JP3797374B2 - Playback apparatus and playback method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a reproducing apparatus and a reproducing method for a recording medium having management information for managing recording / reproducing operation of audio data in units of tracks.

  A mini-disc system is known as a rewritable disc-shaped recording medium on which a user can record music data. In this mini-disc system, an area in which data such as music is already recorded or an unrecorded area is known. A data area (user TOC, hereinafter referred to as U-TOC) is provided, and the management data is rewritten in accordance with operations such as recording, editing, and erasing.

  For example, when recording a certain piece of music, the recording device finds an unrecorded area on the disk from the U-TOC and records audio data therein. Further, in the playback device, an area in which a music (track) to be played back is recorded is determined from the U-TOC, and the playback operation is performed by accessing the area.

  In such a recording / reproducing system, by updating the U-TOC, it is possible to easily divide one track into a plurality of tracks or connect a plurality of tracks as one track.

For example, when recording a meeting or the like by connecting a microphone to a recording device, the recording from the start to the end of recording is recorded as one track, but if the recording time (one track) is long, Inconvenient during playback. That is, it is necessary to send the playback position by high-speed playback or the like in order to search for a part to be re-listened in the conference, which is a troublesome operation. However, if this track is divided into a plurality of tracks, it can be easily accessed by track access, and the user can quickly find the part he wants to hear. This is because the access position can be executed because the start position (address) is recorded in the U-TOC in track units.
Such a track division can be performed after recording, and a method has been developed in which a predetermined operation is performed during recording so that the recorded content from that point is set as the next track. Thus, when the user arbitrarily divides the track during recording or the like, the high-speed access function for the track is effectively utilized during reproduction, which is very convenient.

By the way, for example, when a user records a meeting or an interview in a mini-disc system, for example, in an important part, it is not only to divide the track but also to distinguish it from other tracks. There is a desire to give priority and allow the playback device to execute access to the track given priority.
In this way, you can not only separate each track, but also distinguish the tracks that the user has determined to be important, and if you want to listen to important tracks, make sure that the important tracks are accessed during playback. Thus, the operation is faster and hassle-free.
However, since the start address and the end address are simply recorded for each track on the U-TOC, the important track and the normal track cannot be distinguished, and priority cannot be given to an arbitrary track. .

  In view of such circumstances, an object of the present invention is to give priority to an arbitrary track so that the track can be easily accessed during reproduction.

For this purpose, the reproducing apparatus of the present invention records a plurality of tracks composed of a plurality of discrete parts, and also identifies link information indicating the connection relationship of each part and the importance of an arbitrary track. A reproducing means for reproducing the recording medium on which is recorded, a discriminating means for discriminating an important track among the plurality of tracks based on the identification code, an operating means for instructing reproduction of only the important track, When a playback instruction for only an important track is given by the operation means while a track recorded on the recording medium is being played, based on the identification information of the track identified as important by the discrimination means as sequentially reproduced by said reproducing means based on only the track that has been identified as a key among the plurality of tracks in the link information Te And a control means for controlling.

Further, the recording medium records a track number indicating a track and the identification code in association with each other, and the control means discriminates an important track from the plurality of tracks based on the identification data and the track number. and, a control means Ru is reproduced only tracks identified as important.
The control means further includes an operation means for designating an important track, and the control means discriminates other important tracks among the plurality of tracks when an AMS operation is performed by the operation means during important track reproduction, and the control means Play important tracks other than the track that is being played.
In addition, when the control unit determines that the track is important, the control unit includes a display unit that displays the identification code.
Furthermore, it has storage means for storing track numbers of important tracks, and the control means stores the track numbers of the important tracks recorded on the recording medium in the storage means and stores them in the storage means. The important track is determined from the track number of the recorded important track.
Further, when the track is determined to be an important track by the determining means, a display indicating that the track is an important track is displayed during playback of the track.

In addition, the reproduction method of the present invention reads a plurality of tracks composed of a plurality of discrete parts from a recording medium, and at the same time, identifies link information indicating the connection relationship between the parts and that an arbitrary track is important. Are read out, a determination step of determining an important track among the plurality of tracks based on the identification code, an operation step of instructing reproduction of only the important track, and a recording medium recorded on the recording medium When a playback instruction for only an important track is given by the operation means while a certain track is being played back, among the plurality of tracks based on the identification information of the track identified as important by the discrimination means Only a track determined to be important consists of a playback step for sequentially playing back tracks based on the link information. It is.

  As described above, the present invention reads a plurality of tracks composed of a plurality of discrete parts from a recording medium, and identifies link information indicating the connection relationship of each part and the importance of an arbitrary track. Are read out, an important track among the plurality of tracks is determined based on the identification code, and only the tracks determined to be important are sequentially reproduced based on the link information. For this reason, the user arbitrarily designates a certain track as an important track, so that the track can be easily accessed and reproduced at the time of reproduction, and the usability is remarkably improved.

  In addition, the display means displays when an important track is designated and when the important track is played, indicating that the important track is designated, so that the user can easily confirm the operation and the important track. There is an advantage.

Hereinafter, a recording / reproducing apparatus corresponding to a magneto-optical disk (mini disk) will be described as an example of the present invention with reference to FIGS.
1. Configuration of recording / reproducing apparatus.
2. P-TOC sector.
3. U-TOC sector.
-U-TOC sector 0.
-U-TOC sector 1.
4). Track split operation.
5. Access operation during playback.

1. Configuration of recording / reproducing apparatus.
FIG. 1 shows an example of the appearance of a recording / reproducing apparatus of the embodiment, and 30 shows the entire recording / reproducing apparatus.
The recording / reproducing apparatus 30 is provided with a lid 31. The lid 31 is opened so that a disk can be accommodated therein.
Reference numeral 22 denotes a display unit formed by a liquid crystal panel or the like, which displays the operation state, track number, time, and the like.

