JP2005085445A - Information recording medium, information recording and reproducing apparatus and information recording and reproducing method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To surely prevent intrusion of an optical pickup into a signal free area by specifying the address of a boundary at which attributes of recording areas are switched in an information recording medium in which information addresses are managed in address units constituted of a plurality of sectors. <P>SOLUTION: An optical disk such as a Blu-ray-Disk for high density recording can be used for the information recording medium. Information (zone type information) showing attributes of recording regions such as a data zone and a read-out area cannot be stored into the Blu-ray-Disk in address management units since management of physical addresses is performed in a unit (AUN) larger than the data sector in the Blu-ray-Disk, therefore, the address of the boundary at which the attributes of the recording areas are switched cannot be accurately specified. Consequently, a switching flag showing which area the boundary belongs to is recorded in the AUN. The address of the boundary of the recording areas on an optical disk can be accurately specified in an information recording and reproducing apparatus by using the switching flag. Thereby, the optical pickup can be controlled so as not to charge into the signal free area and the like. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an information recording / reproducing apparatus including a technique for specifying a boundary between recording areas of an information recording medium including a plurality of recording areas.

  Information recording media such as optical disks such as DVD-ROM (DVD-Read Only Memory), DVD-R (DVD-Recordable) and DVD-RW (DVD-Re-recordable), and information on these information recording media An information recording / reproducing apparatus capable of recording and reproducing the recorded information is known. In such an information recording medium, pits are formed in advance in a recording area used for recording information, but there are no pits in a non-signal area (mirror part) outside the lead-out area. For this reason, when an optical pickup for reading information enters the no-signal area, a tracking signal cannot be obtained, so that spindle control becomes impossible. In the worst case, the optical pickup may run away to the outer periphery, causing the information recording / reproducing apparatus to fail.

  Therefore, it is necessary to control the optical pickup or the like so as not to move to a position exceeding the lead-out area. Basically, if the information recording / reproducing apparatus can identify that the optical pickup is in the position of the lead-out area, the process of pulling the optical pickup back to the inner peripheral side can be performed. In general, information indicating the last address of the data zone is recorded in advance in the lead-in area, and the information recording / reproducing apparatus controls the optical pickup by acquiring the information (referred to as “ Called “first method”). Specifically, the information recording / reproducing apparatus compares the address information of the data sector currently being read (also simply referred to as “sector”) with the information indicating the last address of the acquired data zone each time. Has been identified as being in the lead-out area.

  In addition, information indicating the type of recording area for each data sector (hereinafter referred to as “zone type information”) is recorded on a recording medium, and the information is read by reading the information every time. There is a method of grasping the position where the pickup is present (referred to as “second method”). In the first method described above, the address information always changes, but in the second method using the zone type information, the zone type information does not change, so the information reading probability is high. Therefore, in the second method using the zone type information, the optical pickup can be accurately controlled so as not to reach the no-signal area.

  Recently, an information recording / reproducing apparatus and an information recording medium (also referred to as “Blu-ray disc”) using a blue laser have been developed in order to record information at a higher density and a larger capacity. Zone type information can be added in units of data sectors to recording media such as DVD-ROMs and DVD-Rs using a red laser, but in Blu-ray discs such as BD-RWs and BD-ROMs, this is the case for data sectors. There is no area for storing various information. This is because in the Blu-ray disc, the management of physical addresses is performed in units larger than the above data sectors. Therefore, when this zone type information is introduced into a Blu-ray disc, the position control of the optical pickup cannot be performed correctly in units of data sectors by the second method described above. Therefore, when the information indicating the last address of the data zone in the lead-in area cannot be acquired by the first method described above, the optical pickup may enter the no-signal area.

  The invention according to claim 1 is an information recording medium in which address management of recorded information is performed in an address unit composed of a plurality of sectors, and for each sector, the sector is the information recording medium. A switching flag indicating whether zone type information indicating which of the plurality of upper areas belongs is recorded, and whether or not the boundary of the plurality of areas is included in the address unit for each address unit Is recorded.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information recording apparatus for recording information on an information recording medium in which address management of recorded information is performed in an address unit composed of a plurality of sectors, wherein the information recording medium Is recorded for each sector, zone type information indicating which of the plurality of areas on the information recording medium the sector belongs to, and for each address unit, the plurality of addresses in the address unit. A switching flag indicating whether or not the boundary of the area is included is recorded, and the information recording apparatus includes a zone type information acquisition unit that acquires the zone type information, and a switching flag acquisition unit that acquires the switching flag. And boundary specifying means for specifying boundaries of the plurality of recording areas based on the zone type information and the switching flag information. To.

  The invention according to claim 6 is an information reproducing apparatus for reproducing information recorded on an information recording medium in which address management of recorded information is performed in an address unit composed of a plurality of sectors, In the information recording medium, for each sector, zone type information indicating which of the plurality of areas on the information recording medium belongs is recorded, and for each address unit, in the address unit Is recorded with a switching flag indicating whether or not boundaries of the plurality of areas are included, and the information reproducing apparatus is configured to acquire zone type information, zone type information acquisition means, and switching to acquire the switching flag. Flag acquisition means; and boundary specifying means for specifying boundaries of the plurality of recording areas based on the zone type information and the switching flag information. It is characterized in.

