KR20080010492A - Vendor unique command execution method and device - Google Patents

Abstract

Disclosed are a vendor unique command execution method and apparatus. The vendor unique command execution method may include receiving a command sequence input by a controller provided in a hard disk drive through a host interface from a host system, and whether the command sequence received by the controller is a command sequence for performing a vendor unique command. Comparing the test sequence with a test sequence stored in the controller, and when the comparison result is a command sequence for performing a vendor unique command, the controller recognizes data included in the command sequence as a vendor unique command. do.

Description

Method for processing vender unique command and apparatus

The detailed description of each drawing is provided in order to provide a thorough understanding of the drawings cited in the detailed description of the invention.

1 is a functional block diagram illustrating a controller and a host interface in a hard disk drive according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a flowchart of a vendor unique instruction execution method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for performing a vendor unique command, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for enabling a vendor unique command to be executed using only a command supported by an operating system (OS) of a host system. It is about.

Vendor unique commands are various commands provided by each manufacturer of a device (eg, a hard disk drive) to achieve its own application or a specific purpose, and mainly test or upgrade the performance of the device itself. Used for

As a method for executing the vendor unique command, a separate additional operation is required to separately use an application written by each manufacturer or to execute the vendor unique command. This limits the commands that the OS sends to the hard disk drive because the host system uses the OS in a multi tasking environment, so misuse of the hard disk drive can cause fatal problems for other tasks. Because.

For example, in order to update the firmware of a conventional hard disk drive, DOS, a single user environment, and a required program are stored in a floppy diskette, and the host system is booted using the floppy diskette. The required program was run. Or, a special device driver was created in Window ™, and then used.

The method of using DOS is difficult to use in an environment without a floppy driver, and recent OSs have a problem in that they do not provide DOS. In addition, the method of using a special device driver is inconvenient because a company needs to make a special device driver differently and requires an install / uninstall process for a short time.

Therefore, there is an urgent need for a method that can easily perform vendor unique commands in a general OS environment.

Accordingly, the technical problem to be achieved by the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus for easily performing a vendor unique command in a general OS environment.

A method for performing a vendor unique command for achieving the technical problem includes receiving a command sequence input by a controller provided in a hard disk drive through a host interface from a host system, wherein the command sequence received by the controller is configured to perform a vendor unique command. Comparing a test sequence stored in the controller with a test sequence stored in the controller; and when the comparison result is a command sequence for executing a vendor unique command, the controller may compare data included in the command sequence to a vendor unique command. Recognizing step.

The test sequence may include at least one of a read command and a write command.

The last command of the test sequence may be a write command.

Data included in the command sequence recognized as the vendor unique command may be recorded in a sector corresponding to a sector counter of the write command which is the last command.

Comparing with the test sequence stored in the controller, the controller compares the n-th command of the command sequence and the m-th command of the test sequence, if the comparison result is equal to (n + 1) of the command sequence ) Th command is compared with the (m + 1) th command of the test sequence, and if it is not the same as the result of the comparison, the controller processes the nth command as a normal command and executes (n + 1) of the command sequence. And comparing the first command with the first command of the test sequence.

The comparing with the test sequence stored in the controller may include comparing data stored in the first sector of the sector corresponding to the sector counter with a predetermined format stored in the controller.

In order to accomplish the above technical problem, a hard disk drive includes a host interface for receiving a command sequence output from a host system and a controller for receiving the command sequence output from the host interface, wherein the controller is configured to receive the command sequence. Compare the test sequence stored in the controller with a test sequence for executing a vendor unique command, and if the inputted command sequence is the command sequence for performing the vendor unique command, the controller includes data included in the command sequence. Is recognized as the vendor unique command.

And the controller recognizes the vendor unique command based on data included in write data of a write command of the command sequence.

In order to fully understand the present invention, the operational advantages of the present invention, and the objects achieved by the practice of the present invention, reference should be made to the accompanying drawings which illustrate preferred embodiments of the present invention and the contents described in the accompanying drawings.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Like reference numerals in the drawings denote like elements.