Various operation keys are provided on the housing of the recording / reproducing apparatus 30. Reference numeral 32 denotes an eject switch, and the lid 31 is opened by operating the eject switch 32. Reference numeral 33 denotes a reproduction key. When the reproduction key 33 is pressed, the power is turned on and reproduction is started.
Reference numerals 34 and 35 denote AMS keys (head access / search keys). When the AMS key 34 is pressed during reproduction, the head position of the next track is accessed, and when the AMS key 35 is pressed, the head position of the current track or the previous track is accessed. The AMS keys 34 and 35 are continuously pressed to perform fast forward or fast reverse playback.
Reference numeral 36 denotes a stop key, which also serves as a power off key. 37 is a pause key and 38 is a volume up / down key.
Reference numeral 39 denotes a track mark key. When the track mark key 39 is pressed during recording, the track is divided at that point. Reference numeral 40 denotes a character input mode key.
Reference numeral 41 denotes a recording key.

When recording with the recording / reproducing apparatus 30, the microphone 50 is connected to the microphone input terminal 18.
In addition, reproduced sound from the recording / reproducing apparatus 30 or monitor sound during recording is output from the headphones 43. The headphone 43 connects the plug portion 42 to the headphone terminal 17.

The headphone 43 is provided with a remote control unit 44 so that the recording / reproducing apparatus 30 can be remotely operated. For this reason, the headphone terminal 17 is provided with a remote control input terminal as well as an audio output terminal so that operation information from the remote control unit 44 is supplied to the recording / reproducing apparatus 30.
The remote control unit 44 is provided with a playback / AMS key 45, a stop key 46, a pause key 47, a track mark key 48, and the like that distinguish playback / forward access / backward access according to the pressed position.

A block diagram of the main part of this recording / reproducing apparatus is shown in FIG.
In FIG. 2, reference numeral 1 denotes a magneto-optical disk on which an audio data track is recorded, for example.
The audio data such as music recorded on the disc 1 is compressed to about 1/5 by a modified DCT (Modified Discreate Cosine Transform) compression technique with 44.1KHz sampling and 16-bit quantization, and further, EFM modulation and CIRC It is assumed that the data has been encoded.

  The magneto-optical disk 1 is rotationally driven by a spindle motor 2. An optical head 3 irradiates a laser beam to the magneto-optical disk 1 at the time of recording / reproducing, and at the time of recording provides a high level laser output for heating the recording track to the Curie temperature, and at the time of reproduction by the magnetic Kerr effect. A relatively low level laser output for detecting data from the reflected light.

  For this reason, the optical head 3 is equipped with a laser diode as a laser output means, an optical system including a deflection beam splitter, an objective lens, and the like, and a detector for detecting reflected light. The objective lens 3a is held by a biaxial mechanism 4 so as to be displaceable in the radial direction of the disc and in the direction in which the objective lens 3a is in contact with or separated from the disc.

  Reference numeral 6a denotes a magnetic head for applying a magnetic field modulated by the supplied data to the magneto-optical disk, which is disposed at a position facing the optical head 3 with the magneto-optical disk 1 in between. The entire optical head 3 and the magnetic head 6 a can be moved in the radial direction of the disk by the thread mechanism 5.

Information detected from the magneto-optical disk 1 by the optical head 3 by the reproducing operation is supplied to the RF amplifier 7. The RF amplifier 7 performs processing of the supplied information to generate a reproduction RF signal, tracking error signal, focus error signal, groove information (absolute position information recorded as a pregroove (wobbling groove) on the magneto-optical disk 1), and the like. Extract. The extracted reproduction RF signal is supplied to the encoder / decoder unit 8. The tracking error signal and the focus error signal are supplied to the servo circuit 9.
The groove information is supplied to the address decoder 10 and output as address information by demodulation and decoding processing. The address information is supplied to the system controller 11 constituted by a microcomputer.

  The servo circuit 9 generates various servo drive signals based on the supplied tracking error signal, focus error signal, track jump command, access command from the system controller 11, rotation speed detection information of the spindle motor 2, etc. The thread mechanism 5 is controlled to perform focus and tracking control, and the spindle motor 2 is controlled to a constant linear velocity (CLV).

  The reproduction RF signal is subjected to decoding processing such as EFM demodulation and CIRC by the encoder / decoder unit 8, and then once written by the memory controller 12 into the buffer RAM 13 formed of D-RAM. The reading of data from the magneto-optical disk 1 by the optical head 3 and the transfer of reproduction data in the system from the optical head 3 to the buffer RAM 13 are performed at 1.41 Mbit / sec and intermittently.

  The data written in the buffer RAM 13 is read out at the timing when the reproduction data is transferred at 0.3 Mbit / sec and supplied to the encoder / decoder unit 14. Then, a 16-bit quantized output digital signal is obtained by the decoding process for the audio compression process by the modified DCT process.

The output digital signal is converted into an analog signal by the D / A converter 15 and supplied to the amplifier circuit 16. Then, the signal is supplied from the amplifier circuit 16 to the connected headphones from the audio output terminal 17 a in the headphone terminal 17.
Although not shown, a line output terminal or a digital output terminal may be provided.

In addition, the system controller 11 outputs a laser control signal _SLP for controlling the operation of the laser diode in the optical head 3, and controls on / off of the output of the laser diode. It is possible to switch between an output during reproduction, which is a low level, and an output during recording, which is a relatively high level.

