JP2001176204A - Optical information recording and reproducing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent the access speed from becoming slower at the time of performing alternative processing by improving the recording capacity on a recording medium by efficiently allocating an alternative area to the defective area of the recording medium. SOLUTION: A CPU 10 detects a defective area in the recording area of an optical disk 4, secures an alternative area having the same size as that of the detected defective area for the defective area from the free area of the recording area, and records defect alternating information composed of the addresses and sizes of the alternative and defective areas on the optical disk 4.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to an optical information recording / reproducing apparatus for optically recording / reproducing information on / from a recording medium.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Optical disks such as DVDs and CDs are well known as recording media for optically recording and reproducing information. In particular, as a recording medium capable of recording a plurality of times, DV
Optical disks such as D-RW and CD-RW are known.

An optical disk capable of recording a plurality of times as described above has a limitation on the number of times of rewriting, and has a property that the recording characteristics slightly deteriorate each time recording is performed.
Further, since recording is not performed uniformly on a recording medium, an area where the number of times of recording is large and an area where the number of times of recording are small occur, and the number of times of recording varies even on one optical disc. There will be good and bad areas.

[0004] The area where the recording characteristics of the optical disk have deteriorated is
In some cases, recording becomes impossible, but other areas can still be recorded, so if the optical disk itself becomes unusable when part of the optical disk becomes unusable, Was inconvenient.

Therefore, a method has been adopted in which an area where the recording characteristics are deteriorated or an area where no recording is possible is assigned as a defective area, and another area is assigned as an alternative area. By performing the replacement process (also referred to as “replacement process”) on the defective area in this way, the actual recording data is recorded in the replacement region (also referred to as “replacement region”), and the optical disc itself becomes unusable. Can be prevented.

Conventionally, as an apparatus for allocating a substitute area to a defective area of such a recording medium, a substitute sector corresponding to the substitute area is prepared for each fixed area. Optical information recording / reproducing apparatus which performs a replacement process according to
No. 2) has been proposed.

[0007]

However, in the conventional optical information recording / reproducing apparatus as described above, the replacement area is set in units of sectors, and even if a portion smaller than the size of a sector is a defective area, it is replaced for each sector. Since the processing is performed, an area that does not need to be replaced is a target of the replacement processing, and there is a problem that the replacement area is wastefully consumed.

When an area larger than the sector size becomes a defective area, replacement processing is performed for each of the sectors in the defective area. Therefore, the capacity of the defect list for recording the replacement processing is large. Therefore, there is a problem that the area for recording the user data is reduced correspondingly.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and improves the recording capacity on a recording medium by efficiently allocating a substitute area to a defective area of the recording medium, thereby improving the access speed during the substitution processing. The purpose is to prevent a decrease in

[0010]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an optical information recording / reproducing apparatus having recording / reproducing means for optically recording / reproducing information with respect to a recording area of a recording medium. A defective area detecting means for detecting a defective area in a recording area of the recording medium; and a substitute area for securing a substitute area of the same size as the defective area for the defective area detected by the means from a free area of the recording area. And a defect replacement information recording means for recording defect replacement information of the position and size of the replacement area and the defect area on the recording medium.

In an optical information recording / reproducing apparatus provided with recording / reproducing means for optically recording / reproducing information on / from a recording area of a recording medium, an alternative area size designating means for designating a size of an alternative area is provided. A defective area detecting means for detecting a defective area in a recording area of the recording medium; and a replacement area for the defective area detected by the defective area detecting means based on the size of the replacement area specified by the replacement area size specifying means. May be provided from a free area of the recording area, and defect replacement information recording means for recording defect replacement information of the positions of the replacement area and the defect area and the size on the recording medium.

Further, in the optical information recording / reproducing apparatus as described above, it is preferable to provide a defect replacement information reading means for reading the defect replacement information recorded on the recording medium.

The defective area detecting means may detect the defective area in the recording area based on the number of error corrections at the time of reproducing information.

Alternatively, the defective area detecting means may detect a location where an error has occurred by applying a track offset when reproducing information in the recording area as a defective area.

[0015] Alternatively, the defective area detecting means includes:
At the time of reproducing information in the recording area, a portion where an error occurs by applying a focus offset may be detected as a defective area.

