JP3285337B2 - Information recording medium, information recording / reproducing method and information recording / reproducing device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to an information recording medium provided with a drive information area for recording drive information including a plurality of recording / reproducing conditions, an information recording / reproducing method for the information recording medium, and an information recording / reproducing method. Related to the device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An optical disc is known as an information recording medium having a sector structure. In recent years, the density and capacity of optical disks have been increasing, and it has become important to ensure the reliability of optical disks. In order to ensure this reliability, the optical disc device performs a learning process for finding recording and reproduction conditions.

[0003]

The recording and reproduction conditions largely depend on the characteristics of the optical disk and the characteristics of the optical disk device. For this reason, the learning process for obtaining the recording / reproducing conditions is performed every time the optical disk device is started after the optical disk is mounted on the optical disk device, or whenever the characteristics of the optical disk or the characteristics of the optical disk device change due to factors such as temperature change. Need to be done repeatedly.

[0004] Recently, further increase in the density of optical discs,
As the capacity increases, the need for more precise recording and reproduction conditions has arisen. However, it takes a long time for the learning process to obtain more precise recording and reproduction conditions. As a result, there has been a problem that the waiting time of the optical disk device becomes longer.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and provides an information recording medium, an information recording / reproducing method, and an information recording / reproducing apparatus capable of reducing the time required for a learning process for finding recording / reproducing conditions. The purpose is to provide.

[0006]

An information recording / reproducing method according to the present invention comprises: a data recording area for recording data;
An information recording / reproducing method for an information recording medium comprising: a first drive information area for recording drive information, wherein the first drive information area has a number 0 to a number (M-
1) has an assigned area, wherein the first drive information includes M recording / reproducing conditions, and the M recording / reproducing conditions are those having a new time recorded on the information recording medium. Are written in the first drive information area in the area to which the numbers 0 to (M-1) are assigned in the order from the oldest to the oldest, and M is an integer of 2 or more. (A) determining whether the first drive information can be read from the first drive information area; and (b) determining whether the M pieces of recording / reproducing conditions included in the first drive information are correct. Determining whether there is a recording / reproducing condition that can be used by the information recording / reproducing apparatus equipped with the information recording medium;
If the drive information can be read out and there is no usable recording / reproducing condition in the first drive information, a new available information recording / reproducing apparatus mounted with the information recording medium can be used. Determining a suitable recording / reproducing condition, and updating the first drive information area using the new recording / reproducing condition.
(C-1) describes the contents of the recording / reproducing conditions written in the area to which the numbers 0 to (M-2) of the first drive information area are assigned. (C-1) writing the content of the new recording / reproducing condition to the area to which the number 0 of the first drive information area is allocated. Thus, the above object is achieved. M = 16. Each of the M recording / reproducing conditions may be information used when an information recording / reproducing apparatus capable of mounting the information recording medium records and reproduces the data. The step (c) includes:
Recording the recording / reproducing conditions available to the information recording / reproducing apparatus equipped with the information recording medium in the first drive information as the recording / reproducing conditions recorded in the first drive information at the latest time. You may. The first drive information area includes N ECC blocks for calculating an error correction code. Each of the N ECC blocks includes a plurality of sectors and is included in the first drive information. Each of the M recording / reproducing conditions is recorded in a corresponding one of the plurality of sectors, and N may be an integer of 1 or more. The determination as to whether or not the first drive information can be read may be made based on whether or not all the N ECC blocks included in the first drive information area are successfully reproduced. Good. An information recording / reproducing apparatus according to the present invention is an information recording / reproducing apparatus for an information recording medium including a data recording area for recording data and a first drive information area for recording first drive information. The first drive information area includes numbers 0 to (M
-1), the first drive information includes M recording / reproducing conditions, and the M recording / reproducing conditions are such that the time recorded on the information recording medium is newer. In the first drive information area, numbers 0 to (M-1) are written in an area from the oldest one to the oldest one, and M is an integer of 2 or more. A drive information reading unit, a learning processing unit, and a drive information updating unit, wherein the drive information reading unit determines whether the first drive information can be read from the first drive information area. The learning processing unit determines whether the M recording / reproducing conditions included in the first drive information include recording / reproducing conditions that can be used by the information recording / reproducing device, and 1 drive information It is possible to read, and,
If the usable recording / reproducing condition is not included in the first drive information, the learning processing unit obtains a new recording / reproducing condition that can be used by the information recording / reproducing device. The contents of the recording / reproducing conditions written in the areas to which the numbers 0 to (M-2) of the first drive information area are assigned are represented by the numbers 1 to (M-1) of the first drive information area. Writing the new recording / reproducing condition into the assigned area of the first drive information area, to which the number 0 is assigned,
Thereby, the above object is achieved. M = 16. Each of the M recording / reproducing conditions may be information used when an information recording / reproducing apparatus capable of mounting the information recording medium records and reproduces the data. The drive information updating unit may record, in the first drive information, a recording / reproducing condition usable by the information recording / reproducing device as a recording / reproducing condition recorded in the first drive information at the latest time. The first drive information area includes:
Each of the N ECC blocks includes a plurality of sectors, and includes the M recording / reproducing conditions included in the first drive information. Each is recorded in a corresponding one of the plurality of sectors, and N may be an integer of 1 or more. The determination as to whether or not the first drive information can be read may be made based on whether or not all the N ECC blocks included in the first drive information area are successfully reproduced. Good.

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DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The information recording medium of the present invention has a drive information area for recording recording / reproducing conditions. The information recording / reproducing device obtains recording / reproducing conditions by executing a learning process, and records the recording / reproducing conditions in the drive information area of the information recording medium. The recording / reproducing conditions recorded in the drive information area of the information recording medium are read out when the next learning process is executed, and are used for obtaining new recording / reproducing conditions.

