JP2010176810A - Information storage medium, information reproducing method, information recording method and information reproducing device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an information storage medium for recording and reproducing digital moving image information, and to provide an information reproducing method, an information recording method, and an information reproducing device using the medium. <P>SOLUTION: In the information storage medium, an AV (Audio Video) file, cell time information, PGC (Program Chain) information are recorded in respective different areas. The cell time information includes a time code table related to a video object. Overlapping reproduction of the same part in the video object is performed between different cells in different PGC. A unit of an address managed in control information to which the cell time information and the PGC information belong differs from a unit of an AV address defined in the AV file. Information about a sampling frequency of an audio signal is included in the cell time information. Information about the sampling frequency is included in an area different from information related to the number of specific units. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an information storage medium represented by a large-capacity optical disk, an information reproducing method, an information recording method, and an information reproducing apparatus.

  In particular, the present invention relates to a DVD (Digital Versatile Disc) recording / playback system in consideration of compatibility with a personal computer environment.

  In recent years, a system for playing back an optical disc on which video (video) or audio is recorded has been developed. For the purpose of playing movie software, karaoke, etc., such as LD (laser disc) or video CD (video compact disc), Generally popular.

  Among them, the DVD (Digital Versatile Disc) standard using the internationally standardized MPEG2 (Moving Picture Expert Group) system and adopting AC-3 (Digital Audio Compression) and other audio compression systems has been proposed. The DVD standard includes a reproduction-only DVD video (or DVD-ROM), a write-once DVD-R, and a repetitive read / write DVD-RW (or DVD-RAM).

  According to the MPEG2 system layer, the DVD video (DVD-ROM) standard supports MPEG3 as a moving picture compression system and AC3 audio and MPEG audio as a sound recording system in addition to linear PCM. Further, this DVD video standard is configured by adding sub-picture data obtained by run-length compression of bitmap data for subtitles and playback control control data (navigation data) such as fast-forward / rewind data search.

  The standard also supports ISO 9660 and UDF bridge formats so that data can be read by a computer. For this reason, video information of DVD video can be handled even in a personal computer environment.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 7-087443 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-21035

  However, since the moving image information of the DVD has an enormous amount of data, it is difficult to manage with the data recording management method (using the file allocation table FAT16) used in the conventional personal computer environment.

  That is, in a general-purpose personal computer that is widely used, the FAT 16 is used as a file system of a data recording device (such as a hard disk drive HDD) in order to ensure compatibility with past data accumulated so far. There are many. FAT16 can only handle a capacity of up to 2GB per partition. In this case, if the transfer rate of moving picture data compressed by MPEG2 is 5 Mbps, only about 53 minutes can be recorded per partition at maximum. For this reason, for example, in order to record a two and a half hour movie on a large-capacity HDD managed by the FAT16 file system, it is necessary to record across three partitions. In this case, in a general-purpose personal computer system not equipped with a disk array device (Redundant Arrays of Inexpensive Disks), continuous video recording for a long time becomes difficult (problem 1).

  In addition, when editing recorded video images (non-linear editing), the “recording / editing application software”, “standard template information for editing” and “video information to be recorded / edited” are all stored in the personal computer environment. The memory space of the personal computer environment is greatly squeezed. In other words, even if the memory capacity of the personal computer is in time for recording / editing video images, most of the memory space is consumed by the video information at the end of the video information recording / editing operation, and the remaining amount of memory space remains. There are also cases in which execution of other application software is hindered (problem 2).

  In addition, there is a difference in an appropriate information processing method between the personal computer system and the DVD recording / reproducing system, and it is difficult for the personal computer to record (reproduce) moving image information for a long time continuously (without interruption).

  That is, in the personal computer environment, when file data is changed, a process of re-recording the entire changed file data in an empty area on an information storage medium (HDD or the like) is performed. The re-recording position on the information storage medium at this time is determined regardless of the file data recording position before the change. The file data recording position before the change is released as a small free area after the change. If the file data is frequently changed, the small empty areas are scattered in a worm-eaten state at physically separated positions on the medium. In this case, when new file data is recorded, the data is divided and recorded in a plurality of empty areas that are worm-eaten. This state is called fragmentation.

  In the information processing of personal computers, the information (file data) used is likely to be scattered (fragmentation) on the disk, but even if the file to be read is fragmented, the necessary file information can be obtained by reproducing them in sequence. Can be removed from the disc. This fragmentation slightly increases the time required to read the file, but if a high-speed HDD is used, this is not a big problem for the user. However, if the recorded information (MPEG-compressed moving image data) is fragmented in the DVD recording / reproducing system, the moving image reproduction may be interrupted if it is attempted to reproduce them in sequence. In particular, the optical disk drive has a longer seek time for the optical head than a high-speed disk drive such as an HDD. Therefore, in a DVD recording / playback system that records and plays back MPEG video images on an optical disk (DVD-RAM disk, etc.) The playback video is likely to be interrupted, and is currently not practical.

  When personal computer data and DVD moving image data coexist, the possibility of the fragmentation is particularly high. Therefore, a DVD recording / playback system incorporating a personal computer environment is not feasible unless a very high-speed optical disk drive is put into practical use and a large-capacity buffer can be mounted at a realistic cost (Issue 3). .

  An object of the present invention is to provide an information storage medium (optical disc) capable of recording / reproducing digital moving picture information, an information reproducing method, an information recording method, and an information reproducing apparatus using the medium.

  According to the present invention, in the information storage medium in which the AV file and the cell time information and the PGC information are recorded in different areas, the AV file includes a video object, and the cell time information is a time code related to the video object. Including a table, a cell indicating a playback section in the video object, and a PGC indicating the playback order of the cells are defined, and the same location in the video object can be repeatedly played back between different cells in different PGCs. The PGC information indicates a playback procedure of a cell in the PGC, the PGC information includes information specifying the cell time information, and specific block number information or block number information in the video object is in the time code table And the video object is compressed with MPEG2 Is included in the cell time information, the time code table includes information on a specific unit, the cell time information includes information related to the number of the specific units, and is compressed by the MPEG2 Information related to whether or not the information is related to the number of specific units is included in a different area, information about the sampling frequency of the audio signal in the video object is included in the cell time information, The time code table includes information related to a specific unit, the cell time information includes information related to the number of the specific units, and the information related to the sampling frequency is different from information related to the number of the specific units. Based on the information storage medium included.

  An information storage medium capable of recording / reproducing digital moving image information can be obtained, and a device using this medium can be obtained.

The perspective view explaining the structure of the optical disk (DVD-RAM / DVD-RW disk etc.) which can be recorded / reproduced. FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining a correspondence relationship between a data recording area of the double-layer optical disc in FIG. 1 and a recording track of data recorded therein. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the configuration of a ROM layer and a RAM layer of the two-layer optical disc in FIG. FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining a data track configuration example (a configuration in which a spare area for replacement processing is arranged outside each user area) of the RAM layer of the dual-layer optical disc in FIG. 1. The figure explaining the layout of the RAM layer of the double layer optical disk of FIG. The figure explaining the detail of the lead-in part in the layout of FIG. 5, and a lead-out part. The figure explaining the detail of the data area part in the layout of FIG. The figure explaining the structure of the sector contained in the data area part of FIG. The figure explaining the recording unit (ECC unit) of the information contained in the data area part of FIG. The figure explaining the relationship between the zone and group (refer FIG. 7) in the data area of FIG. The figure explaining the setting method of the logical sector in the data area of FIG. FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining replacement processing (slipping replacement method) in the data area of FIG. 5. FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining another replacement process (skiping replacement method) in the data area of FIG. 5. FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining still another replacement process (linear replacement method) in the data area of FIG. 5. FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining a method for setting a logical sector of a ROM layer in the double-layer optical disc of FIG. FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining a method for setting a logical sector of a ROM layer / RAM layer in the double-layer optical disc of FIG. 1. The figure explaining the other setting method of the logical sector of the ROM layer / RAM layer in the double layer optical disk of FIG. The figure explaining an example of the hierarchical structure of the information recorded on the optical disk of FIG. FIG. 19 is a diagram illustrating an example of a correspondence between a cell configuration of a video object and a program chain PGC in the information hierarchical structure of FIG. 18. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a logical structure of information recorded in the lead-in area of the optical disc in FIG. 2 (corresponding to the lead-in data portion in FIG. 6 although the expression method is different). The figure explaining an example of the content of the control data recorded on the lead-in area of FIG. FIG. 22 is a diagram for explaining an example of the contents of physical format information (corresponding to the control data zone part of FIG. 6 although the expression method is different) included in the control data of FIG. 21; The figure explaining an example of the directory structure of the information (data file) recorded on the optical disk etc. of FIG. The figure which illustrates the hierarchical structure of the information contained in video object DA22 of FIG. The figure explaining the content of the dummy pack of FIG. The figure explaining the internal structure of the cell time information CTI of FIG. The figure explaining the internal structure of the VOBU information of FIG. FIG. 27 is a diagram for explaining types of defects (congenital defects and acquired defects) in relation to the defect information in FIG. 26. FIG. 24 is a view for explaining the correspondence between the address of an AV file included in the video RAM file of FIG. 23 and the logical block number, logical sector number, and physical sector number of the optical disk of FIG. FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining how to set an AV address and describe an extent (collection of ECC data) descriptor when a defect occurs in the optical disc of FIG. 2; The figure explaining the correspondence of various extent descriptors (aggregate descriptor). The figure which illustrates the hierarchical structure of the information contained in control information DA21 of FIG. The figure explaining the expression method of the cell data extent descriptor (cell data aggregate descriptor) of FIG. The figure explaining the case where the boundary position of the video object unit VOBU in the cell of FIG. 24 and the boundary position of the ECC block (16 sectors 32 kbytes) which comprises the data in this cell shift. The figure explaining the case where the boundary position of video object unit VOBU in the cell of FIG. 24 and the boundary position of the ECC block (16 sectors 32 kbytes) which comprise the data in this cell correspond. The figure explaining the relationship between the system hierarchy in the information processing apparatus (for example, personal computer) which handles the information recorded on the optical disk of FIG. 2, and each management object information. The figure explaining the basic relationship between the hierarchical file system structure of FIG. 23, and the information content recorded on the information storage medium. The figure explaining the description content of the long allocation descriptor which displays the recording position of the continuous sector aggregate | assembly (extent) on an information storage medium. The figure explaining the description content of the short allocation descriptor which displays the recording position of the continuous sector aggregate | assembly (extent) on an information storage medium. The figure explaining the content of the description sentence used as a space entry by searching the unrecorded continuous sector aggregate (unrecorded extent) on the information storage medium. FIG. 38 is a diagram for explaining a part of description contents of a file entry that displays a recording position of a specified file in a file structure having a hierarchical structure as shown in FIG. 23 or FIG. 37. The figure which extracts and demonstrates a part of file ID descriptor describing the information of a file (a root directory, a subdirectory, file data, etc.) in the file structure with a hierarchical structure like FIG. 23 or FIG. The figure explaining an example of the structure of the file system which has a hierarchical structure like FIG. 23 or FIG. FIG. 3 is a first partial view for explaining an example when a file system is constructed on an information storage medium according to the universal disk format (UDF). The 2nd partial figure explaining an example at the time of constructing a file system on an information storage medium according to UDF with Drawing 21. FIG. 23 is a third partial view illustrating an example of a case where a file system is constructed on an information storage medium according to UDF together with FIGS. 21 and 22. FIG. 2 is a diagram conceptually illustrating an example of a file structure of a menu created by a user among video contents recorded on the disc of FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining a specific example of a file structure of a menu created by a user among video contents recorded on the disc of FIG. 1 (part 1); FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining a specific example of a file structure of a menu created by a user among video contents recorded on the disc of FIG. 1 (part 2); The figure explaining the case where the cell data recorded on the disk of FIG. 2 are reproduced | regenerated. The figure explaining an example of the relationship between each cell which comprises the reproduction | regeneration data of FIG. 50, and program chain information (refer FIG. 19). FIG. 12 is a block diagram for explaining an example of a personal computer PC configured to record and reproduce digital video information using an information storage medium (DVD-RAM disk or the like) having the configuration of FIGS. FIG. 53 is a diagram illustrating a physical block and an application block separately in the digital video recording / playback personal computer PC of FIG. 52. FIG. 53 is a block diagram for explaining an example of the configuration of the DVD-ROM / RAM drive 140 of FIG. 52 (physical block in FIG. 53). For example, in the digital video recording / playback PC of FIG. 52, a flowchart for explaining an example of a setting operation of a logical block number for a used medium (DVD-RAM disk or the like). For example, in the digital video recording / playback PC of FIG. 52, a flowchart for explaining an example of a defect processing operation (drive side processing) in a used medium (DVD-RAM disk or the like). FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the configuration of signals recorded on the information storage medium (DVD-RAM disk or the like) in FIG. 2. FIG. 58 is a diagram for explaining the configuration of an ECC block generated by scrambling the recording signal of FIG. The figure explaining the case where the ECC block of FIG. 58 is interleaved. The flowchart figure explaining the procedure until the raw signal for recording receives predetermined signal processing (ECC interleaving / signal modulation etc.) and is recorded on information storage media (DVD-RAM disk etc.). FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining a method of logically rearranging a RAM layer portion having a large physical sector number to a position having a small logical sector number in setting the logical sector of the ROM layer / RAM layer in the two-layer optical disc of FIG. FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining a method of rearranging so that a RAM layer portion logically interrupts a ROM layer portion in setting a logical sector of a ROM layer / RAM layer in the two-layer optical disc of FIG. The figure explaining the other example of the directory structure of the information (data file) recorded on the optical disk of FIG. The figure explaining the further another example of the directory structure of the information (data file) recorded on the optical disk of FIG. FIG. 19 is a diagram for explaining another example of a hierarchical structure of information recorded on the optical disc in FIG. 2 (an example having an allocation map table AMT having contents different from the allocation map table AMT in FIG. 18). The figure explaining the description method of the space descriptor which is not allocated and the congenital defect allocation descriptor when the optical disc of FIG. 2 has a congenital defect. FIG. 61 is a diagram for explaining the information recording location and the state before and after initialization of the RAM layer in the ROM / RAM double-layer disc subjected to the rearrangement in FIG. 61 (part 1); FIG. 62 is a diagram for explaining the information recording location and the state before and after initialization of the RAM layer in the ROM / RAM double-layer disc subjected to the rearrangement in FIG. 61 (part 2); FIG. 17 is a diagram for explaining the information recording location and the state before and after initialization of the RAM layer in the ROM / RAM double-layer disc in which the rearrangement is performed in FIG. FIG. 17 is a diagram (part 2) for explaining information recording locations and states before and after initialization of the RAM layer in the ROM / RAM double-layer disc subjected to the rearrangement in FIG. 16; The flowchart figure explaining the rewriting method of video information and its management area. The reproduction system conceptual diagram for demonstrating the continuity of a reproduction signal. The figure explaining an example of the relationship between the access operation | movement at the time of the continuous reproduction | regeneration of a video signal, and the temporary storage amount in a buffer memory. The figure explaining the other example (when access frequency is the highest) of the relationship between the access operation | movement etc. at the time of continuous reproduction | regeneration of a video signal, and the temporary storage amount in a buffer memory. The figure explaining the other example (when reproduction time and access time are balanced) of the relationship between the access operation | movement at the time of the continuous reproduction | regeneration of a video signal, and the temporary storage amount in a buffer memory. The figure explaining the relationship between the seek distance and seek time of an optical head. The figure explaining the method of calculating | requiring the average seek distance of an optical head. The recording system conceptual diagram for demonstrating the continuity of a recording signal. The figure which illustrates the cell which comprises a part of recorded AV data (video signal information), and the video object unit VOBU arrangement | sequence of each cell. 79 illustrates the case where cell # 2 is edited and data is cut off in the middle of cell # 2 (at VOBU 108e) in the array of FIG. 79 (VOBU 108e is re-encoded). (FIGS. 79 to 80 are diagrams for explaining a method of rearranging cells by editing.) After the editing in FIG. 80, how the cell configuration, VOBU arrangement, and free space position illustrated in FIG. 79 change are changed. FIG. The figure explaining an example (when access frequency is the highest) of the relationship between the access operation | movement etc. at the time of continuous recording of a video signal, and the temporary storage amount in a buffer memory. The figure explaining the other example (when recording time and access time are balanced) of the relationship between the access operation | movement at the time of continuous recording of a video signal, and the temporary storage amount in a buffer memory. The block diagram explaining the structure of the DVD video recorder corresponding to the loss of synchronization between video and audio when video information is rearranged (edited or the like) within a video object. FIG. 85 is a block diagram illustrating an internal configuration of an encoder unit and a decoder unit in the configuration of FIG. 84. FIG. 85 is a flowchart for explaining video-audio synchronization processing in the DVD video recorder of FIG. 84.

  A digital information recording / reproducing system according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

As a typical embodiment of the digital information recording / reproducing system according to the present invention, there is an apparatus for recording / reproducing a moving picture encoded based on MPEG2 at a variable bit rate, for example, a DVD digital video recorder. (A specific configuration example of this DVD digital video recorder will be described later.)
FIG. 1 is a perspective view for explaining the structure of a recordable optical disk (DVD-RAM / DVD-RW disk or the like) 10 used in the DVD digital video recorder.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the optical disc 10 has a structure in which a pair of transparent substrates 14 each provided with a recording layer 17 are bonded together with an adhesive layer 20. Each substrate 14 can be made of 0.6 mm thick polycarbonate, and the adhesive layer 20 can be made of an ultra-thin (for example, 40 μm thick) ultraviolet curable resin. The pair of 0.6 mm substrates 14 are bonded together so that the recording layer 17 is in contact with the surface of the adhesive layer 20 to obtain a large capacity optical disk 10 having a thickness of 1.2 mm.

  The recording layer 17 can have a ROM / RAM two-layer structure. In that case, a ROM layer / light reflecting layer (emboss layer) 17A is formed closer to the reading surface 19 side, and a RAM layer / phase change recording layer 17B is formed farther from the reading surface 19 side.

  A center hole 22 is provided in the optical disc 10, and a clamp area 24 is provided around the center hole 22 on both sides of the disc for clamping the optical disc 10 during rotational driving. When the optical disk 10 is loaded in the disk drive device (not shown), the spindle of the disk motor is inserted into the center hole 22. The optical disk 10 is clamped in the clamp area 24 while the disk is rotating by a disk clamper (not shown).

  The optical disc 10 has an information area 25 in which video data, audio data, and other information can be recorded around the clamp area 24.

  A lead-out area 26 is provided on the outer peripheral side of the information area 25. A lead-in area 27 is provided on the inner peripheral side in contact with the clamp area 24. A data recording area 28 is defined between the lead-out area 26 and the lead-in area 27.

  In the recording layer (light reflecting layer) 17 of the information area 25, recording tracks are continuously formed in a spiral shape, for example. The continuous track is divided into a plurality of physical sectors, and these sectors are assigned consecutive numbers. Various data are recorded on the optical disk 10 using this sector as a recording unit.

  The data recording area 28 is an actual data recording area. As recording / playback information, video data (main video data) such as movies, sub-picture data such as subtitles / menus, and audio data such as dialogue / sound effects are recorded. These are recorded as similar pit rows (physical shapes or phase states that cause optical changes in the laser reflected light).

  When the optical disk 10 is a single-sided single-sided RAM disk, each recording layer 17 is a triple layer in which a phase change recording material layer (for example, Ge2Sb2Te5) is sandwiched between two zinc sulfide / silicon oxide mixtures (ZnS / SiO2). Can be configured.

  When the optical disk 10 is a single-sided, single-sided RAM disk, the recording layer 17 on the reading surface 19 side can be constituted by a triple layer including the phase change recording material layer. In this case, the layer 17 disposed on the opposite side as viewed from the reading surface 19 does not need to be an information recording layer, and may be a simple dummy layer.

  When the optical disk 10 is a single-sided read type two-layer RAM / ROM disk, the two recording layers 17 include one phase change recording layer (back side as viewed from the reading surface 19; for reading and writing) and one translucent metal reflective layer. (Front side when viewed from the readout surface 19; reproduction only).

  When the optical disk 10 is a write-once DVD-R, polycarbonate is used as the substrate, gold is used as the reflective film (not shown), and ultraviolet curable resin is used as the protective film (not shown). In this case, an organic dye is used for the recording layer 17. As this organic dye, cyanine, squarylium, croconic, triphenylmentane dye, xanthene, quinone dye (naphthoquine, anthraquinone, etc.), metal complex dye (phthalocyanine, volphyrin, dithiol complex, etc.) and others can be used. is there.

  Data writing to such a DVD-R disk can be performed using, for example, a semiconductor laser having a wavelength of 650 nm and an output of about 6 to 12 mW.

  When the optical disk 10 is a single-sided read type dual-layer ROM disk, the two recording layers 17 are composed of one metal reflective layer (the back side when viewed from the readout surface 19) and one semi-transparent metal reflective layer (when viewed from the readout surface 19). It can be configured on the front side.

  In the read-only DVD-ROM disc 10, a pit row is formed in advance on the substrate 14 with a stamper, and a reflective layer such as a metal is formed on the surface of the substrate 14 on which the pit row is formed. Will be used as. In such a DVD-ROM disc 10, a groove as a recording track is usually not provided, and a pit row formed on the surface of the substrate 14 functions as a track.

  In the various optical disks 10 described above, read-only ROM information is recorded on the recording layer 17 as an emboss signal. In contrast, the substrate 14 having the read / write (or write-once) recording layer 17 does not have such an emboss signal, but instead has a continuous groove groove. A phase change recording layer is provided in the groove. In the case of a read / write DVD-RAM disc, in addition to the groove, the phase change recording layer in the land portion is also used for information recording.

  When the optical disk 10 is a single-sided read type (with one or two recording layers), the substrate 14 on the back side as viewed from the reading surface 19 does not need to be transparent to the read / write laser. In this case, label printing may be performed on the entire back side substrate 14.

  The DVD digital video recorder to be described later performs repetitive recording / repetitive reproduction (read / write) on a DVD-RAM disk (or DVD-RW disk), one recording / repetitive reproduction on a DVD-R disk, and repetitive recording on a DVD-ROM disk. It can be configured to be playable.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the correspondence between the data recording area 28 of the optical disc (DVD-RAM or the like) 10 in FIG. 1 and the recording tracks of data recorded therein.

  When the disk 10 is a DVD-RAM (or DVD-RW), the main body of the disk 10 is stored in the cartridge 11 in order to protect the delicate disk surface. When the DVD-RAM disk 10 is inserted into the disk drive of a DVD video recorder, which will be described later, together with the cartridge 11, the disk 10 is pulled out from the cartridge 11 and clamped on a turntable of a spindle motor (not shown) so as to face an optical head (not shown). And rotated.

  On the other hand, when the disk 10 is a DVD-R or DVD-ROM, the main body of the disk 10 is not stored in the cartridge 11, and the bare disk 10 is set directly on the disk tray of the disk drive.

  In the recording layer 17 of the information area 25 shown in FIG. 1, data recording tracks are continuously formed in a spiral shape. As shown in FIG. 2, the continuous track is divided into a plurality of logical sectors (minimum recording units) having a constant storage capacity, and data is recorded on the basis of the logical sectors. The recording capacity of one logical sector is determined to be 2048 bytes (or 2 kbytes), which is the same as one pack data length (see FIG. 24).

  In the data recording area 28, which is an actual data recording area, management data, main video (video) data, sub-video data and audio (audio) data are similarly recorded.

  As will be described later with reference to FIG. 4, the data recording area 28 of the disk 10 of FIG. 2 can be divided into a plurality of recording areas (a plurality of recording zones) in a ring shape (annular ring shape). Although the disk rotational speed is different for each recording zone, the linear velocity or angular velocity can be made constant in each zone. In this case, a spare recording area, that is, a spare area (free space) can be provided for each zone. The free space for each zone can be collected and used as a reserved area of the disk 10.

  FIG. 3 is a partial cross-sectional view showing a deformed data recording portion when the dual-layer bonded optical disk 10 of FIG. 1 is used for both reading and reading. Here, a read-only information recording layer (ROM layer 17A) having a thickness of, for example, 20 nm is formed of a mixture (ZnS · SiO2) of gold (Au) or zinc sulfide (ZnS) and silicon oxide (SiO2). .

  Further, between the light reflecting film using aluminum (Al) or aluminum-molybdenum alloy (Al-Mo) and the ultraviolet curable resin adhesive layer 20, two zinc sulfide / silicon oxide mixtures ZnS / SiO2 (92, 94) are used. ) Is provided with a triple layer (90 to 94) sandwiching a phase change recording material layer 90 (Ge2Sb2Te5 or GeAnTe). This triple layer forms a readable / writable information recording layer (RAM layer 17B).

  The thickness of the aluminum or aluminum / molybdenum alloy reflective film is selected to be, for example, about 100 nm, the thickness of the ZnS / SiO 2 mixture layer 94 is selected to be, for example, approximately 20 nm, and the thickness of the Ge 2 Sb 2 Te 5 phase change recording material layer 90 is, for example, approximately 20 nm. For example, the thickness of the ZnS / SiO 2 mixture layer 92 is selected to be about 180 nm.

  The writing laser beam WL for the RAM layer 17B penetrates the semi-transparent ROM layer 17A from the substrate 14 side and enters the phase change recording material layer 90.

  The read laser beam RL for the RAM layer 17B passes through the semi-transparent ROM layer 17A from the substrate 14 side and enters the phase change recording material layer 90, where it corresponds to the writing state (crystalline or amorphous). It comes to reflect.

  On the other hand, the read laser beam RL for the ROM layer 17A is incident from the substrate 14 side and reflects according to the unevenness (embossed) state of the semitransparent ROM layer 17A. Whether to read the ROM layer 17A or the RAM layer 17B can be switched depending on which layer the optical pickup is focused on.

  In contrast to the substrate 14 on which read-only information is recorded as an emboss signal, such an emboss signal is not engraved on the read / write substrate, but a continuous groove is engraved instead. . A phase change recording material layer 90 is provided in the groove.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining an example of the data track configuration of the RAM layer of the dual-layer optical disc of FIG. 1 (configuration in which spare areas SA00 to SA23 for replacement processing are arranged outside the user areas UA00 to UA23).

  A spare area SA00 having a rotation speed per second (Hz) of N00 (for replacement processing of a defective portion occurring in the user area UA00) is provided concentrically outside the user area UA00 having a rotation speed (Hz) of N00. Similarly, a spare area SA01 having a rotational speed per second (Hz) of N01 is provided concentrically outside the user area UA01 having a rotational speed per second (Hz) of N01, and the user area UA23 having a rotational speed per second (Hz) of N23. A spare area SA23 having a rotational speed (Hz) of N23 per second is provided concentrically on the outside.

  In this concentric area configuration, in order to average the recording density between the rotation zones 00 (UA00 + SA00) to 23 (UA23 + SA23) and to secure a large recording capacity over the entire disk, the rotation speed for each constant rotation zone is set to N00. > N01>...> N23.

  Here, the number of concentric zones is 24 (zone 00 to zone 23), but the present invention can be carried out even when the number of zones is not 24.

  In the optical disk 10 having the configuration shown in FIG. 4, when writing to the user area UA00, the management (where the corresponding data is written from where in the user area UA00) and the replacement process when a defect occurs are the same rotation speed zone. Do it within. Similarly, writing management / defect management in the user area UA01 is performed in the same rotation speed zone, and writing management / defect management in the user area UA23 is performed in the same rotation speed zone.

  In this way, it is not necessary to switch the rotation speed of the disk 10 during the write management process or the replacement process, so that the writing process and the replacement process can be speeded up.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining the layout of the RAM layer of the two-layer optical disk of FIG.

  That is, the lead-in area 27 on the inner circumference side of the disc is composed of an emboss zone in which the light reflecting surface has an uneven shape, a mirror zone having a flat surface (mirror surface), and a rewritable zone. The emboss zone includes a reference signal zone and a control data zone, and the mirror zone includes a connection zone.

  The rewritable zone includes a disk test zone, a drive test zone, a disk ID (identifier) zone, and defect management areas DMA1 and DMA2.

  The lead-out area 26 on the outer periphery side of the disk is composed of defect management areas DMA3 and DMA4, a disk ID (identifier) zone, a drive test zone, and a rewritable zone including a disk test zone.

  A data area 28 between the lead-in area 27 and the lead-out area 26 is divided into 24 annual ring-shaped zones 00 to 23. Each zone has a constant rotational speed, but the rotational speed differs between different zones. Further, the number of sectors constituting each zone is different for each zone. Specifically, the zone on the inner circumference side of the disk (such as zone 00) has a high rotational speed and a small number of constituent sectors. On the other hand, the outer peripheral zone (zone 23, etc.) has a low rotational speed and a large number of constituent sectors. With such a layout, high-speed accessibility like CAV is realized in each zone, and high-density recording like CLV is realized in the entire zone.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining details of the lead-in portion and the lead-out portion in the layout of FIG.

  The control data zone of the embossed data zone includes the applicable DVD standard type (DVD-ROM, DVD-RAM, DVD-R, etc.) and part version, disc size and minimum read rate, and disc structure (single-layer ROM). Disk, 1-layer RAM disk, 2-layer ROM / RAM disk, etc.), recording density, data area allocation, burst cutting area descriptor, linear velocity condition for specifying the exposure amount during recording, and reading power Information on peak power, bias power, and production of the medium is recorded.

  In other words, the control data zone includes information on the entire information storage medium such as the physical sector number indicating the recording start / end position, recording power, recording pulse width, erasing power, reproducing power, recording / erasing. Information such as the linear velocity at the time, information relating to recording / reproducing / erasing characteristics, information relating to the manufacture of the information storage medium such as the serial number of each disc, and the like are recorded in advance.

  The rewritable data zone for lead-in and lead-out includes a unique disk name recording area for each medium, a test recording area (for checking recording erasure conditions), and a management information recording area for a defective area in the data area Is provided. By using these areas, it is possible to perform optimum recording on each disc.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining the details of the data area portion in the layout of FIG.

  The same number of groups are assigned to each of the 24 zones, and each group includes a user area used for data recording and a spare area used for replacement processing in pairs. The user area and the spare area of each group are contained in a zone having the same rotation speed, and the smaller group number belongs to the high-speed rotation zone, and the larger group number belongs to the low-speed rotation zone. The low-speed rotation zone group has a larger number of sectors than the high-speed rotation zone group, but the low-speed rotation zone has a larger disk rotation radius, so the physical recording density on the disk 10 is over the entire zone (all groups). Almost uniform.

  In each group, the user area is arranged on the smaller sector number (that is, the inner circumference side on the disk), and the spare area is arranged on the larger sector number (the outer circumference side on the disk). This sector number assignment method corresponds to the arrangement method of the user area UA and the spare area SA on the disk 10 in FIG.

  Next, a recording signal structure of information recorded on an information storage medium (DVD-RAM disk 10 or the like) and a method for creating the recording signal structure will be described. Note that the content of information recorded on the medium itself is called “information”, and “1” after the structure and expression after the same content information is scrambled or modulated, that is, the signal form is converted. The connection of the states of “0” is expressed as “signal”, and the two are appropriately distinguished.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining the structure of sectors included in the data area portion of FIG. One sector in FIG. 8 corresponds to one of the sector numbers in FIG. 7, and has a size of 2048 bytes as shown in FIG. Each sector includes a header engraved on the disk 10 at the head, and alternately includes a synchronization code and a modulated signal (video data, etc.).

  Next, an ECC block processing method in the DVD-RAM disk 10 will be described.

  FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining a recording unit (ECC unit of error correction code) of information included in the data area portion of FIG.

  In a FAT (file allocation table) frequently used in a file system of an information storage medium for a personal computer (hard disk HDD, magneto-optical disk MO, etc.), information is recorded on the information storage medium with a minimum unit of 256 bytes or 512 bytes. .

  On the other hand, information storage media such as CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, and DVD-RAM use UDF (universal disk format; details will be described later) as a file system. Here, the information storage medium has a minimum unit of 2048 bytes. Information is recorded. This minimum unit is called a sector. That is, on the information storage medium (optical disc 10) using UDF, information of 2048 bytes is recorded for each sector 501 as shown in FIG.

  Since a CD-ROM or DVD-ROM is handled as a bare disk without using a cartridge, the surface of the information storage medium is easily scratched on the user side or dust is likely to adhere to the surface. A specific sector (for example, sector 501c in FIG. 9) cannot be reproduced (or cannot be recorded) due to the influence of dust or scratches on the surface of the information storage medium.

  In the DVD, an error correction method (ECC using a product code) taking such a situation into consideration is adopted. Specifically, one ECC (error correction code) block 502 is composed of 16 sectors (16 sectors from sector 501a to sector 501p in FIG. 9), and a powerful error correction function is provided therein. I have it. As a result, even if an error in the ECC block 502 occurs, for example, the sector 501c cannot be reproduced, the error is corrected, and all information in the ECC block 502 can be reproduced correctly.

  FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining the relationship between zones and groups (see FIG. 7) in the data area of FIG.

  Each zone 00-23 in FIG. 5 is physically arranged on the disk 10 as shown in FIG. 4, and in addition to the data area (user area + spare area) that is actually used, It has a guard area that divides the data use area. On the other hand, the group in FIG. 7 is assigned to a data area (user area + spare area) that is actually used.

  That is, in FIG. 10, the group 00 delimited by the guard area 711 includes the user area UA00 and the spare area SA00 starting from the physical sector number 031000h of the disk 10, and the group 01 delimited by the guard area 711 and the guard area 712 is the user area. It includes UA01 and spare area SA01. Similarly, the group 23 delimited by the outermost guard area 713 of the disk 10 includes a user area UA23 and a spare area SA23 that end with the last physical sector number of the disk 10.

  When the optical disk (DVD-RAM disk) 10 shown in FIG. 4 having the configuration shown in FIG. 10 is loaded on a disk drive (not shown), a process of switching the rotational speed of the disk 10 while passing through the guard area can be performed. For example, when an optical head (not shown) seeks from group 00 to group 01, the rotational speed of the disk 10 is switched from N00 to N01 while passing through the guard area 711.

  FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining a logical sector setting method in the data area of FIG. Physically, guard areas as shown in FIG. 10 are provided on the disk 10, but logically (that is, from the viewpoint of software that performs write control), the groups 00 to 23 are closely arranged. It is out. This group 00-23 is arranged such that the smaller group number (the smaller physical sector number) is arranged on the inner periphery side (lead-in side) of the disk 10, and the larger group number (the larger physical sector number). ) Is arranged on the outer peripheral side (lead-out side) of the disk 10.

  In this arrangement, the logical sector number of the spare area in the same group is not set in advance, and when a defect in the user area occurs, the logical sector number at the defective position in the user area before the replacement process is To the corresponding spare area position. However, for the physical sector number, both the user area and the spare area are set from the beginning.

  Next, several methods for dealing with defects occurring in the user area will be described. Before that, a defect management area (DMA1 to DMA4 in FIG. 5 or 6) necessary for defect processing and related matters will be described.

[Defect management area]
The defect management area (DMA1 to DMA4) includes data area configuration and defect management information, and is composed of, for example, 32 sectors. Two defect management areas (DMA1, DMA2) are arranged in the lead-in area 27 of the optical disc (DVD-RAM disc) 10, and the other two defect management areas (DMA3, DMA4) are in the lead-out area 26 of the optical disc 10. Placed in. A spare sector (spare sector) is appropriately added after each defect management area (DMA1 to DMA4).

  Each defect management area (DMA1 to DMA4) is composed of two ECC blocks. The first ECC block in each defect management area (DMA1 to DMA4) includes a definition information structure (DDS) and a primary defect list (PDL) of the disk 10. The second ECC block in each defect management area (DMA1 to DMA4) includes a secondary defect list (SDL). The four primary defect lists (PDL) in the four defect management areas (DMA1 to DMA4) have the same contents, and the four secondary defect lists (SDL) have the same contents.