[0016]

Embodiments of the present invention will be specifically described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an optical disk drive which is an embodiment of the optical information recording / reproducing apparatus of the present invention.

The optical disk drive 1 is realized by a microcomputer, and the CPU 10 includes a memory 11
And controls the overall operation of the optical disk drive 1 based on a firmware program stored in a host interface (I / F) 12, a buffer manager 13, an encoder / decoder 15, and a signal processing unit 1, which will be described later.
6, the servo control unit 17, the disk drive unit 18, and the pickup (PU) unit 19 are controlled.

The memory 11 stores a firmware program which is executed by the CPU 10 and activates and controls the optical disk drive 1. CD-RW, D
A defect list recorded on the optical disc 4 such as a VD-RW is temporarily stored, and data to be recorded in an alternative area is temporarily stored.

The host I / F 12 serves as an interface with the host computer 3, and when recording data on the optical disk 4, sends user data sent from the host computer 3 according to an interface specification protocol to the buffer manager 13. At the time of transfer and data reproduction, a process of transmitting user data sent from the buffer manager 13 to the host computer 3 through the interface 2 such as SCSI or ATAPI is performed.

During recording, the buffer manager 13 temporarily stores data sent from the host computer 3 on the buffer memory 14 and simultaneously stores the data in the buffer memory 1.
A process of sending data on the optical disc 4 to the encoder / decoder 15 in accordance with the recording speed of the optical disc 4 is performed.

The buffer manager 13 manages the data capacity on the buffer memory 14, adjusts the data capacity so that recording on the optical disc 4 is always continued, and the data capacity on the buffer memory 14 is insufficient. In this case, a data transfer is requested, and if a sufficient amount of data has been secured in the buffer memory 14, processing for temporarily stopping data transfer from the host computer 3 is performed.

At the time of reproduction, the encoder / decoder 15
The user data temporarily decoded in the buffer memory 14 is temporarily stored in the buffer memory 14, and the data in the buffer memory 14 is transmitted to the host computer 3 through the host I / F 12.

The buffer memory 14 is a data buffer for absorbing the difference between the data transfer speed and the recording speed, and temporarily stores data from the host I / F 12 during recording and temporarily stores data from the encoder / decoder 15 during reproduction. Area to be stored in

At the time of data reproduction, the encoder / decoder 15 performs a process of decoding a digital signal sent from the signal processing unit 16 and sending it to the buffer manager 13 as user data.

At the time of data recording, the user data transmitted from the buffer manager 13 at a transfer speed corresponding to the recording speed is encoded into a data array to be recorded on the optical disk 4 and transmitted to the signal processing unit 16. .

At the time of data reproduction, the signal processing unit 16
The control data is sent to the servo control unit 17 to control the PU unit 19 and the disk drive unit 18 based on the playback signal and the error signal from the unit 19, and the data of the playback signal is sent to the decoder of the encoder / decoder 15. Perform processing.

At the time of data recording, control data is sent to the servo control unit 17 to control the PU unit 19 and the disk drive unit 18 on the basis of a reproduction signal, a synchronization signal, and an error signal from the PU unit 19. At the same time, the data sent from the encoder of the encoder / decoder 15 is used as recording data by the PU unit 19.
Perform processing to send to.

The servo controller 17 controls the PU unit 19 based on the control data calculated by the signal processor 16.
And a process of controlling the disk drive unit 18. For example, P
Processing such as position control of the U unit 19, power adjustment for laser light irradiation by a laser diode (LD) (not shown) on the PU unit 19, and speed control by a spindle motor (not shown) are performed.

The disk drive unit 18 includes a servo control unit 17
Based on the signal transmitted from the optical disc 4, the spindle motor of the optical disc 4 is controlled to determine the rotation speed of the optical disc 4.

The PU unit 19 has an LD as a light source, irradiates the optical disc 4 with laser light, and reads out data based on the reflectance of the returned light. The read out data is used as a reproduction signal as a signal. Processing unit 1
6 is performed.

At the time of data recording, the optical disc 4 is irradiated with laser light at a laser power having a certain waveform pattern, and the data sent from the signal processing section 16 is written on the optical disc 4.

Further, at the time of recording / reproducing the data, seek, tracking, and focusing processes for moving the LD which is a unit and a light source to a recording / reproducing position on the optical disk 4 are also performed.

