JP2010108530A - Optical disk device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an optical disk device in which focus pull-in to a target recording layer is properly performed even in an optical disk with a large number of recording layers. <P>SOLUTION: When carrying out focus search, a search signal is supplied from a search voltage generation part 9a to a driver 34, and an objective lens 108 is driven to a focus direction. Then, a gain scale factor signal from a gain scale factor generation part 9b is supplied to a VCA (Voltage Control Amp) 24 so that a gain scale factor of a focus-error signal changes according to a search position. Accordingly, amplitude of an S-shaped curve which may become smaller than a sensing threshold is extended to become larger than the sensing threshold. Then, a miscount of the S-shaped curve is suppressed and pull-in of a laser beam to a target recording layer may be smoothly and correctly performed. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an optical disc apparatus, and is particularly suitable for use in an optical disc apparatus that can handle an optical disc having a plurality of recording layers.

  In recent years, the capacity of optical disks has been increased. Increasing the capacity of an optical disk can be realized by arranging a plurality of recording layers in one disk. For example, for a DVD (Digital Versatile Disc) and a Blu-ray disc, a multi-layer type disc having two recording layers on one side is commercialized. When the number of recording layers is three or more, the capacity of the optical disk can be further increased.

On the other hand, in an optical disc apparatus that handles an optical disc having a plurality of recording layers, focus pull-in is performed on the target recording layer (target layer) in order to perform recording and reproduction from the target address. When the focus is pulled in, the S-shaped curve on the focus error signal is referred to. By counting the number of S-curves that appeared during the focus pull-in operation, it is determined which recording layer the focus position is currently on. When the number of recording layers arranged in the optical disc is small, the S-curve for each recording layer has substantially the same amplitude. For this reason, the recording layer is properly counted, and the focus pull-in is performed without any problem.
JP-A-9-320178

  However, when the number of recording layers arranged in the optical disk increases, the distance from the disk surface to each recording layer varies greatly, and the aberration generated in the laser light changes greatly according to the movement of the focus position. In order to cope with this, in an optical disc apparatus that handles this type of optical disc, an optical element (beam expander, etc.) for aberration correction is arranged in the optical system. Prior to the recording / reproducing operation, the beam expander is driven to a position corresponding to the target recording layer.

  However, at the time of focus pull-in, the beam expander is normally not driven and is fixed at the initial position. For this reason, the amplitude of the S-shaped curve becomes considerably small depending on the recording layer due to the influence of the aberration generated in the laser beam. In this case, mis-counting of the S-curve tends to occur, and as a result, there arises a problem that the focus is not properly drawn into the target layer.

  Such a problem will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 12A is a diagram illustrating a change in the focus error signal when the focus pull-in is performed in a state where the beam expander is fixed so that the aberration is suppressed in the foremost recording layer. In this case, in the foremost recording layer, the amplitude of the S-curve of the focus error signal is large enough to count the S-curve. However, as the focus position goes deeper, the amplitude of the S-curve with respect to the other recording layers becomes smaller. For this reason, the S-curve is not detected for the recording layer on the back side with a small amplitude, and the recording layer is not detected. It can happen that existence is overlooked.

  FIG. 12B shows that the Peak to Peak value (difference between the maximum value and the minimum value, hereinafter abbreviated as “PP value”) of the S-curve of the focus error signal changes depending on the distance from the surface. It is. In the recording layer (optimum recording layer) in which the beam expander is optimal, the PP value of the S-shaped curve becomes maximum, but the PP value of the S-shaped curve decreases as the distance from the recording layer increases. That is, at a position far away from the optimum recording layer, it is difficult to detect the S-curve and the presence of the recording layer is easily overlooked.

  The above problem can be solved by causing the beam expander to follow at the time of focus pull-in. However, as the number of recording layers increases, the beam expander needs to be finely driven. When a motor that can be driven in this way is used, the drive speed of the beam expander is several steps compared to the focus pull-in speed. Become slow. Therefore, even if the beam expander is driven at the same time when the focus is pulled in, the amplitude of the S-curve may be reduced depending on the recording layer, and detection may be lost.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an optical disc apparatus that can properly focus the target layer even when the number of recording layers increases.

  A first aspect of the present invention relates to an optical disc apparatus for recording and / or reproducing information on a disc having a plurality of recording layers in the stacking direction. The optical disk device includes a laser light source, an objective lens that converges the laser light emitted from the laser light source on the disk, an actuator that drives the objective lens, and light that receives the laser light reflected by the disk. Based on a detector, an optical system that guides the laser light emitted from the laser light source to the objective lens and guides the laser light reflected by the disk to the photodetector, and a signal from the photodetector A calculation circuit that generates a focus error signal, a servo circuit that drives the actuator based on the focus error signal and drives the actuator in the optical axis direction of the objective lens to perform a focus search on the disk, and On the focus error signal during focus search And a amplitude adjustment circuit for adjusting the amplitude of the S-curve to be. Here, the amplitude adjustment circuit is configured to select the focus error signal according to the drive position of the actuator so that the amplitude of each S-shaped curve corresponding to each recording layer is larger than a threshold for detecting the S-shaped curve. Change the gain.