When a recording operation is performed on the magneto-optical disk 1, an analog audio signal input from the microphone input terminal 18 is supplied to the microphone amplifier / AGC circuit 19. The A / D converter 20 converts the data to 44,1 kHz sampling and quantization 16-bit digital data, which is then supplied to the encoder / decoder unit 14.
Although not shown, a line input terminal and a digital input terminal may be provided.

  The encoder / decoder unit 14 performs audio compression encoding by modified DCT processing on the input digital audio signal. The recording data compressed by the encoder / decoder unit 14 is once written in the buffer RAM 13 by the memory controller 12, read at a predetermined timing, and sent to the encoder / decoder unit 8. The encoder / decoder 8 performs encoding processing such as CIRC encoding and EFM modulation, and then supplies the magnetic head driving circuit 6 with the encoding processing.

  The magnetic head drive circuit 6 supplies a magnetic head drive signal to the magnetic head 6a in accordance with the encoded recording data. That is, an N or S magnetic field is applied to the magneto-optical disk 1 by the magnetic head 6a. At this time, the system controller 11 supplies a control signal to the optical head so as to output a recording level laser beam.

  Reference numeral 21 denotes an operation input unit provided with keys used for user operations, and the operation keys 33 to 41 described above correspond thereto.

The system controller 11 is constituted by a microcomputer for controlling various operations such as recording / playback / editing. Reference numeral 11a denotes a RAM in the system controller 11 and is composed of an S-RAM.
A memory backup configuration is adopted for the S-RAM 11a.
As described above, the headphone 43 is provided with the remote control unit 44, but operation information from the remote control unit 44 is supplied to the system controller 11 from the remote control input terminal 17 b in the headphone terminal 17.
In addition, the system controller 11 controls the display unit 22 to display the operation status during playback and recording, the track number during playback / recording, the progress time, the mode state, and the like.

When a recording / reproducing operation is performed on the disc 1, management information recorded on the disc 1, that is, P-TOC (pre-mastered TOC) and U-TOC (user TOC) is read into the buffer RAM 13. Retained. For example, this reading is performed when a disk is loaded. For this reason, as shown in FIG. 3, the buffer RAM 13 is divided into a buffer area for audio data and an area for holding TOC information. For example, “00000h” to “024BFh” are prepared as areas for holding TOC information, and TOC information for four sectors can be stored.
The system controller 11 further reads necessary information from the buffer RAM 13 from the P-TOC and the U-TOC into the S-RAM 11a, and records information on the disc 1 according to the management information read into the S-RAM 11a. Various controls may be performed by determining the address of the track to be reproduced.

  The U-TOC is edited and rewritten according to data recording or erasing, but the system controller 11 changes this editing processing to U-TOC information stored in the buffer RAM 13 every time recording / erasing is performed. Further, the U-TOC on the buffer RAM 13 is recorded in the U-TOC area of the disk 1 at a predetermined time.

2. P-TOC sector.
Here, first, a P-TOC sector will be described as management information for managing track recording / reproducing operations and the like in the disc 1.
As the P-TOC information, area designation such as a recordable area (recordable user area) of the disc, management of the U-TOC area, and the like are performed. When the disc 1 is a pre-mastered disc that is a reproduction-only optical disc, it is possible to manage music recorded in ROM by the P-TOC.

  FIG. 13 shows one sector (sector 0) of P-TOC information repeatedly recorded in an area for P-TOC (for example, the ROM area on the innermost side of the disk). The P-TOC sector exists from sector 0 to sector 4, but sector 1 and later are optional.

The data area of P-TOC sector 0 (4 bytes x 588 2352 bytes) has a synchronization pattern consisting of 1 byte data of all 0s or all 1s at the head position, and 4 bytes of addresses indicating the cluster address and sector address. And the header.
In addition, an identification ID by an ASCII code corresponding to the characters “MINI” is added to a predetermined address position following the header to indicate that it is a P-TOC area.

Subsequently, the disc type and recording level, the track number of the first track recorded (First TNO), the track number of the last track (Last TNO), the lead-out start address LO _A , the power cal area start address PC _A , sector use status (used sectors), U-TOC start address UST _a, a start address RST _a, etc. recordable area (recordable user area) is recorded.

  Subsequently, a correspondence table instruction data portion having table pointers (P-TNO1 to P-TNO255) for associating each piece of music recorded in the pit form with a parts table in a management table portion described later is prepared.

In the area following the correspondence table instruction data portion, there are 255 part tables (01h) to (FFh) corresponding to the table pointers (P-TNO1 to P-TNO255). A table section is prepared. In the present specification, the numerical value with “h” is a so-called hexadecimal notation.
Each part table can record a start address as a starting point, an end address as a terminal, and mode information (track mode) of the part for a certain part.

  The track mode information in each part table records information about whether or not the part is set to prohibit overwriting or data copying, whether it is audio information, the type of monaural / stereo, etc. .

Each part table from (01h) to (FFh) in the management table part indicates the contents of the part by the table pointer (P-TNO1 to P-TNO255) in the corresponding table instruction data part. That is, a part table (for example, (01h)) is recorded as the table pointer P-TNO1 for the first music piece, and in this case, the start address of the part table (01h) is the recording position of the first music piece. Similarly, the end address is the end address of the position where the first song is recorded. Further, the track mode information is information about the first music piece.
Actually, a numerical value that can indicate a part table at a byte position in the P-TOC sector 0 by a predetermined calculation process is written in the table pointer.

Similarly, for the second music, the start address, end address, and track mode information of the recording position of the second music are recorded in the parts table (for example, (02h)) indicated by the table pointer P-TNO2.
Similarly, since the table pointers are prepared up to P-TNO255, it is possible to manage up to the 255th music piece on the P-TOC.
Then, by forming the P-TOC sector 0 in this way, it is possible to access and reproduce a predetermined musical piece at the time of reproduction, for example.