Here, the recording / reproducing conditions refer to operating conditions of the optical disk device when the optical disk device records information on the optical disk or reproduces information recorded on the optical disk.

The recording / reproducing conditions include at least pulse conditions relating to laser pulses applied to the optical disk, servo conditions for determining various servo operations during recording / reproducing, and reproducing signal processing conditions for processing a reproducing signal. Including one.

The pulse condition includes, for example, the power value of a laser pulse applied to the optical disk during recording. Alternatively, the pulse condition may include a condition of a laser pulse for forming a mark (minimum unit of information) on the optical disk. When irradiating the optical disk with a plurality of pulses from the front end to the rear end of the mark when forming the mark on the optical disk, the pulse conditions include the generation timing of the first pulse corresponding to the front end of the mark and the first pulse. The length of the pulse, the intensity of the laser light of the first pulse,
It includes at least one of the generation timing of the last pulse corresponding to the trailing end of the mark, the length of the last pulse, and the intensity of the laser light of the last pulse, and is arranged before and after the mark length and the mark. It is determined according to the length of the space.

Alternatively, the recording / reproducing condition may be set values of various circuits included in the information recording / reproducing apparatus or code information indicating the set values.

As described above, by reusing the recording / reproducing conditions recorded in the drive information area of the information recording medium, the learning process can be simplified. As a result, the time required for the learning process can be reduced, and the standby time of the information recording / reproducing device can be reduced.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

(Embodiment 1) FIG. 1 shows the structure of an information recording medium 101 according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. The information recording medium 101 can be any optical disk such as a DVD-RAM.

The optical disk 101 has a plurality of tracks 1
02 is formed concentrically. Alternatively, on the optical disc 101, a single track 102 may be formed in a spiral shape, or a plurality of tracks 102 may be formed in a spiral shape. Track 102
It is divided into a plurality of sectors 103.

The area of the optical disk 101 includes one or more disk information areas 104 and a data recording area 105.

The disk information area 104 stores various parameters required for accessing the optical disk 101. The disc information area 104 is arranged, for example, at the innermost circumference and the outermost circumference of the optical disc 101. The disc information area 104 arranged at the innermost circumference of the optical disc 101 is a lead-in area (Lead-inAr).
ea). The disc information area 104 arranged at the outermost periphery of the optical disc 101 is also called a lead-out area (Lead-out Area).

Data recording / reproduction is performed in the data recording area 10
5 is performed. All sectors 103 provided in the data recording area 105 have physical sector numbers (Ph
physical Sector Number;
An absolute address called "SN" is assigned.

FIG. 2 shows the optical disk 101 shown in FIG.
2 shows the structure of the disk information area 104 (that is, the lead-in area 201) arranged at the innermost periphery of the disk. FIG.
2 can also have the same structure as the structure shown in FIG.

[0062] The lead-in area 201
Emboss area 202 in which information such as identification information 1 is recorded by emboss pits, data recording area 204 in which data is recorded, emboss area 202 and data recording area 2
04 and a mirror area 203 provided between them.

The data recording area 204 includes a guard area 205 containing no data, a disk test area 206 used for checking the quality of the optical disk 101 in the manufacturing process of the optical disk 101, and a disk test area 206 mounted on the optical disk apparatus. A drive test area 207 used by the optical disc device to verify the state of
A disk identification area 208 used to store information such as various characteristics of the optical disk 101 and a defect management area 209 storing defect management information are included.

The disk identification area 208 includes, for example, four disk identification information areas 210, one drive information area 211, and three reserved areas 212. Each of the four disk identification information areas 210 has one EC
It is composed of C blocks. Drive information area 211
Is composed of one ECC block. Each of the three reserved areas 212 is composed of one ECC block. The ECC block is used to calculate an error correction code. The error correction code is calculated for each ECC block.

FIG. 3 shows the relationship between the structure of the ECC block and the structure of the sector 103 provided on the optical disc 101. When the optical disk 101 is a large-capacity optical disk (for example, DVD), one ECC block is composed of 16 sectors in order to achieve both high error correction capability and low redundancy. However, in the example shown in FIG. 3, for simplicity, it is assumed that one ECC block is composed of four sectors.

As shown in FIG. 3, the ECC block is obtained by calculating main data arranged in 172 bytes × 48 rows and an error correction code for each row of the main data (in the horizontal direction). Inner code parity PI
And an outer code parity PO obtained by calculating an error correction code for each column of the main data (in the vertical direction).

A code including an inner code parity and an outer code parity is generally called a product code. The product code is an error correction method that is strong against both random errors and burst errors (locally concentrated errors). For example, consider a case where a burst error of two lines occurs due to a scratch in addition to a random error. The burst error can be corrected because most of the error is a 2-byte error when viewed from the outer code. A column in which many random errors exist cannot be corrected by the outer code and an error remains, but the remaining error can be corrected in most cases by the inner code. Even if an error remains due to the inner code, the error can be further reduced by correcting again with the outer code. In the DVD, by using such a product code, a sufficient correction capability is realized while suppressing the redundancy of the parity. In other words, the amount of user data can be increased as much as the parity redundancy is suppressed.

As shown in FIG. 3, the outer code parity of the ECC block is equally distributed to each sector for each row. As a result, one sector is 182 bytes ×
It consists of 13 lines of data.

When the optical disk device is instructed to perform recording or reproduction on the optical disk 101 mounted on the optical disk device in sector units, the optical disk device reproduces an ECC block including the specified sector from the optical disk 101,
After the error correction, only the data portion corresponding to the designated sector is recorded on the optical disc 101. The optical disk device is an optical disk 1 mounted on the optical disk device.
01 is instructed to perform recording in sector units, an ECC block including the specified sector is reproduced from the optical disk 101, and after performing error correction, a data portion corresponding to the specified sector is reproduced. Is replaced with the data to be recorded, the error correction code is recalculated and added to the data to be recorded, and the ECC block including the specified sector is recorded on the optical disk 101.

