Method and system for storing and retrieving multiple channel sampled data

Claim 1

In a random access rotating disk digital data storage system wherein successive blocks of data of at least two data files are recorded in a pattern of a plurality of concentric circular tracks on said disk, each of said plurality of tracks having a plurality of sectors therearound for receiving said data and with one of said sectors at a particular rotational position of each such track designated to receive the beginning of a block of data, an improved method of positioning the recorded blocks of data on said circular tracks in order to reduce rotational latency, comprising the steps of: recording the successive blocks of data for said at least two data files in physically non-sequential scattered positions in said circular tracks, and beginning the recording of blocks of data in each of said plurality of tracks at its said beginning sector, the beginning sector of each of said plurality of tracks on said disk being fixed at one of at least two different rotational positions with respect to said disk, wherein the different rotational positions of the beginning sectors are N in number and the beginning sector for substantially any given track is given by (S/N) (cyl. modulo N), where S is the total number of sectors in the given track and "cyl. modulo N" is the remainder resulting from dividing the track number by N.

Claim 7

A method of efficiently transferring, under the control of a central processing unit (CPU), blocks of digital data of a plurality of distinct files in a desired order between (1) a bulk storage memory characterized by having unequal access times to said blocks of data which are recorded in a scattered non-sequential manner, and (2) a random access buffer memory, the buffer memory being connected to simultaneously supply data blocks from the plurality of distinct files therein to another device, comprising the steps of: developing in the CPU a transfer schedule for blocks of data by a method comprising the steps of: identifying the locations of certain blocks of data stored in said bulk storage memory that are desired to be transferred into the buffer memory to form simultaneous and time sequential portions of each data file, determining the number of blocks of data already scheduled to be stored in said buffer memory for each file, determining from the number of blocks of data already scheduled to be stored in each buffer data file whether the amount of data in such files is balanced enough to avoid running out of data in any one file as the data is transferred to said another device, and designating an order of the blocks of data to be transferred in either of two ways: (1) if the amount of data in each buffer file is not balanced enough to avoid running out of data in any one file, data blocks are scheduled for transfer to the buffer files in a manner to increase such balance, or (2) if the amount of data in each buffer file is balanced enough to avoid running out of data in any of said plurality of files, data blocks are scheduled for transfer to the buffer files in an order that minimizes the access time thereto in the bulk storage memory, whereby efficiency of the transfer is maximized, thereby to develop a transfer schedule, and transferring said certain blocks of data between the bulk storage memory and the buffer memory in accordance with the transfer schedule, whereby said certain blocks of data are transferred at a high efficiency consistent with maintaining some balance in the number of buffered data blocks in each file.

Claim 8

A method of efficiently transferring, under the control of a central processing unit (CPU), blocks of digital data of a plurality of distinct files in a desired order between (1) a bulk storage memory characterized by having unequal access times to said blocks of data which are recorded in a scattered non-sequential manner, and (2) a random access buffer memory, the buffer memory being connected to simultaneously supply data blocks from the plurality of distinct files therein to another device, comprising the steps of: developing in the CPU a transfer schedule for blocks of data by a method comprising the steps of: identifying the locations of certain blocks of data stored in said bulk storage memory that are desired to be transferred into the buffer memory to form simultaneous and time sequential portions of each data file, determining the number of blocks of data already scheduled to be stored in said buffer memory for each file, determining from the number of blocks of data already scheduled to be stored in each buffer data file whether the amount of data in such files is balanced enough to avoid running out of data in any one file as the data is transferred to said another device, and designating an order of the blocks of data to be transferred in either of two ways: (1) if the amount of data in each buffer file is not balanced enough to avoid running out of data in any one file, data blocks are scheduled for transfer to the buffer files in a manner to increase such balance, or (2) if the amount of data in each buffer file is balanced enough to avoid running out of data in any of said plurality of files, data blocks are scheduled for transfer to the buffer files in an order that minimizes the access time thereto in the bulk storage memory, whereby efficiency of the transfer is maximized, thereby to develop a transfer schedule, and transferring said certain blocks of data between the bulk storage memory and the buffer memory in accordance with the transfer schedule, whereby said certain blocks of data are transferred at a high efficiency consistent with maintaining some balance in the number of buffered data blocks in each file.

Claim 12

A method of efficiently transferring blocks of digital audio data from a plurality of audio channels betwen a bulk storage memory characterized by having unequal access times to said blocks of data which are recorded in a scattered non-sequential manner, and a random access buffer memory that is connected to a consumer or a source of said multi-channel digital audio data blocks, under the control of a central processing unit (CPU), comprising the steps of: identifying in the CPU the locations of certain blocks of data stored in said bulk storage memory that are desired to be transferred into the buffer memory to form simultaneous and time sequential portions of each audio channel, determining the number of blocks of data already stored in said buffer memory for each channel and determining the reciprocal of each such number, obtaining an indication of urgency by the step of summing said reciprocals, thereby to determine an urgency quantity, and transferring blocks of data from the bulk storage memory to the buffered memory in a sequence that substantially minimizes the access times between them in said bulk storage memory or in an sequence that substantially equalizes the blocks of data stored in said buffer for each channel, depending upon whether the urgency quantity is respectively less than or greater than a set threshold urgency value, whereby said certain blocks of data are transferred at a high efficiency consistent with maintaining some balance in the number of buffered data blocks in each channel.