  The four definition information structures (DDS) of the four defect management areas (DMA1 to DMA4) basically have the same contents, but the pointers to the PDL and SDL of each of the four defect management areas are different from each other. It has become.

  Here, the DDS / PDL block means an ECC block including DDS and PDL. Further, the SDL block means an ECC block including SDL.

The contents of each defect management area (DMA1 to DMA4) after initializing the optical disk (DVD-RAM disk) 10 are as follows:
(1) The first sector of each DDS / PDL block contains the DDS;
(2) The second sector of each DDS / PDL block contains the PDL;
(3) The first sector of each SDL block contains the SDL.

  The block lengths of the primary defect list PDL and the secondary defect list SDL are determined by the number of entries. Unused sectors in each defect management area (DMA1 to DMA4) are overwritten with data 0FFh. All spare sectors are overwritten with 00h.

[Disk definition information]
The definition information structure DDS is composed of a table having a length of one sector. This DDS has contents that define the initialization method of the disk 10 and the start addresses of the PDL and SDL. The DDS is recorded in the first sector of each defect management area (DMA) when the initialization of the disk 10 is completed.

[Partitioning]
During initialization of the disk 10, the data area is divided into 24 consecutive groups 00-23. Except for the first zone 00 and the last zone 23, a plurality of buffer blocks are arranged at the head of each zone. Each group is designed to completely cover one zone except for buffer floc.

  Each group includes a full block of data sectors (user area) followed by a full block of spare sectors (spare area).

[Spare sector]
The defective sector in each data area is replaced (replaced) with a normal sector by a predetermined defect management method (verification, slipping replacement, skipping replacement, linear replacement described later). Spare sector blocks for this replacement are included in the spare area of each group in FIG.

  The optical disc 10 can be initialized before use, but this initialization can be performed regardless of whether or not verification is performed.

  The defective sector is processed by a slipping replacement process, a skipping replacement algorithm, or a linear replacement algorithm. The total number of entries listed in the PDL and SDL by these processes (Algorithm) is a predetermined number, for example, 4092 or less.

[Initialization]
In the initialization of the disk 10, four defect management areas (DMA1 to DMA4) are recorded in advance before the first use of the disk. The data area is partitioned into 24 groups (groups 00 to 23 in FIG. 7). Each group includes a number of blocks for a data sector (user area) followed by a number of spare blocks (spare areas). These spare blocks can be used for replacement of defective sectors.

  At initialization, each group can be verified (certified). As a result, defective sectors found in the initialization stage are identified and skipped when used.

  The parameters of all definition information structures DDS are recorded in four DDS sectors. The primary defect list PDL and the secondary defect list SDL are recorded in four defect management areas (DMA1 to DMA4). At initial initialization, the update counter in the SDL is set to 00h, and all reserved blocks are overwritten with 00h.

[Verification / Certification]
When the disk 10 is verified, the data sector (user area) and spare sector (spare area) in each group are verified. This verification can be performed by reading / writing the sector in each group.

  Defective sectors found during verification are processed, for example, by slipping replacement. This defective sector must not be used for reading or writing.

  When the spare sector in the zone of the disk 10 is used up during the verification, the disk 10 is determined to be defective, and the disk 10 is not used thereafter.

  When the disk 10 is used for data storage of a computer, the initialization + verification is performed. When the disk 10 is used for video recording, the video recording may be suddenly performed without performing the initialization + verification. obtain.

  FIG. 12 is a diagram for explaining replacement processing (slipping replacement method) in the data area of FIG.

  When the verification is executed, the slipping replacement process is individually applied to all the groups in the data area.

  The defective data sector (for example, m defective sectors 731) discovered during the verification is replaced (or replaced) with the first normal sector (user area 723b) following the defective sector (replacement process 734). As a result, slipping (logical sector number backward shift) of m sectors occurs toward the end of the corresponding group. Similarly, if n defective sectors 732 are subsequently found, the defective sectors are replaced with subsequent normal sectors (user area 723c). When there is a defect in the last data sector (user area 723c), the data is slipped to the spare sector of the group (in order from the recording use area 743 having the smallest logical sector number in the spare area 724).

  The address of the defective sector is written into the primary defect list (PDL). The defective sector must not be used for recording user data. If no defective sector is found during verification, nothing is written to the PDL.

  If the last data sector (user area 723c) is slipped to the spare area 724, the address of the spare sector in which a defect is found during verification is written in the PDL. In this case, the number of usable spare sectors (sectors in the unused area 736 of the spare area) decreases.

  When m + n defective sectors are found in the user area of the corresponding group, m + n sectors are slipped to the recording use area 743 of the spare area 724. As a result, the unused area 726 of the spare area 724 is m + n sectors. Decrease by minute.

  If a sector in the spare area 724 of a certain group is used up in the replacement process during verification, it is regarded as verification failure.

  When the verification is successful, the user areas 723a to 723c having no defective sector and the recording use area 743 of the spare area become the information recording use part (logical sector number setting area 735) of the group, and the logical sector number continuous to this part is set. Assigned.

  FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining another replacement process (skiping replacement method) in the data area of FIG.

  The skipping replacement process can be applied to defects or deterioration caused by repeated reading and writing during use of the disk 10. This skipping replacement process is executed in units of 16 sectors, that is, in units of ECC blocks (since 1 sector is 2 kbytes, 32 kbytes).

  For example, if one defective ECC block 741 is found after the user area 723a composed of normal ECC blocks, the data scheduled to be recorded in the defective ECC block 741 is the ECC of the normal user area 723b immediately after. It is recorded instead of the block (replacement process 744). Similarly, if k defective ECC blocks 742 are found, the data intended to be recorded in these defective blocks 742 is recorded instead of the k ECC blocks in the normal user area 723c immediately after that.

  Thus, when 1 + k defective ECC blocks are found in the user area of the corresponding group, (1 + k) ECC blocks are skipped to the recording use extension area 743 of the spare area 724. As a result, the unused area 726 in the spare area 724 is reduced by (1 + k) ECC blocks, and the remaining unused area 746 is reduced. The unused area 726 in the spare area 724 is reduced by m + n sectors.

  If the spare area 724 of the corresponding group is used up in the replacement process during verification, it is regarded as verification failure.

  When the verification is successful, the user areas 723a to 723c having no defective ECC block become the information recording use portion (logical sector number setting area 725) of the group. Then, the logical sector number setting positions of the defective ECC blocks 741 and 742 are translated into the extension area 743 of the spare area 724. At this time, the user areas 723a to 723c having no defective ECC block are kept unchanged with the logical sector numbers assigned when there is no defect, regardless of the presence or absence of the defect.

  Due to the parallel movement 745 of the logical sector number setting position, the logical sector numbers of the sectors constituting the (1 + k) ECC blocks skipped in the extension area 743 are preliminarily assigned to the defective ECC block 741 and k consecutive ECC blocks. It will carry the assigned logical sector number.

  In this skipping replacement processing method, even if the disk 10 is not verified (certified) in advance, if an error is found in units of ECC blocks, the replacement processing can be executed immediately.

  FIG. 14 is a diagram for explaining still another replacement process (linear replacement method) in the data area of FIG.

  The linear replacement process can be applied to both defective sectors and deteriorated sectors generated by repeated reading and writing after verification. This linear replacement process is also executed in units of 16 sectors, that is, ECC blocks (32 kbytes).

  In the linear replacement process, the defective ECC block 751 is replaced (replaced) with a normal spare block (first recording use area 753 of the spare area 724) that can be used first in the group (replacement process 758). If no spare block remains in the group, that is, if there are less than 16 sectors remaining in the group, this is recorded in the secondary defect list (SDL). The defective block is replaced (replaced) with a normal spare block that can be used first in another group. The address of the defective block and the address of its last replacement (replacement) block are written into the SDL.

  As described above, when there is no spare block in the corresponding group, this is recorded in the SDL. The fact that there is no spare block in group 00 is indicated by setting “1” to a predetermined bit of SDL. When this predetermined bit is set to “0”, it indicates that there is still a spare block in the group 00. This predetermined bit is provided corresponding to the group 00. Another predetermined bit corresponds to the group 01. Similarly, the 24 individual predetermined bits correspond to the 24 groups 00 to 23, respectively.

  After verification, if a defect is found in a data block (ECC block), that block is considered a defective block and that fact is listed as a new entry in the SDL.

  If the replacement block listed in the SDL is later found to be a defective block, it is registered in the SDL using the direct pointer method. In this direct pointer method, by changing the address of a replacement block from that of a defective block to a new one, the SDL entry in which the replaced defective block is registered is corrected.

  When updating the secondary defect list SDL, the update counter in the SDL is incremented by one.

[Disk not verified]
The skipping replacement process or the linear replacement process can be applied to a defective sector found in the disc 10 that has not been verified. This replacement process is executed in units of 16 sectors (that is, in units of 1 ECC block).

  For example, in the case of linear replacement processing, a defective block is replaced (replaced) with a normal spare block that can be used first in the corresponding group. If no spare block remains in the group, this is recorded in the secondary defect list (SDL). The defective block is replaced (replaced) with a normal spare block that can be used first in another group. The address of the defective block and the address of its last replacement (replacement) block are written into the SDL.

  When there is no spare block in the corresponding group, this is recorded in the SDL. The fact that there is no spare block in group 00 is indicated by setting “1” to a predetermined bit of the group. When this predetermined bit is set to “0”, it indicates that a spare block still remains in the group 00.

  If a defective sector address list exists in the primary defect list (PDL), these defective sectors are skipped when the disk is used, even if the disk has not been verified. This process is similar to the process for verified disks.

[Write processing]
When data is written to a certain group of sectors, the defective sectors listed in the primary defect list (PDL) are skipped. Then, according to the above-described slipping replacement process, data to be written to the defective sector is written to the next data sector. If the block to be written is listed in the secondary defect list (SDL), the data to be written to the block is written to the spare block indicated by the SDL according to the above-described linear replacement process or skipping replacement process. It is.

  In the personal computer environment, linear replacement processing is used when recording personal computer files, and skipping replacement processing is used when recording AV files.

[Primary defect list; PDL]
The primary defect list (PDL) is always recorded on the optical disc 10, but the content may be empty.

  The list of defective sectors may be obtained by means other than verification of the disk 10.

The PDL includes the addresses of all defective sectors specified at initialization. These addresses are listed in ascending order. PDL is recorded with a minimum number of sectors. PDL then starts with the first user byte of the first sector. All unused bytes in the last sector of the PDL are set to 0FFh. In this PDL, the following information will be written:
Byte position PDL contents 0 00h; PDL identifier 1 01h; PDL identifier 2 Number of addresses in PDL; MSB
3 Number of addresses in PDL; LSB
4 Address of first defective sector (sector number; MSB)
5 First defective sector address (sector number)
6 First defective sector address (sector number)
7 Address of the first defective sector (sector number; LSB)
・ ・
x-3 Address of the last defective sector (sector number; MSB)
x-2 Last defective sector address (sector number)
x-1 Address (sector number) of the last defective sector
x Address of the last defective sector (sector number; LSB)
* Note: When the 2nd and 3rd bytes are set to 00h, the 3rd byte is the end of the PDL.

  In the case of a primary defect list (PDL) for a multi-sector, the address list of the defective sector follows the first byte of the second and subsequent subsequent sectors. That is, the PDL identifier and the number of PDL addresses exist only in the first sector.

  When the PDL is empty, the second byte and the third byte are set to 00h, and the fourth to 2047th bytes are set to FFh.

  Also, FFh is written to unused sectors in the DDS / PDL block.

[Secondary defect list; SDL]
A secondary defect list (SDL) is generated in the initialization phase and used after certification. All discs are recorded with SDL during initialization.

  The SDL includes a plurality of entries in the form of an address of a defective data block and an address of a spare block that replaces the defective block. Eight bytes are allocated to each entry in the SDL. That is, 4 bytes are assigned to the address of the defective block, and the remaining 4 bytes are assigned to the address of the replacement block.

  The address list includes the first address of the defective block and its replacement block. The addresses of defective blocks are assigned in ascending order.

  The SDL is recorded with the minimum required number of sectors, and this SDL starts with the first user data byte of the first sector. All unused bytes in the last sector of the SDL are set to 0FFh. Subsequent information is recorded in each of the four SDLs.

  If the replacement block listed in the SDL is later found to be a defective block, it is registered in the SDL using the direct pointer method. In this direct pointer method, by changing the address of a replacement block from that of a defective block to a new one, the SDL entry in which the replaced defective block is registered is corrected. At that time, the number of entries in the SDL is not changed by the degraded sector.

In this SDL, the following information will be written:
Byte position SDL contents 0 (00); SDL identifier 1 (02); SDL identifier 2 (00)
3 (01)
4 Update counter; MSB
5 Update counter 6 Update counter 7 Update counter; LSB
8-26 Reserve (00h)
27-29 Flag indicating that all spare sectors in the zone have been used 30 Number of entries in SDL; MSB
31 Number of entries in the SDL; LSB
32 Address of first defective block (sector number; MSB)
33 Address (sector number) of the first defective block
34 Address (sector number) of the first defective block
35 Address of first defective block (sector number; LSB)
36 Address of first replacement block (sector number; MSB)
37 Address of first replacement block (sector number)
38 Address of first replacement block (sector number)
39 Address of first replacement block (sector number; LSB)
・ ・
y-7 Address of the last defective block (sector number; MSB)
y-6 Last defective block address (sector number)
y-5 Last defective block address (sector number)
y-4 Address of the last defective block (sector number; LSB)
y-3 Address of the last replacement block (sector number; MSB)
y-2 Last replacement block address (sector number)
y-1 Last replacement block address (sector number)
y Address of the last replacement block (sector number; LSB)
* Note: Each entry in the 30th to 31st bytes is 8 bytes long.

  In the case of the secondary defect list (SDL) for the multi-sector, the address list of the defective block and the replacement block follows the first byte of the second and subsequent sectors. That is, the 0th to 31st bytes of the contents of the SDL exist only in the first sector.

  Also, FFh is written in unused sectors in the SDL block.

  FIG. 15 is a diagram for explaining a method of setting a logical sector in the ROM layer portion of the double-layer optical disc of FIG. Here, in the volume space from the lead-in area to the lead-out area, the physical sector number PSN and the logical sector number LSN of the layer 0 data area are associated with each other at 1: 1. This sector structure of the ROM layer can also be applied to a DVD-ROM disk having a single layer structure.

  FIG. 16 is a diagram for explaining a method of setting a logical sector of the ROM layer / RAM layer in the double-layer optical disc of FIG. In the volume space from the lead-in area to the lead-out area, the layer 0 data area (reproduction ROM layer) is arranged in the smaller physical sector number PSN (first half of the volume space), and the larger physical sector number PSN. On the other hand (the second half of the volume space), a layer 1 data area (recording RAM layer) is arranged. Here, the physical sector number PSN of the first ROM layer + the physical sector number PSN of the second RAM layer is associated with the logical sector number LSN of a single volume space.

  FIG. 17 is a diagram for explaining another method for setting the logical sector of the ROM layer / RAM layer in the double-layer optical disc of FIG. Although the ROM layer is arranged in the first half of the volume space and the RAM layer is arranged in the second half, it is the same as in FIG. 16, but the physical position of the joint between the ROM layer and the RAM layer is different.

  That is, in FIG. 16, both the layer 0 ROM layer and the layer 1 RAM layer increase the physical sector number PSN from the inner periphery to the outer periphery of the disk. On the other hand, in the case of FIG. 17, the physical sector number PSN is increased from the inner periphery to the outer periphery of the disk in the layer 0 ROM layer, but the physical layer number is increased from the outer periphery of the disk to the inner periphery in the layer 1 RAM layer. The sector number PSN is increased. However, the physical sector number PSN of the ROM layer + the physical sector number PSN of the RAM layer corresponds to the logical sector number LSN of a single volume space.

  The example of FIG. 15 shows the case of one disk having a single-layer structure (layer 0), and the examples of FIGS. 16 and 17 show the case of one disk having a two-layer structure (layer 0 and layer 1). Yes. Although not shown, all the layers of one disk of three layers (layer 0 to layer 2) or four layers (layer 0 to layer 3) are made one continuous volume space, that is, the physical sector number of each layer It is naturally possible to connect all PSNs to correspond to one continuous logical sector number LSN.

  When a disk changer (or disk pack) that can handle a plurality of disks continuously is used, the physical sector numbers PSN of all layers of all disks are combined together to correspond to one continuous logical sector number LSN. It can also be made.

  As described above, the logical sector number LSN of the volume including all the physical sector numbers of a plurality of layers of a plurality of disks tends to be quite large, but the address management is performed in units of ECC blocks of 32 kbytes (AV address unit described later). By adopting, you can do it without difficulty.

  FIG. 18 is a diagram for explaining an example of a hierarchical structure of information recorded on, for example, the optical disc (particularly DVD-RAM or DVD-RW disc) 10 of FIG.

  The lead-in area 27 includes an embossed data zone having an uneven light reflecting surface, a mirror zone having a flat surface (mirror surface), and a rewritable data zone in which information can be rewritten.

  The data recording area (volume space) 28 includes volume / file management information 70 and a data area DA that can be rewritten by the user.

  In a data area DA sandwiched between the lead-in area 27 and the lead-out area 26, computer data and AV data can be recorded together. The recording order of computer data and AV data and the size of each recording information are arbitrary. The location where the computer data is recorded is called a computer data area (DA1, DA3), and the area where the AV data is recorded is the AV data area (DA2). Name it.

  In the volume / file management information 70, information related to the entire volume, the number of files of computer data (personal computer data) included in the volume space 28, the number of files related to AV data, recording layer information, and the like are recorded.

In particular, the recording layer information includes:
* Number of constituent layers (for example, one ROM / RAM two-layer disk is composed of two layers, one ROM-only two-layer disk is composed of two layers, and one single-layer single-layer disk is composed of n layers in both ROM and RAM) ;
* Logical sector number range table assigned to each layer (indicating the capacity of each layer);
* Characteristics of each layer (DVD-RAM disk, ROM / RAM double-layer disk RAM, DVD-R, CD-ROM, CD-R, etc.);
* Allocated logical sector number range table in each RAM area for each layer (including information on the rewritable area capacity for each layer); and * Unique ID information for each layer (multiple disk packs) To discover disk replacements in).

  With the recording layer information including the above contents, a continuous logical sector number can be set and handled as one large volume space even for multiple disk packs and ROM / RAM double-layer disks.

  Computer data, video data, audio data, and the like are recorded in the data area DA. In the volume / file management information 70, information on the audio / video data file recorded in the data area DA or the entire volume is recorded.

  The lead-out area 26 is also configured so that information can be rewritten.

For example, the following information is recorded in advance in the emboss data zone of the lead-in area 27:
(1) Disc type such as DVD-ROM, DVD-RAM (or DVD-RW), DVD-R; disc size such as 12 cm, 8 cm; recording density; physical sector number indicating recording start / recording end position, other Information on the entire information storage medium;
(2) Recording power and recording pulse width; erasing power; reproducing power; linear velocity during recording / erasing, and other information related to recording / reproducing / erasing characteristics; and (3) individual information storage media such as manufacturing number Information about manufacturing.

The rewritable zones of the lead-in area 27 and the lead-out area 26 each include, for example, the following areas:
(4) Area for recording a unique disk name for each information storage medium;
(5) Trial recording area (for confirming the recording erasure condition); and (6) An area for recording management information regarding the defective area in the data area DA.

  In the areas (4) to (6), recording can be performed by a DVD recording apparatus (a dedicated DVD video recorder or a personal computer in which a DVD video processing board and processing software are installed).

  In the data area DA, audio / video data DA2 and computer data DA1 and DA3 can be recorded together.

  The recording order of computer data and audio / video data, the recording information size, etc. are arbitrary. It is possible to record only computer data or only audio / video data in the data area DA.

  The audio / video data area DA2 includes control information DA21, a video object DA22, a picture object DA23, and an audio object DA24.

  An anchor pointer AP having information indicating the recording position of the control information DA21 exists at the first position of the audio / video data area DA2. When using the information of the audio / video data area DA2 in the information recording / reproducing system, first, the recording position of the control information DA21 is checked from the anchor pointer AP, and the control information DA21 is read by accessing the recording position.

  The video object DA22 includes information on the contents (contents) of the recorded video data.

  The picture object DA23 includes still image information such as a still image, a slide image, and a reduced image (thumbnail picture) representative of the contents of the video object DA22 used during search / editing.

  The audio object DA24 includes information on the contents (contents) of recorded audio data.

  Note that the recording information of the reproduction target (content) of the audio / video data is included in a video object set VOBS of FIG. 19 described later.

  The control information DA21 includes AV data control information DA210, reproduction control information DA211, recording control information DA212, editing control information DA213, and reduced image control information DA214.

  The AV data control information DA210 includes information for managing the data structure in the video object DA22 and managing information related to the recording position on the information storage medium (optical disk or the like) 10, and information CIRWNs indicating the number of times the control information is rewritten. Including.

  The reproduction control information DA211 includes information necessary for reproduction, and has a function of designating connection of the program chain PGC. Specifically, information relating to a playback sequence in which PGC is integrated; in relation to this information, the information storage medium 10 is regarded as one tape (digital video cassette DVC or video tape VTR), for example, and indicates a “pseudo recording position” Information (sequence for continuously reproducing all recorded cells); information on simultaneous reproduction of a plurality of screens having different video information; search information (cell ID corresponding to each search category and a table of start times in the cells) Information that is recorded and enables the user to select a category and directly access the corresponding video information) is included in the reproduction control information DA211.

  With this reproduction control information DA211, the file name of the AV file, the path of the directory name, the ID of the PGC, and the cell ID can be designated.

  The recording control information DA212 includes control information (program reserved recording information and the like) necessary for recording (recording and / or recording).

  The edit control information DA213 includes control information necessary for editing. For example, special editing information for each PGC unit (corresponding time setting information, EDL information such as special editing contents) and file conversion information (a specific part in the AV file is converted into the AVI file in FIG. Can be included.

  The reduced image control information DA214 includes management information and reduced image data related to a reduced image (thumbnail picture) for searching or editing a desired place in the video data.

  The reduced image control information DA214 can include a picture address table, reduced image data, and the like. The reduced image control information DA214 may also include menu index information, index picture information, slide and still picture information, information picture information, defect area information, wallpaper picture information, etc. as lower layer information of the picture address table and reduced image data. Yes (not shown).

  AV data control information DA210 includes an allocation map table AMT, program chain control information PGCCI, and cell time control information CTCI.

  The allocation map table AMT includes information relating to address setting along the actual data arrangement on the information storage medium (such as the optical disc 10), identification of recorded / unrecorded areas, and the like. In the example of FIG. 18, the allocation map table AMT includes a user area allocation descriptor UAD, a spare area allocation descriptor SAD, and an address conversion table ACT (see FIG. 65 for another example of the allocation map AMT).

  The program chain control information PGCCI includes information related to the video playback program (sequence).

  The cell time control information CTCI includes information on the data structure of the basic unit (cell) of video information. The cell time control information CTCI includes cell time control general information CTCGI, cell time search information CTSI, and m cell time search information CTI # 1 to CTI # m.

  The cell time control general information CTCGI includes information on individual cells. The cell time search information CTSI is map information indicating a description position (AV address) of cell time information corresponding to a specific cell ID specified.

  Each cell time search information (CTI # m) includes cell time general information CTGI # m and a cell VOBU table CVT # m. Details of the cell time search information (CTI # m) will be described later with reference to FIG.

  Although the outline of FIG. 18 is as described above, supplementary explanations for individual information are summarized below.

<1> The volume / file management information 70 includes the following information:
Information about the entire volume space 28;
The number of files of computer data (DA1, DA3) and the number of files related to audio / video data (AV data DA2) included in the volume space 28;
Recording layer information of information storage medium (DVD-RAM disk, DVD-ROM disk or DVD-ROM / RAM multilayer disk);

Here, as the recording layer information,
Number of constituent layers (example: one RAM / ROM double-layer disk counts as two layers, one ROM double-layer disk counts as two layers, and one single-sided disk counts as n layers);
Logical sector number range table assigned to each layer (corresponding to the capacity of each layer);
Characteristics of each layer (eg, DVD-RAM disk, RAM / ROM dual-layer disk RAM, CD-ROM, CD-R, etc.)
Allocation logical sector number range table in units of zones in the RAM area for each layer (including rewritable area capacity information for each layer);
Unique ID information for each layer (for example, to detect disk replacement in a multiple disk pack); others are recorded, and continuous logical sector numbers are set for multiple disk packs and RAM / ROM double-layer disks It can be handled as one large volume space.

<2> The reproduction control information DA211 includes
Information on playback sequence integrated with PGC;
In relation to the reproduction sequence in which the PGC is integrated, “information indicating a pseudo recording position” (recorded information) in which the information storage medium 10 is regarded as one tape like a video tape recorder VTR or a digital video cassette DVC. A sequence that plays back all cells continuously);
Information on simultaneous playback of multiple screens with different video information;
Search information (cell ID corresponding to each search category and a table of start times in the cell are recorded, and the user can select a category and directly access the corresponding video information);
Etc. are recorded.

<3> The recording control information DA212 includes
Program recording information;
Etc. are recorded.

<4> The edit control information DA213 includes
Special editing information for each PGC unit (the corresponding time setting information and special editing contents are described as editing library (EDL) information);
File conversion information (information for converting a specific part in the AV file into a file that can be specially edited on a PC such as an AVI file, and specifying a place to store the converted file);
Etc. are recorded.

  FIG. 19 is a diagram illustrating a correspondence example between the cell configuration of the video object and the program chain PGC in the information hierarchical structure of FIG. In this information hierarchical structure, the video object DA22 is composed of a video object set VOBS. This VOBS has contents corresponding to one or more program chains PGC # 1 to #k, each of which designates a cell playback order by a different method.

  A video object set (VOBS) is defined as a set of one or more video objects (VOB). The video object VOB in the video object set VOBS is used for the same purpose.

  For example, a menu VOBS is usually composed of one VOB, in which a plurality of menu screen display data are stored. On the other hand, a VOBS for a title set is usually composed of a plurality of VOBs.

  Here, the VOB constituting the title set video object set (VTSTT_VOBS) can be considered to correspond to video data of performance of a certain band, for example. In this case, by designating VOB, for example, the third piece of the concert performance piece of the band can be reproduced.

  In addition, the VOB constituting the menu video object set VTSM_VOBS stores the menu data of all the concert performance songs of the band, and a specific song, such as an encore performance song, can be reproduced according to the display of the menu. .

  In a normal video program, one VOBS can be composed of one VOB. In this case, one video stream is completed with one VOB.

  On the other hand, for example, in an animation collection of a plurality of stories or an omnibus movie, a plurality of video streams (a plurality of program chains PGC) can be provided in one VOBS corresponding to each story. In this case, each video stream is stored in the corresponding VOB. At that time, the audio stream and sub-picture stream associated with each video stream are also completed in each VOB.

  An identification number (VOB_IDN # i; i = 0 to i) is assigned to the VOB, and the VOB can be specified by this identification number. A VOB is composed of one or more cells. A normal video stream is composed of a plurality of cells, but a menu video stream may be composed of one cell. Each cell is given an identification number (C_IDN # j) as in the case of VOB.

  FIG. 20 is a diagram for explaining a logical structure of information recorded in the lead-in area of the optical disc in FIG. 2 (corresponding to the lead-in data portion in FIG. 6 although the expression method is different).

  When the disc 10 is set in a DVD video recorder (not shown) (or a DV video player not shown), information in the lead-in area 27 is first read. In the lead-in area 27, predetermined reference codes and control data are recorded in ascending order of sector numbers.

  The reference code of the lead-in area 27 includes a predetermined pattern (repeated pattern of a specific symbol “172”) and is composed of two error correction code blocks (ECC blocks). Each ECC block is composed of 16 sectors. These two ECC blocks (32 sectors) are generated by adding scramble data. When a reference code to which scramble data is added is reproduced, a filter operation on the reproduction side is performed so that a specific data symbol (“172”) is reproduced, thereby ensuring the subsequent data reading accuracy. .

  The control data of the lead-in area 27 is composed of 192 ECC blocks. In this control data portion, the contents of 16 sectors in each block are repeatedly recorded 192 times.

  FIG. 21 is a diagram for explaining an example of the contents of control data recorded in the lead-in area of FIG. This control data composed of 16 sectors includes physical format information in the first sector (2048 bytes), followed by disc manufacturing information and content provider information.

  FIG. 22 is a diagram for explaining an example of the contents of 2048-byte physical format information (corresponding to the control data zone part of FIG. 6 although the expression method is different) included in the control data of FIG.

  In the first byte position “0”, “book type & part version” indicating which version of the DVD standard the recorded information is compliant with is described.

  In the second byte position “1”, the size (12 cm, 8 cm, etc.) and the minimum reading rate of the recording medium (optical disk 10) are described. In the case of read-only DVD video, 2.52 Mbps, 5.04 Mbps, and 10.08 Mbps are specified as the minimum read rate, but other minimum read rates are also reserved. For example, when recording is performed at an average bit rate of 2 Mbps by a DVD video recorder capable of variable bit rate recording, the minimum reading rate is set to 1.5 to 1.8 Mbps by using the reserved portion. be able to.

  In the third byte position “2”, the disk structure of the recording medium (optical disk 10) (number of recording layers, track pitch, recording layer type, etc.) is described. Depending on the type of the recording layer, it is possible to identify how many layers of the disc 10 are DVD-ROM, DVD-R, or DVD-RAM (or DVD-RW).

  In the fourth byte position “3”, the recording density (linear density and track density) of the recording medium (optical disk 10) is described. The linear density indicates a recording length per bit (such as 0.267 μm / bit or 0.293 μm / bit). The track density indicates an adjacent track interval (0.74 μm / track or 0.80 μm / track). A reserve portion is also provided at the fourth byte position “3” so that different numerical values can be designated as the linear density and track density of DVD-RAM or DVD-R.

  In the fifth byte position “4 to 15”, the start sector number and the end sector number of the data area 28 of the recording medium (optical disk 10) are described.

  The sixth byte position “16” describes a burst cutting area (BCA) descriptor. This BCA is optionally applied only to a DVD-ROM disc, and is an area for storing recording information after the disc manufacturing process is completed.

  In the seventh byte position “17 to 20”, the free capacity of the recording medium (optical disk 10) is described. For example, when the disk 10 is a single-sided single layer recording DVD-RAM disk, information indicating 2.6 Gbytes (or the number of sectors corresponding to the number of bytes) is written at this position of the disk 10. When the disk 10 is a double-side recording DVD-RAM disk, information indicating 5.2 G bytes (or the number of sectors corresponding to the number of bytes) is written at this position.

  The eighth byte position “21 to 31” and the ninth byte position “32 to 2047” are reserved so that they can be used for other purposes.

  FIG. 23 is a diagram for explaining an example of a directory structure of information (data file) recorded on the optical disk or the like of FIG.

  Similar to the hierarchical file structure adopted by the general-purpose operating system of the computer, under the root directory, a subdirectory of the video title set VTS, a subdirectory of the audio title set ATS, and a subdirectory of the audio / video information AVI The video RAM file subdirectories are connected.

  Various video files (files such as VMGI, VMGM, VTSI, VTSM, and VTS) are arranged in the sub-directory of the video title set VTS so that each file is managed in an orderly manner. A specific file (for example, a specific VTS) can be accessed by specifying a path from the root directory to the file.

  In a system in which a DVD processing board and processing software are installed in a personal computer, video files handled by the personal computer can be stored in the AVI directory, and AV files including management information can be stored in the video RAM directory.

  In such a personal computer system, a PGC sequence (such as PGC # 1 to PGC # k in FIG. 19) in an AV file is converted into a DVD video format and converted into a VTS file in a video title set VTS directory. You can also save to

  The access method for the data (file) in the AVI directory and the video RAM directory can be performed in the same manner as the access method for the normal file (data) in the personal computer. Generally, it is accessed by designating a path from the root directory to the target file (data). However, in a personal computer in which system software adopting a hypertext structure is installed, for example, a video RAM from within the AVI directory It is also possible to directly access the data in the directory. Alternatively, the video title set VTS can be accessed from the video RAM directory. This makes it possible to insert the DVD video cell in the ROM layer into the recording into the RAM layer when the ROM / RAM two-layer disk 10 is used for recording in the RAM layer.

  A DVD-RAM disk (or DVD-R disk) 10 as shown in FIG. 1 or FIG. 2 is preformatted to have the directory structure of FIG. 23, and this preformatted disk 10 is used for DVD video recording. It can be marketed as an unused disk (raw disk).

  For example, the root directory of the preformatted raw disc 10 can include a subdirectory of video title set or audio / video data. This subdirectory can further include a menu data file (VMGM, VTSM, reduced image control information DA214, etc.) for storing predetermined menu information.

  Alternatively, when the disk 10 is a ROM / RAM two-layer disk, system software having the directory structure shown in FIG. 23 and necessary application software are pre-embossed in the ROM layer and the user uses the disk. A necessary part of the system software in the ROM layer can be copied to the RAM layer to use the disk 10.

  Alternatively, the directory structure of FIG. 23 can be recorded in advance in the volume / file management information 70 of FIG. The directory structure information of the volume / file management information 70 can be copied to the RAM layer and used when the RAM layer is initialized.

  FIG. 24 is a diagram illustrating a hierarchical structure of information included in the video object DA22 of FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 24, each cell (for example, cell #m) constituting the video object DA22 is composed of one or more video object units (VOBU). Each video object unit is configured as an aggregate (pack row) of video packs, sub-picture packs, audio packs, and dummy packs.

  Each of these packs has a size of 2048 bytes and is a minimum unit when performing data transfer processing. The minimum unit for performing logical processing is a cell unit, and the logical processing is performed in this cell unit.

  The playback time of the video object unit VOBU corresponds to the playback time of video data composed of one or more video groups (group of pictures; abbreviated as GOP) included in the video object unit VOBU. It is determined within the range of 4 seconds to 1.2 seconds. One GOP is screen data that is usually about 0.5 seconds in the MPEG standard and compressed so that about 15 frame images are reproduced during that time.

  When the video object unit VOBU includes video data, a GOP (MPEG standard compliant) composed of a video pack, a sub-picture pack, an audio pack, and the like is arranged to form a video data stream. However, regardless of the number of GOPs, the video object unit VOBU is determined based on the GOP playback time.

  It should be noted that even if the playback data includes only audio and / or sub-picture data not including video, the playback data is configured with the video object unit VOBU as one unit. For example, when a video object unit VOBU is composed only of audio packs, the audio pack to be played within the playback time of the video object unit VOBU to which the audio data belongs is the same as in the case of video objects of video data. It is stored in the video object unit VOBU.

  The packs constituting each video object unit VOBU have the same data structure except for the dummy pack. Taking an audio pack as an example, as illustrated in FIG. 24, a pack header is arranged at the top, a packet header is arranged next, a substream ID is arranged next, and audio data is arranged at the end. The In such a pack configuration, information of the presentation time stamp PTS indicating the start time of the first frame in the packet is written in the packet header.

  Incidentally, in a DVD video recorder that can record a video title set VTS (or video program) including a video object DA22 having a structure as shown in FIG. In order to respond to this requirement, a dummy pack can be inserted into each VOBU as appropriate. This dummy pack can be used when editing data is recorded later.

Information about each cell # 1 to cell #m shown in FIG. 24 is recorded in the cell time control information CTCI of FIG. 18, and the contents thereof are cell time information CTI # 1 to CTI # 1 as shown in FIG. CTI # m (information about each cell individually);
Cell time search information CTSI (map information indicating the description position (AV address) of cell time information corresponding to a specific cell ID if specified); and cell time control general information CTCGI (information on the entire cell information)
It has become.

  Each cell time information (for example, CTI # m) includes cell time general information (CTGI # m) and a cell VOBU table (CVT # m), respectively.

  Next, the data structure in the video object DA22 will be described.