On the other hand, the host computer 3 has a CPU,
This is a device such as a personal computer incorporating a microcomputer including a ROM, a RAM and the like, and is connected to the optical disk drive 1 through the interface 2.

The interface 2 connects the host computer 3 and the optical disk drive 1 as a peripheral device, and is, for example, SCSI, ATAPI, IEEE13.
94 are well known.

The interfaces communicate with each other using a protocol defined by the interface specifications, and when the host computer 3 and the optical disk drive 1 issue commands to each other, the respective devices perform predetermined operations. .

Next, an alternative area on the optical disk 4 in the optical disk drive 1 will be described. The optical disc 4 has an alternative area (replacement area) and a defect management area in addition to an area for recording actual data.

The replacement area is an area allocated to replace a defective area on the area where actual data is recorded. The defect management area is an area for storing the defect replacement information, and is an area for storing a defect list that associates the location (position) of the area where the defect has occurred with the location (position) of the area that has replaced the area.

For example, if the addresses of the defective area and the substitute area assigned to the defective area are stored in the defect list, the address of the substitute area is obtained by referring to the defect list when the defective area is accessed. Data can be recorded and reproduced with respect to the alternative area.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a format example of a recording area of the optical disk 4. The recording area of the optical disc 4 is
It comprises a data zone 30, a lead-in area 31, and a lead-out area 32.

The actual data is recorded on the data zone 30, and the replacement area and the defect management area are areas other than the data zone 30, that is, the lead-in area 31 and the actual data recording area existing on the inner peripheral side of the data zone 30. There is a case where it is recorded in the lead-out area 32 existing on the outer peripheral side, or a case where it is recorded in the data zone 30.

Next, the function and operation processing of the optical disk drive 1 according to claim 1 of the present invention will be described.
In this case, the CPU 10 or the like performs recording / reproducing means for optically recording and reproducing information on a recording area of the recording medium, a defective area detecting means for detecting a defective area of the recording area of the recording medium, Means for securing a replacement area of the same size as the defective area detected by the means from the free area of the recording area; and replacing the replacement area and the defect replacement information of the position and size of the defective area with the replacement area. It functions as a defect replacement information recording means for recording on a recording medium.

First, the initialization process of the optical disk 4 in the optical disk drive 1 will be described. In order to use the optical disc 4, an initialization process is required. In the initialization process, a defect area on the optical disk 4 where recording cannot be performed is detected at an initial stage, and a process of generating a defect list for prohibiting use of the defect area is performed. Therefore, naturally, an unused optical disk is to be processed.

In this initialization process, first, the optical disk 4
Is performed to detect an initial defective area from the recording area. Here, even if a defective area is detected, the alternative area is not set in a remote area.

For example, the lead-in area 3 shown in FIG.
When a replacement area for replacing a defective area is set in the readout area 1 or the lead-out area 32, the sequence at the time of reproduction is to reproduce the data in the substitution area after reproducing to the address of the defective area and then reproducing the data in the substitution area. The operation returns to the address of the defective area, and the access time increases. Therefore, the CPU 10 of the optical disc drive 1
In the initialization process for the optical disk 4, the recording area is initialized without skipping the defective area and creating an alternative area.

For example, as shown in FIG.
When a defective area 40 having a size of m is detected in the recording area of, the data recording area is secured by skipping the size: m. In the example shown in FIG. 3, the defective area 40 is an area from the address: n to the size: m of the recording area. Then, the address of the defective area 40: n and the defective area 40
Is recorded and registered in the defect list in the defect management area.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the format of a defect list at the time of initialization processing. The address (defect address): n and the size (defect area size) of the defect area 40 are as follows:
m and register them.

Next, by performing the initialization processing while skipping the defective area, as a result, the physical address on the optical disk 4 is different from the logical address from which the defective area has been excluded by the initialization. .

For example, in the example shown in FIG.
The address immediately after 0 is a physical address: n + m,
For a logical address: n. Therefore, when initialization for skipping a defective area is performed, conversion processing between a physical address and a logical address is performed.

The skip size of the defective area can be set arbitrarily. For example, to simplify the address conversion work, it is better to set the skip size to a certain unit. If it is not desired to reduce the recording capacity of the optical disk 4, the skip size is preferably set to the size m in the example shown in FIG.