  The invention according to claim 8 is an information recording method for recording information on an information recording medium in which address management of recorded information is performed in an address unit composed of a plurality of sectors, and the information recording medium Is recorded for each sector, zone type information indicating which of the plurality of areas on the information recording medium the sector belongs to, and for each address unit, the plurality of addresses in the address unit. A switching flag indicating whether or not the boundary of the area is included is recorded, and the information recording method includes a zone type information acquisition step for acquiring the zone type information, and a switching flag acquisition step for acquiring the switching flag. And a boundary specifying step for specifying boundaries of the plurality of recording areas based on the zone type information and the switching flag information. To.

  The invention according to claim 9 is an information reproducing method for reproducing information recorded on an information recording medium in which address management of recorded information is performed in an address unit composed of a plurality of sectors, In the information recording medium, for each sector, zone type information indicating which of the plurality of areas on the information recording medium belongs is recorded, and for each address unit, in the address unit Is recorded with a switching flag indicating whether or not boundaries of the plurality of regions are included, and the information reproducing method includes a zone type information acquisition step for acquiring the zone type information, and a switching for acquiring the switching flag. A flag acquisition step, and a boundary specifying step for specifying boundaries of the plurality of recording areas based on the zone type information and the switching flag information. It is characterized in.

  According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information processing program executed by an information recording apparatus for recording information on an information recording medium in which address management of recorded information is performed in units of addresses composed of a plurality of sectors. In the information recording medium, for each sector, zone type information indicating which of the plurality of areas on the information recording medium belongs is recorded, and for each address unit. A switching flag indicating whether or not boundaries of the plurality of areas are included in the address unit is recorded, and the information processing program uses the information recording device to obtain the zone type information. Acquisition means, switching flag acquisition means for acquiring the switching flag, and based on the zone type information and the switching flag information. It characterized in that to function as a boundary identification means for identifying the boundaries of the recording area of the.

  The invention according to claim 11 is executed by an information reproducing apparatus for reproducing information recorded on an information recording medium in which address management of recorded information is performed in an address unit composed of a plurality of sectors. An information processing program, wherein the information recording medium records, for each sector, zone type information indicating which of the plurality of areas on the information recording medium the sector belongs to, and the address For each unit, a switching flag indicating whether or not boundaries of the plurality of areas are included in the address unit is recorded, and the information processing program acquires the zone type information from the information reproducing apparatus. Zone type information acquisition means, switching flag acquisition means for acquiring the switching flag, based on the zone type information and the switching flag information , Characterized in that to function as a boundary identification means for identifying the boundaries of the plurality of recording areas.

  In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the information recording medium is an information recording medium in which address management of recorded information is performed in an address unit composed of a plurality of sectors. Zone type information indicating which of a plurality of areas on the information recording medium belongs to, and each address unit includes a boundary between the plurality of areas in the address unit. A switching flag indicating that is recorded.

  The information recording medium can be an optical disc, and in particular, a Blu-ray disc capable of high-density recording such as BD-RW and BD-ROM is preferable. The information recording medium includes a recording area for recording information such as a lead-in area, a data zone, and a lead-out area, and a non-signal area outside the lead-out area. In such an information recording medium, pits are formed in advance in the recording area, but there are no pits in the non-signal area (mirror part) outside the lead-out area, so the optical pickup is in this non-signal area. When entering, spindle control becomes impossible because a signal for tracking cannot be obtained. In order to prevent such a situation from occurring, information indicating the attribute of the recording area (that is, “zone type information”) is recorded on a recording medium for each data sector, and the information is read each time the optical pickup is read. A method is employed in which the position where the signal exists is accurately controlled so as not to reach the no-signal area. Here, in the Blu-ray disc, the management of the physical address related to the recording information is performed in units of AUN (Address Unit Number) larger than the data sector. When the above zone type information is introduced into a Blu-ray disc, there is no area for storing such information in units of data sectors, so that the boundaries of the recording areas cannot be accurately recognized in units of data sectors. This may cause the optical pickup to enter the no-signal area when recording or reproducing the Blu-ray disc. Therefore, in the embodiment of the present invention, a switching flag is recorded in the AUN in addition to the zone type information. This switching flag is information indicating whether or not zone type information is being switched in the middle of an AUN composed of a plurality of data sectors. That is, by referring to this switching flag, for example, the address of the boundary between the data zone and the lead-out area can be specified. As described above, for example, after obtaining the address of the last sector of the data zone, the information processing apparatus can control the optical pickup not to move to the subsequent area.

  In one preferred embodiment, the address unit may consist of two sectors. In general, a data sector is in 2 Kbyte units, but in this case, AUN is twice that in 4 Kbyte units.

  In another preferred embodiment, the zone type information may be 2-bit data, and the switching flag may be 1-bit data. For example, if one arbitrarily selected sector exists in the lead-in area, “01” is recorded as zone type information, and if it exists in the data zone, information “00” is recorded and exists in the lead-out area. Then, information “10” is recorded. Further, “1” is recorded in the AUN when the zone type information is switched in the middle, and “0” is recorded in the AUN when the zone type information is not switched in the middle.

  Furthermore, in a preferred embodiment of the present invention, there is provided an information recording medium in which address management of recorded information is performed in an address unit composed of a plurality of sectors, and for each sector, the sector is the information recording medium. Zone type information indicating which of a plurality of areas on a recording medium belongs is recorded, and for each address unit, indicates whether the boundary of the plurality of areas is included in the address unit An information processing apparatus for recording information on an information recording medium in which a switching flag is recorded or reproducing the information recording medium, the zone type information acquiring means for acquiring the zone type information, and the switching flag Boundary specifying means for specifying boundaries of the plurality of recording areas based on the switching flag acquisition means and the zone type information and the switching flag information And, it can be provided with.

