JP2005235323A - Information recording medium, information recording method, information recording apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an information recording medium, an information recording method, and an information recording apparatus in which effective utilization of an area can be performed without recording file structure many times even when recording, erasing, or change processing for a large majority small files are performed. <P>SOLUTION: This is the information recording medium in which recording and reproducing are performed for a file controlled by using volume file structure from one end of a data area, while the number of times of recording for the same area is restricted, volume space in which volume file structure is recorded succeeding to a recording control region and a lead-in region is allotted, the recording control region has a next time recording start address of a recording zone, and has the recording zone constituted of file data and the recording zone constituted of file structure and VAT structure. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an information recording medium in which a file managed using a volume file structure is recorded / reproduced and the number of times of data recording in the same area is limited, and an information recording method and information using the information recording medium More particularly, the present invention relates to an information recording medium in which a file structure and a VAT structure are intensively recorded, an information recording method using the information recording medium, and an information recording apparatus.

  In recent years, various types of media have been used for recording digital data, and DVD-R discs are attracting attention as inexpensive mass storage type optical discs. The operation of recording / reproducing data using this DVD-R disc will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the following description, descriptors, pointers, and the like recorded on the information recording medium as a volume file structure are defined in the ISO / IEC 13346 standard or the UDF (Universal Disk Format) standard unless otherwise specified. Data structure.

  As an explanation procedure, first, a data configuration diagram of the information recording medium shown in FIG. 6 and a block configuration diagram of the information recording apparatus shown in FIG. 7 will be described. Next, state transition of the information recording medium shown in FIG. 9 will be described with reference to the file recording processing procedure shown in FIG.

  FIG. 6 shows that files managed by the directory structure shown in FIG. 10 on a disc defined by the DVD-R physical standard (Version 2.0) are based on the DVD-R file system standard (Version 2.0). FIG. 3 is a data structure diagram of a DVD-R disc in a state recorded according to a prescribed volume file structure.

  In FIG. 6, a recording management area 601 and a lead-in area 602 are allocated at the head of the data recording area, and a volume space is allocated following the lead-in area 602. In this volume space, a file structure area 604 and a VAT (Virtual Allocation Table) structure area 605 are formed starting from the volume structure area 603 in which volume structure information is recorded in the format process.

  Further, the RTAV directory managed by the directory structure shown in FIG. 10, the file structure area 606 for managing the AV file, and the VAT structure area 607 are formed in the IF0 file and AV file creation processing.

  In the IFO file recording process, an IFO file 608, a file structure area 609 for managing the IFO file, and a VAT structure area 610 are formed.

  In the AV file recording process, an AV file extent # 1 (611), a file structure area 612 for managing the AV file extent # 1, and a VAT structure area 613 are formed.

  In the AV file additional recording process, a file structure area 615 and a VAT structure area 616 for managing the AV file extent # 2 (614), the AV file extent # 1 (611), and the AV file extent # 2 (614) are formed. Is done.

  FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a conventional information recording / reproducing apparatus. As shown in FIG. 7, the information recording / reproducing apparatus includes a system control unit 701, a memory circuit 702, an I / O bus 703, a magnetic disk device 704, and an optical disk drive device 705.

  The system control unit 701 is realized by a microprocessor including a control program and a calculation memory, and includes a volume structure recording unit 711 that records volume structure information, a volume structure reproduction unit 712 that reproduces volume structure information, and file structure information. File structure recording means 713 for recording, file structure reproducing means 714 for reproducing file structure information, VAT structure recording means 715 for recording VAT structure information, VAT structure reproducing means 716 for reproducing VAT structure information, and file data File recording means 717 for recording the file data, and file reproduction means 718 for reproducing the file data.

  The memory circuit 702 includes volume structure information, file structure information, and a data memory 721 used for file operations and temporary storage.

  The optical disk drive device 705 includes a drive control unit 731, a memory circuit 732, an internal bus 733, a recording / reproducing unit 734, and a disk 735. The drive control unit 731 is realized by a microprocessor including a drive control program and a calculation memory, and includes a recording management unit 741 for managing the next recording start position. This next recording start address is registered as management data in the recording management area, and holds one next recording start address for each recording zone. In this conventional example, one recording zone is always assigned from the formatting process.

  The memory circuit 732 is characterized by including a buffer memory 751 used for calculation and temporary storage of data transferred to the optical disk drive device 705.