Next, a description will be given of a process performed when a defective area occurs other than the initialization. The optical disc 4 capable of recording a plurality of times has a limitation on the number of rewrites, and has a property that the recording characteristics slightly deteriorate each time recording is performed. For this reason, the recording characteristics are deteriorated in the area where the recording has been performed many times, and there is a possibility that the recording may not be performed finally, that is, may become a defective area.

As described above, when an area in which the optical disc 4 is used is determined to be a defective area, the area is invalidated and an alternative area having the same size as the defective area is secured.

For example, as shown in FIG. 5A, when the defect area 41 has a size of m, there is a substitute area in the lead-in area as shown in FIG. : If the area up to k has already been used as another alternative area, the address excluding the used area: k and the defective area 4
Address of k: (k + m) based on size of 1: m
As the current alternative area 42.

In this case, the defect list differs from the defect list in the initialization, and requires an address of an alternative area.

Therefore, when the alternative area allocation processing as shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B is performed, FIG.
The address of the defective area 41 (defect area address): n, the address of the alternative area 42 (alternate area address): k, and the size of the defective area (defect area size): m are associated with each other in the format shown in FIG. Register in the defect list as information.

In this way, the correspondence between the defective area and the alternative area is recorded on the defect list, and the replacement of the defective area with the alternative area becomes possible.

The size of the defect area can be freely set. For example, as shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B, the replacement area can be saved by replacing only the size of the defective area. To facilitate the address conversion from the defective area to the replacement area, the size of the replacement area may be set in a fixed size unit.

Further, enabling the size of the defective area to be freely set is effective even when the defective area is large. In other words, if a defect list is created in units of one sector as in the prior art, it is necessary to associate defective areas with alternative areas by the number of defective sectors. However, the defect list in the format shown in FIGS. According to this, since the size of the defect area is also described, only one association is required, and the size itself of the defect list can be reduced.

Therefore, if the size of the defect list is reduced, the storage capacity required for the defect list is reduced and the capacity for recording user data can be increased, and the time required for searching the defect list can be shortened. A decrease in speed can be prevented.

Next, an operation process during recording in the optical disk drive 1 will be described with reference to a flowchart shown in FIG. In the drawings, steps indicating each processing step are abbreviated as “S”.

First, the host computer 3 prepares data to be recorded on the optical disk 4 (S1). next,
The host computer 3 transmits a data recording request command to the optical disk drive 1 through the interface 2 (S2).

The recording request command is, for example, SCS
In the I interface, a “WRITE command” corresponds. This write command includes a “recording start address” and a “recording size” as information.

When the CPU 10 of the optical disk drive 1 receives the recording request command from the host computer 3 (S11), it acquires a defect list recorded on the optical disk 4 (S12). The above defect list is on the optical disk 4.
In the upper defect management area, the data of the defect list is read out and stored in the memory 11 on the optical disk drive 1.

Next, the CPU 10 of the optical disk drive 1
Attempts to receive data from the host computer 3. The buffer manager 13 controls the signal of the interface 2 to request the host computer 3 for data of a required size while monitoring the amount of data stored in the buffer memory 14 and receives the data (S1).
3). The host computer 3 includes an optical disk drive 1
The data is sequentially transmitted to the optical disk drive 1 through the interface 2 in accordance with the control signal from the controller (S3).

The buffer manager 13 sequentially stores the data received from the host computer 3 in the buffer memory 14.
Store it on top. When the amount of data in the buffer memory 14 is small, the data transfer request to the host computer 3 is continued.

On the other hand, when the amount of data in the buffer memory 14 increases and data overflows at the next reception,
The data transfer request to the host computer 3 is temporarily suspended, and the request is stopped until the buffer memory 14 becomes available. The above processing is repeated to receive all data.

The data received in the above processing is sent to the encoder / decoder 15 through the buffer manager 13 and
Recording is performed sequentially from the recording start address specified by the command.

At this time, referring to the defect list loaded on the memory 11, it is determined whether or not there is a defective area in the recording address based on whether or not the recording address is the defect address (S14).

Recording address = defective address (S1
4) If a defective area due to initialization exists in the recording address (S17), the defective area is skipped and recording is performed for a logical address (S18).

