CA1140260A - Method and apparatus for information retrieval from an optically readable storage medium - Google Patents
Method and apparatus for information retrieval from an optically readable storage mediumInfo
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- CA1140260A CA1140260A CA000341425A CA341425A CA1140260A CA 1140260 A CA1140260 A CA 1140260A CA 000341425 A CA000341425 A CA 000341425A CA 341425 A CA341425 A CA 341425A CA 1140260 A CA1140260 A CA 1140260A
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Abstract
ABSTRACT
A method and apparatus for selectably retrieving information from any of a plurality of spirally-formed information tracks formed in a videodisc by means of controlling a carriage for translating the videodisc in a forward or a reverse direction relative to radiant beam information recovery means in a videodisc player. Each information track is identified by a unique address and means are provided for selecting the address of a particular track to be retrieved. A prescribed sequence of drive signals is applied to a carriage motor dependent on the distance to be traveled by the carriage to retrieve the selected information, the drive signals being successively stepped downward to intermittently redeter-mine carriage motor speed as predetermined location thresholds are reached during carriage translation.
A method and apparatus for selectably retrieving information from any of a plurality of spirally-formed information tracks formed in a videodisc by means of controlling a carriage for translating the videodisc in a forward or a reverse direction relative to radiant beam information recovery means in a videodisc player. Each information track is identified by a unique address and means are provided for selecting the address of a particular track to be retrieved. A prescribed sequence of drive signals is applied to a carriage motor dependent on the distance to be traveled by the carriage to retrieve the selected information, the drive signals being successively stepped downward to intermittently redeter-mine carriage motor speed as predetermined location thresholds are reached during carriage translation.
Description
6~
la METHOD AND APPARATVS FOR INFORMATION RETRIEVAL
_ FROM AN OPTICALLY READABLE STORAGE MEDIUM
TECHNICAL FIELD
This invention relates generally to informa-tion retrieval from an optieally readable storage medium and, more speeifieally, to a new and improved method and apparatus for retrieving information from video dises and the like in a rapid and reliable manner.
, .
BACKGROUND OF THE PRIOR ART
Video dise players and the like are known for recovering information that has been stored, for instanee, as a succession of light refleetive and nonreflective regions along spirally-formed information tracks in a dise-shaped reeord earrier. The reeord earrier ean be rotated at a relatively high rate, while an optieal system is employed for directing a radiant beam, such as a laser beam, to impinge upon the information traeks and for gathering a refleeted beam that has been modula-ted by the reflective and non-reflective regions of the information track. Such a player includes a carriage for translating the video disc relative to the radiant beam at a rate equal to the pitch of the spirally-recorded tracks and beam steering means for manipulating the radiant beam to precisely follow the path defined by such tracks.
-lb-A frequency modulated electrical signal is recovered from the reflected, light modulated beam and is applied to appropriate signal processing circuitry for deriving a video signal for display on a video monitor. Various control signals that are utilized to operate the player are also derived from the reflected beam.
Heretofore, the capability has existed of displaying a selected frame of video information by prescribing the address of the frame or information track wherein it is stored, and causing the carriage to translate in a rapid manner to the vicinity of such information track. The address information has been specially encoded in both of the vertical blanking intervals present in each revolution of an information track comprising the two standard fields of a video frame.
More particularly, in order to retrieve the selected frame or information track, the carriage has ~een translated at a uniform rate, greater than the normal play speed of the player, towards such informa-tion track. During the course of translating the car-riage, track addresses of at least some of the tracks crossed were detected, although it is obviously not possible to detect every track address in such a mode of operation. As soon as it was detected that the selected information track had been reached or crossed, the drive signal to the carriage was terminated. In-variably, however, the carriage travelled past the location of the selected track and it was at least necessary to drive the carriage once in the opposite direction to return to it.
By this prior technique, it was determined - to always approach the selected information track from one direction when preparing to actually stop the car-riage at the track. In other words, if the carriage , 1~4~6~
were driven initially in the normal forward direction for retrieval, after overshooting the selected track the carriage would be driven in the reverse direction past the selected track again. Upon passing the track, the reverse drive signal would be terminated and the carriage would again overshoot. Finally, the normal play mode of the video disc player would be utilized to simply play into and stop at the selected informa-tion track.
If the selected track was reached in such a search mode by rapidly translating the carriage in the reverse direction, the carriage drive signal would be terminated upon reaching or passing the selected track, with the accompanying overshoot. From this position the video disc player utilized the normal play mode to play into and stop at the selected track, since the carriage was then located on the proper side for ap-proaching the selected track.
It will be apparent that the aforedescribed techniques for recovering the information stored in selected tracks were prone to deficiencies. For in-stance, overshoot when approaching the selected track from either the forward or the reverse direction resul-ted in delays in retrieving the information stored on the track. The requirement of always approaching the selected track from one direction compounded the delay.
Hence, there has been a need for an improved, rapid information retrieval technique for use with video disc players and the like, wherein information is optically recovered by means of a radiant beam being impinged upon an information storage medium, that solves the aforedescribed problems. The present inven-tion fulfills this need.
114~26~
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Briefly, and in general terms, the present invention provides a new and improved method and appar-atus capable of rapidly retrieving information stored in a selected one of a plurality of optically readable information tracks by an information recovery system employing radiant beam information recovery means.
Basically, the present invention includes an improved electronic method and apparatus for control-ling movement of an information storage medium, such as a disc-shaped record carrier, relative to a radiant beam that is utilized to recover information by scan-ning along information tracks formed therein. A partic-ular information track may be targeted for recovery in a retrieval mode of operation, for instance by specifying an address included with the information in the track.The location of this target track relative to the loca-tion of the information track currently being scanned by the radiant beam is monitored and, as a function of the difference in locations, signals are prescribed for controlling relative movement between the target track and the radiant beam in order to rapidly re-position the storage medium relative to the radiant beam to enable scanning of the targeted information track. ~lore specifically, the rate of relative move-ment is progressively decreased in a prescribed manner,from an initial translation rate determined by the distance separating the radiant beam and the targeted information track. The manner of decreasing the rate of relative movement is selected to intermittently re-determine the rate at predetermined intervals as theradiant beam approaches the target track, and to ensure that the rate is such that the radiant beam wlll not be caused to overshoot. The separating distance between ~. r 1~4~6(~
the target track and the radiant beam may be determined by deriving addresses stored in the information tracks as the radiant beam scans in the retrieval mode and, by comparing these addresses with the address of the target trac]c.
In a presently preferred embodiment, by way of example and not necessarily by way of limitation, a video disc player embodying features of the present invention miyht include a carriage controller for con-trolling the position of a carriage on which a video disc is mounted for translation relative to a beam of radiation employed for scanning information tracks on the video disc. A comparison of the address of an information track selected for retrieval with the address the information track being scanned by the beam ; of radiation is made and a determination is reached whether the carriage should be driven in a forward or in a reverse direction to retrieve the target track.
Beam steering means for manipulating the radiant beam ~to precisely follow the path defined by the tracks in a p~ay mode of operation, may be disabled in the re-trieval mode.
As a function of the distance separating the beam of radiation and the target track, the carriage controller prescribes a sequence of drive signals to be applied to a carriage motor for varying the rate of movement of the carriage. For example, the carriage controller may prescribe one of four drive signals, resulting in a particular initial rate of movement, upon determining that the beam of radiation is separ-ated from the target track by at least a particularthreshold distance. As the carriage is moved at this initial rate, the separating distance between the beam of radiation and the target track decreases, and another Z16~
distance threshold may be crossed. In such event, the carriage controller switches a different drive signal of lower magnitude to the carriage motor to effect a slowing of the carriage. Progressive switching of drive signals of lower magnitude is effected upon cross-ing each prescribed distance threshold until the target track is reached and all drive signals are switched off, thereby stopping the carriage at the target track.
In a further aspect of the present invention, the drive signal applied to the carriage motor immedi-ately prior to stopping at the target track is selected to be the normal play speed of the video disc player.
Preferahly, switching of this drive signal to the car-riage motor also re-enables the beam steering means so that the radiant beam accurately follows the informa-tion and therefore reliably recovers track addresses, as the carriage plays into the target track in the play mode and stops.
In an alternative embodiment of the present invention, monitoring of the separating distance be-tween the target track and the radiant beam is accom-plished during an initial portion of the retrieval mode by counting the number of tracks crossed by the radiant beam. Such a technique may be preferable when the carriage is being translated at such a high rate as to make detection of track addresses relatively unreliable.
Due to eccentricities inherent in the information tracks, and the need for beam steering means to accur-ately follow the tracks, monitoring of track addresses is again relied upon as the carriage shifts into the normal play mode prior to stopping at the target track.
The method and apparatus for information re-trieval of the present invention satisfies a need for 1~4~Z60 . --6 rapid and reliable information retrievable from optically readable tracks by information recovery systems utili-zing radiant beam information recovery means.
The above and other objects and advantages of this invention will be apparent from the following more detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of illustrative embodiments.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
In the accompanying drawings:
FIG. 1 is a generalized block diagram of a video disc player in which some of the basic concepts ; of the present invention are illustrated;
FIG. 2 is a flow chart illustrating an algo-rithm applicable to the carriage controller shown in FIG. 1, for varying the carriage speed and direction of movement in the search mode;
FIG. 3 is a waveform showing the response of the carriage motor as it is driven to a target track in either the forward or the reverse direction;
FIG. 4 is an electrical schematic of one em-bodiment of a carriage driver as shown in FIG. 1 suit-able for utilizing the results of the algorithm of FIG. 2;
FIG. 5 is a generalized diagram of a signal recovery subsystem, suitable for use with the video disc player of FIG. l; and FIG. 6a is a fragmentary cross-sectional view of three information tracks of a video disc, while FIG. 6b is a waveform applicable to the signal recovery subsystem of FIG. 5.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Referring now to FIG. 1 of the drawings for purposes of illustration, there is shown a new and improved system for information retrieval embodying features of the present invention. In the drawings, 114~26~
the same numeral will be used in the several views to represent the same element.
