Patent Publication Number: US-2011072166-A1

Title: Storage device and driving method thereof

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application claims priority from Korean Patent Application No. 10-2009-0090473, filed on Sep. 24, 2009, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS 
     1. Field of the Exemplary Embodiments 
     Apparatuses and methods consistent with the exemplary embodiments relate to a storage device and a driving method thereof, and more particularly, to a storage device and a driving method thereof which enables a stored media file to be played in any media player. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     Although media players such as portable media players (PMPs) and car media centers are widespread and various types of media files exist, an increasing number of media files are not played by the media players. This results from the PMPs and car media centers playing only some media files due to limitations of their decoding performance. If a user desires to play a media file which is not supported by the PMP, he/she should additionally install a coder/decoder (codec). Unlike a personal computer (PC), the limitation of hardware resources may limit the additional installation of the codec. Even if the installation is available, the media file may not be played efficiently due to lack of decoding performance. A flash memory should erase a particular block therein before reading it. Each block has a number of erasing limitations (usually 100,000 times), and repetitive erasing operations may adversely affect the life span of the flash memory. If a large media file is stored in the flash memory, it takes up a large capacity of the flash memory. Then, a plurality of erasing operations is performed with respect to the blocks to store the media file in the flash memory, thereby reducing the life span of the flash memory. 
     SUMMARY OF THE EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS 
     It is an aspect of the exemplary embodiments to provide a storage device and a driving method thereof which converts a media file stored therein to be consistent with a media player to play the media file. 
     It is another aspect of the exemplary embodiments to provide a storage device and a driving method thereof which converts a media file at a high compression rate to reduce the storage space required for the media file and prevents a reduction of the life span of a flash memory. 
     The foregoing and/or other aspects of the exemplary embodiments can be achieved by providing a storage device which stores therein a media file of a media player, the storage device including: a connector which is connected to the media player; a storage unit which stores therein a media file; a converter which converts the media file stored in the storage unit based on the attribute; and a controller which controls the converter to convert the media file to be played by the media player based on the attribute and to transmit the converted media file to the media player. 
     The controller may receive and analyze attribute information of the media player, and control the converter to convert the media file based on the analyzed attribute information. 
     The attribute information of the media player may include at least one of a manufacturer, a model name, an audio codec, a video codec, a resolution, digital rights management (DRM) information, and a sample rate of the media player. 
     The controller may store the analyzed attribute information in the storage unit. 
     The converter may include a transcoder. 
     The controller may control the converter to compress the media file to be stored in the storage unit. 
     Another aspect of the exemplary embodiments can be achieved by providing a driving method of a storage device which stores therein a media file of a media player, the method including: determining an attribute of the media player; converting the media file to be played by the media player, based on the attribute, and transmitting the converted media file to the media player. 
     The determining the attribute of the media player may include requesting attribute information of the media player; and receiving the attribute information of the media player. 
     The attribute information of the media player may include at least one of a manufacturer, a model name, an audio codec, a video codec, a resolution, digital rights management (DRM) information and a sample rate of the media player. 
     The storage device may store therein the attribute information of the media player. 
     The storage device may convert the media file, based on the attribute, through a transcoder. 
     The storage device may compress and store therein the media file. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The above and/or other aspects of the exemplary embodiments will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of which: 
         FIG. 1  illustrates a storage device according to an exemplary embodiment; 
         FIG. 2  is a block diagram of the storage device according to the exemplary embodiment; 
         FIG. 3  is a flowchart which illustrates an operation of the storage device according to the exemplary embodiment; and 
         FIG. 4  is a flowchart which illustrates an attribute determining process of a media player by the storage device according to the exemplary embodiment. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS 
     Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments will be described with reference to accompanying drawings, wherein like numerals refer to like elements and repetitive descriptions will be avoided as necessary. 
       FIG. 1  illustrates a storage device  110  according to an exemplary embodiment. The storage device  110  according to the present exemplary embodiment stores therein a media file played by a media player  100 . The storage device  110  may include a portable storage device such as a universal serial bus (USB) which is connected to the media player  100 . The media player  100  which has a personal video record (PVR) function or a time shift record (TSR) function, includes a portable media player and a car media center. The media player  100  may be connected to the storage device  110  storing therein a media file to play the media file received from the storage device  110 . The storage device  110  according to the present exemplary embodiment may store therein a media file upon reception from the media player  100 . Upon receiving the media file from the storage device  110  according to the present exemplary embodiment, the media player  100  plays the received media file by using a decoder or a digital analog converter (DAC). If the received media file is not supported by the media player  100 , the decoder may not read the media file, resulting in a failure to play the received media file. Thus, the storage device  110  according to the present exemplary embodiment converts a media file before transmission so that the media player  100  may play the media file transmitted from the storage device  110 . Hereinafter, the storage device  110  according to the present exemplary embodiment will be described in detail. 