Next, regarding the file recording processing procedure for the DVD-R disc, the block diagram shown in FIG. 7, the flowchart for explaining the file recording processing procedure of FIG. 8, and the state transition diagram of the medium during the file recording processing shown in FIG. This will be described below with reference to the data structure diagram after the file recording process described in FIG. Note that the medium on which this file recording is performed is in a state where the formatting process and the file creation process have been completed.
(S801) The system control unit 701 requests the optical disc drive device 705 to notify the next recording start address in accordance with a control program incorporated as the free area acquisition unit 719. The optical disk drive device 705 acquires the next recording start address 651 from the management data # 1 registered in the recording management area 601 of the optical disk 735 by the recording management means 741 of the drive control unit 731 and returns it to the system control unit 701. After this processing is completed, the medium is in the state (a) shown in FIG.
(S802) The system control unit 701 instructs the optical disc drive 705 to record the AV file extent created in the data memory 721 in accordance with a control program built in the file recording unit 717. The optical disk drive 705 records the file structure information transferred from the data memory 721 in the area of AV file extent # 2615. Next, the recording management unit 741 of the drive control unit 731 registers the management data in which the next recording start address is registered in the recording management area in consideration of the recorded file size. When the file recording operation is completed, the optical disk drive 705 notifies the system control unit 701 of the completion of the recording operation. After this processing is completed, the medium is in the state (b) shown in FIG.
(S803) The system control unit 701 determines whether all file recording has been completed according to a control program incorporated as the file recording unit 717. If all the files have not been recorded, the processing from step S801 is repeated until all the files are recorded. If all file recording is completed, the process proceeds to (S804).
(S804) The system control unit 701 requests the optical disk drive 705 to notify the next recording start address in accordance with a control program incorporated as the free area acquisition unit 719. The optical disc drive 705 acquires the next recording start address from the management data registered in the recording management area 601 of the optical disc 735 by the recording management means 741 of the drive control unit 731 and returns it to the system control unit 701. After this processing is completed, the medium is in the state (c) shown in FIG.

If all the file recording has not been completed and the file structure free area is allocated in this step (S804), the AV file will be recorded in the next step (S805). The area allocated for the extent is recorded up to the file structure recording start position with dust data or 00h data.
(S805) The system control unit 701 performs file management in which position information of the AV file extent # 1 (611) and the AV file extent # 2 (614) is reflected in accordance with a control program incorporated as the file structure recording unit 713. A file entry FE (AV file) 644 as information is generated in the data memory 721 of the memory circuit 702. Further, the system control unit 201 instructs the optical disc drive 705 to record the file structure information created in the data memory 721 according to the control program.
(S806) The system control unit 701 generates the VAT 645 and the VATICB 646 in the data memory 721 of the memory circuit 702 according to a control program incorporated as the VAT structure recording unit 715. Furthermore, the system control unit 701 instructs the optical disc drive 705 to record these VAT structure information created in the data memory 721 according to this control program. The optical disk drive 705 records the VAT structure information transferred from the data memory 721 in the VAT structure area 616. Next, the recording management unit 741 of the drive control unit 731 considers the recorded file size and records the management data in which the next recording start address is registered as the next recording start address 652 of the management data # 5 (622) in the recording management area 601. Register. When the recording operation of the VAT structure information is completed, the optical disc drive device 705 notifies the system control unit 701 of the completion of the recording operation. After this processing is completed, the medium is in the state (d) shown in FIG.

  VAT and VATICB included in this VAT structure area are data structures defined by the UDF standard by extending the ISO 13346 standard for write-once recording media, and the recording position of file structure information and the like is not a logical address space but a virtual address. By prescribing in space, the file structure information update process is simplified. VAT is a conversion table between logical addresses and virtual addresses, and the recording position of the VAT is designated by VATICB assigned to the last sector of the area recorded in each processing such as formatting processing and file recording processing.

  In the UDF standard, the VAT structure is defined as a part of the file structure. However, the VAT structure is described for easy understanding.

When the file recording process described above is completed, the data structure shown in FIG. 6 is created on the disc. In the data recording operation of the DVD-R disc, a linking area having dummy data with a predetermined capacity may exist before and after the data recording unit every time the data recording operation is interrupted. From the viewpoint of simplifying the description of, the description is omitted.
JP 2001-359036 A ISO / IEC 13346 standard OSTA Universal Disk Format Standard

  The problem to be solved is that a file structure must be created and recorded each time a file creation and file recording process occurs, so that file entries having substantially the same contents are recorded at a plurality of locations.

  In addition, since recording is performed sequentially, other files and file structures cannot be recorded until all the data is recorded in the area allocated for a certain file.