In FIG. 1, a generalized video disc player is shown for purposes of illustrating the principles of the invention and includes a spindle on which a video disc 10 is mounted for rotation by a spindle motor 12 at a preselected angular rate. Information is recorded on the video disc 10 in a frequency modulated format as successive light reflective and non-reflective regions along tracks that are formed either as a con-tinuous spiral or in discrete concentric rings. Thevideo disc player also includes an optical system 14 which produces a laser read beam 16 and directs it - through an optical read head 18 having an objective lens for focusing the read beam to a precise spot on the , video disc 10.
A reflected beam 20, modulated by the infor-mation recorded in the tracks, is gathered by the readhead 18 and returned through the optical system 14 to a signal recovery subsystem 22. The spindle motor 12 is mounted on a carriage 24 for translation of the video disc 10 in the direction indicated by a double-headed arrow 26 by means of a carriage motor 28.
Coarse steering of the read beam 16 along the informa-tion tracks is accomplished by translating the carriage 24 either at a uniform rate equal to the pitch of spirally-formed tracks or stepwise if the tracks are formed as discrete concentric rings.
A tracking subsystem 30 is included in the video disc player to enable the read beam to follow eccentricities that are inherent in the information tracks with present technology. Also, since the des-cription that follows will assume that the information tracks are formed in a spiral manner, wherein one com-plete revolution of the video disc comprises one infor-mation track, a stop motion subsystem 32 is shown in 1~4~Z610 FIG. 1 to enable the video disc player to stop orfreeze on a particular track. Both the tracking and stop motion subsyst.ems receive a control signal on line 34 from the signal recovery subsystems will be described below only as necessary for a full understan-ding of the present invention.
The tracking subsystem 30 is employed for maintaining radial tracking of the focused read beam 16 on one information track, and is responsive to the control signal on line 34 to develop an error signal on line 31 to the optical system 14 to bring the light spot back onto the center-of-track position.
The tracking subsystem 30 normally operates in a closed loop mode of operation when the player is operating at a play speed. However, the tracking sub-system 30 is disabled in a retrieval mode, such that the differential tracking error is temporarily removed from controlling the operation of the radial tracking mirror. The tracking subsystem 30 can also be tempor-arily disabled by the stop motion subsystem 32, whichthen generates various combinations of signals on a line 33 to control the movement of the radial tracking , mirror for directing the point of impingement of the focused spot from the preferred center of track position on a first track to a center of track position on an adjacent track in order to effect stop motion.
The signal recovery subsystem 22 develops an FM signal that includes the video information and all other information stored in the information tracks, and applies that signal on a line 36 to a signal processing subsystem 38. The latter subsystem includes a conven-tional FM detector for demodulating the FM signal into a standard format video signal, which is then applied on a line 40 to a video monitor 42 for display and to ~ .
I i ' ~9~
g the stop motion subsystem 32. Means are also included in the signal processing subsystem 38 for separating the vertical sync signal from the video signal so that the sync signal can be applied on a line 44 to the stop motion subsystem 32 to be used in a manner described below.
Each information track or frame of video in-formation that is recorded on the video disc 10 is iden-tified by a unique address encoded once in each of the pair of vertical intervals between the two fields comp-rising a frame. For purposes of the present invention,the video signal from the signal processing subsystem 38 is also applied on a line 40 to an address recovery sub-system 46, wherein the address associated with each in-formation track is decoded in any manner familiar to those of ordinary skill in the art. These addresses, for instance may be encoded in a selected digital format on a selected horizontal line in each vertical interval.
A signal representing the address information is then directed on a line 48 to a function generator 50 and to a carriage controller 52. The function gener-ator 50, which may be embodied in a remote control, dis-plays the address of the information track currently being read, and includes means for selecting both a retrieval mode of operation and the address of the information track targeted for retrieval, in accordance with the principles of the present invention.
In essence, when the retrieval mode is selec-ted, the function generator 50 applies both an enabling signal on a line 54 and the address of the target track on a line 56 to the carriage controller 52~ wherein acomparison of the address of the current track being read with the address of the target track is made and a ; determination is reached whether the carriage 24 should be driven in a forward or reverse direction to retrieve 114~Z60 the target track. Also, the carriage controller 52 prescribes a sequence of drive signals to be applied to a carriage driver 60 in order to move the carriage motor 28, and hence the carriage 24 and the video disc 10, to retrieve the target track in a rapid manner without overshooting it. The algorithm by which these deter-minations are made is illustrated in FIG. 2, and will be described in detail below. The function generator 50 also applies a signal on a line 58 to the tracking subsystem 30 to disable it in the search mode as des-cribed above.
The determination of the direction in whichthe carriage 24 should be driven to reach the target track results in either a forward (FWD) signal being applied from the carriage controller 52 to carriage driver 60 over line 62 or a reverse signal (REV) being applied to the carriage driver on a line 64. In addi-tion, the sequence of signals prescribed by the carriage controller 52, so that the carriage 24 rapidly homes in on the target track, results in one of four carriage drive signals (Sl, S2, S3 or S4) being applied to the carriage driver 60 from the carriage controller on one of the lines 66, 68, 70 or 72, respectively. The output of the carriage driver 60 is directed over a line 74 to drive the carriage motor 28, and a tachometer ' 76 is shown as being mechanically interconnected to the carriage motor to provide an indication of its actual speed and direction by means of a feedback signal on a ; line 78 to the carriage driver.
The carriage drive signals Sl - S4 represent four possible speeds at which the carriage motor 28 can be driven, and hence four rates at which the carriage 24 and the video disc 10 can be translated relative to , the read beam 16. One of these drive signals, S4 cor-responds to the normal play speed of the video disc 6~
player which results in translation of the carriage 24 at a rate equal to the recorded pitch of the informa-tion tracks. The other drive signals S3, S2 and Sl correspond to successively greater carriage translation rates.
In accordance with the present invention, the carriage controller 52 prescribes a preferred sequence for applying the drive signals to the carriage motor 28, as a function of the distance between the track current-ly being read by the player and the track targeted for retrieval in the function generator 50, for retrievalof the information stored in the target track. In this regard, as the carriage moves and the distance to the target track decreases, the drive signal from the car-riage driver 60 on line 74 to the carriage motor 28 is sequentially stepped downward as a sequence of distance thresholds, Dl, D2 and D3 are crossed. This results ina prescribed deceleration of the carriage motor 28 and hence the carriage 24, as the target track is approached (see FIG. 3). When the target track is within a pre-scribed distance, represented by distance threshold D3, the tracking subsystem 30 is re-enabled by a signal on line 72 from the carriage controller 52. Then, as the target track is reached, all drive signals to the car-riage driver 60 are set to zero, and the stop motionsubsystem 32 is enabled by a signal on line 79 from the carriage controller 52.
Referring now to FIG. 2, the manner in which the carriage controller 52 determines the direction in which to drive the carriage 24 to retrieve the target ;~ track and prescribes an optimum sequence of drive sig-nals is diagrammed. It will be apparent that, in addi-tion to the possibility of implementing the algorithm by means of suitable hardware, such as digital logic elements, all or part of the algorithm may be performed Z6~
by conventional programming on a digital computer or a microprocessor.
Initiation of a search mode by the function generator 50 commences with a conventional start step 80, followed bya step 82 in which the question is asked whether the address A2 of the target track (target address) is greater than the address Al of the track currently being read by the video disc player (current address). An affirmative answer to this question indi-cates that the proper direction to drive the carriage24 to retrieve the target track is forward and leads to - step 84, resulting in the forward signal on line 62 being set to a true state (FWD = 1), while the reverse signal on line 64 is set to a false signal (Rev = 0).
If the answer is no, then the forward signal on line 62 and the reverse signal on line 64 are set to the false (FWD = 0) and the true (REV = 1) states, respectively, by step 86.
Once the direction that the carriage is to be driven has been fixed either by step 84 or by step 86, a sequence of steps are utilized to determine the dis-tance D to be traversed to the target track, as represen-ted by the absolute magnitude of the difference between ; the target address A2 and the current address Al.
More specifically, with reference to FIG. 2, ; the question is asked at step 88 whether the distance D
is greater than the first distance threshold Dl from the target track. If the answer is yes, then the drive sig-nal Sl on line 66 is set to a true state (Sl = 1) in step 90, resulting in the carriage motor 28 being driven at a particular speed. Since the distance threshold Dl represents the greatest distance to the target track, the drive signal Sl is selected to cause the carriage motor 28 to operate at its fastest available speed 3Z6~
until the next distance threshold D2 is reached. On the other hand, if the answer to the question posed in step 88 is no, theI~ the carriage motor 28 will be driven at a prescribed speed less than the maximum in order that S the carriage motor not be driven at such a rate that it could not be stopped without overshooting the target track. Initially the answer to the question posed in step 88 may be no, of course, if the current track being : read when the search mode commences is closer to the target track than the distance threshold D1.
