Abstract:
The present invention relates to a removable medium access method and related apparatus, and in particular relates to a removable medium access method and related apparatus in an optical disc drive. A removable medium access method for accessing a removable medium in an optical disc drive is provided. The removable medium access method comprises: reading the multimedia data from the removable medium; generating first data; generating a user file wherein the user file comprises at least one set of representation data; writing back the user file and the first data to the removable medium.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     1. Field of the Invention  
         [0002]     The invention relates to a removable medium access method and related apparatus, and in particular relates to a removable medium access method and related apparatus in an optical disc drive.  
         [0003]     2. Description of the Related Art  
         [0004]     When an optical disc system is playing or recording data on a removable medium (e.g. DVD disc), various thumbnails (reduced-scaled images or text for mapping to specific titles) must be rendered. It may, however, render the same thumbnail in different situations and thus decreasing performance.  
       BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0005]     A detailed description is given in the following embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings.  
         [0006]     A removable medium access method for accessing a removable medium in an optical disc drive is provided. The removable medium access method comprises: reading the multimedia data from the removable medium; generating first data; generating a user file wherein the user file comprises at least one set of representation data; writing back the user file and the first data to the removable medium.  
         [0007]     A removable medium access method for accessing a removable medium in an optical disc drive is provided. The removable medium access method comprises: reading the multimedia data from the removable medium; generating first data; generating a user file, wherein the user file comprises at least one set of representation data; generating second data; writing back the user file and the second data to the removable medium.  
         [0008]     A removable medium access method for accessing a removable medium in an optical disc drive is provided. The removable medium comprises at least one set of multimedia data and a user file. The removable medium access method comprises: reading the user file from the removable medium; writing new multimedia data to the removable medium; generating first data; modifying the user file; writing back the first data and the user file to the removable medium.  
         [0009]     A removable medium access method for accessing a removable medium in an optical disc drive is provided. The removable medium comprises at least one set of multimedia data and a user file. The removable medium access method comprises: reading the user file from the removable medium; writing new multimedia data to the removable medium; generating first data; generating second data; modifying the user file; writing back the first and second data and the user file to the removable medium.  
         [0010]     A removable medium access method for accessing a removable medium in an optical disc drive is provided. The removable medium comprises at least one set of multimedia data. The removable medium access method comprises: writing new multimedia data to the removable medium, wherein a portion of the new multimedia data is stored; generating first data; generating a user file according to the kept multimedia data, wherein the user file comprises at least one set of representation data; writing back the first data and the user file to the removable medium.  
         [0011]     A removable medium access method for accessing a removable medium in an optical disc drive is provided. The removable medium comprises at least one set of multimedia data. The optical disc drive comprises a memory for storing a user file and new multimedia data. The removable medium access method comprises: writing new multimedia data from the memory to the removable medium; generating first data according to the user file in the memory; writing back the first data and the user file to the removable medium. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0012]     The present invention can be more fully understood by reading the subsequent detailed description and examples with references made to the accompanying drawings, wherein:  
         [0013]      FIG. 1  is a block diagram of an optical disc system according to a first embodiment of the invention;  
         [0014]      FIG. 2  is a flow chart of the removable medium access method for accessing the removable medium in  FIG. 1 ;  
         [0015]      FIG. 3  is a block diagram of an optical disc system according to a second embodiment of the invention;  
         [0016]      FIG. 4  is a flow chart of the removable medium access method for accessing the removable medium in  FIG. 3 ;  
         [0017]      FIG. 5  is a block diagram of an optical disc system according to a third embodiment of the invention;  
         [0018]      FIG. 6  is a flow chart of the removable medium access method for accessing the removable medium in  FIG. 5 ;  
         [0019]      FIG. 7  is a block diagram of an optical disc system according to a fourth embodiment of the invention;  
         [0020]      FIG. 8  is a flow chart of the removable medium access method for accessing the removable medium in  FIG. 7 ;  
         [0021]      FIG. 9  is a block diagram of an optical disc system according to a fifth embodiment of the invention;  
         [0022]      FIG. 10  is a flow chart of the removable medium access method for accessing the removable medium in  FIG. 9 ;  
         [0023]      FIG. 11  is a block diagram of an optical disc system according to a fifth embodiment of the invention;  
         [0024]      FIG. 12  is a flow chart of the removable medium access method for accessing the removable medium in  FIG. 11 . 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0025]     The following description is of the best-contemplated mode of carrying out the invention. This description is made for the purpose of illustrating the general principles of the invention and should not be taken in a limiting sense. The scope of the invention is best determined by reference to the appended claims.  