If the recording address = defective address (S14), and a defective area generated by means other than initialization exists in the recording address (S17), the defective area is replaced with the address of the substitute area. Record.

Therefore, if a recording request to the defective area address occurs during the recording, the address of the replacement area is obtained based on the defect list (S19), the seek is performed up to the address position, and the recording to the replacement area is started. (S20).
Then, after recording in the replacement area by the size registered in the defect list, the recording is continued by seeking to the original address.

For example, in the case where the replacement process described with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6 has been performed, after recording to the address: n, seek to the replacement area of the address: k is started, and recording to the replacement area is started. Then, from address: k to address: k +
After the recording up to m, the seek is continued to the address: n + m and the recording is continued.

In the case where the size of the substitute area is small and the recording data can be stored in the free area of the memory 11, the recording of the substitution area may not be actually performed only by storing the recording data in the memory 11. it can. In such a case, the data remaining in the memory 11 is recorded in the alternative area when the recording in all areas other than the alternative area is completed.

For example, in the case where the alternative processing described with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6 has been performed, data to be recorded from the address: n to the address: n + m are recorded in the memory 11 after the recording to the address: n. Save to area, address: n +
Resume recording from m.

Then, when the recording other than the replacement area is completed, seek is performed to the address: k, and the data stored in the memory 11 is recorded from the address: k to the address: k + m on the optical disk 4. By such processing, seeking during recording can be avoided, and a reduction in access time can be prevented.

When a defective area is detected at the time of recording, a replacement process is performed to update the defect list on the memory 11. Then, the data reception ends (S15), and after all recording of the recording data ends, the defect list updated on the memory 11 is recorded in the defect management area of the optical disc 4 (S16).

Next, an operation process during reproduction in the optical disk drive 1 will be described with reference to a flowchart shown in FIG. The host computer 3 transmits a data reproduction request command to the optical disk drive 1 through the interface 2 (S31).

The reproduction request command is, for example, SCS
"Read (READ) command" for I interface
Is equivalent. This read command includes “recording start address” and “recording size” as information.

When receiving the reproduction request command from the host computer 3 (S41), the CPU 10 of the optical disk drive 1 acquires a defect list recorded on the optical disk 4 (S42). The above defect list is on the optical disk 4.
In the upper defect management area, the data of the defect list is read out and stored in the memory 11 on the optical disk drive 1.

Next, the CPU 10 of the optical disk drive 1
Interprets the playback request command sent from the host computer 3 and calculates a "play address" and its "size".

At this time, by referring to the defect list loaded on the memory 11, it is determined whether or not a defective area exists in the reproduction address based on whether or not the recording address is the defective address (S44).

Recording address = defective address (S4
4) If a defective area due to initialization exists in the recording address (S47), the defective area is skipped and reproduction is performed for a logical address.

If the recording address = defective address (S44) and there is a defective area generated by means other than the initialization in the recording address (S47), the address of the replacement area replacing the defective area is set. Reproduce.

Therefore, when a reproduction request from the defective area address is generated during reproduction, the address of the substitute area is obtained based on the defect list (S49), seek is performed to the address position, and reproduction from the substitute area is started. (S5
0). Then, after reproducing from the substitute area by the size registered in the defect list, the reproduction is continued by seeking to the original address.

For example, in the case where the substitution processing as described with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6 has been performed, after reproducing to the address: n, seek to the substitution area of the address: k and reproduction from the substitution area are started. Then, from address: k to address: k
After the reproduction up to + m, the reproduction is continued by seeking to the address: n + m.

When a defective area is detected during reproduction, a replacement process is performed to update the defect list on the memory 11. Then, the data transmission is completed (S45), and after all the data reproduction is completed, the defect list updated on the memory 11 is recorded in the defect management area of the optical disk 4 (S46).

In this way, by variably setting the size of the area where the defective part is to be replaced, the replacement process can be performed efficiently, and a decrease in the recording capacity on the optical disk can be reduced.

Further, by reducing the capacity of the defect list for indicating the correspondence between the defect area and the replacement area, it is possible to reduce the storage capacity required for the defect list and to prevent a reduction in access speed.