As mentioned previously, eccentricities in the video disc 10, which are unavoidable with present technology, require utilization of a tracking subsystem 30 such as that shown in FIG. 1 to accomplish fine steer-ing of the read beam to accurately follow the path of theinformation tracks in a play mode of operation. It was also noted, however, that in a retrieval mode of opera-tion as described herein, the tracking subsystem 30 is - disabled. Notwithstanding this disablement of the track-ing subsystem 30, a certain amount of FM information is recovered from the video disc 10 and provided to the signal recovery subsystem 22 as the read beam 16 rapidly crosses tracks in the search mode.
Although the FM information recovered from the disc is such that the video monitor 42 cannot provide a stable display, sufficient information will be recovered at various intervals to derive the addresses of some tracks as they are crossed. In this regard, identical address information is diametrically encoded for each track, in the vertical interval associated with each field comprising a frame, so that there will be an opportunity to recover address information every half revolution of the disc. If the video disc is rotating at a typical 1800 r.p.m., this will occur once approxi-mately every 16 milliseconds. It is contemplated, therefore, that the algorithms of FIG. 2 be repeated 1~4~Z60 upon each updating of the current address Al, typically at intervals of 16 msec. Thus, after step 90, as well as all other steps wherein a drive signal is set, the algorithm returns to the start step 80 in anticipation of updated information respecting the current address Al.
When the answer to step 88 is no, either because the target track is initially closer to the current track being read than the distance threshold Dl, or because the carriage 24 has been driven closer in the search mode at the maximum speed represented by the drive signal Sl, the question is posed by step 92 whether the distance D is greater than the next distance threshold D2. If the answer is yes, then the drive signal Sl on line 66 is set to a false state (Sl = 0) ; 15 and the drive signal S2 on line 68 is set to a true state (S2 =1) by step 94. Consequently, the carriage motor 28 will be driven at a speed corresponding to the drive signal S2, and the carriage controller will remain in this state until the next distance threshold ; 20 D3 is reached.
From the foregoing, it should now be apparent that a primary purpose of sequentially down stepping the drive signal applied to the carriage drive 60 is to decelerate the carriage motor 28 in a relatively predict-able fashion and to intermittently redetermine the ; speed of the motor as the carriage approaches the target track. In this manner, the effects of variabil-ity in the dynamic characteristics of particular carriage motors and carriages is minimized by selecting the drive signals and distance thresholds to allow intermit-tent redetermination of carriage position and speed during the course of homing in on the target track. As a resul-t, the carriage is driven towards the target as rapidly as practicable without overexciting the carriage motor and possible experiencing overshoot.
1~4(3Z6~) . .
To complete the algorithm, the question is posed at step 96 whether the distance D is greater than the third distance threshold D3 to the target track and, if the answer is yes, the preceding drive signals Sl and S2 are set to a false state (Sl = 0, S2 = 0), and the drive signal S3 that is applied on line 70 from the carriage controller 52 to the carriage driver 60 is set to a true state (S3 = 1) by step 98. When the distance D finally becomes less than the third distance threshold D3, but is still greater than zero, as determined by the next question posed in step 100, the fourth drive signal S4 is set to a true state (S4 = 1), and all previous drive signals S1, S2 and S3 are set to a false state (Sl =0, S2 = 0, S3 =0) by step 102.
; 15 It will be recalled that in the presently pre-ferred embodiment, the carriage motor speed represented ; by the drive signal S4 is chosen to be the normal play speed of the video disc player in which the carriage 24 is translated at a rate equal to the pitch of the spiral tracks formed on the video disc 10. Therefore, the drive signal S4 is also applied on line 72 to the tracking subsystem 30 in order to re-enable it upon re-establishing play speed, since the tracking subsystem 30 was disabled by a signal on line 58 from the function generator 50 upon initiation of the search mode. This was because the various sequential drive signals Sl, S2 and S3 all cause the carriage 24 to translate at rates greater than the normal play speed represented by the drive signal S4. At these higher translation rates, it is neither practical nor desirable to attempt to fine steer the read beam 16 as tracks are rapidly crossed.
Of course, when the drive signal S4 is applied, the tracking subsystem 30 preferably is re-enabled so that the read beam 16 will most accurately follow the informa-tion tracks and track addresses can be reliably retrieved.
114~26~
Finally, when the difference D becomes zero, making the answer to the question posed in step 100 yes, all previous drive signals Sl, S2, S3 and S4 are set to a false state (Sl = 0, S2 = 0, S3 = 0 and S4 = 0) by step 104. Of course, with all the drive signals Sl - S4 set to a false state, the carriage 24 will stop. At the same time, a stop signal on a line 79 to the stop motion subsystem 32 is set to a true sta~e (STOP = 1) by step - 104. The purpose of this top signal is to enable the stop motion subsystem 32 such that the target track will be frozen on the display of the video monitor 42. Since the information tracks are recorded in spiral fashion, it is required that read beam 16 be jumped back once ~ each revolution of the video disc 10 so that the read :, 15 beam repeatedly retraces the same frame of video infor-mation. A particular manner of generating an approp-riate jump-back signal and controlling the tracking subsystem is described in detail in the prior art.
Briefly, the stop motion subsystem 32 is em-ployed as a means for generating a plurality of control signals for application to the tracking subsystem 30 on ` line 33 to achieve the movement of the focused spot tracking the center of a first information track to a separate and spaced location in which the spot begins tracking the center of the next adjacent information track. The stop motion subsystem 32 performs its func-tion by detecting a predetermined signal recovered from the frequency modulated video signal which indicates the proper position within the recovered frequency modulated video signal for initiating the jumping operation. This detection function is achieved, inpart by internally generating a gating circuit conditioned by the vertical sync signal received on line 44 to indicate that portion of the recovered video signal received on line 40, within
la METHOD AND APPARATVS FOR INFORMATION RETRIEVAL
_ FROM AN OPTICALLY READABLE STORAGE MEDIUM
TECHNICAL FIELD
This invention relates generally to informa-tion retrieval from an optieally readable storage medium and, more speeifieally, to a new and improved method and apparatus for retrieving information from video dises and the like in a rapid and reliable manner.
, .
BACKGROUND OF THE PRIOR ART
Video dise players and the like are known for recovering information that has been stored, for instanee, as a succession of light refleetive and nonreflective regions along spirally-formed information tracks in a dise-shaped reeord earrier. The reeord earrier ean be rotated at a relatively high rate, while an optieal system is employed for directing a radiant beam, such as a laser beam, to impinge upon the information traeks and for gathering a refleeted beam that has been modula-ted by the reflective and non-reflective regions of the information track. Such a player includes a carriage for translating the video disc relative to the radiant beam at a rate equal to the pitch of the spirally-recorded tracks and beam steering means for manipulating the radiant beam to precisely follow the path defined by such tracks.
-lb-A frequency modulated electrical signal is recovered from the reflected, light modulated beam and is applied to appropriate signal processing circuitry for deriving a video signal for display on a video monitor. Various control signals that are utilized to operate the player are also derived from the reflected beam.
Heretofore, the capability has existed of displaying a selected frame of video information by prescribing the address of the frame or information track wherein it is stored, and causing the carriage to translate in a rapid manner to the vicinity of such information track. The address information has been specially encoded in both of the vertical blanking intervals present in each revolution of an information track comprising the two standard fields of a video frame.
More particularly, in order to retrieve the selected frame or information track, the carriage has ~een translated at a uniform rate, greater than the normal play speed of the player, towards such informa-tion track. During the course of translating the car-riage, track addresses of at least some of the tracks crossed were detected, although it is obviously not possible to detect every track address in such a mode of operation. As soon as it was detected that the selected information track had been reached or crossed, the drive signal to the carriage was terminated. In-variably, however, the carriage travelled past the location of the selected track and it was at least necessary to drive the carriage once in the opposite direction to return to it.
By this prior technique, it was determined - to always approach the selected information track from one direction when preparing to actually stop the car-riage at the track. In other words, if the carriage , 1~4~6~
were driven initially in the normal forward direction for retrieval, after overshooting the selected track the carriage would be driven in the reverse direction past the selected track again. Upon passing the track, the reverse drive signal would be terminated and the carriage would again overshoot. Finally, the normal play mode of the video disc player would be utilized to simply play into and stop at the selected informa-tion track.
If the selected track was reached in such a search mode by rapidly translating the carriage in the reverse direction, the carriage drive signal would be terminated upon reaching or passing the selected track, with the accompanying overshoot. From this position the video disc player utilized the normal play mode to play into and stop at the selected track, since the carriage was then located on the proper side for ap-proaching the selected track.
It will be apparent that the aforedescribed techniques for recovering the information stored in selected tracks were prone to deficiencies. For in-stance, overshoot when approaching the selected track from either the forward or the reverse direction resul-ted in delays in retrieving the information stored on the track. The requirement of always approaching the selected track from one direction compounded the delay.
Hence, there has been a need for an improved, rapid information retrieval technique for use with video disc players and the like, wherein information is optically recovered by means of a radiant beam being impinged upon an information storage medium, that solves the aforedescribed problems. The present inven-tion fulfills this need.
114~26~
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Briefly, and in general terms, the present invention provides a new and improved method and appar-atus capable of rapidly retrieving information stored in a selected one of a plurality of optically readable information tracks by an information recovery system employing radiant beam information recovery means.