  According to the optical disc device of the first aspect, since the amplitude of each S-shaped curve corresponding to each recording layer is larger than the threshold for detecting the S-shaped curve during the focus search, S-curve detection omission is suppressed. Therefore, miscounting of the recording layer is suppressed, and the focus can be drawn into the target layer properly.

  In the optical disc apparatus according to the first aspect, the amplitude adjustment circuit increases the gain of the focus error signal at least at a drive position of the actuator where the amplitude of the S-curve may be less than the threshold value. . In this way, the detection failure of the S-curve is suppressed even at the drive position of the actuator where the detection failure of the S-curve is likely to occur.

  In the optical disc apparatus according to the first aspect, the optical system introduces astigmatism into the laser beam reflected by the disc, and the photodetector is divided by two orthogonal straight lines 4. The optical system is adjusted so that the astigmatism direction is inclined by 45 degrees with respect to the two straight lines. In this way, a focus error signal based on the astigmatism method can be generated in addition to the reproduction signal based on the output from the photodetector.

  A second aspect of the present invention relates to an optical disc apparatus for recording and / or reproducing information on a disc having a plurality of recording layers in the stacking direction. The optical disk device includes a laser light source, an objective lens that converges the laser light emitted from the laser light source on the disk, an actuator that drives the objective lens, and light that receives the laser light reflected by the disk. A detector, an optical system that guides the laser light emitted from the laser light source to the objective lens and guides the laser light reflected by the recording medium to the photodetector, and a signal from the photodetector And a servo circuit that drives the actuator based on the focus error signal and drives the actuator in the optical axis direction of the objective lens to perform a focus search on the disk. The focus error signal during the focus search. And a threshold adjusting circuit for adjusting the threshold value for detecting the S-curve appearing in. Here, the threshold adjustment circuit changes the threshold according to the drive position of the actuator so as to be smaller than the amplitude of each S-shaped curve corresponding to each recording layer.

  According to the optical disc device of the second aspect, during the focus search, the threshold for detecting the S-curve is adjusted so as to be smaller than the amplitude of each S-curve corresponding to each recording layer. Therefore, the detection failure of the S-shaped curve is suppressed. Therefore, miscounting of the recording layer is suppressed, and the focus can be drawn into the target layer properly.

  In the optical disc apparatus according to the second aspect, the optical system introduces astigmatism into the laser beam reflected by the disc, and the photodetector detects four light receiving beams divided by two orthogonal straight lines. The optical system is adjusted so that the astigmatism direction is inclined by 45 degrees with respect to the two straight lines. In this way, a focus error signal based on the astigmatism method can be generated in addition to the reproduction signal based on the output from the photodetector.

  As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide an optical disc apparatus that can appropriately perform focus pull-in with respect to a target layer even when the number of recording layers increases.

The effects and significance of the present invention will become more apparent from the following description of embodiments. However, the following embodiment is merely an example when the present invention is put into practice, and the present invention is not limited to what is described in the following embodiment.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the present embodiment, the present invention is applied to an optical disc apparatus that is compatible with an optical disc in which a plurality of recording layers are laminated in the thickness direction.

<Example 1>
FIG. 1 shows a configuration of an optical pickup according to the embodiment. FIG. 4A is a plan view of the optical system excluding the objective lens 108, and FIG. 4B is a side view of the rising mirror 107 and the objective lens 108.

  In the figure, a semiconductor laser 101 emits laser light having a predetermined wavelength. The collimating lens 102 converts the laser light emitted from the semiconductor laser 101 into parallel light. The polarization beam splitter (PBS) 103 substantially totally reflects the laser light incident from the collimating lens 102 side, and substantially totally transmits the laser light incident from the quarter wavelength plate 104 side.

  The quarter-wave plate 104 converts the laser light incident from the PBS 103 side into circularly polarized light, and converts the laser light incident from the expander 105 side into a polarization direction perpendicular to the polarization direction of the laser light incident from the PBS 103 side. Convert. Therefore, the laser light incident on the PBS 103 from the ¼ wavelength plate 104 side is almost totally transmitted through the PBS 103 and guided to the anamorphic lens 109.

  The expander 105 is a combination of a concave lens and a convex lens, and one of these lenses is driven in the optical axis direction by an actuator 106. Here, the actuator 106 includes a motor, a lead screw, and the like, and is driven according to a servo signal for correcting the aberration of the laser beam.

  The servo light that has passed through the expander 105 enters the rising mirror 107. The rising mirror 107 reflects the laser beam incident from the expander 105 side toward the objective lens 108. The reflected laser light is converged by the objective lens 108 and irradiated onto the optical disk 10.