In the case of a recordable / reproducible magneto-optical disk, since there is no so-called pre-mastered music area, the above-described correspondence table instruction data part and management table part are not used (these are managed by the U-TOC described later). Therefore, all the bytes are set to “00h”.
However, for pre-mastered type discs in which all music pieces are recorded in ROM form (pit form), and for hybrid type discs that have both a ROM area and a magneto-optical area as areas where music pieces are recorded, The correspondence table instruction data part and the management table part are used for management of music in the ROM area.

3. U-TOC sector.
Subsequently, U-TOC sector 0 and sector 1 will be described as U-TOC.
The U-TOC sector can be provided from sector 0 to sector 7, sector 2 is an area for recording the recording date and time, and sector 4 is an area for recording a kanji code as character information. Since these are not directly related to the present embodiment, description thereof is omitted. However, the management structure of sector 2 and sector 4 can record information corresponding to each track in the same manner as sector 0 and sector 1 described below. In this embodiment, as will be described later, an identification code as an important track is recorded in the sector 1, but the identification code is recorded by using the sector 2, sector 4 or another sector instead of the sector 1. It is also possible to make it.

-U-TOC sector 0.
FIG. 14 shows the format of the U-TOC sector 0, which is a data area in which management information is recorded mainly on music recorded by the user and free areas in which new music can be recorded.
For example, when recording a certain piece of music on the disk 1, the system controller 11 searches for a free area on the disk from the U-TOC sector 0 and records audio data therein. Further, at the time of reproduction, an area in which music to be reproduced is recorded is determined from the U-TOC sector 0, and the area is accessed to perform a reproduction operation.

  The U-TOC sector 0 shown in FIG. 14 is provided with a header in the same manner as the P-TOC, followed by a manufacturer code, a model code, a track number (First TNO) of the first track, Data such as a track number (Last TNO), a sector usage status (used sector), a disk serial number, and a disk ID are recorded.

  Furthermore, various table pointers (P-DFA, P, etc.) are used as correspondence table instruction data portions in order to identify the recorded music areas and free areas by making them correspond to the management table portions described later. -EMPTY, P-FRA, P-TNO1 to P-TNO255) are recorded.

Then, 255 part tables (01h) to (FFh) are provided as management table sections to be associated with the table pointers (P-DFA to P-TNO255). Similar to the P-TOC sector 0, a start address for a certain part, an end address for a final part, and mode information (track mode) of the part are recorded.
Furthermore, in the case of this U-TOC sector 0, since the parts shown in each part table may be connected to other parts in succession, the parts table in which the start address and end address of the connected parts are recorded. Can be recorded.

In this type of recording / reproducing apparatus, even if the data of one music is physically discontinuous, that is, recorded over a plurality of parts, it is possible to reproduce while accessing between the parts, so there is no problem in the reproducing operation. The music recorded by the user may be recorded in multiple parts for the purpose of efficient use of the recordable area.

For this reason, link information is provided so that the part tables can be connected by designating the part tables to be connected by, for example, the numbers (01h) to (FFh) given to the respective part tables.
Actually, the link information is indicated by a numerical value that is a byte position in the U-TOC sector 0 by a predetermined calculation process. That is, the part table is designated as 304+ (link information) × 8 (byte).
Note that since the music recorded in the pit form on the pre-mastered disc or the like is not usually divided into parts, the link information is all “(00h)” in the P-TOC sector 0 as shown in FIG. Yes.

  In other words, in the management table section in the U-TOC sector 0, one part table represents one part. For example, for music composed of three parts connected, three parts connected by link information. The part position is managed by the table.

  Each part table from (01h) to (FFh) in the management table part of U-TOC sector 0 is the table pointer (P-DFA, P-EMPTY, P-FRA, P-TNO1-P in the corresponding table instruction data part) -TNO255) shows the contents of the part as follows:

  The table pointer P-DFA indicates a defect area on the magneto-optical disk 1 and is the head of one part table or a plurality of part tables indicating a track portion (= part) that becomes a defect area due to a scratch or the like. The parts table is specified. In other words, if there is a defective part, one of (01h) to (FFh) is recorded in the table pointer P-DFA, and the defective part is indicated by the start and end addresses in the corresponding parts table. . When there are other defective parts, other part tables are designated as link information in the parts table, and the defective parts are also indicated in the parts table. If there is no other defective part, the link information is, for example, “(00h)”, and there is no link thereafter.

  The table pointer P-EMPTY indicates the first part table of one or more unused part tables in the management table section. If there is an unused part table, the table pointer P-EMPTY is (01h ) ~ (FFh) is recorded. When there are multiple unused part tables, the part tables are specified sequentially by link information from the part table specified by the table pointer P-EMPTY, and all unused part tables are linked on the management table section. Is done.

  The table pointer P-FRA indicates a free area (including an erasure area) in which data can be written on the magneto-optical disk 1, and one or a plurality of parts indicating a track portion (= part) as a free area. The first part table in the table is specified. In other words, if there is a free area, one of (01h) to (FFh) is recorded in the table pointer P-FRA, and the part table corresponding to it is indicated by the start and end addresses. Has been. Further, when there are a plurality of such parts, that is, there are a plurality of parts tables, the part information in which the link information is “(00h)” is sequentially designated by the link information.

  FIG. 15 schematically shows the management state of the parts that become free areas using the parts table. This means that when the parts (03h) (18h) (1Fh) (2Bh) (E3h) are set as free areas, this state is the part table (03h) (18h) (1Fh) following the corresponding table instruction data P-FRA. The state represented by the link (2Bh) (E3h) is shown. The management form of the above-described defective area and unused parts table is the same as this.

