Patent ID: 6134640
Filing Date: 2000-10-17
Classification: G06F

Abstract:
A method for transforming data being maintained in a first data storage format to a second data storage format, said method comprising the steps of:dividing a data segment into a main data segment having a main segment length and a sub data segment having a sub segment length shorter than said main segment length;assigning said main data segment and said sub data segment, respectively, to a main address in a main data area of a data storage unit and a sub address in a sub data area of the data storage unit;defining a data storage format of said data storage unit as being a combination of formats of said main data area and said sub data area, the format of said main data area being defined by said main segment length and a number of main addresses and the format of said sub data area being defined by said sub segment length and a number of sub addresses;determining whether the average of the length of all the data segments stored in said data storage unit is less than a threshold value;shortening said sub segment length responsive to a determination that the average length of all data segments stored in said data storage unit is less than the threshold value; andassigning area freed from said sub data area to said main data area, the number of said main addresses being increased by said assigned free area.