  The minimum basic unit of video information is called a cell. The data in the video object DA22 is configured as an aggregate of one or more cells # 1 to #m as shown in FIG.

  In many cases, MPEG2 (or MPEG1) is used as a video information compression technique in the video object DA22. In MPEG, video information is divided into groups called GOPs every 0.5 seconds, and video information is compressed in units of GOPs. A video information compression unit called a video object unit VOBU is formed in synchronism with the GOP with the same size as this GOP.

  In the present invention, this VOBU size is adjusted to an integral multiple of the ECC block size (32 kbytes) (one of the important features of the present invention).

  Furthermore, each VOBU is divided into packs of 2048 bytes. For each pack, raw video information (video data), audio information (audio data), sub-video information (caption data / menu data, etc.), dummy information Etc. are recorded. They are recorded in the form of video packs, audio packs, sub-picture packs and dummy packs.

Here, the dummy pack
For post-addition of information to be recorded after recording (after-recording information is inserted into the audio pack and the memo information exchanged with the dummy pack is inserted into the sub-picture pack as sub-picture information and exchanged with the dummy pack, etc.) ;
To make the VOBU size an integral multiple of the ECC block size (32 kbytes), make up for the missing size from the integer multiple of 32 kbytes;
It is inserted in each VOBU for the purpose of use.

  In each pack, a pack header and a packet header (and substream ID) are arranged in this order in front of object data (audio data in the case of an audio pack).

  In the DVD video standard, an audio pack and a sub-picture pack include a substream ID between a packet header and object data.

  In the packet header, a time code for time management is recorded. Taking an audio packet as an example, as this time code, PTS (Presentation Time Stamp) information in which the first time of the first audio frame in the packet is recorded is inserted in the form shown in FIG. Yes.

  FIG. 25 shows the structure of the contents of the dummy pack of FIG. 24 (one dummy pack). In other words, one pack of dummy packs 89 includes a pack header 891, a packet header 892 having a predetermined stream ID, and padding data 893 filled with a predetermined code (invalid data). (The packet header 892 and the padding data 893 constitute a padding packet 890.) The contents of padding data 893 of unused dummy packs have no particular meaning.

  This dummy pack 89 can be used as appropriate when editing the recorded content after a predetermined recording has been made on the disk 10 of FIG. The dummy pack 89 can also be used to store reduced image data used for the user menu. Furthermore, the dummy pack 89 can also be used for the purpose of matching each VOBU in the AV data DA2 to an integer multiple of 32 kbytes (32 kbyte alignment).

  For example, consider a case where a videotape recording a family trip with a portable video camera is recorded on a DVD-RAM (or DVD-RW) disk 10 and edited.

  In this case, first, only the video scenes to be combined on one disc are selectively recorded on the disc 10. This video scene is recorded in the video pack of FIG. Moreover, the sound simultaneously recorded by the video camera is recorded in the audio pack.

  A VOBU including these video packs, audio packs, and the like can have a navigation pack (not shown) employed in DVD video at the head as needed (usually as shown in FIG. 24). In addition, the navigation pack is not used in the DVD video RAM). This navigation pack includes reproduction control information PCI and data search information DSI. Utilizing this PCI or DSI, the playback procedure of each VOBU can be controlled (for example, jumping scenes can be automatically connected or multi-angle scenes can be recorded).

  Alternatively, it is possible to have a synchronous navigation pack (SNV_PCK; not shown) simply having synchronization information in units of VOBUs without having the contents as complicated as the navigation pack of the DVD video standard.

  After editing and recording from the video tape to the DVD-RAM disk 10, after recording audio / sound effects, etc. in VOBU units in each scene, or when adding background music BGM, the after recording audio or BGM is a dummy pack 89. Can be recorded. In addition, when adding a description of the recorded content, sub-pictures such as additional characters and figures can be recorded in the dummy pack 89. Further, when it is desired to insert an additional video image, the insert video can be recorded in the dummy pack 89.

  The above-described after-recording sound or the like is written in padding data 893 of a dummy pack 89 used as an audio pack. Further, the additional explanation and the like are written in padding data 893 of a dummy pack 89 used as a sub-picture pack. Similarly, the insert video is written in padding data 893 of a dummy pack 89 used as a video pack.

  Further, when the size of each VOBU including each pack row after recording / editing is not an integral multiple of the ECC block size (32 kbytes), invalid data such that this VOBU size is an integral multiple of 32 kbytes is padded. A dummy pack 89 included as 893 can also be inserted into each VOBU.

  As described above, by inserting a dummy pack (padding pack) in which each VOBU is an integral multiple of the ECC block into each recorded / edited VOBU as appropriate, all VOBUs can always be rewritten in units of ECC blocks. become able to. Alternatively, when a defect occurs in the RAM layer of the disk 10, only the defective portion can be replaced in units of ECC blocks. Further, each VOBU can be easily address-converted with the ECC block unit as an AV address unit.

  That is, the dummy pack 89 is a wild card pack that can be an audio pack, a sub-picture pack, a video pack, or a padding pack depending on the purpose of use.

  FIG. 26 is a diagram for explaining the internal structure of the cell time information CTI of FIG.

  As described in FIG. 18, each cell time search information (CTI # m) includes cell time general information CTGI # m and a cell VOBU table CVT # m.

Cell time general information is shown in the upper half of FIG.
(1) cell data general information;
(2) a time code table;
(3) acquired defect information;
(4) cell video information;
(5) cell audio information;
(6) cell sub-picture information.

  The cell data general information of (1) includes the cell ID, the total time length of the cell, the number of cell data aggregates, the cell data aggregate descriptor, the cell time physical size, and the number of VOBUs constituting the cell. Contains information.

  Here, the cell ID is a unique ID for each cell. The total time length indicates the total time required for reproduction within the cell.

  The number of cell data aggregates indicates the number of cell data aggregate descriptors in the cell.

  The cell data aggregate descriptor will be described later with reference to FIG.

  The cell time physical size indicates a recording position size on the information storage medium in which a cell including a congenital defect location is recorded. By combining the cell time physical size and the total time length information, the size of the innate defect area in the cell can be known, and a substantial transfer rate can be predicted. This cell time physical size can be used to determine cell recording position candidates that can guarantee continuous reproduction.

  The number of configured VOBUs indicates the number of VOBUs configuring the cell.

  The time code table of (2) includes VOBU picture numbers # 1 to #n constituting the cell and ECC block numbers # 1 to #n of VOBU constituting the cell.

  The time code of this table includes the number of pictures for each VOBU in the corresponding cell (the number of video frames; expressed in 1 byte) and the ECC used for each VOBU at the recording position on the medium indicated by the cell data aggregate descriptor. It is expressed as a set with the number of blocks (1-byte representation). By adopting this notation method, it becomes possible to record the time code with a very small amount of information (compared to the case where the time code is attached to every 30 frames per second in NTSC).

  An access method using this time code will be described later with reference to FIG.

  (3) The acquired defect information includes information on the number of acquired defects in the cell and the address of the acquired defect.

  The number of acquired defects indicates the number of ECC blocks in which acquired defects (see FIG. 28) have occurred in the cell. The acquired defect address is an AV address value indicating the position of the acquired defect for each ECC block. When a defect occurs during cell reproduction (that is, when ECC error correction fails), the AV address of the defective ECC block is sequentially registered in the acquired defect address each time.

  The cell video information of (4) includes the type of video information of the cell (NTSC or PAL, etc.), the compression method (MPEG2, MPEG1, motion JPEG, etc.), stream ID and substream ID (main screen or sub screen). ; Used for simultaneous recording and playback of multiple screens), and information such as the maximum transfer rate.

  The cell audio information (5) includes the type of audio signal (linear PCM, MPEG1, MPEG2 or Dolby AC-3, etc.), sampling frequency (48 kHz or 96 kHz), and the number of quantization bits (16 bits or 20 bits). 24 bits).

  The cell sub-picture information (6) includes information indicating the number of sub-picture streams in each cell and the recording location thereof.

  On the other hand, as shown in the lower half of FIG. 26, the cell VOBU table includes VOBU information # 1 to #n constituting the cell. Each VOBU information includes VOBU general information, dummy pack information, and audio synchronization information.

In FIG. 26, the individual information contents in the cell time information (CTI # m) are summarized again as follows:
(1) Cell data general information (general information regarding individual cells, including the following contents);
(1.1) Cell ID (unique identifier for each cell)
(1.2) Total time length (total time required for playback in the cell)
(1.3) Number of cell data aggregates (number of cell data aggregate descriptors in a cell) (1.4) Cell data aggregate descriptor (a description example will be described later with reference to FIG. 33)
(1.5) Cell time physical size (indicates the recording position size on the information storage medium on which the cell including the congenital defect location is recorded. By combining with the above-mentioned “total time length”, the congenital in the cell The size of the defective area is known, and a substantial transfer rate can be predicted.This information is used in “determining cell recording position candidates that can guarantee continuous reproduction” described in another section.
(1.6) Number of constituent VOBUs (number of VOBUs constituting a cell)
(2) Time code table (details will be described later);
(3) Acquired defect information (acquired defect information detected in the cell, including the following contents);
(3.1) Number of acquired defects (number of ECC blocks in which acquired defects have occurred in the cell)
(3.2) Acquired Defect Address (The position of the acquired defect shown in FIG. 28 is indicated by an AV address value for each ECC block. Each time a defect occurs during cell reproduction, it is sequentially registered.)
(4) Cell video information (including the following contents);
(4.1) Video signal type (NTSC or PAL)
(4.2) Compression method (MPEG2, MPEG1, motion JPEG)
(4.3) Stream ID and sub-stream ID information (main screen or sub-screen → multiple screen simultaneous recording / playback)
(4.4) Maximum transfer rate (5) Cell audio information (including the following contents);
(5.1) Signal type (Linear PCM, MPEG1, MPEG2, Dolby AC-3)
(5.2) Sampling frequency (5.3) Number of quantization bits (6) Cell sub-picture information (indicates the number of streams of sub-picture information in each cell and its recording location)
As shown in the upper portion of FIG. 26, the “time code table” includes the number of pictures (number of frames: 1 byte representation) # 1 to #n for each VOBU in the cell and the “cell data aggregate descriptor”. The number of ECC blocks used for each VOBU at the recording position on the information storage medium shown (1-byte expression) # 1 to #n is shown.

  By using this notation method, the time code can be recorded with a very small amount of information. The access method using this time code will be described below (the contents of FIG. 36 will be described in another section).

1. The cell ID to be accessed and its time are specified from the recording / playback application of FIG. 36;
2. The video management layer of FIG. 36 determines the picture number (frame number) from the cell start position of the corresponding picker (video frame) from this specified time;
3. The video management layer in FIG. 36 sequentially calculates the number of pictures (number of frames) for each VOBU from the beginning of the cell shown in FIG. 26, and the picture (frame) designated by the recording / playback application in FIG. Find out what number of pictures (frames) in the VOBU it corresponds to;
4). Recording positions of all data in the cell on the information storage medium are determined from the cell data aggregate descriptor of FIG. 26 and the allocation map table AMT of FIG.
5). The value of the number of ECC blocks (# 1 to #n) of VOBU (#n) in FIG. 26 is added to the VOBU number (#n) determined in the above “3.”, and the AV address at the corresponding VOBU head position is obtained. Find out;
6). Access the corresponding VOBU head position directly based on the result of “5.”, and trace until the predetermined picture (frame) obtained in “3.” is reached;
7). At this time, if the I picture recording final position information in the VOBU to be accessed is required, the information on the I picture end position in FIG. 27 is used.

  FIG. 27 is a diagram for explaining the internal structure of the cell VOBU table (VOBU information) of FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 24, time management information (PTS) related to audio information is recorded in a packet header. However, since the recording position is recorded at a deep management level, it is necessary to directly reproduce the information of the audio pack in order to extract this information, and it takes a very long time to edit the video information in cell units.

  In order to cope with the problem of “it takes time when editing in cell units”, the AV data control information DA210 in FIG. 18 has synchronization information for audio information. This synchronization information is the audio synchronization information of FIG.

  In FIG. 27, VOBU information indicates the end position of the I picture of the MPEG encoded video information, and is expressed by a differential address from the start position of the VOBU at the final position of the I picture (1 byte).

  The dummy pack information includes the number of dummy packs (1 byte) indicating the number of dummy packs (FIG. 25) inserted in each VOBU, the differential address (2 bytes) from the beginning of the VOBU to the dummy pack insertion position, and individual The dummy pack distribution including the number of dummy packs (2 bytes) (dummy pack number X2 bytes).

  The audio synchronization information includes an audio stream channel number (1 byte) indicating the number of channels of the audio stream and an I picture audio indicating a difference address value from the VOBU head of the ECC block including the audio pack at the same time as the I picture start time. Positions # 1, # 2,... (1 byte each; the most significant bit specifies the direction of the position where the audio pack is included at the same time ... “0” for backward, “1” for forward) and I picture in the ECC block I-picture start audio sample numbers # 1, # 2,... (2 bytes each) in which the sample numbers of the audio sample positions at the same time as the start time are displayed as coefficients with serial numbers of all audio packs, and the audio stream and video stream Audio synchronization information flags # 1, # 2,... 1 byte), audio synchronization data (2 bytes) indicating the number of audio samples included in the corresponding VOBU, which is added to each audio synchronization information flag only when this audio synchronization information flag indicates “synchronization information present” It is expressed by

  The audio address # 1, # 2,... At the start of the I picture in FIG. 27 indicates the difference address value from the head of the corresponding VOBU of the ECC block including the audio pack at the same time as the I picture start time.

  27, the sample numbers in the ECC block at the audio sample position at the same time as the I picture start time are counted and displayed as serial numbers of all audio packs. The

  For example, when AV information in a cell is divided at the time of video editing, if the VOBU in the cell is further divided into two parts and the divided information is re-encoded, the information in FIG. By using the position # 1 and the I-picture start audio sample number # 1), it becomes possible to divide the reproduced sound without interruption and without a phase shift between the reproduced channels. This point will be described below with a specific example.

  It is said that the amount of frequency deviation of the reference clock of a normal digital audio recording device is about 0.1%. Then, for example, when sound source information digitally recorded by a digital video tape (DAT) recorder is recorded over video information already recorded by digital copy, there is a possibility that the reference clock deviation between the video information and the audio information is shifted by about 0.1%. There is. This deviation of the reference clock becomes a magnitude that cannot be ignored as digital copying (or non-linear editing using a personal computer or the like) is repeated, and appears as a reproduction sound interruption or a phase deviation between reproduction channels.

  In one embodiment of the present invention, the video information and the audio information can be reproduced in synchronism even if the reference clock of the audio information is shifted (or the phase synchronization between channels of multi-channel audio can be achieved). It takes a form that can also record synchronization information.

  That is, in the audio synchronization information of FIG. 27, the presence or absence of synchronization information between the audio stream and the video stream can be set for each audio stream ID (# 1, # 2,...).

  When this audio synchronization information is present, the number of audio samples is described for each VOBU in the audio synchronization data therein. By using this information (number of audio samples), it becomes possible to synchronize video information and audio information or multi-channel audio between channels in units of VOBU for each audio stream during reproduction.

  FIG. 28 is a diagram for explaining the types of defects (congenital defects and acquired defects) in relation to the defect information of FIG.

  For the defects on the information storage medium 10, the types of defects are classified according to the generation time of the defects, and the defect information is recorded at different positions according to the respective defects.

  As a defective area detection method on the information storage medium, there are the following methods.

    * Verification (certification): Dummy data is recorded in the inspection area before information is recorded, and the data is reproduced and ECC error check is performed to detect a defective portion.

    * Pre-play check ... Play the test area before recording information. If the surface of the information storage medium becomes dusty or scratched, the amount of reproduction signal detected decreases. For example, the output of the amplifier 213 shown in FIG.

    * ID error during recording: As shown in FIG. 8, an embossed header exists at the beginning of one sector. At the time of recording, the header information is first reproduced, and after confirming the physical sector number, the synchronization code and the modulated signal are recorded. A case where the header cannot be reproduced at this time is called an ID error, which is a kind of defect on the information storage medium.

    * Error during playback: Playback after recording is completed, and an area that cannot be corrected in the ECC block is regarded as a defective part.

  When recording video information or updating information on the information storage medium 10, new information or information to be updated is stored in the ECC block without performing prior reproduction in ECC block units and changing / rewriting in the ECC block. Direct overwriting in block (AV address) units.

  A defect location whose location is known in advance before recording or an ID error location discovered during recording is referred to as a “congenital defect” here. The skipping replacement process shown in FIG. 13 is performed on this innate defect area to protect the recorded information.

In contrast,
* Not properly recorded on the information storage medium due to incompatibility of the recording conditions at the time of recording; or * Recording was performed correctly, but afterwards, dust adhered to the surface of the divisional storage medium and scratches occurred, making it impossible to reproduce information For example, there may be a place where ECC error correction becomes impossible during reproduction after recording.

A defect generated in this state is called an “acquired defect”. Information cannot be protected or compensated for acquired defects. On the other hand, on the side displaying video to the user,
* Redisplay the screen before the defect screen;
* Interpolate and display the screen between the screens before and after the defective screen;
* Interpolation processing, such as thinning out the defective screen by locally delaying the display speed of multiple screens before the defective screen, is required.

  FIG. 28 is a table summarizing the definitions for the above-mentioned congenital defects and acquired defects and the coping methods.

  29 shows the address of the AV file (ie, AV address; AVA) included in the video RAM file of FIG. 23, and the logical block number (LBN), logical sector number (LSN), and physical sector number (PSN) of the optical disk of FIG. FIG.

  The entire recording area on the information storage medium 10 is divided into logical sectors having a minimum unit of 2048 bytes (2 kbytes), and logical sector numbers (LSNs) are sequentially assigned to all logical sectors. When information is recorded on the information storage medium 10, information is recorded in units of logical sectors. The recording position on the information storage medium 10 is managed by the logical sector number (LSN) of the logical sector in which this information is recorded.

  The reason why the AV address in FIG. 29 has the ECC block size of 32 kbytes as the minimum unit will be described later with reference to FIG.

In FIG. 29, the physical sector number PSN, the logical sector number LSN, the logical block number LBN, and the AV address AVA have the following contents:
* The physical sector number PSN has a minimum unit of 2 k bytes (2048 bytes) of the physical sector size, and starts from the lead-in reference signal zone of the disk 10 (reference signal zone in FIG. 5). When a defect occurs, a PSN missing number occurs at the defect location. Regardless of the occurrence of defects, the PSN remains unchanged on the medium. Also, the PSN does not change in conjunction with the replacement process for defects. PSNs are numbered so as to increase sequentially from the inner peripheral side (lead-in side) to the outer peripheral side (lead-out side) of the medium. This PSN is recognized by a microcomputer (MPU) in a recording / reproducing apparatus (disk drive).

  * The logical sector number LSN has a minimum unit of 2 k bytes, which is the physical sector size, and starts from the data area of the disk 10 (030000h in FIG. 20). The replacement process at the time of occurrence of a defect does not cause a missing number or duplicate number in the LSN, and the start number and the last number are unchanged. Further, the corresponding number addition position on the medium is appropriately changed in conjunction with the replacement process for the defect. In addition, the number addition position changes in conjunction with the replacement process for the defect. The LSN corresponds to the DMA information (DMA1 to DMA4 in FIG. 6) and changes with respect to the PSN. The LSN is recognized by the MPU in the file system (such as UDF in FIG. 36) and the recording / reproducing apparatus (disk drive).

  * The logical block number LBN has a minimum unit of 2 k bytes of the physical sector size, and starts from the file structure start position on the disk 10. Due to the replacement process when a defect occurs, there is no missing or duplicate number in the LBN, and the start number and the last number are unchanged. Further, the corresponding number addition position on the medium is appropriately changed in conjunction with the replacement process for the defect. In addition, the number addition position changes in conjunction with the replacement process for the defect. LBN is number-converted by LSN translation (LBN = LSN−LSNfs; LSNfs is LSN at the start position of LBN). This LBN is recognized by the MPU in the file system (such as UDF in FIG. 36) and the recording / reproducing apparatus (disk drive).

  * The AV address AVA is 32 kbytes (= 16 sectors) whose ECC unit is the smallest unit, and starts from the AV data (DA2 in FIG. 18) start position on the disk 10. Due to the replacement process when a defect occurs, there is no missing or duplicate number in the AVA, and the start number and end number remain unchanged. Further, the corresponding number addition position on the medium is appropriately changed in conjunction with the replacement process for the defect. In addition, the number addition position changes in conjunction with the replacement process for the defect. AVA is number-converted corresponding to LBN (AVA = (LBN−LBNav) ÷ 16; LBNav is LBN at the AVA start position). This AVA is recognized by the video management layer (described later with reference to FIG. 36).

  FIG. 30 is a diagram for explaining how to set an AV address and describe an extent (collection of ECC data) descriptor when a defect occurs in the optical disc of FIG.

A description example of the user area aggregate descriptor is shown in FIG. In this example, individual user area aggregate descriptors are described in the order of arrangement on the information storage medium 10. In this user area aggregate descriptor, as an AV address
0, 1, 2, 3, 7, 8, 9, D, E, F
Are registered, and 4, 5, 6, A, B, and C are missing numbers.

  The missing position here is the place where the “congenital defect” exists. Thereby, the distribution of the defect position, defect length, used (used) AV address number and unused AV address on the information storage medium 10 can be known.

  In the present invention, the AV address unit and the ECC block unit are made to coincide with each other. However, it is possible to describe the recording position or the defect position by a logical block number, for example, and this case is also included in the contents of the present invention. .

As can be seen from the example of FIG. 30, the AV address number according to the arrangement on the information storage medium 10 in the spare area 724 is
A, B, 6, C, 4, 5
Are arranged in any order.

  For this reason, the description method of each extent (aggregate) of the spare area allocation descriptor SAD (FIG. 18) is not expressed by a combination of a connection size and a start address like the user area aggregate descriptor UAD. Instead, individual AV addresses along the arrangement on the information storage medium 10 are described side by side. This is because fewer bytes are required for the description.

  Therefore, for an ECC block for which an AV address is set in the spare area 724, as shown in FIG. 31, only the AV address number is expressed by “3 bytes” as a spare area aggregate descriptor.

  Similarly to the user area aggregate descriptor, a flag is added to the most significant bit of the 3-byte area, and an extent (aggregate) whose most significant bit is “0” is regarded as an already used extent. As a result, an unused extent whose most significant bit is “1” can be distinguished (identified) from a used extent.

Since the AV address numbers are arranged in random order in the spare area 724, the defect position cannot be specified only by looking at the AV address arrangement. Therefore, a congenital defect assembly descriptor DED (FIG. 30) is arranged for each ECC block, and a 3-byte value is used as an identifier of the congenital defect assembly descriptor DED.
FFFFFF
And set.

  By the way, when the AV address setting position on the information storage medium 10 is moved in accordance with the skipping replacement process of FIG. However, a phenomenon occurs in which the order of arrangement on the information storage medium 10 differs.

For example, in the example of FIG.
1) A defect is found for the last 3 ECC blocks of the AV address before the new recording of the video information → the AV address position of A, B, C is moved to the spare area 724;
2) A defect is further found for the last 3 ECC blocks of the AV address before overwriting the video information → the AV address position is moved to the spare area 724 for 4, 5 and 6 minutes;
3) Finally, before overwriting the video information, a new defective area is found for 3 ECC blocks at the AV addresses C, 4 and 5 in the spare area 724 → behind AV address B in the spare area 724 Shift the AV address setting position for 3 ECC blocks to the back of AV address 6;
As described above, when a congenital defect occurs several times at different times, the AV addresses when viewed along the information storage medium are 0, 1, 2, 3, 7, 8, 9, D, E, F, A, B, 6, C, 4, 5
Will be set in the order.

  When new video information is overwritten on this information, it is necessary to record recordable locations in accordance with the arrangement order on the information storage medium 10 in order to ensure continuity of recording and reproduction. Therefore, an AV address setting map according to the arrangement order on the information storage medium is required. This AV address setting map is the allocation map table AMT in FIG. 18 and is recorded in the information storage medium 10.

  As shown in FIG. 18, the allocation map table AMT is divided into three areas: a user area allocation descriptor UAD, a spare area allocation descriptor SAD, and an address conversion table ACT.

  As can be seen from FIG. 30, the arrangement order of the AV addresses coincides with the arrangement order on the information storage medium 10 in the user area 723, and does not coincide with the arrangement order on the information storage medium 10 in the spare area 724. Therefore, AV address arrangement information can be compressed and recorded in the user area 723.

That is, an area where AV address setting positions continue including a defective area is regarded as one unit called an extent (aggregate) and is represented by a user area aggregate descriptor UED (*, *). This represents (a) the number of consecutive AV address settings (matching the number of consecutive ECC blocks) in 2 bytes;
(B) Express the first AV address number of an extent (aggregate) in 3 bytes;
(C) The above two types of information (a) and (b) are described side by side as a set, and the description method is consistent with the allocation descriptor (AD) notation method described in another section (FIG. 39). .

  By using the above expression method, when the number of defective places is small in the user area 723, the number of bits required for description can be reduced as compared with the case where the distribution is individually described for each AV address. The amount of information necessary for describing the allocation map table AMT is reduced. Then, since the total capacity of the information storage medium 10 is determined, the storage capacity of the information storage medium 10 for each object (DA22 to DA24 in FIG. 18) relatively increases.

  In addition, since the arrangement order of the AV addresses and the information storage medium arrangement order match in the user area 723, AV address numbers other than those specified in the user area aggregate descriptor (explained again in FIG. 31). It can be seen that there is a congenital defect in the position.

  FIG. 31 is a diagram for explaining the correspondence between various extent descriptors (aggregate descriptors).

  The user area aggregate descriptor has a flag for determining whether it is “used (used)” or “unused” for each AV address. That is, as shown in the “used / unused discrimination information” column of FIG. 31, a flag is added to the most significant bit of the 3-byte area describing the start address in the user area aggregate descriptor, and the most significant bit. An extent (aggregate) having a value of “0” is regarded as an already used extent, and an extent (aggregate) having the most significant bit of “1” is identified as an unused extent.

  Incidentally, the minimum unit of video information is a cell unit as shown in FIG. 24, and a guard area exists between zones in the DVD-RAM disc as shown in FIG. Therefore, when recording one or more cells across two zones, it takes time for the optical head to move between guard areas (as shown in FIG. Since the rotation speed of the servo motor changes, time is required for the switching process of the rotary servo), and continuous recording and continuous reproduction cannot be guaranteed.

  For this reason, in the present invention, a constraint condition that “recording or recording across zones of the same cell information is prohibited” is added.

  In addition, the constraint that “a user area aggregate (user area extent)” is not defined between zones ”(that is, the size of all user area extents is smaller than one zone size) is also added accordingly. ing.

  Since the number of ECC blocks existing in one zone is relatively small as shown in FIG. 7, the ECC block size (number of ECC blocks) described in the user area aggregate descriptor is as shown in FIG. A representation of only 2 bytes is sufficient.

  Thus, by defining that “user area aggregates (user area extents) do not cross between zones”, the total number of bytes (size) required to describe the user area aggregate descriptor can be reduced. The size of the allocation map table AMT is reduced. As a result, the recording capacity for the video object can be relatively increased.

  By the way, in the information storage medium 10 of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 18, an AV file (DA2) and normal computer files (DA1, DA3) can be recorded together.

  Therefore, as shown in the example of FIG. 30, there are cases where replacement locations of the computer data area are mixed in the spare area 724.

  In order to distinguish this place from the defective part of AV data, a PC (personal computer) use aggregate descriptor can be described as shown in FIG.

The value of this PC usage aggregate descriptor is, for example, as shown in FIG.
FFFFFE
And (The PED in FIGS. 30 and 31 is an acronym for the extent descriptor of a personal computer.)
As can be seen from FIG. 7, in the DVD-RAM disc, the recordable area is divided into 24 zones. Therefore, in order to understand the boundaries of each zone, in the table of FIG.
FFFFFC
Is also set. (ZSM in FIGS. 30 and 31 is an acronym for the start mark of the next zone.)
The contents and description methods of the various assembly descriptors (extent descriptors) described above are collectively described in the list of FIG. This list basically has a form in which each aggregate descriptor (extent descriptor) is sequentially arranged in units of ECC blocks in accordance with the arrangement on the information storage medium 10.

  FIG. 65 is a diagram for explaining another example of the hierarchical structure of information recorded on the optical disc in FIG. 2 (an example having an allocation map table AMT having a different content from the allocation map table AMT in FIG. 18).

  As shown in FIG. 30, the spare area allocation descriptor SAD in the structure shown in FIG. 18 needs to describe an AV address and a congenital defect status for each ECC block. Therefore, the amount of data in the management area (control information DA21) in the AV data area DA2 increases. On the other hand, as can be seen from FIG. 7, the capacity of the spare area 724 relative to the user area 723 is only about 1/19.

In this situation, as another implementation method of the video information recording method, skipping replacement processing is performed as a replacement processing method when a congenital defect occurs;
* Only replacement of the AV address and logical sector number (and logical block number) to the spare area 724 is performed as replacement processing when a congenital defect occurs;
* Information (video information etc.) is not recorded in the spare area 724;
There is also a usage.

  In this implementation method, information (video information etc.) is recorded only in the user area 723, so that it is not necessary to describe an aggregate descriptor (extent descriptor) for each ECC block in the spare area allocation descriptor SAD. The amount of information of (control information DA21) is greatly reduced.

  FIG. 66 is a diagram for explaining a method for describing an innate defect allocation descriptor and a non-allocated space descriptor when the optical disc in FIG. 2 has an innate defect.

  Hereinafter, an application example to the user area allocation descriptor SAD (FIG. 30) when recording video information (AV data) or the like only in the user area 723 will be described with reference to FIGS. 65 and 66.

  As shown in FIG. 65, a congenital defect allocation descriptor PDAD is used as a management method of innate defect position information, and an unallocated space descriptor (Unallocated Space Descriptors) USD is used as a management method of unrecorded location information. The specific management information content will be described with reference to FIG.

  When a defective part occurs in the AV data area DA2 in the user area 723, a replacement part is automatically created in the spare area 724 by the replacement process, and an AV address or a logical sector number set in advance in the defective part, The logical block number is moved to the replacement location of the spare area 724 as it is.

  When recording video information or the like, the defect portion in the user area 723 is skipped, and recording is performed at the recording portion immediately after that.

  As described above, since recording of video information and the like is limited to the user area 723, video information and the like are not recorded in the spare area 724 and are left unrecorded. Therefore, defect position management and unrecorded area management in the spare area 724 are not required, and management information in this place is not held.

  The user area allocation descriptor UAD in FIG. 30 does not specify the congenital defect position information, and the AV address not specified by the user area aggregate descriptor UED is determined as the congenital defect position.

  In contrast, in the congenital defect allocation descriptor PDAD of FIG. 65, as shown in FIG. 66, the AV address set in advance at the congenital defect position is described by 3 bytes side by side.

  Therefore, it can be recognized that an AV address not specified in the congenital defect allocation descriptor PDAD can be used.

  Further, in the user area allocation descriptor UAD in FIG. 30, as shown in FIG. 31, recorded in the most significant bit of the first AV address of the user area aggregate descriptor UED (used = “0”), unrecorded ( An identification flag of “unused =“ 1 ”) was provided.

  In contrast, the unallocated space descriptor USD in FIG. 65 specifies the AV address of the unrecorded location. The non-allocated space descriptor USD indicating the unrecorded location does not take into account the innate defect location, and performs location designation for each aggregate (extent) indicating the connection of consecutive AV addresses.

  That is, the number of ECC blocks in an aggregate (extent) is expressed in the first two bytes, the first AV address of the aggregate (extent) is expressed in 3 bytes, and both sets of aggregate (extent) information And

  In the description so far, each AV file has its own AV address, and this AV address has been used as management information (control information DA21). However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and for example, a logical block number can be used for the management information (control information DA21). That is, it is possible to describe the allocation map table AMT and the cell time control information CTCI by using the basic unit at the time of information recording as a logical block unit of 2048 bytes and using a logical block number as an address.

  FIG. 32 is a diagram illustrating a hierarchical structure of information included in control information DA21 in FIG.

  A cell in FIG. 19 or FIG. 24 indicates a playback section in which playback data is specified by a start address and an end address. Further, the program chain PGC in FIG. 19 is a series of playback execution units that specify the playback order of cells. The reproduction of the video object set VOBS in FIG. 19 is determined by the program chain PGC and the cells constituting it.

  The AV data control information DA210 in FIG. 32 has such control information PGCCI of the program chain PGC. The PGC control information PGCCI includes PGC information management information PGC_MAI, n (one or more) PGC information search pointers, and k (one or more) PGC information.

  The PGC information management information PGC_MAI includes information indicating the number of PGCs. The PGC information search pointer points to the head of each PGC information PGCI, and the search of the corresponding PGC information PGCI can be easily performed by this search pointer.

  Each PGC information PGCI includes PGC general information and m pieces of cell reproduction information. This PGC general information includes the PGC playback time and the number of cell playback information.

  FIG. 33 shows an example of the description content of the “cell data aggregate descriptor (cell data extent descriptor)” mentioned in the description of FIG. Here, a lump of recording information relating to the same cell is made into one cell data aggregate (cell data extent) in the arrangement order of usable ECC blocks.

FIG. 33 considers one cell data aggregate as long as a specific cell # 1 is not divided by another cell # 2. As a specific description method, the length of the cell data aggregate (the number of ECC blocks in which the cell data aggregate is recorded) is expressed by “2 bytes”, and the first AV address of the cell data aggregate is “3 bytes”. ", And describe both in succession. That is,
CED (*, *)
It expresses.

  As shown in FIG. 33, a description statement in which all cell data aggregates constituting one cell are described side by side is a cell data aggregate descriptor. With this descriptor, the distribution of all AV addresses in which cells are recorded is known, and access is facilitated.

  Further, when there are many areas continuously recorded on the information storage medium 10 by describing the length of the cell data aggregate and the beginning AV address of the cell data aggregate in pairs, the cell data aggregate The number of bytes required for the description of the body descriptor is reduced, the amount of data required for the cell time general information (#m) is reduced, and the recording capacity that can be used for the video object DA22 is relatively increased accordingly.

  As shown in FIG. 33, the corresponding AV address numbers viewed along the arrangement of the information storage medium 10 are often arranged in a discontinuous order. However, in the embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 18, the allocation map table AMT is provided. Therefore, by setting the first AV address in the cell data aggregate descriptor, the information storage medium for all the data in the cell is stored. Can be specified. This is a major feature of the present invention, coupled with the fact that the AV address is in units of ECC blocks.

  Next, a problem when the position between the ECC block position which is the minimum unit of the AV address and the video object unit VOBU shown in FIG.

When recording new information or updating information in the data change area of FIG. 34: 1) Reproducing the ECC block at the head position of VOBU # g;
2) Deinterleaving of the ECC block;
3) Information change of a part related to the data change area in the ECC block;
4) Replacement of error correction code in the ECC block;
5) Overwriting the changed information on the ECC block position;
Such complicated processing is required. Then, continuous recording processing in NTSC video recording that requires a frame rate of 30 frames per second is hindered.

  Furthermore, if there is dust or scratches on the surface of the information storage medium (DVD-RAM disk 10), the recording process is more affected than the reproduction process.

  That is, if there is a dust or a flaw near the position of the ECC block that receives the processes 1) to 5) above, the VOBU # g has been reproduced without any problem until the ECC block rewrite process. An information defect may occur, making it impossible to reproduce VOBU # g.

  Each time information is rewritten in the data change area unrelated to VOBU # g, the top position of VOBU # g needs to be rewritten. A phase change recording film used as a recording material for a DVD-RAM disk tends to deteriorate in characteristics and increase in defects when repeatedly recorded. Therefore, it is desirable to reduce the number of times of rewriting at a place where it is not necessary (the top portion of VOBU # g in FIG. 34) as much as possible (this number of times of rewriting can be recorded in the control information rewrite number CIRWNs in FIG. 18). ).