       FIG. 2  is a block diagram of the storage device  110  according to the exemplary embodiment. As shown therein, the storage device  110  according to the present exemplary embodiment includes a connector  200 , a converter  210 , a storage unit  250  and a controller  230 . The connector  200  is connected with the media player  100 , and includes an interface and an input/out means to input and output data including media files. The storage unit  250  stores therein data including media files, and includes a flash memory and a buffer  260 . The converter  210  converts and stores an input media file or converts and outputs the stored media file. The converter  210  includes a transcoder  220 . The controller  230  determines an attribute of the media player  100  and controls the converter  210  to convert a media file based on the determined attribute. The controller  230  includes a parser  240 . To store a media file, the storage device  110  according to the present exemplary embodiment is connected to the media player  100  and receives the media file therefrom. Upon reception of the media file, the controller  230  controls the converter  210  to convert the media file into a file similar to an original file in picture quality and sound quality and at a high compression rate. For example, the controller  230  controls the converter  210  to convert a MPEG2 TS into a file having a good compression rate like H.264. The file is converted through the transcoder  220 . The transcoder  220  transcodes a media file encoded in a particular codec, resolution and bit rate into another codec, resolution and bit rate. That is, the transcoder  220  converts a digital media file from a particular format into another format. If the flash memory is used to convert and store the media file, an erasing operation for a particular area of the flash memory is reduced, thereby preventing a life span of the flash memory from being shortened. 
     When the media player  100  is connected to the storage device  110  to play a media file transmitted from the storage device  110 , the controller  230  requests attribute information of the media player  100  through the connector  200 . The attribute information of the media player  100  may include a manufacturer, a model name, an audio codec, a video codec, a resolution, digital rights management (DRM) information and a sample rate of the media player  100 . When the media player  100  transmits the attribute information to the storage device  110  according to the present exemplary embodiment, the controller  230  determines the attribute information of the media player  100  through the parser  240 . The parser  240 , which is used to parse the attribute information, determines the type of the media file playable by the media player  100  upon reception of the attribute information of the media player  100 . The determined attribute information of the media player  100  is stored in the buffer  260  of the storage unit  250 . If the attribute of the media player  100  is determined by the parser  240 , the controller  230  controls the transcoder  220  of the converter  210  to convert the media file into a file playable by the media player  100 . The transcoder  220  converts the resultion, codec, bit rate, sampling rate and the capacity of the media file to be consistent with the capacity of the storage unit, the resolution of a display, the decoding capacity and the playable codec of the media player  100 . The converter  210  may convert the media file through a scaler (not shown) to be consistent with a screen of the media player  100 . If the conversion of the media file is completed, the converter  210  transmits the converted media file to the media player  100  through the connector  200 . The media player  100  may then play the media file by using a decoder or a DAC. If the media player  100  may not transmit the attribute information of the media player  100  to the storage device  110  according to the present exemplary embodiment, the controller  230  may determine a type of the media file playable by the media player  100  through a particular manipulation. That is, the buffer  260  stores therein the attribute information of the media layer  100  such as the manufacturer and the model name of various media players. If a user selects a particular manufacturer and model name of the media player  100 , the controller  230  determines a type of the media file supported by the media player  100  of the concerned manufacturer or the model, controls the transcoder  220  to convert the stored media file and transmits the converted media file to the media player  100 . As described above, the storage device  110  according to the present exemplary embodiment may determine the type of the media file playable by the media player  100 , convert the stored media file based on the determined information and transmit the converted media file to the media player  100 , thereby providing a media file that is playable by any media player. 
       FIG. 3  is a flowchart which illustrates an operation of the storage device  110  according to the exemplary embodiment. If the media player  100  is connected to the storage device  110  according to the present exemplary embodiment, the controller  230  determines the attribute of the media player  100  and the type of the media file playable by the media player  100  (S 300 ). If the type of the media file is determined, the controller  230  controls the transcoder  220  to convert the stored media file to play the media file (S 310 ). Upon completion of the conversion, the media file is transmitted to the media player  100  (S 320 ). 
       FIG. 4  is a flowchart which illustrates an attribute determining process of the media player  100  by the storage device  110  according to the exemplary embodiment. If the media player  100  is connected to the storage device  110  according to the present exemplary embodiment, the controller  230  requests the attribute information of the media player  100  (S 400 ). If the attribute information of the media player  100  is received, the parser  240  parses the attribute information of the media player  100  and determines the type of the media file playable by the media player  100  (S 410 ). 
     As described above, a storage device and a driving method according to the exemplary embodiments converts a media file to be consistent with a media player, based on an attribute, to play the media file through any media player. 
     Further, the storage device and the driving method thereof according to the exemplary embodiments converts a media file at a high compression rate to store the media file therein, thereby reducing a storage space of the media file and preventing a reduction of the life span of a flash memory. 
     Although a few exemplary embodiments have been shown and described, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes may be made in these exemplary embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined in the appended claims and their equivalents.