his shirt pocket or belt.
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In particular, a data storage device for storing digital data generated by a
digital appliance having a flash memory interface port comprises a data
storage medium;
a read/write head adapted to write digital data to, and read digital data
from, the data
storage medium; and an electrical interface coupled to the data storage medium
and adapted
to be coupled to the flash memory interface port of the digital appliance. The
data storage
device is adapted to receive the digital data from the digital appliance via
the electrical
interface, and to store the received digital data in the data storage medium.
Preferably, the
flash memory interface comprises a compact flash interface and the electrical
interface
comprises an ATA interface.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The foregoing and other aspects of the present invention will become
apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when
considered in
conjunction with the accompanying drawings. For the purpose of illustrating
the invention,
there is shown in the drawings embodiments that are presently preferred, it
being
understood, however, that the invention is not limited to the specific methods
and
instrumentalities disclosed. In the drawings:
Figure 1 shows a preferred embodiment of a portable disk drive;
Figure 2 shows a preferred embodiment of a data storage device particularly
suitable for use with a digital camera;
Figure 3 is a table of pin assignments for converting from a Compact Flash
interface connector to an IDE interface;
Figure 4 shows a preferred embodiment of a data storage device including
anl6/8 bit converter;
Figure 5 is a table of pin assignments for an 8-bit ATA connector ; and
Figure 6 shows another preferred embodiment of a data storage device
according to the present invention.
DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODllVIENTS AND BEST MODE
The present invention relates to directly connecting a data storage device to
a digital appliance, such as a digital camera, to provide a direct
communications path for
digital data transferred between the digital appliance and the data storage
device.
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Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a storage drive 50 for storing and
retrieving information for a host device 90. Host device 90 may be one of a
number of
various types of computer based digital appliances such as a digital camera,
personal
computer, handheld computer, or any other digital appliance that generates or
receives
digital data. Host device 90 communicates with drive 50 via a bus 91 by
sending
commands to write or read digital information to or from data storage medium
14. Bus 91
can be any of the various buses such as parallel, generic serial, USB, SCSI,
and so on.
Data storage medium 14 may be any of the various digital data storage media
such as magnetic, optical, or magneto-optical. Optionally, medium 14 may be
fixed in
drive 50, or alternatively removable from drive S0. Where medium 14 is
removable from
drive 50, medium 14 may be encased in an outer shell 18 to protect medium 14
from
damage. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, data storage
medium 14 is
a nonvolatile, removable, magnetic medium, such as a magnetic disk, included
in a portable
data storage drive, such as a "CLIK! " drive (Iomega Corporation, Roy, Utah).
Drive 50 comprises a controller 88 that provides an interface with host device
90 as well as controlling the overall operation of drive 50. Controller 88 is
preferably a
microprocessor-based controller. Drive 50 also comprises a read channel 82 for
conditioning signals read from medium 14, an actuator controller 84 for
providing servo
control and tracking, a motor controller 86 for controlling the spin rate of
medium 14 via
2 0 a spindle motor 40, and an actuator assembly for reading the data from
medium 14.
The actuator assembly comprises a read/write head 46 that is connected to
a distal end of the actuator assembly. The actuator assembly also comprises a
suspension
arm 44 and an actuator 49 that cooperate to move the read/write head 46 over
the surface
of medium 14 for reading and writing digital information. Read/write head 46
is
electrically coupled to read channel 82 by way of electrical conductor 92.
Actuator 49 comprises an electro-magnetic motor, preferably a voice coil
motor, stepper motor, or the like. Moreover, actuator 49 may comprise a linear
or rotary
motion. Linear motion actuators are generally referred to as linear actuators;
whereas,
rotary motion actuators are generally referred to as rotary actuators.
3 0 Figure 2 shows a preferred embodiment of a data storage device according
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to the present invention. As shown in Figure 2, data storage device 100
includes a drive
50, such as described above in connection with Figure 1, and an electrical
interface 104 and
electrical interface to connect drive SO to digital camera 90. Electrical
interface 104 can
be any electrical interface capable of carrying bus 91, but in a preferred
embodiment,
electrical interface 104 is a cable.
Digital cameras commonly use flash memory to store digital image data
generated when a digital photograph is taken. Typically, digital camera 90
includes a flash
memory module that connects to digital camera 90 via a flash memory interface
12, such
as a Compact Flash interface. Electrical interface 104 includes a Compact
Flash connector
142 on one end of the cable to connect electrical interface 104 to digital
camera 90. The
user simply removes the Compact Flash module and connects the Compact Flash
connector
of electrical interface 104 into Compact Flash interface 12. Drive 50,
however, includes
an ATA interface port 146. Consequently, electrical interface 104 also
includes an ATA
connector 140 on the other end of the cable.