By the way, if the magneto-optical disc has no recording of audio data such as music and has no defects, the parts table (01h) is specified by the table pointer P-FRA, which makes the entire recordable user area of the disc. Is shown as a free area. In this case, since the remaining (02h) to (FFh) parts tables are not used, the parts table (02h) is specified by the table pointer P-EMPTY described above, and the parts table (02h) The parts table (03h) is specified as the link information, and so on. In this case, the link information of the parts table (FFh) is “(00h)” indicating no connection thereafter.
At this time, in the parts table (01h), the start address of the recordable user area is recorded as the start address, and the address immediately before the lead-out start address is recorded as the end address.

Table pointers P-TNO1 to P-TNO255 indicate the music recorded by the user on the magneto-optical disk 1. For example, the table pointer P-TNO1 includes one or a plurality of parts in which data of the first music is recorded. A parts table that shows the first part of the time is specified.
For example, if the first song is recorded on the disc without the track being divided, that is, recorded as one part, the recording area of the first song is the start and the part table indicated by the table pointer P-TNO1. It is recorded as an end address.

  Also, for example, when the second music piece is recorded discretely on a plurality of parts on the disc, each part is designated according to the temporal order to indicate the recording position of the music piece. In other words, from the part table specified in the table pointer P-TNO2, other part tables are further specified in accordance with the time order in accordance with the link information, and the part table in which the link information becomes “(00h)” is linked. (The same form as in FIG. 15 above). In this way, for example, all the parts in which the data constituting the second music is recorded are sequentially designated and recorded, so that the data of the U-TOC sector 0 is used to reproduce the second music or the second music. When overwriting the area, it is possible to access the optical head 3 and the magnetic head 6 to extract continuous music information from discrete parts, or to record using the recording area efficiently.

-U-TOC sector 1.
FIG. 16 shows the format of the U-TOC sector 1, which is a data area for recording input character information when a song title is given to a song recorded by the user or a disc title is given.

  In this U-TOC sector 1, slot pointers P-TNA1 to P-TNA255 are prepared as character slot instruction data portions corresponding to the recorded music pieces. A character slot portion designated by the slot pointers P-TNA1 to P-TNA255 is prepared. In the character slot portion, 255 units of slots (01h) to (FFh) are formed with 8 bytes per unit, and character data is managed in the same form as the U-TOC sector 0 described above.

  In the slots (01h) to (FFh), character information as a disc title (disc name) and a song name (track name) is recorded in ASCII code. The slot of 8 bytes before the slot (01h) is a dedicated area for the disk name.

For example, in the slot designated by the slot pointer P-TNA1, the character input by the user corresponding to the first music is recorded.
In addition, since the slots are linked by the link information, the character input corresponding to one piece of music can be handled even if it exceeds 7 bytes (7 characters).
In this U-TOC sector 1, the slot pointer P-EMPTY manages unused slots. That is, the unused slots are managed in the same manner as the unused parts table management method using the table pointer P-EMPTY of the U-TOC sector 0 described above.

4). Track split operation.
Next, the track dividing operation during recording by the recording / reproducing apparatus 30 will be described. In the recording / reproducing apparatus 30 of the present embodiment, the track being recorded can be divided at that timing by pressing the track mark key 39 or 48 during recording. For example, when recording a meeting or the like with the microphone 50 connected, if the track mark key 39 or 48 is pressed at a required timing, the recorded content from that point is recorded as a track with a new track number. Will be.
Further, in this embodiment, the user not only divides the track with the track mark key 39 or 48 but also gives priority to an arbitrary track as an important track and records the track separately from other tracks. be able to.

  FIG. 4 shows the recording process of the system controller 11. Note that FIG. 4 shows only the processing related to U-TOC editing, and basic control during recording, for example, startup and access of the optical head 3, data transfer processing, and the like are omitted. The display control for the display unit 22 will be described with reference to FIGS.

When recording operation is performed, the system controller 11 as a track number TNO _R tracks are first recorded, a value obtained by adding 1 to the track number (Last TNO) of the last track is recorded in U-TOC sector 0 Set (F101). If the disc is a virgin disc, the recording track number TNO _R = 1. For example, if the disc has been recorded on three tracks, the recording track number TNO _R = 4.
Then, for example, a voice from the microphone 50 and recorded data, will record the disc as a track for recording track number TNO _R (F102). In other words, to have access from the U-TOC sector 0 looking for a free area on the disk, to start recording its position as the start address of the track TNO _R.

The display on the display unit 22 during recording is as shown in FIG. Reference numeral 60 denotes a recording operation state display section. Reference numeral 61 denotes a level display unit which displays an input level during recording. 62 is a stereo mode display section, and 63 is a battery remaining capacity display section.
Reference numeral 64 denotes an operation state display section composed of display segments simulating a disk, and the display is as if the disk is rotating by illuminating the two opposing segments of the inner six in order. Is made. During recording, the disc is controlled to rotate at a low speed, and the outer segment is blinked.

Reference numeral 65 denotes a time display section. During recording, “REC REMAIN” is displayed and the remaining recordable time is displayed.
Reference numeral 66 denotes a track number display section. In this example, the state when the recording track number TNO _R = 2 is shown.
Reference numeral 67 denotes a disk usage status display unit that visually represents the recorded time, current position, remaining amount, and the like for the disk. For example, 20 segments are prepared as the disk usage status display section 67, and all 20 are lit, which indicates that recording has been performed on the entire capacity of the disk. That is, the number of lighting segments is controlled according to the recording amount at that time. In the example of FIG. 5, a segment filled with black is a segment that is lit. The open segments are segments that are not actually lit. Also, the current head position is expressed by blinking segments. In the figure, the blinking segment is shown as a star mark.