  The information processing apparatus has a function of reproducing recorded information recorded on an information recording medium such as a BD-RW or a BD-ROM, and a function of recording information. The information processing apparatus according to the present embodiment can perform recording or reproduction processing on a recordable Blu-ray disc (BD-RW) as described above, and is a read-only Blu-ray disc (for which a standard is currently being developed) (BD-ROM) can be reproduced. Specifically, zone type information acquisition means for acquiring zone type information indicating the attribute of the recording area to which the data sector of the recording medium belongs, and a switching flag indicating whether the boundary of the recording area exists in the AUN Switching flag acquisition means. And based on the information acquired by these, it has a boundary specification means which specifies the boundary of the recording area of the said information recording medium. Thus, the information processing apparatus can control the optical pickup so as not to enter the no-signal area or the like.

  In a preferred embodiment, the boundary specifying means includes means for detecting an address unit including a change point at which the zone type information changes from a data zone to a lead-out zone, and an address unit switching flag including the change point includes the change flag. When indicating that the boundary is included, it is determined that the end of the data zone exists within the address unit. When the switching flag of the address unit including the change point indicates that the boundary is not included, immediately before the address unit. Determining means for determining that the end of the data zone exists.

  As an example of the processing related to the boundary specifying means, the data zone is switched to the lead-out area before and after the AUN, and further, when the AUN switching flag located later is examined, it indicates that the switching is performed. If it is “1”, it can be specified that the first data sector in the AUN located after this is the end of the data zone. On the other hand, if the data zone has been switched from the data zone to the lead-out area before and after the AUN, and if the switching flag of the AUN located later is examined, it is “0” indicating that the switching has not been performed, so that it is located before It can be identified that the last data sector in the AUN is the tail of the data zone.

  Further, according to the same aspect of the present invention, it is possible to provide an information processing method capable of specifying the boundary of the recording area of the information recording medium by the same method as the information processing apparatus. Further, an information processing program that causes the information processing apparatus to function as described above can be provided by being executed in the information processing apparatus.

  Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

[Information recording medium]
First, an information recording medium according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 1 shows a schematic structure of an optical disc 100 which is an information recording medium according to the present embodiment. In FIG. 1, the left side is the inner circumference side of the optical disc 100, and the right side is the outer circumference side. Examples of the optical disc 100 include a BD-RW disc and a BD-ROM disc.

  As shown in FIG. 1, on the recording surface of the optical disc 100, a lead-in area 101 exists on the inner circumference side, a data zone 102 exists on the outer circumference side of the lead-in area 101, and the outer circumference side of the data zone 102. The lead-out area 103 exists. Further, a no-signal area 104 exists on the outer peripheral side of the lead-out area 103.

  In the lead-in area 101 and the lead-out area 103, general disc management information for the information recorded on the optical disc 100 is recorded. On the other hand, in the data zone 102, data mainly to be reproduced or executed, such as image data, audio data, content data, and computer programs, and management information of these recorded files are recorded.

  In these lead-in area 101, data zone 102, and lead-out area 103, pits are formed in advance for recording information on the optical disc 100. On the other hand, no pits are formed in the no-signal area 104 and no signal is present. For this reason, when an optical pickup for reading information enters the no-signal area 104, a tracking signal cannot be obtained, so that spindle control becomes impossible.

  The optical disc 100 according to the present embodiment is provided with a measure for accurately controlling an optical pickup included in an information recording / reproducing apparatus capable of reproducing recorded information so as not to enter the no-signal area 104. Basically, if the information recording / reproducing apparatus can identify that the optical pickup is at the position of the lead-out area 103, the process of returning the optical pickup to the inner periphery side can be performed. Therefore, in the present embodiment, information indicating the attribute of the recording area for each data sector (that is, zone type information) is recorded on the optical disc 100, and the position where the optical pickup is present is grasped by reading the information every time. The method is adopted. This method using zone type information has an advantage that the information read probability is high because the zone type information does not change.

  The zone type information will be specifically described. As shown in FIG. 1, zone type information for the attribute of the recording area is determined in advance, and 2-bit zone type information is recorded in each data sector of the information existing in the recording area. For example, if the recording information recorded on the optical disc 100 exists in the lead-in area 101, the zone type information “01” is recorded, and if it exists in the data zone 102, the zone type information “00” is recorded. If it is recorded and exists in the lead-out area 103, zone type information of “10” is recorded. Since this zone type information is recorded for each data sector, the information recording / reproducing apparatus can check the zone type information every time the recorded information is read and recognize the area where the optical pickup is present. The optical pickup can be controlled so as not to reach the no-signal area 104.

  Next, a detailed recording structure of the optical disc 100 will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in the upper part of FIG. 2, the information recorded on the optical disc 100 is subjected to error correction processing using an ECC (Error Correction Code) block 11 as one unit. Further, the ECC block 11 includes a plurality of data sectors 12 as shown in the middle part of FIG. The ECC block 11 includes, for example, 16 data sectors 12 in the case of a DVD-R that uses red light, and 32 data sectors 12 in the case of a Blu-ray disc.

  The data sector 12 includes user data 13 and control information 15. The user data 13 is main information to be reproduced or executed, such as image data, audio data, content data, and computer programs. On the other hand, the control information 15 includes, for example, start position information of the data sector 12 and ID information including information for tracking.

