JP2007305266A - Information recording and reproducing apparatus and control method of information recording and reproducing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an information recording and reproducing apparatus in which, in the case of the occurrence of recording indication of data, the rapid recording of the data can be made. <P>SOLUTION: The information recording and reproducing apparatus records the latest disk management information recorded in the disk management work integration region in a new disk management work integration region where the disk management information is not yet recorded, if a free space of the disk management work integration region where the latest disk management information is recorded is smaller than a threshold value when a write-once optical disk is recognized. The information recording and reproducing apparatus records the information on whether the integration region is usable indicating that the disk management work integration region under use is the new disk management work integration region in the top portion of the disk management work integration region. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an information recording / reproducing apparatus and a method for controlling the information recording / reproducing apparatus, and more particularly, to an information recording / reproducing apparatus and information for handling a write-once information recording medium to which a plurality of disc management work integration areas in which disc management information is recorded The present invention relates to a control method for a recording / reproducing apparatus.

  In recent years, a large-capacity exchangeable information recording medium and a disk drive device that handles the information recording medium have become widespread. As such a large-capacity exchangeable information recording medium, an optical disc (for example, a DVD or a Blu-Ray disc) is known. In the exchangeable information recording medium, dust may adhere to the recording surface or may be damaged at the time of exchange. Therefore, conventionally, the reliability of data stored in the information recording medium is ensured by allocating a plurality of disk management work integration areas for recording disk management information and the like on the information recording medium.

  Various information recording / reproducing apparatuses that handle information recording media to which the above-described disk management work integration area is assigned have been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 1). The information recording / reproducing apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1 is connected to a host control apparatus (host computer, recorder, etc.) via an I / O bus. The information recording / reproducing apparatus also includes a defect management information storage buffer for storing disk management information (defect list and disk definition structure), a defect management information update unit for updating the disk management information to the latest state, And a defect management information writing unit for writing the disk management information updated by the defect management information updating unit into the disk management work integration area of the information recording medium as described above. Then, the information recording / reproducing apparatus selects the disc management work integration area on the unrecorded area side adjacent to the boundary between the recording area where the disc management information is recorded and the unrecorded area where the disc management information is not yet recorded. Thus, the disk management information updated to the latest state by the defect management information update unit is recorded in the selected disk management work integration area.

  In addition, in the specific disk management work integration area of the information recording medium, the disk management work integration area in-use position information indicating which disk management work integration area is in use and the disk management information has been recorded is recorded. Information recording media provided with areas are also known. By providing an area for recording position information in use of the disk management work integration area in this way, the information recording / reproducing apparatus handling this information recording medium can write the latest disk management information to be updated next (disk management work). It is possible to easily determine the integration area.

JP 2005-56542 A

  However, when an information recording medium provided with an area for recording in-use position information of the disk management work integration area is used, a new disk management work integration area in which the latest disk management information is not yet recorded. When recording the disc management information, after recording the disc management information, the disc management work integrated area in-use position information corresponding to the predetermined disc management work integration area in which the disc management information is recorded must be recorded in the predetermined area. Don't be. Therefore, when the predetermined area and the disk management work integration area in which the latest disk management information is recorded are arranged at positions separated from each other, the optical head must move between them.

  Since the operation for recording the position information in use of the disk management work integration area is performed during the recording operation instructed by the host controller, the host controller until the position information in use of the disk management work integration area is recorded. The instructed recording operation will not be completed. For example, when a disk management work integration area is provided near the outer periphery of the optical disk and an area for recording the position information in use of the disk management work integration area is provided near the inner circumference, the disk management work integration area on the outer periphery side and It is necessary to access and record both the area on the circumference side. Further, in the case of a dual-layer disc, it may be necessary to access and record each layer. As a result, there is a problem that it takes time to execute the data recording request of the host controller.

  Since this operation is performed during the recording operation of the host controller as described above, in the case of recording that requires real-time performance, a recording buffer that allows the optical head to access and record is provided in the host controller. It is necessary to provide it. As a result, there is also a problem that the cost is increased by providing the recording buffer in the host control device.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and one object of the present invention is information capable of quickly recording data when a data recording instruction is generated. A recording / reproducing apparatus and a method for controlling the information recording / reproducing apparatus are provided. Another object of the present invention is to provide an information recording / reproducing apparatus and a method for controlling the information recording / reproducing apparatus that can suppress an increase in cost of the host control apparatus.

Means for Solving the Problems and Effects of the Invention

  To achieve the above object, an information recording / reproducing apparatus of the present invention is a write-once information recording medium in which a plurality of disc management work integration areas and a user data area for recording arbitrary data in accordance with a recording instruction are allocated. Is an information recording / reproducing apparatus capable of reproducing information recorded on the recording medium and recording information on a write-once information recording medium. Disc management information including final data position information, which is management information related to the write-once information recording medium and is the last recorded data position information in the user data area, is stored in the user data area. Each time a recording instruction is issued, the disk management information buffer is updated. The information recording / reproducing apparatus sequentially records the disk management information stored in the disk management information buffer in each of the plurality of disk management work integration areas, and at this time, the disk management work in which the disk management information is recorded. The disk management information is not recorded in another disk management work integration area until the free space of the integration area becomes smaller than the threshold, and a specific one disk management work integration area includes a plurality of disk management work integration areas. When the first disk management information is recorded in the used disk management work integration area, the disk management work integration area in-use position information indicating which disk management work integration area is in use is recorded. Each time the disk management information stored in the disk management information buffer is updated, the disk management information buffer is stored. The disc management information is to not recorded in the disc management working consolidated region. In addition to the data final position information, the disk management information includes the data final position information in the latest disk management information recorded in the disk management work integration area and the disk management information stored in the disk management information buffer. An inconsistency flag indicating either a valid state indicating inconsistency with the data final position information therein or an invalid state indicating inconsistency is included. Then, the information recording / reproducing apparatus is not effective when a data recording request to the user data area occurs when the inconsistency flag in the latest disk management information recorded in the disk management work integration area is invalid. After the disk management information in the disk management information buffer is updated so that the consistency flag becomes valid, the disk management information in the disk management information buffer is recorded in the disk management work integration area. If the free space of the disc management work integration area where the latest disc management information is recorded when the write-once information recording medium is recognized, the information recording / reproducing apparatus records the disc management work integration area in the disc management work integration area. That the latest disk management information is recorded in a new disk management work integration area in which no disk management information has been recorded, and that the disk management work integration area in use is the new disk management work integration area. The indicated disk management work integration area in-use position information is recorded in a specific disk management work integration area.