  The system controller 11 monitors the operation of the track mark key 39 or 48 during recording (F103). When the operation of the track mark key 39 or 48 is performed, the process proceeds to step F104, and the operation is performed on the important track. Check if it was a mark operation. In this embodiment, the normal track mark operation is performed by pressing the track mark key 39 or 48 once, and the important track mark operation is performed by continuously pressing the track mark key 39 or 48 twice.

If the track mark key 39 or 48 is an operation that has been depressed once, as processing of a normal track division, the process proceeds to step F105, and increments the record track number TNO _R. Then, track division processing is performed in the buffer RAM 13 (F106). That is, the address at the time when the track mark key 39 or 48 is pressed is set as the end address of the previously recorded track (recording track number TNO _R -1), and the next address is the track to be recorded ( Update processing is performed with the start address of the recording track number TNO _R ).
As a result, the recorded content from that point is recorded as a new track.

As the display control, when the track mark key 39 or 48 is pressed, the display “MARK ON” is displayed on the track number display section 66 for about 1 second as shown in FIG. 5B. At this time, the operation state display unit 64 is in a display state in which the disk is rotating at high speed.
Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 5C, a new track number “003” is displayed on the track number display section 66 in place of the previous track number “002”. Further, the disk rotation state of the operation state display unit 64 is a low-speed rotation during normal recording.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step F104 that the track mark key 39 or 48 has been pressed twice in succession, the process proceeds to step F107 as important track division processing. First increments the recording track number TNO _R. Then, the track division processing for the U-TOC sector 0 is performed in the buffer RAM 13 (F108). This is the same as in the case of normal track division, and the address at the time when the track mark key 39 or 48 is pressed is set as the end address of the track (recording track number TNO _R −1) which has been recorded so far. The update processing is performed with the start address of the track to be recorded (recording track number TNO _R ). As a result, the recorded content from that point is recorded as a new track.

In the case of further important track division, processing for the U-TOC sector 1 is performed in step F109. This is because a character slot is designated by the slot corresponding to the recording track number TNO _R in the U-TOC sector 1, that is, by the table pointer P-TNA (TNO _R ), and “! ! Write the ASCII code. In this example, “! ! ] Is used as an important track identification code.

The display control at this time is as shown in FIG. If the track mark key 39 or 48 is continuously pressed twice when the recording track number TNO _R = 2 and the display corresponding to the recording operation is displayed as shown in FIG. 6 (a), as shown in FIG. 6 (b). In the track number display 66, “! MARK ON! Is displayed for about 1 second. In other words, in addition to the usual “MARK ON”, “! ! ”Is displayed, it is displayed that the important track division has been performed. At this time, the operation state display unit 64 is in a display state in which the disk is rotating at high speed.
Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 6C, the track number display unit 66 displays “003” as a new track number in place of the previous track number “002”. The display is “003! ! It becomes. The operation state display unit 64 is in a display state in which the disk is rotating at a low speed as in normal recording.

If the stop key 36 or 46 is pressed during recording (F110), the system controller 11 performs control to stop the recording operation (F111). And for the U-TOC sector 0 in the buffer RAM 13, performs processing of the end address corresponding to the address of that point in the recording track number TNO _R at that time (F 112).
When the U-TOC update process accompanying the recording operation is completed in the buffer RAM 13, the U-TOC data is written to the disk 1 (F113).
Further, the system controller 11 in the U-TOC sector 1 “! ! ] Is recorded, and the track number (important track number) is stored in the S-RAM 11a (F114).
This completes the recording process.

Here, recording is started with a recording operation (REC) on the virgin disc as shown in FIG. 7, and a track division operation (N-TM) and an important track division operation (IP-TM) by the track mark key 39 or 48 are performed. Suppose that after the recording is performed, a stop operation (STOP) is performed and the recording ends.
Then, as shown in the figure, tracks 1 to 4 are recorded, and further, the tracks 2 and 4 are divided by the important track dividing operation (IP-TM), so that the U-TOC sector 1 is recorded. The identification code "!" ! ] Is attached and it is positioned as an important track.
The U-TOC state in this case is shown in FIGS.

Now, if the addresses on the disk are indicated by A _{0 to} A ₉ as shown in FIG. 7, the U-TOC sector 0 is managed as shown in FIG.
That is, for the track 1, for example, a parts table (O1h) is designated from the table pointer P-TNO1, and the start address A ₀ and end address A ₁ of the track ₁ are recorded in the parts table (O1h). For track 2 to track 4, the start address and end address are recorded in the part tables indicated by the table pointers P-TNO2 to P-TNO4, respectively. Since addresses A _{8 to} A ₉ are free areas, the start address A ₈ and end address A ₉ are recorded in the parts table (05h) indicated by the table pointer P-FRA.
In the U-TOC sector 0, the normal track and the important track are not distinguished, and the distinction, that is, the identification code "!" ! ] Is recorded in the U-TOC sector 1.

  As shown in FIG. 9, when an important track is designated for track 2 and track 4, a character slot is designated by slot pointers P-TNA2 and P-TNA4 corresponding to track 2 and track 4. Here, the character slot (01h) is designated by the slot pointer P-TNA2, and the character slot (02h) is designated by the slot pointer P-TNA4. And these character slots are "!" ! ] Is recorded in ASCII code.

  FIG. 9 shows a state in which no character is input. When the user inputs a character corresponding to each track, the character is recorded in the character slot. Here, the identification code “! ! When a character is entered for a track marked with "!", The input character is "!" ! It will be recorded with. For example, when the track name “ABC” is input for track 2, the character recorded in the character slot is “! ! "ABC" or "ABC! ! It becomes.