Next, the function and operation processing of the optical disk drive 1 according to claim 2 of the present invention will be described.
In this case, the CPU 10 or the like includes a recording / reproducing unit that optically records and reproduces information on a recording area of the recording medium, an alternative area size specifying unit that specifies a size of the alternative area, and a recording area of the recording medium. A defective area detecting means for detecting a defective area of the area; and a replacement area for the defective area detected by the defective area detecting means based on the size of the replacement area specified by the replacement area size specifying means. The function of the replacement area securing means for securing from the area and the function of the defect replacement information recording means for recording the location of the replacement area and the defect area and the defect replacement information of the size on the recording medium.

Next, the recording / reproducing processing according to the second aspect of the present invention in the optical disk drive 1 will be described. The operation processing by the function according to claim 2 of the present invention in the optical disk drive 1 is basically the same as the operation processing of the function according to claim 1 of the present invention.

First, when a command is transmitted from the host computer 3 during recording or reproduction, the size of the substitute area is also transmitted. This notifies the optical disk drive 1 of the size specified by the user with the application for activating the optical disk 4 on the host computer 3 via the protocol of the interface 2. Thus, the user can arbitrarily specify the size of the alternative area via the host computer 3.

When the CPU 10 of the optical disk drive 1 receives the designation of the substitute area size from the host computer 3, it determines the substitute area size based on the designated size value.

When a certain area of the optical disc 4 is determined to be a defective area, the determined substitute area size including the defective area is invalidated, a substitute area of the substitute area size is secured, and the defective area is determined. The address, the address of the replacement area, and the designated size are registered in the defect list.

For example, as shown in FIG. 9A, when the size of the defective area 43 is m,
The area of the size of the substitute area including M: M is regarded as an invalid area, and the substitute area 44 of the size: M is secured in the lead-in area as shown in FIG. 9B.

That is, as shown in FIG. 9B, when the address up to the address K is already used as another alternative area, the addresses excluding the used area: K to (K
+ M) is secured as the current alternative area 44.

Therefore, when the alternative area allocation processing as shown in FIGS. 9A and 9B is performed,
0, the address of the defective area 43 (defect area address): N, the address of the alternative area 44 (alternate area address): K, and the size of the previously specified defective area (defect area size): M The corresponding information is registered in the defect list as defect replacement information.

Then, the actual recording of the optical disk drive 1 is performed at the address of the reserved alternate area 44: K to (K + M).
Do for

If the size of the defective area is larger than the designated replacement area size, a multiple of the replacement area size is assigned to the replacement area. In this manner, the user can freely set the size of the alternative area via the host computer 3 so as to set the size of the alternative area small if the recording capacity is prioritized, and to set the size of the alternative area large if the access speed is prioritized. Can be specified.

Further, the CPU 1 of the optical disc drive 1
0 indicates that the size is dynamically determined by the firmware of the memory 11 of the optical disk drive 1 when the host computer 3 issues a command to specify the alternative area size by the user.

In this way, the user can freely set the size of the area to be replaced, so that the user can freely select whether to give priority to the recording capacity or the access speed.

Next, the function and operation processing of the optical disk drive 1 according to the third aspect of the present invention will be described.
In this case, the CPU 10 or the like functions as a defect replacement information reading unit that reads the defect replacement information recorded on the recording medium.

Next, the processing according to claim 3 of the present invention in the optical disk drive 1 will be described. Except for the operation processing by the function according to claim 3 of the present invention in the optical disk drive 1, the operation processing is the same as the operation processing of the function according to claim 1 or 2 of the present invention.

First, in the defect management area on the optical disc 4,
The setting of an alternative area size for replacing a defective portion (defective area) in the recording area is recorded in advance. The CPU 10 of the optical disk drive 1 reads an alternative area size on the optical disk 4 at the start of the operation.

When a certain area is determined to be a defective area, the replacement area size including the defective area is invalidated, the replacement area of the replacement area size is secured, and the address of the replacement area and the replacement area are replaced. The address and the designated replacement area size are registered in the defect list.

For example, in the case of the allocation of the replacement area described with reference to FIGS. 9 and 10, as shown in FIG. 9B, the actual recording is performed on the replacement area of the secured address: K to (K + M). An alternative process is performed on the 44. If the defective area is larger than the designated substitute area size, a multiple of the substitute area size is used as the substitute area.