  In the information recording / reproducing apparatus according to the present invention, as described above, if the free space of the disc management work integration area in which the latest disc management information is recorded when the write-once information recording medium is recognized, the disc management The latest disk management information recorded in the work integration area is recorded in a new disk management work integration area in which no disk management information has been recorded, and the disk management work integration area in use is integrated into the new disk management work integration area. Disk management work integrated area indicating that the area is in use. By recording location information in use in a specific disk management work integrated area, a new disk management information is recorded before a data recording request is made. An integrated area can be pre-assigned. Thus, even when a data recording request is generated, data recording according to the data recording request can be performed without performing a process of assigning a new disk management work integration area. Therefore, the information recording / reproducing apparatus according to the present invention can quickly record arbitrary data in the user data area after a data recording request is made. The above-described disk management work integration area in use is a disk management work integration area in which the latest disk management information is recorded. Further, the recording of the disk management information in the disk management work integration area may be performed either before or after the data recording in the user data area.

  Further, in the information recording / reproducing apparatus according to the present invention, it is not necessary to perform the recording process of the disk management work integrated area in-use position information after the data recording request is made. There is no need to access and record a specific disk management work integration area where data is recorded. That is, in the information recording / reproducing apparatus according to the present invention, the cost of the host control apparatus is increased by the amount that it is not necessary to provide a recording buffer for the host control apparatus that allows time for accessing and recording a specific disk management work integration area. Can be suppressed.

  In the information recording / reproducing apparatus, preferably, the disk management information is recorded in order from the head of the disk management work integration area, so that the latest disk management information is recorded in the disk management work integration area in use. It is adjacent to the boundary between the recorded area and the unrecorded area where no disc management information is recorded. The information recording / reproducing apparatus stores the nonvolatile memory, the management information position writing means for writing the position information of the disk management information in the nonvolatile memory, and the write-once information recording medium when the write-once information recording medium is recognized. And reading means for specifying the position of the latest disk management information using the position information of the latest disk management information and reading the latest disk management information recorded at the specified position. According to this configuration, the latest information recorded on the write-once information recording medium can be used by using the position information in the nonvolatile memory written by the management information position writing unit without accessing the write-once information recording medium. The location of the disk management information can be specified. Thus, the position of the latest disc management information recorded on the write-once information recording medium is detected by detecting the position of the boundary between the recorded portion and the unrecorded portion of the disc management work integration area composed of thousands of blocks. Since it is not necessary to specify the disk management information, it can be suppressed that it takes time to read the latest disk management information. As a result, it is possible to reduce the time taken to execute the instruction of the host control device.

  In the information recording / reproducing apparatus provided with the management information position writing means for writing the position information of the disk management information in the nonvolatile memory, preferably the management information position writing means records the disk management information in the disk management work integration area. In this case, the position information of the disk management information is written into the nonvolatile memory. With this configuration, when the same recordable information recording medium is recognized again, the position where the latest disk management information is recorded can be easily identified using the position information stored in the nonvolatile memory. can do.

  In the information recording / reproducing apparatus, preferably, the disk management information is recorded in order from the head of the disk management work integration area, so that the latest disk management information is recorded in the disk management work integration area in use. It is adjacent to the boundary between the recorded area and the unrecorded area where no disc management information is recorded. This information recording / reproducing apparatus includes a nonvolatile memory, management information writing means for writing disk management information to the nonvolatile memory, and the latest disk management stored in the nonvolatile memory when the write-once information recording medium is recognized. Reading means for reading out information. With this configuration, the latest disk management information in the nonvolatile memory written by the management information writing unit can be acquired without accessing the write-once information recording medium. As a result, it is possible to reduce the time required to execute the instruction of the host control device by the amount of access to the write-once information recording medium.

  In the information recording / reproducing apparatus provided with the management information writing means for writing the disk management information into the nonvolatile memory, preferably, the management information writing means is configured to record the disk management information in the disk management work integration area. Write disk management information to non-volatile memory. With this configuration, when the same write-once information recording medium is recognized again, the disk management information stored in the nonvolatile memory can be easily obtained without accessing the write-once information recording medium. Can do.

  In the information recording / reproducing apparatus, preferably, the disk management information is recorded in order from the head of the disk management work integration area, so that the latest disk management information is recorded in the disk management work integration area in use. It is adjacent to the boundary between the recorded area and the unrecorded area where no disc management information is recorded. This information recording / reproducing apparatus includes: a nonvolatile memory; management information position writing means for writing position information of disk management information in the nonvolatile memory; management information writing means for writing disk management information to the nonvolatile memory; When the information recording medium is recognized, the position of the latest disk management information is identified using the position information of the latest disk management information stored in the nonvolatile memory, and the latest disk recorded at the identified position Reading means for reading the management information and reading the latest disk management information stored in the nonvolatile memory. With this configuration, the latest disk management information and its position information in the nonvolatile memory written by the management information writing means and the management information position writing means can be acquired without accessing the write-once information recording medium. can do. As a result, it is possible to reduce the time required to execute the instruction of the host control device by the amount of access to the write-once information recording medium.

  In an information recording / reproducing apparatus comprising management information position writing means for writing position information of the disk management information to a nonvolatile memory and management information writing means for writing disk management information to the nonvolatile memory, preferably the management information position When recording the disk management information in the disk management work integration area, the writing means writes the position information of the disk management information in the nonvolatile memory, and the management information writing means stores the disk management information in the disk management work integration area. When recording the data, the disk management information is written into the nonvolatile memory. With this configuration, when the same recordable information recording medium is recognized again, the position where the latest disc management information is recorded can be easily identified without accessing the recordable information recording medium. In addition, the disk management information stored in the nonvolatile memory can be acquired.

  The information recording / reproducing apparatus including the nonvolatile memory preferably further includes specific information writing means for writing information for specifying the write-once information recording medium in the nonvolatile memory. If comprised in this way, various information memorize | stored in a non-volatile memory by comparing the information intrinsic | native of the write-once type information recording medium read by the information recording / reproducing apparatus with the information written in the non-volatile memory. It is possible to determine whether the information (for example, disc management information) is valid information for the read write-once information recording medium.