  The designation of the important track as described above is performed by continuous operation of the track mark keys 39 and 38 at the time of recording. However, when the track division is executed by editing processing other than at the time of recording, naturally the important track is designated. You can specify. Even when the track state as shown in FIG. 7 is obtained due to the designation of the important track at the time of editing, the U-TOC management state is similarly as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, for example.

5. Access operation during playback.
By specifying the important track as described above, the recording / reproducing apparatus 30 of this embodiment can execute the search operation for only the important track. Hereinafter, this operation will be described. The case where the current disk track state is as shown in FIG. 7 will be described as an example.

  FIG. 10 shows processing of the system controller 11 during reproduction, and FIGS. 11 and 12 show the display state of the display unit 22 controlled by the system controller 11 during reproduction. When the reproduction operation is performed, if the TOC information has not been read for the currently loaded disc, the TOC information is first read (F201). The read TOC information is stored in the TOC area of the buffer RAM 13.

  Here, the system controller 11 receives the identification code “!” From the U-TOC sector 1 in the TOC information. ! ] Is discriminated, and the track number is stored as an important track in the S-RAM 11a. Character information is input and the character recorded in the character slot is “! ! Because it may be like "ABC", "! ! The track in which the character information including “” is recorded is determined as the important track. This process is the same as the process of step F114 in FIG. 4, and is unnecessary when the disc is played back without being replaced after recording.

Next, playback starts. Normally, since playback is started from track 1, playback track number TNO _P = 1 is first set (F203), and playback from track 1 is started (F204). As the reproducing operation proceeds to subsequent tracks 2 reproduction if reproduction track 1 you're done, although not shown it is to be incremented reproduced track number TNO _P at that time.

The display operation during reproduction is as shown in FIG. 11A, and the reproduction output level is displayed on the level display unit 61. In addition, the stereo mode display unit 62 and the battery remaining amount display unit 63 perform necessary displays.
In the disk-shaped operation state display section 64, as in the case of recording, the two segments facing each other in the inner six are turned on in order, so that the display is as if the disk is rotating. The During this reproduction, the disc is controlled to rotate at a low speed. However, the segment on the outer peripheral side is continuously lit, unlike during recording.

In the time display section 65, during the reproduction, the progress time of the currently reproduced track is displayed.
The track number display section 66 shows the track number being reproduced. In this example, the state when the reproduction track number TNO _P = 1 is shown.
In the disk use status display section 67, the amount of data recorded on the disk is displayed by a lit segment (black area), and the current playback position is indicated by blinking of the segment (star mark).

If the AMS key 34 or 35 (or the operation by the key 45) is pressed during reproduction, the process proceeds from step F205 to F206.
Then, it is determined whether or not the AMS operation (track access operation) is an AMS operation designated as an important track. Here, it is assumed that when the AMS key 34 or 35 and the reproduction key 33 are pressed at the same time, an AMS operation for specifying an important track is performed.

If there in normal AMS operation determines AMS direction in step F 207, i.e. if there by operating the AMS key 34, since an operation for accessing the next track, increment the reproduction track number TNO _P proceeds to step F208 and to execute the access to determine the start address of the reproduced track number TNO _P from U-TOC sector 0 (F213). When access to the beginning of the next track is completed, playback from that location is started in step F204.
If the AMS key 35 is operated, it is an access operation to the track head position in the return direction. Therefore, if the current position is in the middle of a certain track, the current track is returned to the beginning, access proceeds from step F209 to F213, and reproduction is started in step F204. If the AMS key 35 is operated when the current position is at the head position of a certain track, the operation is to access the head position of the previous track. This decrements the reproduced track number TNO _P in step F210 in order, performs access advances to F 213, to start playback at step F 204.

The display state at this time is as shown in FIG.
For example, when the AMS key 34 is operated while the track 1 is being reproduced as shown in FIG. 11A, access to the track 2 is performed. During this access period, as shown in FIG. The time display unit 65 is turned off, and the track number currently accessed is displayed on the track number display unit 66. Since track 2 is designated as an important track as shown in FIG. 7, the track number “002” and “! ! Is displayed. At this time, in order to express the access operation, the disk-shaped operation state display unit 64 displays such that the disk rotates at high speed.

  Then, when the access is completed and the reproduction of the track 2 is started, as shown in FIG. 11 (b), the operation state display unit 64 expresses the reproduction operation at a low-speed rotation and is the head of the track. The display unit 65 starts displaying from 0 minutes and 0 seconds. In the disk usage status display section 67, the segment corresponding to the head position of the track 2 blinks.

  When the AMS key 34 is further operated, a display indicating an access operation to the track 3 is performed as shown in FIG. 11D. After the access is completed, the display from the head of the track 3 is performed as shown in FIG. A display corresponding to the reproduction operation is performed. Since track 3 is not an important track, “! ! "Is not displayed.

  On the other hand, if the AMS operation is an operation accompanied by an important track designation in step F206, that is, if the AMS key 34 or 35 and the playback key 33 are simultaneously pressed, the track to be accessed is determined in step F211. As described above, since the track number of the important designated track is read in the S-RAM 11a, the system controller 11 determines the track to be accessed from the data. That is, only the important track is accessed.

For example, if the AMS key 34 and the playback key 33 are pressed simultaneously while playing track 1 on the disc of FIG. If the track 2 is being reproduced, the track to be accessed is the track 4.
If the AMS key 35 and the playback key 33 are pressed at the same time and the track 3 is currently being played back, the access point is not the head of the track 3 but the head position of the track 2.

The important track number read in the AMS access direction and S-RAM 11a, the track to be accessed if it is determined to set the track number as the reproduction track number TNO _P.
And the start address of the reproduction track number TNO _P to determine from the U-TOC sector 0 to execute the access (F213), in step F204 When's a beginning of the track access is completed, to start playing from the location Become.
In other words, by the above operation, the head position of the track that is regarded as an important track in front or behind the current playback position is searched, and if the user designates a certain track as an important track at the time of recording, The track can be easily played back.