  The optical disc 10 has a plurality of recording layers in the thickness direction. In the innermost recording layer, a BCA (Burst Cutting Area) is arranged in the innermost peripheral portion of the disc. In the BCA, predetermined information about the disc such as information on the number of recording layers is recorded by intermittently erasing the recording layer in the disc circumferential direction.

  The laser light applied to the optical disc 10 is reflected by the recording layer disposed in the optical disc 10. The reflected laser light travels backward through the optical path, passes through the PBS 103, and enters the anamorphic lens 109.

  The anamorphic lens 109 introduces astigmatism into the incident laser light. The photodetector 110 receives the laser beam into which astigmatism is introduced and outputs a detection signal. The photodetector 110 is provided with a four-divided sensor that receives laser light. From the signal output from the quadrant sensor, a focus error signal is generated by the astigmatism method, and a tracking error signal is generated by the 1-beam push-pull method.

  The objective lens 108 is attached to the holder 121. Here, the holder 121 is driven in the focus direction and the tracking direction by the objective lens actuator 122. The objective lens actuator 122 includes a conventionally known coil and a magnetic circuit, and the coil is mounted on the holder 121.

  By supplying a servo signal to the objective lens actuator 122, the objective lens 108 is displaced integrally with the holder 121 in the focus direction and the tracking direction. As a result, the laser beam is converged on the target recording layer.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a main part of the optical disc apparatus. As shown, the optical disk apparatus includes an encoder 1, a modulation circuit 2, a laser drive circuit 3, an optical pickup device 4, a signal operation circuit 5, a demodulation circuit 6, a decoder 7, a servo circuit 8, and a controller. 9 is provided. The optical pickup device 4 includes the optical system shown in FIG.

  The encoder 1 performs an encoding process such as addition of an error correction code on the input recording data and outputs it to the modulation circuit 2. The modulation circuit 2 modulates the input recording data, further generates a recording signal, and outputs the recording signal to the laser driving circuit 3.

  The laser drive circuit 3 drives the semiconductor laser 101 disposed in the optical pickup device 4 in accordance with a command from the controller 9. That is, when a recording command is input from the controller 9, the laser driving circuit 3 drives the semiconductor laser 101 so that the laser light is modulated in accordance with the recording signal input from the modulation circuit 2. At the time of reproduction, the laser drive circuit 3 drives the semiconductor laser 101 so as to emit laser light with a predetermined power.

  The signal arithmetic circuit 5 performs an arithmetic process on the output signal from the light detection unit 110 disposed in the optical pickup device 4 to generate a reproduction signal, a focus error signal, and a tracking error signal, which are respectively converted into corresponding circuits. Output. The focus error signal is adjusted according to a command from the controller 9. Such adjustment will be described later with reference to FIG.

  The demodulation circuit 6 demodulates the reproduction RF signal input from the signal arithmetic circuit 5 to generate reproduction data, and outputs the reproduction data to the decoder 7. The decoder 7 performs decoding processing such as error correction on the reproduction data input from the demodulation circuit 6 and outputs this to a subsequent circuit (not shown). The decoder 7 outputs data reproduced from the system lead-in and data lead-in to the controller 9.

  The servo circuit 8 controls the objective lens actuator 122 based on the focus error signal and tracking error signal input from the signal calculation circuit 5. The servo circuit 8 monitors the reproduction signal input from the signal arithmetic circuit 5 and controls the actuator 106 in the optical pickup device 4 so that the reproduction signal becomes the best. Further, the servo circuit 8 controls the rotation of the spindle motor of the optical disk 10 in accordance with a command from the controller 9.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a portion related to the focus operation among the configurations of the signal arithmetic circuit 5, the servo circuit 8, and the controller 9.

  As illustrated, the signal arithmetic circuit 5 includes adders 21 and 22, a subtractor 23, a VCA (Voltage Control Amp) 24, a switch 25, an LPF (Low Pass Filter) 26, and an AGC (Auto Gain Control). 27. The servo circuit 8 includes a switch 31, an LPF (Low Pass Filter) 32, a buffer amplifier 33, and a driver 34. Further, the controller 9 includes a search voltage generation unit 9a and a gain magnification generation unit 9b.

  The adders 21 and 22 add the received light amounts of the two sets of light receiving surfaces arranged on the diagonal line of the photodetector 110 and output the result to the subtracter 23. The subtracter 23 subtracts the input signal and outputs it to the VCA 24. The VCA 24 converts the focus error signal input from the subtracter 23 into a voltage signal corresponding to the gain magnification signal supplied from the switch 25. A voltage signal (focus error signal) from the VCA 24 is supplied to the controller 9 and the switch 31. The switch 25 supplies a gain magnification signal from one of the LPF 26 and the AGC 27 to the VCA 24 in accordance with a signal (not shown) from the controller 9. The LPF 26 cuts the high frequency component of the gain magnification waveform input from the gain magnification generator 9b. The AGC 27 supplies a gain magnification signal during normal recording / reproduction operation to the switch 25.