  In this case, when the information for specifying the write-once information recording medium stored in the nonvolatile memory is different from the information for specifying the write-once information recording medium recorded in advance on the write-once information recording medium Further includes determination means for determining that the information stored in the nonvolatile memory is not used. According to this configuration, when these pieces of information do not match, it can be determined that the write-once information recording medium has been exchanged. Therefore, information stored in the non-volatile write-once information recording medium is not stored in the nonvolatile memory. It can be prevented from being applied.

  The information recording / reproducing apparatus control method according to the present invention provides information recorded on a write-once information recording medium in which a plurality of disc management work integration areas and a user data area for recording arbitrary data in accordance with a recording instruction are allocated. Is a method for controlling an information recording / reproducing apparatus capable of reproducing information and recording information on a write-once information recording medium. The information recording / reproducing apparatus stores disc management information including data final position information, which is management information related to the write-once information recording medium and is the position information of the data recorded last in the user data area. Thus, the disk management information buffer is provided in which the disk management information is updated each time a recording instruction for the user data area is generated. The information recording / reproducing apparatus sequentially records the disk management information stored in the disk management information buffer in each of the plurality of disk management work integration areas, and at this time, the disk management work in which the disk management information is recorded. The disk management information is not recorded in another disk management work integration area until the free space of the integration area becomes smaller than the threshold, and a specific one disk management work integration area includes a plurality of disk management work integration areas. When the first disk management information is recorded in the used disk management work integration area, the disk management work integration area in-use position information indicating which disk management work integration area is in use is recorded. Each time the disk management information stored in the disk management information buffer is updated, the disk management information buffer is stored. The disc management information is to not recorded in the disc management working consolidated region. In addition to the data final position information, the disk management information includes the data final position information in the latest disk management information recorded in the disk management work integration area and the disk management information stored in the disk management information buffer. An inconsistency flag indicating either a valid state indicating inconsistency with the data final position information therein or an invalid state indicating inconsistency is included. When a data recording request to the user data area is generated when the inconsistency flag in the latest disk management information recorded in the disk management work integration area is in an invalid state, the inconsistency flag is in an effective state. After the disk management information in the disk management information buffer is updated as described above, the disk management information in the disk management information buffer is recorded in the disk management work integration area. The control method of the information recording / reproducing apparatus determines whether or not the free capacity of the disc management work integration area in which the latest disc management information is recorded when the write-once information recording medium is recognized is smaller than a threshold. When it is determined in the capacity determination step and the free capacity determination step that the free capacity is smaller than the threshold, the newest disk management information recorded in the disk management work integration area is not recorded yet. In addition to recording in the disk management work integration area, the disk management work integration area in-use position information indicating that the disk management work integration area in use is the new disk management work integration area is stored in the specific disk management work integration area. An in-use position information recording step for recording.

  In the control method of the information recording / reproducing apparatus according to the present invention, as described above, is the free capacity of the disc management work integration area in which the latest disc management information is recorded when the write-once information recording medium is recognized smaller than a threshold value? In the free space determination step for determining whether or not the free space is determined to be smaller than the threshold value in the free space determination step, the latest disk management information recorded in the disk management work integration area is still the disk management information. A new disk management work integration area that is not recorded is recorded, and disk management work integration area in-use position information indicating that the disk management work integration area in use is the new disk management work integration area is specified. In-use location information recording step for recording in the disc management work integration area, thereby providing data recording Before seeking is performed, it is possible to allocate in advance the disc management working consolidated region a new disc management information is recorded. Thus, even when a data recording request is generated, data recording according to the data recording request can be performed without performing a process of assigning a new disk management work integration area. Therefore, in the control method of the information recording / reproducing apparatus according to the present invention, any data can be quickly recorded in the user data area after the data recording request is made.

  Further, in the control method of the information recording / reproducing apparatus according to the present invention, it is not necessary to perform the recording process of the disk management work integrated area in-use position information after the data recording request is made. There is no need to access and record a specific disk management work integration area where position information is recorded. In other words, in the control method of the information recording / reproducing apparatus according to the present invention, the host control apparatus has the same amount as the host controller need not provide the recording buffer of the host control apparatus in consideration of the time for recording by accessing a specific disk management work integration area. An increase in cost can be suppressed.

  DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments embodying the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an information recording / reproducing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. First, the configuration of an information recording / reproducing apparatus 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. The information recording / reproducing apparatus 1 of the present embodiment is connected to a host controller (not shown) via an I / O bus. The host control device is typically a back-end system such as a host computer or a recorder. The information recording / reproducing apparatus 1 is an apparatus capable of reproducing information recorded on a write-once optical disc 100 (see FIG. 2) described later and recording information on the write-once optical disc 100.

  The information recording / reproducing apparatus 1 includes an instruction control unit 10 that processes an instruction from the host controller, and a recording / recording unit that controls recording on the write-once optical disc 100 and reproduction of information recorded on the write-once optical disc 100 described later. The playback control unit 20, the latest disc management information recorded on the write-once optical disc 100, the disc management information buffer 30 for storing the latest disc management information reproduced from the write-once optical disc 100, and the recording data and playback data are temporarily stored. It comprises a data buffer 40 for storing, a non-volatile memory 50 such as a flash memory, and an optical pickup 60 for recording and reproducing data.

  In the present embodiment, the recording / playback control unit 20 has a function of writing the position information of the latest disk management information on the write-once optical disk 100 into the nonvolatile memory 50. Further, the recording / playback control unit 20 has a function of reading position information on the write-once optical disc 100 of the disc management information stored in the nonvolatile memory 50. The recording / playback control unit 20 also has a function of writing disc unique information, which is unique information of the write-once optical disc 100, to the nonvolatile memory 50 and a function of reading from the nonvolatile memory 50.

  In the present embodiment, the nonvolatile memory 50 is configured to be able to record integrated area availability information 121a to 121d and the like that indicate the location where the latest disk management information is stored. Further, the nonvolatile memory 50 is configured to be able to store disc unique information that is unique information of the recognized write-once optical disc 100. Specifically, first, when the information recording / reproducing apparatus 1 recognizes the write-once optical disc 100, the disc-specific information recorded in the lead-in area 110 (see FIG. 2) of the write-once optical disc 100 is recorded by the optical pickup 60. Read out. Then, the read disc unique information is temporarily stored in the data buffer 40, and the disc unique information is stored in the nonvolatile memory 50 by the recording / reproduction control unit 20.