  Also, because of the limited recording method for write-once media, it is difficult to use the same processing procedure as that for rewritable media. For this reason, dedicated recording software has been created for recording on write-once media.

An information recording medium in which a file managed using a volume file structure is recorded and reproduced from one end of a data area and the number of recordings on the same area is limited,
A volume space in which a volume file structure is recorded following the recording management area and the lead-in area is allocated, and the recording management area has a recording zone having a next recording start address of the recording zone and configured by file data, and The present invention relates to an information recording medium having a recording zone having a file structure and a VAT structure.

  In addition, a file managed using the volume file structure is recorded / reproduced from one end of the data area, the number of times of recording on the same area is limited, and the volume file structure is recorded following the recording management area and the lead-in area. Information recording method for performing a data recording operation on an information recording medium to which a volume space is allocated, and if all the files have not been recorded, assigning a recording zone and acquiring a new next recording start address It is related with the information recording method characterized by having provided.

  A volume in which a file managed using the volume / file structure is recorded / reproduced from one end of the data area, the number of times of recording on the same area is limited, and the volume / file structure is recorded following the recording management area and the lead-in area An information recording apparatus that performs a data recording operation on an information recording medium to which space is allocated, and includes a means for allocating a recording zone and acquiring a new next recording start address when not all files have been recorded. The present invention relates to an information recording apparatus.

  In the information recording method of the present invention, only file recording is performed on the medium, the file structure is retained in the cache, and the file structure is recorded on the medium as necessary. Therefore, the file management information is updated on the cache when the file is changed. As a result, even when recording, deletion, or change processing is performed on a large number of small files, the area can be effectively used without repeatedly recording the file structure.

  In addition, recording of other files or data recording due to overflow of data in the cache area performed in a state where data recording to the allocation area is not completed can be performed by assigning the next recording start address only to the necessary size and recording. Writing is possible regardless of the recording state.

  Further, such a processing procedure is a method applied to a rewritable medium, and software can be shared.

  In addition, the disc recorded in this way is difficult to seek when reading the disc due to the concentration of the file structure and the VAT structure, and the target file can be read at high speed.

  As an embodiment of the present invention, ISO / IEC 13346 standard or UDF (UDF) is used by using an information recording medium in which the number of times of data recording on the same area is limited, such as a CD-R disc, a CD-RW disc, and a DVD-R disc. With reference to the drawings, an information recording medium in which a file managed by data defined in the Universal Disk Format) standard is recorded in a volume space, an information recording method and an information recording apparatus using the information recording medium will be described below. explain.

  In the following description, descriptors, pointers, and the like recorded on the information recording medium as a volume file structure are defined in the ISO / IEC 13346 standard or the UDF (Universal Disk Format) standard unless otherwise specified. Data structure. Further, the address for recording the file or volume file structure is obtained from the next recording start address of the management data in the recording management area existing further on the inner circumference side of the disc than the lead-in area.

  As an explanation procedure, first, the data structure showing the area configuration of the information recording medium of the present invention shown in FIG. 1 and the block configuration of the information recording apparatus of the present invention shown in FIG. 2 will be described. Next, the flowchart of the file recording processing procedure shown in FIG. 3 and the flowchart of the file structure and VAT structure recording processing procedure shown in FIG. 4 will be described with reference to the state transition diagram of the information recording medium shown in FIG. .

  FIG. 1 is a data structure diagram showing an area configuration of an information recording medium in an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, the area configuration different from the conventional example is the IFO file 106, AV file 107, unrecorded area 108, file structure area 109, and VAT structure area 110 recorded in the file creation processing area 11 and the cache data recording processing area 12. is there. In particular, file entry FE (root) 129, root directory 130, file entry FE (RTAV) 131, RTAV directory 132, file entry FE (IFO file) 133, file entry FE (AV file) registered in the file structure area 110 ) 134 and VAT 135 and VATICB 136 in the VAT structure area 111 are recorded without duplication in a series of processes other than the format process in the present embodiment. Further, in the management data # 3 (122) of the recording management area 101, in addition to the next recording start address 142, a replacement next recording start address 143 is registered.

  The replacement next recording start address is obtained by allocating a recording zone having an appropriate size to the file structure / VAT structure.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an information recording apparatus in one embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 2, the information reproducing apparatus includes a system control unit 201, a memory circuit 202, an I / O bus 203, a magnetic disk drive device 204, and an optical disk drive device 205.