Basically, the present invention includes an improved electronic method and apparatus for control-ling movement of an information storage medium, such as a disc-shaped record carrier, relative to a radiant beam that is utilized to recover information by scan-ning along information tracks formed therein. A partic-ular information track may be targeted for recovery in a retrieval mode of operation, for instance by specifying an address included with the information in the track.The location of this target track relative to the loca-tion of the information track currently being scanned by the radiant beam is monitored and, as a function of the difference in locations, signals are prescribed for controlling relative movement between the target track and the radiant beam in order to rapidly re-position the storage medium relative to the radiant beam to enable scanning of the targeted information track. ~lore specifically, the rate of relative move-ment is progressively decreased in a prescribed manner,from an initial translation rate determined by the distance separating the radiant beam and the targeted information track. The manner of decreasing the rate of relative movement is selected to intermittently re-determine the rate at predetermined intervals as theradiant beam approaches the target track, and to ensure that the rate is such that the radiant beam wlll not be caused to overshoot. The separating distance between ~. r 1~4~6(~
the target track and the radiant beam may be determined by deriving addresses stored in the information tracks as the radiant beam scans in the retrieval mode and, by comparing these addresses with the address of the target trac]c.
In a presently preferred embodiment, by way of example and not necessarily by way of limitation, a video disc player embodying features of the present invention miyht include a carriage controller for con-trolling the position of a carriage on which a video disc is mounted for translation relative to a beam of radiation employed for scanning information tracks on the video disc. A comparison of the address of an information track selected for retrieval with the address the information track being scanned by the beam ; of radiation is made and a determination is reached whether the carriage should be driven in a forward or in a reverse direction to retrieve the target track.
Beam steering means for manipulating the radiant beam ~to precisely follow the path defined by the tracks in a p~ay mode of operation, may be disabled in the re-trieval mode.
As a function of the distance separating the beam of radiation and the target track, the carriage controller prescribes a sequence of drive signals to be applied to a carriage motor for varying the rate of movement of the carriage. For example, the carriage controller may prescribe one of four drive signals, resulting in a particular initial rate of movement, upon determining that the beam of radiation is separ-ated from the target track by at least a particularthreshold distance. As the carriage is moved at this initial rate, the separating distance between the beam of radiation and the target track decreases, and another Z16~
distance threshold may be crossed. In such event, the carriage controller switches a different drive signal of lower magnitude to the carriage motor to effect a slowing of the carriage. Progressive switching of drive signals of lower magnitude is effected upon cross-ing each prescribed distance threshold until the target track is reached and all drive signals are switched off, thereby stopping the carriage at the target track.
In a further aspect of the present invention, the drive signal applied to the carriage motor immedi-ately prior to stopping at the target track is selected to be the normal play speed of the video disc player.
Preferahly, switching of this drive signal to the car-riage motor also re-enables the beam steering means so that the radiant beam accurately follows the informa-tion and therefore reliably recovers track addresses, as the carriage plays into the target track in the play mode and stops.
In an alternative embodiment of the present invention, monitoring of the separating distance be-tween the target track and the radiant beam is accom-plished during an initial portion of the retrieval mode by counting the number of tracks crossed by the radiant beam. Such a technique may be preferable when the carriage is being translated at such a high rate as to make detection of track addresses relatively unreliable.
Due to eccentricities inherent in the information tracks, and the need for beam steering means to accur-ately follow the tracks, monitoring of track addresses is again relied upon as the carriage shifts into the normal play mode prior to stopping at the target track.
The method and apparatus for information re-trieval of the present invention satisfies a need for 1~4~Z60 . --6 rapid and reliable information retrievable from optically readable tracks by information recovery systems utili-zing radiant beam information recovery means.
The above and other objects and advantages of this invention will be apparent from the following more detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of illustrative embodiments.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
In the accompanying drawings:
FIG. 1 is a generalized block diagram of a video disc player in which some of the basic concepts ; of the present invention are illustrated;
FIG. 2 is a flow chart illustrating an algo-rithm applicable to the carriage controller shown in FIG. 1, for varying the carriage speed and direction of movement in the search mode;
FIG. 3 is a waveform showing the response of the carriage motor as it is driven to a target track in either the forward or the reverse direction;
FIG. 4 is an electrical schematic of one em-bodiment of a carriage driver as shown in FIG. 1 suit-able for utilizing the results of the algorithm of FIG. 2;
FIG. 5 is a generalized diagram of a signal recovery subsystem, suitable for use with the video disc player of FIG. l; and FIG. 6a is a fragmentary cross-sectional view of three information tracks of a video disc, while FIG. 6b is a waveform applicable to the signal recovery subsystem of FIG. 5.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Referring now to FIG. 1 of the drawings for purposes of illustration, there is shown a new and improved system for information retrieval embodying features of the present invention. In the drawings, 114~26~
the same numeral will be used in the several views to represent the same element.
In FIG. 1, a generalized video disc player is shown for purposes of illustrating the principles of the invention and includes a spindle on which a video disc 10 is mounted for rotation by a spindle motor 12 at a preselected angular rate. Information is recorded on the video disc 10 in a frequency modulated format as successive light reflective and non-reflective regions along tracks that are formed either as a con-tinuous spiral or in discrete concentric rings. Thevideo disc player also includes an optical system 14 which produces a laser read beam 16 and directs it - through an optical read head 18 having an objective lens for focusing the read beam to a precise spot on the , video disc 10.
A reflected beam 20, modulated by the infor-mation recorded in the tracks, is gathered by the readhead 18 and returned through the optical system 14 to a signal recovery subsystem 22. The spindle motor 12 is mounted on a carriage 24 for translation of the video disc 10 in the direction indicated by a double-headed arrow 26 by means of a carriage motor 28.
Coarse steering of the read beam 16 along the informa-tion tracks is accomplished by translating the carriage 24 either at a uniform rate equal to the pitch of spirally-formed tracks or stepwise if the tracks are formed as discrete concentric rings.
A tracking subsystem 30 is included in the video disc player to enable the read beam to follow eccentricities that are inherent in the information tracks with present technology. Also, since the des-cription that follows will assume that the information tracks are formed in a spiral manner, wherein one com-plete revolution of the video disc comprises one infor-mation track, a stop motion subsystem 32 is shown in 1~4~Z610 FIG. 1 to enable the video disc player to stop orfreeze on a particular track. Both the tracking and stop motion subsyst.ems receive a control signal on line 34 from the signal recovery subsystems will be described below only as necessary for a full understan-ding of the present invention.
The tracking subsystem 30 is employed for maintaining radial tracking of the focused read beam 16 on one information track, and is responsive to the control signal on line 34 to develop an error signal on line 31 to the optical system 14 to bring the light spot back onto the center-of-track position.
The tracking subsystem 30 normally operates in a closed loop mode of operation when the player is operating at a play speed. However, the tracking sub-system 30 is disabled in a retrieval mode, such that the differential tracking error is temporarily removed from controlling the operation of the radial tracking mirror. The tracking subsystem 30 can also be tempor-arily disabled by the stop motion subsystem 32, whichthen generates various combinations of signals on a line 33 to control the movement of the radial tracking , mirror for directing the point of impingement of the focused spot from the preferred center of track position on a first track to a center of track position on an adjacent track in order to effect stop motion.
The signal recovery subsystem 22 develops an FM signal that includes the video information and all other information stored in the information tracks, and applies that signal on a line 36 to a signal processing subsystem 38. The latter subsystem includes a conven-tional FM detector for demodulating the FM signal into a standard format video signal, which is then applied on a line 40 to a video monitor 42 for display and to ~ .
I i ' ~9~
g the stop motion subsystem 32. Means are also included in the signal processing subsystem 38 for separating the vertical sync signal from the video signal so that the sync signal can be applied on a line 44 to the stop motion subsystem 32 to be used in a manner described below.
Each information track or frame of video in-formation that is recorded on the video disc 10 is iden-tified by a unique address encoded once in each of the pair of vertical intervals between the two fields comp-rising a frame. For purposes of the present invention,the video signal from the signal processing subsystem 38 is also applied on a line 40 to an address recovery sub-system 46, wherein the address associated with each in-formation track is decoded in any manner familiar to those of ordinary skill in the art. These addresses, for instance may be encoded in a selected digital format on a selected horizontal line in each vertical interval.
A signal representing the address information is then directed on a line 48 to a function generator 50 and to a carriage controller 52. The function gener-ator 50, which may be embodied in a remote control, dis-plays the address of the information track currently being read, and includes means for selecting both a retrieval mode of operation and the address of the information track targeted for retrieval, in accordance with the principles of the present invention.
In essence, when the retrieval mode is selec-ted, the function generator 50 applies both an enabling signal on a line 54 and the address of the target track on a line 56 to the carriage controller 52~ wherein acomparison of the address of the current track being read with the address of the target track is made and a ; determination is reached whether the carriage 24 should be driven in a forward or reverse direction to retrieve 114~Z60 the target track. Also, the carriage controller 52 prescribes a sequence of drive signals to be applied to a carriage driver 60 in order to move the carriage motor 28, and hence the carriage 24 and the video disc 10, to retrieve the target track in a rapid manner without overshooting it. The algorithm by which these deter-minations are made is illustrated in FIG. 2, and will be described in detail below. The function generator 50 also applies a signal on a line 58 to the tracking subsystem 30 to disable it in the search mode as des-cribed above.
The determination of the direction in whichthe carriage 24 should be driven to reach the target track results in either a forward (FWD) signal being applied from the carriage controller 52 to carriage driver 60 over line 62 or a reverse signal (REV) being applied to the carriage driver on a line 64. In addi-tion, the sequence of signals prescribed by the carriage controller 52, so that the carriage 24 rapidly homes in on the target track, results in one of four carriage drive signals (Sl, S2, S3 or S4) being applied to the carriage driver 60 from the carriage controller on one of the lines 66, 68, 70 or 72, respectively. The output of the carriage driver 60 is directed over a line 74 to drive the carriage motor 28, and a tachometer ' 76 is shown as being mechanically interconnected to the carriage motor to provide an indication of its actual speed and direction by means of a feedback signal on a ; line 78 to the carriage driver.