In the following description, a block means the above-mentioned ECC block.

FIG. 4 shows the structure of the drive information 401 recorded in the drive information area 211 shown in FIG.
The drive information 401 includes a plurality of recording / reproduction conditions 401a. Each of the plurality of recording / reproducing conditions 401a defines an operating condition of the optical disc device when the optical disc device capable of mounting the optical disc 101 records and reproduces data.
One or more recording / reproducing conditions 401a among the plurality of recording / reproducing conditions 401a can be defined for one or more optical disk devices.

The drive information 401 is expressed, for example, in the form of a list of a plurality of recording / reproduction conditions 401a. Therefore, the drive information 401 is also called a recording / reproduction condition list.

In FIG. 4, the value following the symbol # is provided for convenience of description to indicate the time series of the recording / reproducing conditions 401a, and is not included in the contents of the recording / reproducing conditions 401a. Here, n is an integer of 0 or more. FIG.
In the example shown in (1), the drive information 401 includes 16 recording / reproducing conditions 401a.

The recording / reproducing condition 401a is a maker identifier 4 for identifying a maker that manufactures the optical disk device.
02, a drive identifier 403 for identifying the optical disk device in the manufacturer, a learning order identifier 404 for identifying the order in which the recording and reproduction conditions are determined in the optical disk device, and the determined recording and reproduction conditions are stored. And a learning result storage area 405.

Hereinafter, a method of updating the drive information 401 will be described. The optical disk device obtains the drive information 401 by reproducing the drive information area 211 provided on the optical disk 101 mounted on the optical disk device before performing the learning process for obtaining the recording and reproduction conditions.

If the 16 recording / reproducing conditions 401a included in the drive information 401 include the recording / reproducing conditions 401a that can be used by the optical disc device on which the optical disc 101 is mounted, the optical disc device uses The data is recorded on the optical disc 101 or the data recorded on the optical disc 101 is reproduced using the recording / reproducing condition 401a. For example, when the maker identifier and the drive identifier possessed by a specific optical disk device match the maker identifier 402 and the drive identifier 403 included in the recording / reproduction condition 401a, the recording / reproduction condition 401a can be used for the specific optical disk device. It is assumed that

On the other hand, the 16
The recording / reproducing conditions 401a that can be used by the optical disc apparatus on which the optical disc 101 is mounted are included in the recording / reproducing conditions 401a.
If 1a does not exist, the optical disk device performs a learning process to newly learn the recording and reproduction conditions that can be used by the optical disk device. The optical disc apparatus records data on the optical disc 101 using the newly learned recording / reproduction conditions,
The data recorded in No. 1 is reproduced.

The optical disc apparatus compares the learning order identifier 404 included in each of the 16 recording / reproducing conditions 401a included in the drive information 401, and determines the recording / reproducing condition 401a including the oldest learning order identifier 404 from the drive information 401. delete. The optical disk device records the newly learned recording / reproducing condition in the area of the deleted recording / reproducing condition.

Thus, the oldest learning order identifier 40
The drive information 401 is updated by replacing the contents of the recording / reproducing conditions 401a including “4” with the contents of the newly learned recording / reproducing conditions. Updated drive information 40
1 is recorded in the drive information area 211 of the optical disc 101. Thus, the update of the drive information 401 is completed.

However, according to the above-described method of updating the drive information 401, there is a loophole because the new and old recording / reproduction conditions 401a included in the drive information 401 depend on the learning order identifier 404. For example, in the case where the learning order identifier 404 is represented by a 4-digit decimal number, if the largest value 9999 is set in the learning order identifier 404, the recording / reproducing condition 401a including the learning order identifier 404 having the value 9999 is determined from the drive information 401. It will never be deleted forever. Since it is advantageous for the manufacturer of the optical disk device that the recording / reproducing conditions available for the optical disk device are not erased, it is not always necessary that a manufacturer with low morality intentionally sets a large value in the learning order identifier 404. .

As described above, the maker sets the learning order identifier 4
Assuming a case where a large value is intentionally set to 04, there is no guarantee that the drive information 401 is always updated to include the recording / reproducing condition 401a indicating the latest learning result.

In the first embodiment, the drive information area 211 is provided with only one block. For this reason, the drive information area 211 is damaged, and dust and fingerprints adhere to the drive information area 211,
There is also a possibility that the reproduction of the drive information area 211 becomes impossible.

The structure of an optical disk and a method of updating drive information improved to solve such a problem are described below.
This will be described in a second embodiment.

(Embodiment 2) Embodiment 2 provides an information recording medium and an information recording / reproducing method which can guarantee that drive information always includes recording / reproducing conditions indicating the latest learning result. .

The structure of the information recording medium according to the second embodiment of the present invention is the same as the structure of the information recording medium 101 shown in FIG. The information recording medium 101 can be any optical disk such as a DVD-RAM.

FIG. 5 shows the structure of information recorded in the disc identification area 208 shown in FIG. The disk identification area 208 includes a disk identification information area 501, a drive information area 502, and a reserved area 503.

The drive information area 502 stores a first drive information 521 as first drive information.
It includes a drive information area 502a and a second drive information area 502b for recording drive information 522 as second drive information.

First drive information area 502a and second drive information area 502a
Each of the drive information areas 502b is composed of, for example, a single ECC block, and the ECC block is composed of 16 sectors.

Drive information 521 and drive information 522
Is updated to have the same content as.

Drive information 521 and drive information 5
Each of 22 includes a plurality of recording / reproducing conditions 521a. Each of the plurality of recording / reproducing conditions 521a defines an operating condition of the optical disk device when the optical disk device to which the optical disk 101 can be mounted records and reproduces data. One or more recording / reproducing conditions 521a among a plurality of recording / reproducing conditions 521a can be defined for one or more optical disk devices.