Preferably, data storage device 100 also comprises a protective housing 102
with an optional mounting member 106. Mounting member 106 can be a clip, for
example,
to enable the user to clip data storage device 100 onto a belt or shirt pocket
while using
digital camera 10, or to mount data storage device 100 onto a camera tripod.
Figure 3 provides a pinout for a standard Compact Flash interface 12 and for
an ATA, or IDE, interface 16. Thus, Figure 3 shows the conversion from Compact
Flash
to IDE that is necessary to make digital storage device 100 appear to digital
camera 90 as
nothing more than a flash memory module within digital camera 90. Data is
written
directly, as it is generated, to data storage medium 14 in data storage device
100 by
operation of controller 88 via electrical interface 104 and communication port
12. In this
way, data storage device 100 enables the direct transfer of digital data from
digital camera
90 to data storage medium 14 without the use of a personal computer (PC) or
other external
data transfer device.
Data storage device 100 is adapted to receive digital data from digital camera
90, and to store the received digital data in data storage medium 14. To
enable data storage
3 0 device 100 to appear to digital camera 90 as if it were a flash memory
module, data storage
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device 100 interprets and responds to all ATA flash commands as if it were
flash memory
in accordance with the American National Standards Institute ATA flash
specification
(ANSI X3T13/1153D, Revision 7, Information Technology - ATA Attachment-4 with
Packet Interface Extension (ATA/ATAPI-4), October 1996).
Digital appliance 90 initiates the transfer of data between digital appliance
90 and data storage device 100. As image data is generated, it is provided to
data storage
device 100 through a FIFO circuit (not shown) by operation of controller 88.
Each image
transfer intended for the memory of digital appliance 90 is directly provided
to data storage
device 100 for storage in data storage medium 14. Data storage device 100
interprets and
responds to commands of digital appliance 90 as if it were a memory of digital
appliance
90.
To use the data storage device of the present invention, a user couples data
storage device 100 directly to digital appliance 10 (e.g., digital camera) and
uses digital
appliance 10 to control the transfer of image data, for example, to a disk,
(e.g. , a CLIK!
disk), in much the same way as a Compact FlashTM. As will be explained in
greater detail
below, the same connector 142 with the appropriate adapter 144 can be used to
couple data
storage device 100 to a computer with a PCMCIA ATA interface to access the
image data
stored in data storage medium 14. When data storage device 100 is connected to
a digital
camera, the digital camera acts like a host and uses the ATA standard.
Similarly, when
2 o data storage device 100 is connected to a computer, the computer, because
it has an ATA
interface, acts like a host to data storage device 100.
As shown in Figure 4, data storage device 100 can also include an optional
input-output (i/o) board I24. Drive 50 is connected to i/o board 124 via an
IDE bus 130.
I/o board 124 has an external host connector 132. Figure 5 shows the pinout
for host
connector 132. Host connector 132 has 34 pins with an overall shield. Pins are
assigned
by even numbers on one side of the connector and odd numbered pins on the
opposing side
of the connector. The table shown in Figure 5 provides the pin assignments for
host
connector 132 (column labeled D3) and the required Host usage of the pins
(column labeled
Host Interface).
3 0 Preferably, electrical interface 104 comprises an ATA interface 146. ATA
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interface 146 can be either a standard ATA interface or a nonstandard ATA
interface. In
a preferred embodiment, ATA interface 146 is a nonstandard ATA interface that
uses eight
bits (rather than 16) for status and data transfers. The use of an 8-bit ATA
interface allows
reduces the number of pins required for the connectors and permits electrical
interface 104
to include a smaller cable.
To ensure that the 8-bit ATA interface is transparent to digital appliances,
i/o board 124 performs a 16/8 bit conversion. A register (at address Ox3F4,
aliased at
Ox3F5) is used to maintain a check syndrome on all data transfers. Write
operations to
Ox3F4 or Ox3F5 cause the syndrome to be initialized to all "ones", while reads
of Ox3F4
or Ox3F5 return the contents of the check syndrome. The syndrome value is 10
bits wide
and is accessed in two read cycles. A first read of Ox3F4 returns the upper 2
bits and the
next read returns the lower 8 bits of the syndrome value.
Accesses to a data register at address OxlFO are performed an even number
of times since odd and even accesses transfer either the upper or lower 8-bits
of a 16-bit
z5 value. To facilitate operation with some PCMCIA implementations, the lower
address bit
is ignored during the read or write cycle immediately following a read or
write of the data
register. This will allow the host to access even/odd byte lanes via the least
significant
address line. Since reads of address OxlF1 will reference either the lower
byte of data or
access the ERROR register depending upon the address used in the previous
cycle, the user
must insure that data transfers are 16-bit aligned and are consecutive.
