JP3289931B2 - Information recording / reproducing device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information recording / reproducing apparatus provided with a recording area replacing means for replacing a defective data recording area with another data recording area.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In general, for example, an information recording / reproducing apparatus such as a magnetic disk device has a sector replacement function of recording data by detecting a defective sector and replacing the sector with another sector. Thus, it is possible to cope with a defect of the recording medium due to deterioration of the recording medium and adhesion of dust. In addition, data recorded in each sector is added with an error correction code for enabling a data error to be corrected when a data error occurs, so that the reliability of data recording can be improved.

When data reproduction becomes unstable due to deterioration of a recording medium or the like, data may be normally reproduced by repeatedly performing a data reproduction operation from the same sector. When the data cannot be normally reproduced by the data reproducing operation, a retry operation for repeating the data reproducing operation up to a predetermined number is performed.

[0004]

However, such a conventional apparatus has the following disadvantages.

That is, first, when normal data can be obtained by a retry operation during data reproduction,
It takes time to reproduce the data, and the data access time becomes longer. Further, when a data error is resolved by the error correction code, a medium defect or the like occurs in the sector, and if the deterioration over time progresses further, the recorded data may not be able to be reproduced. Similarly,
Even when normal data can be obtained by the retry operation, there is a possibility that the recorded data cannot be reproduced when the deterioration with time progresses.

The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and can improve the reliability of data recording.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a method for controlling an information recording / reproducing apparatus which can shorten data access time.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an information recording / reproducing apparatus provided with a recording area replacement means for replacing a defective data recording area with another data recording area.
When a retry operation that repeats a read operation or an error correction operation occurs during data reproduction, the address information on all the data recording areas where the retry operation or the error correction operation has occurred is unstable as an unstable recording area. Registering means for registering in a recording area table; and, at an operation timing in which a recording operation or a reproducing operation is not performed after the end of the data reproduction, a data recording area corresponding to the address information is recorded in the unstable recording area table. A recording area replacement updating unit for replacing address information on the replaced data recording area from the unstable recording area table while substituting with another data recording area, and address information registered in the unstable recording area table. Until the recording area alternative updating means And those having a repeating unit repeating the deleting operation from the unstable recording area table address information about the alternative data recording area.

[0008]

Therefore, since all the unstable areas generated during the data reproduction can be replaced at a time, the replacement process can be performed efficiently without interruption during the data reproduction operation. In addition, since the address information on the replaced data recording area is deleted from the unstable recording area table each time the replacement operation is performed, it is possible to prevent a situation in which the replacement operation of the same area is performed due to a malfunction, and
Even when the replacement process is interrupted, for example, when the recording or reproduction operation is performed during the replacement operation, only the address information of the data recording area for which the replacement has been completed is deleted, and the replacement has been completed. Since the address information about the data recording area that does not exist is held, the suspended replacement operation is appropriately restarted, and a suitable replacement process is performed.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a magnetic disk used as a recording medium in a magnetic disk drive according to one embodiment of the present invention.

In the magnetic disk 1, a predetermined area on the outer peripheral side of the recording surface is used as a system area SS which is referred to at the time of recording / reproducing operation of data recorded on the magnetic disk 1.
And the area inside this system area SS is a user area US for recording user data.
Is set to

Generally, data recording / reproducing operations on the magnetic disk 1 are performed in units of a sector having a predetermined data length. When recording data, after recording the data,
A so-called verify operation is performed by reproducing the recorded data to check whether it matches the original data. When a data error is detected by the verify operation, the sector is replaced with another sector and data is recorded. The reliability of data recording is improved by performing a sector replacement operation.

A sector replacement table for this sector replacement operation is formed and recorded in the system area SS, an example of which is shown in FIG.

One element of this sector replacement table is:
The sector replacement table includes a defective sector number indicating a sector number of a sector in which a defect is detected and a replacement sector number indicating a replacement sector number indicating a replacement sector number for replacing the recording data of the defective sector. , A predetermined number (n) of sector replacement data are stored.