The carriage drive signals Sl - S4 represent four possible speeds at which the carriage motor 28 can be driven, and hence four rates at which the carriage 24 and the video disc 10 can be translated relative to , the read beam 16. One of these drive signals, S4 cor-responds to the normal play speed of the video disc 6~
player which results in translation of the carriage 24 at a rate equal to the recorded pitch of the informa-tion tracks. The other drive signals S3, S2 and Sl correspond to successively greater carriage translation rates.
In accordance with the present invention, the carriage controller 52 prescribes a preferred sequence for applying the drive signals to the carriage motor 28, as a function of the distance between the track current-ly being read by the player and the track targeted for retrieval in the function generator 50, for retrievalof the information stored in the target track. In this regard, as the carriage moves and the distance to the target track decreases, the drive signal from the car-riage driver 60 on line 74 to the carriage motor 28 is sequentially stepped downward as a sequence of distance thresholds, Dl, D2 and D3 are crossed. This results ina prescribed deceleration of the carriage motor 28 and hence the carriage 24, as the target track is approached (see FIG. 3). When the target track is within a pre-scribed distance, represented by distance threshold D3, the tracking subsystem 30 is re-enabled by a signal on line 72 from the carriage controller 52. Then, as the target track is reached, all drive signals to the car-riage driver 60 are set to zero, and the stop motionsubsystem 32 is enabled by a signal on line 79 from the carriage controller 52.
Referring now to FIG. 2, the manner in which the carriage controller 52 determines the direction in which to drive the carriage 24 to retrieve the target ;~ track and prescribes an optimum sequence of drive sig-nals is diagrammed. It will be apparent that, in addi-tion to the possibility of implementing the algorithm by means of suitable hardware, such as digital logic elements, all or part of the algorithm may be performed Z6~
by conventional programming on a digital computer or a microprocessor.
Initiation of a search mode by the function generator 50 commences with a conventional start step 80, followed bya step 82 in which the question is asked whether the address A2 of the target track (target address) is greater than the address Al of the track currently being read by the video disc player (current address). An affirmative answer to this question indi-cates that the proper direction to drive the carriage24 to retrieve the target track is forward and leads to - step 84, resulting in the forward signal on line 62 being set to a true state (FWD = 1), while the reverse signal on line 64 is set to a false signal (Rev = 0).
If the answer is no, then the forward signal on line 62 and the reverse signal on line 64 are set to the false (FWD = 0) and the true (REV = 1) states, respectively, by step 86.
Once the direction that the carriage is to be driven has been fixed either by step 84 or by step 86, a sequence of steps are utilized to determine the dis-tance D to be traversed to the target track, as represen-ted by the absolute magnitude of the difference between ; the target address A2 and the current address Al.
More specifically, with reference to FIG. 2, ; the question is asked at step 88 whether the distance D
is greater than the first distance threshold Dl from the target track. If the answer is yes, then the drive sig-nal Sl on line 66 is set to a true state (Sl = 1) in step 90, resulting in the carriage motor 28 being driven at a particular speed. Since the distance threshold Dl represents the greatest distance to the target track, the drive signal Sl is selected to cause the carriage motor 28 to operate at its fastest available speed 3Z6~
until the next distance threshold D2 is reached. On the other hand, if the answer to the question posed in step 88 is no, theI~ the carriage motor 28 will be driven at a prescribed speed less than the maximum in order that S the carriage motor not be driven at such a rate that it could not be stopped without overshooting the target track. Initially the answer to the question posed in step 88 may be no, of course, if the current track being : read when the search mode commences is closer to the target track than the distance threshold D1.
As mentioned previously, eccentricities in the video disc 10, which are unavoidable with present technology, require utilization of a tracking subsystem 30 such as that shown in FIG. 1 to accomplish fine steer-ing of the read beam to accurately follow the path of theinformation tracks in a play mode of operation. It was also noted, however, that in a retrieval mode of opera-tion as described herein, the tracking subsystem 30 is - disabled. Notwithstanding this disablement of the track-ing subsystem 30, a certain amount of FM information is recovered from the video disc 10 and provided to the signal recovery subsystem 22 as the read beam 16 rapidly crosses tracks in the search mode.
Although the FM information recovered from the disc is such that the video monitor 42 cannot provide a stable display, sufficient information will be recovered at various intervals to derive the addresses of some tracks as they are crossed. In this regard, identical address information is diametrically encoded for each track, in the vertical interval associated with each field comprising a frame, so that there will be an opportunity to recover address information every half revolution of the disc. If the video disc is rotating at a typical 1800 r.p.m., this will occur once approxi-mately every 16 milliseconds. It is contemplated, therefore, that the algorithms of FIG. 2 be repeated 1~4~Z60 upon each updating of the current address Al, typically at intervals of 16 msec. Thus, after step 90, as well as all other steps wherein a drive signal is set, the algorithm returns to the start step 80 in anticipation of updated information respecting the current address Al.
When the answer to step 88 is no, either because the target track is initially closer to the current track being read than the distance threshold Dl, or because the carriage 24 has been driven closer in the search mode at the maximum speed represented by the drive signal Sl, the question is posed by step 92 whether the distance D is greater than the next distance threshold D2. If the answer is yes, then the drive signal Sl on line 66 is set to a false state (Sl = 0) ; 15 and the drive signal S2 on line 68 is set to a true state (S2 =1) by step 94. Consequently, the carriage motor 28 will be driven at a speed corresponding to the drive signal S2, and the carriage controller will remain in this state until the next distance threshold ; 20 D3 is reached.
From the foregoing, it should now be apparent that a primary purpose of sequentially down stepping the drive signal applied to the carriage drive 60 is to decelerate the carriage motor 28 in a relatively predict-able fashion and to intermittently redetermine the ; speed of the motor as the carriage approaches the target track. In this manner, the effects of variabil-ity in the dynamic characteristics of particular carriage motors and carriages is minimized by selecting the drive signals and distance thresholds to allow intermit-tent redetermination of carriage position and speed during the course of homing in on the target track. As a resul-t, the carriage is driven towards the target as rapidly as practicable without overexciting the carriage motor and possible experiencing overshoot.
1~4(3Z6~) . .
To complete the algorithm, the question is posed at step 96 whether the distance D is greater than the third distance threshold D3 to the target track and, if the answer is yes, the preceding drive signals Sl and S2 are set to a false state (Sl = 0, S2 = 0), and the drive signal S3 that is applied on line 70 from the carriage controller 52 to the carriage driver 60 is set to a true state (S3 = 1) by step 98. When the distance D finally becomes less than the third distance threshold D3, but is still greater than zero, as determined by the next question posed in step 100, the fourth drive signal S4 is set to a true state (S4 = 1), and all previous drive signals S1, S2 and S3 are set to a false state (Sl =0, S2 = 0, S3 =0) by step 102.
; 15 It will be recalled that in the presently pre-ferred embodiment, the carriage motor speed represented ; by the drive signal S4 is chosen to be the normal play speed of the video disc player in which the carriage 24 is translated at a rate equal to the pitch of the spiral tracks formed on the video disc 10. Therefore, the drive signal S4 is also applied on line 72 to the tracking subsystem 30 in order to re-enable it upon re-establishing play speed, since the tracking subsystem 30 was disabled by a signal on line 58 from the function generator 50 upon initiation of the search mode. This was because the various sequential drive signals Sl, S2 and S3 all cause the carriage 24 to translate at rates greater than the normal play speed represented by the drive signal S4. At these higher translation rates, it is neither practical nor desirable to attempt to fine steer the read beam 16 as tracks are rapidly crossed.
Of course, when the drive signal S4 is applied, the tracking subsystem 30 preferably is re-enabled so that the read beam 16 will most accurately follow the informa-tion tracks and track addresses can be reliably retrieved.
114~26~
Finally, when the difference D becomes zero, making the answer to the question posed in step 100 yes, all previous drive signals Sl, S2, S3 and S4 are set to a false state (Sl = 0, S2 = 0, S3 = 0 and S4 = 0) by step 104. Of course, with all the drive signals Sl - S4 set to a false state, the carriage 24 will stop. At the same time, a stop signal on a line 79 to the stop motion subsystem 32 is set to a true sta~e (STOP = 1) by step - 104. The purpose of this top signal is to enable the stop motion subsystem 32 such that the target track will be frozen on the display of the video monitor 42. Since the information tracks are recorded in spiral fashion, it is required that read beam 16 be jumped back once ~ each revolution of the video disc 10 so that the read :, 15 beam repeatedly retraces the same frame of video infor-mation. A particular manner of generating an approp-riate jump-back signal and controlling the tracking subsystem is described in detail in the prior art.
Briefly, the stop motion subsystem 32 is em-ployed as a means for generating a plurality of control signals for application to the tracking subsystem 30 on ` line 33 to achieve the movement of the focused spot tracking the center of a first information track to a separate and spaced location in which the spot begins tracking the center of the next adjacent information track. The stop motion subsystem 32 performs its func-tion by detecting a predetermined signal recovered from the frequency modulated video signal which indicates the proper position within the recovered frequency modulated video signal for initiating the jumping operation. This detection function is achieved, inpart by internally generating a gating circuit conditioned by the vertical sync signal received on line 44 to indicate that portion of the recovered video signal received on line 40, within
2~0 :' which the predetermined signal should be located.