  For the above reasons, for the purpose of guaranteeing continuous recording processing at a frame rate of 30 sheets per second and reducing the number of times of rewriting unnecessary portions, in the present invention, as shown in FIG. It is an integer multiple of a block (32 kbytes). This is called 32 kbyte alignment.

  For this 32 kbyte alignment, that is, so that the size of each VOBU is always an integral multiple of 32 kbytes before and after the data change, a dummy pack (FIG. 25) of an appropriate size is inserted into each VOBU.

  FIG. 29 shows a table comparing the method of setting the AV address number newly set in the present invention based on the above conditions (32 kbyte alignment in which the recording unit is an integral multiple of the ECC block) and other logical block numbering methods. .

  In order to facilitate conversion to the logical block number used in the file system, missing numbers and duplicate numbers due to replacement processing for defects occurring on the information storage medium 10 are avoided.

  When recording video information, the skipping replacement process of FIG. 13 is performed for defects on the information storage medium. At this time, the AV address setting location is moved on the information storage medium 10 by the replacement process.

When the AV address number is symbolized as “AVA”, the logical block number is “LBN”, and the logical block number LBN at the AV file start position is symbolized as “LBNav”, between the logical block number and the AV address number, Related:
AVA = (LBN−LBNav) ÷ 16
Here, all values after the decimal point when divided by 16 are rounded down.

  FIG. 35 shows a case where the 32 kbyte alignment is executed by inserting the dummy pack into a cell whose data has been changed after recording. Then, the boundary position of the video object unit VOBU in the cell coincides with the boundary position of the ECC block (16 sectors 32 kbytes) constituting the data in the cell.

  Then, when data is rewritten thereafter, it can be overwritten (overwritten) in units of ECC blocks (there is no need to redo the ECC encoding). In addition, since the AV address is in units of ECC blocks, address management is easy even if overwriting after recording (such as insert editing) is performed. Since this overwriting is performed regardless of VOBU # g with no data change, there is no possibility that the data of VOBU # g cannot be reproduced due to rewriting of the data change area.

  Even if no dummy pack is inserted, if the size of each VOBU is an integral multiple of 32 kbytes before and after the data change, there is no need to add a dummy pack for the purpose of 32 kbyte alignment. However, since the dummy pack can be used for purposes other than 32 kbyte alignment (a spare area for after recording, etc.), it is preferable to insert an appropriate number of dummy packs regardless of whether or not 32 kbyte alignment is performed.

  Next, the hierarchical structure of the information processing device control system used in the present invention will be described. FIG. 36 illustrates the relationship between the system hierarchy and individual pieces of management target information in an information processing device (such as a personal computer) that handles information recorded on an information storage medium (such as a DVD-RAM disk).

  Specifically, this system layer has a “recording / playback application” layer first, a “video management layer” layer, a third “I / O manager” layer, The fourth has a “file system (UDF, etc.)” hierarchy, the fifth has a “device driver” hierarchy, and the sixth has a “hardware (recording / playback apparatus)” hierarchy.

  The “recording / playback application” at the highest level has a function of performing recording / playback processing related to video information (AV file data), and manages cells or PGCs. Here, time is used as a processing unit, and defect management is not performed.

  The “video management layer” in the second hierarchy is responsible for the function of controlling the recording position in the AV file, and manages the AV address and the in-cell structure. Here, video frames are used as processing units, and defect management is also performed. That is, the defect position on the information storage medium (DVD-RAM disk or the like) is also taken into consideration for management in order to ensure the continuity of recording and reproduction.

  The “I / O manager” in the third hierarchy is responsible for the interface processing function between the system and the information storage medium (DVD-RAM disk or the like), and is a file recorded on the medium (AV file or the like in FIG. 23). ). Here, a file is used as a processing unit, and defect management is not performed.

  The “file system” in the fourth layer mainly has a recording / playback address control function in units of files, and includes a logical block number LBN and a logical sector assigned to an information storage medium (DVD-RAM disk, etc.). The number LSN (see FIG. 29) is the management target. Here, a file is used as a processing unit, and defect management is not performed.

  The fifth-level “device driver” is responsible for the operation control function of the recording / playback apparatus (DVD-RAM drive, etc.) from the system side, and is a logical sector assigned to the information storage medium (DVD-RAM disk, etc.). The number LSN is the management target. Here, the sector size (2 kbytes) is used as a processing unit, and defect management is not performed.

  The “recording / reproducing apparatus” in the sixth layer has a function of executing simple recording and simple reproduction with respect to an information storage medium (DVD-RAM disk or the like). The physical sector number PSN (see FIG. 29) is a management target. Here, video frames are used as processing units, and defect management is also performed.

  Next, the relationship between the system hierarchy of FIG. 36 and the hardware to which this hierarchy is applied (such as a personal computer PC described later with reference to FIG. 52) will be briefly described.

  In the system hierarchy of FIG. 36, execution of processing according to the program from the recording / playback application to the device driver is performed by the main CPU 111 of the PC of FIG. 36 corresponds to the DVD-ROM / RAM drive 140 shown in FIG. 52. The information recording / reproducing apparatus shown in the lowermost row in FIG. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the information recording / reproducing apparatus of FIG. 36 can be made to correspond to the CD-ROM drive 122 of FIG. 36, the program from the I / O manager to the device driver can be stored in a nonvolatile semiconductor memory such as an EEPROM constituting a part of the main memory 112 in FIG.

  The information processing apparatus of FIG. 52 using the system hierarchical structure of FIG. 36 is characterized in that it does not have (does not require) the hard disk drive HDD that is an essential item in a normal personal computer (however, this is not the case). Does not mean that HDD cannot be used together).

  36, the recording / playback application and the video management layer are stored in an information storage medium (ROM area of the optical disk 10) mounted on the information recording / playback apparatus (DVD-ROM / RAM drive) 140. Yes.

  Next, a control method relating to recording / deletion of video information (AV data) in the video management layer in FIG. 36 will be described taking cell # 3 in FIG. 24 as an example.

[Method of re-recording video information in cell # 3 after additional processing]
<01> Read cell # 3 and perform additional processing.

  <02> It is examined whether the cell # 3 after the additional processing returns to the original position in terms of data size (here, a case will be described in which recording is performed at another position without entering the original position in terms of size).

  <03> An unused AV address is searched from the allocation map table AMT (FIG. 18).

  <04> From the PGC control information PGCCI (FIG. 18), the cell IDs in the playback order before and after the cell # 3 are checked.

  <05> From the cell time control information CTCI, the AV address indicating the storage location of the cell in the playback order before and after the cell # 3 is examined.

  <06> From the allocation map table AMT (FIG. 18), the recording position on the information storage medium 10 of the cell in the reproduction order before and after the cell # 3 is estimated.

  <07> Based on the result found in the above <03>, a recording position candidate of the cell # 3 that can guarantee continuous reproduction is determined.

  <08> Prior confirmation work is performed on the recording position candidates defined in <07> above. For example, performance information such as the access speed of the information recording / reproducing apparatus (such as the drive 140 in FIG. 52) is obtained from the information recording / reproducing apparatus, and a place where continuous reproduction is dangerous is extracted. Only in this dangerous place, the information recording / reproducing apparatus is actually accessed, and when continuous reproduction cannot be secured, another recording position is searched. Here, in the worst case, that is, when a recording position capable of continuous reproduction is not found, the recording position candidates are shifted to the recording positions of the preceding and succeeding cells.

  <09> When the recording position is confirmed, the recording process of the information of the cell # 3 after the additional processing is started.

  <10> Monitor the recording status during recording and check for ID errors.

(Note) About ID errors during recording:
As shown in FIG. 8, a header having an emboss structure exists at the beginning of one sector. At the time of recording, this header information is first reproduced, and after confirming the physical sector number, the synchronization code and the modulated signal are recorded. At that time, a case where the header cannot be reproduced is called an ID error, which becomes a kind of defect on the information storage medium.

  <11> When the ID error of <10> is detected, when ID error occurrence information is received from the information recording / reproducing apparatus (such as the drive 140 in FIG. 52), the skipping replacement process (FIG. 13) is executed and Based on the information, information on the congenital defect (FIG. 28) is sequentially added to the allocation map table AMT (FIG. 18).

  <12> When the recording process of <11> is completed, the used registration of the AV address in which the information of the cell # 3 after the additional processing is recorded is performed on the allocation map table AMT.

  <13> Finally, the device driver of FIG. 36 is controlled to record skipping replacement processing information in the DMA management area (DMA 1 & DMA 2 and DMA 3 & DMA 4 of FIG. 6) of the information storage medium 10.

[How to delete video information of cell # 3]
<21> Data change processing is performed on the PGC control information PGCCI (FIG. 18).

  <22> Delete information related to cell # 3 from cell time control information CTCI (FIG. 18).

  <23> In the AV address list in the allocation map table AMT (FIG. 18), the AV address used by the cell # 3 is changed to “unused”.

  <24> If an acquired defect address (FIG. 26) relating to cell # 3 has been registered, the defect location is changed to an innate defect, a pseudo skipping replacement process is performed, and the result is allocated. Register in the map table AMT (FIG. 18).

  Thereafter, the device driver (FIG. 36) is controlled in accordance with the registered information, and skipping replacement processing information is recorded in the DMA management area (DMA1 & DMA2 and DMA3 & DMA4 in FIG. 6) of the information storage medium 10.

  In the file system shown in FIG. 36, the recording position of the additional write / update information on the information storage medium 10 is controlled. However, only the logical block number information for each file is managed in the file entry.

  On the other hand, in order to perform recording / playback processing of video information including editing, as shown in FIG. 24, position control on the information storage medium 10 in units of cells, which is the minimum unit of video information, is required. .

  It is also a necessary condition that both the continuous recording condition and the continuous reproduction condition of the video information are satisfied. In the information storage medium 10, defects due to dust and scratches on the surface are successively generated. As replacement processing for the defect, skipping replacement processing shown in FIG. 13 is performed on the video information.

  However, not only UDF (universal disk format) but also file systems such as FAT (file allocation table), NTFS (new technology file system), UNIX (registered trademark) (unix of general-purpose operating system), defect management on information storage media Does not go.

  In the description of UDF (FIGS. 37 to 46) performed in another section, number setting is performed on the assumption that there is no defect in the logical sector number space and the logical block number space.

  However, when defects continuously occur over a wide area, it is impossible to continuously record or reproduce video information there.

From the above, in a DVD video recording system that satisfies continuous recording and continuous playback,
* Recording and playback management taking into account the defect position on the information storage medium 10 to enable continuous recording and playback of video information; and * In units smaller than the file (for example, cells) Record and playback management of
A system hierarchy with two management functions is required.

  However, as is clear from the example of the business (editing) video tape recorder VTR, the general recording / playback-related application software performs high-level recording / playback processing using a time code as shown in FIG. Does not perform defect management on the information storage medium (video tape).

  Further, in the conventional computer system, since there is no need to ensure continuity during recording / reproduction, this continuity is not taken into consideration.

  Therefore, in the present invention, a “video management layer” is newly provided in the upper layer of the file system (UDF in FIG. 36), and management and control of recording / reproducing positions on the information storage medium 10 including defect management are performed here. Is going.

  Next, the information content on the information storage medium, which is handled by the file system described in the fourth in the system hierarchy of FIG. 36, will be described. As a typical example of this file system, the UDF standard currently used for DVD will be described.

  First, the UDF format adopted in DVD will be described.

<<<< Overview of UDF >>>>
<< What is UDF >>
UDF is an abbreviation for the universal disk format, and mainly refers to “rules relating to a file management method” in a disk-shaped information storage medium.

  CD-ROM, CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-Video, DVD-ROM, DVD-R, DVD-RAM, etc. adopt the UDF format standardized by “ISO9660” which is an international standard. .

  As a file management method, a hierarchical file system that basically has a root directory as a parent and manages files in a tree shape is assumed.

  Here, the UDF format conforming to the DVD-RAM standard will be mainly described. However, many parts of the description are identical to the contents of the DVD-ROM standard.

<< Overview of UDF >>
<Contents of file information recorded on information storage medium>
When information is recorded on the information storage medium, a group of information is called “file data”, and recording is performed in units of file data. In order to distinguish each file data from other file data, a unique file name is added to each file data.

  When grouped into a plurality of file data having common information contents, file management and file search are facilitated. This group for each file data is called a “directory” or “folder”. A unique directory name (or folder name) is added to each directory (or folder).

  Furthermore, a plurality of directories (folders) can be collected and grouped in a higher directory (upper folder) as a group in the upper hierarchy. Here, the file data and the directory (folder) are collectively called a file.

When recording information: (a) Information content itself of file data;
(B) The file name corresponding to the file data; and (c) All the information relating to the storage location of the file data (under which directory is recorded) is recorded on the information storage medium (for example, the disk 10 in FIG. 1).

In addition, (d) directory name (folder name) for each directory (folder); and (e) information about the position to which each directory (folder) belongs (that is, the position of its parent upper directory / higher folder) All are recorded on the information storage medium (10).

  FIG. 37 is a diagram for explaining the basic relationship between the hierarchical file system structure of FIG. 23 and the information content recorded on the information storage medium (DVD-RAM disk 10). FIG. 37 shows a simple example of a hierarchical file system structure on the upper side, and shows an example of file system recording contents according to UDF on the lower side.

<Simple example of hierarchical file system structure>
The file management system of most OSs such as UNIX (registered trademark), MacOS (registered trademark), MS-DOS (registered trademark), Windows (registered trademark), which are general-purpose operating systems (OS) for small computers, are shown in FIG. Alternatively, it has a tree-like hierarchical structure as illustrated in FIG.

  In FIG. 37, one disk drive (for example, when one hard disk drive HDD is divided into a plurality of partitions, each partition unit is considered as one disk drive) is the parent of the whole. There is one root directory 401, and a subdirectory 402 belongs to it. File data 403 exists in this subdirectory 402.

  Actually, the present invention is not limited to this example, and the file data 403 may exist directly under the root directory 401 or may have a complicated hierarchical structure in which a plurality of subdirectories 402 are connected in series.

<Contents recorded in file system on information storage medium>
File system information is recorded in logical block units (or logical sector units; see FIG. 36), and the contents recorded in each logical block mainly include the following:
* File ID descriptor FID (descriptive text indicating file information): Describes the file type and file name (root directory name, subdirectory name, file data name, etc.). The file ID descriptor FID also describes the data contents of the subsequent file data and the position where information related to the contents of the directory is recorded.

  * File entry FE (descriptive text indicating the recording location of file contents): Describes the location (logical block number) on the information storage medium in which information about the contents of file data and the contents of directories (subdirectories, etc.) is recorded What you are doing.

  The middle part of FIG. 37 exemplifies the recorded contents when information of the file system structure as shown on the upper side of FIG. 37 is recorded on the information storage medium 10. Hereinafter, this exemplary content will be specifically described.

  * The content of the root directory 401 is shown in the logical block with the logical block number “1”.

  In the example of FIG. 37, only the subdirectory 402 is included in the root directory 401. For this reason, as the contents of the root directory 401, information regarding the subdirectory 402 is described in the file ID descriptor (FID) 404. Although not shown, information of the root directory 401 itself is also written in the same logical block as a file ID descriptor.

  The recording position of the file entry (FE) 405 indicating where the contents of the subdirectory 402 are recorded in the file ID descriptor 404 of the root directory 401 is described by the long allocation descriptor (LAD (2)). Has been.

  * In the logical block with the logical block number “2”, a file entry 405 indicating the position where the contents of the subdirectory 402 are recorded is recorded.

    In the example of FIG. 37, only the file data 403 is contained in the subdirectory 402. Therefore, the contents of the subdirectory 402 substantially indicate the recording position of the file ID descriptor 406 in which information related to the file data 403 is described.

    In the file entry 405, it is described (AD (3)) that the contents of the subdirectory 402 are recorded in the third logical block in the short allocation descriptor therein.

  * The contents of the subdirectory 402 are recorded in the logical block with the logical block number “3”.

    In the example of FIG. 37, since only the file data 403 is contained in the subdirectory 402, information regarding the file data 403 is described in the file ID descriptor 406 as the contents of the subdirectory 402. Although not shown, information of the subdirectory 402 itself is also written in the same logical block in the file ID descriptor sentence.

  In the file ID descriptor 406 related to the file data 403, the recording position of the file entry 407 indicating where the contents of the file data 403 are recorded is described by a long allocation descriptor (LAD (4)). Yes.

  * In the logical block with the logical block number “4”, a file entry 407 indicating the position where the contents (408, 409) of the file data 403 are recorded is recorded.

  It is described by the short allocation descriptor in the file entry 407 that the contents (408, 409) of the file data 403 are recorded in the fifth and sixth logical blocks (AD (5), AD (6)). Has been.

  * The content 408 of the file data 403 is recorded in the logical block with the logical block number “5”.

  * The content 409 of the file data 403 is recorded in the logical block with the logical block number “6”.

<Access method to file data according to information in FIG. 37>
As described above, in the file ID descriptor FID and the file entry FE, a logical block number in which subsequent information is described is described.

  In the logical block on the information storage medium 10 according to the logical block number described in the file ID descriptor FID and the file entry in the same manner as the file data is reached via the subdirectory while descending the hierarchy from the root directory. The contents of the target file data are accessed while sequentially reproducing the information.

  That is, in order to access the file data 403 shown in FIG. 37, firstly, the first logical block information is read, and the second logical block information is read according to LAD (2) therein. Since the file data 403 exists in the subdirectory 402, the file ID descriptor FID of the subdirectory 402 is searched from the file data 403, and AD (3) is read. Thereafter, the third logical block information is read according to the read AD (3). Since LAD (4) is described therein, the fourth logical block information is read, the file ID descriptor FID relating to the file data 403 is searched, and the fifth one is read according to AD (5) described therein. The logical block information is read, and the sixth logical block is reached according to AD (6).

  The contents of descriptions such as AD (logical block number) and LAD (logical block number) will be described later.

<<< Specific Description of Each Descriptive Statement (Descriptor / Descriptor) of UDF >>>
<< Description statement of logical block number >>
<Allocation descriptor>
As described in <Recording contents of file system information on information storage medium>, a position (logical block number) that is included in a part of a file ID descriptor FID, a file entry, etc., and the subsequent information is recorded The descriptive sentence indicating is called an allocation descriptor.

  The allocation descriptor includes a long allocation descriptor and a short allocation descriptor.

<Long allocation descriptor>
FIG. 38 is a diagram for explaining the description content of the long allocation descriptor that displays the recording position of the continuous sector aggregate (extent) on the information storage medium.

  The long allocation descriptor LAD (logical block number) is composed of an extent length 410, an extent location 411, and an implementation usage 412.

  The extent length 410 indicates the number of logical blocks in 4 bytes, the extent position 411 indicates the corresponding logical block number in 4 bytes, and the implementation use 412 is used for arithmetic processing. Information is displayed in 8 bytes.

  Here, in order to simplify the description, an abbreviation such as “LAD (logical block number)” is used in the description of the long allocation descriptor.

<Short allocation descriptor>
FIG. 39 is a diagram for explaining the description contents of a short allocation descriptor that displays the recording position of a continuous sector aggregate (extent) on the information storage medium 10.

  The short allocation descriptor AD (logical block number) is composed of an extent length 410 and an extent position 411.

  The extent length 410 indicates the number of logical blocks in 4 bytes, and the extent position 411 indicates the corresponding logical block number in 4 bytes.

  Here, in order to simplify the description, an abbreviation such as “AD (logical block number)” is used in the description of the short allocation descriptor.

<Space entry not allocated>
FIG. 40 is a diagram for explaining the contents of a descriptive sentence used as a space entry (Unallocated Space Entry; USE for short) that searches for an unrecorded continuous sector aggregate (unrecorded extent) on an information storage medium. It is.

  The unallocated space entry is a descriptive sentence used in a space table (see FIGS. 44 to 46) indicating “recorded logical block” or “unrecorded logical block” in the recording area of the information storage medium 10. .

  This unallocated space entry USE includes a descriptor tag 413, an ICB tag 414, an overall length 415 of an allocation descriptor column, and an allocation descriptor 416.

  * Descriptor tag 413 represents the identifier of the description content, and is “263” in this example.

  * ICB tag 414 indicates a file type.

  File type = 1 in the ICB tag means a space entry USE that is not allocated, file type = 4 represents a directory, and file type = 5 represents file data.

  * The total length 415 of the allocation descriptor string represents the total number of bytes of the allocation descriptor string as 4 bytes.

  * The allocation descriptor 416 lists recording positions (logical block numbers) on the medium 10 of each extent (sector aggregate). For example, they are listed as (AD (*), AD (*),..., AD (*)).

<File entry>
FIG. 41 is a diagram for explaining a part of description contents of a file entry that displays a recording position of a specified file in a file structure having a hierarchical structure as shown in FIG. 23 or FIG.

  The file entry includes a descriptor tag 417, an ICB tag 418, a permission (permission) 419, and an allocation descriptor 420.

  * Descriptor tag 417 represents an identifier of the description content, and in this case is “261”.

  * The ICB tag 418 indicates a file type, and the contents thereof are the same as those of the ICB tag 414 of the non-allocated space entry in FIG.

  * Permissions 419 indicates permission information for recording / playback / deletion for each user. Used mainly for the purpose of securing files.

  * The allocation descriptor 420 describes the position where the contents of the corresponding file are recorded by arranging the short allocation descriptor for each extent. For example, FE (AD (*), AD (*),..., AD (*)) is listed.

<File ID descriptor FID>
FIG. 42 shows an excerpt of a part of a file ID descriptor that describes information of a file (root directory, subdirectory, file data, etc.) in a file structure having a hierarchical structure as shown in FIG. It is a figure explaining.

  The file ID descriptor FID includes a descriptor tag 421, a file character 422, an information control block ICB 423, a file identifier 424, and padding 437.

  * Descriptor tag 421 represents the identifier of the description content, and in this case is “257”.

  * The file characteristic 422 indicates the type of the file, and means one of a parent directory, a directory, file data, and a file deletion flag.

  * The information control block ICB 423 describes the FE position (file entry position) corresponding to this file with a long allocation descriptor.

  * The file identifier 424 describes a directory name or a file name.

  * The padding 437 is a dummy area added to adjust the length of the entire file identifier 424, and normally all “0” (or 000h) are recorded.

  In the present invention, as shown in FIG. 18, computer data (DA1, DA3) and AV data (DA2) can be mixed in one volume space. In this case, there is a possibility that two types of files, computer files and AV files, are mixed.

There are two possible methods for setting the AV file identifier for distinguishing the AV file from the computer file:
1) Add a predetermined extension (.VOB, etc.) to the end of the file name of the AV file;
2) A unique flag (not shown) is inserted into the AV file padding 437 (if this flag is "1", it indicates an AV file, if "0" indicates a computer file, etc.).

  An encrypted user password can also be recorded in the padding 437 area.

  FIG. 43 shows a file system structure in which the file structure illustrated in FIG. 37 is more generalized. In FIG. 43, the parentheses indicate the logical block numbers on the information storage medium 10 in which the information related to the contents of the directory or the data content of the file data is recorded.

<<<< Example of file structure description recorded according to UDF >>>>
The contents (file system structure) shown in << Overview of UDF >> will be described below using a specific example.

As a method for managing unrecorded positions on the information storage medium (DVD-RAM disk or the like) 10, there are the following methods:
[Space bitmap method]
This method uses a space bitmap descriptor, and is a method of setting a “recorded” or “unrecorded” flag in a bitmap manner for all logical blocks in the recording area in the information storage medium.

[Space table method]
In this method, the recorded logical block number is described by listing the short allocation descriptor using the description method of FIG.

  Here, in order to collectively describe the description, both methods (the space bitmap method and the space table method) are shown in FIGS. 44 to 46, but both are actually used together (on the information storage medium). Are recorded) and only one of them is used.

  In addition, the description contents in the space table (description / arrangement of the short allocation descriptor) are for the time being matched with the file system structure of FIG. 43, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the short allocation descriptor can be freely described.

  44 to 46 show an example in which the information of the file system structure of FIG. 43 is recorded on the information storage medium 10 in accordance with the UDF format. 44 shows the first half, FIG. 45 shows the middle board, and FIG. 46 shows the second half.

As shown in FIGS. 44 to 46, the logical sector in which the information on the file structure 486 and the file data 487 is recorded is also called a “logical block”, and the logical block number is linked to the logical sector number (LSN). (LBN) is set. (The length of the logical block is 2048 bytes as in the logical sector.)
The main descriptor contents described in FIGS. 44 to 46 are as follows:
* The extent area descriptor start 445 indicates the start position of a volume recognition sequence (VRS for short).

  * The volume structure descriptor 446 describes the contents of the disk (volume contents).

  * The boot descriptor 447 is a part describing the contents of processing at the time of booting, such as the boot start position of the computer system.

  * Extent area descriptor end 448 indicates the end position of the volume recognition sequence (VRS).

  * The partition descriptor 450 describes partition information such as a partition size.

  Note that DVD-RAM generally has one partition per volume.

  * The logical volume descriptor 454 describes the contents of the logical volume.

  * Anchor volume descriptor pointer 458 indicates the final recording position of the recorded information in the recording area of the information storage medium 10.

  * Reservations 459 to 465 are adjustment areas for securing a logical sector number for recording a specific descriptor (descriptor), and all are initially written with “00h”.

  * The reserved volume descriptor sequence 467 is a backup area of information recorded in the main volume descriptor sequence 449.

<<< How to access file data during playback >>>
The file data access processing method on the information storage medium 10 will be described using the file system information shown in FIGS. 44 to 46 and assuming that the data content of the file data H432 in FIG. 43 is reproduced, for example.

  (1) The information of the boot descriptor 447 in the volume recognition sequence 444 area is reproduced as a boot area when the information recording / reproducing apparatus is activated or when an information storage medium is loaded. Processing at the time of booting starts according to the description content of the boot descriptor 447.

In that case, if there is no specified boot process,
(2) First, the information of the logical volume descriptor 454 in the main volume descriptor sequence 449 area is reproduced.

(3) The logical volume contents use 455 is described in the logical volume descriptor 454. There, a logical block number indicating a position where the file set descriptor 472 is recorded is described in the form of a long allocation descriptor (FIG. 38). (In the example shown in FIGS. 44 to 46, since it is LAD (100), it is recorded in the 100th logical block.)
(4) The 100th logical block (which is 400th in the logical sector number) is accessed and the file set descriptor 472 is reproduced. In the root directory ICB473, the location (logical block number) where the file entry related to the root directory A425 is recorded is described in the form of a long allocation descriptor (FIG. 38) (examples of FIGS. 44 to 46). Since LAD (102), it is recorded in the 102nd logical block).

In this case, according to LAD (102) of the root directory ICB473,
(5) The 102nd logical block is accessed, the file entry 475 related to the root directory A425 is reproduced, and the position (logical block number) where the information related to the contents of the root directory A425 is recorded is read (AD (103); 103 Recorded in the second logical block).

  (6) The 103rd logical block is accessed to reproduce information relating to the contents of the root directory A425.

  Since the file data H432 exists under the directory D428 series, the file ID descriptor FID related to the directory D428 is searched, and the logical block number (not shown in FIGS. 44 to 46) in which the file entry related to the directory D428 is recorded. Read LAD (110); recorded in 110th logic block).

  (7) The 110th logical block is accessed, the file entry 480 relating to the directory D428 is reproduced, and the position (logical block number) where the information relating to the contents of the directory D428 is recorded is read (AD (111); 111th Recorded in logical block).

  (8) The 111th logical block is accessed, and information regarding the contents of the directory D428 is reproduced.

  Since the file data H432 exists directly under the subdirectory F430, the file ID descriptor FID related to the subdirectory F430 is searched, and the logical block number (LAD (112); 112th) in which the file entry related to the subdirectory F430 is recorded. Read in logical block).

  (9) The 112th logical block is accessed, the file entry 482 related to the subdirectory F430 is reproduced, and the position (logical block number) where the information related to the contents of the subdirectory F430 is recorded is read (AD (113); 113 Recorded in the second logical block).

  (10) The 113th logical block is accessed, information relating to the contents of the subdirectory F430 is reproduced, and a file ID descriptor FID relating to the file data H432 is searched. From there, the logical block number (LAD (114); recorded in the 114th logical block) in which the file entry relating to the file data H432 is recorded is read.

  (11) The 114th logical block is accessed, the file entry 484 related to the file data H432 is reproduced, and the position where the data content 489 of the file data H432 is recorded is read.

  (12) The information is reproduced from the information storage medium in the order of the logical block numbers described in the file entry 484 relating to the file data H432, and the data content 489 of the file data H432 is read.

<<< Specific file data content change method >>>
Next, a processing method including access in the case where the data content of the file data H432 is changed using the file system information shown in FIGS. 44 to 46 will be described.

  (1) Obtain the capacity difference between the data contents before and after the change of the file data H432, divide the value by 2048 bytes, and use additional logical blocks or how many logical blocks to record the changed data Calculate in advance.

  (2) The information of the boot descriptor 447 in the volume recognition sequence 444 area is reproduced as a boot area when the information recording / reproducing apparatus is activated or the information storage medium is loaded. Processing at the time of booting starts according to the description content of the boot descriptor 447.

At this time, if there is no specified boot process,
(3) First, the partition descriptor 450 in the main volume descriptor sequence 449 area is reproduced, and the information of the partition content use 451 described therein is read. In this partition content use 451 (also called a partition header descriptor), the recording position of the space table or space bitmap is shown.

* The space table position is described in the form of a short allocation descriptor in the space table 452 field that is not allocated (AD (80) in the examples of FIGS. 44 to 46). Also,
* The space bitmap position is described in the form of a short allocation descriptor in the column of the space bitmap 453 that is not allocated (AD (0) in the examples of FIGS. 44 to 46).

  (4) Access the logical block number (0) described in the space bitmap read in (3) above. Space bitmap information is read from the space bitmap descriptor, unrecorded logical blocks are searched, and use of logical blocks corresponding to the calculation result of (1) above is registered (rewriting processing of space bitmap descriptor information).

Or
(4 *) Access the logical block number (80) described in the space table read in (3) above. The space table USE (AD (*)) not allocated in the space table is read to USE (AD (*), AD (*)) of the file data I to find an unrecorded logical block, and the calculation result of (1) above Register the usage of the logical block of the minute (rewrite processing of space table information).

  In actual processing, either one of the above (4) or (4 *) is performed.

  (5) Next, the information of the logical volume descriptor 454 in the area of the main volume descriptor sequence 449 is reproduced.

  (6) The logical volume content use 455 is described in the logical volume descriptor 454. There, the logical block number indicating the position recorded in the file set descriptor 472 is described in the form of a long allocation descriptor (FIG. 38) (in the example of FIGS. 44 to 46, from the LAD (100)). It is recorded in the 100th logic block).

  (7) The 100th logical block (which is 400th in the logical sector number) is accessed, and the file set descriptor 472 is reproduced. In the root directory ICB473, the location (logical block number) where the file entry related to the root directory A425 is recorded is described in the form of a long allocation descriptor (FIG. 38) (examples of FIGS. 44 to 46). Then, it is recorded in the 102nd logical block from LAD (102)).

And according to LAD (102) of the root directory ICB473,
(8) The 102nd logical block is accessed, the file entry 475 related to the root directory A425 is reproduced, and the position (logical block number) where the information related to the contents of the root directory A425 is recorded is read (AD (103)).

  (9) The 103rd logical block is accessed, and information relating to the contents of the root directory A425 is reproduced.

  Since the file data H432 exists under the directory D428 series, the file ID descriptor FID related to the directory D428 is searched, and the logical block number (LAD (110)) in which the file entry related to the directory D428 is recorded is read.

  (10) The 110th logical block is accessed, the file entry 480 relating to the directory D428 is reproduced, and the position (logical block number) where the information relating to the contents of the directory D428 is recorded is read (AD (111)).

  (11) The 111th logical block is accessed to reproduce information relating to the contents of the directory D428.

  Since the file data H432 exists directly under the subdirectory F430, the file ID descriptor FID related to the subdirectory F430 is searched, and the logical block number (LAD (112)) in which the file entry related to the subdirectory F430 is recorded is read.

  (12) The 112th logical block is accessed, the file entry 482 related to the subdirectory F430 is reproduced, and the position (logical block number) where the information related to the contents of the subdirectory F430 is recorded is read (AD (113)).

  (13) The 113th logical block is accessed, information relating to the contents of the subdirectory F430 is reproduced, and a file ID descriptor FID relating to the file data H432 is searched. Then, the logical block number (LAD (114)) in which the file entry relating to the file data H432 is recorded is read therefrom.

  (14) The 114th logical block is accessed, the file entry 484 relating to the file data H432 is reproduced, and the position where the data content 489 of the file data H432 is recorded is read.

  (15) The data content 489 of the changed file data H432 is recorded in consideration of the logical block number additionally registered in (4) or (4 *).

<<< Specific File Data / Directory Erase Processing Method >>>
As an example, a method for deleting the file data H432 or the subdirectory F430 will be described.

  (1) The information of the boot descriptor 447 in the volume recognition sequence 444 area is reproduced as a boot area when the information recording / reproducing apparatus is activated or when an information storage medium is loaded. Processing at the time of booting starts according to the description content of the boot descriptor 447.

If there is no specified boot time processing,
(2) First, the information of the logical volume descriptor 54 in the main volume descriptor sequence 449 area is reproduced.

  (3) The logical volume contents use 455 is described in the logical volume descriptor 454, and the logical block number indicating the position where the file set descriptor 472 is recorded is in the long allocation descriptor (FIG. 38) format. (In the example of FIGS. 44 to 46, it is recorded in the 100th logical block from LAD (100)).

  (4) The 100th logical block (which is 400th in the logical sector number) is accessed and the file set descriptor 472 is reproduced. In the root directory ICB473, the location (logical block number) where the file entry related to the root directory A425 is recorded is described in the long allocation descriptor (FIG. 38) format (in the examples of FIGS. 44 to 46). LAD (102) is recorded in the 102nd logical block).

Therefore, according to the LAD (102) of the root directory ICB473,
(5) The 102nd logical block is accessed, the file entry 475 related to the root directory A425 is reproduced, and the position (logical block number) where the information related to the contents of the root directory A425 is recorded is read (AD (103)).

  (6) The 103rd logical block is accessed to reproduce information relating to the contents of the root directory A425.

  Since the file data H432 exists under the directory D428 series, the file ID descriptor FID related to the directory D428 is searched, and the logical block number (LAD (110)) in which the file entry related to the directory D428 is recorded is read.

  (7) The 110th logical block is accessed, the file entry 480 relating to the directory D428 is reproduced, and the position (logical block number) where the information relating to the contents of the directory D428 is recorded is read (AD (111)).

  (8) The 111th logical block is accessed, and information regarding the contents of the directory D428 is reproduced.

  Since the file data H432 exists directly under the subdirectory F430, a file ID descriptor FID related to the subdirectory F430 is searched.

  Assume that the subdirectory F430 is to be deleted. In this case, a “file deletion flag” is set in the file characteristic 422 (FIG. 42) in the file ID descriptor FID relating to the subdirectory F430.

  Then, the logical block number (LAD (112)) in which the file entry related to the subdirectory F430 is recorded is read.

  (9) The 112th logical block is accessed, the file entry 482 related to the subdirectory F430 is reproduced, and the position (logical block number) where the information related to the contents of the subdirectory F430 is recorded is read (AD (113)).

  (10) The 113th logical block is accessed, information relating to the contents of the subdirectory F430 is reproduced, and a file ID descriptor FID relating to the file data H432 is searched.

  Next, it is assumed that the file data H432 is erased. In this case, a “file deletion flag” is set in the file characteristic 422 (FIG. 42) in the file ID descriptor FID relating to the file data H432.

  Further, the logical block number (LAD (114)) in which the file entry relating to the file data H432 is recorded is read therefrom.