The CPU 1 of the optical disk drive 1
0 sets a substitute area size suitable for the characteristics of the optical disc 4 and records the set substitute area size in the defect management area on the optical disc 4.

By recording the set value of the replacement area size for replacing the defective part on the optical disk in this way, the replacement area size according to the characteristics of the optical disk can be set without depending on the optical disk drive. Can be.

Next, the function and operation processing of the optical disk drive 1 according to the fourth aspect of the present invention will be described.
In this case, the CPU 10, the encoder / decoder 15
Perform the function of detecting a defective area in the recording area based on the number of error corrections during information reproduction.

Next, a process of detecting a defective area in the optical disk drive 1 according to the present invention will be described. Except for the operation processing of the defective area detection by the function according to claim 4 of the present invention in the optical disk drive 1, the operation processing of the function according to claim 1 or 2 of the present invention is basically the same as the operation processing.

In the optical disc drive 1, data is recorded by the encoder / decoder 15 in FIG.
The user data is encoded according to the processing flow shown in FIG. First, as shown in FIG.
It is divided into blocks (2 KB data) for each B.

Then, as shown in (b) of the figure, sector information 50 such as an address and an error detection code 51 are added to each of the 2 KB data, and fixed as shown in (c) of the figure. Scrambling to prevent data continuity.

Thereafter, as shown in (d) of the figure, each 2 KB data is grouped into a large block by combining a plurality of blocks, for example, 16 blocks, and error correction codes (error correction codes) 52 called PI and PO are provided. And, as shown in (e) of FIG.
As shown in (f) of FIG.
, And converted into a recording data sequence to be recorded on the optical disc 4 by 8-16 modulation.

By such a conversion, a data string to which an error correction code is added is recorded on the optical disk 4.

On the other hand, at the time of reproduction, a reproduction signal read from the optical disk 4 is sent to the encoder / decoder 15. The decoder of the encoder / decoder 15 performs the reverse process of the encoder and corrects the error of the actual data with the added error correction code.

Here, if there is no error in the actual data, it is output as it is, and if there is an error, it is output after error correction.
The encoder / decoder 15 counts the number of error corrections. If the frequency of error correction and the number of error corrections are large, the corresponding area is detected as an area close to a defective area.

As described above, since an area where error correction frequently occurs is likely to become a defective area soon, an area having a high error correction rate is detected as a defective area, and data is stored in advance in an alternative area. By doing so, the reliability of data can be improved.

Next, the function and operation processing of the optical disk drive 1 according to claim 5 of the present invention will be described.
In this case, the CPU 10, the encoder / decoder 15
Perform a function of detecting a location where an error has occurred by applying a track offset when reproducing information in a recording area as a defective area.

Next, a description will be given of a process of detecting a defective area in the optical disk drive 1 according to claim 5 of the present invention. The operation of the optical disk drive 1 is the same as that of the function according to the first or second aspect of the present invention, except for the operation processing for detecting a defective area by the function according to the fifth aspect of the present invention.

In the optical disk drive 1, the servo control section 17 controls the movement of the PU unit 19 so that the laser beam irradiation of the LD is moved to the recording / reproducing position on the optical disk 4. Here, when a track offset is generated so as to forcibly cause a track shift during the control, reproduction is performed in a deteriorated area that may immediately become a defective area as compared with a case where no track offset is generated. Sometimes an error is likely to occur.

Therefore, a small track offset is applied by the servo controller 17 when reproducing the data area. Then, an error also occurs in an area on the optical disc 4 where no normal error occurs. However, since this area has already deteriorated in recording characteristics and is likely to become a defective area soon, Detect as an area.

In this way, the area in which an error has occurred by applying a track offset is detected as a defective area, and the data in that area is stored in an alternative area, thereby improving the reliability of the data.

Next, the function and operation processing of the optical disk drive 1 according to claim 6 of the present invention will be described.
In this case, the CPU 10, the encoder / decoder 15
And the like perform a function of detecting a location where an error has occurred by applying a focus offset when reproducing information in a recording area as a defective area.

Next, a process of detecting a defective area in the optical disk drive 1 according to the sixth aspect of the present invention will be described. The operation of the optical disk drive 1 is the same as that of the function according to claim 1 or 2 of the present invention, except for the operation processing for detecting a defective area by the function according to claim 6 of the present invention.