  The LPF 32 cuts a high-frequency component of the search waveform input from the search voltage generator 9a. The buffer amplifier 33 appropriately corrects the impedance of the search voltage signal and outputs it to the switch 31. The switch 31 supplies a search voltage signal input from the buffer amplifier 33 to the driver 34 at the time of focus search, and supplies a focus error signal input from the VCA 24 to the driver 34 at the time of focus servo. The driver 34 generates a drive signal according to the signal input from the switch 31, and outputs the generated drive signal to the objective lens actuator 122. Thereby, the objective lens 108 is driven in the focus direction.

  The gain magnification generation unit 9b generates a gain magnification signal and outputs it to the LPF 26. The search voltage generator 9 a generates a search voltage signal and outputs it to the LPF 32. Details of the gain magnification signal and the search voltage signal will be described later with reference to FIG.

  Hereinafter, the focus search operation and the focus servo operation will be described.

  First, the operation at the time of focus search will be described.

  During the focus search, the switches 25 and 31 are set to the connection state shown in FIG. That is, the terminals 25a and 25b of the switch 25 are connected, and the terminals 31a and 31b and the terminals 31d and 31e of the switch 31 are connected.

  In this state, the search voltage signal is input from the search voltage generator 9a to the LPF 32. The search voltage signal is input to the buffer amplifier 33 after the high frequency component is removed by the LPF 32. Thereafter, the impedance of the search voltage signal is optimized by the buffer amplifier 33 and is input to the driver 34. Thereby, the objective lens 108 is driven in the focus direction.

  When the objective lens 108 is driven in this way, an S-shaped curve appears on the focus error signal output from the VCA 24. During the focus search operation, a gain magnification signal is output from the gain magnification generator 9b to the LPF 26 in synchronization with the search voltage signal. The gain magnification signal is input to the VCA 24 after the high frequency component is removed by the LPF 26. The VCA 24 adjusts the gain of the focus error signal in accordance with the input gain magnification signal. The focus error signal after gain adjustment is input to the controller 9.

  The controller 9 counts the number of recording layers crossed during the focus search using the focus error signal whose gain has been adjusted. Specifically, the S-curve that appears on the focus error signal is counted to determine which recording layer the focus position is currently on. At this time, since the focus error signal whose gain has been adjusted is used, the occurrence of S-curve miscounting is suppressed. This will be described later with reference to FIG.

  When the count number of the S-curve reaches the number corresponding to the target layer, the controller 9 ends the focus search and switches to the focus servo. The S-curve is detected depending on whether the focus error signal exceeds a predetermined threshold. In this embodiment, the threshold for detecting the S-shaped curve (hereinafter referred to as “detection threshold”) is fixed at a predetermined level.

  Next, the operation during focus servo will be described.

  During focus servo, the terminals 25a and 25c of the switch 25 are connected, and the terminals 31a and 31c and the terminals 31d and 31f of the switch 31 are connected.

  By the signal output from the AGC 27, the VCA 24 performs an appropriate gain adjustment for the focus error signal. The focus error signal whose gain has been adjusted is input to the driver 34 via the switch 31. The driver 34 performs focus servo on the objective lens actuator 122 according to the input focus error signal. That is, the position of the objective lens actuator 122 is optimized so that the focus error signal becomes 0 on the target layer.

  Next, details of the search voltage signal and the gain magnification signal will be described. In the following, for convenience, a search voltage signal and a gain magnification signal when there are four recording layers are shown.

  FIG. 4A is a diagram showing an output signal (search voltage signal at the point P1 in FIG. 3) of the search voltage generator 9a. As shown in the figure, the search voltage signal is a signal that changes stepwise with time. As described above, when the search voltage signal changes with time, the driving voltage in the focus direction applied to the objective lens actuator 122 changes, and as a result, the position of the objective lens 108 changes.

  During a period in which the search voltage signal increases with time, the objective lens 108 is brought closer to the disk surface, and accordingly, the focus position of the laser beam is moved from the disk surface to the innermost recording layer. In the signal waveform in FIG. 4A, the search voltage signal is further increased by one step even after the focus position of the laser beam is moved to a position corresponding to the innermost recording layer, and the focus position of the laser beam is further increased. Moved to the side. Thus, the focus position always reaches the innermost recording layer, and the detection failure of the innermost recording layer is prevented.

  The objective lens 108 moves away from the disk surface during the period when the search voltage signal decreases with time. When the focus pull-in cannot be performed in the period in which the search voltage signal increases with time, the focus pull-in is retried in the period in which the search voltage signal decreases with time following this period. If focus pull-in cannot be performed during this period, focus pull-in is retried in the subsequent period when the search voltage signal increases. Thereafter, similarly, the focus pull-in retry is repeated a predetermined number of times.

  FIG. 4B is a diagram illustrating an output signal (gain magnification signal at the point P2 in FIG. 3) from the gain magnification generation unit 9b. This signal waveform is obtained when the expander 105 is set at a position where the reproduction signal is optimal with respect to the nearest recording layer. As shown in the figure, the gain magnification signal changes stepwise in synchronization with the search voltage signal shown in FIG. Specifically, the gain magnification signal is raised in a step shape at a timing when the focus position of the laser beam is about to reach the second, third, and fourth recording layers from the front.

  FIG. 5 is a timing chart showing signals at points P1, P2, P3, and P4 in FIG. 3 when the objective lens actuator 122 is driven and the search position (the focus position of the laser beam) changes during the focus search. .

  FIGS. 5A and 5B are a part of the diagram shown in FIG. Referring to these drawings, the gain magnification signal is raised in a step shape at the timing when the search position approaches the second, third, and fourth recording layers from the front as described above.

  FIG. 5C is a diagram illustrating a focus error signal before gain adjustment. FIG. 4D is a diagram showing the focus error signal after the focus error signal shown in FIG. 3C is gain-adjusted with the gain magnification signal shown in FIG.

  Referring to FIG. 6C, the S-curve generated on the focus error signal before gain adjustment becomes smaller as the search position goes farther. This is because, as described above, the expander 105 is set at a position where the reproduction signal is optimal with respect to the foremost recording layer.

  In the configuration example of FIG. 3, the focus error signal of FIG. 5C is gain-adjusted by the gain magnification signal shown in FIG. As a result, the S-curve for the second, third, and fourth recording layers from the front is amplified to the same magnitude as the S-curve for the frontmost recording layer. In the gain magnification signal shown in FIG. 5B, the step height is adjusted so that the amplitude of the S-curve for each recording layer is substantially the same as shown in FIG. 5D.

  As described above, according to the configuration of FIG. 3, the S-curve appearing on the focus error signal during the focus search has an amplitude that exceeds the detection threshold for any recording layer. Therefore, the S-curve count omission is suppressed, and the focus can be drawn into the target layer smoothly and appropriately.

  FIG. 6A is a diagram showing an operation flow when the optical disc apparatus is actually operated. FIG. 2B shows the state of the focus error signal during the flow. Here, the third recording layer from the front is the target layer.

  In the above description, the position of the expander 105 is fixed during the focus search. However, in this operation flow, the expander 105 is driven from the initial position to a position corresponding to the target layer simultaneously with the start of the focus search. The servo circuit 8 holds the drive amount from the initial position of the expander 105 corresponding to each recording layer. Note that the initial position of the expander 105 is the position corresponding to the foremost recording layer, as described above.

  In this operation flow, since the expander 105 is simultaneously driven during the focus search as described above, the occurrence of aberrations during the focus search is slightly improved as compared with the case where the expander 105 is fixed as described above. The From this point, in this operation flow, the step height of the gain magnification signal is different from the above case. In this operation flow, the step height of the gain magnification signal is adjusted taking into consideration that the expander 105 is driven simultaneously.

  With reference to Fig.6 (a), the movement of the expander 105 is started to the position corresponding to a target layer in S101. At the same time, the switches 25 and 31 are set to the focus search state in S102, and the focus search is started in S103.

  In S102, the terminals 25a and 25b of the switch 25 are connected, and the terminals 31a and 31b and the terminals 31d and 31e of the switch 31 are connected. In S103, the search voltage signal is applied to the objective lens actuator 122, and the focus error signal is adjusted by the gain magnification signal.

  As described above, when the focus search is executed, the focus error signal before gain adjustment is as shown in (b-1) in the figure, and the focus error signal after gain adjustment is as shown in (b-2) in the same figure. Become.

  In S104, the S-curve is counted based on the focus error signal after gain adjustment shown in FIG. Here, on the focus error signal after gain adjustment shown in (b-2), an S-shaped curve having substantially the same amplitude as the foremost S-shaped curve is also obtained in the second, third, and fourth recording layers from the front. Appears. For this reason, miscounting due to the fact that the recording layer is not recognized can be suppressed.

  In S105, it is determined whether the search position has reached the target layer by counting the S-shaped curve. If it is determined that it has reached (S105: YES), the process proceeds to S106. If it is determined that it has not been reached (S105: NO), the process returns to S103 and the focus search is continued.

  In S106, the switch 31 is set to the focus servo state. That is, the terminals 31a and 31c and the terminals 31d and 31f of the switch 31 are connected. Thereby, the focus servo is started. At this time, the switch 25 is maintained in a state where the terminals 25a and 25b are connected. The gain magnification generation unit 9b holds and outputs a gain magnification signal when it is determined that the search position has reached the target layer (S105: YES). Therefore, the focus servo is performed based on the focus error signal whose gain is adjusted by the gain magnification signal from the gain magnification generation unit 9b.

  If the switch 25 is switched together with the switch 31 in S106, the following problem may occur. That is, the drive speed of the expander 105 is several steps slower than the focus search speed. For this reason, at the timing when the search position reaches the target recording layer in S105, the drive position of the expander 105 is usually quite a position before the position corresponding to the target layer. In this case, a large aberration occurs in the laser light.

  Therefore, at the same time, when the switch 25 is switched and the gain magnification signal is supplied from the AGC 27 to the VCA 24, the S-shaped curve on the focus error signal returns to the same state as in FIG. . If this happens, the focus servo may be lost after the expander 105 moves to a position corresponding to the target layer until the S-shaped curve becomes sufficiently large.

  Even after the focus servo is started in S106, the expander 105 continues to be driven toward the position corresponding to the target recording layer. For this reason, the aberration generated in the laser light is gradually suppressed thereafter, and the S-curve is also improved accordingly. That is, during the focus servo operation period, the amplitude of the S-curve gradually increases as shown in FIG.

  In S107, it is determined whether the expander 105 has been driven to a position corresponding to the target layer instructed in S101. If it is determined that the drive of the expander 105 has been completed (S107: YES), the process proceeds to S108, and if it is determined that it has not been completed (S107: NO), completion is awaited.

  When the drive position of the expander 105 reaches a position corresponding to the target layer, the switch 25 is switched to the focus servo state in S108. That is, the terminals 25a and 25c of the switch 25 are connected. In this state, the expander 105 is positioned at a position corresponding to the target layer, so that the aberration of the laser light is suppressed. Therefore, the S-shaped curve on the focus error signal has a size suitable for the focus servo as shown in FIG. As a result, proper focus servo can be performed.

  At the time of recording / reproducing operation, tracking servo is then performed, and aberration servo is further performed. As a result, the position of the expander 105 is optimized so that the reproduction signal in the target layer is optimized, and address information can be acquired. Thereafter, the target address is accessed and the recording / reproducing operation is executed.

  The tracking servo may be executed while waiting for the completion of the movement of the expander 105 in S107. In this way, address information can be quickly acquired after the movement of the expander 105 is completed.

  If the operation flow of FIG. 6A is performed when an optical disk is mounted, a BCA reading attempt may be performed while waiting for the completion of movement of the expander 105 in S107. When an optical disc is loaded, BCA reading is usually performed first, followed by system lead-in and data lead-in. Therefore, when the optical disk is loaded, the operation flow of FIG. 6A is performed at the BCA position. Since the BCA has no track, it is not necessary to perform tracking servo when reading the BCA. However, since BCA is in the innermost layer, focus search and focus servo must be performed. BCA is readable even in a state where some aberrations occur because information is recorded by intermittently missing recording layers in the circumferential direction of the disk. Therefore, even when the expander 105 is moving to the position corresponding to the innermost recording layer in S107, the BCA can be read.

  Therefore, if the BCA reading attempt is repeated while waiting for the completion of the movement of the expander 105 in S107, the BCA can be read before the expander 105 completes the movement. In this case, the expander 105 can quickly shift to reading of system lead-in information and data lead-in information according to the completion of movement.

  As described above, according to this embodiment, the gain of the focus error signal is adjusted according to the driving of the objective lens actuator 122, and the amplitude of the S-curve is expanded. As a result, the laser beam can be drawn into the target layer smoothly and appropriately.

<Example 2>
In the first embodiment described above, the focus error signal is adjusted by the gain magnification signal, so that S-curve miscounting during the focus search is suppressed. In this embodiment, the focus error signal is not adjusted, and the S-curve detection threshold is adjusted.

  In the present embodiment, the gain magnification generation unit 9b, the LPF 26, and the switch 25 are omitted from the configuration of FIG. Only the gain magnification signal from the AGC 27 is supplied to the VCA 24. In addition, the controller 9 changes the S-curve detection threshold in accordance with the search voltage signal.

  FIG. 7 is a timing chart during the focus search operation in this embodiment. FIGS. 9A, 9B, and 9C are diagrams showing the search voltage signal at the point P1, the threshold value set by the controller 9, and the focus error signal at the point P3 in FIG. 3, respectively. FIG. 7 (a) is the same as FIG. 5 (a).

  As described in the first embodiment, the focus error signal has an S-curve having a very small amplitude, as shown in FIG. For this reason, if the detection threshold is fixed, the S-curve may not be counted properly.

  Therefore, in this embodiment, the S-shaped curve detection threshold is configured to change as shown in FIG. By changing the detection threshold in this way, S-curve miscounting can be suppressed. That is, since a detection threshold value that matches the amplitude of the S-curve is used, an appropriate S-curve is counted regardless of the magnitude of the amplitude.

  As described above, the first and second embodiments have been exemplified as the embodiments of the present invention. However, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments, and the embodiments of the present invention can be variously modified in addition to the above. .

  For example, in the first embodiment, the expander 105 expands the amplitude of the S-curve for all the recording layers other than the recording layer at the optimum position. For example, as shown in FIG. The gain of the focus error signal may be increased only at a search position where the amplitude of is assumed to be less than the detection threshold. That is, in the case of FIG. 8, it is assumed that the amplitude of the S-shaped curve for the innermost recording layer is less than the detection threshold, and the gain magnification signal of FIG. Only the gain magnification has been increased. In this case, the amplitude of the S-shaped curve corresponding to the innermost recording layer is expanded as shown in FIG.

  In the modified example of FIG. 8, since the difference (ΔS) between the S-shaped curve corresponding to the third recording layer from the front and the detection threshold is small, detection failure may occur with respect to this S-shaped curve. Therefore, in order to avoid this, as shown in FIG. 9, there is a possibility that the difference (ΔS) between the detection threshold and the amplitude is further reduced, that is, the amplitude may be less than the detection threshold. Even at the search position of the third S-curve from the near side, it is possible to increase the gain of the focus error signal so as to more reliably avoid the S-curve detection omission.

  In the second embodiment, the detection threshold is lowered at the positions of the S-curve for all the recording layers other than the recording layer at which the expander 105 is at the optimum position. For example, as shown in FIG. The detection threshold value may be lowered only at a search position where the amplitude of is assumed to be smaller than the normal detection threshold value. That is, in the case of FIG. 10, it is assumed that the amplitude of the S-curve for the innermost recording layer is less than the normal detection threshold, and as shown in FIG. 10B, the period corresponding to the innermost recording layer. Only in, the detection threshold is lowered.

  In this case as well, since the difference (ΔS) between the S-curve corresponding to the third recording layer from the front and the normal detection threshold is small, a detection omission may occur for this S-curve. Therefore, in order to avoid this, as shown in FIG. 11, an amplitude S-curve with a small difference (ΔS) from the normal detection threshold, that is, the front where the amplitude may be less than the detection threshold. Alternatively, the detection threshold value may be lowered at the third S-curve search position so that an S-curve detection omission can be avoided more reliably.

  In addition, in the first and second embodiments, the initial position of the expander 105 at the time of focus search is the position where the reproduction signal is optimal in the foremost recording layer, but the position corresponding to the other recording layers May be. Note that the occurrence of aberration when the search position is in each recording layer changes according to the position of the expander 105 at that time. For this reason, in the first embodiment, the gain magnification signal to be applied to the focus error signal needs to be changed according to which position the expander 105 uses as the initial position during the focus search. Therefore, when the initial position is different from the above, it is necessary to adjust the step pattern of the gain magnification signal accordingly.

  In the first embodiment, the description has been given on the assumption that the expander 105 is always at the same position when the focus search is started. However, the position of the expander 105 when the focus search is started may not be fixed. In this case, the gain magnification signal pattern when the expander 105 is located at a position corresponding to each layer is stored in advance in the gain magnification generation unit 9b in the controller 9, and at the time of the focus search, the expander 105 at that time is stored. The above-described focus search operation is executed using a gain magnification signal pattern corresponding to the position.

  In this way, since the focus search when jumping from the recording layer to the recording layer can be performed smoothly, the focus can be drawn into the target layer quickly and appropriately. Similarly, in the second embodiment, the focus search may be executed by changing the threshold pattern for each position of the expander 105.

  In S107 and S108 of FIG. 6A, the switch 25 is switched to the servo position before the expander 105 is completely moved to the position corresponding to the target layer, and the gain magnification signal from the AGC 27 is changed. You may make it supply to VCA24. If it carries out like this, before an S-shaped curve becomes large too much like FIG.6 (b-3), an S-shaped curve can be made into a normal magnitude | size. Further, since the step proceeds to S108 earlier, execution of recording and reproduction can be started earlier.

  In both the first embodiment and the modified example, the amplitude of the S-shaped curve for which gain adjustment has been performed needs to be matched to the amplitude of the S-shaped curve corresponding to the recording layer in which the expander 105 is at the optimum position. It is only necessary to expand the amplitude so that no detection omission occurs in relation to the detection threshold. That is, the gain magnification for each S-curve can be set freely as appropriate as long as the expanded amplitude exceeds the detection threshold. Also in the second embodiment and the modified example thereof, the detection threshold that is lower than the normal detection threshold can be set freely as long as it is smaller than the amplitude of the corresponding S-curve.

  In the above embodiment, the case where the number of recording layers is four has been described as an example. However, the present invention can be appropriately applied to the case of handling optical discs having other layers. The search voltage signal and the gain magnification signal may be changed according to the number of recording layers. In this case, if a search voltage signal and a gain magnification signal that can correspond to the maximum number of layers that are assumed are used, it is possible to support optical disks having all the numbers of layers that are less than the maximum number of layers.

  In FIG. 5, for convenience, the search voltage signal and the gain magnification signal are shown so as to change by one step for each layer. However, these signals are not necessarily associated with one step for each layer. Absent. The search voltage signal may be any signal that can gradually change the search position, and the gain magnification signal only needs to have a waveform that cancels the characteristics shown in FIG.

  In addition, the embodiment of the present invention can be variously modified as appropriate within the scope of the technical idea shown in the claims.

1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an optical pickup device according to a first embodiment. 1 is a diagram illustrating a main configuration of an optical disc device according to Embodiment 1. FIG. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a circuit configuration related to the focus operation according to the first embodiment. The figure which shows the waveform of the search voltage signal and gain magnification signal which concern on Example 1. FIG. FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining gain adjustment for a focus error signal according to the first embodiment. The figure which shows the flow at the time of the actual operation | movement which concerns on Example 1, and the state of a focus error signal FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining a detection threshold for a focus error signal according to the second embodiment. FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining gain adjustment for a focus error signal according to a modification of the first embodiment. FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining gain adjustment for a focus error signal according to another modification of the first embodiment. FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining a detection threshold for a focus error signal according to a modification of the second embodiment. FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining a detection threshold for a focus error signal according to another modification of the second embodiment. The figure explaining that a focus error signal changes with aberration

Explanation of symbols

5 ... Signal arithmetic circuit (arithmetic circuit)
8 ... Servo circuit 9 ... Controller (threshold adjustment circuit)
9b: Gain magnification generator (amplitude adjustment circuit)
10 ... Optical disc (disc)
101 ... Semiconductor laser (laser light source)
108 ... objective lens 110 ... photodetector 122 ... objective lens actuator (actuator)

Claims (5)

In an optical disc apparatus for recording and / or reproducing information on a disc having a plurality of recording layers in the stacking direction,
A laser light source;
An objective lens for converging the laser beam emitted from the laser light source onto the disk;
An actuator for driving the objective lens;
A photodetector for receiving the laser beam reflected by the disk;
An optical system that guides the laser light emitted from the laser light source to the objective lens and guides the laser light reflected by the disk to the photodetector;
An arithmetic circuit that generates a focus error signal based on a signal from the photodetector;
A servo circuit that drives the actuator based on the focus error signal and drives the actuator in the optical axis direction of the objective lens to perform a focus search on the disk;
An amplitude adjustment circuit that adjusts the amplitude of an S-shaped curve that appears on the focus error signal during the focus search;
The amplitude adjustment circuit adjusts the gain of the focus error signal according to the drive position of the actuator so that the amplitude of each S-shaped curve corresponding to each recording layer is larger than a threshold for detecting the S-shaped curve. Change,
An optical disc device characterized by the above. The optical disc apparatus according to claim 1,
The amplitude adjustment circuit increases the gain of the focus error signal at least at the drive position of the actuator where the amplitude of the S-curve may be less than the threshold value.
An optical disc device characterized by the above. The optical disc apparatus according to claim 1 or 2,
The optical system introduces astigmatism into the laser beam reflected by the disk;
The photodetector has four light receiving areas divided by two orthogonal straight lines,
The optical system is adjusted so that the direction of the astigmatism is inclined by 45 degrees with respect to the two straight lines;
An optical disc device characterized by the above. In an optical disc apparatus for recording and / or reproducing information on a disc having a plurality of recording layers in the stacking direction,
A laser light source;
An objective lens for converging the laser beam emitted from the laser light source onto the disk;
An actuator for driving the objective lens;
A photodetector for receiving the laser beam reflected by the disk;
An optical system that guides the laser light emitted from the laser light source to the objective lens and guides the laser light reflected by the recording medium to the photodetector;
An arithmetic circuit that generates a focus error signal based on a signal from the photodetector;
A servo circuit for driving the actuator based on the focus error signal and driving the actuator in an optical axis direction of the objective lens to perform a focus search for the disk;
A threshold adjustment circuit that adjusts a threshold for detecting an S-curve that appears on the focus error signal during the focus search;
The threshold adjustment circuit changes the threshold according to the drive position of the actuator so as to be smaller than the amplitude of each S-shaped curve corresponding to each recording layer;
An optical disc device characterized by the above. The optical disk apparatus according to claim 4, wherein
The optical system introduces astigmatism into the laser beam reflected by the disk;
The photodetector has four light receiving areas divided by two orthogonal straight lines,
The optical system is adjusted so that the direction of the astigmatism is inclined by 45 degrees with respect to the two straight lines;
An optical disc device characterized by the above.

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