  The display operation at this time is basically the same as in FIG. That is, as shown in FIG. 12A, when an important track designation AMS operation is performed during the reproduction of track 1, the access status of the next important track, track 2, is displayed as shown in FIG. The At this time, the track number display section is “002! ! It becomes.

Then, when the access is completed and the reproduction of the track 2 is started, as shown in FIG. 12C, a display corresponding to the reproduction operation of the track 2 is performed.
If the AMS key 34 and the playback key 33 are further operated at this time, the next access is access to the track 4, so a display showing the access operation to the track 4 is performed as shown in FIG. After the access is completed, a display corresponding to the reproduction operation from the beginning of the track 4 is performed as shown in FIG. Since the track 4 is an important track, the track number display section is “004!” At the time of FIGS. ! It will be said.

As described above, in this embodiment, by specifying an important track for a certain track at the time of recording or editing, the track can be easily played back by an access operation for specifying the important track at the time of playback. It will be very useful. Further, since important tracks are displayed on the display unit at the time of designation or playback, it is suitable for the user to confirm the operation and the designated state.
In the embodiment, since the track mark keys 39 and 48 are used as the important track designation operation means, it is not necessary to provide a dedicated operation key. Also, for the access operation for designating the important track, since the AMS key 34 or 35 and the reproduction key 33 are operated simultaneously, it is not necessary to provide a dedicated operation key.

In the embodiment, "! ! ”Is an important track identification code, but of course it is not limited to this. For example, it may be a character string such as “IMPORTANT”. The display on the display unit may be in any display form as long as it can indicate that the track is an important track.
In addition, the designation of the important track during recording is not limited to the time of dividing the track. For example, during the recording of a certain track, the important track may be designated without dividing the track.
Further, at the time of dividing the track, not the track to be recorded but the track that has been recorded so far may be designated as the important track.

It is explanatory drawing of the external appearance of the recording / reproducing apparatus of the Example of this invention. It is a block diagram of the recording / reproducing apparatus of an Example. It is explanatory drawing of the usage form of buffer RAM of the recording / reproducing apparatus of an Example. It is a flowchart of the track division process at the time of recording of the recording / reproducing apparatus of an Example. It is explanatory drawing of the display operation in the case of the track division | segmentation process of the recording / reproducing apparatus of an Example. It is explanatory drawing of the display operation | movement at the time of the track division | segmentation process of the recording / reproducing apparatus of an Example. It is explanatory drawing of the example of a track | truck state recorded by the recording / reproducing apparatus of an Example. It is explanatory drawing of the example of management information of the track state recorded by the recording / reproducing apparatus of an Example. It is explanatory drawing of the example of management information of the track state recorded by the recording / reproducing apparatus of an Example. It is a flowchart of the access operation process at the time of reproduction | regeneration by the recording / reproducing apparatus of an Example. It is explanatory drawing of the display operation at the time of access of the recording / reproducing apparatus of an Example. It is explanatory drawing of the display operation at the time of access of the recording / reproducing apparatus of an Example. It is explanatory drawing of the P-TOC sector 0 of a disk. It is explanatory drawing of the U-TOC sector 0 of a disk. It is explanatory drawing of the link form of the U-TOC sector 0 of a disk. It is explanatory drawing of the U-TOC sector 1 of a disk.

Explanation of symbols

1 disk 3 optical head 6a magnetic head 11 system controller 12 memory controller 13 buffer RAM
21 Operation section 22 Display section 30 Recording / playback device 33 Playback key 34, 35 AMS key 39, 48 Track mark key 41 Recording key 45 Playback / AMS key 66 Track number display section

Claims (7)

A plurality of tracks composed of a plurality of discrete parts are recorded, and a recording medium on which link information indicating a connection relationship between the parts and an identification code for identifying that an arbitrary track is important is reproduced. Reproduction means;
Discrimination means for discriminating important tracks among the plurality of tracks based on the identification code ;
Operation means for instructing playback of only the important track;
When a playback instruction for only an important track is given by the operation means while a track recorded on the recording medium is being played, based on the identification information of the track identified as important by the discrimination means And a control unit that controls the reproduction unit to sequentially reproduce only the tracks identified as important among the plurality of tracks based on the link information. The recording medium is recorded in association with a track number indicating a track and the identification code,
The control means, according to claim 1 having the above-described identification data and the on the basis of the track number to determine the important track among the plurality of tracks, the control means Ru is reproduced only tracks identified as important The reproducing apparatus as described. 2. The reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when the AMS operation is performed by the operation means during important track reproduction, the control means causes reproduction of an important track other than the important track being reproduced. 2. A reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising display means for displaying the identification code when the discriminating means discriminates an important track. A storage means for storing track numbers of important tracks;
The control means stores the track number of the important track recorded on the recording medium in the storage means and discriminates the important track from the track number of the important track stored in the storage means. The reproducing apparatus according to claim 1. Display means for indicating that the track is an important track during playback of the track when the discrimination means determines that the track is important
The reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, comprising: While reading multiple tracks composed of multiple discrete parts from the recording medium,
A reading step of reading out link information indicating a connection relationship between the parts and an identification code for identifying that an arbitrary track is important;
A determination step of determining an important track among the plurality of tracks based on the identification code;
An operation step for instructing playback of only the important track,
When a playback instruction for only an important track is given by the operation means while a track recorded on the recording medium is being played, based on the identification information of the track identified as important by the discrimination means A reproduction step of sequentially reproducing only the tracks determined to be important among the plurality of tracks based on the link information.

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