System and method for preventing damage to media files within a digital camera device

Abstract

A system and method for preventing damage to media files within a digital camera comprise a power manager for detecting power failures, an interrupt handler for responsively incrementing a counter device and a removable memory driver for performing memory access operations, evaluating the counter device to determine whether a power failure has occurred during the memory access operation and for repeating the memory access operation whenever a power failure has occurred during the memory access operation.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 08 / 716,773 filed Sep. 24, 1996 entitled “System And Method For Preventing Damage To Media Files Within A Digital Camera Device”; now U.S. Pat. No. 5,935,259. This application is hereby incorporated by reference. This application also relates to co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08 / 666,241, entitled “System And Method For Using A Unified Memory Architecture To Implement A Digital Camera Device,” filed on Jun. 20, 1996; and also to U.S. Pat. No. 5,790,878, entitled “System And Method For Recovering From A Power Failure Within A Digital Camera Device,” issued on Aug. 4, 1998, both of which are hereby incorporated by reference.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0002]1. Field of the Invention[0003]This invention relates generally to digital cameras and more particularly to a system and method for preventing power failure damage to media files within a digital camera device.[0004]2. ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0009]In accordance with the present invention, a system and method are disclosed for preventing damage to media files within a digital camera device. The preferred embodiment of the present invention includes a central processing unit, a powerfail counter, a removable memory driver, a first-level interrupt handler, various interrupt service routines, a power manager and a voltage sensor.

[0014]In the normal operational mode, the digital camera periodically performs a memory access operation which requires successful completion. To ensure that a memory access operation is completed without an intervening power failure, the removable memory driver preferably reads the powerfail counter prior to performing a memory access operation to obtain a pre-operation value. After performing the memory access operation, the removable memory driver again reads the powerfail counter to obtain a post-operation value. The removable memory driver then compares the pre-operation value and the post-operation value, and repeats the memory access operation if the pre-operation value and the post-operation value are different. The present invention thus preserves the integrity of captured image data and effectively prevents damage to media files in the digital camera device.

Problems solved by technology

After detecting a power failure in which the camera operating power is less than a specified threshold value, the power manager generates a powerfail interrupt.

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