Drive information 521 and drive information 5
22 are, for example, a plurality of recording / reproducing conditions 521
a in the form of a list. Therefore, each of the drive information 521 and the drive information 522 is also called a recording / reproducing condition list.

In FIG. 5, the value following the symbol # is added for convenience of description to indicate the time series of the recording / reproducing conditions 521a, and is not included in the contents of the recording / reproducing conditions 521a. Here, n is an integer of 0 or more. FIG.
In the example shown in FIG. 5, each of the drive information 521 and the drive information 522 has 16 recording / reproducing conditions 521.
a. Each of the 16 recording / reproducing conditions 521a is recorded in one sector.

The 16 recording / reproducing conditions 521a are arranged in the order of time recorded on the optical disk 101.
For example, the 16 recording / reproducing conditions 521a are arranged in order from the newest time to the oldest time recorded on the optical disc 101. In this case, the recording / reproducing condition 521a most recently recorded on the optical disk 101 among the 16 recording / reproducing conditions 521a is located at the head of the recording / reproducing condition list 521a. The recording / reproduction condition 521a recorded the oldest in the recording / reproduction condition list is arranged at the end of the recording / reproduction condition list.

The recording / reproducing condition 521a is a maker identifier 5 for identifying a maker that manufactures the optical disk device.
31, a drive identifier 532 for identifying the optical disk device by the manufacturer, and a learning result storage area 533 for storing recording / reproducing conditions obtained by executing a learning process by the optical disk device.

As described above, by recording the same recording / reproducing conditions in the drive information 521 and the drive information 522, the drive information area 502 is damaged, and dust and fingerprints adhere to the drive information area 502. As a result, the possibility that acquisition of the list of the recording / reproducing conditions 521a fails will be reduced.

The recording / reproducing condition 521a obtained by the new learning process is always recorded at the head position of the drive information 521 and the drive information 522. Thus, the drive information 521 and the drive information 522
Is always guaranteed to include 16 recording / reproducing conditions indicating the latest learning result.

In the second embodiment, drive information area 502 includes first drive information area 502a and second drive information area 502b, but the number of drive information areas included in drive information area 502 is two. It is not limited to. The drive information area 502 can include any number of two or more drive information areas.

Each of the first drive information area 502a and the second drive information area 502b has N Es.
It can be composed of CC blocks. Each of the N ECC blocks includes a plurality of sectors. Drive information 521
Each of the plurality of recording / reproducing conditions 521a included in
It is recorded in one corresponding sector among the plurality of sectors. Each of the plurality of recording / reproducing conditions 521a included in the drive information 522 is recorded in a corresponding one of the plurality of sectors. here,
N is one or more arbitrary integers.

Hereinafter, a method of updating the drive information 521 will be described with reference to FIGS. Drive information 52
2 is updated to have the same content as the drive information 521. Therefore, the method of updating the drive information 522 is the same as that of the drive information 521, and a description thereof will be omitted.

FIG. 6 shows one example of the information included in the drive information 521.
The optical disc 101 is included in the six recording / reproducing conditions 521a.
Recording / reproducing condition 5 that can be used by the optical disk device equipped with
The structure of the drive information 521 before the update and the structure of the drive information 521 after the update in the case where 21a does not exist are shown in comparison. The update processing of the drive information 521 is performed, for example, when the optical disk 101 is mounted on the optical disk device.

In FIG. 6, the value following the symbol # is attached for convenience of description to indicate the time series of the recording / reproducing conditions 521a, and is not included in the contents of the recording / reproducing conditions 521a. Here, n is an integer of 0 or more.

The first drive information area 502a has a number 0
To 15 are assigned. The drive information 521 includes 16 recording / reproducing conditions 521a. The 16 recording / reproducing conditions 521a correspond to the optical disc 10
The times recorded in No. 1 are written in an area of the first drive information area 502a to which numbers 0 to 15 are assigned in order from the newest to the oldest. That is, 1
Of the six recording / reproducing conditions 521a, the recording / reproducing condition 521a most recently recorded on the optical disc 101 is written in the area of the first drive information area 502a to which the number 0 is assigned, and the 16 recording / reproducing conditions are recorded. The recording / reproducing condition 521a recorded on the optical disk 101 the oldest among the 521a is the number 1 of the first drive information area 502a.
5 is written in the allocated area.

The numbers 0 to 0 of the first drive information area 502a
The contents of the recording / reproducing condition 521a written in the area to which the number 14 has been assigned are stored in the first drive information area 502.
After writing in the areas assigned numbers 1 to 15 of a, respectively, the contents of the recording / reproduction conditions newly learned by the optical disk apparatus are written in the first drive information area 502.
The drive information 521 is updated by writing to the area assigned the number 0 of a. As a result, the recording / reproducing condition 52 recorded on the optical disc 101 the oldest
1a (that is, the contents of the recording / reproducing apparatus 521a written in the area to which the number 15 of the first drive information area 502a is assigned) is deleted from the recording / reproducing condition list.

As described above, by updating the drive information 521, the oldest recording / reproduction condition 52 out of the 16 recording / reproduction conditions 521a included in the drive information 521 is obtained.
1a will be deleted. As a result, it is guaranteed that the drive information 521 always includes the latest 16 recording / reproducing conditions 521a.

In the second embodiment, the recording / reproducing conditions obtained by the learning process are assigned from the head of the recording / reproducing condition list. However, the recording / reproducing conditions may be assigned from the end of the recording / reproducing condition list. .

FIG. 7 shows one example of the information included in the drive information 521.
The optical disc 101 is included in the six recording / reproducing conditions 521a.
Recording / reproducing condition 5 that can be used by the optical disk device equipped with
The structure of the drive information 521 before the update and the structure of the drive information 521 after the update in the case where 21a exists are shown in comparison. The update processing of the drive information 521 is performed, for example, when the optical disk 101 is mounted on the optical disk device.