  (11) The 114th logical block is accessed, the file entry 484 related to the file data H432 is reproduced, and the position where the data content 489 of the file data H432 is recorded is read.

  When erasing the file data H432, the logical block in which the data content 489 of the file data H432 is recorded is released by the following method (registering the logical block in an unrecorded state).

  (12) Next, the partition descriptor 450 in the main volume descriptor sequence 449 area is reproduced, and the partition contents use 451 information described therein is read. In this partition content use (partition header descriptor) 451, the recording position of the space table or space bitmap is shown.

* The space table position is described in the short allocation descriptor format in the space table 452 field that is not allocated (AD (80) in the examples of FIGS. 44 to 46). Also,
* The space bitmap position is described in the form of a short allocation descriptor in the column of the space bitmap 453 that is not allocated (AD (0) in the examples of FIGS. 44 to 46).

  (13) The logical block number (0) described in the space bitmap read in (12) is accessed, and the “logical block number to be released” obtained as a result of (11) is the space bitmap descriptor. Rewrite as

Or
(13 *) Access the logical block number (80) described in the space table read in (12) above, and rewrite the "logical block number to be released" obtained as a result of (11) above in the space table. .

  In the actual process, either the process (13) or the process (13 *) is performed.

When deleting the file data H432,
(12) The position where the data content 490 of the file data I433 is recorded is read through the same procedure as the above (10) to (11).

  (13) Next, the partition descriptor 450 in the main volume descriptor sequence 449 area is reproduced, and the partition contents use 451 information described therein is read. In this partition content use (partition header descriptor) 451, the recording position of the space table or space bitmap is shown.

* The space table position is described in the form of a short allocation descriptor in the space table 452 field that is not allocated. (AD (80) in the examples of FIGS. 44 to 46). Also,
* The space bitmap position is described in the form of a short allocation descriptor in the column of the space bitmap 453 that is not allocated (AD (0) in the examples of FIGS. 44 to 46).

  (14) The logical block number (0) described in the space bitmap read in (13) is accessed, and the “logical block number to be released” obtained as a result of (11) and (12) above. Rewrite to space bitmap descriptor.

Or
(14 *) Access the logical block number (80) described in the space table read in (13) above, and enter the “logical block number to be released” obtained as a result of (11) and (12) above. Rewrite to space table.

  In actual processing, either one of the above (14) or (14 *) is performed.

<<< Additional processing of file data / directory >>>
As an example, an access / addition processing method when newly adding file data or a directory under the subdirectory F430 will be described.

  (1) When adding file data, the capacity of the file data content to be added is checked, the value is divided by 2048 bytes, and the number of logical blocks necessary for adding the file data is calculated.

  (2) The information of the boot descriptor 447 in the volume recognition sequence 444 area is reproduced as a boot area when the information recording / reproducing apparatus is activated or when an information storage medium is loaded. Processing at the time of booting starts according to the description content of the boot descriptor 447.

If there is no specified boot time processing,
(3) First, the partition descriptor 450 in the main volume descriptor sequence 449 area is reproduced, and the information of the partition content use 451 described therein is read. In this partition content use (partition header descriptor) 451, the recording position of the space table or space bitmap is shown.

* The space table position is described in the form of a short allocation descriptor in the space table 452 field that is not allocated (AD (80) in the examples of FIGS. 44 to 46). Also,
* The space bitmap position is described in the form of a short allocation descriptor in the column of the space bitmap 453 that is not allocated (AD (0) in the examples of FIGS. 44 to 46).

  (4) Access the logical block number (0) described in the space bitmap read in (3) above. Space bitmap information is read from the space bitmap descriptor, unrecorded logical blocks are searched, and use of logical blocks corresponding to the calculation result of (1) above is registered (rewriting processing of space bitmap descriptor information).

Or
(4 *) Access the logical block number (80) described in the space table read in (3) above. The space table USE (AD (*)) 461 to USE (AD (*), AD (*)) 470 of the file data I are read, an unrecorded logical block is searched, and the calculation result of (1) above is obtained. Register use of logical block (rewrite processing of space table information).

  In actual processing, either one of the above (4) or (4 *) is performed.

  (5) Next, the information of the logical volume descriptor 454 in the main volume descriptor sequence 449 area is reproduced.

  (6) The logical volume content use 455 is described in the logical volume descriptor 454, and the logical block number indicating the position where the file set descriptor 472 is recorded is the long allocation descriptor (FIG. 38). (In the example of FIGS. 44 to 46, it is recorded in the 100th logical block from LAD (100)).

  (7) The 100th logical block (which is 400th in the logical sector number) is accessed, and the file set descriptor 472 is reproduced. In the root directory ICB473, the location (logical block number) where the file entry related to the root directory A425 is recorded is described in the long allocation descriptor (FIG. 38) format (in the examples of FIGS. 44 to 46). , A file entry related to the root directory A425 is recorded in the 102nd logical block from the LAD (102)).

According to LAD (102) of this root directory ICB473,
(8) The 102nd logical block is accessed, the file entry 475 related to the root directory A425 is reproduced, and the position (logical block number) where the information related to the contents of the root directory A425 is recorded is read (AD (103)).

  (9) The 103rd logical block is accessed, and information relating to the contents of the root directory A425 is reproduced.

  The file ID descriptor FID relating to the directory D428 is searched, and the logical block number (LAD (110)) in which the file entry relating to the directory D428 is recorded is read.

  (10) The 110th logical block is accessed, the file entry 480 relating to the directory D428 is reproduced, and the position (logical block number) where the information relating to the contents of the directory D428 is recorded is read (AD (111)).

  (11) The 111th logical block is accessed to reproduce information relating to the contents of the directory D428.

  The file ID descriptor FID relating to the subdirectory F430 is searched, and the logical block number (LAD (112)) in which the file entry relating to the subdirectory F430 is recorded is read.

  (12) The 112th logical block is accessed, the file entry 482 related to the subdirectory F430 is reproduced, and the position (logical block number) where the information related to the contents of the subdirectory F430 is recorded is read (AD (113)).

  (13) The 113th logical block is accessed, and the file data to be newly added or the file ID descriptor FID of the directory is registered in the information related to the contents of the subdirectory F430.

  (14) The logical block number position registered in (4) or (4 *) is accessed, and a file entry relating to newly added file data or directory is described.

  (15) Access the logical block number position indicated by the short allocation descriptor in the file entry of (14) above, and record the data content of the file ID descriptor FID of the parent directory related to the directory to be added or the file data to be added. .

  44 to 46, LSN is an abbreviation indicating a logical sector number (LSN) 491, LBN is an abbreviation indicating a logical block number (LBN) 492, and LLSN is the last logical sector number (last LSN). Abbreviation indicating 493.

  Specific examples of the first anchor point 456 in FIG. 44 and the second anchor point 457 in FIG. 46 will be described in the description of FIGS. 47 to 49.

<< Features of UDF >>
<Description of UDF features>
The characteristics of the universal data format UDF will be described below by comparison with a file allocation table FAT used in a hard disk HDD, floppy (registered trademark) disk FDD, magneto-optical disk MO, and the like.

  (1) In FAT, a file allocation management table (file allocation table) is centrally recorded locally on the information storage medium, whereas in UDF, file management information is placed at an arbitrary position on the disk. Distributed recording is possible.

  Since FAT is centrally managed in the file management area, it is suitable for applications that require frequent file structure changes (mainly frequent rewriting applications). (Because the management information is easily rewritten because it is recorded in a centralized location.) In FAT, the recording location of file management information is determined in advance, so it is assumed that the recording medium has high reliability (there are few defective areas). Become.

Since file management information is distributed in UDF, there is little change in the file structure, and a new file structure is added later in the lower part of the hierarchy (mainly the part below the root directory) ( Mainly suitable for appending applications). (There are few changes to the previous file management information at the time of appending.)
Further, since the recording position of the distributed file management information can be arbitrarily designated, it is possible to record while avoiding innate defects.

  Furthermore, since the file management information can be recorded at an arbitrary position, the advantage of FAT can be obtained by collecting and recording all the file management information in one place, so that it can be considered as a more versatile file system.

  (2) UDF has a large minimum unit (such as minimum logical block size and minimum logical sector size) and is suitable for recording video information and music information having a large amount of information to be recorded.

  In other words, the logical sector size of the FAT is 512 bytes, whereas the logical sector (block) size of the UDF is 2048 bytes.

  In UDF, the recording position on the disc relating to file management information and file data is described in an allocation descriptor as a logical sector (block) number.

  The above is an overview of UDF. Before finishing the description of UDF, the necessity of a new definition of an AV address in a DVD video recorder that handles large-capacity information will be mentioned.

  In a fici system (UDF or the like) that does not require continuous recording / reproduction, as shown in FIG. 36, a logical block that does not have a correspondence with an actual recording position on an information storage medium as shown in FIG. Numbers and logical sector numbers are used. On the other hand, in the present invention, it is necessary to set a video management layer suitable for managing large-size video information (AV data) and to set an optimum address for the function of the video management layer accordingly. The “AV address” of the present invention is newly defined in response to this need.

  The conditions desired for the AV address and a method for satisfying the conditions are described below.

(1) Portability to another medium FIG. 18 AV data area DA2 is composed of one or a plurality of AV files, and one volume = 1 AV file. There is a need to be able to port this AV file as it is to a hard disk HDD, a magneto-optical MO disk, or the like.

  When there is a computer data area DA1 before the AV file (DA2) as shown in FIG. 18, according to the logical sector number (or logical block number) setting method shown in FIG. ) Number has an offset value (a value other than 0).

  If the AV file is ported to another medium such as an HDD or an MO, the logical block (sector) number will be shifted.

  In order to ensure portability to another medium, the above “offset of logical block number” is not preferable. That is, in consideration of portability to another medium, it is desirable that the AV address at the head position of the AV file is “0”.

  Therefore, in one embodiment of the present invention, an allocation map table AMT is prepared as shown in FIG. If this allocation map table AMT is used, when the AV file is ported to another medium, it is not necessary to rewrite all the AV address information, and porting becomes very easy. Specifically, it is only necessary to appropriately change the allocation map table AMT in accordance with the address setting method of the porting medium.

(2) Recording processing unit capable of high-speed additional recording or change recording The logical block (sector) size used on the UDF is 2048 bytes.

  By the way, in the DVD-RAM disc, as shown in FIG. 9, an ECC block 502 is formed by a lump of 16 sectors, and an error correction code (product code) is added in the ECC block 502. For example, when changing the information of one sector 501b in FIG. 9, the information recording / reproducing apparatus (not shown) reads all information (32 kbytes) for the ECC block 502, and after deinterleaving, only the information of the sector 501b is read. To change. Thereafter, the error correction code of the ECC block is added again and recorded.

  If the error correction code re-addition process is performed without any ingenuity, the continuity during recording is impaired. Therefore, in order to ensure continuity at the time of recording, in the present invention, recording on the information storage medium 10 is performed in units of ECC blocks 502 (32 kbytes) and is directly overwritten for each ECC block 502.

  That is, in an information recording apparatus using a DVD-RAM disk, an ECC block unit (2048 × 16 = 32 kbytes) is employed as a recording processing unit. Then, address management of the AV data DA2 (FIG. 18) is performed in units of ECC blocks.

  FIG. 47 conceptually shows an example of the file structure of the menu created by the user in the AV data (video content) recorded on the disc of FIG.

  The format of the user menu file can be conceptually configured as shown in FIG. 47, and specifically can be configured as shown in FIGS.

  First, as illustrated in FIG. 47 from the top to the bottom in FIG. 47, the order of the data contained in the user menu file is the first anchor point (corresponding to the first anchor point 456 in FIG. 44), the reduced image management unit, The backup (not shown) of the reduced image management unit, the reduced image data group, and the second anchor point (corresponding to the second anchor point 457 in FIG. 46) are described in this order.

  The first and second anchor points shown in FIG. 47 exist in the reduced image control information DA214 of FIG. 18, and information indicating the reduced image management unit in the reduced image control information DA214 and the backup recording position of this reduced image management unit. have. The first and second anchor points shown in FIG. 47 differ from the anchor pointer AP indicating the recording position of the control information DA21 in FIG.

  The user menu file initially contains pointer addresses called first anchor points (a, p, b, q in FIG. 47), and the start address (a) and end address of the reduced image management unit, respectively. (P), and the start address (b) and end address (q) of the backup data of the reduced image management unit are described.

  Next to the first anchor point, a reduced image management unit (in a broader sense, control information DA21 in FIG. 18) is recorded, and this data has undergone a process of “32 kbyte alignment” which will be described later. In this reduced image management unit, data relating to each reduced image constituting the user menu is recorded.

  The actual data related to each reduced image constituting the user menu includes PGC number, time code (can be used for time search, etc.), reduced image start address, number of sectors used (= data length), reduced image size, reduced image There are an address (pointer) to the original file (AV data) of the image, text data used for search and title, and the like.

  After that, if there is a defective area in the file, the leading address and data length of the defective area are recorded. Then, regarding the background image data of the user menu, a registration number and its leading address are recorded.

  Thereafter, although not shown, a backup of the reduced image management unit is recorded. This backup is recorded for insurance against damage to the reduced image management area.

  After that, a packed actual reduced image data group (in a broader sense, object groups DA22 to DA24 in FIG. 18; in a broader sense, AV data DA2) is recorded. However, these data are aligned by 32 kbytes for each reduced image (or for each VOBU).

  After that, second anchor points (a, p, b, q) similar to the top of the user menu file are described. This is because the file is usually considered to be damaged from the top management area that is frequently accessed. By placing an anchor point at the end of the file, it is more secure.

  The reason why 32 kbytes are aligned at each segment of the file is to allow access to each ECC group in units of 32 kbytes when changing, adding or deleting data. This 32-kbyte alignment (in other words, ECC block alignment) enables faster access, and reduces the operational load on the MPU in the DVD drive 140 shown in FIG. 52 or the data processor 36 shown in FIG. The

  Note that all the address information in the user menu file is represented by a relative address from the top of the file.

The user menu file of FIG. 47 has the following characteristics:
(A) One or more menu selection image data (that is, reduced image data) representing at least a part of a still image of video data is recorded in the same user menu file.

  (B) A reduced image management unit having all the reduced image data recorded on the recording medium (DVD-RAM disc, DVD-RW disc or DVD-R disc) (designation of the video signal corresponding to the storage location) Perform management collectively.

  In the user menu file of FIG. 47, specifically, the contents as illustrated in FIGS. 48 to 49 are written.

  That is, as shown in FIGS. 48 and 49, as the first anchor pointer for the picture address table, the start position of the picture address table, the end position of the picture address table, the start position of the reserved picture address table, and the reserved picture address table The end position is described; menu index information (INFO1), index picture information (INFO2), defect area information (INFO5), wallpaper picture information (INFO6), and padding data are described as a picture address table; As the second anchor pointer, the start position of the picture address table, the end position of the picture address table, the start position of the reserved picture address table, and the reserved picture address table Of the end position is described.

  Note that slide & still picture information INFO3 and information picture information INFO4 are also described as appropriate in the picture address tables of FIGS.

  The menu index information in FIG. 48 includes the number of index pictures, the number of information pictures, the number of slide and still pictures, the number of defective areas, and the number of wallpaper pictures.

  The index picture information in FIG. 48 includes content characteristics, an index picture program chain ID, index picture time code, index picture start position, number of sectors used for index picture recording, picture size, and original audio / video data address. And search text data.

  The content characteristic included in the index picture information describes “1” if a still image used for the user menu has been recorded, and “0” if only the recording position (address) of this still image is recorded. "Is described.

  As shown in FIG. 49, index picture information in the case of designating a user menu image with only an address includes content characteristics in which “0” is described, an ID of a program chain PGC for a slide and still picture, and an original Includes audio / video data address and slide & still picture timecode.

  The wallpaper picture information in FIG. 49 includes the number of wallpaper pictures (number of registered background images) that can be used as the background image of the user menu, the start position of the wallpaper picture, and the number of sectors used in the area where the wallpaper picture is recorded. including.

  The padding data in FIG. 49 includes the contents of index pictures, the contents of defective areas, the contents of wallpaper pictures, and the like.

  Next, the “32 kbyte alignment” described above will be described.

  The user menu files shown in FIGS. 47 to 49 are all divided into 32 kbytes which are error correction code units (ECC groups) regardless of whether they are recorded areas or unrecorded areas. The position of a certain “ECC boundary” is fixed in advance.

  When recording each reduced image data, anchor point, and the backup of the reduced image management unit and the reduced image management unit, the recording start position and the recording end position of all the data are made to coincide with the “ECC boundary” position. Recorded (see FIG. 35).

  When each data amount is slightly smaller than the integer value of 32 kbytes, a “dummy area” is added as shown in FIG. 47 to make the recording end position coincide with the “ECC boundary” position. This “dummy area” means the “padding” area in FIG.

  When the reduced image data is recorded / erased, the information is recorded / erased for each “ECC boundary” described above. In this case, since it is not necessary to change some information in the ECC group, the reduced data can be directly overwritten in accordance with the ECC boundary during recording.

  If the “32 kbyte alignment” as described above is performed, since the reduced image data is recorded / erased in units of ECC groups, it is not necessary to modify the added error correction information. Therefore, high-speed recording / erasing processing in units of ECC groups. Can be achieved.

  The user menu file in FIG. 47 considers portability to another recording medium using a personal computer or the like. For this reason, the saved addresses of the reduced image, background image, and reduced image management area for the user menu are all expressed by a differential address (relative address) from the user menu file head position.

  In the related table in the reduced image management area of FIG. 47, two lines from the PGC number to the search text data size represent a set of correspondence tables.

  In this case, the relationship between the reduced image data recorded by the correspondence of the set of the time code of the video signal and the head address and the video signal is known.

  Further, by searching the entire related table, the unrecorded area in the user menu file or the deleted position of the reduced image data after erasure can be known, and new reduced image data can be recorded in this area.

  In the user menu file of FIG. 47, the defect area is managed in the association table between the position on the AV file including the audio / video data and the reduced image recording position.

  Here, a specific processing method when the reduced image management unit is damaged due to dust or scratches attached to the surface of the disk (recording medium) 10 will be described.

First, damage to the reduced image management unit due to dust or scratches on the surface of the disk (recording medium) is detected. (Whether it is damaged or not can be determined by whether error correction of the ECC group has failed.)
When damage is detected, the anchor point information is read, the backup data address of the reduced image management unit is checked, and the backup data of the reduced image management unit is read.

  Next, an unrecorded area in the user menu file is searched from the association table between reduced image recording positions in FIG. Then, the reduced image management data is recorded in an unrecorded area in the user menu file, and the address information of the anchor point is updated.

  Subsequently, the location where the reduced image management unit is damaged due to dust or scratches on the surface of the disk (recording medium) is registered as a defective area in the association table between reduced image recording positions in FIG.

When the user menu file format shown in FIGS. 47 to 49 is adopted, the following effects can be expected:
(A) By the “32 kbyte alignment”, addition / search of reduced image data and speeding up of access can be achieved;
(B) When a plurality of reduced images are displayed at a time on a display unit of a monitor display (not shown), it is necessary to access the corresponding reduced image data position on the recording medium for each reduced screen. When the reduced image data is scattered (scattered) on the recording medium, it takes time to access, and there is an adverse effect that the time required to display a plurality of reduced images becomes longer. However, as illustrated in FIG. 47, if a plurality of reduced image data are arranged together in the same user menu file, a plurality of reduced images can be displayed at high speed just by reproducing the user menu file. it can.

  (C) By collectively managing all the reduced image data in the reduced image management unit, it is easy to delete the reduced image data and manage the addition process. That is, it becomes easy to search for an unrecorded area (or reduced image data deletion area) in the user menu file, and it becomes possible to perform additional registration of new reduced image data at high speed.

  (D) In the later-described DVD video recorder, the data processor 36 puts together error correction information as an ECC group for every 16 packs (= 32 kbytes) and adds them to the disc (DVD-RAM, DVD-RW or DVD-R) 10. It is recorded. If a part of the information in the ECC group is changed, it is necessary to correct the added error correction information, and the process becomes complicated and the information change process takes a long time. However, by performing the “32 kbyte alignment”, correction of error correction information added when recording / erasing reduced image data in units of ECC groups becomes unnecessary, and user menu data can be recorded and erased at high speed. It becomes possible.

(E) High reliability of the backup data of the anchor point, the reduced image management unit, and the reduced image management unit can be ensured by the following method:
* Ensuring the reliability of the reduced image management area ... A backup area for the reduced image management area will be provided to prepare for the failure of the reduced image management area and to move the recording location in the event of a defect;
* Ensuring the reliability of anchor point information indicating the recording location of the reduced image management area .... A single ECC block is configured to reduce the number of data changes and record in two locations (first and second anchor points in FIG. 47). ;
* Defect management processing: If information reproduction from the reduced image management unit or anchor point becomes impossible due to dust or scratches on the surface of the disc (recording medium), the data can be re-read from the backup unit described above and re-recorded at another location. Like that. As a result, it is possible to prevent a defective area from being registered and erroneously used again.

  In some cases, the reduced image data used for the user menu has a closed caption or multiple characters superimposed on the original image. In such a case, a reduced image may be constructed after multiplexing characters. It is also conceivable to form a reduced image with only this character data.

  Furthermore, it is also possible to represent a user menu reduced image only with a pointer to the main image without actual reduced image data (in order to configure the user menu on the hardware side in the configuration of FIG. 51 described later). This corresponds to the case where the display is performed while the reduced image is created in the decoder). According to this method, since the disk search is frequently performed when the menu is displayed, it takes some time to display the user menu, but there is an advantage that the disk capacity to be used can be reduced because there is no actual reduced image.

  By the way, the PGC control information PGCCI in the AV data control information DA210 in FIG. 18 has a data structure as shown in FIG. 32, and the playback order is determined by the PGC and the cell. PGC indicates a unit for executing a series of reproductions in which the reproduction order of cells is designated. The cell indicates a playback section in which playback data is designated by a start address and an end address.

  FIG. 50 schematically shows an example of reproducing the cell data recorded on the disk 10 of FIG. As shown in the figure, the reproduction data is specified in the reproduction section from cell A to cell F. The playback combination of these cells in each program chain (PGC) is defined in the program chain information.

  FIG. 51 is a view for explaining an example of the relationship between each cell constituting the reproduction data of FIG. 50 and program chain information (PGCI) (see FIG. 19).

  That is, PGC # 1 including three cells # 1 to # 3 designates cell reproduction in the order of cell A → cell B → cell C. In addition, PGC # 2 including three cells # 1 to # 3 designates cell reproduction in the order of cell D → cell E → cell F. Further, PGC # 3 including five cells # 1 to # 5 designates cell reproduction in the order of cell E → cell A → cell D → cell B → cell E.

  50 and 51, PGC # 1 exemplifies a continuous reproduction interval from cell A to cell C, and PGC # 2 exemplifies an intermittent reproduction interval from cell D to cell F. PGC # 3 shows an example in which jumping cell reproduction is possible regardless of the cell reproduction direction and overlapping reproduction (cell C and cell D).

  FIG. 52 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a personal computer PC configured to record / reproduce digital video information using the information storage medium (DVD-RAM disk or the like) 10 having the configuration shown in FIGS. FIG.

<< Description of Internal Structure of General Personal Computer System PC >>
(1) Data / address line directly connected to the main CPU The main CPU 111 in the personal computer PC is recorded in the main memory 112 and a memory data line 114 for directly inputting / outputting information to / from the main memory 112. An execution process of the main CPU 111 proceeds in accordance with a program loaded in the main memory 112 having a memory address line 113 for designating an address of information.

  Further, the main CPU 111 performs information transfer with various controllers through the I / O data line 146, and also designates an information transfer destination controller and information contents to be transferred by address designation in the I / O address line 145. Yes.

(2) Display Control and Keyboard Control The display controller 115 that controls the display content of the bitmap display (monitor CRT) 116 exchanges information between the main CPUs 111 via the memory data line 114.

  Furthermore, a video RAM 117 is provided as a memory dedicated to the CRT display 116 in order to realize rich color expression (and gradation expression) with high resolution. The LCD controller 115 can also input information directly from the main memory 112 via the memory data line 114 and display it on the CRT display 116.

  The numeric keypad information input from the keyboard 119 is converted by the keyboard controller 118 and input to the main CPU 111 via the I / O data line 146.

(3) Control system of information reproducing apparatus (DVD-ROM / RAM drive, etc.) Optical information reproducing apparatuses such as CD-ROM drive 122 and DVD-ROM / RAM compatible drive 140 built in personal computer PC In many cases, an IDE interface or a SCSI interface is used. The reproduction information from the CD-ROM drive 122 is transferred to the I / O data line 146 via the IDE controller 120.

(4) Serial / Parallel Interface with Outside of PC A serial line and a parallel line are prepared for information transfer with an external device of the personal computer system.

  A parallel I / F controller 123 that controls parallel lines represented by “Centronics” is used when the printer 124 and the scanner 125 are directly driven without using a network or the like. Information transferred from the scanner 125 is transferred to the I / O data line 146 via the parallel I / F controller 123. Information transferred on the I / O data line 146 is transferred to the printer 124 via the parallel I / F controller 123.

  For example, when printing out information in the video RAM 117 displayed on the display 116 or specific information in the main memory 112, the information is transferred to the I / O data line 146 via the main CPU 111, and then the parallel I The protocol is converted by the / F controller 123 and output to the printer 124.

  With respect to serial information output to the outside, the information transferred through the I / O data line 146 is protocol-converted by the serial I / F controller 130 and output as, for example, an RS-232C serial signal.

(5) Function expansion bus line The personal computer system has various bus lines for function expansion. In many cases, desktop personal computers have a PCI bus 133 and an EISA bus 126 as bus lines.

  The bus lines of the PCI bus 133 and the EISA bus 126 are connected to the I / O data line 146 and the I / O address line 145 via the PCI bus controller 143 and the EISA bus controller 144, respectively.

  Various boards connected to the bus line are divided into EISA bus 126 dedicated boards and PCI bus 133 dedicated boards. Since the PCI bus 133 is relatively suitable for high-speed transfer, the number of boards connected to the PCI bus 133 is increased in the configuration of FIG. 52, but this is only an example. If the board dedicated to the EISA bus 126 is used without being limited to the configuration of FIG. 52, for example, the LAN board 139 or the SCSI board 138 can be connected to the EISA bus 126.

(6) Explanation of schematic functions of various boards connected to the bus line (6.1) Sound blaster board 127
The sound signal input from the microphone 128 is converted into digital information by the sound blaster board 127, and input to the main memory 112 and the DVD-RAM drive 140 via the EISA bus 126 and the I / O data line 146, and is appropriately processed. The

  When the user wants to listen to music or the like, the user designates a file name recorded in the CD-ROM drive 122 or the DVD-ROM / RAM drive 140, so that the digital sound source signal is converted to the I / O data line 146, EISA. The signal is transferred to the sound blaster board 127 via the bus 126, converted into an analog signal, and then output from the speaker 129.

(6.2) Dedicated DSP 137
When a special process is desired to be executed at high speed, a DSP board 137 dedicated to the process can be connected to the PCI bus line 133.

(6.3) SCSI interface A SCSI interface is often used for information input / output with an external storage device. Within the SCSI board 138, protocol conversion for transferring SCSI format information input / output to / from an external storage device such as a DVD-ROM / RAM drive 140 to the PCI bus 133 or EISA bus 126, and transfer information format conversion. Is executed.

(6.4) Dedicated board for information compression / decompression Multimedia information such as audio, still images, and moving images is compressed, and the information storage medium (DVD-RAM disk 10 in FIG. 1) is recorded by a DVD-ROM / RAM drive 140 or the like. To be recorded. This information compression / decompression board (134-136) decompresses the compressed information to generate image information to be displayed on the display 116 when reproducing the compressed information from the DVD-ROM / RAM drive 140. Or generate a sound signal to sound the speaker 129. It is also used when the audio signal input from the microphone 128 is compressed and recorded in the DVD-ROM / RAM drive 140.

  Various dedicated boards are responsible for the compression and decompression functions of the above information.

  Specifically, compression / decompression of music / audio signals is performed by the audio encoder / decoder board 136, compression / decompression of moving images (video images) is performed by the MPEG board 134, and compression / decompression of still images is performed by the JPEG board 135. I try to do it.

<< Connection to external network of personal computer >>
(7) Network connection using a telephone line A modem 131 is used to transfer information to the outside via a telephone line. That is, in order to make a telephone connection to a desired destination, an NCU (Network Control Unit) (not shown) transmits the destination telephone number to the telephone exchange via a telephone line. When the telephone line is connected, the serial I / F controller 130 performs transfer information format conversion and protocol conversion on the information on the I / O data line 146, and the RS-232C signal of the digital signal obtained as a result is converted to the modem. In 131, it is converted into an analog signal and transferred to the telephone line.

(8) Network connection using IEEE 1394 IEEE 1394 interface is suitable for transferring multimedia information such as audio, still images, and moving images to an external device (not shown).

  If the necessary information cannot be sent within a certain period of time for video and audio, the movement of the image is jerky or the audio is interrupted. In order to solve this problem, IEEE 1394 adopts an isochronous transfer method in which data transfer is completed every 125 μs. In IEEE 1394, this isochronous transfer and normal asynchronous transfer can be mixed, but the maximum asynchronous transfer time for one cycle is 63.5 μs. This is because isochronous transfer cannot be guaranteed if this asynchronous transfer time is too long.

  In IEEE 1394, a SCSI command (instruction set) can be used as it is.

  The IEEE 1394 I / F board 132 performs processing such as information format conversion for isochronous transfer, protocol conversion, and automatic topology setting such as node setting for information transmitted through the PCI bus 133.

  In addition to transferring information held in the personal computer system to the outside as an IEEE 1394 signal, the IEEE 1394 I / F board also functions to convert the IEEE 1394 signal sent from the outside and transfer it to the PCI bus 133. 132 has.

(9) Network connection using LAN For local area information communication in a specific area such as a company, a government office, or a school, LAN signals are input / output using a LAN cable as a medium, although not shown.

  TCP / IP, NetBEUI, and the like exist as communication protocols using a LAN, and a unique data packet structure (information format structure) is adopted according to various protocols. The LAN board 139 performs information format conversion for information transferred on the PCI bus 133, external communication procedure processing according to various protocols, and the like.

  As an example, specific file information recorded in the DVD-RAM disk 10 (FIG. 1) set in the DVD-ROM / RAM drive 140 is converted into a LAN signal, and an external personal computer, EWS or network server (not shown) is converted. The procedure and information transfer path when transferring to the network will be described.

  The file directory (FIG. 23) recorded in the DVD-RAM disk 10 is output under the control of the SCSI board 138, and the resulting file list is recorded in the main memory 112 and displayed on the CRT display 116. .

  When the user inputs a file name to be transferred from the keyboard 119, the contents are sent to the main CPU 111 via the keyboard controller 118 and recognized by the CPU 111. When the main CPU 111 notifies the name of the file to be transferred to the SCSI board 138, the DVD-ROM / RAM drive 140 determines and accesses the information recording location in the DVD-RAM disk 10, and the reproduction information from there is the SCSI board 138 and The data is transferred to the LAN board 139 via the PCI bus 133.

  The LAN board 139 establishes a session with the transfer destination through a series of communication procedures, receives file information from the PCI bus 133, converts the file information into a data packet structure in accordance with the protocol to be transmitted, and transfers the data to the outside as a LAN signal.

<< Information Transfer from Information Reproducing Device or Information Storage / Reproducing Device >>
(10) Standard interface and information transfer path Drive 122, DVD-RAM, PD (phase change recording disk), MO (magneto-optical disk), etc., which are devices that handle read-only optical disks such as CD-ROM and DVD-ROM When the drive 140, which is a device that handles a recordable / reproducible optical disk, is incorporated in a personal computer system and used, there are “IDE”, “SCSI”, “IEEE 1394”, and the like as standard interfaces.

  Generally, the PCI bus controller 143 and the EISA bus controller 144 have a DMA (direct memory access) function inside. Under the control of the DMA, information can be directly transferred between blocks without the main CPU 111 being interposed.

  For example, when reproducing information from the DVD drive 140 is transferred to the MPEG board 134, the processing from the main CPU 111 only needs to give a transfer command to the PCI bus controller 143. Information transfer management is left to the DMA in the PCI bus controller 143. As a result, the main CPU can execute other processes in parallel during the information transfer process without being overwhelmed by the information transfer process during actual information transfer.

  Similarly, when transferring reproduction information from the CD drive 122 to, for example, the memory 112, the main CPU 111 can leave the transfer processing management to the DMA in the IDE controller 120 only by issuing a transfer command to the IDE controller 120. it can.

(11) Authentication function In the information transfer processing relating to the information recording / reproducing apparatus (DVD-RAM drive or the like) 140 or the information reproducing apparatus (CD-ROM drive or the like) 122, the DMA or EISA bus in the PCI bus controller 143 is used as described above. The DMA in the controller 144 or the DMA in the IDE controller 120 manages, but the actual transfer process itself is performed by the authentication function unit of the information recording / reproducing apparatus 140 or the information reproducing apparatus 122. Running.

  In DVD systems such as DVD-Video, DVD-ROM, and DVD-R, video and audio bit streams are recorded in the MPEG2 program stream format, and audio streams, video streams, sub-picture streams, private streams, etc. are mixed. It is recorded.

  An information recording / reproducing apparatus (DVD-ROM / RAM drive, etc.) 140 separates and extracts an audio stream, a video stream, a sub-picture stream, a private stream, etc. from a program stream during information reproduction, and the extracted stream is interposed via the main CPU 111. Without being transmitted, the data is directly transferred to the speech encoding / decoding board 136, the MPEG board 134, or the JPEG board 135 via the PCI bus 133.

  Similarly, the information reproducing apparatus (CD-ROM drive or the like) 122 also separates and extracts the program stream reproduced therefrom into various stream information, and the individual stream information is transmitted via the I / O data line 146 and the PCI bus 133. Then, the data is directly transferred to the audio encoding / decoding board 136, the MPEG board 134, or the JPEG board 135 (without interposing the main CPU 111).

  Similar to the information recording / reproducing apparatus 140 and the information reproducing apparatus 122, the audio encoding / decoding board 136, the MPEG board 134, or the JPEG board 135 itself has an authentication function.

  With this function, prior to the information transfer, the information recording / reproducing device 140, the information reproducing device 122, the audio encoding / decoding board 136, the MPEG board 134, and the JPEG board 135 via the PCI bus 133 (and the I / O data line 146). Can mutually authenticate each other. When the mutual authentication is completed, the video stream information reproduced by the information recording / reproducing apparatus 140 or the information reproducing apparatus 122 is transferred only to the MPEG board 134. Similarly, the audio stream information is transferred only to the voice encoding / decoding board 136. The still image stream is sent to the JPEG board 135, and the private stream and text information are sent to the main CPU 111.

  By the way, the information recording / reproducing apparatus is roughly divided into an information recording / reproducing unit (physical block) for recording / reproducing information with respect to the information storage medium, and a unique device as an external interface unit and information recording / reproducing apparatus It can be classified into application configuration units (application blocks) composed of function execution units for fulfilling functions.

  FIG. 53 is a diagram for explaining the physical system blocks and application system blocks separately in the personal computer PC with digital video recording / reproducing function of FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 53, the information reproducing apparatus (DVD player or the like) or the information recording / reproducing apparatus (DVD recorder or the like) 103 is mainly composed of two blocks.

  An information reproducing unit or information recording / reproducing unit (physical block) 101 rotates an information storage medium (the optical disk 10 in FIG. 1) and reads information recorded on the information storage medium in advance using an optical head (or information storage). A function of recording new information on a medium).

  Specifically, a spindle motor that rotates an optical disk 10 as an information storage medium, an optical head that reproduces information recorded on the optical disk 10, and an optical head at a radial position on the optical disk 10 on which information to be reproduced is recorded. It consists of an optical head moving mechanism for moving, and various other servo circuits. The configuration of this patchy system block 101 will be described later.