FIG. 3 shows an example of a control system of the magnetic disk drive according to one embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, a CPU (central processing unit) 2
Is for controlling the operation of the magnetic disk drive, and a ROM (read only memory) 3 is
It stores a processing program executed by the CPU 2 and various data necessary for the processing program.
A RAM (random access memory) 4 is a CPU 2
The external interface circuit 5 is for connecting the magnetic disk drive to a host device, for example, a disk control device or a system interface unit.

The magnetic head 6 is for recording / reproducing data on the magnetic disk 1, and the data recording / reproducing control section 7 is for recording / reproducing data using the magnetic head 6. Also, the data recording / reproduction control unit 7
A function for adding an error correction code for detecting and correcting an error occurring in data when recording user data, and a function for correcting a data error based on the error correction code of the reproduced data when reproducing data. Have.

The seek mechanism 8 moves the magnetic head 6 in the radial direction of the magnetic disk 1. The seek control unit 9 operates the seek mechanism 8 to move the magnetic head 6 to a target position. Is to control the

The spindle motor 10 includes a magnetic disk 1
The spindle motor control unit 11 is for controlling the operation of the spindle motor 10.

These CPU2, ROM3, RAM4,
The external interface circuit 5, the data recording / reproduction control unit 7, the seek control unit 9, and the spindle motor control unit 11 are connected to an internal bus 12, and exchange of data between these elements is performed by the internal bus. 12 is performed.

Further, when reproducing the magnetic disk 1, the CPU 2 forms an unstable sector table for storing sectors whose reproduction state is unstable as shown in FIG. ing.

In the above configuration, when a data reading (data reading) operation is instructed in a state where a target sector is designated by the host device, the CPU 2 performs an operation as shown in FIG.

First, referring to the sector replacement table, it is checked whether the target sector is a defective sector (decision 1).
01), when the result of determination 101 is YES, an alternative sector number is extracted from the corresponding sector alternative data and set as a target sector number (process 102). When the result of the determination 101 is NO, the instructed target sector is used as it is.

Then, sector data is read from the target sector (step 103). In this read operation, a retry operation for repeating the read operation occurs or an error is included in the reproduced data to correct the error. It is checked whether a correction operation has occurred (decisions 104 and 105).

If the result of decision 104 is YES or the result of decision 105 is YES, the sector address (sector number) of the target sector at that time is registered in the unstable sector table (process 106). This data read operation ends. The data read at this time is transferred to the host device.

As described above, when a retry operation or a data correction operation occurs during a data read operation, the sector is registered in the unstable sector table as an unstable sector.

The CPU 2 performs a predetermined operation in a standby state in which neither data recording operation nor data reproducing operation is performed.
There is one as shown in FIG.

First, it is checked whether one or more unstable sector numbers are registered in the unstable sector table (decision 201). If the result of the decision 201 is YES, an alternative sector for substituting the unstable sector is determined. (Process 202), the recorded data is reproduced from the unstable sector (process 203), and the reproduced data is recorded in the substitute sector (process 204).

Then, sector replacement data including the sector number of the unstable sector and the replacement sector at that time is added to the sector replacement table.
At that time, the unstable sector number subjected to the substitution processing is deleted (processing 205), and the process returns to the determination 201.

If one or more unstable sector numbers are not registered in the unstable sector table, the decision 20 is made.
When the result of 1 is NO, this operation ends.

As described above, in the standby state, the data recorded in the unstable sector number registered in the unstable sector table is recorded in the alternative sector which replaces the unstable sector, and the alternative sector at that time is recorded. The sector replacement data corresponding to the state is added to the sector replacement table. In addition, the unstable sectors that have been replaced are deleted from the unstable sector table.

When a data recording (data write) operation is instructed while a target sector is specified by the host device and the recording data is transferred, the CPU 2
Performs the operation as shown in FIG.

First, it is determined whether or not the target sector is a defective sector by referring to the sector replacement table (decision 3).
01), when the result of determination 301 is YES, an alternative sector number is extracted from the corresponding sector alternative data and set as a target sector number (process 302). When the result of determination 301 is NO, the instructed target sector is used as it is.

Next, it is checked whether or not the sector number of the target sector is registered in the unstable sector table (decision 303). If the result of the decision 303 is YES,
An alternative sector that replaces the target sector is searched and registered in the defective sector number of the new sector alternative data (process 30).
4), the sector number of the replacement sector is set as the target sector number (process 305), and the sector number registered in the sector replacement table at that time is deleted from the unstable sector table (process 306).