  Further, the optical pickup 60 reads the disc management information recorded on the write-once optical disc 100 based on the position information read from the nonvolatile memory 50 under the control of the recording / reproduction control unit 20. Further, the optical pickup 60 writes the disc management information stored in the disc management information buffer 30 to the write-once optical disc 100 under the control of the recording / reproduction control unit 20. Specifically, the recording / playback control unit 20 moves the optical pickup 60 to a position where the disk management information can be read based on the position information of the disk management information stored in the nonvolatile memory 50 described above. To control. The optical pickup 60 can read the disc management information from the write-once optical disc 100 at that position.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the configuration of the area of a write-once optical disk to which a plurality of disk management work integration areas for recording disk management information are allocated. In the disc-shaped write-once optical disc 100, a large number of tracks are formed in a spiral shape, and a large number of finely divided blocks are formed in each of the large number of tracks. This block is a unit for error correction, and is a minimum unit for performing a recording operation and a reproducing operation. For example, in the case of DVD + R or DVD-R in which writing is performed using a red laser, the block size is 1 ECC (32 KByte), and in the case of a large capacity Blu-Ray disk in which writing is performed using a blue laser. The size of the block is one cluster (64 KB) size.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the write-once optical disc 100 is provided with a lead-in area 110, a data area 120, and a lead-out area 130. Recording and reproduction of user data, which is arbitrary data such as music and video, are performed on the data area 120. In addition, the lead-in area 110 and the lead-out area 130 allow the optical head (not shown) to follow the track even if the optical head overruns when accessing the end of the data area 120. This is the area provided. In the lead-in area 110, disc-specific information that can identify each disc is described.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a data structure of data recorded in the data area of the write-once optical disc shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 3, the data area 120 includes four disk management work integration areas 121 to 124, a user data area 125, and other areas. The four disk management work integration areas 121 to 124 and the user data area 125 are divided into a disk management work integration area 121, a disk management work integration area 122, a user data area 125, a disk management work from the center of the disk to the outside. The integrated area 123 and the disk management work integration area 124 are arranged in this order. The disk management work integration area 121 is configured to be able to record integrated area availability information 121a to 121d indicating availability of the four disk management work integration areas 121 to 124 and N disk management information 121e. The disk management work integration area 122 is configured to be able to record a plurality of disk management information 122a. In the example of FIG. 3, no information is recorded in a portion (unrecorded area 122b) other than the area where the disc management information 122a is recorded (the hatched area). The disk management work integration area 123 and the disk management work integration area 124 are also configured to be able to record a plurality of pieces of disk management information, similarly to the disk management work integration area 122 described above. In the example of FIG. 3, no information is recorded in the disk management work integration area 123 and the disk management work integration area 124. Further, the disc management information is composed of at least one block, and includes information such as recording information of the entire disc, information of a currently recorded area, and defect information.

  Each of the disk management work integration areas 121 to 124 is used in the order of the disk management work integration areas 121, 122, 123 and 124 from the inner periphery side of the disk, a predetermined disk management work integration area is in use, and When there is a free capacity (unrecorded area) in which new disk management information can be recorded, the predetermined disk management work integration area is used, and the new disk management work integration area is not used. Specifically, in the example of FIG. 3, no unrecorded area where new disk management information can be recorded is left in the disk management work integration area 121, but the disk management work integration area 122 contains An unrecorded area 122b remains. Therefore, when this unrecorded area 122b is larger than the size of the newly recorded disk management information, the new disk management information is recorded in the disk management work integration area 122 (unrecorded area 122b). On the other hand, when the unrecorded area 122b of the disk management work integration area 122 is smaller than the size of the newly recorded disk management information, the new disk management information is recorded in the disk management work integration area 123. The Therefore, the latest disc management information exists at the boundary between the recording area and the unrecorded area of the currently used disc management work integration area.

  In the present embodiment, the integrated area availability information 121a to 121d stored in the head part of the disk management work integration area 121 functions as an identifier indicating the disk management work integration area in use. The integrated area availability information 121a to 121d corresponds to the disk management work integrated areas 121 to 124, respectively. The area for recording the integrated area availability information 121a to 121d is composed of one block. If the block has already been recorded, it indicates that the corresponding disk management work integrated area is currently in use. . That is, in the example of FIG. 3, since the disk management information is recorded in the disk management work integration area 121 and the disk management work integration area 122, the integrated area availability information 121a and the integrated area availability information 121b are recorded. Blocks are recorded. In FIG. 3, blocks that have been recorded are hatched. When the unused disk management work integration area is started to be used, the integrated area availability information block corresponding to the disk management work integration area is recorded.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining that the disk management work integration area of the write-once optical disk shown in FIG. 2 is updated. Next, with reference to FIG. 4, the update of the integrated area availability information 121b shown in FIG. 3 will be described. Here, a case where the disk management work integration area 122 is newly used and the integration area availability information 121b is updated will be described.

  First, as shown in FIG. 4A, the disk management work integration area 121 has no area for recording new disk management information, and the other disk management work integration areas 122 to 124 are all in an unrecorded state. It is. Therefore, only the block in which the integrated area availability information 121a arranged in the disk management work integrated area 121 is recorded is recorded. Here, when new disk management information is updated, the new disk management information is recorded from the top of the disk management work integration area 122 as shown in FIG. As a result, since the disk management work integration area 122 is in use, the block in which the integrated area availability information 121b arranged at the head of the disk management work integration area 121 is recorded is in a recorded state. As described above, when a new disk management work integration area 122 becomes in use, new disk management information is recorded in a predetermined disk management work integration area and corresponds to the disk management work integration area. The integrated area availability information must also be recorded.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the relationship between the data structure of the data area of the write-once optical disc shown in FIG. 2 and the recording unit end address. Next, the recording unit end address of the user data area 125 recorded in the disc management information will be described with reference to FIG. The latest disc management information includes the recording unit end address of the user data area 125 as shown in FIG. This recording unit end address indicates the end address of the data recorded in the user data area 125. When the write-once type optical disc 100 is recorded sequentially, it is very useful for specifying where recording can be performed from the next time. This is important information. Therefore, the recording unit end address is updated every time data is recorded in the user data area 125.