Figure 5 is a table of the pin assignments for a preferred embodiment of a
connector used with ATA interface 146. The host connector has 34 pins with an
overall
shield. Pins are assigned by even numbers on one side of the connector and odd
numbered
pins on the other side of the connector. Figure 5 shows the pin assignments of
the
connector, and the required host usage of the pins. Note the presence of only
eight data
lines (i.e., pins 4-9 & 11-12).
Data storage device 100 also preferably includes a power source 20, which
is preferably detachable and portable, such as a battery pack. Either a
standard battery
(e.g. , 9 volt or AA alkaline) or more preferably, a rechargeable battery, is
provided as a
3 0 power supply. Thus, there is no additional power drain on the digital
appliance.
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Optionally, a power switch (not shown) is provided so that the power source
can be
manually turned off to save power when not in use.
Data storage device 100 also optionally includes an indicator lamp (not
shown), which is preferably a multi-color LED or a plurality of LEDs that
indicates the
status of a data transfer. For example, the indicator lamp can be a two color
LED that turns
red if data storage medium 14 does not have enough unused or free storage
space remaining
to store the contents of the camera (i. e. , disk full), and the LED turns
green after a
successful uansfer of the data from digital appliance 10 (i.e., transfer
successful).
Additional LED indicator lamps can be incorporated to indicate other statuses
such as "on
going transfer" or "unsuccessful transfer." The indicator lamp is separate
from any
indicator lamps that may be present on the power source (e.g., battery pack
indicator
LEDs).
Figure 6 shows another aspect of data storage device 100 according to the
present invention. As shown in Figure 6, the same electrical interface 104
used to directly
connect data storage device 100 to digital camera 90, can also be used to
directly connect
data storage device 100 to a PC 50 (e.g., a notebook computer) using a
protocol adapter
125, or other digital appliance 60, 70, etc. In this way, data received from a
first digital
appliance ("received digital data") and stored on data storage medium 14
("stored digital
data") can be transferred, viewed, or edited on a second digital appliance.
The present
2 0 invention is more economically feasible than flash memory, and data
transfer between the
digital appliance and a PC is much faster with the present invention than with
flash
memory.
As shown in Figure 6, data storage device 100 is first coupled to a first
digital appliance (e.g. , digital appliance 40). Data storage device 100
receives, via
electrical interface 104, the digital data generated by digital appliance 40,
and stores the
received digital data in data storage medium 14. Data storage device 100 is
then coupled
to a second digital appliance (e.g., digital appliance 50). On command from
digital
appliance 50, data storage device 100 transfers the stored digital data to
digital appliance
50 via electrical interface 104.
3 0 In general, electrical interface 104 can be any interface that provides a
bus
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for the transfer of digital data between data storage medium 14 and digital
appliances 40,
50, 60, 70. Similarly, electrical interface 104 can support any protocol and
provide an
interface between digital storage medium 14 and any communications port 41,
51, 61, 71,
regardless of the protocol the communications port supports.
In general, digital appliances 40, 50, 60, 70 can have different
communications port interfaces and support different protocols. To ensure that
data storage
device 100 can be selectively coupled (i.e., coupled based on a user's
selection) to digital
appliances having communications ports that support different protocols,
electrical interface
104 can be selectively coupled to any communication port that supports any
protocol by
selecting the appropriate interfaces and protocol adapters to be included in
electrical
interface 104. For example, if digital appliance 40 is a digital camera and
communications
port 41 is a compact flash port that supports ATA protocol, electrical
interface 104 can
include an ATA interface.
Similarly, if digital appliance 50 is a desk top computer and communications
port 51 is a SCSI interface port, electrical interface 104 can include a SCSI
interface 115
and an ATA-to-SCSI protocol adapter 125. On the other hand, if digital
appliance 60 is a
notebook computer having a PCMCIA interface port 61, electrical interface 104
can include
a PCMCIA interface 116 and an ATA-to-PCMCIA protocol adapter 127. If digital
appliance 70 is a PC printer and communications port 71 is a parallel port,
electrical
2 0 interface 104 can include a parallel port interface 117 and an ATA-to-
parallel protocol
adapter 127. Similarly, electrical interface 104 can be selectively coupled to
other
communications ports, such as USB ports or SSFDC ports using the appropriate
USB or
SSFDC interfaces and protocol adapters. Thus, electrical interface 104 is
basically a
modular means for providing communication between a digital appliance and data
storage
medium 14. The user merely selects which interfaces and protocol adapters to
include in
electrical interface 104 based on the communications ports and protocols
supported by the
digital appliances to which the user wishes to couple data storage device 100.
It should be noted that although the portable device of the described
embodiments is preferably a digital camera, the present invention is not
limited thereto.
For example, the present invention can be applied to a smart phone, personal
digital
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assistants, and notebook computers. Any digital data, such as sound data, can
be
downloaded and saved by the present invention, not just digital image data.