1 is a functional block diagram of a hard disk drive according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, the hard disk drive 100 includes a controller 110 and a host interface 120. Of course, the hard disk drive 100 may include a plurality of data storage media (eg, magnetic disks), a spindle motor, a plurality of magnetic heads, a voice coil motor (VCM), an actuator, a preamplifier, a lead / A read / write (R / W) channel circuit, a VCM driver, a spindle motor driver, and a memory may be further provided. However, in the present specification, the controller 110 and the host interface 120 are provided for convenience of description. It will be described with reference to, and description of the other components will be omitted.

The host interface 120 receives a command sequence output from a host system (eg, a computer).

The controller 110 receives the command sequence output from the host interface 120 and read / write channel circuits (not shown), VCM driver (not shown), and spindles to perform operations corresponding to the command sequences. The motor driver (not shown) or the memory (not shown) is controlled.

The controller 110 compares whether the received command sequence is a command sequence for performing a vendor unique command with a test sequence stored in the controller 110, and the input command sequence is for executing the vendor unique command. In the case of the command sequence, the controller 110 recognizes the data included in the command sequence as the vendor unique command.

A method of comparing the command sequence with the test sequence stored in the controller 110 will be described with reference to FIG. 2 as follows.

2 is a flowchart of a vendor unique instruction execution method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

1 and 2, the controller 110 receives one command of the command sequence output from the host system through the host interface 120 (S10).

The one command includes a command (eg, a read command or a write command) and a parameter (eg, a logical block adress (LBA), a sector counter, etc.) required for the command.

The controller 110 compares whether the received one command (eg, n (n is a natural number) th command) is equal to the first command of the test sequence (S20). The command included in the test sequence is a command that does not occur in a normal hard disk drive operating environment, but is a type of command (for example, a lead command or a light command) that the OS of the host system can send to the hard disk drive without restriction. It is preferable. That is, each command included in the test sequence is a command that generally does not occur in a hard disk drive operating environment, and a command sequence input by using a command combination including at least one of these commands as the test sequence is a vendor unique command. It is possible to know for sure whether it is a command sequence or a general command sequence.

In FIG. 2, the first command of the test sequence is "Read 0x55ab, 1", and the test sequence includes a combination of five commands. For example, the scope of the present invention is not limited thereto.

If the received one command is the same as the first command of the test sequence, the controller 110 determines whether the next command (n + 1th command) of the one command (nth command) and the test sequence are two. The first command is to be compared (S30). If the received one command is not the same as the first command of the test sequence, the controller 110 performs the one command (nth command) as a general command, and the next command (n + 1). The first command) is compared with the first command of the test sequence again (S20).

That is, in FIG. 2, the controller 110 controls the VCM driver to read one sector at LBA 0x55ab, and receives the next command (n + 1 th command) to compare it with the first command of the test sequence again. (S20).

The controller 110 compares the command (n + 1 th command) with the second command of the test sequence ("Read 0x55aa, 1") (S30). If the comparison result is the same, the next command (n + 2) The first command) and the third command of the test sequence ("Read 0x55ad, 1") are compared (S40). As a result of comparing the command (n + 1 th command) with the second command ("Read 0x55aa, 1") of the test sequence (S30), if not the same, the controller 110 receives the nth order of the received command sequence. Command (n + 1) th command will be executed sequentially. That is, when the first comparison result (S20) is the same and the second comparison result (S30) is not the same, the nth command has not been performed, so the nth command and the (n + 1) th command are sequentially executed. Will be performed (S80).

The controller 110 compares the command (n + 2th command) and the third command (“Read 0x55ad, 1”) of the test sequence (S40). If the comparison result is the same, the next command (n + 3) The first command) and the fourth command of the test sequence ("Read 0x55ac, 1") are compared (S50). As a result of comparing the command (n + 2 th command) with the third command ("Read 0x55ad, 1") of the test sequence (S40), if not the same, the controller 110 receives the nth of the received command sequence. The (n + 2) th command is sequentially executed from the command (S80).