  However, as described above, when the disc management information recorded on the write-once optical disc 100 is updated each time an instruction to record data in the user data area 125 is generated, the write response performance of the information recording / reproducing apparatus 1 Has the problem of getting worse. For this reason, in this embodiment, the disk management information including the recording unit end address is temporarily stored in the disk management information buffer 30 (see FIG. 1), and the power is turned off or the write-once optical disk 100 is ejected. At the timing, the disc management information stored in the disc management information buffer 30 is recorded on the write-once optical disc 100 as the latest disc management information. In other words, the disk management information stored in the disk management information buffer 30 is updated each time an instruction to record data in the user data area 125 is generated, but the disk management information stored in the disk management information buffer 30 is updated. Each time, the latest disc management information is not recorded on the write-once optical disc 100.

  Therefore, if the information recording / reproducing apparatus 1 is turned off due to a sudden power failure or the like before the latest disk management information stored in the disk management information buffer 30 is recorded on the write-once optical disk 100, the disk management There is a problem that inconsistency occurs between the latest disk management information stored in the information buffer 30 and the disk management information recorded on the write-once optical disk 100 most recently. If the write-once optical disc 100 is used as it is in this state, there is a possibility of causing a problem, and it is desirable to use the latest disc management information after recording it on the write-once optical disc 100. Therefore, in this embodiment, a disk management information inconsistency flag is recorded in the disk management information in order to indicate whether or not the above inconsistency has occurred. The disc management information inconsistency flag includes a recording unit end address in the latest disc management information recorded on the write-once optical disc 100 and a recording unit end address in the disc management information stored in the disc management information buffer 30. The state is either a valid state indicating inconsistency or an invalid state indicating consistency. That is, if the disc management information inconsistency flag is in an invalid state, it is guaranteed that the disc management information recorded on the write-once optical disc 100 is the latest, so that the disc management information stored in the disc management information buffer 30 is stored. When the disc management information recorded on the write-once optical disc 100 is updated, disc management information whose disc management information inconsistency flag is invalid is recorded on the write-once optical disc 100. Also, if the disk management information inconsistency flag is valid, it can be recognized that there is a mismatch between the disk management information recorded on the disk and the latest disk management information, so some disk repair processing is required. It can be recognized that

  FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining a method of searching for a recorded end position in the user data area of the write-once optical disc shown in FIG. With reference to FIG. 6, a method for searching the recorded end position of the disk management work integration area will be described.

  First, reproduction is performed from the beginning of the disk management work integration area, and the signal amplitude is inspected. Then, the reproduction operation is performed until the signal amplitude disappears, and the boundary where the signal amplitude disappears is detected. The boundary where the signal amplitude disappears is the recorded end position (the boundary position between the latest recorded disc management information and the unrecorded area). Since the disk management information recorded at this boundary position is the latest disk management information, the latest disk management information can be acquired by reading the information on the boundary position.

  FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a method of reading the latest disc management information performed when the write-once optical disc 100 is recognized by the information recording / reproducing apparatus 1 by the information recording / reproducing apparatus according to the embodiment shown in FIG. is there. With reference to FIG. 7, a procedure for reading the latest disc management information when the location information of the latest disc management information recorded on the write-once optical disc 100 is stored in the nonvolatile memory 50 will be described.

  First, when the write-once optical disc 100 is recognized by the information recording / reproducing apparatus 1, the recording / reproduction control unit 20 stores the disc-specific information of the recognized write-once optical disc 100 and the nonvolatile memory 50 in step S11. It is determined whether or not the disc unique information matches. Thereby, the validity of the information stored in the nonvolatile memory 50 is determined. In step S11, if the disc unique information of the write-once optical disc 100 matches the disc unique information stored in the nonvolatile memory 50, the write-once optical disc 100 is reproduced to obtain the position information of the disc management information. Instead of reading, in step S12, the recording / playback control unit 20 reads and acquires the latest position information of the disk management information stored in the nonvolatile memory 50.

  On the other hand, if the disc unique information of the write once optical disc 100 and the disc unique information stored in the nonvolatile memory 50 do not match in step S11, it is assumed that the write once optical disc 100 has been replaced. It is determined that the information stored in the nonvolatile memory 50 is not valid, and the information is not used. The information stored in the non-volatile memory 50 is information stored in the process of step S42 (see FIG. 10) in the flow of recording disk management information to be described later on the write-once optical disk 100. This is location information of disk management information. Thereafter, in step S13, the integrated area availability information arranged in the first block of the disk management work integrated area 121 is reproduced to find the boundary between the recorded area and the unrecorded area. The disk management work integration area corresponding to the integrated area availability information recorded at this boundary position becomes the disk management work integration area in use. Specifically, when up to the second block of the integrated area availability information is recorded, the latest disk management information is recorded in the disk management work integration area 122.

  In step S14, the boundary position between the recording area and the unrecorded area is specified using the signal amplitude test as shown in FIG. 6, and the position where the latest disc management information is recorded is specified. Then, after the position where the latest disk management information is recorded is acquired by the processing of step S12 or step S14, the position where the latest disk management information is recorded is reproduced in step S15, and the latest disk management information is recorded. Are read into the disk management information buffer 30.

  FIG. 8 is a flowchart relating to a series of processing performed subsequent to the processing of FIG. 7 during disc recognition by the information recording / reproducing apparatus of the embodiment shown in FIG. With reference to FIG. 8, a procedure for assigning a new disk management work integration area by the information recording / reproducing apparatus 1 will be described.

  First, in step S21, when the information recording / reproducing apparatus 1 recognizes the write-once optical disc 100, the recording / reproducing control unit 20 can record the disc management information in the currently used disc management work integration area. It is determined whether there is not enough free space, that is, whether the free space is exhausted immediately. Specifically, in step S21, the currently used disk management work is subtracted from the size of the currently used disk management work integrated area from the size of the recorded area of the currently used disk management work integrated area. The free space in the integrated area is detected, and it is determined whether or not the detected free space is smaller than a threshold value. If it is determined in step S21 that there is a sufficient free space capable of recording the latest disk management information (the free space is greater than or equal to the threshold value), the process is terminated. On the other hand, if it is determined in step S21 that there is not enough free space that can record the latest disc management information (the free space is smaller than the threshold), the optical pickup 60 in step S22 Based on the control of the recording / reproduction control unit 20, the latest disc management information stored in the write-once optical disc 100 is read and then recorded (copied) in a new disc management work integration area. For example, when the unrecorded area 122b (see FIG. 3) of the disk management work integration area 122 does not have a sufficient capacity to record the disk management information, the disk management work integration area 123 (see FIG. 3). Is recorded (copied) with the latest disc management information stored in the write-once optical disc 100. Here, the threshold data size is preferably slightly larger than the data size of general disk management information.