In FIG. 7, the value following the symbol # is given for convenience of description to indicate the time series of the recording / reproducing conditions 521a, and is not included in the contents of the recording / reproducing conditions 521a. Here, n and m are integers of 0 or more.

For example, the maker identifier and the drive identifier possessed by the optical disc apparatus are included in the recording / reproduction condition 521a recorded in the area of the first drive information area 502a to which the number m is assigned.
Assume that it matches 31 and drive identifier 532. In this case, it is confirmed whether the recording / reproducing condition 521a is actually usable for the optical disk device. After the confirmation, the recording / reproducing condition 521a is read from the area of the first drive information area 502a to which the number m is assigned. The read recording / reproducing condition 521a is, for example,
It is stored in an evacuation buffer (not shown). Next, the numbers 0 to (m-1) of the first drive information area 502a
Are written to the area of the first drive information area 502a to which the numbers 1 to m have been allocated. Next, the contents of the recording / reproducing condition 521a stored in the evacuation buffer are written to the area of the first drive information area 502a to which the number 0 is assigned.

As described above, the recording / reproducing conditions 521a that can be used by the optical disk apparatus on which the optical disk 101 is mounted are used.
(That is, the recording / reproducing apparatus 521 recorded in the area to which the number m of the first drive information area 502a is assigned.
a) is written in the area of the first drive information area 502a to which the number 0 is assigned.

As described above, by updating the drive information 521, the most recently accessed recording / reproduction condition 521a of the 16 recording / reproduction conditions 521a included in the drive information 521 is always the number of the first drive information area. 0 will be recorded in the assigned area. As a result, it is guaranteed that the drive information 521 always includes the latest 16 recording / reproducing conditions 521a.

In the second embodiment, the recording / reproducing condition list is updated by moving the recording / reproducing condition having the same maker identifier and drive identifier to the head of the recording / reproducing condition list. The recording / reproducing condition lower than the recording / reproducing condition with the matching may be moved upward by one sector, and the recording / reproducing condition with the matching maker identifier and drive identifier may be moved to the end of the recording / reproducing condition list.

(Embodiment 3) An information recording / reproducing apparatus (optical disc apparatus) 800 for recording information on the information recording medium described in Embodiment 2 or reproducing the information recorded on the information recording medium will be described below. Will be described.

FIG. 8 shows a configuration of an optical disk device 800 according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

The optical disk device 800 is connected to a higher-level control device (not shown) via an I / O bus 870. The host controller is typically a host computer.

The optical disk device 800 has an instruction processing unit 810 for processing an instruction from a higher-level control device, a recording control unit 820 for controlling recording on a rewritable disk, and a control for reproducing from a rewritable disk. Reproduction control unit 830
And a drive information storage buffer 840 for storing reproduced drive information 521, a data buffer 850 for temporarily storing recorded and reproduced data, and a learning information processing unit 860 for controlling a learning process. I have.

The learning information processing section 860 controls the drive information reading section 861 for reading the drive information 521 from the first drive information area 502a and the drive information 522 for reading the drive information 522 from the second drive information area 502b. And updates the drive information 521 and the drive information 522, and stores the updated drive information 521 in the first drive information area 502.
a, and the drive information updating unit 8 records the updated drive information 522 in the second drive information area 502b.
63.

FIG. 9 shows the procedure of the drive information reading process. This processing is performed by the optical disk device 8 shown in FIG.
This is executed by the drive information readout unit 861 of 00. In the example shown in FIG. 9, it is assumed that each of the first drive information area 502a and the second drive information area 502b is configured by a single ECC block.

The drive information reading section 861 uses the reproduction control section 830 to read the drive information 521 from the first drive information area 502a provided on the optical disc 101.
It is determined whether or not it is possible to read (step 90).
1). This determination is based on the E in the first drive information area 502a.
This is performed based on whether or not the CC block has been successfully reproduced. If the reproduction of the ECC block in the first drive information area 502a is successful, the first drive information area 502
If it is determined that the drive information 521 can be read from a, and the reproduction of the ECC block in the first drive information area 502a fails, the drive information 521 cannot be read from the first drive information area 502a. Is determined.

When it is determined that the drive information 521 can be read from the first drive information area 502a (“Yes” in the determination of step 901), the drive information read unit 861 reads the read drive information 521. Is stored in the drive information storage buffer 840,
The drive information 521 is used (Step 903). For example, the drive information 521 can be used in a process of learning recording and reproduction conditions. Alternatively, the drive information 521
May be used to record data on the optical disc 101 or to reproduce data recorded on the optical disc 101.

When it is determined that the drive information 521 cannot be read from the first drive information area 502a (“No” in the determination of step 901), the drive information reading unit 861 uses the reproduction control unit 830 to Then, it is determined whether the drive information 522 can be read from the second drive information area 502b provided on the optical disc 101 (step 902). This judgment is
This is performed based on whether or not the reproduction of the ECC block in the second drive information area 502b is successful. When the reproduction of the ECC block in the second drive information area 502b is successful, it is determined that the drive information 522 can be read from the second drive information area 502b, and the reproduction of the ECC block in the second drive information area 502b is performed. Has failed, it is determined that the drive information 522 cannot be read from the second drive information area 502b.

When it is determined that the drive information 522 can be read from the second drive information area 502b (“Yes” in the determination of step 902), the drive information reading unit 861 reads the read drive information 522. Is stored in the drive information storage buffer 840,
The drive information 522 is used (step 904). For example, the drive information 522 can be used in a process of learning recording and reproduction conditions. Alternatively, the drive information 522
May be used to record data on the optical disc 101 or to reproduce data recorded on the optical disc 101.