         [0026]     Please refer to  FIG. 1 .  FIG. 1  is a block diagram of an optical disc system  100  according to a first embodiment of the invention. The optical disc system  100  comprises a removable medium  110  (e.g. DVD disc) and an optical disc drive  120 . The removable medium  110  comprises a plurality of titles recorded thereon. Different titles represent different movies. The optical disc drive  120  comprises a pick-up head (PUH)  122 , a processor  124 , a screen  126 , and a memory  128  (e.g. DRAM, HDD, or flash). The PUH  122  is utilized to access data from the removable medium  110 . The processor  124  controls the operation of the optical disc drive  120 . The user directs the processor  124  through various menus on the screen  126  to play or record titles. Please note that each title menu comprises at least one rendered thumbnail (reduced-scaled image or text) in order to assist the user selection. Each title menu comprises at least one rendered thumbnail mapping to a specific title. The rendered thumbnail is also called representation data. The memory  128  is empty in the beginning and a user file  130  comprising pluralities of rendered thumbnails  132  is stored to the memory  128  later. A detailed description of the optical disc system  100  is provided in the following.  
         [0027]     Please refer to  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 2  at the same time.  FIG. 2  is a flow chart of the removable medium access method for accessing the removable medium  110  in the optical disc drive  120 . Initially, the PUH  122  reads titles from the removable medium  110  (step  210 ). The processor  124  generates a browsing menu and a user file  130  (steps  220  and  230 ). The browsing menu is shown on the screen  126  later to provide specific titles for user selection. The user file  130  comprises at least one rendered thumbnail for pasting onto the browsing menu. If one rendered thumbnail stored in the memory  128  is used to consist the browsing menu, the processor  124  retrieves the rendered thumbnails from the memory and presents the browsing menu on screen  126 . Otherwise, if the wanted rendered thumbnails are absent in the memory  128 , the processor  124  renders it from titles on the removable medium  110  (step  240 ), presents the newly rendered thumbnails into the browsing menu, and stores the newly rendered thumbnails to the user file  130 . The processor  124  then stores the user file  130  in the memory  128  (step  250 ). The benefit of storing a user file is that the wanted rendered thumbnail can be pasted onto the browsing menu directly without additional rendering. Finally, the processor  124  writes back the user file  130  to the removable medium  110  (step  260 ). Additionally, the memory  128  may also store various removable medium identifications (IDs) and title IDs for index of specific titles.  
         [0028]     Please refer to  FIG. 3 .  FIG. 3  is a block diagram of an optical disc system  300  according to a second embodiment of the invention. The key difference from the first embodiment is that not only the browsing menu but also the disc menu are generated. The disc menu is the menu stored in the removable medium  310 . A detailed description of the optical disc system  300  is provided in the following.  
         [0029]     Please refer to  FIG. 3  and  FIG. 4  at the same time.  FIG. 4  is a flow chart of the removable medium access method for accessing the removable medium  310  in the optical disc drive  320 . Initially, the PUH  322  reads titles from the removable medium  310  (step  410 ). The processor  324  respectively generates a browsing menu, a user file  330 , and a disc menu (steps  420 ˜ 440 ). The browsing menu is shown on the screen  326  later to provide specific titles for user selection. The user file  330  comprises at least one rendered thumbnail for pasting into the browsing menu. The disc menu is written back to the removable medium  310  later. If the rendered thumbnails in the memory  328  are requested to consist the browsing menu or the disc menu, the processor  324  directly retrieves the rendered thumbnails from the memory  328 . Otherwise, if the wanted rendered thumbnails  328  are absent in the memory, the processor  324  renders the rendered thumbnails from several titles on the removable medium  310  (step  450 ), pastes the newly rendered thumbnails onto the browsing menu or disc menu, and stores the newly rendered thumbnails in the user file  330 . The processor  324  then stores the user file  330  in the memory  328  (step  460 ). The benefit of storing a user file is that the wanted rendered thumbnail can be pasted onto the browsing menu or disc menu directly from the memory without additional rendering steps. Finally, the processor  324  writes back the user file  330  and the disc menu to the removable medium  310  (step  470 ). Please note that the memory  328  may also store various removable medium identifications (IDs) and title IDs for index of specific titles. Additionally, different rendered thumbnails in the memory  328  may have different priorities. For example, a title thumbnail has a higher priority than other kinds of thumbnails.  