  In step S22, since the new disk management work integration area is started to be used, in step S23, the optical pickup 60 determines the first block of the disk management work integration area 121 based on the control of the recording / playback control unit 20. It is assumed that the integrated area availability information block corresponding to the newly started disk management work integration area has been recorded. Therefore, when the use of a new disk management work integration area is started, it is necessary to access the vicinity of the top of the disk management work integration area 121 and record the integrated area availability information. For example, in the example described above, the block of the integrated area availability information 121c corresponding to the disk management work integrated area 123 is already recorded.

  FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a method of recording user data when a data recording instruction is given to the information recording / reproducing apparatus according to the embodiment shown in FIG. With reference to FIG. 9, a method of recording user data by the information recording / reproducing apparatus 1 after recognizing the write-once optical disc 100 will be described.

  First, an instruction to record data in the user data area 125 (see FIG. 3) is generated from a host controller (not shown) via the I / O bus. In step S31, the recording / playback control unit 20 then sets the disc management information inconsistency flag included in the latest disc management information stored in the disc management information buffer 30 (or recorded on the write-once optical disc 100). It is determined whether or not is valid. If the disk management information inconsistency flag in the disk management information buffer 30 is valid in step S31, the process proceeds to step S34. On the other hand, if the disk management information inconsistency flag in the disk management information buffer 30 is invalid in step S31, the latest disk management information inconsistency flag in the disk management information buffer 30 in step S32. Set to enabled state.

  In step S33, the latest disc management information including the valid disc management information inconsistency flag is recorded on the write-once optical disc 100. Then, in step S34, the optical pickup 60 controls the recording / reproduction control unit 20. Based on this, the user data instructed to be recorded by the host controller is recorded in the user data area 125. In step S 35, the recording unit end address of the user data area 125 in which user data is recorded is recorded in the latest disk management information stored in the disk management information buffer 30. As described above, when recording the first user data after recognizing the write-once type optical disc 100, the processing of step S31, step S32, and step S33 is sequentially performed so that the disc management information inconsistency flag is not generated. It is necessary to record the disc management information in which is valid in the write-once optical disc 100. On the other hand, when the user data is recorded for the second and subsequent times after the write-once optical disc 100 is recognized, the disc management information inconsistency flag is already in an invalid state, so that it is not necessary to perform steps S31, S32, and S33. .

  FIG. 10 is a flowchart (subroutine) showing details of the process of recording the disc management information in step S33 shown in FIG. 9 on the write-once optical disc. With reference to FIG. 10, a procedure for storing the latest position information of the disk management information in the nonvolatile memory 50 will be described.

  First, in step S41, the optical pickup 60 controlled by the recording / reproduction control unit 20 records the latest disk management information stored in the disk management information buffer 30 in the currently used disk management work integration area. In step S <b> 42, the recording / playback control unit 20 stores the position information of the latest disc management information recorded on the write-once optical disc 100 in the nonvolatile memory 50. Thereafter, in step S43, the recording / playback control unit 20 records the unique information regarding the write-once optical disc 100 currently in use in the nonvolatile memory 50.

  In the present embodiment, as described above, since the process for allocating the disk management work integration area has been completed before the data recording instruction from the host control apparatus is performed, the data recording instruction is performed. In this case, data can be recorded without accessing the vicinity of the top of the disk management work integration area 121. As a result, the information recording / reproducing apparatus 1 can quickly record arbitrary data in the user data area 125.

  In the information recording / reproducing apparatus 1 of the present embodiment, after the data recording request is made by the host controller, the first block of the disk management work integration area 121 in which the integration area availability information 121a to 121d is recorded is accessed. There is no need to record. For this reason, even in the case of recording that requires real-time performance, it is not necessary to provide the host controller with a recording buffer that allows time for the optical pickup (optical head) to access the head block for recording. As a result, it is not necessary to excessively increase the recording buffer size of the host controller, and the host controller can be prevented from increasing in cost.

  The situation where a new disk management work integration area must be allocated occurs only a few times before all the disk management work integration areas are recorded. In order to cope with this infrequent processing, there is a problem that increasing the recording buffer on the host controller side leads to an increase in cost of the host controller, but the information recording / reproducing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment has the problem described above. The problem can be solved.

  In the present embodiment, when the disc management information is recorded on the write-once optical disc 100, the location information of the latest disc management information is stored in the nonvolatile memory 50 (step S42 (see FIG. 10)). When the same disk is recognized again, the latest disk management information can be read using the position information of the latest disk management information stored in the nonvolatile memory 50. This eliminates the need for the process of reading the write-once optical disc 100 for determining the position of the latest disc management information, and can significantly reduce the startup time until an instruction from the host controller is given. Further, when recording the disc management information on the write-once optical disc 100, the storage location can be determined using the latest location information of the disc management information stored in the non-volatile memory 50. This is effective not only when the write-once optical disc 100 is recognized by the playback apparatus 1 but also when recording disc management information onto the write-once optical disc 100.

  The embodiment disclosed this time should be considered as illustrative in all points and not restrictive. The scope of the present invention is shown not by the above description of the embodiment but by the scope of claims for patent, and all modifications within the meaning and scope equivalent to the scope of claims for patent are included.

  For example, in the above embodiment, the example in which the latest disk management information position information is stored in the nonvolatile memory has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the latest disk management information is stored in the nonvolatile memory. May be. Therefore, in the first modification, with reference to FIG. 11, a procedure for reading the latest disk management information when the latest disk management information recorded on the write-once optical disc 100 is stored in the nonvolatile memory 50. explain.

  First, when the write-once optical disc 100 is recognized by the information recording / reproducing apparatus 1, the recording / reproduction control unit 20 stores the disc-specific information on the recognized write-once optical disc 100 and the nonvolatile memory 50 in step S 51. It is determined whether or not the disc unique information matches. Thereby, the validity of the information stored in the nonvolatile memory 50 is determined. In step S51, when the disc unique information of the write once optical disc 100 matches the disc unique information stored in the nonvolatile memory 50, the write once optical disc 100 is reproduced and the disc management information is read out. In step S52, the recording / playback control unit 20 reads and acquires the disk management information stored in the nonvolatile memory 50.