When it is determined that the drive information 522 cannot be read from the second drive information area 502b (“No” in the determination of Step 902), the drive information reading unit 861 fills in the NULL value “00” h. Generated drive information is generated, the drive information is stored in the drive information storage buffer 840, and the drive information is used (step 905). For example, NULL
The drive information filled with the value “00h” can be used in the process of learning the recording and reproduction conditions. Or NUL
Data may be recorded on the optical disc 101 or data recorded on the optical disc 101 may be reproduced using the drive information filled with the L value “00h”.

As described above, the drive information reading section 86
1 is the ECC of the first block of the drive information area 502
If the block has been successfully reproduced, the drive information 521 recorded in the first drive information area 502a is used. If the drive information reading unit 861 fails to reproduce the first ECC block of the drive information area 502 but successfully reproduces the second ECC block of the drive information area 502, the second
The drive information 522 stored in the drive information area 502b is used. Further, the drive information reading unit 861 reads the E of the first block of the drive information area 502.
When the reproduction of the CC block fails and the reproduction of the second ECC block of the drive information area 502 fails, NULL-filled drive information is generated and the drive information is used.

It should be noted that the first drive information area 502a has N
If the ECC block is composed of ECC blocks, the determination in step 901 is made based on whether or not all the N ECC blocks included in the first drive information area 502a have been successfully reproduced. Here, N is an arbitrary integer of 1 or more. When all of the N ECC blocks have been successfully reproduced, it is determined that the drive information 521 can be read from the first drive information area 502a, and at least one of the N ECC blocks has failed in reproduction. In this case, it is determined that the drive information 521 cannot be read from the first drive information area 502a.

Similarly, the second drive information area 502
If b is composed of N ECC blocks, the determination in step 902 is that the second drive information area 5
This is performed based on whether or not all the N ECC blocks included in 02b have been successfully reproduced. Here, N is an arbitrary integer of 1 or more. If all of the N ECC blocks have been successfully reproduced, the second drive information area 50
If it is determined that the drive information 522 can be read out from the second drive information area 2b and the reproduction of at least one of the N ECC blocks has failed, the second drive information area 50
It is determined that the drive information 522 cannot be read from 2b.

Note that the example of the drive information reading process shown in FIG. 9 corresponds to the case where N = 1.

FIG. 10 shows the procedure of the learning process and the procedure of the drive information updating process. The learning processing is performed by the learning processing unit 8
62. The update process of drive information
This is executed by the drive information updating unit 863.

The learning processing unit 862 reads the drive information stored in the drive information storage buffer 840, and sets the recording / reproducing conditions that can be used by the optical disc device 800 in the plurality of recording / reproducing conditions included in the drive information. It is determined whether a condition exists (step 100).
1). This determination is made, for example, by comparing the maker identifier and the drive identifier included in the recording / reproducing conditions with the maker identifier and the drive identifier held by the optical disk device 800. If there is a recording / reproducing condition in which the maker identifier and the drive identifier match, the learning processing unit 862 determines according to the recording / reproducing condition.
Using the recording control unit 820 and the reproduction control unit 830,
The information is recorded on the optical disc 101 or the information recorded on the optical disc 101 is reproduced.

The learning processing unit 862 performs test recording to determine whether the recording / reproducing conditions are appropriate (step 1002). If it is determined that the recording / reproducing condition is appropriate, the process is completed without performing the learning process and updating the drive information.

On the other hand, if there is no recording / reproducing condition in which the maker identifier and the drive identifier match in step 1001, and if it is not determined in step 1002 that the recording / reproducing condition in which the maker identifier and the drive identifier match is appropriate. In the learning processing unit 862,
A learning process is executed, and the newly learned recording / reproduction conditions are stored in the data buffer 850 (step 1003).
The learning processing unit 862 records information on the optical disc 101 through the recording control unit 820 and the reproduction control unit 830 according to the recording and reproduction conditions stored in the data buffer 850,
Alternatively, the information recorded on the optical disk 101 is reproduced.

The learning processing unit 862 performs test recording to determine whether the recording / reproducing conditions are appropriate (step 1004). If it is determined that the recording / reproducing condition is not appropriate, the learning processing unit 862 returns the process to step 1003, executes the learning process again, and obtains the newly learned recording / reproducing condition.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step 1004 that the recording / reproducing conditions are appropriate, the drive information updating section 863 updates the drive information. The drive information is updated by moving the contents of the recording / reproducing conditions recorded in the areas to which the numbers 0 to 14 are assigned downward by one sector at a time (step 1005), and then recording / reproducing newly learned by the optical disc apparatus. This is performed by writing the contents of the condition into an area to which number 0 is assigned (for example, the first sector of the recording / reproducing condition list) (step 1006).

As described above, the drive information stored in the drive information storage buffer 840 is updated (steps 1005 and 1006).

The drive information updating unit 863 determines in step 1
005 and the drive information updated in step 1006 is recorded in the drive information area 502a of the first block using the recording control unit 820 (step 100).
7). For example, the updated drive information (recording / reproduction condition list) is recorded in the first ECC block. Subsequently, the drive information updating unit 863 performs Step 1
The same drive information as that recorded in 007 is recorded in the drive information area 502b of the second block (step 1008). For example, the updated drive information (recording / reproduction condition list) is recorded in the second ECC block.

When the drive information stored in the drive information storage buffer 840 is the drive information filled in with the NULL value “00” h generated in step 905 shown in FIG. ,always,
The process proceeds to the No side in the determination of step 1001. NUL
This is because the reproduction / recording condition of the L value “00” h is not available for all optical disk devices. Accordingly, the drive information updating unit 863 performs the above-described step 1003
To update the drive information according to step 1008. As a result, the contents of the recording / reproduction conditions newly learned by the optical disk device are stored in the first drive information area 502a.
And the second drive information area 502b is written into an area (for example, the first sector of the recording / reproducing condition list) to which the number 0 is assigned, and a NULL value “00” h is set in the first drive information area 502a and the second drive information. The numbers 1 to 15 of the area 502b are written into the allocated areas.