         [0030]     Please refer to  FIG. 5 .  FIG. 5  is a block diagram of an optical disc system  500  according to a third embodiment of the invention. The key difference from the first embodiment is that in this embodiment there is a user file in the removable medium at the beginning. Additionally, the processor  524  further records a new title later. A detailed description of the optical disc system  300  is provided in the following.  
         [0031]     Please refer to  FIG. 5  and  FIG. 6  at the same time.  FIG. 6  is a flow chart of the removable medium access method for accessing the removable medium  510  in the optical disc drive  520 . Initially, the PUH  522  reads titles and a user file from the removable medium  510  (step  610 ). The processor  524  then writes a new title to the removable medium  510  (step  620 ) and generates a browsing menu (step  630 ). The browsing menu is shown on the screen  526  later to provide specific titles for user selection. The user file  530  copied from the removable medium  510  comprises at least one rendered thumbnail for pasting onto the browsing menu. If any rendered thumbnail in the memory  528  is wanted by the browsing menu, the processor  524  directly pastes the wanted rendered thumbnails onto the browsing menu and shows the browsing menu on screen  526 . Otherwise, if the wanted rendered thumbnails are absent in the memory  528 , the processor  524  renders from titles on the removable medium  510  (step  640 ), pastes the newly rendered thumbnails onto the browsing menu, and stores the newly rendered thumbnails to the user file  530 . The processor  524  then stores the user file  530  in the memory  528  (step  650 ). The benefit of storing a user file is that next time the wanted rendered thumbnail can be pasted onto the browsing menu directly without additional rendering. Finally, the processor  524  writes back the modified user file  530  to the removable medium  510  (step  660 ). Additionally, the memory  528  may also store various removable medium identifications (IDs) and title IDs for index of specific titles.  
         [0032]     Please refer to  FIG. 7 .  FIG. 7  is a block diagram of an optical disc system  700  according to a fourth embodiment of the invention. The key difference from the third embodiment is that not only the browsing menu but also the disc menu are generated. The disc menu is the menu stored in the removable medium  710 . A detailed description of the optical disc system  700  is provided in the following.  
         [0033]     Please refer to  FIG. 7  and  FIG. 8  at the same time.  FIG. 8  is a flow chart of the removable medium access method for accessing the removable medium  710  in the optical disc drive  720 . Initially, the PUH  722  reads titles and a user file from the removable medium  710  (step  810 ). The processor  724  then writes a new title to the removable medium  710  (step  820 ) and generates a browsing menu and a disc menu (steps  830  and  840 ). The browsing menu is shown on the screen  726  later to provide specific titles for user selection. The user file  730  copied from the removable medium  710  comprises at least one rendered thumbnail for pasting onto the browsing menu. If a rendered thumbnail in the memory  728  is wanted by the browsing menu, the processor  724  directly pastes the wanted rendered thumbnails onto the browsing menu and presents the browsing menu on screen  726 . Otherwise, if the rendered thumbnails in the memory  728  are not wanted by the browsing menu, the processor  724  renders from titles on the removable medium  710  (step  850 ), pastes the newly rendered thumbnails to the browsing menu, and stores the newly rendered thumbnails to the user file  730 . The processor  724  then stores the user file  730  in the memory  728  (step  860 ). The benefit of storing a user file is that next time the wanted rendered thumbnail can be pasted into the browsing menu directly without additional rendering. Finally, the processor  724  writes back the modified user file  730  to the removable medium  710  (step  870 ). Additionally, the memory  728  may also store various removable medium identifications (IDs) and title IDs for index of specific titles.  