  On the other hand, if the disc unique information of the write once optical disc 100 and the disc unique information stored in the nonvolatile memory 50 do not match in step S51, it is considered that the write once optical disc 100 has been replaced. It is determined that the information stored in the nonvolatile memory 50 is not valid, and the information is not used. The information stored in the non-volatile memory 50 is information stored in the process of step S62 (see FIG. 12) in the flow of recording disk management information, which will be described later, on the write-once optical disk 100. This is disk management information. Thereafter, in step S53, the integrated area availability information arranged in the first block of the disk management work integration area 121 is reproduced to find the boundary between the recording area and the unrecorded area. The disk management work integration area corresponding to the integrated area availability information recorded at this boundary position becomes the disk management work integration area in use.

  In step S54, the signal amplitude test as shown in FIG. 6 is used to identify the boundary position between the recorded area and the unrecorded area, and the position where the latest disc management information is recorded. Thereafter, in step S55, the latest disc management information is read out to the disc management information buffer 30 by reproducing the position where the latest disc management information specified by the processing in step S54 is recorded.

  Next, a procedure for storing the latest disc management information in the nonvolatile memory 50 by the information recording / reproducing apparatus of the first modification will be described with reference to FIG.

  First, in step S61, the optical pickup 60 controlled by the recording / reproduction control unit 20 records the latest disk management information stored in the disk management information buffer 30 in the currently used disk management work integration area. In step S <b> 62, the recording / playback control unit 20 stores the latest disk management information recorded on the write-once optical disk 100 in the nonvolatile memory 50. Thereafter, in step S <b> 63, the recording / playback control unit 20 records the unique information regarding the write-once optical disc 100 currently in use in the nonvolatile memory 50.

  In the first modification, when the disc management information is updated to the write-once optical disc 100, the latest disc management information is stored in the non-volatile memory 50 (step S62 (see FIG. 12)), so that the same again. When the disk is recognized, the latest disk management information stored in the nonvolatile memory 50 can be used. This eliminates the need for the process of reading the write-once optical disc 100, and can significantly reduce the startup time until an instruction from the host controller is given.

  In the above embodiment, an example in which the latest disk management information position information is stored in the nonvolatile memory will be described. In the first modification, the latest disk management information is stored in the nonvolatile memory. Although an example has been described, the present invention is not limited to this, and both the latest disk management information and its position information may be stored in the nonvolatile memory. Therefore, in the second modification, a procedure for storing the latest disk management information and its position information in the nonvolatile memory 50 will be described with reference to FIG.

  First, in step S71, the optical pickup 60 controlled by the recording / reproduction control unit 20 records the latest disk management information stored in the disk management information buffer 30 in the currently used disk management work integration area. In step S 72 and step S 73, the recording / playback control unit 20 stores the latest disc management information recorded on the write-once optical disc 100 and its position information in the nonvolatile memory 50. In step S <b> 74, the recording / playback control unit 20 records the unique information regarding the write-once optical disc 100 currently in use in the nonvolatile memory 50.

  In the second modification, when the disc management information is updated to the write-once optical disc 100, the latest disc management information and its position information are stored in the nonvolatile memory 50 (steps S72 and S73 (see FIG. 13)). Therefore, it is possible to realize an effect that combines the effects of the above-described embodiment and the first modification.

  In the above embodiment, the example of acquiring the latest disk management information position information stored in the nonvolatile memory (step S12 (see FIG. 7)) and the latest disk management information stored in the nonvolatile memory Although an example of acquisition (step S52 (see FIG. 11)) has been described, the present invention is not limited to this, and both the latest disk management information stored in the nonvolatile memory and its position information are acquired. May be.

  The write-once information recording medium is not limited to an optical disk, and may be another known write-once information recording medium such as a magnetic disk.

It is a block diagram of the information recording / reproducing apparatus by one Embodiment of this invention. It is the figure which showed the structure of the area | region of the write-once type | mold optical disk which has a disk management work integration area | region for recording disk management information. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a data structure of data recorded in a data area of the write-once optical disc shown in FIG. 2. It is a figure for demonstrating that the disk management work integration area | region of the write-once type | mold optical disk shown in FIG. 2 is updated. It is the figure which showed the state where the newest disk management information is recorded on the disk management work integration area. FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining a method for searching for a recorded end position in a user data area of the write-once optical disc shown in FIG. 2. 3 is a flowchart showing a method of reading the latest disc management information by the information recording / reproducing apparatus according to the embodiment shown in FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a procedure for assigning a new disc management work integration area by the information recording / reproducing apparatus of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1. 2 is a flowchart showing a method for recording user data when a data recording instruction is given to the information recording / reproducing apparatus according to the embodiment shown in FIG. 1; FIG. 10 is a flowchart (subroutine) showing details of processing for updating the disk management information in step S33 shown in FIG. 9 to a disk. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a method of reading the latest disc management information of the information recording / reproducing apparatus according to the first modification of the embodiment shown in FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing details of processing for updating disk management information of the information recording / reproducing apparatus according to the first modification of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 to a disk. 7 is a flowchart showing details of processing for updating disk management information of the information recording / reproducing apparatus according to the second modification of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 to a disk.

Explanation of symbols

1 Information Recording / Reproducing Device 20 Recording / Reproducing Control Unit (Management Information Location Writing Unit, Management Information Writing Unit, Specific Information Writing Unit, Reading Unit, Judging Unit)
30 Disc management information buffer 50 Non-volatile memory 60 Optical pickup (reading means)
100 Write-once optical disc 121-124 Disc management work integration area 121a-121d Integrated area availability information (disc management work integration area in-use position information)

Claims (10)