Claim 13

A method of efficiently transferring blocks of digital audio data from a plurality of audio channels betwen a bulk storage memory characterized by having unequal access times to said blocks of data which are recorded in a scattered non-sequential manner, and a random access buffer memory that is connected to a consumer or a source of said multi-channel digital audio data blocks, under the control of a central processing unit (CPU), comprising the steps of: identifying in the CPU the locations of certain blocks of data stored in said bulk storage memory that are desired to be transferred into the buffer memory to form simultaneous and time sequential portions of each audio channel, determining the number of blocks of data already stored in said buffer memory for each channel and determining the reciprocal of each such number, obtaining an indication of urgency by the step of summing said reciprocals, thereby to determine an urgency quantity, and transferring blocks of data from the bulk storage memory to the buffered memory in a sequence that substantially minimizes the access times between them in said bulk storage memory or in an sequence that substantially equalizes the blocks of data stored in said buffer for each channel, depending upon whether the urgency quantity is respectively less than or greater than a set threshold urgency value, whereby said certain blocks of data are transferred at a high efficiency consistent with maintaining some balance in the number of buffered data blocks in each channel.

Claim 21

A system for efficiently transferring, according to a given transfer schedule, blocks of digital data of a plurality of distinct files between a rotating magnetic disk storage device and a random access buffer memory, comprising: means for identifying the locations of certain blocks of data stored on said disk that are desired to be transferred into the buffer memory to form simultaneous and time sequential portions of each data file, means for determining the number of blocks of data already stored in said buffer memory for each file, means responsive to numbers ascertained by said block number determining means for determining whether the amount of data stored in the buffer in each file is enough to avoid running out of data in any one file as the data is simultaneously transferred out of the buffer to a data utilization device, means responsive to the data amount determining means for designating an order of the blocks of data to be transferred, said designating means including: means responsive to the amount of data in each buffer file not being balanced enough to avoid running out of data in any one file for scheduling data blocks for transfer to the buffer files in a manner to increase such balance, and means responsive to the amount of data in each buffer file being balanced enough to avoid running out of data in any one file for scheduling data blocks for transfer to the buffer files in an order that minimizes the access time thereto in the storage device, and means responsive to the designating means for transferring blocks of data from said disk to the buffered memory in an order scheduled by said designating means, whereby said certain blocks of data are transferred from said disk at a high efficiency consistent with maintaining some balance in the number of buffered data blocks in each file.

Claim 22

A system for efficiently transferring, according to a given transfer schedule, blocks of digital data of a plurality of distinct files between a rotating magnetic disk storage device and a random access buffer memory, comprising: means for identifying the locations of certain blocks of data stored on said disk that are desired to be transferred into the buffer memory to form simultaneous and time sequential portions of each data file, means for determining the number of blocks of data already stored in said buffer memory for each file, means responsive to numbers ascertained by said block number determining means for determining whether the amount of data stored in the buffer in each file is enough to avoid running out of data in any one file as the data is simultaneously transferred out of the buffer to a data utilization device, means responsive to the data amount determining means for designating an order of the blocks of data to be transferred, said designating means including: means responsive to the amount of data in each buffer file not being balanced enough to avoid running out of data in any one file for scheduling data blocks for transfer to the buffer files in a manner to increase such balance, and means responsive to the amount of data in each buffer file being balanced enough to avoid running out of data in any one file for scheduling data blocks for transfer to the buffer files in an order that minimizes the access time thereto in the storage device, and means responsive to the designating means for transferring blocks of data from said disk to the buffered memory in an order scheduled by said designating means, whereby said certain blocks of data are transferred from said disk at a high efficiency consistent with maintaining some balance in the number of buffered data blocks in each file.

Claim 25

A system for storing and consuming blocks of digital data, comprising: a magnetic disk storage device characterized by the ability to store digital blocks of data for each of a plurality of data files in scattered physical locations of said device, a buffer memory characterized by the ability to store at least one block of said data for each of said plurality of files, means connected to said buffer memory for consuming an unbroken stream of a plurality of blocks of data therein at a predetermined rate in real time simultaneously from each of said plurality of files, and means connected to said disk storage device and said buffer memory for transferring blocks of data one at a time from the disk storage device to the buffer memory in an order that maintains enough data in said memory for each of said data files as required at any given instant by consuming means, whereby said consuming means is provided with a sufficient data supply to allow its simultaneous real time consumption of blocks of data from each of said files at said predetermined rate.

Claim 26

A system for storing and consuming blocks of digital data, comprising: a magnetic disk storage device characterized by the ability to store digital blocks of data for each of a plurality of data files in scattered physical locations of said device, a buffer memory characterized by the ability to store at least one block of said data for each of said plurality of files, means connected to said buffer memory for consuming an unbroken stream of a plurality of blocks of data therein at a predetermined rate in real time simultaneously from each of said plurality of files, and means connected to said disk storage device and said buffer memory for transferring blocks of data one at a time from the disk storage device to the buffer memory in an order that maintains enough data in said memory for each of said data files as required at any given instant by consuming means, whereby said consuming means is provided with a sufficient data supply to allow its simultaneous real time consumption of blocks of data from each of said files at said predetermined rate.