  The application configuration unit (application block) 102 performs processing on the reproduction signal c obtained from the information reproduction unit or information recording / reproduction unit (physical block) 101 to reproduce reproduction information outside the information reproduction device or information recording / reproduction device 103. It works to send out a. The configuration in the application block varies depending on the specific use (purpose of use) of the information reproducing apparatus or the information recording / reproducing apparatus 103. The configuration of the application block 102 will also be described later.

  In the case of an information recording / reproducing apparatus (DVD recorder or the like), recording information b given from the outside is recorded on an information storage medium (optical disk 10) in the following procedure.

  * Recording information b given from the outside is directly transferred to the application block 102.

  * After processing the recording information b in the application block 102, the recording signal d is transmitted to the physical block 101.

  * Record the transmitted recording signal d on the optical disk 10 in the physical block 101.

  54 is a block diagram for explaining an example of the configuration of the DVD-ROM / RAM drive 140 (physical block 101 in FIG. 53) of FIG.

  First, the internal structure of the information recording / reproducing unit (physical block 101) in the information recording / reproducing apparatus will be described.

<<< Description of Functions of Information Recording / Reproducing Unit >>>
<< Basic functions of information recording / playback unit >>
In the information recording / reproducing unit, new information is recorded or rewritten (including erasure of information) at a predetermined position on the information storage medium (optical disc) 10 using a focused spot of the laser beam.

  Information that has already been recorded is reproduced from a predetermined position on the information storage medium 10 using a focused spot of the laser beam.

<< Basic function achievement means of information recording / reproducing section >>
In order to achieve the above basic function, the information recording / reproducing unit traces (follows) the focused spot along the track on the information storage medium 10. Information recording / reproducing / erasing is switched by changing the amount of light (intensity) of the condensed spot irradiated to the information storage medium 10. The recording signal d given from the outside is converted into an optimum signal for recording with high density and low error rate.

<<< Structure of mechanism part and operation of detection part >>>
<< Basic structure of optical head 202 and signal detection circuit >>
<Signal detection by optical head 202>
The optical head 202 basically includes a semiconductor laser element that is a light source, a photodetector, and an objective lens.

  Laser light emitted from the semiconductor laser element is focused on an information storage medium (optical disk) 10 by an objective lens. The laser beam reflected by the light reflecting film or the light reflecting recording film of the information storage medium 10 is photoelectrically converted by the photodetector.

  The detection current obtained by the photodetector is subjected to current-voltage conversion by the amplifier 213 and becomes a detection signal. This detection signal is processed by the focus / track error detection circuit 217 or the binarization circuit 212.

  In general, a photodetector is divided into a plurality of light detection areas, and individually detects changes in the amount of light applied to each light detection area. The focus / track error detection circuit 217 calculates the sum / difference for each detection signal to detect the focus shift and the track shift. After the focus shift and the track shift are substantially removed by this detection, a change in the amount of reflected light from the light reflecting film or the light reflecting recording film of the information storage medium 10 is detected, and a signal on the information storage medium 10 is reproduced. .

<Defocus detection method>
Examples of methods for optically detecting the focus shift amount include the following:
[Astigmatism Method] An optical element (not shown) for generating astigmatism is arranged in the detection optical path of the laser beam reflected by the light reflecting film or the light reflecting recording film of the information storage medium 10, and a photodetector. This is a method of detecting a change in the shape of the laser beam irradiated on the top. The light detection area is divided into four diagonal lines. The focus error detection signal is obtained by taking the difference between the diagonal sums in the focus / track error detection circuit 217 for the detection signal obtained from each detection region.

  [Knife Edge Method] This is a method of arranging a knife edge that shields a part of the laser light reflected by the information storage medium 10 asymmetrically. The light detection area is divided into two, and a focus error detection signal is obtained by taking a difference between detection signals obtained from the respective detection areas.

  Usually, either the astigmatism method or the knife edge method is employed.

<Track deviation detection method>
An information storage medium (optical disk) 10 has a spiral or concentric track, and information is recorded on the track. Information is reproduced or recorded / erased by tracing the focused spot along the track. In order to stably trace the focused spot along the track, it is necessary to optically detect the relative positional deviation between the track and the focused spot.

In general, the following method is used as a method of detecting a track deviation:
[Differential Phase Detection] The intensity distribution change on the photodetector of the laser beam reflected by the light reflecting film or the light reflecting recording film of the information storage medium (optical disk) 10 is detected. The photodetection area is divided into four diagonal lines. For the detection signals obtained from the respective detection areas, a difference between the diagonal sums is taken in the focus / track error detection circuit 217 to obtain a track error detection signal.

  [Push-Pull Method] A change in intensity distribution on the photodetector of the laser beam reflected by the information storage medium 10 is detected. The light detection area is divided into two, and a track error detection signal is obtained by taking a difference between detection signals obtained from the respective detection areas.

  [Twin-spot method] ± 1 next time that a diffraction element is arranged in the light transmission system between the semiconductor laser element and the information storage medium 10 to divide the light into a plurality of wavefronts and irradiate the information storage medium 10 A change in the amount of reflected light is detected. Separately from the light detection area for detecting the reproduction signal, a light detection area for individually detecting the reflected light amount of the + 1st order diffracted light and the reflected light amount of the −1st order diffracted light is arranged, and a track error detection signal is obtained by taking a difference between the respective detection signals. Get.

<Objective lens actuator structure>
An objective lens (not shown) for condensing the laser light emitted from the semiconductor laser element onto the information storage medium 10 has a structure that can move in two axial directions according to the output current of the objective lens actuator drive circuit 218. ing. There are the following two moving directions of the objective lens. That is, it moves in the direction perpendicular to the information storage medium 10 for focus deviation correction, and moves in the radial direction of the information storage medium 10 for track deviation correction.

An objective lens moving mechanism (not shown) is called an objective lens actuator. For example, the following objective lens actuator structure is often used:
[Axis sliding method] This is a method in which the blade integrated with the objective lens moves along the central axis (shaft), and the blade moves in the direction along the central axis to correct the focus deviation. This is a method of correcting the track deviation by the rotational movement of the blade.

  [Four-wire system] This is a method in which a blade integrated with an objective lens is connected to a fixed system by four wires, and the blade is moved in two axial directions using elastic deformation of the wire.

  Each of the above systems has a structure in which a blade is moved by passing a current through a coil connected to the blade having a permanent magnet and a coil.

<< Rotation control system of information storage medium 10 >>
An information storage medium (optical disk) 10 is mounted on a rotary table 221 that is rotated by the driving force of the spindle motor 204.

  The rotation speed of the information storage medium 10 is detected by a reproduction signal obtained from the information storage medium 10. That is, the detection signal (analog signal) output from the amplifier 213 is converted into a digital signal by the binarization circuit 212, and a constant cycle signal (reference clock signal) is generated from the signal by the PLL circuit 211. The information storage medium rotation speed detection circuit 214 detects the rotation speed of the information storage medium 10 using this signal and outputs the value.

  A correspondence table of information storage medium rotational speeds corresponding to radial positions to be reproduced or recorded / erased on the information storage medium 10 is recorded in the semiconductor memory 219 in advance. When the reproduction position or the recording / erasing position is determined, the control unit 220 refers to the semiconductor memory 219 information, sets the target rotational speed of the information storage medium 10, and notifies the spindle motor drive circuit 215 of the value.

  The spindle motor drive circuit 215 obtains a difference between the target rotation speed and the output signal (current rotation speed) of the information storage medium rotation speed detection circuit 214, and supplies a drive current corresponding to the result to the spindle motor 204. The spindle motor 204 is controlled to have a constant rotation speed. The output signal of the information storage medium rotation speed detection circuit 214 is a pulse signal having a frequency corresponding to the number of rotations of the information storage medium 10, and the spindle motor drive circuit 215 outputs both the frequency and the pulse phase of the pulse signal. Then, control (frequency control and phase control) is performed.

<< Optical head moving mechanism >>
This mechanism has an optical head moving mechanism (feed motor) 203 for moving the optical head 202 in the radial direction of the information storage medium 10.

  As a guide mechanism for moving the optical head 202, a rod-shaped guide shaft is often used. In this guide mechanism, the optical head 202 is moved using friction between the guide shaft and a bush attached to a part of the optical head 202. In addition, there is a method using a bearing in which frictional force is reduced by using rotational motion.

  A driving force transmission method for moving the optical head 202 is not shown, but a rotating motor with a pinion (rotating gear) is arranged in a fixed system, and a rack that is a linear gear meshing with the pinion is attached to the optical head 202. Arranged on the side surface, the rotary motion of the rotary motor is converted into the linear motion of the optical head 202. As another driving force transmission method, there is a case of using a linear motor system in which a permanent magnet is arranged in a fixed system and a current is passed through a coil arranged in the optical head 202 and moved in a linear direction.

  In both the rotary motor and linear motor systems, a driving force for moving the optical head 202 is generated basically by passing a current through the feed motor. This driving current is supplied from a feed motor driving circuit 216.

<<< Functions of each control circuit >>>
<< Condensing spot trace control >>
A circuit that supplies a drive current to an objective lens actuator (not shown) in the optical head 202 in accordance with an output signal (detection signal) of the focus / track error detection circuit 217 in order to perform focus deviation correction or track deviation correction. This is an objective lens actuator drive circuit 218. The drive circuit 218 includes a phase compensation circuit for improving characteristics in accordance with the frequency characteristics of the objective lens actuator in order to make the objective lens move at high speed in a high frequency range.

In the objective lens actuator drive circuit 218, in response to a command from the control unit 220,
(A) On / off processing of focus / track deviation correction operation (focus / track loop);
(B) Processing for moving the objective lens at a low speed in the vertical direction (focus direction) of the information storage medium 10 (executed when the focus / track loop is off);
(C) Using the kick pulse, the objective lens is slightly moved in the radial direction of the information storage medium 10 (the direction across the track) to move the focused spot to the adjacent track.

<< Laser light quantity control >>
<Switching between playback and recording / erasing>
Switching between reproduction and recording / erasing is performed by changing the light amount of the focused spot irradiated on the information storage medium 10.

For information storage media using the phase change method, in general, [amount of light during recording]> [amount of light during erasure]> [amount of light during reproduction] (1)
In general, for information storage media using the magneto-optical method, [amount of light during recording] ≈ [amount of light during erasure]> [amount of light during reproduction] (2)
There is a relationship. In the case of the magneto-optical method, the recording and erasing processes are controlled by changing the polarity of an external magnetic field (not shown) applied to the information storage medium 10 during recording / erasing.

  At the time of information reproduction, a certain amount of light is continuously irradiated onto the information storage medium 10.

  In the case of recording new information, a pulsed intermittent light amount is added on the light amount at the time of reproduction. When the semiconductor laser element emits a pulse with a large amount of light, the light reflective recording film of the information storage medium 10 locally undergoes an optical change or a shape change, and a recording mark is formed. In the case of overwriting on an already recorded area, the semiconductor laser element is similarly pulsed.

  When erasing already recorded information, a constant amount of light that is larger than that during reproduction is continuously irradiated. In the case of erasing information continuously, the irradiation light amount is returned at the time of reproduction every specific period such as a sector unit, and information is reproduced intermittently in parallel with the erasure process. As a result, the track number and address of the track to be erased intermittently are reproduced, and the erase process is performed while confirming that there is no error in the erase track.

<Laser emission control>
Although not shown, the optical head 202 includes a photodetector for detecting the light emission amount of the semiconductor laser element. In the laser drive circuit 205, the difference between the photodetector output (detection signal of the amount of emitted light from the semiconductor laser element) and the emission reference signal given from the recording / reproducing / erasing control waveform generation circuit 206 is taken. The drive current to the laser is feedback controlled.

<<<< Operations related to the control system of the mechanism part >>>>
<< Startup control >>
When the information storage medium (optical disk) 10 is mounted on the rotary table 221 and the start control is started, processing according to the following procedure is performed.

  (1) The target rotational speed is transmitted from the controller 220 to the spindle motor drive circuit 215, and a drive current is supplied from the spindle motor drive circuit 215 to the spindle motor 204, so that the spindle motor 204 starts rotating.

  (2) At the same time, a command (execution command) is issued from the control unit 220 to the feed motor drive circuit 216, and a drive current is supplied from the feed motor drive circuit 216 to the optical head drive mechanism (feed motor) 203, so that the optical head 202 moves to the innermost peripheral position of the information storage medium 10. As a result, it is confirmed that the optical head 202 has come to the inner periphery beyond the area where the information in the information storage medium 10 is recorded.

  (3) When the spindle motor 204 reaches the target rotational speed, the status (status report) is output to the control unit 220.

  (4) A current is supplied from the semiconductor laser driving circuit 205 to the semiconductor laser element in the optical head 202 in accordance with the reproduction light amount signal sent from the control unit 220 to the recording / reproducing / erasing control waveform generating circuit 206, and laser light emission is performed. Starts.

  Note that the optimum amount of irradiation light during reproduction differs depending on the type of the information storage medium (optical disk) 10. At startup, the current value supplied to the semiconductor laser element is set to a value corresponding to the lowest value of the irradiation light amount.

  (5) The objective lens (not shown) in the optical head 202 is shifted to the position farthest from the information storage medium 10 in accordance with a command from the control unit 220, and the objective lens is slowly moved closer to the information storage medium 10. An actuator drive circuit 218 controls the objective lens.

  (6) At the same time, the focus / track error detection circuit 217 monitors the amount of focus deviation and outputs a status when the objective lens comes near the in-focus position to control that the objective lens is near the in-focus position. Notification to the unit 220.

  (7) Upon receiving the notification, the control unit 220 issues a command to the objective lens actuator drive circuit 218 to turn on the focus loop.

  (8) The controller 220 issues a command to the feed motor drive circuit 216 with the focus loop turned on, and slowly moves the optical head 202 toward the outer periphery of the information storage medium 10.

  (9) At the same time, the reproduction signal from the optical head 202 is monitored, and when the optical head 202 reaches the recording area on the information storage medium 10, the movement of the optical head 202 is stopped and a track loop is sent to the objective lens actuator drive circuit 218. Issue the command to turn on.

  (10) Subsequently, the “optimum light amount at the time of reproduction” and “optimum light amount at the time of recording / erasing” recorded on the inner periphery of the information storage medium 10 are reproduced, and the information is transmitted to the semiconductor via the control unit 220. Recorded in the memory 219.

  (11) Further, the control unit 220 sends a signal in accordance with the “optimal light amount at the time of reproduction” to the recording / reproduction / erasure control waveform generation circuit 206 to reset the light emission amount of the semiconductor laser element at the time of reproduction.

  (12) The light emission amount of the semiconductor laser element at the time of recording / erasing is set in accordance with the “optimum light amount at the time of recording / erasing” recorded in the information storage medium 10.

<< Access control >>
The information about where the access destination information recorded on the information storage medium 10 is recorded and what kind of content on the reproduction information storage medium 10 differs depending on the type of the information storage medium 10. For example, in a DVD disc, this information is recorded in a directory management area or a navigation pack in the information storage medium 10.

  Here, the directory management area is usually recorded collectively in the inner area or the outer area of the information storage medium 10. The navigation pack is included in a data unit called VOBU (video object unit) in a VOBS (video object set) conforming to the data structure of the MPEG2 PS (program stream), and where the next video is recorded. Some information is recorded.

  When reproducing or recording / erasing specific information, information in the above area is first reproduced, and an access destination is determined from the obtained information.

<Coarse access control>
The controller 220 obtains the radial position of the access destination by calculation, and calculates the distance from the current optical head 202 position.

  Speed curve information that can reach the optical head 202 moving distance in the shortest time is recorded in the semiconductor memory 219 in advance. The controller 220 reads the information and performs movement control of the optical head 202 by the following method according to the speed curve.

  That is, after the controller 220 issues a command to the objective lens actuator drive circuit 218 to turn off the track loop, the feed motor drive circuit 216 is controlled to start the movement of the optical head 202.

  When the focused spot crosses a track on the information storage medium 10, a track error detection signal is generated in the focus / track error detection circuit 217. Using this track error detection signal, the relative speed of the focused spot with respect to the information storage medium 10 can be detected.

  The feed motor drive circuit 216 calculates the difference between the relative speed of the focused spot obtained from the focus / track error detection circuit 217 and the target speed information sent from the control unit 220 one by one. The optical head 202 is moved while feedback control is applied to the drive current to the (feed motor) 203.

  As described in the section << Optical head moving mechanism >>, a frictional force always acts between the guide shaft and the bush or the bearing. When the optical head 202 is moving at a high speed, dynamic friction acts. However, since the moving speed of the optical head 202 is slow at the start and immediately before the movement, static friction acts. When this static friction works (especially immediately before stopping), the frictional force is relatively increased. In order to cope with this increase in frictional force, the gain of the control system is increased by a command from the control unit 220 so that the current supplied to the optical head drive mechanism (feed motor) 203 is increased.

<Dense access control>
When the optical head 202 reaches the target position, the controller 220 issues a command to the objective lens actuator drive circuit 218 to turn on the track loop.

  The focused spot reproduces the address or track number of the portion while tracing along the track on the information storage medium 10.

  The current focused spot position is calculated from the address or track number, the number of error tracks from the target position is calculated in the control unit 220, and the number of tracks necessary for moving the focused spot is calculated as the objective lens actuator drive circuit 218. Notify

  When a set of kick pulses is generated in the objective lens actuator drive circuit 218, the objective lens slightly moves in the radial direction of the information storage medium 10, and the focused spot moves to the adjacent track.

  In the objective lens actuator drive circuit 218, the track loop is temporarily turned off, the number of kick pulses corresponding to the information from the control unit 220 is generated, and then the track loop is turned on again.

  After the dense access is completed, the control unit 220 reproduces information (address or track number) of the position where the focused spot is traced, and confirms that the target track is being accessed.

<< Continuous recording / playback / erasing control >>
The track error detection signal output from the focus / track error detection circuit 217 is input to the feed motor drive circuit 216. In the above-described “start-up control” and “access control”, the controller 220 controls the feed motor drive circuit 216 not to use the track error detection signal.

  After confirming that the focused spot has reached the target track by access, a part of the track error detection signal is transmitted via the motor drive circuit 216 via the motor drive circuit 216 according to a command from the control unit 220. Is supplied as a drive current. This control is continued during the period of continuous reproduction or recording / erasing processing.

  The center position of the information storage medium 10 is mounted with an eccentricity slightly shifted from the center position of the rotary table 221. When a part of the track error detection signal is supplied as a drive current, the entire optical head 202 slightly moves in accordance with the eccentricity.

  When the reproduction or recording / erasing process is performed continuously for a long time, the focused spot position gradually moves in the outer circumferential direction or the inner circumferential direction. When a part of the track error detection signal is supplied as a drive current to the optical head moving mechanism (feed motor) 203, the optical head 202 gradually moves in the outer peripheral direction or the inner peripheral direction in accordance with the drive current.

  In this way, the track loop can be stabilized by reducing the burden of correcting the track deviation of the objective lens actuator.

<< End control >>
When a series of processing is completed and the operation is terminated, processing is performed according to the following procedure.

  (1) A command to turn off the track loop is issued from the control unit 220 to the objective lens actuator drive circuit 218.

  (2) The control unit 220 issues a command to turn off the focus loop to the objective lens actuator drive circuit 218.

  (3) A command for stopping light emission of the semiconductor laser element is issued from the control unit 220 to the recording / reproducing / erasing control waveform generation circuit 206.

  (4) 0 is notified to the spindle motor drive circuit 215 as the reference rotational speed.

<<< Flow of Recording Signal / Reproducing Signal to Information Storage Medium >>>
<< Signal flow during playback >>
<Binary / PLL circuit>
As described in the section <Signal detection by the optical head 202>, a change in the amount of light reflected from the light reflecting film or the light reflecting recording film of the information storage medium (optical disk) 10 is detected, and the information on the information storage medium 10 is detected. Play the signal. The signal obtained by the amplifier 213 has an analog waveform. The binarization circuit 212 uses a comparator to convert the analog signal into a binary digital signal composed of “1” and “0”.

  From the reproduction signal thus obtained by the binarization circuit 212, the PLL circuit 211 extracts a reference signal for information reproduction. That is, the PLL circuit 211 has a built-in frequency variable oscillator, and the frequency and phase are compared between the pulse signal (reference clock) output from the oscillator and the output signal of the binarization circuit 212. By feeding back the comparison result to the oscillator output, a reference signal at the time of information reproduction is taken out.

<Demodulation of signal>
The demodulation circuit 210 has a built-in conversion table that indicates the relationship between the modulated signal and the demodulated signal. The demodulation circuit 210 returns the input signal (modulated signal) to the original signal (demodulated signal) while referring to the conversion table in accordance with the reference clock obtained by the PLL circuit 211. The demodulated signal is recorded in the semiconductor memory 219.

<Error correction processing>
Within the error correction circuit 209, an error location is detected using the inner code PI and the outer code PO for the signal stored in the semiconductor memory 219, and a pointer flag for the error location is set. Thereafter, the signal at the error location is sequentially corrected in accordance with the error pointer flag while reading the signal from the semiconductor memory 219, and then the corrected information is recorded in the semiconductor memory 219 again.

  When the information reproduced from the information storage medium 10 is output to the outside as the reproduction signal c, the inner code PI and the outer code PO are removed from the error-corrected information recorded in the semiconductor memory 219, and the information is transmitted via the bus line 224. To the data I / O interface 222.

  Then, the data I / O interface 222 outputs the signal sent from the error correction circuit 209 as a reproduction signal c.

<< Signal format recorded in information storage medium 10 >>
The signal recorded on the information storage medium 10 is required to satisfy the following:
(A) making it possible to correct a recording information error caused by a defect on the information storage medium 10;
(B) To simplify the reproduction processing circuit by setting the DC component of the reproduction signal to “0”;
(C) Recording information on the information storage medium 10 as densely as possible.

  In order to satisfy the above requirements, the information recording / reproducing unit (physical block) 101 performs “addition of error correction function” and “signal conversion (signal modulation / demodulation) for recorded information”.

<< Signal flow during recording >>
<Error correction code ECC addition processing>
This error correction code ECC addition process will be described.

  Information d to be recorded in the information storage medium 10 is input to the data I / O interface 222 of FIG. 54 in the form of a raw signal. This recording signal d is recorded in the semiconductor memory 219 as it is. Thereafter, the following ECC addition processing is executed in the ECC encoder 208.

  Hereinafter, a specific example of the ECC addition method using the product code will be described.

  In the semiconductor memory 219, the recording signal d is sequentially arranged row by row for every 172 bytes, and 192 rows constitute a set of ECC blocks (the amount of information is approximately 32 kbytes for 172 byte rows × 192 byte columns). ).

  For a raw signal (recording signal d) in a set of ECC blocks composed of “172-byte rows × 192-byte columns”, a 10-byte inner code PI is calculated for each 172-byte row, and the semiconductor memory Additional recording in 219. Further, a 16-byte outer code PO is calculated for each column in byte units, and additionally recorded in the semiconductor memory 219.

  Then, a total of 2366 bytes (= (12 + 1) × (172 + 10) of 12 rows including the inner code PI of 10 bytes (12 × (172 + 10) bytes) and one row of the outer code PO (1 × (172 + 10) bytes). )) As a unit, information subjected to the error correction code ECC addition processing is recorded in one sector of the information storage medium 10.

  When the addition of the inner code PI and the outer code PO is completed, the ECC encoder 208 once transfers the information to the semiconductor memory 219.

  When information is recorded in the information storage medium 10, a signal of 2366 bytes for one sector is transferred from the semiconductor memory 219 to the modulation circuit 207.

<Signal modulation>
In order to record the DC component (DSV: Digital Sum Value or Digital Sum Variation) of the reproduction signal close to “0” and record information with high density on the information storage medium 10, signal modulation, which is signal format conversion, is a modulation circuit. 207.

  Each of the modulation circuit 207 and the demodulation circuit 210 in FIG. 54 has a built-in conversion table indicating the relationship between the original signal and the modulated signal.

  The modulation circuit 207 divides the signal transferred from the ECC encoder 208 into a plurality of bits according to a predetermined modulation method, and converts the signal into another signal (code) while referring to the conversion table.

  For example, when 8/16 modulation (RLL (2, 10) code) is used as the modulation method, there are two types of conversion tables, so that the direct current component (DSV) after modulation approaches 0 for reference one by one. Switching the conversion table.

<Recording waveform generation>
When recording a recording mark on the information storage medium (optical disk) 10, the following recording methods are generally adopted:
[Mark length recording method] “1” comes to the front end position and rear terminal position of the recording mark.

  [Mark-to-mark recording method] The recording mark center position matches the position of "1".

  When mark length recording is employed, it is necessary to form a relatively long recording mark. In this case, if the information storage medium 10 is continuously irradiated with a large amount of light for recording for a certain period or longer, the width of only the rear part of the mark increases due to the heat storage effect of the light-reflective recording film of the information storage medium 10, and “raindrop” shape recording is performed. A mark is formed. In order to eliminate this harmful effect, when forming a long recording mark, measures such as dividing the recording laser drive signal into a plurality of recording pulses or changing the recording waveform of the recording laser stepwise. Is taken.

  In the recording / reproducing / erasing control waveform generation circuit 206, a recording waveform as described above is created in accordance with the recording signal sent from the modulation circuit 207, and the drive signal having this recording waveform is sent to the semiconductor laser driving circuit. It is sent to 205.

  Next, the flow of signals between blocks in the configuration of FIG. 54 will be summarized.

1) Input of raw signal to be recorded to information recording / reproducing apparatus FIG. 54 shows information recording / reproducing in which information recording / reproducing processing on the information storage medium (optical disc) 10 in the information recording / reproducing apparatus is summarized. 2 illustrates an example of a configuration within a unit (physical block). A recording signal d sent from a host computer such as a PC (personal computer) or EWS (engineering workstation) is input into the information recording / reproducing unit (physical block) 101 via the data I / O interface 222. The

2) Dividing process for each 2048 bytes of recording signal d The data I / O interface 222 divides the recording signal d into 2048 bytes in time series and adds a data ID 510 shown in FIG. Do. The resulting signal is sent to the ECC encoder 208 in FIG.

3) Creation of ECC Block The ECC encoder 208 in FIG. 54 collects 16 sets of signals after scrambling the recording signal in FIG. 57 to create a block of “172 bytes × 192 columns”, which will be described later. An inner code PI (internal parity code) and an outer code PO (external parity code) in FIG. 58 are added.

4) Interleaving process Thereafter, the ECC encoder 208 of FIG. 54 performs an interleaving process of the outer code PO as described later with reference to FIG.

5) Signal Modulation Processing The modulation circuit 207 in FIG. 54 modulates the signal after the interleaving processing of the outer / outer code PO, and then adds a synchronization code as shown in FIG.

6) Recording waveform creation process A recording waveform is created by the recording / reproducing / erasing control waveform generation circuit 206 corresponding to the signal obtained as a result, and this recording waveform is sent to the laser drive circuit 205.

  Since the information storage medium (DVD-RAM disk) 10 employs the “mark length recording” method, the rising timing of the recording pulse and the falling timing of the recording pulse coincide with the timing of “1” of the modulated signal. .

7) Recording process on information storage medium (optical disk) 10 The amount of laser light irradiated from the optical head 202 and condensed on the recording film of the information storage medium (optical disk) 10 is changed intermittently to change the information storage medium ( A recording mark is formed on the recording film of the optical disc 201.

  FIG. 55 is a flowchart for explaining an example of a logical block number setting operation for a medium (DVD-RAM disk or the like) in the digital video recording / playback PC of FIG.

  When, for example, the DVD-RAM disk 10 of FIG. 1 is loaded on the turntable 221 of FIG. 54 (step ST131), the controller 220 starts the rotation of the spindle motor 204 (step ST132).

  After the disk 10 starts rotating, the focus servo loop of the objective lens in the optical head 202 is turned on (step ST134), and the semiconductor laser in the optical head starts laser oscillation (light emission) (step ST133).

  After laser emission, the control unit 220 operates the feed motor 203 to move the optical head 202 to the lead-in area of the rotating disk 10 (step ST135). Then, the track servo loop of the objective lens in the optical head 202 is turned on (step ST136).

  When the track servo becomes active, the optical head 202 reproduces information in the control data zone (see FIG. 6) in the lead-in area of the disk 10 (step ST137). By reproducing the “book type & part version” in the control data zone, it is confirmed that the optical disk 10 currently being rotated is a recordable medium (DVD-RAM disk or DVD-R disk) ( Step ST138). Here, it is assumed that the medium 10 is a DVD-RAM disk.

  When it is confirmed that the medium 10 is a DVD-RAM disk, information on the optimum light amount (semiconductor laser emission power and emission period or duty ratio, etc.) is reproduced from the control data zone to be reproduced. (Step ST139).

  Subsequently, the control unit 220 creates a conversion table (see FIG. 7) between the physical sector number and the logical sector number, assuming that the DVD-RAM disk 10 currently being rotationally driven is not defective (step ST140).

  After the conversion table is created, the control unit 220 reproduces the defect management areas DMA1 / DMA2 in the lead-in area of the disk 10 and the defect management areas DMA3 / DMA4 in the lead-out area, and the disk 10 at that time is reproduced. The defect distribution is investigated (step ST141).

When the defect distribution on the disk 10 is found by the defect distribution investigation, the control unit 220 corrects the conversion table created as “no defect” in step ST140 according to the actual defect distribution (step ST142). Specifically, the logical sector number LSN corresponding to the physical sector number PSN is shifted in each sector that has been found to be defective (“number” from the “missing number when defect occurs” column in FIG. 29). (Refer to “Conversion method”)
FIG. 56 is a flowchart for explaining an example of a defect processing operation (drive-side processing) in a used medium (DVD-RAM disk or the like) in the digital video recording / playback PC of FIG. 52, for example. This processing is performed by the DVD-ROM / RAM drive 140 in FIG. Hereinafter, the flowchart of FIG. 56 will be described with reference to FIG. 54 on the assumption that the drive 140 has the configuration shown in FIG. The control unit 220 in FIG. 54 includes a microcomputer MPU (not shown).

  First, for example, the main CPU 111 in FIG. 52 records information (for example, AV in FIG. 23) recorded on the medium (for example, DVD-RAM disk) 10 currently loaded in the drive with respect to the MPU in the control unit 220 in FIG. The first logical block number LBN of the file and the file size of the recording information are designated (step ST151).

  Then, the MPU of the control unit 220 calculates the top logical sector number LSN of the information to be recorded (AV file) from the designated top logical block number LBN based on the relationship of FIG. 29 (step ST152). A write address (AV address) to the disk 10 is determined from the calculated head logical sector number LSN and the specified file size.

  When the write address (AV address) of the recording information file (AV file) is determined, the MPU of the control unit 220 writes the recording information file to the designated address of the DVD-RAM disk 10 and investigates a defect on the disk 10 ( (See columns of “occurrence time” and “defect detection method” in FIG. 28) (step ST153).

  If no defect is detected during the writing of the file, the recording information file (AV file) has been recorded to the predetermined AV address without any abnormality (that is, no error has occurred), and the recording process has been completed normally. (Step ST155).

  On the other hand, if a defect is detected during file writing, a predetermined replacement process (for example, the skipping replacement process in FIG. 13) is executed (see the “Replacement processing method” column in FIG. 28) (step ST156).

  After this replacement process, the newly detected defect is additionally registered in the lead-in DMA1 / DMA2 and the lead-out DMA3 / DMA4 (see the column “Detected information description location” in FIG. 28) (step ST157). . The information on the newly detected defect is also registered in the allocation map table AMT in FIG. 18 (descriptors UAD and SAD constituting the allocation map table AMT have already been described with reference to FIG. 30).

  After the additional registration of DMA1 / DMA2 and DMA3 / DMA4 to the disk 10, the contents of the conversion table (FIG. 7) created in step ST140 of FIG. 55 are corrected based on the registered contents of DMA1 / DMA2 and DMA3 / DMA4. (Step ST158).

  The recording process / alternating process described above is repeated each time the drive 140 writes predetermined AV file data to a predetermined AV address.

  FIG. 57 is a view for explaining the structure of signals recorded on the information storage medium (DVD-RAM disk or the like) in FIG.

  The recording signal structure before scramble in 2048 bytes will be described below.

(1) Generation of main data (D0 to D2047) 505 to 509 A recording signal d sent from a host computer such as a PC (personal computer) or an EWS (engineering workstation) is time-series in the data I / O interface 222. Are divided every 2048 bytes. The recording signal d for each 2048 byte is incorporated in the recording signal and arranged as main data (D0 to D2047) as shown in FIG.

  This recording signal includes data ID (data identifier) 510, IED (data ID error detection code) 511, RSV (reserve) 512 and EDC (error) before and after the main data (D0 to D2047). Detection code) 513 is added.

(2) Creation of data ID (data identifier) 510 The data ID 510 is described in 4 bytes.
-“Data area”, “Lead-in area”, or “Lead-out area”;
-Which data type is "read-only data" or "read-write data";
How many layers of data (necessary when the disk is a multi-layer disk; FIG. 1 illustrates a double-layer disk); and information such as a value obtained by adding “31000h” to the logical sector number of the corresponding sector be written.

(3) Creation of IED (Data ID Error Detection Code) 511 IED 511 is added to the recording signal as an error detection code for data ID 510. At the time of reproduction, this IED code is processed for the reproduced data ID and used to detect a reproduction error of the reproduced data ID.

(4) Creation of RSV (Reserve) 512 A 6-byte reserve area RSV512 is prepared for the recording signal, and designation information can be recorded at this location in a specific standard set in the future.

(5) Creation of EDC (Error Detection Code) 513 The error detection code for the 2060-byte signal from the data ID 510 to the last byte (D2047) 509 of the main data shown in FIG. Added.

  54. When reproducing information from the information storage medium (optical disc 10, after demodulation by the demodulation circuit 210 in FIG. 54, the error correction circuit 209 performs error correction and descrambling in the ECC block to return to the recording signal structure in FIG. Thereafter, error detection is performed on the 2060-byte signal from the data ID 510 in the corresponding sector to the last byte (D2047) 509 of the main data using this EDC 513. If an error is detected here, the ECC is detected again. The process may return to the error correction process in the block.

  Note that error correction and descrambling in the ECC block will be described later.

(6) Scramble processing of main data (D0 to D2047) 505 to 509 The above-described “generation of main data 505 to 509” to “creation of EDC 513” are performed, and the structure of the recording signal in units of sectors as shown in FIG. Is generated, the main data (D0 to D2047) is scrambled.

  Although not shown, the scramble processing circuit can be composed of an 8-bit parallel input / serial output shift register and an exclusive OR circuit having 0th to 8th input bits. In this case, the result of the exclusive OR operation between the 10th bit and the 14th bit of the shift register is fed back to the 0th bit of the shift register.

  As initial data of the shift register at the start of scramble, the last 15 bits of the data ID 510 in the sector are used.

  The structure of the recording signal after scramble processing and the total signal size are exactly the same structure and size as in FIG.

  FIG. 58 is a diagram for explaining the configuration of an ECC block generated by scrambling the recording signal of FIG.

<< Recording signal structure in ECC block >>
DVD-ROM, DVD-R, DVD-RAM, and the like employ a product code for ECC (error correction code).

  Now, an ECC block forming method will be described with reference to FIG.

  First, in the scrambled signal in the first sector 501a in the ECC block, the signal from the data ID 510 of FIG. 57 to the main data 160 bytes (D0 to D159) 505 is changed from the byte 521 (0, 0) of FIG. Located in byte 523 (0, 171).

  Next, in the scrambled signal in the first sector 501a in the ECC block, the signal of the main data 172 bytes (D160 to D331) 506 in FIG. 57 is changed from the byte 526 (1, 0) to the byte 528 in FIG. (1, 171).

  Similarly, each signal in the sector 501a is sequentially arranged in FIG.