Thus, the drive information updating unit 863
Always updates the drive information so that the recording / reproducing condition newly obtained by the learning process is recorded at the head of the recording / reproducing condition list. As a result, the drive information is always the latest one.
It is guaranteed that six recording and reproduction conditions are included.

In the third embodiment, the recording / reproducing condition list is updated by recording the newly obtained recording / reproducing condition at the head of the recording / reproducing condition list. Alternatively, the recording / reproducing condition list may be updated by recording the newly obtained recording / reproducing condition at the end of the recording / reproducing condition list. In this case, each recording / reproducing condition in the recording / reproducing condition list may be moved upward by one sector, and the first recording / reproducing condition in the recording / reproducing condition list may be deleted.

FIG. 11 shows the procedure of the learning process and the procedure of the drive information updating process. The learning processing is performed by the learning processing unit 8
62. The update process of drive information
This is executed by the drive information updating unit 863.

In FIG. 11, steps 1101 to 1108 are the same as step 1001 shown in FIG.
To the step 1008. Therefore, the description is omitted.

The drive information updating unit 863 determines in step 1
If the determination in step 102 is Yes (that is, there is a recording / reproduction condition that can be used by the optical disc device 800 among a plurality of recording / reproduction conditions included in the drive information stored in the drive information storage buffer 840; If the available recording and reproduction conditions are determined to be appropriate as a result of the test recording), the recording and reproduction conditions determined to be appropriate are temporarily stored in the data buffer 850,
The recording / reproducing condition positioned higher than the appropriate determined recording / reproducing condition is moved to the lower position by one sector (step 1109). Subsequently, the drive information updating unit 863
Records the contents of the recording / reproducing conditions stored in the data buffer 850 in an area to which the number 0 is assigned (for example, the first sector of the recording / reproducing condition list) (step 1).
110).

Thus, the drive information stored in the drive information storage buffer 840 is updated (steps 1109 and 1110).

The drive information updating unit 863 determines in step 1
The drive information updated in step 109 and step 1110 is recorded in the drive information area 502a of the first block using the recording control unit 820 (step 110).
7). For example, the updated drive information (recording / reproduction condition list) is recorded in the first ECC block. Subsequently, the drive information updating unit 863 performs Step 1
The same drive information as that recorded in step 107 is recorded in the drive information area 502b of the second block (step 1108). For example, the updated drive information (recording / reproduction condition list) is recorded in the second ECC block.

As described above, the drive information updating unit 863
Always records, in the drive information area 502, the recording and reproduction conditions that can be used by the optical disc apparatus loaded with the optical disc 101 as the recording and reproduction conditions recorded in the drive information area 502 at the latest time. As a result, it is guaranteed that the drive information always includes the latest 16 recording and reproduction conditions.

In the third embodiment, the recording / reproducing condition positioned higher than the recording / reproducing condition determined to be appropriate is moved downward by one sector, and the recording / reproducing condition stored in the data buffer 850 is changed to the recording / reproducing condition. The recording / reproducing condition list was updated by recording at the head of the condition list. However, the recording / reproducing condition positioned lower than the recording / reproducing condition determined to be appropriate is moved upward by one sector and stored in the data buffer 850. The recording / reproducing condition list may be updated by storing the stored recording / reproducing condition at the end of the recording / reproducing condition list.

In the third embodiment, the example in which the drive information area 502 includes the first drive information area 502a and the second drive information area 502b has been described. However, the drive information area 502 has L drive information areas. (First drive information area 502-1 to L-th drive information area 502
-L). Here, L is an arbitrary integer of 2 or more. In this case, the first drive information area 502
It is determined whether drive information can be read in order from -1 to the L-th drive information area 502-L, and the drive information that has been successfully read is stored in the drive information storage buffer 840. Good. First
When the drive information area cannot be read from any of the L-th drive information area from the drive information area 502-1, the drive information filled with NULL value “00” h is stored in the drive information storage buffer 840. What should I do? Such a process is the same as the drive information reading process shown in FIG.

[0146]

According to the information recording medium of the present invention, the plurality of recording / reproducing conditions are arranged in the order of the time of recording on the information recording medium. Thus, it is guaranteed that the drive information always includes the latest recording / reproducing condition without having a redundant identifier such as a learning order identifier.

According to the information recording medium of the present invention, the first drive information area for recording the first drive information and the second drive information area for recording the second drive information are provided. , The first drive information and the second drive information are updated to have the same contents. As a result, the first drive information area or the second drive information area is damaged, and dust or fingerprints adhere to the first drive information area or the second drive information area. The likelihood of failure is reduced.

According to the information recording / reproducing method of the present invention, when there is no recording / reproducing condition that can be used by the optical disc apparatus loaded with the optical disc among the plurality of recording / reproducing conditions included in the drive information, the drive information is reproduced. The drive information is updated by moving the plurality of recording / reproducing conditions included in the above one by one and adding the recording / reproducing condition obtained by the recording / reproducing condition learning process to the head of the drive information. In addition, when a plurality of recording / reproduction conditions included in the drive information include a recording / reproduction condition that can be used by the information recording / reproducing apparatus mounted with the information recording medium, the recording / reproduction condition is ranked higher than the available recording / reproduction condition. The drive information is updated by moving the recording / reproduction conditions located one by one to the lower position and moving the available recording / reproduction conditions to the head of the drive information. As a result, it is guaranteed that the drive information always includes the latest recording and reproduction conditions.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a structure of an information recording medium 101 according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a structure of a disk information area 104 shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the relationship between the structure of an ECC block and the structure of a sector 103 provided on the optical disc 101.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a structure of drive information 401 recorded in a drive information area 211 shown in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a structure of information recorded in a disc identification area 208 shown in FIG.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a comparison between the structure of drive information 521 before update and the structure of drive information 521 after update.