  Next, FIG. 3 shows a configuration of the control information block 17 created by collecting the control information 15 in one ECC block 11. The control information block 17 includes an address information block 18 and other information. Further, this address information block 18 includes an address field 19 corresponding to each data sector 12. In this example, an address block 18 composed of 16 address fields 19 is shown. The address field 19 includes address information of the data sector 12, information relating to the recording area to which the data sector 12 belongs, and the like.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram showing details of the address field 19 regarding the Blu-ray disc. The address field 19 includes an AUN 20, a reserve area (Reserve area) 21, and other information. In the Blu-ray disc, the physical address is managed using a unit of AUN 20 larger than the data sector 12 instead of the data sector 12. Accordingly, when only the zone type information described above is introduced into the Blu-ray disc, it is not possible to take correct measures in units of data sectors, and the optical pickup may enter the no-signal area. In general, the data sector 12 is in 2 Kbyte units, while the AUN 20 is in double 4 Kbyte units.

  In the present embodiment, a measure that can solve the problem caused by adopting the AUN20 unit as described above is applied to the recording medium. That is, in the reserved area 21 of FIG. 4, 2-bit zone type information 21a and 1-bit switching flag 21b are recorded, and the remainder is a 5-bit reserved area. The zone type information 21a is the same as that described above, and indicates the attribute of the recording area on the optical disc 100 to which the information of 20 AUN units belongs.

  However, the zone type information 21a cannot accurately indicate the recording area on the optical disc 100 in units of data sectors when the AUN 20 larger than the data sector 12 is used as a unit of address control as described above. For example, if all the data sectors 12 constituting the AUN 20 belong to the same recording area, the zone type information 21a of the AUN 20 can be used as the zone type information. However, when the recording area to which the data sector 12 belongs is switched in the AUN 20, there arises a problem as to what the zone type information 21a of the AUN 20 should be. This problem can be dealt with simply by representing the zone type information 21a of the AUN 20 with the zone type information of the data sector 12 located at the head or the zone type information of the data sector 12 located at the tail. . However, this alone cannot accurately grasp the boundary between different recording areas, and the optical pickup may enter the non-signal area 104.

  For this reason, in this embodiment, the switching flag 21b is recorded in the AUN 20 in addition to the zone type information 21a. The switching flag 21b is information indicating whether or not the zone type information is being switched in the middle of the AUN 20 including a plurality of data sectors 12. That is, by referring to the switching flag 21b, it is possible to identify whether or not there is a recording area boundary in the middle of the AUN 20, such as a boundary between the data zone 102 and the lead-out area 103, for example. Specifically, “1” is added to the information in the reserved area 21 when the zone type information is switched in the middle of the AUN 20, and “0” is added when the zone type information is not switched in the middle.

  Next, an outline of a method for specifying the boundary of the recording area will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 shows an AUN 20 composed of two data sectors 12. From the left, the addresses of the AUN 20 are x, x + 1, and x + 2 (hereinafter, each AUN 20 is expressed as “AUNx”, “AUNx + 1”, and “AUNx + 2”). All the data sectors 12 constituting the AUNx belong to the data zone 102. On the other hand, the data sector 12 constituting AUNx + 1 belongs to two data zones 102 and a lead-out area 103. Further, all the data sectors 12 constituting AUNx + 2 belong to the lead-out area 103.

  The zone type information 21a is “00”, “10”, and “10” in AUNx, AUNx + 1, and AUNx + 2, respectively. On the other hand, the switching flags are “0”, “1”, and “0”, respectively. From these, it can be seen that since the AUNx switching flag 21b is “0”, all the data sectors 12 in the AUNx belong to the data zone 102, and the recording area is not switched in the middle. Similarly, in AUNx + 2, since the switching flag 21b is “0”, it can be seen that all the data sectors 12 belong to the lead-out area 103 and the recording area is not switched in the middle. However, only for AUNx + 1, since the switching flag 21b is "1", it can be seen that the recording area belonging to the middle is switched. Further, since the zone type is “10”, it can be identified that there are data sectors 12 constituting AUNx + 1 belonging to the data zone 102 and those belonging to the lead-out area 103. In this way, by referring not only to the zone type information 21a but also to the switching flag 21b, it is possible to detect that the attribute of the recording area has been switched halfway in the AUN.

[Information recording / playback device]
The information recording / reproducing apparatus according to the present invention will be described below.

  First, the configuration of the information recording / reproducing apparatus 400 will be described. FIG. 6 shows an information recording / reproducing apparatus 400 which is an embodiment of the present invention. The information recording / reproducing apparatus 400 has a function of recording record information on a recording medium and a function of reproducing recorded information recorded on the recording medium. Specifically, the information recording / reproducing apparatus 400 can record information on a recording disk such as a BD-RW. The information recording / reproducing apparatus 400 can also reproduce a reproduction-only disc such as a BD-ROM in addition to the reproduction of a finalized recording disc such as a BD-RW. The information recording / reproducing apparatus 400 includes a disk drive 200 and a back end 300.

  FIG. 7 shows the internal configuration of the disk drive 200. The disc drive 200 is a device that records information on the optical disc 100 and reads information recorded on the optical disc 100. As the optical disc 100, either the recording disc or the reproduction-only disc described above can be used.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the disk drive 200 includes a spindle motor 201, an optical pickup 202, an RF amplifier 203, and a servo circuit 204. These elements mainly constitute the drive mechanism of the disk drive 200 and its drive control means.

  The spindle motor 201 is a motor that rotates the optical disc 100.