  In the scrambled signal in the second sector 501b in the ECC block, the signal from the data ID 510 to the main data 160 bytes (D0 to D159) 505 is the 13th column (not shown) counted from the top of FIG. ) Bytes 536 (12, 0) to bytes 538 (12, 171).

  Next, in the scrambled signal in the second sector 501b in the ECC block, the main data 172 bytes (D160 to D331) 506 signal is arranged in the 14th column (not shown) from the top of FIG. The

  In the same procedure, the main data 168 bytes (D1880 to D2047) 509 in the 16th sector 501p in the ECC block 502 in FIG. 9 and the EDC 513 in FIG. 58 is sequentially executed from (191, 0) to byte 553 (191, 171). The arrangement of the execution results (FIG. 58) is the signal arrangement of the ECC block after scramble.

  After the above scramble is completed, a 10-byte inner code PI (internal parity code) is calculated for the row 172 byte signal from byte 521 (0, 0) to byte 523 (0, 171) in FIG. Insert the result from byte 524 (0, 172) to byte 525 (0, 181).

  -The same process is repeated thereafter. At the end of the iteration, a 10-byte inner code PI is calculated for the 172-byte signal from byte 551 (191, 0) to byte 553 (191, 171) in FIG. 58, and from byte 554 (191, 172). The inner code PI calculated up to byte 555 (191, 181) is inserted.

  When the calculation / insertion process of the inner code PI is completed, a 16-byte outer code PO (external code) is generated for the column 192-byte signal from the byte 521 (0, 0) to the byte 551 (191, 0) in FIG. (Parity code) is calculated. The calculation result is inserted from byte 556 (192, 0) to byte 566 (207, 0) in the column direction.

  -The same process is repeated thereafter. At the end of the iteration, a 16-byte outer code PO is calculated for the column 192-byte signal from bytes 525 (0, 181) to bytes 555 (191, 181) in FIG. 58, and the result is the byte 560 ( 192, 181) to byte 570 (207, 181).

  FIG. 59 is a diagram for explaining a case where the ECC block of FIG. 58 is interleaved.

<< Outer Code PO Interleaving Method in ECC Block >>
After calculating the inner code PI and the outer code PO in FIG. 58, the recording signal is divided into 12 rows (12 rows), and the outer code PO is inserted in each row. This is the interleaving of the outer code PO within the ECC block.

    That is, as shown in FIG. 59, the byte 556 in the first row (horizontal row) of the outer code PO after the 12th column (13th column) from the byte 531 (11, 0) to the byte 533 (11, 171). From (192, 0) to bytes 558 (192, 181) are inserted. Similarly, each row (each row) of the outer code PO is inserted into every 12 rows (12 rows) of the recording signal, and the recording signal arrangement (after scrambled) in FIG. 58 is arranged as shown in FIG. 59 (interleaving). Rearranged)

<< Recording signal structure actually recorded on information storage medium >>
The recording signal in the ECC block after the outer code PO interleaving shown in FIG. 59 is divided into 13 rows (13 rows) and recorded in sectors 501a to 501p in FIG.

  In the information storage medium 10, a header (FIG. 8) in which a physical sector number PSN or the like is recorded in advance in an embossed structure is disposed at the head position of each sector 501. In the example of FIG. 8, signals for the 13 rows (13 rows) are recorded between the header (emboss) of a certain sector and the header of the next sector.

  By the way, in the recording signal structure of FIG. 59, there is a possibility that “0” is continuously arranged in bit units. If the signal as it is is recorded in the information storage medium 10, there is a risk of causing a bit shift error during reproduction at a place where a large number of "0" s are continuously arranged. Therefore, signal conversion (modulation) is performed so that the upper limit number of continuous arrangement of “0” is limited and high-density recording is possible. A DVD-ROM or DVD-RAM employs a modulation method called “8/16 modulation” (RLL (2, 10) code in terms of run-length code).

  The signal modulated in this way is recorded on the information storage medium 10 with a structure as shown in FIG.

<< Inverse Conversion Procedure for Playback Signal from Information Storage Medium >>
When information is reproduced from the information storage medium (optical disk) 10, reverse conversion is performed according to the following procedure, and then the reproduction signal c is sent to a host computer such as a PC (personal computer) or EWS (engineering workstation) (FIG. 54). Transferred from the data I / O interface 222).

  (1) In FIG. 54, the reproduction signal is demodulated by the demodulation circuit 210 after passing through the optical head 202, the amplifier 213, the binarization circuit 212, and the PLL circuit 211.

  (2) Error correction in the ECC block is performed in the error correction circuit 209 using the inner code PI and the outer code PO shown in FIG.

  (3) After that, “descrambling process” which is the reverse process of “scramble process of main data (D0 to D2047) 505 to 509” is performed in the error correction circuit 209. D0-D2047) is returned to 505-509.

  (4) The structure of the recording signal in FIG. 57 is restored by this descrambling process.

  (5) Error detection of main data (D0 to D2047) 505 to 509 is performed using the EDC 513 of FIG. If an error is detected here, the process returns to the error correction process in ECC block (2).

  (6) The reproduction information from the information storage medium 10 obtained for each sector 501 (FIG. 9) is transferred as a reproduction signal c to the host computer or the like via the data I / O interface 222 of FIG.

<< Outline of Record Signal Structure Conversion Procedure for Information Recorded on Information Storage Medium >>
When the recordable / reproducible DVD-RAM disk 10 is used as the information storage medium, signal recording is performed while configuring the ECC block 502 (FIG. 9) for each of the 16 sectors 501.

  In order to record while constructing the ECC block 502, according to a predetermined procedure (FIG. 60), "scramble signal (distribution / encryption)" and "add parity code in ECC block" to the original signal “Recording signal conversion processing such as“ interleave processing (dispersion of arrangement) ”and“ modulation processing in accordance with information storage medium characteristics for the purpose of increasing recording density ”is performed.

  FIG. 60 is a flowchart for explaining a procedure until a raw signal for recording is subjected to predetermined signal processing (ECC interleaving / signal modulation, etc.) and recorded on the information storage medium.

  Hereinafter, the DVD-RAM disk 10 will be taken as an example, and a structural conversion procedure for a recording signal will be outlined according to the flowchart of FIG.

  First, a raw signal for recording is input to, for example, the ECC encoder circuit 208 in FIG. 54 (step ST116).

  The input recording signal is divided into 2048 bytes, and a pre-scrambled recording signal (FIG. 57) is created (step ST117).

  Thereafter, an ECC block (FIG. 58) is created (step ST118), and an interleaving process (FIG. 59) is performed on the created ECC block (step ST119).

  The interleaved ECC block is modulated by the modulation circuit 207 of FIG. 54 (for example, the above-mentioned 8/16 modulation) (step ST120) and sent to the recording / reproducing / erasing control waveform generating circuit 206.

  The recording / playback / erasing control waveform generation circuit 206 generates a recording waveform that matches the characteristics of the currently loaded DVD-RAM disk 10 (step ST121). Then, a signal corresponding to the recording raw signal in step ST116 (a signal in units of ECC blocks) is generated at a predetermined location (designated AV address) of the disk 10 with this recording waveform and laser light optimal for the disk 10. Is written in the physical sector number corresponding to the logical sector corresponding to (step ST122).

  FIG. 61 is a diagram for explaining a method of logically rearranging a RAM layer portion having a larger physical sector number to a position having a smaller logical sector number in the setting of logical sectors of the ROM layer / RAM layer in the dual-layer optical disc of FIG. It is. FIG. 61 shows a configuration in which the ROM layer and the RAM layer in FIG. 16 are interchanged. Both are similar but differ in the following respects.

  That is, in the configuration of FIG. 16, the physical sector number PSN of the ROM layer in the first half of the volume space + the physical sector number PSN of the RAM layer in the second half of the volume space continuously increases from lead-in to lead-out.

  On the other hand, in the configuration of FIG. 61 in which the RAM layer with the larger physical sector number PSN is arranged in the first half of the volume space, the physical sector number PSN becomes discontinuous at the joint between the end of the RAM layer and the start of the ROM layer. This discontinuity of the physical sector number is eliminated by embossing the integrated logical sector number LSN that is continuous over the entire volume space in advance in the ROM layer and using the embossed integrated logical sector number LSN. it can.

  That is, the volume space of discontinuous “RAM layer + ROM layer” when viewed from the physical sector number PSN is also continuous when viewed from the embossed integrated logical sector number LSN.

  Alternatively, by using the address conversion table ACT of FIG. 18 (or FIG. 65), the discontinuous volume space of “RAM layer + ROM layer” can be logically continuous as viewed from the physical sector number PSN. That is, by the AV address conversion using the address conversion table ACT, a discontinuous volume space of “RAM layer + ROM layer” can be made continuous on the logical sector number LSN in terms of the physical sector number PSN. The integration of logical sector numbers by AV address conversion using this address conversion table ACT can be used when the disk 10 does not have the “embossed integrated logical sector number LSN”.

  FIG. 62 is a diagram for explaining a method of rearranging so that the RAM layer portion logically interrupts the ROM layer portion in the setting of the logical sector of the ROM layer / RAM layer in the two-layer optical disc of FIG.

  The physical sector number PSN is different between the ROM layer and the RAM layer. Therefore, when the RAM portion is interrupted in the ROM portion, the physical sector number PSN becomes discontinuous at the top and the bottom of the RAM layer.

  This discontinuity of physical sector numbers is also logically continuous by using the above-mentioned “embossed integrated logical sector number LSN” or by using the address conversion table ACT of FIG. 18 (or FIG. 65). Can be That is, by using the integrated logical sector number LSN previously embossed on the disk 10 for address management, or by AV address conversion using the address conversion table ACT, a discontinuous “ROM layer” when viewed from the physical sector number PSN. The volume space consisting of “part of the data + the RAM layer + the other part of the ROM layer” can be continued on the logical sector number LSN.

  FIG. 63 is a diagram for explaining another example of the directory structure of information (data file) recorded on the optical disc of FIG.

  In the example of FIG. 23 described above, a video title set VTS directory (for a DVD video file), an audio title set ATS directory (for a DVD video file or a DVD audio file), audio / video information AVI (on a personal computer) under the root directory. Illustrated are video files to be handled) and video RAM directories (for AV data files on DVD-RAM discs).

  On the other hand, the example of FIG. 63 assumes a case where the DVD-RAM disk 10 is used for a pure computer, and an application directory and an application-related directory are arranged under the root directory.

  In the application directory, a program (application execution file) that is automatically executed when the personal computer PC of FIG. 52 is started (booted or rebooted) is stored. This automatic execution program can have several types of system software (or operating system OS) for personal computers such as Windows, Java, and Mac OS (the user selects which system software to boot with) it can).

  The application data file in the application directory stores data created by the application execution file program. The application template directory, which is a lower directory of the application directory, includes template files # 1, # 2,... That are used as appropriate when the application execution file program executes a predetermined process.

  For example, it is assumed that Windows is stored as system software and a spreadsheet is stored as an application program in the application execution file. When the personal computer shown in FIG. 52 is booted in this window, Windows automatically creates a spreadsheet folder (application data file). When a spreadsheet is launched on this Windows, a user file created with this spreadsheet is stored in the application data file, and a standard template of this spreadsheet (for example, a mortgage repayment plan sheet) is a template file # 1, etc. To be prepared.

  The application-related directory can store an execution file of other application software (for example, a word processor) that can be used by converting an application data file created by the user into an object.

  FIG. 64 is a view for explaining still another example of the directory structure of information (data file) recorded on the optical disc of FIG.

  The example of FIG. 63 mainly assumes the case where the DVD-RAM disk 10 is used for a pure computer, but the example of FIG. 64 assumes the case where the VD-RAM disk 10 is used for digital video recording. ing. Therefore, the example of FIG. 64 includes a video directory and an AV conversion information directory in addition to the video title set VTS directory and the audio title set ATS directory of FIG.

  In FIG. 64, a video information processing program for performing video recording, playback, editing, and the like is included in a video application execution file in the video directory. Information (recorded or edited digital video data) processed by this program is stored in the video directory as AV file data.

  All recorded and edited information (AV data) is recorded in one AV file. As shown in FIG. 18, this AV data can include an anchor pointer AP, control information DA21, a video object DA22, a picture object DA23, and an audio object DA24.

  Further, a standard template for video editing (or commercial CM information or the like) can be recorded in the video directory as data of AV templates 01, 02,.

  The AV file data after recording and editing is converted into information in the DVD video format or DVD audio format according to the conversion program in the video application execution file, and in the video title set VTS directory or audio title set ATS directory. Saved in.

  At present, the storage capacity of the DVD-RAM disk 10 is 2.6 GB per layer (one layer), and it cannot be said that the capacity is sufficient for long-time video recording. Therefore, in the present invention, the entire recording layer of a DVD-RAM disk having a plurality of recording layers (such as a double-sided dual-layer RAM disk) is managed as one volume space, or the entire recording layer of each of a plurality of DVD-RAM disks is managed. It is managed as one volume space, and it is possible to record a video for a long time by using a volume space having an apparently large capacity (all in FIGS. 16 to 17 or 61 to 62). In the case where the recording layer is a RAM layer).

  In order to manage a plurality of recording layers (DVD-RAM layers, etc.) as one volume space in this way, the logical block numbers must be connected and managed for each recording layer (or for each disc). I must. That is, an address (integrated logical sector number) obtained by integrating the logical block numbers set for each disk is set, and the correspondence between the integrated logical sector number and the logical block number of each recording layer (or individual disk) is set. The stored address conversion table is required. This address conversion table corresponds to, for example, the address conversion table ACT in the allocation map table AMT of FIG. 18, and is stored in the AV conversion information directory in the example of FIG.

  The address conversion table ACT also enables use of an integrated logical sector number in which a ROM layer and a RAM layer are mixed, as exemplified in FIG.

  If the configuration shown in FIG. 64 is used, for example, information recorded in the ROM layer of a DVD video is accessed using the integrated address (AV address), and a part of the DVD video information extracted therefrom is converted into a video application execution file. It is also possible to take in the data in the AV file (data that can be rewritten / edited / erased by the user) using the conversion program in the file.

  If the directory structure of FIG. 63 and the directory structure of FIG. 23 and / or FIG. 64 are combined, a specific scene (video data) in a certain DVD video (a file in the VTS directory of FIG. 23 or 64) is converted into a file. It is also possible to import into an application data file for a personal computer (FIG. 63). If so, it becomes possible to process the DVD video data captured by the image processing software of the personal computer and return the processed video information to the AV file of FIG.

  67 and 68 are diagrams for explaining the information recording location and the state before and after initialization of the RAM layer in the ROM / RAM double-layer disc that has been rearranged as described in FIG. 61, for example. Here, the ROM / RAM double-layer DVD disk 10 of FIG. 1 will be described as an example (initially from the top of FIG. 67).

[01a] In the disc identifier zone (see FIG. 6) in the rewritable data zone in the lead-in area of the DVD-RAM layer 17B,
Before initialization, it is clearly stated that the stacked structure of the RAM layer and ROM layer, the total recording capacity, and the state before the initialization;
After initialization, the laminated structure of the RAM layer and ROM layer, the total recording capacity, and the date and time of initialization are specified.

  The book type & part version in the RAM layer lead-in area control data zone describes that the disc is a rewritable disc (DVD-RAM or DVD-RW).

  [02a] In the reserved area (see FIG. 22) of the physical format information in the control data in the lead-in area of the DVD-ROM layer 17A, the DVD-ROM layer 17A changes from the DVD-ROM layer 17A to the DVD-RAM layer 17B before and after initialization. The range to be copied is indicated by the physical sector number PSN of the DVD-ROM layer 17A.

  The book type & part version in the physical format information in the control data in the ROM layer lead-in area describes that the disk is a read-only disk (DVD-ROM or DVD video).

[03a] The UDF volume recognition sequence (444 in FIG. 44)
Before the initialization, it is recorded in advance on the DVD-ROM layer 17A (this recording position is different from the recording position of the volume recognition sequence when actually used);
After initialization, the data is copied to the DVD-RAM layer 17B (the logical sector number of the copy destination has a start position of “16”).

  After initialization, the “volume recognition sequence” copied to the RAM layer 17B is used.

[04a] The first anchor point (456 in FIG. 44) is
Before initialization, it is recorded in advance on the DVD-ROM layer 17A (the designation destination is designated by the logical sector number LSN of the RAM layer 17B after copying);
After initialization, the data is copied to the DVD-RAM layer 17B (the logical sector number of the copy destination is “256” at the start position).

  After initialization, the “first anchor point” copied to the RAM layer 17B is used.

[05a] The UDF main volume descriptor sequence (449 in FIG. 44) is
Before initialization, it is recorded in advance on the DVD-ROM layer 17A (the designation destination is designated by the logical sector number LSN of the RAM layer 17B after copying);
After initialization, the data is copied to the DVD-RAM layer 17B (the logical sector number LSN of the copy destination matches the logical sector number LSN actually used).

  After initialization, the “main volume descriptor sequence” copied to the RAM layer 17B is used.

[06a] The UDF logical volume integrity sequence (not shown) is
Before initialization, it is recorded in advance on the DVD-ROM layer 17A;
After initialization, it is copied to the DVD-RAM layer 17B.

  After initialization, the “logical volume maintenance sequence” copied to the RAM layer 17B is used.

[07a] UDF space bitmap or space table (see FIGS. 44 to 45)
Before initialization, it is recorded in advance on the DVD-ROM layer 17A;
After initialization, it is copied to the DVD-RAM layer 17B.

  After initialization, the “space bitmap or space table” copied to the RAM layer 17B is used. Note that all the logical block numbers LBN corresponding to the DVD-ROM layer 17A are set to “used”.

  Here, the reference diagram changes to FIG.

[08a] The UDF file set descriptor (472 in FIG. 44) is
Before initialization, it is recorded in advance on the DVD-ROM layer 17A;
After initialization, it is copied to the DVD-RAM layer 17B.

  After initialization, the “file set descriptor” copied to the RAM layer 17B is used. The designated logical block number LBN here designates the RAM layer 17B.

[09a] The file entry of the UDF root directory (475 in FIG. 45; see FIG. 63)
Before initialization, it is recorded in advance on the DVD-ROM layer 17A;
After initialization, it is copied to the DVD-RAM layer 17B.

  After initialization, the “file entry of the root directory” copied to the RAM layer 17B is used. The designated logical block number LBN here designates the RAM layer 17B.

[10a] The long allocation descriptor LAD (476, 481, etc. in FIG. 45) in the root directory is
Before initialization, it is recorded in advance on the DVD-ROM layer 17A including the application directory (FIG. 63);
After initialization, it is copied to the DVD-RAM layer 17B.

  After initialization, the user can add the long allocation descriptor LAD using the information copied to the RAM layer 17B. It should be noted that the logical block number LBN specifying the LAD file entry including the application directory specifies the RAM layer 17B from before the copy.

  [11a] Information on the application execution file (see FIG. 63) is embossed and recorded on the DVD-ROM layer 17A from the beginning. The information of the “application execution file” is not copied to the RAM layer 17B after initialization. The recording position designation logical block number LBN of this “application execution file” designates the ROM layer 17A.

  [12a] The application template directory (see FIG. 63) is embossed and recorded on the DVD-ROM layer 17A from the beginning. The information of the “application template directory” is not copied to the RAM layer 17B after initialization. The recording position designation logical block number LBN of this “application template directory” designates the ROM layer 17A.

  [13a] The application data file (see FIG. 63) is not recorded in the ROM layer 17A or the RAM layer 17B. This “application data file” is created in the RAM layer 17B after initialization, and is newly created after the application software is started.

[14a] The application-related directory (see FIG. 63)
Before initialization, it is recorded in advance on the DVD-ROM layer 17A;
After initialization, it is copied to the DVD-RAM layer 17B.

  After initialization, the “application-related directory” copied to the RAM layer 17B is used. The designated logical block number LBN here designates the RAM layer 17B.

  [15a] The second anchor point (457 in FIG. 46) is embossed and recorded on the DVD-ROM layer 17A from the beginning. The information of the “second anchor point” is not copied to the RAM layer 17B after initialization. The recording position designation logical block number LBN of this “application template directory” designates the RAM layer 17B.

  [16a] The reserve volume descriptor sequence (467 in FIG. 46) is embossed and recorded on the DVD-ROM layer 17A from the beginning. The information of this “reserved volume descriptor sequence” is not copied to the RAM layer 17B after initialization. The recording position designation logical block number LBN of this “reserved volume descriptor sequence” designates the RAM layer 17B.

In the file system compliant with UDF of DVD-RAM,
* Set the logical sector number LSN at the start position of the volume recognition sequence 444 in FIG. 44 to “16”;
* The first anchor point 456 in FIG. 44 and the second anchor point 457 in FIG. 46 are as follows: LSN = 256
LSN = final LSN-256
・ LSN = Last LSN
Placed in two of
The rules are set.

  An embodiment that satisfies the above-mentioned rules and satisfies the logical sector number setting method illustrated in FIG. 61 and the like is shown in FIGS.

  In a commercially available unused DVD-RAM disk (blank disk) 10, the disk is basically in the disk identifier zone recorded in the rewritable data zone in the lead-in area shown in FIG. It is completely unrecorded except that it is described that the ROM / RAM two-layer structure as shown is shown and the state before initialization is shown.

  When the user initializes the RAM layer 17B of the blank disc 10 before use, the information recording / reproducing apparatus (DVD video recorder) can automatically copy and use the necessary information in the DVD-ROM layer 17A.

  The designated address of the information in the DVD-ROM layer 17A to be copied is described by the address (logical sector number LSN or logical block number LBN) in the DVD-RAM layer 17B after copying.

  When the blank disk 10 is initialized, various types of information (volume recognition sequence 444, first anchor point 456, main volume descriptor sequence 449, logical volume integrity sequence, space bitmap or space table, file set shown in FIGS. The descriptor 472, the file entry of the root directory, the long allocation descriptor LADs 476 in the root directory, etc.) are copied into the DVD-RAM layer 17B and can be used.

At that time, since the second anchor point 457 and the reserved volume descriptor sequence 467 are arranged on the final logical sector number LSN side on the DVD-ROM layer 17A, it is not necessary to copy to the DVD-RAM layer 17B. Become.

  The above-described integrated address (integrated logical sector number) setting method is applied to an information storage medium having a plurality of recording layers including a ROM layer and a RAM layer (multiple disk pack incorporating one or more DVD-RAM disks). Applicable.

  Nothing is recorded on the DVD-RAM disk 10 immediately after purchase by a general user. When the user purchases such a blank disk 10 and loads it into the user's recording / reproducing apparatus (FIG. 52 or FIG. 84 described later), the disk drive of this apparatus (DVD-ROM / RAM drive 140 in FIG. 52; The disk changer 100 + disk drive 32) automatically determines the number of desks in the drive (or in the disk changer) and the type of each disk (DVD-ROM or DVD-RAM, etc.).

When the blank disk 10 is initialized, the disk identifier zone (disk ID zone) included in the rewritable data zone of the lead-in area of the disk 10 is
* In the case of multiple disk packs (or disk changers), the pack's unique ID;
* Recording capacity of the entire disk (in the case of a ROM / RAM hybrid multilayer disk, the capacity of the ROM layer is also included);
* Total number of RAM layers in multiple disk packs;
* Recording layer number for each RAM layer in the multiple disc pack;
Etc. are written.

  As a method for setting an integrated address (integrated logical sector number LSN) capable of managing a plurality of ROM layers / RAM layers as one volume, the recording layer number for each RAM layer in the multiple disk pack is used.

  That is, at the time of initialization of the disk, a volume recognition sequence, a first anchor point, a main volume descriptor sequence (see FIGS. 44 to 46) are added to the recording layer (RAM layer) of the first disk 10 in the disk pack. A logical volume maintenance sequence or the like is recorded, and the second anchor point and the reserved volume descriptor sequence are automatically recorded (copied) in the recording layer (RAM layer) of the last (nth) disk, and the disk Each disk (n sheets) in the pack is made usable.

  As another embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 16 (or FIG. 17), a DVD-ROM layer is arranged at the first logical sector number LSN and a DVD-RAM layer is arranged at the second logical sector number LSN. It is also possible to do. The initialization method in this case is as shown in FIGS. Here, the ROM / RAM double-layer DVD disk 10 of FIG. 1 will be described as an example (initially from the top of FIG. 69).

[01b] In the disc identifier zone (see FIG. 6) in the rewritable data zone in the lead-in area of the DVD-RAM layer 17B,
Before initialization, it is clearly stated that the stacked structure of the RAM layer and ROM layer, the total recording capacity, and the state before the initialization;
After initialization, the laminated structure of the RAM layer and ROM layer, the total recording capacity, and the date and time of initialization are specified.

  The book type & part version in the RAM layer lead-in area control data zone describes that the disc is a rewritable disc (DVD-RAM or DVD-RW).

  [02b] In the reserved area (see FIG. 22) of the physical format information in the control data in the lead-in area of the DVD-ROM layer 17A, the DVD-ROM layer 17A changes from the DVD-ROM layer 17A to the DVD-RAM layer 17B before and after initialization. The range to be copied is indicated by the physical sector number PSN of the DVD-ROM layer 17A.

  The book type & part version in the physical format information in the control data in the ROM layer lead-in area describes that the disk is a read-only disk (DVD-ROM or DVD video).

  [03b] The UDF volume recognition sequence (444 in FIG. 44) is embossed and recorded on the DVD-ROM layer 17A from the beginning. The information of the “application execution file” is not copied to the RAM layer 17B after initialization. The recording position designation logical block number LBN of this “application execution file” designates the ROM layer 17A.

  [04b] The first anchor point (456 in FIG. 44) is embossed and recorded on the DVD-ROM layer 17A from the beginning. The information of the “application execution file” is not copied to the RAM layer 17B after initialization. The recording position designation logical block number LBN of this “application execution file” designates the ROM layer 17A.

  [05b] The UDF main volume descriptor sequence (449 in FIG. 44) is embossed and recorded on the DVD-ROM layer 17A from the beginning. The information of the “application execution file” is not copied to the RAM layer 17B after initialization. The recording position designation logical block number LBN of this “application execution file” designates the ROM layer 17A.

  [06b] The UDF logical volume integrity sequence (not shown) is embossed and recorded on the DVD-ROM layer 17A from the beginning. The information of the “application execution file” is not copied to the RAM layer 17B after initialization. The recording position designation logical block number LBN of this “application execution file” designates the ROM layer 17A.

[07b] UDF space bitmap or space table (see FIGS. 44 to 45)
Before initialization, it is recorded in advance on the DVD-ROM layer 17A;
After initialization, it is copied to the DVD-RAM layer 17B.

  After initialization, the “space bitmap or space table” copied to the RAM layer 17B is used. Note that all the logical block numbers LBN corresponding to the DVD-ROM layer 17A are set to “used”.

  Here, the reference diagram changes to FIG.

[08b] The UDF file set descriptor (472 in FIG. 44) is
Before initialization, it is recorded in advance on the DVD-ROM layer 17A;
After initialization, it is copied to the DVD-RAM layer 17B.

  After initialization, the “file set descriptor” copied to the RAM layer 17B is used. The designated logical block number LBN here designates the RAM layer 17B.

[09b] The file entry of the UDF root directory (475 in FIG. 45; see FIG. 63)
Before initialization, it is recorded in advance on the DVD-ROM layer 17A;
After initialization, it is copied to the DVD-RAM layer 17B.

  After initialization, the “file entry of the root directory” copied to the RAM layer 17B is used. The designated logical block number LBN here designates the RAM layer 17B.

[10b] The long allocation descriptor LAD (476, 481, etc. in FIG. 45) in the root directory is
Before initialization, it is recorded in advance on the DVD-ROM layer 17A including the application directory (FIG. 63);
After initialization, it is copied to the DVD-RAM layer 17B.

  After initialization, the user can add the long allocation descriptor LAD using the information copied to the RAM layer 17B. It should be noted that the logical block number LBN specifying the LAD file entry including the application directory specifies the RAM layer 17B from before the copy.

  [11b] The application execution file information (see FIG. 63) is embossed and recorded on the DVD-ROM layer 17A from the beginning. The information of the “application execution file” is not copied to the RAM layer 17B after initialization. The recording position designation logical block number LBN of this “application execution file” designates the ROM layer 17A.

  [12b] The application template directory (see FIG. 63) is embossed and recorded on the DVD-ROM layer 17A from the beginning. The information of the “application template directory” is not copied to the RAM layer 17B after initialization. The recording position designation logical block number LBN of this “application template directory” designates the ROM layer 17A.

  [13b] The application data file (see FIG. 63) is not recorded in the ROM layer 17A or the RAM layer 17B. This “application data file” is created in the RAM layer 17B after initialization, and is newly created after the application software is started.

[14b] The application-related directory (see FIG. 63)
Before initialization, it is recorded in advance on the DVD-ROM layer 17A;
After initialization, it is copied to the DVD-RAM layer 17B.

  After initialization, the “application-related directory” copied to the RAM layer 17B is used. The designated logical block number LBN here designates the RAM layer 17B.

[15b] The second anchor point (457 in FIG. 46) is
Before initialization, it is recorded in advance on the DVD-ROM layer 17A (the designation destination is designated by the logical sector number LSN of the RAM layer 17B after copying);
After initialization, the data is copied to the DVD-RAM layer 17B (the logical sector number LSN of the copy destination is “final LSN-256”).

  After initialization, the “second anchor point” copied to the RAM layer 17B is used.

[16b] The reserve volume descriptor sequence (467 in FIG. 46) is
Before initialization, it is recorded in advance on the DVD-ROM layer 17A (the designation destination is designated by the logical sector number LSN of the RAM layer 17B after copying);
After initialization, the data is copied to the DVD-RAM layer 17B (the logical sector number LSN of the copy destination matches the logical sector number LSN actually used).

  After initialization, the “reserved volume descriptor sequence” copied to the RAM layer 17B is used.

  67 to 70, anchor points and volume descriptor sequences are copied from the ROM layer to the RAM layer, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, for the first time when the information recording / reproducing apparatus initializes the RAM layer without having the anchor point, volume descriptor sequence, etc. in the ROM layer, the information recording / reproducing apparatus does not have the anchor point, volume descriptor sequence, etc. in the RAM layer. It can be configured to record.

  As another integrated address setting method, as shown in FIG. 62, the logical sector number LSN of the RAM layer is inserted into the logical sector number LSN range of the ROM layer, or conversely the range of the logical sector number LSN of the RAM layer. It is also possible to insert a logical sector number LSN (not shown) in the ROM layer.

  The integrated address setting method of the present invention can be used for various information storage media having a plurality of information recording layers including not only the RAM layer but also the ROM layer.

  Information storage media to which the present invention can be applied include not only a DVD-RAM disk using a phase change recording method but also a conventional phase change (PD) recording disk, a magneto-optical (MO) disk, and a hard disk (removable type). ) Or a high-density floppy disk, and a mixture of these different types of media is also conceivable.

  For example, in a personal computer equipped with a DVD-ROM / RAM drive and a hard disk HDD, the above-mentioned integrated logical sector number LSN is allocated to the HDD and DVD-RAM disk (for example, the HDD is assigned to a small address range of LSN and a large address of LSN is assigned. Assign DVD-RAM to the range). Then, both the HDD and the RAM disk can be accessed using this LSN. In this way, for example, one system software can temporarily record intermediate data appropriately created during video editing in the HDD and store the edited video data in a DVD-RAM disk. Can be run under management.

  As described above, the present invention can be applied to various types of information storage media. However, considering the market demand in the multimedia era, a DVD-RAM disk having a large capacity and excellent portability is promising. In the description of the embodiment, a DVD-RAM disk (or a DVD-ROM / RAM multilayer disk) is taken up.

  The RAM layer of the DVD-RAM disk is composed of a phase change recording material such as GeSbTe or GeAnTe (see FIG. 3). This material is guaranteed to be repeatedly recorded up to 50,000 to 100,000 times. However, if recording is repeated more than this, the amount of jitter in the reproduced signal after recording increases due to mass transfer, metal fatigue, etc. Increase.

  Each time the object information (DA22 to DA24 in FIG. 18) in the AV data area DA2 corresponding to one AV file is newly recorded / changed (overwritten) / erased, the management area (control information DA21) is stored. Rewriting is performed. If the number of rewrites exceeds 50,000 to 100,000, errors in the RAM layer for phase change recording increase and reliability becomes poor.

  Therefore, in the embodiment of the present invention, the management information (control information DA21) is devised so that the management information is not lost even if the number of rewrites exceeds 50,000 to 100,000.

  That is, as shown in FIG. 18, a control information rewrite count CIRWNs recording section for recording the rewrite count of the control information DA21 is arranged at the first position of the control information DA21. When the number of control information rewrites CIRWNs exceeds a predetermined number (for example, 10,000 times in view of safety), the recording position of the control information DA21 in the AV data area DA2 is automatically changed.

  The recording position of the control information DA21 in the AV data area DA2 is recorded in the anchor pointer AP as shown in FIG. As the recording position of the control information DA21 is changed, the information of the anchor pointer AP is also automatically changed.

  FIG. 71 is a flowchart for explaining a method for rewriting video information and its management area. This flowchart also includes the process of “automatic change of the recording position of the control information DA21 when the number of control information rewrites CIRWNs exceeds a predetermined number”. The process of this flowchart can be executed by the main CPU 111 in the example of FIG. 52, and can be executed by the main MPU unit 30 in the example of FIG. In the following description, it is assumed that the configuration of FIG. 52 is used as hardware.

  First, for example, the user designates an AV file to be edited / newly recorded (step ST161). Then, as shown in FIG. 18, the anchor pointer AP recorded at the beginning of the AV data area DA2 is read (step ST162). From this anchor pointer AP, the address (AV address) where the control information DA21 is recorded is known.

  Based on the address thus found, the recording position of the control information DA21 is accessed (step ST163), and the control information rewrite count CIRWNs is read therefrom (step ST164). The read CIRWNs are taken into the main memory 112 of FIG. 52 together with the control information DA21 of the accessed recording position (step ST165).

  Before recording new video information or overwriting video information after editing, it is necessary to determine the recording location of the new information in the AV data area DA2.

  First, the size of new information to be newly recorded (or overwritten) is checked, and the connection between the new information and recorded information is checked from the PGC information (FIG. 32) (to guarantee continuous playback). ). Based on the information obtained as a result of this investigation, an unrecorded area in the AV data area DA2 is searched from the allocation map table AMT in FIG. 18 (step ST166).

  If an unrecorded area is found, the recording location of the new recording information is determined in the area, and the new video information or the edited video information is recorded as the video object DA22 in the determined location (step ST167).

  Next, cell time control information CTCI and PGC control information PGCCI relating to the video information are created, and the control information DA21 in the main memory 112 is changed (step ST168).

  Here, the value of the control information rewrite count CIRWNs read in step ST164 is checked, and the number of rewrites so far in the control information DA21 area is checked (step ST169).

  If the rewrite count value in the control information DA21 area is a predetermined value (for example, 10,000 times) or less (NO in step ST169), the control information DA21 in the main memory 112 in FIG. 52 is stored in the information storage medium (DVD-RAM disk). 10) Overwrite the previous previous recording position (step ST170). At this time, the control information rewrite count CIRWNs in FIG. 18 is incremented by one.

  This control information DA21 is recorded in ECC block units (AV address units). When the amount of control information DA21 to be overwritten on the information storage medium is slightly increased by the above processing, the control information DA21 to be overwritten is changed in units of ECC blocks (an integer multiple of 32 kbytes) ( To increase. When the control information DA21 thus changed is insufficient for an integer multiple of 32 kbytes, a dummy pack having an appropriate amount of padding data (see FIG. 25) is added and recorded on the information storage medium.

  For example, if the control information DA21 before the change is 32 kbytes and the control information DA21 after the process is 50 kbytes, padding data of 14 kbytes is added and recorded as 64 kbytes of control information DA21 on the information storage medium. .