FIG. 7 is a diagram comparing the structure of drive information 521 before update with the structure of drive information 521 after update.

FIG. 8 is an optical disc device 800 according to a third embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the configuration of FIG.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of a drive information reading process.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of a learning process and a procedure of a drive information update process.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of a learning process and a procedure of a drive information updating process.

[Explanation of symbols]

 101 optical disk 102 track 103 sector 104 disk information area 105 data recording area 208 disk identification area 501 disk identification information area 502 drive information area 502a first drive information area 502b second drive information area 503 reserved area 521, 522 drive information 521a recording / reproducing Condition 531 Manufacturer identifier 532 Drive identifier 533 Learning result storage area

Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-2000-293857 (JP, A) JP-A-5-282795 (JP, A) JP-A-6-52547 (JP, A) JP-A-10-49875 (JP, A A) JP-A-9-16964 (JP, A) JP-A-7-249261 (JP, A) JP-A-7-249270 (JP, A) JP-A-9-265732 (JP, A) -101511 (JP, B2) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G11B 20/12 G11B 19/02 G11B 19/12 G11B 7/00-7/013 G11B 11/105

Claims (12)

(57) [Claims] 1. An information recording / reproducing method for an information recording medium comprising a data recording area for recording data and a first drive information area for recording first drive information, the method comprising: One drive information area is number 0 to number (M-1)
Is assigned, and the first drive information includes M recording / reproducing conditions, and the M recording / reproducing conditions are such that the time recorded on the information recording medium is newer to newer. The first drive information area is written in the area to which numbers 0 to (M-1) are assigned in the order of the first drive information area, and M is an integer of 2 or more. A) determining whether the first drive information can be read from the first drive information area; and (b) determining whether the M pieces of recording / reproducing conditions included in the first drive information include: Determining whether there is a recording / reproducing condition that can be used by the information recording / reproducing apparatus mounted with the information recording medium; and (c) reading the first drive information, and Drive information If there is no usable recording / reproducing condition, the information recording / reproducing apparatus mounted with the information recording medium finds a new recording / reproducing condition that can be used, and uses the new recording / reproducing condition to perform the second 1
Updating the drive information area, wherein the step (c) is performed by: (c-1) writing in the area of the first drive information area to which numbers 0 to (M-2) are assigned; The content of the recording / reproducing condition is set to the number 1 of the first drive information area.
And (c-2) writing the contents of the new recording / reproducing condition to the area of the first drive information area to which number 0 is assigned. Includes information recording / reproducing methods. 2. The information recording / reproducing method according to claim 1, wherein M = 16. 3. Each of the M recording / reproducing conditions includes:
2. The information recording / reproducing method according to claim 1, wherein the information is information used when an information recording / reproducing apparatus capable of mounting the information recording medium records / reproduces the data. 4. The step (c) includes setting a recording / reproducing condition usable by the information recording / reproducing device mounted with the information recording medium as a recording / reproducing condition recorded in the first drive information at the latest time. 2. The information recording / reproducing method according to claim 1, further comprising a step of recording the first drive information. 5. The first drive information area is composed of N ECC blocks for calculating an error correction code, each of the N ECC blocks including a plurality of sectors, Each of the M recording / reproducing conditions included in the drive information is recorded in a corresponding one of the plurality of sectors, and N is 1
2. The information recording / reproducing method according to claim 1, wherein the information is an integer greater than or equal to the integer. 6. The determination as to whether or not the first drive information can be read is based on whether or not all of the N ECC blocks included in the first drive information area have been successfully reproduced. The information recording / reproducing method according to claim 5, which is performed by: 7. An information recording / reproducing apparatus for an information recording medium, comprising: a data recording area for recording data; and a first drive information area for recording first drive information, One drive information area is number 0 to number (M-1)
Is assigned, and the first drive information includes M recording / reproducing conditions, and the M recording / reproducing conditions are such that the time recorded on the information recording medium is newer to newer. The information is written in the first drive information area in an area to which numbers 0 to (M-1) are assigned in the order of the drive information, and M is an integer of 2 or more. A read unit, a learning processing unit, and a drive information update unit, wherein the drive information read unit determines whether it is possible to read the first drive information from the first drive information area, The learning processing unit is configured to execute the M processing included in the first drive information.
Determining whether there is a recording / reproducing condition that can be used by the information recording / reproducing device among the recording / reproducing conditions; reading the first drive information; and If there is no usable recording / reproducing condition, the learning processing unit obtains a new recording / reproducing condition that can be used by the information recording / reproducing device. The contents of the recording / reproducing conditions written in the areas to which the numbers 0 to (M-2) of the information area are assigned are stored in the areas of the first drive information area to which the numbers 1 to number (M-1) are assigned. An information recording / reproducing apparatus for writing and writing the contents of the new recording / reproducing condition into an area of the first drive information area to which a number 0 is assigned. 8. The information recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein M = 16. 9. Each of the M recording / reproducing conditions is:
The information recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the information is used by an information recording / reproducing apparatus capable of mounting the information recording medium when recording / reproducing the data. 10. The drive information updating unit records the recording / reproducing condition usable by the information recording / reproducing apparatus as the recording / reproducing condition recorded in the first drive information at the latest time in the first drive information. The information recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 7, which performs the operation. 11. The first drive information area is composed of N ECC blocks for calculating an error correction code, each of the N ECC blocks includes a plurality of sectors, 8. The information according to claim 7, wherein each of the M recording / reproducing conditions included in the drive information is recorded in a corresponding one of the plurality of sectors, and N is an integer of 1 or more. Recording and playback device. 12. The determination as to whether or not the first drive information can be read is based on whether or not all the N ECC blocks included in the first drive information area have been successfully reproduced. The information recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 11, which is performed by: