JP2009238337A - Information recording and reproduction control device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an information recording and reproduction control device which prevents a recording speed from lowering while maintaining the reliability of data and does not bother a host computer even during detecting a verify error. <P>SOLUTION: The quality of a signal recorded in an area just before a break point of continuous recording is examined. When the quality satisfies a predetermined condition, it is possible to omit a verify operation for testing signal quality of an area from a recording start point or just after the preceding continuous recording break point to the break point of the current continuous recording. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an information recording / reproducing control apparatus, an information recording / reproducing apparatus using the information recording / reproducing control apparatus, and an information recording / reproducing control method, and more particularly to an information recording / reproducing control apparatus using a rewritable information recording medium. And an information recording / reproducing apparatus using this information recording / reproducing control apparatus, and an information recording / reproducing control method.

In recent years, due to an increasing demand for data storage, an optical disk array device constituted by an optical disk device using an optical disk medium is used as data backup or library storage. In a storage device used for the above-described purposes, reliability is required for recorded data.

In order to guarantee data reliability, a verify process is performed when data is recorded. The verify process is a process in which after data is written, the recorded data is read and collated with the data that should have been recorded. Although the reliability of data is guaranteed by performing the verify process, the data recording speed is reduced to about half that when the verify process is not performed.

On the other hand, the disk array is a technique for obtaining a higher recording / reproducing speed than a single disk device by operating a plurality of disk devices in parallel. In addition, there is a method of generating and using redundant data in order to achieve high reliability as well as high speed. Data to be recorded is divided into N parts, and redundant data for one piece of divided data is generated and recorded in parallel on N + 1 disk devices. Redundant data is generated as parity data from N pieces of divided data. If recorded in this way, if one of the divided data cannot be reproduced at the time of reproduction, the divided data that could not be reproduced can be restored from the N-1 divided data and redundant data.

However, the optical disk medium is a high-capacity, low-price interchangeable medium, but is said to have a relatively high error rate. Therefore, in order to improve data reliability even when a disk array is configured, it is common to perform a verify process during data recording. For this reason, attempts have been made to omit the verify process while maintaining the reliability of the data.

In relation to the above, Patent Document 1 (Republished WO96 / 28822) discloses an invention relating to a signal recording method.
The signal recording method of the invention of Patent Document 1 is characterized in that a threshold value corresponding to the type of data to be recorded is set, and data satisfying the set threshold value is recorded on the medium.

Patent Document 2 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-258913) discloses an invention relating to a storage device array system.
The storage device array system of the invention of Patent Document 2 has redundant data generation means, data writing means, data reading means, data restoring means, data recovery means, and recovery data writing means. Here, the redundant data generating means generates redundant data from a plurality of storage devices and external input data. The data writing means writes external input data and redundant data into the storage device. The data reading means reads data from the recording device in response to an external request. The data restoring means restores data that cannot be read from data recorded in another storage device when the data reading means cannot read data recorded in any of the storage devices. The data recovery means recovers lost data from data recorded in another storage device when the data recorded in any of the storage devices is lost. The recovery data writing means writes the recovered data that has been recovered to a new storage device. This storage device array system is provided with a recovery recording means. The recovery recording means records the writing and unwriting of the recovery data for each recording unit of the new storage device. The restoration data writing means is configured to write the data restored by the data restoration means to the new storage device as restoration data. The recovery means is configured to recover only the data to be written in the recording unit in which the recovery data is not written.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-144381 discloses an invention relating to a data recording / reproducing apparatus.
The data recording / reproducing apparatus of the invention of Patent Document 3 performs a recording / reproducing process of a recording medium capable of recording at least computer data and video data. This data recording / reproducing apparatus is characterized by comprising data reading means, digital watermark detection means, and determination means. Here, the data reading means reads data from the recording medium. The digital watermark detection means detects digital watermark information from the data obtained by the data reading means. The determination means determines that the digital watermark information is computer data when the digital watermark information is not detected by the digital watermark detection means, and determines that the digital watermark information is video data when the digital watermark information is detected. is there.

  Patent Document 3 describes a technique in which when digital watermark information is detected, the data is classified as video data, when not, computer data and data are classified, and when classified as video data, verification processing is not executed. .

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-268511 discloses an invention relating to a data recording apparatus.
The data recording device of the invention of Patent Document 4 is a device that records data on a recording medium. This data recording apparatus has an error detection means and a control means. Here, the error detection means detects a video data write error. The control means controls whether or not to verify the moving image data existing after the data according to the detection result by the error detection means.

  Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-228561 describes a technique of detecting a writing error of moving image data and determining whether or not to perform a verify process on moving image data positioned thereafter based on a detection result. However, there is no recovery plan for an area where a verification error (a situation where correct data could not be read) has occurred in the already recorded portion.

Patent Document 5 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-358213) discloses an invention related to a GUI event program execution device.
The GUI event program execution device according to the invention of Patent Document 5 includes an operation description storage unit and an operation description sending unit. Here, the operation description storage means stores the GUI operation description and the debug operation description in order. The operation description sending means sequentially retrieves the operation descriptions stored in the operation description storage means, and if the operation description is a GUI operation description, the operation description sending means sends the debug operation description to the event activation device that starts the GUI event program of the GUI operation description. If there is, the debug operation description is distributed and sent to the debug execution device that executes the debug operation of the activated GUI event program.

Patent Document 6 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-109226) discloses an invention related to an optical disk device.
The optical disc apparatus of the invention of Patent Document 6 has a function of interrupting data recording when an error occurs in the data recording operation and then restarting data recording from the beginning of an unrecorded area where no data is recorded. is there. The optical disc apparatus includes an abnormality detection unit, a trial writing unit, a determination unit, and a process execution unit. Here, the abnormality detection means detects tracking or focus abnormality. The test writing means, when an abnormality is detected, interrupts data recording using the function, and trial writes data by a predetermined amount from the beginning of an unrecorded area in which no data is recorded. The determination means determines whether or not the test-written data can be reproduced. The process execution means resumes data recording from the beginning of an unrecorded area immediately after the trial writing when the trial written data can be reproduced, and when the trial written data cannot be reproduced. The error processing is executed.

Patent Document 7 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-272317) discloses an invention relating to a recording control method of an optical disc recording / reproducing apparatus.
According to the recording control method of the optical disc recording / reproducing apparatus of Patent Document 7, the recording position is moved from the inner circumference side of the disc to the outer circumference side, and the recording interruption is resumed when the recording position reaches a predetermined position. The optical disk recording / reproducing apparatus is configured to change the speed to the linear speed on the high speed side and includes a buffer RAM in which a recording signal transmitted from the host device is temporarily stored. The recording control method of this optical disc recording / reproducing apparatus is obtained from the step of retracting the optical pickup to reproduce the signal recorded on the disc before the recording interruption at the time of changing the recording speed, and the signal reproduced by the optical pickup. A step of restarting the recording operation from the recording interruption position based on the synchronization processing of the synchronization signal and the recording reference signal, a step of detecting whether or not the rotational speed of the disc immediately after the speed change is in a stable state, A step of performing a synchronization process when it is determined to be stable.

Patent Document 8 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-178654) discloses an invention relating to a playback apparatus.
The playback device of Patent Document 8 plays back information on an exchangeable information recording medium. The reproduction apparatus includes a reproduction unit, a recognition unit, a storage unit, a reproduction interruption control unit, and a reproduction start control unit. Here, the reproducing means reproduces information on the information recording medium. The recognition means recognizes identification information for identifying the information recording medium. The storage means stores information including identification information. The reproduction interruption control means starts reproduction by the reproduction means in order to perform the next reproduction of the information recording medium from the interruption position when the reproduction of the information recording medium is interrupted, and the identification information of the information recording medium recognized by the recognition means. The interrupting position information that can specify the position on the information recording medium to be identified is associated with each other and stored in the storage means. The reproduction start control means reproduces the reproduction by the reproduction means based on the interruption position information stored in the storage means corresponding to the identification information of the information recording medium recognized by the recognition means when the reproduction of the information recording medium is started. It controls the starting position.

Patent Document 9 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-185477) discloses an invention relating to an optical storage medium array device.
The optical storage medium array device of the invention of Patent Document 9 has one or more optical storage media and one or more optical storage medium drives that write and read data from and on the optical storage medium. The optical storage medium array apparatus includes redundant data calculation means, verify interval setting means, write control means, and read control means. Here, the redundant data calculation means adds redundant data to the data in accordance with a predetermined instruction. The verify interval setting means sets a verify interval for performing a verify process when data is written to the optical storage medium when redundant data is added by the redundant data calculation means. The write control means changes the verify interval in accordance with the number of rewrite requests generated when data is written to the optical storage medium. The read control means changes the verify interval according to the number of re-read requests generated when reading data from the optical storage medium.

  Patent Document 9 describes a technique in which verify processing is performed at each verify interval, and the verify interval is determined by the number of rewrite requests during writing and the number of reread requests during reading. For a portion that is not verified immediately after writing, a consistency check is performed using a disk array configuration using redundant data when data recording or reproduction is not requested from the host computer. When there is a mismatch, the host computer is requested to write again. In order to resolve the inconsistency, the host computer is troublesome.

Patent Document 10 (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-326996) discloses an invention relating to a recording apparatus.
The recording apparatus of the invention in Patent Document 10 records an input signal as digital data in a file format. The recording apparatus includes storage means, control means, and division management means. Here, the buffer memory temporarily stores input signals as digital data. The storage means stores digital data as a file. The control means performs control for storing the digital data temporarily stored in the buffer memory in the storage means as a file. The division management means generates a division timing signal for dividing the digital data at an arbitrary timing. Further, the control means inputs the digital data continuously input stored in the buffer memory into the buffer memory so that it becomes a file divided according to the timing of the division timing signal from the division management means. Control is performed so that the storage means accumulates at a higher writing speed.

Patent Document 11 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-160060) discloses an invention relating to a data recording apparatus.
The data recording apparatus of the invention of Patent Document 11 includes a determination unit, a recording unit, a recording verify unit, and a recording control unit. Here, the determination means determines at least one of the data configuration, type, and attribute. The recording means records the data in the storage means. The recording verify means performs a recording verify process for the recorded data. The recording control unit controls the recording verifying unit to perform a verifying process on at least a part of the data based on the determination result of the determining unit.

  Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-151561 describes a technique for determining the configuration, type, and attribute of data and determining whether to perform a verify process based on the determination result.

Patent Document 12 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2007-221195) discloses an invention relating to an access point.
The access point of the invention of Patent Document 12 is used in a wireless LAN system including a wireless LAN terminal and a plurality of access points, and can communicate via the LAN. The access point includes signal quality acquisition means, search execution level calculation means, search execution level transfer means, search execution level storage means, and search execution level notification means. Here, the signal quality acquisition means obtains the received signal quality before and after the handover from the wireless LAN terminal that has been handed over from another access point, and the access point before the handover that is the access point to which the wireless LAN terminal belonged before the handover. It is acquired together with the identification information. The search execution level calculation means calculates a search execution level used for determining whether or not to search for other access points other than the belonging access point based on the received signal quality acquired by the signal quality acquisition means. Is to be calculated. The search execution level transfer means transfers the search execution level calculated by the search execution level calculation means to the pre-handover access point together with the identification information of the own access point based on the identification information of the access point before handover. . The search execution level storage means stores the search execution level in association with the identification information of other access points when receiving the identification information and search execution levels of other access points from other access points. . The search execution level notification means notifies the subordinate wireless LAN terminal of the search execution level stored in the search execution level storage means together with the identification information of the corresponding access point using wireless communication.

Republished WO96 / 28822 JP-A-9-258913 Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-144381 JP 2000-268511 A JP 2002-358213 A JP 2003-109226 A JP 2003-272317 A JP 2004-178654 A JP 2004-185477 A JP 2004-326996 A JP 2005-160060 A JP 2007-221195 A

  An object of the present invention is to provide an information recording / reproducing control apparatus that avoids a decrease in recording speed while maintaining the reliability of data and does not bother a host computer even when a verify error is detected.

  An information recording / reproducing control apparatus according to the present invention performs control for recording information of an arbitrary first data amount transmitted from a host computer on an information recording medium. This information recording / reproducing control apparatus includes timing generation means, signal quality acquisition means, and signal quality determination means. Here, the timing generation unit generates a timing signal every time the predetermined second data amount information is recorded out of the first data amount information and when the first data amount information has been recorded. Output. The signal quality acquisition means acquires the signal quality in the last part of the recorded second data amount or the remaining information less than the second data amount every time the timing signal is generated and output. The signal quality determination means needs to re-record the second data amount or the remaining information that does not satisfy the second data amount based on whether or not the signal quality in the acquired tail part satisfies the predetermined quality condition. It is determined whether or not there is.

  An information recording / reproducing control method according to the present invention is for recording information of an arbitrary first data amount transmitted from a host computer on an information recording / reproducing medium. In this information recording / reproducing control method, (a) recording information of a first data amount in a predetermined second data amount unit, or recording remaining information less than the second data amount; ) Determining the signal quality of the second data amount recorded in step (a) or the remaining information that does not satisfy the second data amount. Here, the step (b) includes the step (b-1) of acquiring the signal quality in the second data amount or the last part of the remaining information that does not satisfy the second data amount, and the step (b-2). Determining that the recording of the second data amount or the remaining information that does not satisfy the second data amount is completed when the signal quality acquired in (b-1) satisfies a predetermined quality condition; (B-3) When the signal quality acquired in step (b-1) does not satisfy the predetermined quality condition, the second data amount or the remaining information that does not satisfy the second data amount is retransmitted. Determining that recording is necessary.

  According to the present invention, in the information recording / reproducing control apparatus for controlling the information recording / reproducing apparatus for recording and reproducing data on the information recording medium, the quality of the signal recorded in the area immediately before the continuous recording interruption point is investigated, and If the specified condition is satisfied, the verify operation for testing the signal quality in the area from the recording start point or immediately after the previous continuous recording interruption point to the current continuous recording interruption point can be omitted. . That is, it is possible to avoid a decrease in recording speed by omitting the verify process while maintaining the reliability of data.

  With reference to the attached drawings, the best mode for carrying out an information recording / reproducing control apparatus according to the present invention, an information recording / reproducing apparatus using the control apparatus, and an information recording / reproducing control method will be described below.

(First embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a block diagram for explaining the configuration of an information recording / reproducing control apparatus 1 according to the present invention.
The information recording / reproducing control device 1 includes a host interface unit 2, an information recording / reproducing control unit 3, and an information recording / reproducing device interface unit 4.

  The host interface unit 2 is connected to an external host computer (not shown). On the other hand, the host interface unit 2 is connected to the information recording / reproducing control unit 3. On the other hand, the information recording / reproducing control unit 3 is connected to the information recording / reproducing device interface unit 4. On the other hand, the information recording / reproducing apparatus interface unit 4 is connected to a plurality of information recording / reproducing apparatuses 5a to 5d.

  The host interface unit 2 realizes communication with the host computer. The information recording / reproducing control unit 3 temporarily holds and controls recording data and reproducing data between the host interface unit 2 and the information recording / reproducing apparatus interface unit 4.

  The information recording / reproducing apparatus interface unit 4 includes one or more information recording / reproducing apparatus interfaces, to which one or more information recording / reproducing apparatuses 5a to 5d are connected. The information recording / reproducing apparatus interface 4 may be an ATA interface defined by ANSI (American National Standards Institute) or a SCSI interface. Also, other standard interfaces may be used. The information recording / reproducing devices 5a to 5d connected to the information recording / reproducing device interface unit 4 may be optical disk devices, or may be magnetic disk devices, semiconductor memory devices, or the like.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram for explaining the configuration of the information recording / reproducing control unit 3 according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
The information recording / reproducing control unit 3 includes a timing generation unit 10, a signal quality acquisition unit 20, a signal quality determination unit 30, a defective position storage unit 40, a data re-recording unit 50, and a data holding unit 60.

  The timing generation unit 10 is connected to the signal quality determination unit 30. The signal quality determination unit 30 is connected to the signal quality acquisition unit 20 and the signal quality investigation unit 40. The signal quality acquisition means is connected to the signal quality determination means 30 and the signal quality investigation means 40. The signal quality investigation unit 40 is connected to the signal quality acquisition unit 20 and the data re-recording unit 50. The data re-recording unit 50 is connected to the data holding unit 60. The data holding unit 60 is connected to the data re-recording unit 50.

  The timing generation means 10 generates and outputs an operation timing signal when a predetermined amount of data is continuously recorded on each information recording medium. Further, the timing generation unit 10 generates and outputs an operation timing signal for each of the information recording media even when continuous recording on the information recording medium is completed. The data arrangement on the information recording medium differs depending on the information recording medium to be used and the information recording / reproducing devices 5a to 5d, but can be known in advance. It is possible for the timing generation means 10 to determine whether or not data is continuously recorded on the information recording medium.

  The information recording / reproducing control unit 3 interrupts continuous recording when the operation timing signal is generated and output from the timing generation means 10.

  The signal quality acquisition means 20 acquires the quality of the signal recorded at the designated position on the information recording medium from the information recording / reproducing devices 5a to 5d. The information recording / reproducing apparatuses 5a to 5d to be used preferably have a function of reporting the quality of the recorded signal corresponding to the designated position on the information recording medium to the information recording / reproducing control unit 3. FIG. 2 shows an example in which four information recording / reproducing devices 5 a to 5 d are connected to the information recording / reproducing device interface unit 4. This is merely an example, and the total number of information recording / reproducing devices is not particularly limited.

  For example, first, the information recording / reproducing control unit 3 issues a signal quality measurement command to the information recording / reproducing device 5a via the information recording / reproducing device interface unit 4. This signal quality measurement command is a command for requesting the signal quality at a desired position. Next, the information recording / reproducing apparatus 5a reports the signal quality data in response to the signal quality measurement command.

  Various standards can be considered for the signal quality depending on the information recording medium and the information recording / reproducing apparatus to be used. For example, whether or not reproduction is possible without error can be used as signal quality data. Alternatively, a jitter amount indicating a time lag from the ideal timing of the reproduced signal, or the number of error correction symbols per predetermined data amount in an error correction mechanism in the information recording / reproducing apparatus can be used.

  When the operation timing signal is generated and output by the timing generation unit 10, the signal quality determination unit 30 uses the signal quality acquisition unit 20 to output the signal recorded in the area immediately before the interruption point at which continuous recording was interrupted. Get quality. The signal quality determination means 30 determines whether or not a predetermined condition is satisfied using the result.

  An information recording medium has a minimum recording unit when performing physical recording. Therefore, the signal quality is determined by acquiring the signal quality of the minimum recording unit at the end of continuous recording, for example. In an optical disk medium, a data amount obtained by adding control data and error correction code data to user data 64 kB is defined as a minimum recording unit. For example, the signal quality determination unit 30 can be configured to perform determination based on the quality of the signal recorded in the immediately preceding minimum recording unit at the interruption point at which continuous recording was interrupted.

  The signal quality investigation unit 40 operates according to the determination result from the signal quality determination unit 30. When the signal quality determining unit 30 does not satisfy the predetermined condition, the signal quality examining unit 40 searches for and stores a position on the information recording medium that does not satisfy the predetermined condition. At this time, the signal quality acquisition means 20 investigates the signal quality of all areas from the recording start point or immediately after the interruption point at which the previous continuous recording was interrupted to the interruption point of the current continuous recording.

  A unique address is assigned to each recording unit in the recording area of the information recording medium. Since physical recording on the information recording medium is performed for each minimum recording unit, a signal quality check is performed for each minimum recording unit, and an address corresponding to the minimum recording unit that does not satisfy a predetermined condition is stored.

  The data re-recording means 50 re-records the data stored in the signal quality investigation means 40 at a position that does not satisfy a predetermined condition after the series of investigations by the signal quality investigation means 40 is completed.

  The data re-recording means 50 uses the data corresponding to the area from the recording start point or immediately after the previous continuous recording interruption point to the interruption point of the current continuous recording held in the data holding means 60, Re-record. The information recording / reproducing control unit 3 performs control for dividing data to be recorded into N pieces and performing parallel recording on N pieces of information recording media. When the predetermined continuous data amount in the timing generation unit 10 is C, the data holding unit 60 needs to hold an N × C data amount. For example, when data is recorded in parallel on four information recording media and the continuous data amount is 100 MB, the data holding means 60 needs to hold 400 MB of data.

(Second Embodiment)
FIG. 3 is a block diagram for explaining the configuration of the information recording / reproducing control unit 3 according to the second embodiment of the present invention.
As compared with the information recording / reproducing control unit 3 according to the first embodiment, the information recording / reproducing control unit 3 includes a data restoring unit 70 instead of the data holding unit 60. In the information recording / reproducing control unit 3 according to the second embodiment, other configurations and connection relationships between the respective components are the same as those in the first embodiment, and thus the description thereof is omitted.

  The data re-recording means 50 obtains data corresponding to the position where data is to be re-recorded from the data restoration means 70 and performs re-recording. When the data to be recorded on a plurality of information recording media including redundant data is divided and recorded and reproduced in parallel as described above, even if one recorded divided data cannot be reproduced, it can be reproduced. Thus, it is possible to restore the divided data that could not be reproduced from the other divided data and the redundant data.

  As a technique for dividing data, creating and recording redundant data, recording it, and then restoring it even if part of the divided data is lost, for example, so-called RAID (Redundant Arrays of Independent Disks) 5 or RAID 6 is also known. Yes.

  The data restoration means 70 reproduces data from a plurality of information recording media using a plurality of information recording / reproducing apparatuses via the information recording / reproducing apparatus interface unit 4 to restore data used for re-recording. For example, four information recording / reproducing devices 5a to 5d are connected to the information recording / reproducing device interface unit 4, and the data to be recorded is divided into three, and further redundant data is generated for one divided data, Consider a case in which recording is performed in parallel on four information recording media using four information recording / reproducing devices 5a to 5d. At this time, when re-recording on the information recording medium is performed by the information recording / reproducing apparatus 5b, the corresponding data is read from the information recording / reproducing apparatuses 5a, 5c, 5d to be used for re-recording by the information recording / reproducing apparatus 5b. The data that should be restored. In this example, one example of redundant data is shown, but there may be a configuration in which two or more redundant data are provided.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the information recording / reproducing control method according to the present invention.
When a plurality of information recording media are used, the procedure is applied to each information recording medium individually.

  When continuous recording starts, first, data is recorded in step S1. Thereafter, in step S2, it is determined whether a predetermined amount of data has been continuously recorded.

  If it is determined in step S2 that the continuously recorded data amount does not reach a predetermined data amount, the process proceeds to step S3.

  In step S3, it is determined whether the continuous recording is finished. If it is determined in step S3 that the continuous recording has not ended, the process returns to step S1 to continue the continuous recording.

  If it is determined in step S3 that the continuous recording has been completed, the continuous recording is interrupted without returning to step S1. In step S4, an operation timing signal is generated and output, and the signal quality of the area immediately before the interruption point at which continuous recording is interrupted is examined.

  Even when it is determined in step S2 that the data amount continuously recorded has reached a predetermined data amount, the continuous recording is interrupted without returning to step S1. In step S4, an operation timing signal is generated and output, and the signal quality of the area immediately before the interruption point at which continuous recording is interrupted is examined.

  After step S4, in step S5, it is determined whether or not the signal quality of the area immediately before the interruption point at which continuous recording is interrupted satisfies a predetermined condition.

  If it is determined in step S5 that the predetermined condition is not satisfied, the process proceeds to step S7, where all the areas from the recording start point or immediately after the previous continuous recording interruption point to the interruption point of the current continuous recording are displayed. The signal quality is checked, and a position that does not satisfy a predetermined condition is stored. Further, in step S8, the stored data on the defective position is re-recorded.

  In step S8, the data re-recorded at the defective position is read again, and the signal quality is determined. If the signal quality satisfies a predetermined condition, the process can proceed to the next step.

  However, if the signal quality does not satisfy the condition, it is necessary to continue data rerecording a predetermined number of times. Even if data re-recording is repeated a predetermined number of times, the signal quality may not satisfy a predetermined condition. This is the case, for example, when a specific area is unusable due to a scratch on the storage medium. In this case, an operation such as using a spare area prepared in advance is performed instead of the defective position.

  In step S8, when the data re-recording is completed, the process proceeds to step S6 to determine whether or not the continuous recording is finished.

  In step S5, also when a predetermined condition is satisfied, the process proceeds to step S6 to determine whether or not the continuous recording is finished.

  If it is determined in step S6 that continuous recording has not ended, the process returns to step S1 to resume data recording.

  If it is determined in step S6 that the continuous recording has been completed, the series of processes for performing the continuous recording ends.

  If the determination is made in step S3 immediately before executing step S4, the determination in step S6 can be omitted and the determination result in step S3 can be used instead.

  5A to 5H illustrate processing performed on an information recording medium when the information recording / reproducing control apparatus and the information recording / reproducing control method according to the present invention are applied.

  FIG. 5A is a diagram for explaining a recording area of the information recording medium. Assume that continuous recording is performed from point S to point E. Assume that each portion separated by a dotted line is the minimum recording unit. Furthermore, it is assumed that the predetermined data amount described in the timing generation unit 10 and the timing generation step is a data amount corresponding to five minimum recording units. Accordingly, from point S to point E in FIG. 5A corresponds to three predetermined data amounts from point S to point A, point A to point B, and point B to point E. Data recording is performed for each minimum recording unit.

  FIG. 5B is a diagram for explaining the start of continuous recording. When continuous recording is started, first, data recording is performed in an area corresponding to the minimum recording unit at the left end on the S point side.

  FIG. 5C is a diagram for explaining interruption of continuous recording. Data recording is performed, and when the recorded data amount reaches a predetermined data amount, the continuous recording is temporarily interrupted.

  FIG. 5D is a diagram for explaining a signal quality investigation in a partial area of continuous recording. When the continuous recording is interrupted, the quality of the signal recorded in the minimum recording unit immediately before the interrupted point A is investigated.

  FIG. 5E is a diagram for describing resumption of recording in continuous recording. If the investigated signal quality satisfies a predetermined condition, data recording is resumed from the point A where it was interrupted.

  FIG. 5F is a diagram for explaining the signal quality survey in the entire area of continuous recording. When the investigated signal quality does not satisfy the predetermined condition, the signal quality of all the areas from the start point S to the point A where continuous recording is interrupted is investigated. As a result of the investigation, it is assumed that the signal quality in the minimum recording units ER1 and ER2 does not satisfy a predetermined condition. The positions of ER1 and ER2 are stored as the positions that were defective.

  FIG. 5G is a diagram for explaining re-recording in continuous recording. The data corresponding to the stored defective positions ER1 and ER2 are re-recorded in the minimum recording units ER1 and ER2.

  After re-recording, processing for examining the signal quality may be added again. At this time, if the predetermined condition is not satisfied, for example, the defect replacement process used in the optical disk medium can be used to record at another spare position. In addition, since the write-once information recording medium cannot be re-recorded at the same location, it is effective to apply the process of recording at the other spare position.

  FIG. 5H is a diagram for describing resumption of recording after re-recording in continuous recording. When the re-recording is completed, the data recording is resumed from the interrupted point A.

  Information is continuously recorded in the areas from point A to point B and from point B to point E as in the case of points S to A.

  A supplementary explanation will be given for interruption of continuous recording in the present invention. The interruption of continuous recording according to the present invention is performed in order to confirm the signal quality for each predetermined information amount unit. That is, the signal quality is not determined in the case of interruption for other reasons.

  For example, regarding the interruption of continuous recording due to a so-called buffer underrun state that occurs because the information transfer to the optical disc recording apparatus is not in time, it is not necessary to determine the signal quality.

  Further, when the information recording medium used is an optical disk, there is a possibility that an accident such as tracking out of focus or out of focus may occur during recording. When such an accident occurs, recording may be interrupted. However, this kind of interruption is not assumed in the present invention, and it is not necessary to determine the signal quality.

  In addition, as a method for recording an optical disk, a ZCLV (Zoned Constant Linear Velocity) method, a PCAV (Partial Constant Angular Velocity) method, and the like are known. In these recording methods, the rotation speed and information transfer speed of the optical disk fluctuate while information is continuously recorded on the optical disk. In order to cope with this variation, continuous recording may be interrupted. However, this interruption is different in nature from the interruption in the present invention, and it is not necessary to determine the signal quality.

  In addition, in order to confirm the signal quality, the information recorded immediately before is read out, and at this time, reproduction may be interrupted for some reason. However, it is not necessary to determine the signal quality by interrupting reproduction.

  A supplementary description will be given of the generation of the timing signal in the present invention. The timing signal in the present invention is generated and outputted when the recording of a preset data amount is completed, and informs the timing for starting the judgment of the quality of the signal recorded immediately before. Therefore, even if the recording is terminated for other reasons, it is not necessary to generate and output a timing signal in such a case.

  For example, when a recording operation is completed due to some abnormality in a recording apparatus that records information, there is no need to generate and output a timing signal. The same applies to the case where the recording operation is terminated due to a change in the laser light applied to the optical disk.

  The signal quality determination according to the present invention will be supplementarily described. The signal quality according to the present invention confirms whether or not the signal just recorded on the information recording medium can be reproduced. Therefore, there is no relation to the signal quality after the signal read from the information recording medium is transmitted via a communication line or the like.

  A supplementary description will be given of re-recording according to the present invention. Re-recording according to the present invention is minimized. That is, only the portion where the reading error actually occurs is recorded again in the information amount continuously recorded at one time. However, re-recording is performed in the minimum recording unit due to limitations on the format of the recording medium or physical limitations.

  A supplementary description will be given of the information recording / reproducing control method according to the present invention. This control method may be realized by an arbitrary logic circuit, but is preferably realized by causing a microcomputer or a computer to execute a predetermined program.

  In this case, the control program is not interrupted from the start to the end of recording. That is, even if recording is interrupted when a predetermined amount of information is recorded during continuous recording, the program is not interrupted there.

  A supplementary description will be given of data restoration in the re-storage according to the present invention. In the present invention, when the first recording fails, data used for recording retry is obtained by data restoration.

  As described above, the present invention relates to an information recording / reproducing control apparatus for controlling an information recording / reproducing apparatus that performs data recording and data reproduction on an information recording medium, and a control method therefor. According to the present invention, an effect of avoiding a decrease in recording speed can be obtained by omitting a verify process while maintaining data reliability. Further, it is possible to re-record and recover the data in the area where the verify error is detected without bothering the host.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram for explaining the configuration of an information recording / reproducing control apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram for explaining the configuration of the information recording / reproducing control unit according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a block diagram for explaining a configuration of an information recording / reproducing control unit according to the second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the information recording / reproducing control method according to the present invention. FIG. 5A is a diagram for explaining a recording area of the information recording medium. FIG. 5B is a diagram for explaining the start of continuous recording. FIG. 5C is a diagram for explaining interruption of continuous recording. FIG. 5D is a diagram for explaining a signal quality investigation in a partial area of continuous recording. FIG. 5E is a diagram for describing resumption of recording in continuous recording. FIG. 5F is a diagram for explaining the signal quality survey in the entire area of continuous recording. FIG. 5G is a diagram for explaining re-recording in continuous recording. FIG. 5H is a diagram for describing resumption of recording after re-recording in continuous recording.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Information recording / reproducing control apparatus 2 Host interface part 3 Information recording / reproducing control part 4 Information recording / reproducing apparatus interface parts 5a-5d Information recording / reproducing apparatus 10 Timing generation means 20 Signal quality acquisition means 30 Signal quality determination means 40 Defective position storage means 50 Data re-recording means 60 Data holding means 70 Data restoring means

Claims (11)

An information recording / reproducing control apparatus that performs control for recording information of an arbitrary first data amount transmitted from a host computer on an information recording medium,
Timing generating means for generating and outputting a timing signal each time information of a predetermined second data amount is recorded out of the information of the first data amount, and when recording of the information of the first data amount is completed; ,
Signal quality acquisition means for acquiring the signal quality in the last part of the recorded second data amount or the remaining information less than the second data amount each time the timing signal is generated and output;
Whether re-recording is necessary for the second data amount or the remaining information that does not satisfy the second data amount, based on whether or not the signal quality in the acquired part of the tail satisfies a predetermined quality condition An information recording / reproducing control device comprising signal quality judging means for judging whether or not. The information recording / reproducing control apparatus according to claim 1,
Whether or not the signal quality satisfies a predetermined quality condition in the second data amount determined to be necessary for re-recording or the remaining information less than the second data amount is determined by a predetermined third data amount. A defect position storage means for investigating in units and storing a defect area requiring re-recording;
An information recording / reproducing control apparatus, further comprising: a data re-recording unit for performing re-recording of information on the stored defective area in units of the third data amount. The information recording / reproducing control apparatus according to claim 2,
An information recording / reproducing control apparatus, further comprising a data holding means for storing the recorded second data amount or the remaining information less than the second data amount and providing the information at the time of the re-recording. The information recording / reproducing control apparatus according to claim 2,
The second data amount or the remaining information less than the second data amount is recorded in parallel as a plurality of divided data including redundant data,
An information recording / reproducing control apparatus, further comprising data restoring means for restoring the data necessary for the re-recording from other divided data. In the information recording / reproducing control apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The information recording / reproducing control device;
The host computer connected to the information recording / reproducing control device;
Comprising information recording / reproducing means connected to the information recording / reproducing control device,
The information recording / reproducing means includes
An information recording / reproducing apparatus comprising the information recording medium. The information recording / reproducing control device according to claim 4,
The information recording / reproducing control device;
The host computer connected to the information recording / reproducing control device;
Comprising information recording / reproducing means connected to the information recording / reproducing control device,
The information recording / reproducing device comprises a plurality of the information recording media for respectively recording a plurality of divided data including the redundant data. An information recording / reproducing control method for recording information of an arbitrary first data amount transmitted from a host computer on an information recording / reproducing medium,
(A) recording the information of the first data amount in a predetermined second data amount unit, or recording the remaining information less than the second data amount;
(B) determining the signal quality in the second data amount recorded in the step (a) or the remaining information less than the second data amount,
The step (b)
(B-1) obtaining the signal quality at the end of the second data amount or the remaining information less than the second data amount;
(B-2) When the signal quality acquired in step (b-1) satisfies the predetermined quality condition, the second data amount or the remaining information that does not satisfy the second data amount Determining that the recording has ended;
(B-3) When the signal quality acquired in step (b-1) does not satisfy the predetermined quality condition, the second data amount or the remaining information that does not satisfy the second data amount And a step of determining that re-recording is necessary. The information recording / reproducing control method according to claim 7,
The step (a)
(A-1) recording the second data amount or remaining information less than the second data amount in a predetermined third data amount unit;
(A-2) An information recording / reproducing control method comprising: a step of interrupting the continuous recording when the recording in the step (a-1) is completed. The information recording / reproducing control method according to claim 8,
(C) Whether the signal quality satisfies a predetermined quality condition in the second data amount determined to be re-recorded in the step (b-3) or the entire remaining information less than the second data amount In the third data amount unit,
(D) storing a defective area requiring re-recording in the third data amount unit;
(E) re-recording information in the stored defective area in units of the third data amount; and an information recording / reproducing control method. The information recording / reproducing control method according to claim 9,
The step (e)
(E-1) determining the signal quality of the re-recorded area;
(E-2) repeating re-recording when the signal quality of the re-recorded area does not satisfy the predetermined quality condition;
(E-3) An information recording / reproducing control method comprising: recording data corresponding to an area in which the number of repetitions of the re-recording exceeds a predetermined number of times in another recording area. The information recording / reproducing control method according to claim 9 or 10,
The third data amount is equal to a minimum recording unit in the information recording medium.

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