In response to the predetermined signal, which has been termed a "white flag" in the aforementioned related application, the stop motion subsystem 32 gener-`5 ates a first control signal for application to the tracking subsystem 30 for temporarily interrupting the application of the differential tracking error to the radial tracking mirrors in the optical system 14. The stop motion subsystem 32 generates a second control 10 signal for application to the radial tracking mirrorsfor causing the radial tracking mirrors to leave the center of tracking position on a first information track and jump to an adjacent information track. The ~stop motion subsystem terminates the second control ; 15 signal prior to the focused spot reaching the center of focus position on the next adjacent information track.
A third control signal may be generated by the stop motion subsystem 32 at a time spaced from the ter-mination of the second control pulse. The third control 20 pulse is applied directly to the radial tracking mirrors ;for compensating for the effects on it which were added by the second control pulse. While the second control pulse is necessary to have the reading beam jump from a first information track to an adjacent information track, the spaces involved are so small that the jumping opera-tion cannot always reliably be achieved using the second control signal alone. Therefore, the third control sig-nal may be employed for compensating for the effects of the second control jump pulse on the radial tracking 30 mirror at a point in time when it is assured that the focus spot has, in fact, left the first information track and has yet to be properly positioned in the cen-ter of the next adjacent information track. Finally, the differential error signal may be gated through to 3Z6~
the radial tracking mirror at a time calculated for the gated portion of the differential tracking error to assist the compensation pulse in bringing the focused ; spot under control upon the center of track position of 5 the next adjacent information track.
Referring now specifically to FIG. 3, control of the carriage motor drive signal, and hence carriage motor speed, as a function to the distance D to the '.
G target track, ii'3i illustrated by waveforms, including ~ 10 approaches from both the forward and the reverse direc-. .
- tions.
Assuming for the moment that the carriage 24 is positioned further from the target track than the distance threshold D3 and should be driven in the for-15 ward direction to reach the target track, it can be seen that the maximum drive signal Sl is initially applied to the carriage driver 60 so that the carriage motor 28 will assume its maximum available speed. As the carriage 24 , approaches the distance threshold D3, the drive signal 20 applied to the carriage driver 60 steps down to S2. Of course, the carriage motor 28 and the carriage 24 have a certain amount of inertia and the speed decays to a speed dictated by the drive signal S2 over a period of time. Preferably, the dynamic characteristics of the 25 carriage motor 28 and the carriage 24 are critically damped so that a speed represented by the drive signal S2 is reached as quickly as possible.
It should be noted that, in any event, the dynamic characteristics of the carriage motor 28 and 30 carriage 24, as well as the distance thresholds such as D3 and D2, should be chosen so that the carriage motor speed does decay to the speed represented by the drive signal S2 prior to the carriage reaching the next dis-tance threshold D2. Otherwise, the purpose of stepping 1146~Z6V
.:.
- down the drive signal to the carriage driver in order to redetermine the carriage motor speed at particular inter-vals along route to the target track will be defeated.
Those skilled in the art will recognize that particular carriage motors and carriages will display a certain amount of variability in their dynamic response charac-teristics and that the various drive signals and dis-tance thresholds should be selected with this variabi]-ity in mind, i.e. sufficient distance between thresholds should be allowed so that even a carriage motor and assembly with a relatively slow time response will de-celerate to the speed represented by the next drive sig-nal prior to the next distance threshold being reached.
This process of stepping down the drive signal and allowing the speed of the carriage motor 28 to sub-stantially completely decay before again stepping down the drive signal at the next distance threshold is : repeated until the normal play speed represented by drive signal S4 is reached and the tracking subsystem 30 is re-enabled. Then as ~he carriage 24 reaches the tar-get track, the carriage 24 is stopped and the stop motion subsystem 32 is enabled as described above.
For purposes of convenience, the identical sequence of drive signals and distance thresholds is shown for implementation when the target track must be approached in the reverse direction. For particular systems, it may be that the carriage motor and the carriage will display differing response characteristics in the forward and the reverse directions, in which case a different sequence of drive signals and distance thresh-olds would be selected. It will also be appreciated that the particular number of drive signals and distance thresholds in the sequence i5 not critical to the present invention.
, 114~26~
- A particular electrical circuit for implemen-; ting the carriage driver is shown in FIG. 4. The cir-guit includes a first quad analog switch 108 having four IN, OUT and CONTROL connections. The drive signals Sl-S4 are applied individually to the four CONTROL
connections on the lines 66, 68, 70 and 72, while the four IN connections are tied to a positive supply vol-tage V on a line 110. The four OUT connections are each connected individually through a resistor Rl-R4, respec-tively, to the first two IN connections of a second quadanalog switch 112 on a line 114. The second switch 112 receives its corresponding two CONTROL inputs individ-ually from the forward and reverse signals on lines 62, 64 from the carriage controller 52. Only two connections are utilized on the second analog switch 112. A suitable commerclal device for these two quad analog switches is a Motorola type MC14016.
The first OUT connection of the second analog switch 112 is applied through a resistor R5 on line 116 to the inverting input of a first operational amplifier 118 having a feedback resistor R6. The second OUT con-nection of the second analog switch 112 is likewise applied through an equivalent resistor R5 on line 120 to the inverting input of a second operational amplifier 122, having an identical feedback resistor R6. The out-put of the second operational amplifier 122 is then applied to the inverting input of a third operational amplifier 124 through a resistor R7 on a line 128, the operational amplifier having an identical feedback resis-tor R7 to provide unity gain.
The operation of this circuit as thus far des-cribed will now be explained. Depending on which, if any, of the drive signals Sl - S4 is in a true state, the corresponding OUT connection of the first analog switch will have the supply voltage V applied to it.
Thus, a current will be supplied through a particular , 114tDZ~;~
~,:
resistor, such as resistor Rl when drive signal Sl is i set to a true state (Sl = 1), to the two IN connections on the second analog switch 112 on line 114. This cur-rent will be directed through either one of the two OUT
connections of the second switch 112 depending on which of its two control signals, the forward or reverse sig-nals from the carriage controller 52, are in a true state. Hence, the current will cause an inverted vol-tage to appear at the output of the first operational ` 10 amplifier 118 if the forward signal is true (FWD =1).
On the other hand, a noninverted voltage will appear at the output of the third operational amplifier 124 if the reverse signal is true (REV =1).
- One of these two voltages are then applied through identical resistors R8 on lines 130 or 132 for summing with the feedback signal from the carriage tach-ometer 76 through a resistor R9 on line 78, at the invert-ing input of a fourth operational amplifier 134, having a feedback resistor R10. The output of this fourth oper-ational amplifier 134 is then applied to a power ampli-fier 136 on a line 138 for appropriately energizing the carriage motor 28 over line 74 in the forward or the reverse direction. In accordance with well-known princi-ples, the carriage tachometer 76 is intended to generate an equal and opposite signal to the drive signal from the first operational amplifier 124, as the case may be, tonull the input at the fourth operational amplifier 134, i.e., negative feedback control.
An alternative approach for determining car-riage location or distance D from the target track canbe described with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6.
A suitable subsystem for implementing the sig-nal recovery subsystem shown in FIG. 1, is disclosed in FIG. 5. A diode detector array 140 includes a central photodetector 142 for deriving the informational content ~14~326~
of the modulated light beam and has a pair of diametri-cally opposed tracking diodes 144, 146 on either side.
An electrical signal proportional to the intensity of light received on the central detector 142 is provided on lines 148, 150 to a summing junction and then to a wide band amplifier 152, having an output directed on line 36 to the signal processing subsystem 38 as des-cribed above. Each tracking diode 144, 146 is disposed to detect the portion of the modulated light beam corres-ponding to individual tracking spots, which are producedby splitting the read beam 16 into three separate beams by means of a diffraction grating in the optical system 14, and each diode generates an electrical signal on lines 154 and 156, respectively, to tracking preampli-; 15 fiers 158, 160. One preamplifier 158 had an output dir-ected on a line 162 to the inverting output of an ampli-fier 164 and the output of the other preamplifier 160 is directed on a line 166 to the noninverting input of the amplifier. The output of the amplifier 164 then provides a tracking error signal on line 34 to the tracking sub-system 30 and to the stop motion subsystem 32 as des-cribed in connection with FIG. 1.
A fragmentary radial cross section of three tracks of the video disc are illustrated in FIG. 6A;
while in FIG. 6B, the open loop differential tracting error signal is illustrated which appears on line 34 at the output of differential amplifier 164 when the tracking subsystem 30 is disabled and the carriage translates rapidly in a search mode of operation.
It will be apparent that the waveform of FIG.
6B can be utilized as an indicator of trac~k crossings and to provide a count of the number of tracks crossed in the search mode. Considering this information in combination with the target address A2 and the address 114~26~
;
of the particular track from which the search is initi-ated, a continuous monitoring of carriage position rela-tive to the target track could be derived by counting track crossings. It should be noted, however, that such a technique would be preferable only at relatively high speeds of translation of the carriage. This is because the eccentricities inherent in a video disc tend to create false "track crossings" even when the carriage is standing still, if the tracking subsystem is disabled.
At high rates of translation of the carriage, the effects of these false "track crossings" due to eccentricities will not be significant, but as the speed of the carriage slows towards a play speed their effects may prevent an accurate track count. Hence, in an alternative embodi-ment, it is contemplated that track crossings may be counted by means of the open loop differential tracking error signal at relatively high rates of speed, while dependence will be shirted to detection of addresses as the carriage speed approaches play speed.