The controller 110 compares the command (n + 3th command) with the fourth command of the test sequence ("Read 0x55ac, 1") (S50). If the comparison result is the same, the next command (n + 4) Th command) and the fifth command of the test sequence ("Write 0x55aa") are compared (S60). As a result of comparing the command (n + 3 th command) and the fourth command ("Read 0x55ac, 1") of the test sequence (S50), if not the same, the controller 110 receives the nth of the received command sequence. The command (n + 3) th order is performed sequentially (S80).

The controller 110 may determine that a portion of the (n + 4) th command (eg, “Write 0x55aa, sector counter”) (eg, “Write 0x55aa”) is the fifth command of the test sequence (“Write 0x55aa”). If it is equal to (S60) to perform a vendor unique command based on the remainder (sector counter) of the (n + 4) th command (S90). That is, when the last command of the test sequence is a write command, the write command and the LBA are used when performing the comparison with the (n + 4) th command and included in the received command (n + 4th command). The write data to be included includes data regarding vendor unique instructions to be executed.

In addition, it may be determined whether the command sequence is a command sequence for performing the vendor unique command once again based on the remaining counter of the (n + 4) th command (S70).

For example, data stored in the first sector of a sector corresponding to the sector counter may be compared with a predetermined format stored in the controller 110.

The predetermined format stored in the controller 110 is a vendor unique format.

WORD 0,1: Command

WORD 2,3,4,5: LBA

WORD 6,7: Counter

WORD 8,9: Option

WORD 10 ~ 25: passkey

WORD 255: Checksum

In this case, the data of the first sector of the (n + 4) th command is compared with the format, and if the format of the format and the data of the first sector are identical, the data of the second sector is the first sector. It is used as the data of the vendor unique instruction corresponding to the. The predetermined format may vary from vendor to vendor. The above format is merely an example, and the scope of the present invention is not limited thereto.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, the test sequence may include only a read (read) command and / or a write (write) command.

Also, the last command of the test sequence may be a vendor unique command to be executed and a command (eg, a write command) that may include data required for the vendor unique command.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to one embodiment shown in the drawings, this is merely exemplary, and those skilled in the art will understand that various modifications and equivalent other embodiments are possible therefrom. Therefore, the true technical protection scope of the present invention will be defined by the technical spirit of the appended claims.

As described above, the method and apparatus for performing a vendor unique command according to the present invention allow a vendor unique command to be sent to a hard disk drive using only commands supported by all operating systems, thereby providing a floppy on an OS such as Window ™ or Linux ™. This allows you to send vendor-unique commands directly to your hard disk drive without the need for disks, DOS, or device drivers.

Claims (8)

Receiving a command sequence input from the host system via a host interface, the controller provided in the hard disk drive; Comparing, by the controller, whether the received command sequence is a command sequence for executing a vendor unique command with a test sequence stored in the controller; And And comparing, by the controller, data included in the command sequence as a vendor unique command when the command sequence is a command sequence for performing a vendor unique command. The method of claim 1, And the test sequence is a sequence consisting of at least one of a read command and a write command. The method of claim 1, And a last command of the test sequence is a write command. The method of claim 3, The data included in the command sequence recognized as the vendor unique command, And a vendor unique command recorded in a sector corresponding to a sector counter of the last command being the last command. The method of claim 1, wherein the comparing with the test sequence stored in the controller comprises: The controller comparing the n th command of the command sequence with the m th command of the test sequence; In the case of a comparison result, the controller compares the (n + 1) th command of the command sequence with the (m + 1) th command of the test sequence. And performing the processing as an instruction and comparing the (n + 1) th instruction of the instruction sequence with the first instruction of the test sequence. The method of claim 4, wherein the comparing with the test sequence stored in the controller comprises: And comparing the data stored in the first sector of the sector corresponding to the sector counter with a predetermined format stored in the controller. A host interface for receiving a command sequence output from the host system; And A hard disk drive having a controller for receiving the command sequence output from the host interface, The controller compares whether the received command sequence is a command sequence for executing a vendor unique command with a test sequence stored in the controller, and if the input command sequence is a command sequence for performing the vendor unique command, the controller Hard disk drive for recognizing data included in the command sequence as the vendor unique command. The method of claim 7, wherein the controller And a hard disk drive recognizing the vendor unique command based on data included in write data of a write command of the command sequence.

Images