  In the following, the description will focus on a block configuration different from that of the information recording apparatus using the conventional DVD-R disc in FIG. The system control unit 201 includes a next recording start address assigning unit 221 for newly assigning a next recording start address. This means is for instructing the optical disc drive 205 to allocate a recording zone of an appropriate size to the file structure / VAT structure, and acquiring a new replacement recording start address.

  The memory circuit 202 includes a data cache memory 225 and a VAT structure cache memory 226.

  Next, the file recording process control procedure for the information recording medium as an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the block diagram shown in FIG. 2 and the data structure shown in FIG. State transition will be described.

(S301) Similar to the conventional example, the system control unit 201 acquires a free area for recording a file and performs allocation. After this processing is completed, the medium is in the state (a) shown in FIG.
(S302) As in the conventional example, the system control unit 201 records extent # 1, which is a part of a file. After this processing is completed, the medium is in the state (b) shown in FIG.

  An extent is a partial data of a file recorded continuously, and a large file is often composed of a plurality of extents. In addition, when the file size is large in this way, the extent recording process is rarely performed immediately after the free area allocation process, and after the free area is allocated for several extents, the recording process is performed in a different order from the allocation order. There are things to do.

  (S303) The system control unit 201 determines that the file structure such as the file entry of the file recorded in (S302) from the data cache memory 225 of the memory circuit 202 is stored in the memory circuit according to the control program incorporated as the cache determination unit 220. A search is made to see if it has already been created in the data cache memory 225 of 202. If it has already been created on the cache, the process proceeds to (S304). If it has not been created on the cache, the process proceeds to (S305).

  Here, as a case where a file structure such as a file entry has already been created on the cache, for example, the following cases can be considered. For example, when an IFO file is recorded in (S302), data to be recorded on the medium later as an FE (IFO file) 133 is held in the data cache memory. When recording of AV file extent # 1 is performed in (S302), data to be recorded on the medium as FE (AV file) later is stored in the data cache memory. For this reason, for example, when the AV file extent # 2 is recorded, the file structure of the file entry FE (AV file) has already been created in the data cache memory, and the process proceeds to (S304).

  (S304) The system control unit 201 updates the file entry on the data cache memory 225 by the file structure recording unit 214.

  (S305) The system control unit 201 uses the file structure recording unit 214 to create the file entry on the data cache memory 225.

  (S306) When the system control unit 201 requests the memory circuit 202 to change the VAT structure by recording or updating the recorded file and file structure in accordance with a control program built in as a cache determination unit, the memory circuit 202 It is determined whether a VAT structure is created in the VAT structure cache memory 226. If it has been created (S307), the process proceeds. If not created (S308), the process proceeds.

  (S307) The system control unit 201 updates the VAT structure on the VAT structure cache memory 226 by the VAT structure recording unit 215.

  (S306) The system control unit 201 uses the VAT structure recording unit 215 to create a VAT structure on the VAT structure cache memory 226.

  The state after recording the AV file extent # 1 and AV file extent # 2 constituting the IFO file and AV file by such a file recording processing procedure is the state (b) of the state transition diagram of the information recording medium shown in FIG. )

  Note that the file recording area to be allocated in (S301) can receive a plurality of file recording processes from the application by separating the file recording process and the file structure / VAT structure recording.

  The cache determination unit 220 can be managed by a logical block address uniquely assigned to the volume space. In this case, for the part of the file structure to which no logical block address is allocated or the VAT structure to be recorded in the final recorded area, the logical block value which is subtracted from the maximum logical block address or the maximum logical block address in the medium. It is also possible to temporarily assign a block address and finally assign the next recording start address. As a result, even when the file structure cannot be created in the data cache memory due to the resource depletion of the data cache memory and the medium must be recorded, logical consistency is ensured.

  Next, the file structure / VAT structure recording processing procedure will be described with reference to FIG. The state transition of the information recording medium shown in FIG. 5 will be described with reference to the block diagram shown in FIG. 2 and the data structure diagram of FIG.

  (S401) The system control unit 201 determines whether all the files have been recorded by the file recording unit 217. If completed, the process proceeds to (S403). If not completed, the process proceeds to (S402).

  (S402) The system control unit 201 requests the optical disk drive 205 to assign a replacement next recording start address by the file recording unit 217. The optical disc drive 205 acquires the next recording start address of the replacement to the management data 122 in the recording management area 101 according to the recording management means 241 of the drive control unit 231 and notifies the system control unit 241 of it. In the allocation of the replacement next recording start address, the replacement recording start address is obtained by assigning recording zones corresponding to the data size of the file structure / VAT structure to be recorded.