The aforedescribed information retrieval system of the present invention satisfies a need for improved systems capable of rapidly accessing information tracks in apparatus of the type utilizing a radiant beam to optically read the information stored in such tracks.
It will be apparent from the foregoing that, while particular forms of the invention have been illus-trated and described, various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, it is not intended that the invention be limited, except as by the appended claims.
-
In response to the predetermined signal, which has been termed a "white flag" in the aforementioned related application, the stop motion subsystem 32 gener-`5 ates a first control signal for application to the tracking subsystem 30 for temporarily interrupting the application of the differential tracking error to the radial tracking mirrors in the optical system 14. The stop motion subsystem 32 generates a second control 10 signal for application to the radial tracking mirrorsfor causing the radial tracking mirrors to leave the center of tracking position on a first information track and jump to an adjacent information track. The ~stop motion subsystem terminates the second control ; 15 signal prior to the focused spot reaching the center of focus position on the next adjacent information track.
A third control signal may be generated by the stop motion subsystem 32 at a time spaced from the ter-mination of the second control pulse. The third control 20 pulse is applied directly to the radial tracking mirrors ;for compensating for the effects on it which were added by the second control pulse. While the second control pulse is necessary to have the reading beam jump from a first information track to an adjacent information track, the spaces involved are so small that the jumping opera-tion cannot always reliably be achieved using the second control signal alone. Therefore, the third control sig-nal may be employed for compensating for the effects of the second control jump pulse on the radial tracking 30 mirror at a point in time when it is assured that the focus spot has, in fact, left the first information track and has yet to be properly positioned in the cen-ter of the next adjacent information track. Finally, the differential error signal may be gated through to 3Z6~
the radial tracking mirror at a time calculated for the gated portion of the differential tracking error to assist the compensation pulse in bringing the focused ; spot under control upon the center of track position of 5 the next adjacent information track.
Referring now specifically to FIG. 3, control of the carriage motor drive signal, and hence carriage motor speed, as a function to the distance D to the '.
G target track, ii'3i illustrated by waveforms, including ~ 10 approaches from both the forward and the reverse direc-. .
- tions.
Assuming for the moment that the carriage 24 is positioned further from the target track than the distance threshold D3 and should be driven in the for-15 ward direction to reach the target track, it can be seen that the maximum drive signal Sl is initially applied to the carriage driver 60 so that the carriage motor 28 will assume its maximum available speed. As the carriage 24 , approaches the distance threshold D3, the drive signal 20 applied to the carriage driver 60 steps down to S2. Of course, the carriage motor 28 and the carriage 24 have a certain amount of inertia and the speed decays to a speed dictated by the drive signal S2 over a period of time. Preferably, the dynamic characteristics of the 25 carriage motor 28 and the carriage 24 are critically damped so that a speed represented by the drive signal S2 is reached as quickly as possible.
It should be noted that, in any event, the dynamic characteristics of the carriage motor 28 and 30 carriage 24, as well as the distance thresholds such as D3 and D2, should be chosen so that the carriage motor speed does decay to the speed represented by the drive signal S2 prior to the carriage reaching the next dis-tance threshold D2. Otherwise, the purpose of stepping 1146~Z6V
.:.
- down the drive signal to the carriage driver in order to redetermine the carriage motor speed at particular inter-vals along route to the target track will be defeated.
Those skilled in the art will recognize that particular carriage motors and carriages will display a certain amount of variability in their dynamic response charac-teristics and that the various drive signals and dis-tance thresholds should be selected with this variabi]-ity in mind, i.e. sufficient distance between thresholds should be allowed so that even a carriage motor and assembly with a relatively slow time response will de-celerate to the speed represented by the next drive sig-nal prior to the next distance threshold being reached.
This process of stepping down the drive signal and allowing the speed of the carriage motor 28 to sub-stantially completely decay before again stepping down the drive signal at the next distance threshold is : repeated until the normal play speed represented by drive signal S4 is reached and the tracking subsystem 30 is re-enabled. Then as ~he carriage 24 reaches the tar-get track, the carriage 24 is stopped and the stop motion subsystem 32 is enabled as described above.
For purposes of convenience, the identical sequence of drive signals and distance thresholds is shown for implementation when the target track must be approached in the reverse direction. For particular systems, it may be that the carriage motor and the carriage will display differing response characteristics in the forward and the reverse directions, in which case a different sequence of drive signals and distance thresh-olds would be selected. It will also be appreciated that the particular number of drive signals and distance thresholds in the sequence i5 not critical to the present invention.
, 114~26~
- A particular electrical circuit for implemen-; ting the carriage driver is shown in FIG. 4. The cir-guit includes a first quad analog switch 108 having four IN, OUT and CONTROL connections. The drive signals Sl-S4 are applied individually to the four CONTROL
connections on the lines 66, 68, 70 and 72, while the four IN connections are tied to a positive supply vol-tage V on a line 110. The four OUT connections are each connected individually through a resistor Rl-R4, respec-tively, to the first two IN connections of a second quadanalog switch 112 on a line 114. The second switch 112 receives its corresponding two CONTROL inputs individ-ually from the forward and reverse signals on lines 62, 64 from the carriage controller 52. Only two connections are utilized on the second analog switch 112. A suitable commerclal device for these two quad analog switches is a Motorola type MC14016.
The first OUT connection of the second analog switch 112 is applied through a resistor R5 on line 116 to the inverting input of a first operational amplifier 118 having a feedback resistor R6. The second OUT con-nection of the second analog switch 112 is likewise applied through an equivalent resistor R5 on line 120 to the inverting input of a second operational amplifier 122, having an identical feedback resistor R6. The out-put of the second operational amplifier 122 is then applied to the inverting input of a third operational amplifier 124 through a resistor R7 on a line 128, the operational amplifier having an identical feedback resis-tor R7 to provide unity gain.
The operation of this circuit as thus far des-cribed will now be explained. Depending on which, if any, of the drive signals Sl - S4 is in a true state, the corresponding OUT connection of the first analog switch will have the supply voltage V applied to it.
Thus, a current will be supplied through a particular , 114tDZ~;~
~,:
resistor, such as resistor Rl when drive signal Sl is i set to a true state (Sl = 1), to the two IN connections on the second analog switch 112 on line 114. This cur-rent will be directed through either one of the two OUT
connections of the second switch 112 depending on which of its two control signals, the forward or reverse sig-nals from the carriage controller 52, are in a true state. Hence, the current will cause an inverted vol-tage to appear at the output of the first operational ` 10 amplifier 118 if the forward signal is true (FWD =1).
On the other hand, a noninverted voltage will appear at the output of the third operational amplifier 124 if the reverse signal is true (REV =1).
- One of these two voltages are then applied through identical resistors R8 on lines 130 or 132 for summing with the feedback signal from the carriage tach-ometer 76 through a resistor R9 on line 78, at the invert-ing input of a fourth operational amplifier 134, having a feedback resistor R10. The output of this fourth oper-ational amplifier 134 is then applied to a power ampli-fier 136 on a line 138 for appropriately energizing the carriage motor 28 over line 74 in the forward or the reverse direction. In accordance with well-known princi-ples, the carriage tachometer 76 is intended to generate an equal and opposite signal to the drive signal from the first operational amplifier 124, as the case may be, tonull the input at the fourth operational amplifier 134, i.e., negative feedback control.
An alternative approach for determining car-riage location or distance D from the target track canbe described with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6.
A suitable subsystem for implementing the sig-nal recovery subsystem shown in FIG. 1, is disclosed in FIG. 5. A diode detector array 140 includes a central photodetector 142 for deriving the informational content ~14~326~
of the modulated light beam and has a pair of diametri-cally opposed tracking diodes 144, 146 on either side.
An electrical signal proportional to the intensity of light received on the central detector 142 is provided on lines 148, 150 to a summing junction and then to a wide band amplifier 152, having an output directed on line 36 to the signal processing subsystem 38 as des-cribed above. Each tracking diode 144, 146 is disposed to detect the portion of the modulated light beam corres-ponding to individual tracking spots, which are producedby splitting the read beam 16 into three separate beams by means of a diffraction grating in the optical system 14, and each diode generates an electrical signal on lines 154 and 156, respectively, to tracking preampli-; 15 fiers 158, 160. One preamplifier 158 had an output dir-ected on a line 162 to the inverting output of an ampli-fier 164 and the output of the other preamplifier 160 is directed on a line 166 to the noninverting input of the amplifier. The output of the amplifier 164 then provides a tracking error signal on line 34 to the tracking sub-system 30 and to the stop motion subsystem 32 as des-cribed in connection with FIG. 1.
A fragmentary radial cross section of three tracks of the video disc are illustrated in FIG. 6A;
while in FIG. 6B, the open loop differential tracting error signal is illustrated which appears on line 34 at the output of differential amplifier 164 when the tracking subsystem 30 is disabled and the carriage translates rapidly in a search mode of operation.
It will be apparent that the waveform of FIG.
6B can be utilized as an indicator of trac~k crossings and to provide a count of the number of tracks crossed in the search mode. Considering this information in combination with the target address A2 and the address 114~26~
;
of the particular track from which the search is initi-ated, a continuous monitoring of carriage position rela-tive to the target track could be derived by counting track crossings. It should be noted, however, that such a technique would be preferable only at relatively high speeds of translation of the carriage. This is because the eccentricities inherent in a video disc tend to create false "track crossings" even when the carriage is standing still, if the tracking subsystem is disabled.