In the above-described processing, a track shift is caused during the movement control of the PU unit 19. However, even if a focus offset is generated so as to forcibly cause a focus shift, there is a possibility that a defect area will be immediately formed. In a deteriorated area, an error is more likely to occur during reproduction as compared to a case where no focus offset occurs.

Accordingly, a small focus offset is applied by the servo control unit 17 of the optical disk drive 1 when reproducing the data area. Then, an error also occurs in an area on the optical disc 4 where no normal error occurs. However, this area has already deteriorated in recording characteristics and is likely to become a defective area soon. To detect.

As described above, if an area in which an error has occurred by applying a focus offset is detected as a defective area, and data in that area is stored in an alternative area, the reliability of the data is improved.

[0126]

As described above, according to the optical information recording / reproducing apparatus of the present invention, the recording capacity on the recording medium is improved by efficiently allocating the substitute area to the defective area of the recording medium. By reducing the capacity of the allocated position information, it is possible to prevent a decrease in access speed at the time of substitution processing.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an optical disk drive which is an embodiment of an optical information recording / reproducing device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a format example of a recording area of an optical disc 4 shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining a skip process of a defective area at the time of initialization in the optical disc drive 1 shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a format example of a defect list in which a defect area at the time of initialization described with reference to FIG. 3 is registered.

FIG. 5 is a diagram provided for describing an alternative area allocation process for a defective area other than initialization in the optical disk drive 1 shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a format example of a defect list in which a defect area other than the initialization described with reference to FIG. 5 is registered.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an operation process at the time of recording according to claim 1 of the present invention in the optical disc drive 1 shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing an operation process at the time of reproduction according to claim 1 of the present invention in the optical disk drive 1 shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 9 is a diagram provided to explain an alternative area assignment process of a defective area according to the second and third aspects of the present invention in the optical disc drive 1 shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a format example of a defect list in which the defect area and the replacement area described with reference to FIG. 9 are registered.

FIG. 11 is a diagram provided to explain an encoding process of user data according to claim 4 of the present invention in the optical disc drive 1 shown in FIG. 1;

[Explanation of symbols]

 1: optical disk drive 2: interface 3: host computer 4: optical disk 10: CPU 11: memory 12: host interface (I / F) 13: buffer manager 14: buffer memory 15: encoder / decoder 16: signal processing unit 17 : Servo control unit 18: Disk drive unit 19: Pickup (PU) unit 30: Data zone 31: Lead-in area 32: Lead-out area 40, 41, 43: Defect area 42, 44: Substitute area 50: Sector information 51: Error detection code 52: Error correction code 53: Sector synchronization signal

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. An optical information recording / reproducing apparatus comprising recording / reproducing means for optically recording / reproducing information on / from a recording area of a recording medium, wherein a defect detecting a defective area of the recording area of the recording medium is provided. Area detection means; replacement area securing means for securing a replacement area of the same size as the defect area detected by the means from the free area of the recording area; position and size of the replacement area and the defect area An optical information recording / reproducing apparatus, comprising: defect replacement information recording means for recording the defect replacement information in the recording medium. 2. An optical information recording / reproducing apparatus comprising recording / reproducing means for optically recording / reproducing information on / from a recording area of a recording medium, comprising: an alternative area size designating means for designating a size of an alternative area; A defective area detecting means for detecting a defective area in a recording area of the recording medium; and a replacement area for the defective area detected by the defective area detecting means based on a size of the replacement area specified by the replacement area size specifying means. A replacement area securing unit that secures the replacement area from the free area of the recording area, and a defect replacement information recording unit that records defect replacement information of the position and the size of the replacement area and the defect area on the recording medium. Characteristic optical information recording / reproducing device. 3. The optical information recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a defect replacement information reading unit that reads defect replacement information recorded on the recording medium. apparatus. 4. The optical information recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said defective area detecting means detects a defective area in said recording area based on the number of error corrections during information reproduction. . 5. The optical device according to claim 1, wherein said defective area detecting means detects a location where an error has occurred by applying a track offset during information reproduction of said recording area as a defective area. Information recording and playback device. 6. The optical device according to claim 1, wherein the defective area detecting means detects a location where an error has occurred by applying a focus offset during information reproduction of the recording area as a defective area. Information recording and playback device.