Information recorded on a write-once information recording medium to which a plurality of disc management work integration areas and a user data area for recording arbitrary data in accordance with a recording instruction are reproduced, and information is recorded on the write-once information recording medium An information recording / reproducing apparatus capable of recording
Storing disc management information including data final position information which is management information related to the write-once information recording medium and which is the position information of data last recorded in the user data area; A disk management information buffer in which the disk management information is updated each time a recording instruction for an area is generated;
The disk management information stored in the disk management information buffer is sequentially recorded in each of the plurality of disk management work integration areas. At this time, the disk management work integration area in which the disk management information is recorded is recorded. The disk management information is not recorded in another disk management work integration area until the free space becomes smaller than the threshold,
Disk management work integration area in-use position information indicating which one of the plurality of disk management work integration areas is the disk management work integration area in use in the specific one disk management work integration area Is recorded when the first disk management information is recorded in the disk management work integration area in use,
Each time the disk management information stored in the disk management information buffer is updated, the disk management information stored in the disk management information buffer is not recorded in the disk management work integration area.
In the disk management information, in addition to the data final position information, the data final position information in the latest disk management information recorded in the disk management work integration area and the disk management information buffer are stored. An inconsistency flag which is either a valid state indicating that the data final position information in the disk management information is inconsistent or an invalid state indicating consistency is included,
When a data recording request to the user data area occurs when the inconsistency flag in the latest disk management information recorded in the disk management work integration area is in an invalid state, the inconsistency flag is After updating the disk management information in the disk management information buffer to be in an effective state, record the disk management information in the disk management information buffer in the disk management work integration area,
If the free space in the disk management work integration area where the latest disk management information is recorded when the write-once information recording medium is recognized is smaller than the threshold, the latest recorded in the disk management work integration area The disk management information is recorded in the new disk management work integration area in which the disk management information is not yet recorded, and the disk management work integration area in use is the new disk management work integration area An information recording / reproducing apparatus, wherein the position information indicating that the disk management work integration area is in use is recorded in the specific disk management work integration area. By recording the disk management information in order from the beginning of the disk management work integration area, the latest disk management information is recorded in the disk management work integration area in which the disk management information is recorded. And adjacent to the boundary of the unrecorded area where the disc management information is not recorded,
Non-volatile memory;
Management information location writing means for writing location information of the disk management information into the nonvolatile memory;
When recognizing the write-once information recording medium, the position of the latest disk management information is identified using the latest position information of the disk management information stored in the nonvolatile memory, and the specified position is 2. The information recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising reading means for reading the latest recorded disc management information.   The said management information position writing means writes the position information of the said disk management information in the said non-volatile memory, when recording the said disk management information in the said disk management work integration area | region. The information recording / reproducing apparatus described. By recording the disk management information in order from the beginning of the disk management work integration area, the latest disk management information is recorded in the disk management work integration area in which the disk management information is recorded. And adjacent to the boundary of the unrecorded area where the disc management information is not recorded,
Non-volatile memory;
Management information writing means for writing the disk management information to the nonvolatile memory;
2. The information recording / reproducing according to claim 1, further comprising a reading unit that reads out the latest disk management information stored in the nonvolatile memory when the write-once information recording medium is recognized. apparatus.   5. The information recording according to claim 4, wherein the management information writing means writes the disk management information in the nonvolatile memory when recording the disk management information in the disk management work integration area. Playback device. By recording the disk management information in order from the beginning of the disk management work integration area, the latest disk management information is recorded in the disk management work integration area in which the disk management information is recorded. And adjacent to the boundary of the unrecorded area where the disc management information is not recorded,
Non-volatile memory;
Management information location writing means for writing location information of the disk management information into the nonvolatile memory;
Management information writing means for writing the disk management information to the nonvolatile memory;
When recognizing the write-once information recording medium, the position of the latest disk management information is identified using the latest position information of the disk management information stored in the nonvolatile memory, and the specified position is 2. The information recording according to claim 1, further comprising reading means for reading the latest recorded disk management information and reading the latest disk management information stored in the nonvolatile memory. Playback device. The management information location writing means writes the location information of the disc management information into the nonvolatile memory when recording the disc management information in the disc management work integration area,
7. The information recording according to claim 6, wherein the management information writing means writes the disk management information into the nonvolatile memory when recording the disk management information in the disk management work integration area. Playback device.   The information recording according to any one of claims 2 to 7, further comprising specific information writing means for writing information for specifying the write-once information recording medium in the nonvolatile memory. Playback device.   When the information for specifying the write-once information recording medium stored in the non-volatile memory is different from the information for specifying the write-once information recording medium recorded in advance on the write-once information recording medium 9. The information recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 8, further comprising determination means for determining that the information stored in the nonvolatile memory is not used. Information recorded on a write-once information recording medium to which a plurality of disc management work integration areas and a user data area for recording arbitrary data in accordance with a recording instruction are reproduced, and information is recorded on the write-once information recording medium A method for controlling an information recording / reproducing apparatus capable of recording
The information recording / reproducing apparatus comprises:
Storing disc management information including data final position information which is management information related to the write-once information recording medium and which is the position information of data last recorded in the user data area; A disk management information buffer in which the disk management information is updated each time a recording instruction for an area is generated;
The disk management information stored in the disk management information buffer is sequentially recorded in each of the plurality of disk management work integration areas. At this time, the disk management work integration area in which the disk management information is recorded is recorded. The disk management information is not recorded in another disk management work integration area until the free space becomes smaller than the threshold,
Disk management work integration area in-use position information indicating which one of the plurality of disk management work integration areas is the disk management work integration area in use in the specific one disk management work integration area Is recorded when the first disk management information is recorded in the disk management work integration area in use,
Each time the disk management information stored in the disk management information buffer is updated, the disk management information stored in the disk management information buffer is not recorded in the disk management work integration area.
In the disk management information, in addition to the data final position information, the data final position information in the latest disk management information recorded in the disk management work integration area and the disk management information buffer are stored. An inconsistency flag which is either a valid state indicating that the data final position information in the disk management information is inconsistent or an invalid state indicating consistency is included,
When a data recording request to the user data area occurs when the inconsistency flag in the latest disk management information recorded in the disk management work integration area is in an invalid state, the inconsistency flag is After updating the disk management information in the disk management information buffer to be in an effective state, record the disk management information in the disk management information buffer in the disk management work integration area,
The control method of the information recording / reproducing apparatus is:
A free capacity determination step of determining whether or not a free capacity of the disk management work integration area in which the latest disk management information is recorded when the write-once information recording medium is recognized;
When it is determined in the free space determination step that the free space is smaller than the threshold value, the newest disk management information recorded in the disk management work integration area is not recorded yet. The disk management work integration area used position information indicating that the disk management work integration area in use is the new disk management work integration area. A method for controlling an information recording / reproducing apparatus, comprising: an in-use position information recording step for recording in a disc management work integration area.

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