At high rates of translation of the carriage, the effects of these false "track crossings" due to eccentricities will not be significant, but as the speed of the carriage slows towards a play speed their effects may prevent an accurate track count. Hence, in an alternative embodi-ment, it is contemplated that track crossings may be counted by means of the open loop differential tracking error signal at relatively high rates of speed, while dependence will be shirted to detection of addresses as the carriage speed approaches play speed.
The aforedescribed information retrieval system of the present invention satisfies a need for improved systems capable of rapidly accessing information tracks in apparatus of the type utilizing a radiant beam to optically read the information stored in such tracks.
It will be apparent from the foregoing that, while particular forms of the invention have been illus-trated and described, various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, it is not intended that the invention be limited, except as by the appended claims.
-
Claims (11)
1. Apparatus for selectively retrieving information from a plurality of optically readable information tracks formed in an information storage medium, wherein the information includes addresses uniquely identifying each information track, and the apparatus includes means for impinging an incident beam of radiation upon the storage medium and means for recovering information from a modulated beam of radiation produced thereby, said apparatus comprising:
first means for selecting a target address corresponding to a target track from which information is to be retrieved in a retrieval mode of operation;
carriage means for moving the storage medium and the incident beam of radiation relative to one another to cause the incident beam to move across said tracks in a search mode of operation;
second means for monitoring the modulated beam to detect addresses from information recovered as the incident beam impinges upon the storage medium while said carriage means is in said search mode of operation;
third means, responsive to both said first means and said second means, for comparing the target address with addresses detected during relative movement between the storage medium and the incident beam in said search mode of operation to produce an indication of the separation between the target and the impingement point of the incident beam; and control means for conditioning said carriage means to decrease the separation between the impingement point of the incident beam and the target track, said control means being responsive to said third means to vary the rate of relative movement in a prescribed manner as the separation decreases, said control means causing said carriage means to cease crossing tracks when said target address is detected.
first means for selecting a target address corresponding to a target track from which information is to be retrieved in a retrieval mode of operation;
carriage means for moving the storage medium and the incident beam of radiation relative to one another to cause the incident beam to move across said tracks in a search mode of operation;
second means for monitoring the modulated beam to detect addresses from information recovered as the incident beam impinges upon the storage medium while said carriage means is in said search mode of operation;
third means, responsive to both said first means and said second means, for comparing the target address with addresses detected during relative movement between the storage medium and the incident beam in said search mode of operation to produce an indication of the separation between the target and the impingement point of the incident beam; and control means for conditioning said carriage means to decrease the separation between the impingement point of the incident beam and the target track, said control means being responsive to said third means to vary the rate of relative movement in a prescribed manner as the separation decreases, said control means causing said carriage means to cease crossing tracks when said target address is detected.
2. Apparatus as set forth in Claim 1, wherein said third means includes means for counting information tracks crossed by said beam of radiation as an indication of the separating distance.
3. Apparatus as set forth in Claim 1, wherein said control means decreases the rate of relative movement in stepwise fashion at prescribed separating distances.
4. Apparatus as set forth in Claim 1 for use with a player arranged to recover information stored in a plurality of substantially concentric information tracks formed in a record-shaped disc, said player including scanning means for scanning said beam of radiation along an information track, wherein:
said third means monitors the radial distance on said disc separating said beam of radiation and said target track; said carriage means moves said disc in its radial direction relative to said beam of radiation, during said retrieval mode; and said control means causes said carriage means to move said disc relative to said beam of radiation in a manner decreasing the radial distance separating said beam of radiation and said target track.
said third means monitors the radial distance on said disc separating said beam of radiation and said target track; said carriage means moves said disc in its radial direction relative to said beam of radiation, during said retrieval mode; and said control means causes said carriage means to move said disc relative to said beam of radiation in a manner decreasing the radial distance separating said beam of radiation and said target track.
5. Apparatus as set forth in Claim 4, wherein the plurality of information tracks are formed as a continuous spiral in a rotating record-shaped disc, said player including means for impinging a beam of radiation upon an information track and beam steering means for manipulating said beam of radiation to follow the information tracks along the spiral, said apparatus further comprising: means for disabling said beam steering means upon initiation of said retrieval mode; and means in said control means for reenabling said beam steering means at a selected separation distance prior to causing said carriage means to stop said relative movement when said beam of radiation follows said target track.
6. Apparatus as set forth in Claim 5, wherein said control means establishes a rate of relative movement corresponding to the pitch of said spiral and the rotation rate of said disc upon reenabling said beam steering means.
7. Apparatus for selectively retrieving information from a plurality of optically readable information tracks formed in an information storage medium, wherein the information includes addresses uniquely identifying each information track, and the apparatus includes means for impinging an incident beam of radiation upon the storage medium and means for recovering information from a modulated beam of radiation produced thereby, said apparatus comprising:
first means for selecting a target address corresponding to a target track from which information is to be retrieved in a retrieval mode of operation;
carriage means for moving the storage medium and the incident beam of radiation relative to one another to cause the incident beam to move across said tracks in a search mode of operation;
second means for monitoring the modulated beam to detect a starting address corresponding to a track from which information is recovered as said search mode of operation is initiated and to detect additional addresses of tracks from information recovered as the incident beam impinges upon the storage medium while said carriage means is in said search mode of operation;
counting means, responsive to variations in the modulated beam representative of movement of the incident beam from track to track, for providing a count of the tracks crossed by the incident beam while said carriage means is in search mode of operation;
third means, responsive to said first means, said second means, and said counting means, for producing an indication of the separation between the target track and the impingement point of the incident beam during relative movement between the storage medium and the incident beam in said search mode, said third means utilizing the count of tracks crossed by the incident beam during said relative movement, in conjunction with said starting address, for comparison with said target address when said separation is greater than a prescribed magnitude, and said third means utilizing addresses detected during said relative movement in said search mode for comparison with said target address when said separation is less than said prescribed magnitude; and control means for conditioning said carriage means to decrease the separation between the impingement point of the incident beam and the target track, said control means being responsive to said third means to vary the rate of relative movement in a prescribed manner as the separation decreases, said control means causing said carriage means to cease crossing tracks when said target address is detected.
first means for selecting a target address corresponding to a target track from which information is to be retrieved in a retrieval mode of operation;
carriage means for moving the storage medium and the incident beam of radiation relative to one another to cause the incident beam to move across said tracks in a search mode of operation;
second means for monitoring the modulated beam to detect a starting address corresponding to a track from which information is recovered as said search mode of operation is initiated and to detect additional addresses of tracks from information recovered as the incident beam impinges upon the storage medium while said carriage means is in said search mode of operation;
counting means, responsive to variations in the modulated beam representative of movement of the incident beam from track to track, for providing a count of the tracks crossed by the incident beam while said carriage means is in search mode of operation;
third means, responsive to said first means, said second means, and said counting means, for producing an indication of the separation between the target track and the impingement point of the incident beam during relative movement between the storage medium and the incident beam in said search mode, said third means utilizing the count of tracks crossed by the incident beam during said relative movement, in conjunction with said starting address, for comparison with said target address when said separation is greater than a prescribed magnitude, and said third means utilizing addresses detected during said relative movement in said search mode for comparison with said target address when said separation is less than said prescribed magnitude; and control means for conditioning said carriage means to decrease the separation between the impingement point of the incident beam and the target track, said control means being responsive to said third means to vary the rate of relative movement in a prescribed manner as the separation decreases, said control means causing said carriage means to cease crossing tracks when said target address is detected.
8. A method for selectively retrieving information stored in a plurality of optically readable information tracks formed in an information storage medium, wherein infor-mation is recovered from said storage medium by an information recovery system that scans a beam of radiation along an information track, said method comprising the steps of: in-dicating a target track from which information is to be recovered in a retrieval mode of operation; monitoring the distance separating said beam of radiation and said target track; controlling, as a function of said separating distance, movement of said information storage medium relative to said beam of radiation in a manner decreasing the distance separat-ing said beam of radiation and said target track, the rate of such relative movement being varied in a prescribed manner as the separating distance decreases; and causing said rela-tive movement to stop when said target track is scanned by said beam of radiation.
9. The method as set forth in Claim 8, wherein the rate of relative movement is decreased in a step-wise manner at prescribed separation distances.
10. The method as set forth in Claim 9 for use with a player arranged to recover information stored in the plurality of information tracks formed as a continuous spiral in a rotating record-shaped disc, the player including means for impinging a beam of radiation upon an information track and beam steering means for manipulating said beam of radia-tion to follow the information tracks along the spiral, said method further comprising the steps of: disabling said beam steering means upon initiation of said retrieval mode; and re-enabling said beam steering means during said retrieval mode at a selected separation distance.
11. A method as set forth in Claim 10, including the further step of: establishing a rate of relative movement corresponding to the pitch of said spiral and the rotation rate of said disc upon re-enabling said beam steering means.
Priority Applications (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA000341425A CA1140260A (en) | 1979-12-07 | 1979-12-07 | Method and apparatus for information retrieval from an optically readable storage medium |
Applications Claiming Priority (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA000341425A CA1140260A (en) | 1979-12-07 | 1979-12-07 | Method and apparatus for information retrieval from an optically readable storage medium |
Publications (1)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| CA1140260A true CA1140260A (en) | 1983-01-25 |
Family
ID=4115775
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA000341425A Expired CA1140260A (en) | 1979-12-07 | 1979-12-07 | Method and apparatus for information retrieval from an optically readable storage medium |
Country Status (1)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| CA (1) | CA1140260A (en) |
-
1979
- 1979-12-07 CA CA000341425A patent/CA1140260A/en not_active Expired
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