  The optical pickup 202 outputs an RF signal corresponding to the reflected light of the light beam in both recording and reading. When the optical disc 100 adopts the wobble land / groove method, the wobbled land and groove, pre-pits and the like are formed in advance on the recording surface of the optical disc 100. Control information such as land, groove, and pre-pit is included. Further, when record information is already recorded on the optical disc 100, this record information is also taken into the RF signal.

  The RF amplifier 203 amplifies the RF signal output from the optical pickup 202 and outputs the RF signal to the modulation / demodulation unit 205. Further, the RF amplifier 203 generates a wobble frequency signal WF, a tracking error signal TE, a focus error signal FE, and the like from the RF signal, and outputs them.

  The servo circuit 204 is a servo control circuit that controls driving of the optical pickup 202 and the spindle motor 201 based on the tracking error signal TE, the focus error signal FE, and other servo control signals. Specifically, the servo circuit 204 controls the positional relationship between the optical pickup 302 and the track on the optical disc 100 based on the tracking error signal TE. The servo circuit 204 controls the focusing of the light beam of the optical pickup 202 based on the focus error signal FE.

  Furthermore, the disk drive 200 includes a modulation / demodulation unit 205, a buffer 206, an interface 207, and a light beam driving unit 208, as shown in FIG. These elements are mainly responsible for demodulation and output of the recording information read from the optical disc 100, and also for receiving and modulating the recording information to be recorded on the optical disc 100.

  The modulation / demodulation unit 205 is a circuit having a function of performing error correction on recorded information at the time of reading, and a function of adding an error correction code to the recorded information and modulating it at the time of recording. Specifically, the modulation / demodulation unit 205 demodulates the RF signal output from the RF amplifier 203 at the time of reading, performs error correction on the RF signal, and outputs this to the buffer 206. In addition, the modulation / demodulation unit 205 adds an error correction code to the recording information output from the buffer 206 at the time of recording, and then modulates this so that the code matches the optical identification of the optical disc 100. Then, the modulated recording information is output to the light beam driving unit 208.

  The buffer 206 is a storage circuit that temporarily stores recording information.

  The interface 207 is a circuit that performs input / output control and communication control of recording information and the like between the disk drive 200 and the back end 300. Specifically, the interface 207 outputs recording information output from the buffer 206 (that is, recording information read from the optical disc 100) to the back end 300 in response to a request command from the back end 300 during playback. To do. Further, the interface 207 receives the recording information input from the back end 300 to the disk drive 200 and outputs it to the buffer 206 during recording.

  Further, the disk drive 200 includes a zone type information detection unit 209 and a switching flag detection unit 210 as shown in FIG.

  The zone type information detection unit 209 can detect zone type information recorded in the data sector 12 or the AUN 20 of the optical disc 100. This zone type information is 2-bit information as described above, and is recorded as “01” if the data sector 12 is located in the lead-in area 101, and as “00” if it is located in the data zone 102. If it is in the lead-out area 103, “10” is recorded. The zone type information detected by the zone type information detection unit 209 is input to a CPU 213 or the like, which will be described later, and the optical pickup position is determined, thereby performing control so that the optical pickup 202 is not moved to the no-signal area 104. be able to.

  The switching flag detection unit 210 can detect the switching flag 21b recorded in the AUN 20 in the Blu-ray disc having the recording structure according to the present invention. This switching flag 21b is 1-bit information, and is recorded in the AUN20 unit used for address management in the Blu-ray disc. As described above, “1” is recorded when the boundary of the recording area exists in the AUN 20, and “0” is recorded when the boundary of the recording area does not exist in the AUN 20. The information of the switching flag 21b detected by the switching flag detection unit 210 is also input to the CPU 213 and the like which will be described later to determine the position of the optical pickup, and the control to prevent the optical pickup 202 from moving to the no-signal area 104 is performed. It can be carried out.

  Note that the zone type information detection unit 209 and the switching flag detection unit 210 need not be arranged separately from the CPU 213 and may be provided in the CPU 213 for processing.

  The CPU 213 controls and manages the overall control of the disk drive 200 and the exchange of information between the elements in the disk drive 200 described above. For example, in the present invention, processing related to reproduction of data recorded on a Blu-ray disc or the like is performed based on the zone type information 21a detected by the zone type information detection unit 209 and the switching flag 21b detected by the switching flag detection unit 210. . Specifically, the CPU 213 can acquire the address of the boundary between the data zone 102 and the lead-out area 103 from the zone type information 21a and the switching flag 21b. As a result, the CPU 213 can accurately grasp that the optical pickup 202 has entered the lead-out area 103, so that the optical pickup 202 can be controlled not to reach the no-signal area 104 ahead.

  Furthermore, the CPU 213 controls the reading operation of the optical pickup 202 and the output control of the recorded information stored in the buffer 206 to the back end in response to a request command sent from the back end 300 described later. Normal reproduction control and prefetch control of content information can also be performed.

  Next, the internal structure of the back end 300 shown in FIG. 8 will be described. The back end 300 performs a reproduction process on the recording information read from the optical disc 100 by the disc drive 200, receives the recording information supplied from the outside for the purpose of recording on the optical disc 100, and compresses (encodes) the recording information. Thus, the disk drive 200 is sent out.

  As shown in FIG. 8, the back end 300 includes a drive control unit 301, a video decoder 302, an audio decoder 303, a video encoder 304, an audio encoder 305, and a system control unit 306.