  (S403) The system control unit 201 uses the free area acquisition unit 219 to acquire a free area for the file structure. If all the files have been recorded in (S401), the same processing as in the conventional example is performed. If the file recording is not completed in (S401), a free area is acquired from the replacement next recording start address acquired in (S402). After this processing is completed, the medium is in the state (c) shown in FIG.

Conventionally, the file structure / VAT structure cannot be recorded unless all the files have been recorded. However, in the information recording method of the present invention, the file structure / VAT structure can be recorded without waiting for the entire file to be recorded. Is possible.
(S404) As in the conventional example, the file structure is recorded from the address acquired in (S405).

  (S405) The VAT structure is recorded as in the conventional example. After this processing is completed, the medium is in the state (d) shown in FIG.

  The file structure / VAT structure recording process procedure described above results in the data structure of the information recording medium shown in FIG.

  For example, as shown in the state (b) shown in FIG. 5, when a part of the IFO file and the AV file are recorded, and the remaining recording of the AV file has not been completed yet, the replacement recording is performed in (S402). Since the start address is acquired, the file structure area / VAT structure area is recorded from the alternate recording start address (state (d) in FIG. 5). Further, since the recording size need only be a size required for the file structure / VAT structure, the area can be used effectively.

  Such an embodiment can also be used effectively for disk recording of backup data during a power failure. It becomes possible to record the backup data for power failure at an arbitrary timing without completing the recording of the allocated area. In particular, a write-once optical disk used for applications such as a disk recorder is assumed to record a plurality of AV files that are somewhat large.

  Since only file recording is performed on the medium and the file structure is stored in the cache and recorded on the medium as necessary, the file management information is updated on the cache in accordance with the change of the file. As a result, even when recording, deletion, or change processing is performed on a large number of small files, the area can be effectively used without repeatedly recording the file structure.

  In addition, data recording due to overflow of data in other files or cache area performed without data recording to the allocation area is performed by allocating the recording zone and the next recording start address only for the required size and recording. Writing is possible regardless of the recording state.

  In addition, the disc recorded in this way can speed up the reading of the target file by concentrating the file structure and the VAT structure.

  In the information recording method of the present invention, only the file recording is performed on the medium, the file structure is held in the cache, and the file structure is recorded on the medium as necessary. Therefore, a large number of small files are recorded, deleted, or changed. Even in this case, since the area can be used effectively without recording the file structure many times, it can be applied to applications such as a backup disk on a computer. Further, since backup data for power failure countermeasures can be recorded even during recording of a large file such as an AV file, it can be applied to a process disk recorder.

Data structure diagram according to the embodiment of the present invention Block diagram in an embodiment of the present invention Flowchart of file recording process in the embodiment of the present invention Flowchart of file structure / VAT structure recording process in the embodiment of the present invention State transition diagram of the medium in the embodiment of the present invention Data structure diagram in the conventional example Block diagram in the conventional example Flow chart of file / file structure / VAT structure recording process in conventional example State transition diagram of the medium in the conventional example Directory structure diagram

Explanation of symbols

101 Recording management area 102 Lead-in area 103 Volume structure area 104, 110 File structure area 105, 111 VAT structure area 106 IFO file 107 AV file extent # 1
108 AV file extent # 2
109, 112 Unrecorded area 201 System control unit 202 Memory circuit 203 I / O bus 204 Magnetic disk device 205 Optical disk drive device

Claims (3)

An information recording medium in which a file managed using a volume file structure is recorded and reproduced from one end of a data area and the number of recordings on the same area is limited,
A volume space in which the volume file structure is recorded is allocated following the recording management area and the lead-in area,
The recording management area has a next recording start address of the recording zone,
An information recording medium having a recording zone composed of file data and a recording zone composed of a file structure and a VAT structure. A file managed using the volume file structure is recorded and played from one end of the data area, and the number of recordings on the same area is limited,
An information recording method for performing a data recording operation on an information recording medium to which a volume space in which a volume file structure is recorded following a recording management area and a lead-in area is allocated,
An information recording method comprising: a step of assigning a recording zone and acquiring a new next recording start address when not all files have been recorded. A file managed using the volume file structure is recorded and played from one end of the data area, and the number of recordings on the same area is limited,
An information recording apparatus for performing a data recording operation on an information recording medium to which a volume space in which a volume file structure is recorded following a recording management area and a lead-in area is allocated,
An information recording apparatus comprising means for assigning a recording zone and acquiring a new next recording start address when all the files have not been recorded.

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