         [0034]     Please refer to  FIG. 9 .  FIG. 9  is a block diagram of an optical disc system  900  according to a fifth embodiment of the invention. The key difference from the first embodiment is that the processor  924  further records a new title to the removable medium  910 . Please note that the memory  928  is empty in the beginning and a user file  930  comprising pluralities of rendered thumbnails  932  is stored to the memory  928  later. A detailed description of the optical disc system  900  is provided in the following.  
         [0035]     Please refer to  FIG. 9  and  FIG. 10  at the same time.  FIG. 10  is a flow chart of the removable medium access method for accessing the removable medium  910  in the optical disc drive  920 . Initially, the processor  924  writes a new title to the removable medium  910  and temporarily stores parts of the new title (step  1010 ). The processor  924  renders thumbnail from the temporarily parts of the new title and stores the temporarily parts in the user file  930 . The processor  924  generates a browsing menu and a user file  930  (steps  1020  and  1030 ). The browsing menu is shown on the screen  926  later to provide specific titles for user selection. The user file  930  is generated according to the stored new title and comprises at least one rendered thumbnail for pasting onto the browsing menu. If any rendered thumbnail in the memory  928  is wanted by the browsing menu, the processor  924  directly pastes the wanted rendered thumbnails into the browsing menu and shows the browsing menu on screen  926 . Otherwise, if the rendered thumbnails in the memory  928  are not wanted by the browsing menu, the processor  924  renders from titles on the removable medium  910  (step  1040 ), pastes the newly rendered thumbnails into the browsing menu, and stores the newly rendered thumbnails in the user file  930 . The processor  1924  then stores the user file  930  in the memory  928  (step  1050 ). The benefit of storing a user file is that next time the wanted rendered thumbnail can be pasted to the browsing menu directly without additional rendering. Finally, the processor  924  writes back the user file  930  to the removable medium  910  (step  1060 ). Additionally, the memory  928  may also store various removable medium identifications (IDs) and title IDs for index of specific titles.  
         [0036]     Please refer to  FIG. 11 .  FIG. 11  is a block diagram of an optical disc system  1100  according to a fifth embodiment of the invention. The key difference from the fourth embodiment is that in this embodiment there is a user file in the removable medium at the beginning. A detailed description of the optical disc system  1100  is provided in the following.  
         [0037]     Please refer to  FIG. 11  and  FIG. 12  at the same time.  FIG. 12  is a flow chart of the removable medium access method for accessing the removable medium  1110  in the optical disc drive  1120 . Initially, the PUH  1122  writes a new title to the removable medium  1110  (step  1210 ). The processor  1124  then generates a browsing menu (step  1220 ). The browsing menu is shown on the screen  1126  later to provide specific titles for user selection. The user file  1130  copied from the removable medium  1110  comprises at least one rendered thumbnail for pasting into the browsing menu. If any rendered thumbnail in the memory  1128  is wanted by the browsing menu, the processor  1124  directly pastes the wanted rendered thumbnails into the browsing menu and shows the browsing menu on screen  1126 . Otherwise, if the rendered thumbnails in the memory  1128  are not wanted by the browsing menu, the processor  1124  renders from titles on the removable medium  1110  (step  1230 ), pastes the newly rendered thumbnails to the browsing menu, and stores the newly rendered thumbnails to the user file  1130 . The processor  1124  then stores the user file  1130  in the memory  1128  (step  1240 ). The benefit of storing a user file is that next time the wanted rendered thumbnail can be pasted to the browsing menu directly without additional rendering. Finally, the processor  1124  writes back the modified user file  1130  to the removable medium  1110  (step  1250 ). Additionally, the memory  1128  may also store various removable medium identifications (IDs) and title IDs for index of specific titles.  
         [0038]     Compared with the related art, the removable medium access methods and devices of the invention manage and cache the rendered thumbnails in the memory. The optical disc system does not need to render the same thumbnail in different situations and thus performance is increased.  
         [0039]     While the invention has been described by way of example and in terms of the preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments. To the contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements (as would be apparent to those skilled in the art). Therefore, the scope of the appended claims should be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similar arrangements.