  The drive control unit 301 is a circuit that controls reading processing and recording processing of the disk drive 200. The back end 300 and the disk drive 200 cooperate with each other to read recorded information from the optical disc 100 and reproduce it, and to receive information to be recorded from the outside and record it on the optical disc 100. The drive control unit 301 realizes cooperation between the back end 300 and the disk drive 200 by controlling the reading process and the recording process of the disk drive 200. Specifically, the drive control unit 301 outputs a request command relating to reproduction, recording, and output of recording information from the buffer 206 to the disk drive 200. Further, in the present embodiment, the drive control unit 301 can also perform input / output control for controlling the input or output of the zone type information detection unit 209 and the switching flag detection unit 210 as in the case of the CPU 213 described above.

  Each of the video decoder 302 and the audio decoder 303 demodulates the recording data read from the optical disc 100 by the disc drive 200 and supplied via the drive control unit 301 so that the recording data can be reproduced by a display, a speaker, or the like. It is a circuit to convert.

  Each of the video encoder 304 and the audio encoder 305 receives a video signal, an audio signal, and the like input from the outside for the purpose of recording on the optical disc 100, compresses them by, for example, an MPEG compression method, etc., and converts them into a drive control unit 301. The circuit is supplied to the disk drive 200 via

  The system control unit 306 is a circuit that controls the drive control unit 301, the video decoder 302, and the audio decoder 303 during reproduction, and performs reproduction processing of recorded data in cooperation with them. Further, at the time of recording, the system control unit 306 controls the drive control unit 301, the video encoder 304, and the audio encoder 305, and performs recording processing of recording data in cooperation with them. Further, the system control unit 306 controls the disk drive 200 together with the drive control 301 (for example, generation / reception of various request commands) in order to realize cooperation between the disk drive 200 and the back end 300 during reproduction and recording. Transmission, reception of response signals, etc.).

[Final address search processing]
Next, the final address search process of the recording area according to the present invention performed by the information recording / reproducing apparatus 400 described above will be described. FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the processing procedure. In this processing, the CPU 213 or the drive control unit 301 described above uses the address of the boundary between the data zone 102 and the lead-out area 103 based on the zone type information 21a and the switching flag information 21b recorded on the Blu-ray disc or the like ( That is, it is performed to obtain the final address of the data zone 102. After the final address search process, the CPU 213 or the drive control unit 301 can control the optical pickup 202 not to move beyond the final sector of the data zone 102.

  Although the final address information of the data zone 102 may be recorded in advance in the lead-in area 101 or the like, the process described below is particularly effective when the final address information cannot be read. Normally, when the last address information cannot be read, the drive cannot continue reproduction. However, if there is information on the zone type and the switching flag, the last address information of the data zone can be specified. Therefore, reading can be continued.

  Hereinafter, the specific processing will be described with reference to FIG.

  First, in step S11, the CPU 213 or the drive control unit 301 performs, for example, an RF search or the like from the inner periphery side to the outer periphery side of the optical disc 100, and performs control for searching for the boundary between the information recording area and the unrecorded area. By searching for the RF signal output from the RF amplifier 203 described above, an approximate boundary between the recording area and the unrecorded area can be detected. Note that the boundary between the recording area and the unrecorded area substantially corresponds to the boundary between the lead-out area 103 and the no-signal area 104.

  Next, in step S12, it is determined whether or not the boundary between the recording area and the unrecorded area has been reached. If this boundary is reached (step S12; Yes), the process proceeds to step S13. If the boundary has not yet been reached (step S12; No), the process returns to step S11, and the process of searching for the boundary again by the RF search is performed.

  In step S13, the optical pickup 202 is jumped to the inner circumference side of the optical disc 100 by a distance corresponding to the lead-out area 103, and a reproducing operation is performed. This is because the boundary between the recording area and the non-recording area almost corresponds to the boundary between the lead-out area 103 and the non-signal area 104, so that the optical pickup 201 can be dropped near the boundary between the data zone 102 and the lead-out area 103. Because. When the above process ends, the process proceeds to step S14.

  In the processing from step S14 to step S18 described below, processing for determining an approximate boundary between the data zone 102 and the lead-out area 103 is performed for each ECC block 11 unit. That is, in these steps, processing is performed for determining the ECC block 11 that is switched from the data zone 102 to the lead-out area 103 within one ECC block 11 unit. Specifically, the target ECC block 11 is found by repeating the process of eliminating all the zone type information 21a in the ECC block 11 indicating the lead-out area 103 or indicating the data zone. Can do.

  First, in step S14, the CPU 213 or the drive control unit 301 reads one ECC block 11 and decodes it. Then, the zone type information 21a and the switching flag 21b are acquired from the address information block 18 in the ECC block 11. Such information can be acquired from the zone type information detection unit 209 and the switching flag detection unit 210. When the above process ends, the process proceeds to step S15.

  In step S15, the CPU 213 or the drive control unit 301 determines whether or not all the zone type information 21a in one ECC block 11 indicates the lead-out area 103 (that is, whether or not all the zone type information 21a is “10”). ).