Then, in a state where the target sector is specified, a data recording operation (data write) process is started, and
A data recording operation is performed (process 307). In this data recording operation, the above-described verify operation and the sector replacement operation referring to the sector replacement table are executed.

If the result of the determination 303 is NO, the process shifts to step 307 to start the data recording operation process in a state where the specified target sector is specified.

As described above, in the present embodiment, during the data recording operation, when the target sector is registered in the unstable sector table, an alternative sector is searched for, data is recorded in the alternative sector, and the alternative operation is performed. Is added to the sector replacement table.

As described above, in this embodiment, the sector whose operation has been unstable during data reproduction is registered as an unstable sector, and the standby sector is substituted for the registered unstable sector during standby or data recording. An alternative operation is performed.

Therefore, a sector in which a retry operation is performed at the time of data reproduction or a data correction operation is performed is replaced with a more reliable sector, so that the processing time at the time of data reproduction can be shortened. The reliability of data recording can be improved.

In the above-described embodiment, the present invention is applied to a magnetic disk drive. However, other information recording / reproducing devices, such as a magneto-optical disk (drive) device and an optical disk (drive) device, are also applicable. The present invention can be similarly applied.

[0041]

As described above, according to the present invention,
In an information recording / reproducing apparatus provided with a recording area substituting means for substituting a defective data recording area with another data recording area, when data is reproduced, when a retry operation to repeat a read operation occurs or an error correction operation is performed. A registering means for registering, in an unstable recording area table, address information on all data recording areas in which the retry operation or the error correction operation has occurred as an unstable recording area when the retry operation or the error correction operation has occurred; At the operation timing when the operation is not performed, the data recording area corresponding to the address information is replaced with another data recording area by the recording area substitution means in the unstable recording area table, and the address relating to the substituted data recording area is replaced. Recording area from which information is deleted from the unstable recording area table Replacement updating means, and the replacement operation of the recording area replacement updating means until the address information registered in the unstable recording area table disappears, and the operation of deleting the address information on the replaced data recording area from the unstable recording area table. It is possible to replace all the unstable areas generated during the data reproduction collectively, so that the substitution process can be performed efficiently without interruption during the data reproduction operation. Has an effect. Further, the address information relating to the replaced data recording area is deleted from the unstable recording area table every time the replacement operation is performed, so that a situation in which the replacement operation of the same area is performed due to a malfunction can be prevented, and during the replacement operation, Even if the replacement process is interrupted due to the recording or playback operation, only the address information for the data recording area for which replacement has been completed is deleted, and data recording for which replacement has not been completed is performed. Since the address information on the area is held, the suspended replacement operation is also restarted appropriately, and the replacement process is performed appropriately.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view showing a magnetic disk applied to a magnetic disk drive according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a sector replacement table.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a control system of the magnetic disk drive according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing an example of an unstable sector table.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an example of an operation at the time of data reading.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example of an operation performed in a standby state.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an example of an operation at the time of data writing.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 magnetic disk 2 CPU (central processing unit) 3 ROM (read only memory) 4 RAM (random access memory)

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G11B 20/10 G06F 3/06

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. An information recording / reproducing apparatus having a recording area substituting means for substituting a defective data recording area with another data recording area when a retry operation for repeating a read operation occurs during data reproduction. Or, when an error correction operation occurs, a registration unit for registering, in an unstable recording area table, address information on all data recording areas in which the retry operation or the error correction operation has occurred as an unstable recording area; Later, at the operation timing when the recording operation or the reproducing operation is not performed, the data recording area corresponding to the address information is replaced with another data recording area by the recording area replacing means in the unstable recording area table, and the data is replaced. Deletes address information on the data recording area from the unstable recording area table. A recording area replacement updating unit that performs the replacement operation of the recording area replacement updating unit and the unstable recording area table of the address information on the replaced data recording area until there is no more address information registered in the unstable recording area table. The recording / reproducing apparatus as described above, further comprising a repetition means for repeating the deleting operation.