  If all the zone type information 21a in one ECC block 11 indicates the lead-out area 103 (step S15; Yes), the process proceeds to step S16. In step S16, the optical pickup 202 is further jumped to the inner peripheral side to perform a reproduction operation. This is because all the data sectors 12 in the ECC block 11 currently examined belong to the lead-out area 103, and the optical pickup is moved toward the data zone 102 located on the inner circumference side. This is for finding the boundary between the zone 102 and the lead-out area 103. When the process of step S16 ends, the process returns to step S14 and the above process is performed again. By repeating the processing from step S14 to step S16, it is possible to search for all the data sectors 12 in the ECC block 11 that do not belong to the lead-out area 103.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step S15 that all the zone type information 21a in one ECC block 11 is not the lead-out area 103 (step S15; No), processing is performed in step S17. In the ECC block 11 that has reached step S17, either all of the data sectors in the ECC block 11 belong to the data zone 102, or one belonging to the data zone and one belonging to the lead-out area 103 are mixed. It is. In step S17, the CPU 213 or the drive control unit 301 determines whether all the zone type information 21a in the ECC block 11 indicates the data zone 102 (that is, whether all the zone type information 21a is “00”). .

  If all the zone type information 21a in one ECC block 11 indicates the lead-out area 103 (step S17; Yes), the process proceeds to step S18. In step S18, the optical pickup 202 is first moved to the adjacent ECC block 11 on the outer peripheral side, and the ECC block 11 is read and decoded. Then, the zone type information 21a and the switching flag 21b are acquired from the address information block 18 in the ECC block 11. When the process of step S18 is completed, the process returns to step S17 and the above process is performed again. By repeating the processing of step S17 and step S18, the ECC block 11 including the boundary between the data zone 102 and the lead-out area 103 can be found.

  On the other hand, if all the zone type information 21a in one ECC block 11 does not indicate the lead-out area 103 (step S17; No), the processing after step S21 shown in FIG. 10 is performed. From the processing in step S17, it is clear that the ECC block 11 subjected to this processing includes the boundary between the data zone 102 and the lead-out area 103. Therefore, in the processing after step S 21, it is determined which data sector 12 in the ECC block 11 is the last sector of the data zone 102. Specifically, the process of determining the position of the last sector within the AUN 20 unit is performed.

  First, in step S21, the CPU 213 or the drive control unit 301 first switches the zone type information 21a from the data zone 102 to the lead-out area 103 (that is, the zone type information 21a changes from “00” to “10”). Get AUN20. In the example shown in FIG. 5, AUNx + 1 corresponds to this.

  In step S22, the CPU 213 or the drive control unit 301 determines whether or not the switching flag 21b of the address field 19 including the AUN 20 is “1” indicating that there is an area boundary.

  If the switching flag 21b is “1” (step S22; Yes), the process proceeds to step S23. In step S23, the first data sector of the AUV 20 is specified as the last sector of the data zone 102. The specific example shown in FIG. 11A is used to show that the above specification is correct. FIG. 11 shows an AUN 20 composed of two data sectors 12. From the left, the addresses of the AUN 20 are x, x + 1, and x + 2 (hereinafter, each AUN 20 is expressed as “AUNx”, “AUNx + 1”, and “AUNx + 2”). Here, it is assumed that the zone type information 21a is switched from the data zone 102 to the lead-out area 103 between AUNx and AUNx + 1. Further, when the AUNx + 1 switching flag 21b is examined, it is assumed that the switching flag 21b is “1” indicating that the switching is performed. In such a situation, it can be seen that this AUNx + 1 is nothing but the boundary between the data zone 102 and the lead-out area 013. Therefore, it can be specified that the first data sector of AUVx + 1 is the last sector of the data zone 102.

  On the other hand, if the switching flag 21b is not “1” (step S22; No), the process proceeds to step S24. In step S <b> 24, the last data sector of the AUN 20 immediately before the AUV 20 is specified as the last sector of the data zone 102. The specific example shown in FIG. 11B is used to show that the above specification is correct. FIG. 11 shows an AUN 20 composed of two data sectors 12. From the left, the addresses of the AUN 20 are x, x + 1, and x + 2 (hereinafter, similarly denoted as “AUNx”, “AUNx + 1”, and “AUNx + 2”). Here, it is assumed that the zone type information 21a is switched from the data zone 102 to the lead-out area 103 between AUNx and AUNx + 1. Further, when the AUNx + 1 switching flag 21b is examined, it is assumed that it is “0” indicating that the switching has not been performed. In such a situation, it is understood that the boundary between the data zone 102 and the lead-out area 103 is not included in the AUNx + 1, and the boundary between the AUNx and AUNx + 1 itself corresponds to this. Therefore, the last data sector of AUNx can be specified as the last sector of the data zone 102.

  By such processing, an address at the boundary between the data zone 102 and the lead-out area 103 (that is, the final address of the data zone 102) can be acquired. As a result, the CPU 213 or the drive control unit 301 can control the optical pickup 202 not to move beyond the last sector of the data zone 102.

  The above example is an example in which the boundary between the data zone 102 and the lead-out area 103 of the optical disc 100 is detected. However, by using the switching flag according to the present invention, the boundary between other recording areas, for example, The boundary between the lead-in area 101 and the data zone 102 can be detected accurately.

It is a figure which shows schematic structure of the information recording medium which concerns on this embodiment. It is a figure which shows the recording structure of the information recording medium which concerns on this embodiment. It is a figure which shows the control information block in the ECC block in FIG. 2 in detail. It is the figure which showed an example regarding the address field in the control information block in FIG. It is the figure shown about an example of the method of specifying the boundary of a recording area with zone type information and a switching flag. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the information recording / reproducing apparatus which is an Example of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the disk drive of the information recording / reproducing apparatus in FIG. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the back end of the information recording / reproducing apparatus in FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the initial process sequence regarding the last address search which concerns on this invention. 10 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure related to a final address search after the processing of FIG. 9. It is the figure shown about an example of the method of specifying the boundary of the recording area by a switching flag.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Optical disk 101 Lead-in area 102 Data zone 103 Lead-out area 104 No signal area 200 Disk drive 201 Spindle motor 202 Optical pick-up 203 RF amplifier 204 Servo circuit 209 Zone type information detection part 210 Switching flag detection part 213 CPU
300 back end 306 system control unit 400 information recording / reproducing apparatus

Claims (11)

An information recording medium in which address management of recorded information is performed in units of addresses composed of a plurality of sectors,
For each sector, zone type information indicating which of the plurality of areas on the information recording medium the sector belongs to is recorded, and for each address unit, the plurality of areas in the address unit An information recording medium on which a switching flag indicating whether or not a boundary is included is recorded. The information recording medium according to claim 1, wherein the address unit includes two sectors. The information recording medium according to claim 1, wherein the zone type information is 2-bit data, and the switching flag is 1-bit data. An information recording apparatus for recording information on an information recording medium in which address management of recorded information is performed in an address unit composed of a plurality of sectors,
In the information recording medium, for each sector, zone type information indicating which of the plurality of areas on the information recording medium belongs is recorded, and for each address unit, the address unit A switching flag indicating whether or not boundaries of the plurality of regions are included in is recorded,
The information recording device includes:
Zone type information acquisition means for acquiring the zone type information;
Switching flag acquisition means for acquiring the switching flag;
An information recording apparatus comprising: boundary specifying means for specifying boundaries of the plurality of recording areas based on the zone type information and the switching flag information. The boundary specifying means includes
Means for detecting an address unit including a change point at which the zone type information changes from a data zone to a lead-out zone;
When the address unit switching flag including the change point indicates that the boundary is included, it is determined that the tail end of the data zone exists in the address unit, and the address unit switching flag including the change point includes the boundary. The information recording apparatus according to claim 4, further comprising: a determination unit that determines that the last of the data zone exists immediately before the address unit when indicating that the address unit is not included. An information reproducing apparatus for reproducing information recorded on an information recording medium in which address management of recorded information is performed in an address unit composed of a plurality of sectors,
In the information recording medium, for each sector, zone type information indicating which of the plurality of areas on the information recording medium belongs is recorded, and for each address unit, the address unit A switching flag indicating whether or not boundaries of the plurality of regions are included in is recorded,
The information reproducing apparatus includes:
Zone type information acquisition means for acquiring the zone type information;
Switching flag acquisition means for acquiring the switching flag;
An information reproducing apparatus comprising: boundary specifying means for specifying boundaries of the plurality of recording areas based on the zone type information and the switching flag information. The boundary specifying means includes
Means for detecting an address unit including a change point at which the zone type information changes from a data zone to a lead-out zone;
When the address unit switching flag including the change point indicates that the boundary is included, it is determined that the tail end of the data zone exists in the address unit, and the address unit switching flag including the change point includes the boundary. The information reproducing apparatus according to claim 6, further comprising: a determination unit that determines that the tail of the data zone exists immediately before the address unit when indicating that the address unit is not included. An information recording method for recording information on an information recording medium in which address management of recorded information is performed in units of addresses composed of a plurality of sectors,
In the information recording medium, for each sector, zone type information indicating which of the plurality of areas on the information recording medium belongs is recorded, and for each address unit, the address unit A switching flag indicating whether or not boundaries of the plurality of regions are included in is recorded,
The information recording method includes:
Zone type information acquisition step for acquiring the zone type information;
A switching flag acquisition step of acquiring the switching flag;
A boundary specifying step of specifying boundaries of the plurality of recording areas based on the zone type information and the switching flag information. An information reproducing method for reproducing information recorded on an information recording medium in which address management of recorded information is performed in units of addresses composed of a plurality of sectors,
In the information recording medium, for each sector, zone type information indicating which of the plurality of areas on the information recording medium belongs is recorded, and for each address unit, the address unit A switching flag indicating whether or not boundaries of the plurality of regions are included in is recorded,
The information reproduction method includes:
Zone type information acquisition step for acquiring the zone type information;
A switching flag acquisition step of acquiring the switching flag;
And a boundary specifying step of specifying boundaries of the plurality of recording areas based on the zone type information and the switching flag information. An information processing program executed by an information recording apparatus for recording information on an information recording medium in which address management of recorded information is performed in an address unit composed of a plurality of sectors,
In the information recording medium, for each sector, zone type information indicating which of the plurality of areas on the information recording medium belongs is recorded, and for each address unit, the address unit A switching flag indicating whether or not boundaries of the plurality of regions are included in is recorded,
The information processing program stores the information recording device,
Zone type information acquisition means for acquiring the zone type information;
Switching flag acquisition means for acquiring the switching flag;
An information processing program that functions as boundary specifying means for specifying boundaries of the plurality of recording areas based on the zone type information and the switching flag information. An information processing program that is executed by an information reproducing apparatus that reproduces information recorded on an information recording medium in which address management of recorded information is performed in units of addresses composed of a plurality of sectors,
In the information recording medium, for each sector, zone type information indicating which of the plurality of areas on the information recording medium belongs is recorded, and for each address unit, the address unit A switching flag indicating whether or not boundaries of the plurality of regions are included in is recorded,
The information processing program stores the information reproducing apparatus.
Zone type information acquisition means for acquiring the zone type information;
Switching flag acquisition means for acquiring the switching flag;
An information processing program that functions as boundary specifying means for specifying boundaries of the plurality of recording areas based on the zone type information and the switching flag information.

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