  If the number of times the control information DA21 area has been rewritten so far exceeds a predetermined value (10,000 times) (YES in step ST169), the existing location (a location where an error is likely to occur in the future) is defined. Control information DA21 is recorded at a different position. That is, an unrecorded area in the AV data area DA2 is searched from the allocation map table AMT in FIG. 18 (step ST171), and a location for newly recording the control information DA21 is set on the information storage medium (DVD-RAM optical disk 10) ( Step ST172).

  Then, the control information DA21 in the main memory 112 is recorded at the newly set position, and the value of the control information rewrite count CIRWNs in FIG. 18 is reset to “1” (step ST173). Thereafter, the anchor pointer AP is rewritten, and the recording location (AV address) of the new control information DA21 is stored in the anchor pointer AP.

  With the above configuration, when the management area is rewritten a predetermined number of times (for example, 10,000 times) or more, the management area recording location on the information storage medium is automatically changed to a location that has not been rewritten repeatedly. . For this reason, for example, the problem of “decrease in reliability due to repeated overwriting” of the phase change recording film can be overcome.

<Securing continuous playback conditions>
Unlike conventional computer information, video information is required to guarantee continuity during playback. As information for guaranteeing this continuous reproduction, there is no need for a special flag or description. Information for guaranteeing continuity during reproduction can be recorded in the PGC control information PGCCI shown in FIG. Specifically, “information for guaranteeing continuity during reproduction” can be incorporated in a manner in which a predetermined condition is added to a PGC connection method for connecting cells. Hereinafter, the incorporation of this predetermined condition will be described.

  FIG. 72 shows a conceptual diagram of a playback system for explaining continuity during playback. Video information recorded in the information storage medium 10 is read by the optical head 202 and temporarily stored in a buffer memory (semiconductor memory) 219. Video information read from the buffer memory 219 is sent to the outside. Here, the transfer rate of the video information sent from the optical head 202 to the buffer memory 219 is referred to as a physical transfer rate (PTR). The average value of the transfer rate of the video information transferred from the buffer memory 219 to the outside is named a system transfer rate (STR). In general, the physical transfer rate PTR and the system transfer rate STR are different values.

  In order to sequentially reproduce the information recorded in different locations on the information storage medium 10, an access operation for moving the condensing spot position of the optical head 202 is required. Coarse access for moving the entire optical head 202 is performed for a large movement, and fine access for moving only an objective lens (not shown) for laser condensing is performed for a small distance movement.

  FIG. 73 shows the temporal transition of the amount of video information temporarily stored in the buffer memory 219 when video information is transferred to the outside while performing access control.

  In general, since the physical transfer rate PTR is faster than the system transfer rate STR, the amount of video information temporarily stored in the buffer memory 219 continues to increase during the video information playback time period. When the amount of video information temporarily stored reaches the capacity of the buffer memory 219, reproduction processing by the optical head 202 is intermittently performed, and the amount of video information temporarily stored in the buffer memory 219 is in a state where the buffer memory capacity is full (see FIG. The portion of the graph where the top of the graph is horizontal in the video information playback time of 73 remains unchanged.

  When video information recorded at another position on the information storage medium 10 is subsequently reproduced, access processing of the optical head 202 is executed.

  As the access period of the optical head 202, as shown in FIG. 73, three types of coarse access time, fine access time, and information storage medium 10 rotation waiting time are required. Since reproduction from the information storage medium 10 is not performed during these periods, the physical transfer rate PTR during that period is substantially in a “0” state. On the other hand, since the average system transfer rate STR of the video information sent to the outside is kept unchanged, the video information temporary storage amount in the buffer memory 219 continues to decrease (in FIG. 73, the coarse access time, Downward graph during dense access time or rotation waiting time).

  When the access of the optical head 202 is completed and the reproduction from the information storage medium 10 is resumed (the smaller one of the video information reproduction times filled with “dots” in FIG. 73), the video in the buffer memory 219 The temporary information storage amount increases again.

  This increase gradient is determined by the difference between the physical transfer rate and the average system transfer rate, that is, (physical transfer rate PTR)-(average system transfer rate STR).

  Thereafter, when the vicinity of the reproduction position on the information storage medium 10 is accessed again, only the dense access is possible, and therefore only the dense access time and the rotation waiting time are required (the graph on the lower right side of FIG. 73).

  The condition for enabling continuous playback in the playback operation as shown in FIG. 73 can be defined by the “upper limit value of the number of accesses within a specific period”. That is, the information content of the PGC control information PGCCI in FIG. 18, such as the cell combination shown in FIG. 51, is set so that the number of accesses is equal to or less than the “access upper limit value within a specific period”.

  Here, the access number condition for making continuous reproduction absolutely impossible will be described with reference to FIG.

  When the access frequency is the highest, as shown from the center to the right of the graph in FIG. 74, the video information reproduction time is very short, and only the fine access time and the rotation waiting time continue continuously. In this case, it is impossible to ensure reproduction continuity no matter how fast the physical transfer rate PTR is.

Now, when the capacity of the buffer memory 219 is represented by BM
BM / STR (= BM ÷ STR) (3)
During this period, the temporarily stored video information in the buffer memory 219 is depleted, and continuous playback becomes impossible.

If each fine access time in FIG. 74 is JATi (Jump Access Time of the objective lens) and each rotation waiting time is MWTi (Spindle Motor Wait Time), in the example of FIG.
BM / STR = Σ (JATi + MWTi) (4)
The relationship holds.

Using approximation to equation (4), assuming that the average dense access time is JATa, the average rotation waiting time is MWTa, and the number of accesses in the period until the temporarily stored video information in the buffer memory 219 is depleted is represented by n. Equation (4) is
BM / STR = n · (JATa + MWTa) (5)
Can be rewritten as

In this case, as “the number of accesses n until the temporarily stored video information in the buffer memory 219 is depleted”, which is an absolute condition for ensuring continuous playback.
n <BM / (STR · (JATa + MWTa)) (6)
Is a prerequisite.

When the value of Equation (6) is rewritten to the number of accesses N per second
N = n / (BM / STR) <1 / (JATA + MWTa) (7)
It becomes.

  When MPEG2 is used, the average system transfer rate STR is around 4 Mbps (bits per second), and the average rotation period of a single-layer single-layer DVD-RAM with a capacity of 2.6 GB is about 35 ms (milliseconds). The average rotation waiting time MWTa is MWTa≈18 ms. In a general information recording / reproducing apparatus, JATa≈5 ms.

  As an actual example of the buffer memory 219 capacity BM, there is a drive with 2M bytes = 16M bits in a large one, but the buffer memory capacity of many drives (information recording / reproducing devices) is currently (the balance of product cost) From) 512 kbytes = about 4 Mbits.

If the buffer memory capacity BM is calculated as 4M bits, the minimum required time until the temporarily stored video information in the buffer memory 219 is depleted is 4M bits / 4Mbps≈1 second. If this is applied to equation (6),
n <BM / (STR · (JATa + MWTa)) = 1 second / (18 ms + 5 ms) ≈43 times.

  The calculation example specifying the conditions gives the result as described above (the upper limit of the number of accesses n≈43), but since the calculation result changes depending on the buffer memory capacity of the device and the average system transfer rate, equation (5) is continuously reproduced. This is a necessary conditional expression for securing

  When access is performed with an access frequency slightly lower than the access frequency obtained by Expression (5), continuous reproduction is possible when the physical transfer rate PTR is significantly higher than the average system transfer rate STR.

However, in order to enable continuous reproduction only by satisfying the condition of equation (5), 1) the physical transfer rate PTR is extremely fast;
2) All video information to be accessed is located near each other and can be accessed only by dense access without coarse access;
This precondition is necessary.

  Therefore, the following will examine the conditions under which continuous reproduction can be guaranteed even if the physical transfer rate PTR is relatively slow.

  As shown in FIG. 75, when the video information reproduction time and the access time are balanced, and the temporarily stored video information in the buffer memory 219 is kept almost constant globally, the temporary storage in the buffer memory 219 is performed. The continuity of video information playback viewed from an external system is ensured without running out of video information.

  Now, each coarse access time is SATi (Seek Access Time of the objective lens), average coarse access time after n times access is SATa, playback information reading time for each access is DRTi (Data Read Time), after n times access The average reproduction information reading time is assumed to be DRTa.

Then, the amount of data transferred from the buffer memory 219 to the outside during the entire access period in the case of n accesses is
STR × (Σ (SATi + JATi + MWTi))
≒ STR × n × (SATa + JATa + MWTa) (8)
It becomes.

The amount of video information stored in the buffer memory 219 when the video information is reproduced by accessing the value of the equation (8) n times
(PTR-STR) × ΣDRTi
≈ (PTR-STR) × n · DRTa (9)
(PTR−STR) × n · DRTa ≧ STR × n × (SATa + JATa + MWTa), that is,
(PTR-STR) / DRTa
≧ STR · (SATa + JATa + MWTa) (10)
Therefore, the continuity of the reproduced video viewed from the external system side is ensured.

If the average number of accesses per second is N,
1≈N · (DRTa + SATa + JATa + MWTa) (11)
The relationship is established.

From Equation (10) and Equation (11)
1 / {N · (SATa + JATa + MWTa)}
≧ 1 + STR / (PTR−STR)
Therefore, if you solve for N,
N ≦ 1 / {[1 + STR / (PTR−STR)]
・ (SATa + JATa + MWTa)} (12)
Is obtained.

  N in this equation (12) is the upper limit value of the number of accesses per second that ensures the continuity of the reproduced video.

  Next, the relationship between the coarse access distance and the coarse access time required for it is examined.

  FIG. 76 is a diagram for explaining the relationship between the seek distance of the optical head and the seek time.

When accelerating / decelerating at the constant acceleration α and reaching the target position, the distance moved by the time tmax until the moving speed of the optical head 202 reaches the maximum is α · tmax · tmax / 2 from FIG. Therefore, the total distance ρ moved by coarse access is
ρ = α · tmax · tmax (13)
Given in.

  From equation (13), it can be seen that the time required for coarse access is proportional to the ½ remainder (ie, the square root) of the travel distance.

  FIG. 77 is a diagram for explaining a method for obtaining the average seek distance of the optical head.

Consider the average seek distance (average coarse access distance) when video information is recorded in the area of radius width L. As shown in FIG. 77, the average seek distance from the distance Xo to the entire recording area (from the seek area) is
XoXo / 2L + (L-Xo). (L-Xo) / 2L (14)
It becomes.

Taking the average value when Xo is moved from 0 to L with respect to this equation (14), the average seek distance as a result of integration with respect to Xo under normalization conditions is
L / 3 (15)
It becomes.

  Consider a case where, for example, half of the radial width on the optical disc 10 corresponding to the data area DA shown in FIG. 18 is used for recording in the AV data area DA2.

  In this case, from equation (15), the average seek distance (average coarse access distance) is 1/6 of the radial width on the optical disc 10 corresponding to the data area DA.

For example, if it takes 0.5 seconds for the optical head 202 to move (seek) from the innermost circumference to the outermost circumference of the recording area (data area DA in FIG. 18), the AV data area is calculated from the equation (13). The average seek time (average coarse access time) in DA2 is a value proportional to 1/2 of 1/6 of 0.5 seconds.
SATa≈200 ms (16)
It becomes.

  Here, for example, as described above, MWTa≈18 ms and JATa≈5 ms are used for the calculation. Then, in the case of a DVD-RAM disk having a capacity of 2.6 Gbytes, PTR = 11.08 Mbps. When the average transfer rate of MPEG2 is STR≈4 Mbps, N ≦ 2.9 is obtained by substituting the above numerical value into the equation (12).

  FIG. 78 is a conceptual diagram of a recording system for explaining the continuity of recording signals.

  The recording information is sent from the outside to the buffer memory 219 at an average system transfer rate STR (approximately 4 Mbps for MPEG2 video). The buffer memory 219 once holds information (MPEG video data or the like) sent at the rate STR, and transfers the held information to the optical head 202 at a physical transfer rate PRT suitable for the type of storage medium and its drive. .

  In order to sequentially record the above information at different locations on the information storage medium 10, an access operation for moving the focused spot position of the optical head 202 is required. Coarse access for moving the entire optical head 202 is performed for a large movement, and fine access for moving only an objective lens (not shown) for laser condensing is performed for a small distance movement.

<Securing continuous recording conditions>
FIG. 82 is a diagram for explaining an example of the relationship between the access operation and the like during the continuous recording of video signals and the temporarily stored amount in the buffer memory (when the access frequency is highest).

  FIG. 83 is a diagram for explaining another example of the relationship between the access operation and the like during the continuous recording of the video signal and the temporary storage amount in the buffer memory (when the recording time and the access time are balanced). .

  Unlike the case where “continuous playback is impossible when the amount of temporarily stored video information on the buffer memory 219 is depleted” described with reference to FIG. 74, during continuous recording, the temporary memory on the buffer memory 219 is temporarily displayed as shown in FIG. The amount of stored video information is saturated. That is, as can be seen from a comparison between FIG. 82 and FIG. 74, Expression (5) can be applied to the access frequency that satisfies the continuous recording condition.

  Similarly, as can be seen from a comparison between FIG. 83 and FIG. 75, Expression (10) can be applied to the access frequency that satisfies the continuous recording condition.

  By following the “conditional expression for ensuring continuity” described with reference to FIGS. 73 to 77 and FIGS. 82 to 83, regardless of the characteristics of the information recording / reproducing apparatus (drive) to be used, Continuous playback or continuous recording can be ensured (no interruption occurs during recording).

<Access frequency reduction method: Sorting cells by editing>
FIG. 79 is a diagram illustrating a cell constituting a part of recorded AV data (video signal information) and a video object unit VOBU array of each cell.

  FIG. 80 is a diagram for explaining a case where cell # 2 is edited and data is cut off in the middle of cell # 2 (in place of VOBU 108e) in the array of FIG. 79 (VOBU 108e is re-encoded).

  Further, FIG. 81 is a diagram for explaining how the cell configuration, the VOBU arrangement, and the position of the free area illustrated in FIG. 79 change after the editing of FIG. 80 is completed.

  In order to guarantee the seamless continuous reproduction or continuous recording, each cell arrangement in the PGC information (FIGS. 32 and 51) in the PGC control information PGCCI in FIG. 18 is expressed by the equation (5) or the equation (10). It is set to satisfy the conditions. However, for example, when the access frequency becomes higher than the seamless guarantee value due to a user request at the time of editing, the access frequency reduction process is executed again so that the condition of Expression (5) or Expression (10) is satisfied. . Hereinafter, this reprocessing will be described.

First, as shown in FIG.
Cell # 1 → Cell # 2 → Cell # 3
It is assumed that playback is set in the order of (in this case, access during playback does not occur).

Next, the user divides cell # 2 into cell # 2A and cell # 2B by editing work (FIG. 80),
Cell # 2A → Cell # 1 → Cell # 2B → Cell # 3
Suppose that playback is set in this order. in this case,
Access from cell # 2A trailing edge to cell # 1 leading edge; and
The number of accesses increases by two accesses from the rear end of cell # 1 to the front end of cell # 2B.

As a result of the increase in the number of accesses in the PGC as described above, if the formula (5) or the formula (10) is not satisfied, the cell # 2A is moved to the free area 107 as shown in FIG. As a result, the number of accesses in the PGC defining the playback order of “cell # 2A → cell # 1 → cell # 2B → cell # 3” is as follows:
The number of accesses from the rear end of cell # 1 to the front end of cell # 2B decreases.

  As in the above example, when Expression (5) or Expression (10) is not satisfied, some cells are moved (that is, the recording position on the information storage medium 10 is changed), and the access frequency is lowered. As a result, seamless continuous reproduction or continuous recording with the PGC can be ensured so that the formula (5) or the formula (10) is satisfied.

  If equation (5) or equation (10) is still not satisfied even if the increase in the number of accesses due to editing is reduced by the above method, the user reviews and reconfigures the cell configuration of the PGC, and formula (5) or equation The number of PGC cells and the arrangement (arrangement) are reconfigured so that (10) is satisfied.

  FIG. 84 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a DVD video recorder that can cope with loss of synchronization between video and audio when video information is rearranged (edited or the like) within a video object.

  The apparatus main body of the DVD video recorder shown in FIG. 84 roughly rotates the DVD-RAM (DVD-RW) disk 10 or the DVD-R disk 10 and reads / writes information from / to the disk 10. A disc drive 32, a disc changer (or disc pack) 100 that automatically supplies a predetermined disc 10 to the disc drive 32 and can house a plurality of discs 10, an encoder unit 50 that constitutes a recording side, and a playback side And a main MPU unit 30 that controls the operation of the apparatus main body.

  Under the control of the main MPU unit 30, the data processor 36 supplies the DVD recording data from the encoder unit 50 to the disk drive 32, takes out the DVD reproduction signal reproduced from the disk 10 from the drive 32, and records it on the disk 10. The management information can be rewritten, and the data recorded on the disk 10 can be deleted.

  The data processor 36 also collects the packs sent from the formatter 56 every 16 packs into an ECC group, adds error correction information to the ECC group, and sends the ECC group to the disk drive 32. However, if the disk drive 32 is not ready for recording on the disk 10, the ECC group data to which the error correction information is added is transferred to the temporary storage unit 34 and temporarily until data recording is ready. Stored in When the disk drive 32 is ready for recording, recording of data stored in the temporary storage unit 34 to the disk 10 is started.

  The main MPU unit 30 includes a ROM in which a control program or the like is written, a RAM that provides a work area necessary for program execution, an audio information synchronization processing unit, a telephone I / F, or an Internet I / F.

  The MPU 30 executes audio information synchronization processing (FIG. 86) and other processing (FIG. 55, FIG. 56, FIG. 71, etc.), which will be described later, using the RAM as a work area in accordance with the control program stored in the ROM. To do.

  Of the execution results of the main MPU unit 30, the content to be notified to the user of the DVD video recorder is displayed on the display unit (not shown) of the DVD video recorder, or on-screen display on the monitor display (116 in FIG. 52). (OSD) is displayed.

  The information recording / reproducing apparatus part that reads and writes (records and / or reproduces) information on the DVD disk 10 includes a disk changer (disk pack) 100, a disk drive 32, a temporary storage unit 34, and a data processor 36. A system time counter (or system time clock; STC) 38.

  The temporary storage unit 34 buffers a certain amount of data written to the disk 10 via the disk drive 32 (data output from the encoder unit 50) or reproduces it from the disk 10 via the disk drive 32. This is used to buffer a certain amount of the data (data input to the decoder unit 60). In that sense, the temporary storage unit 34 in FIG. 84 has a function corresponding to the memory 219 in FIG. 54 or the buffer memory 219 in FIGS.

  For example, when the temporary storage unit 34 is composed of a 4M to 8M byte semiconductor memory (DRAM), it is possible to buffer recording or reproduction data for about 8 to 16 seconds at an average recording rate of 4 Mbps. Further, when the temporary storage unit 34 is composed of a 16 Mbyte EEPROM (flash memory), it is possible to buffer the recording or reproduction data of about 32 seconds at an average recording rate of 4 Mbps. Furthermore, when the temporary storage unit 34 is composed of a 100 Mbyte ultra-small HDD (hard disk), it is possible to buffer recording or reproduction data for 3 minutes or more at an average recording rate of 4 Mbps.

  Although not shown in FIG. 84 (or FIG. 52), the EEPROM can be sold separately as an optional IC card if an external card slot is provided in the DVD video recorder (personal computer PC). If the DVD video recorder is provided with an external drive slot or a SCSI interface, the HDD can also be sold as an optional expansion drive.

  Incidentally, in the embodiment of FIG. 54 (in which the personal computer PC is converted into a DVD video recorder by software), a part of the free area of the hard disk drive of the PC itself or a part of the main memory is stored in the temporary storage unit of FIG. 34 can be used.

  In addition to the above-described purpose of guaranteeing “seamless continuous playback or seamless continuous recording”, the temporary storage unit 34, when the disk 10 is used up during recording, until the disk 10 is replaced with a new disk. It can also be used to temporarily store recording information.

  The temporary storage unit 34 can also be used to temporarily store data read out from the normal drive within a fixed time when a high-speed drive (double speed or higher) is used as the disk drive 32. . If the read data at the time of reproduction is buffered in the temporary storage unit 34, even if an optical pickup (not shown) causes a read error due to vibration shock or the like, the reproduction data buffered in the temporary storage unit 34 is switched and used. As a result, it is possible to prevent the playback video from being interrupted.

  The analog signal source of the raw signal recorded on the disk 10 includes a video reproduction signal such as a VHS video or a laser disk LD, and this analog video signal is input to the encoder unit 50 via the AV input of FIG.

  Another analog signal source is a normal analog TV broadcast (terrestrial broadcast or satellite broadcast), and this analog TV signal is input from the TV tuner of FIG. 84 to the encoder unit 50 (in the case of TV, character information such as closed captions). May be broadcast simultaneously with the video information, and such character information is also input to the encoder unit 50).

  The digital signal source of the raw signal recorded on the disk 10 includes a digital output of a digital broadcast tuner, and this digital video signal is directly input to the encoder unit 50.

  When this digital tuner has an IEEE 1394 interface or a SCSI interface, its signal line is connected to the main MPU unit 30.

  When a DVD video bit stream (including MPEG-encoded video) is digitally broadcast as it is and the digital tuner has its digital output, the bit stream output is already encoded and transferred to the data processor 36 as it is. Is done.

  For digital devices that do not have a digital video output but have a digital audio output, such as a digital video cassette DVC or a digital VHS video DVHS, the analog video output is connected to the AV input, and the digital audio output is It is supplied to the encoder unit 50 via the sample rate converter SRC. This SRC converts, for example, a digital audio signal with a sampling frequency of 44.1 kHz into a digital audio signal with a sampling frequency of 48 kHz.

  84, the signal lines are omitted. However, when the personal computer PC can output a digital video signal in the DVD video format, the digital video signal can be directly input to the encoder unit 50.

  All digital input audio signal sources (digital tuner, DVC, DVHS, PC, etc.) are connected to the main MPU unit 30. This is for use in “audio synchronization processing” described later.

  The timing at which the main MPU unit 30 controls the disk changer (disk pack) 100, the disk drive 32, the data processor 36, the encoder unit 50 and / or the decoder unit 60 can be executed based on the time data from the STC 38. (Recording / playback operations are normally executed in synchronization with the time clock from the STC 38, but other processing may be executed at a timing independent of the STC 38).

  A DVD digital reproduction signal reproduced from the disk 10 via the disk drive 32 is input to the decoder unit 60 via the data processor 36. Although details will be described later with reference to FIG. 85, the decoder unit 60 includes a video decoder that decodes the main video signal from the input DVD digital playback signal, a sub video decoder that plays back the sub video signal from the playback signal, An audio decoder that reproduces an audio signal from a reproduction signal, a video processor that synthesizes the decoded sub-picture with the decoded main picture, and a timing shift between the video signal and the audio signal or between channels of the multi-channel audio signal are corrected. Means (reference clock generator) are included.

  The video signal (main video + sub-video) decoded by the decoder unit 60 is supplied to the video mixer 602. The video mixer 602 is appropriately supplied with a reduced image / thumbnail picture (see FIG. 18 or FIG. 47) and text data from the main MPU unit 30. The reduced image (and / or text) is appropriately combined with the video signal decoded on the frame memory 604, and a visual menu (user menu) used for searching the recorded content is generated.

  When displaying a reduced image for a user menu on a monitor (not shown), the reduced image file stored as a separate file is streamed as a stream pack, and the display position (X, Y coordinate values) is displayed in the frame memory 604. Specify and display. At this time, if there is text data or the like, the text can be displayed below the reduced image using a character ROM (or kanji ROM) or the like.

  A digital video signal including this visual menu (user menu) as appropriate is output to the outside of the apparatus of FIG. 84 via the digital video I / F. Also, a digital video signal including this visual menu as appropriate becomes an analog video signal via a video DAC and is sent to an external analog monitor (TV with AV input).

  Note that it is also conceivable to insert the user menu reduced image data into the recording data as another video pack data instead of the separate file described above. That is, in the DVD video format, the stream number is defined as 0 (stream ID = 0E0h) as the main video, but the stream number is further defined as 1 (stream ID = 0E1h) for the reduced image and multiplexed. It is also possible. The reduced image with the stream number “1” multiplexed in this way is the original data used in the menu editing process.

  FIG. 85 is a block diagram illustrating the internal configuration of encoder unit 50 and decoder unit 60 in the configuration of FIG.

  The encoder unit 50 includes an ADC (analog / digital converter) 52, a video encoder 53, an audio encoder 54, a sub-picture encoder 55, a formatter 56, a buffer memory 57, and a frame for a reduced image (thumbnail picture). A memory 51, a reduced video encoder 58, and a memory 59 used for encoding a reduced image are provided.

The ADC 52 receives the external analog video signal + external analog audio signal from the AV input of FIG. 84 or the analog TV signal + analog audio signal from the TV tuner. The ADC 52 digitizes the input analog video signal with, for example, a sampling frequency of 13.5 MHz and a quantization bit number of 8 bits. (That is, each of the luminance component Y, the color difference component Cr (or YR), and the color difference component Cb (or YB) is quantized with 8 bits.)
Similarly, the ADC 52 digitizes the input analog audio signal with, for example, a sampling frequency of 48 kHz and a quantization bit number of 16 bits.

  When an analog video signal and a digital audio signal are input to the ADC 52, the ADC 52 passes only the digital audio signal. (The content of the digital audio signal is not altered, and processing for reducing only the jitter accompanying the digital signal or processing for changing the sampling rate and the number of quantization bits may be performed).

  On the other hand, when a digital video signal and a digital audio signal are input to the ADC 52, the ADC 52 passes through both the digital video signal and the digital audio signal (the contents of these digital signals are also not reduced and jitter is reduced. Processing, sampling rate change processing, etc. may be performed).

  The digital video signal component from the ADC 52 is sent to the formatter 56 via the video encoder 53. The digital audio signal component from the ADC 52 is sent to the formatter 56 via the audio encoder 54.

  The video encoder 53 has a function of converting an input digital video signal into a digital signal compressed at a variable bit rate based on the MPEG2 or MPEG1 standard.

  The audio encoder 54 has a function of converting the input digital audio signal into a digital signal (or linear PCM digital signal) compressed at a fixed bit rate based on the MPEG or AC-3 standard.

  When a DVD video signal is input from an AV input, or when a DVD video signal (digital bit stream) is broadcast and received by a digital tuner, a sub video signal component (sub video pack) in the DVD video signal is stored. Are sent to the sub-picture encoder 55. Alternatively, if there is a DVD video player with a sub video signal independent output terminal, the sub video signal component can be extracted from the sub video output terminal. The sub video data input to the sub video encoder 55 is arranged in a predetermined signal form and sent to the formatter 56.

  The formatter 56 performs predetermined signal processing on the input video signal, audio signal, sub-picture signal, etc. while using the buffer memory 57 as a work area, and matches the predetermined format (file structure). The recording data is output to the data processor 36.

   That is, each encoder (53-55) compresses each input signal (video, audio, sub-picture) and packetizes it. (However, each packet is divided into packets of 2048 bytes when packed, and packetized.) These compressed signals are input to the formatter 56. Here, the formatter 56 determines and records the presentation time stamp PTS and the decode time stamp DTS of each packet according to the timer value from the STC 38 as necessary.

  However, the reduced image packet used for the user menu is transferred to the reduced image storage memory 59 and temporarily stored therein. The reduced image packet data is recorded as a separate file after recording. The size of the reduced image in the user menu is selected to be approximately 144 pixels × 96 pixels, for example.

  Note that the same MPEG2 compression as that of the main video can be used as the compression format of the reduced image, but other compression methods may be used. For example, compression methods such as JPEG compression, run-length compression (palette 256 colors: 256 colors need to be reduced), TIFF format, and PICT format can be used.

  The formatter 56 temporarily stores the packet data in the buffer memory 57, then packs each input packet data, mixes it for each MPEG GOP, and transfers it to the data processor 36.

  Here, a standard encoding process for creating recording data to be transferred to the data processor 36 will be briefly described.

  When encoding processing is started in the encoder unit 50, parameters necessary for encoding video (main video) data and audio data are set. Next, the main video data is pre-encoded using the set parameters, and the optimal code amount distribution is calculated for the set average transfer rate (recording rate). Based on the code amount distribution obtained by the pre-encoding in this way, the main video is encoded. At this time, audio data is also encoded at the same time.

  As a result of pre-encoding, if the amount of data compression is insufficient (when the desired video program does not fit on the DVD-RAM disc or DVD-R disc to be recorded), if there is an opportunity to pre-encode again (for example, recording) Main video data is partially re-encoded, and the main video data of the re-encoded part is pre-encoded before that). Replaced with the data part. By such a series of processing, main video data and audio data are encoded, and the average bit rate value required for recording is greatly reduced.

  Similarly, parameters necessary for encoding the sub-picture data are set, and the encoded sub-picture data is created.

  The main video data, audio data, and sub-video data encoded as described above are combined and converted into a data structure for recording. That is, the configuration of the cells forming the program chain PGC as shown in FIG. 19 or 51, the attributes of the main video, sub-video, audio, etc. are set (a part of these attribute information is used when each data is encoded. Information management table information including various information is created.

  The encoded main video data, audio data, and sub-video data are subdivided into packs of a certain size (2048 bytes) as shown in FIG. In these packs, dummy packs (FIG. 25) are appropriately inserted so that the above-mentioned “32 kbyte alignment” is realized.

  In the packs other than the dummy pack, time stamps such as PTS (presentation time stamp; see FIG. 24), DTS (decode time stamp) and the like are described as appropriate. For the sub-picture PTS, a time arbitrarily delayed from the PTS of the main picture data or audio data in the same reproduction time zone can be described.

  Each data cell is arranged in units of VOBU so that the data can be reproduced in the time code order, and a VOBS composed of a plurality of cells as shown in FIG. 19 is formatted as a video object DA22.

When the DVD playback signal is digitally copied from the DVD video player, the contents of the cell, the program chain, the management table, the time stamp, and the like are determined from the beginning, and it is not necessary to create them again. (However, in order to configure a DVD video recorder so that a DVD playback signal can be digitally copied, an electronic watermark or other copyright protection means must be taken.)
The decoder unit 60 in FIG. 85 includes a reference clock generation unit 61 that generates a reference clock that is sync-locked by the audio synchronization signal A-SYNC sent from the main MPU unit 30 in FIG. 84, as shown in FIG. Separator 62 that separates and extracts each pack from playback data having a structure, memory 63 that is used when performing signal processing such as pack separation, and video that decodes the main video data (contents of the video pack) separated by separator 62 The decoder 64, the sub-picture decoder 65 that decodes the sub-picture data (the contents of the sub-picture pack) separated by the separator 62, and the sub-picture data from the sub-picture decoder 65 are appropriately combined with the video data from the video decoder 64. , Video, highlight buttons, subtitles and other sub-pictures superimposed on the main video The audio processor 68 that decodes the audio data (the contents of the audio pack) separated by the separator 62 at the timing of the reference clock from the reference clock generator 61, and the digital audio signal from the audio decoder 68 is output to the outside. And a DAC that converts the digital audio signal from the audio decoder 68 into an analog audio signal and outputs the analog audio signal to the outside.

  The analog audio signal from the DAC is supplied to an external component (2 channel to 6 channel multi-channel stereo device) (not shown).

  Here, the audio synchronization signal A-SYNC is for synchronizing audio signals in units of VOBU in FIG. 84 has an audio synchronization pack (SNV_PCK; not shown) at the head of each VOBU when the digital audio signal sent from the digital input device includes the configuration shown in FIG. In this case, the audio synchronization signal A-SYNC can be generated by detecting the audio synchronization pack.

  Alternatively, the main MPU unit 30 shown in FIG. 84 may detect the presentation time stamp PTS (FIG. 24) included in the audio pack and generate the audio synchronization signal A-SYNC using the detected PTS information. it can.

  84 and 85, data processing during reproduction is as follows.

  First, upon receiving a reproduction start command (such as turning on a reproduction key) by a user operation, the main MPU unit 30 reads the management area of the disk 10 from the disk drive 32 via the data processor 36 and reproduces the address (integrated logic). Corresponding to an address using the sector number LSN).

  Next, the main MPU unit 30 sends the reproduction data address and the read command determined previously to the disk drive 32.

  An MPU (not shown) in the disk drive 32 (corresponding to the control unit 220 in FIG. 54) reads sector data from the disk 10 in accordance with the received command, performs error correction by the data processor 36, and forms packed data. , Output to the decoder unit 60.

  Inside the decoder unit 60, the read pack data is packetized. Depending on the purpose of the data, the video packet data (MPEG video data) is transferred to the video decoder 64, the audio packet data is transferred to the audio decoder 68, and the sub-picture packet data is transferred to the sub-picture decoder 65.

  At the start of the transfer of each packet data, the presentation time stamp PTS is loaded into the STC 38. Thereafter, each decoder in the decoder unit 60 performs a reproduction process in synchronization with the value of PTS in the packet data (comparing the values of PTS and STC), and a moving image with audio / subtitles is displayed on a monitor TV (not shown). Output.

  By setting the AV address as described above, video information in a plurality of DVD-ROM and / or DVD-RAM discs inserted in the multiple disc pack (disc changer 100 in FIG. 84) is part of the AV file. Can be imported as

  In a DVD video (DVD-ROM) disc, the recording position of a video object is set as a file entry as a logical block number. By using the address conversion table ACT shown in FIG. 18, this logical block number is converted into an AV address. Can be converted. In this address conversion table ACT, individual logical block numbers and AV addresses are described in pairs on the table.

  FIG. 86 is a flowchart for explaining the synchronization processing between video and audio in the hardware (DVD video recorder) of FIGS. 84 and 86.

  A video signal from an AV input such as a TV tuner, VTR or camera recorder is converted to a digital signal by the ADC 52 (step ST200).

  The converted digital signal is divided into video information and audio information, and is encoded separately by the video encoder 53 and the audio encoder 54. The closed caption information and the information sent in the multiplexed character part of the text multiplex broadcast are encoded as a sub-picture by the sub-picture encoder 55. Each encoded information is incorporated in a video pack, audio pack, and sub-picture pack in 2048 byte units by the formatter 56, and is arranged in units of VOBU having an integral multiple size of 32 kbytes as shown in FIG. Step ST202).

  At this time, in the formatter 56, “what number in the audio pack the audio information sample position at the start of I-picture display start time of the VOBU is in the audio pack that is behind (or in what number before) with respect to the position of the video pack. Is extracted (step ST204A).

  The audio information sample position information thus extracted is sent to the main MPU unit 30 in FIG.

  The audio information synchronization processing unit in the main MPU unit 30 is based on the sent audio information sample position information, and the presentation time stamp PTS or synchronization navigation pack SNV_PCK (not shown) that is the source of the audio synchronization signal A-SYNC. To the formatter 56.

  The formatter 56 includes VOBU information as shown in FIG. 24, including the information (PTS or SNV_PCK) that is the basis of the audio synchronization signal A-SYNC, along with the encoded video information, sub-picture information, and audio information. Send to processor 36. In parallel with the “audio information sample position information extraction step ST204A” that is subsequently executed, the data processor 36 transfers the video object DA22 including VOBU information as shown in FIG. AV address) (step ST204B).

  As this recording proceeds, the address information (logical sector number LSN) used for recording is returned from the disk drive 32 to the main MPU unit 30. Based on the returned address information and the address-sector correspondence shown in FIG. 29, the main MPU unit 30 records the audio information sample at the recording position on the disk 10 (for example, the start time of displaying the I picture at the beginning of a recorded VOBU). Which physical sector number PSN position on the disk 10 corresponds to). This calculation result is used in later step ST208.

The recording position on the disk 10 (which physical sector number PSN position on the disk 10 corresponds to the audio information sample at the first I picture display start time of the VOBU) is included in the audio synchronization information of FIG. Corresponding to I picture audio positions # 1, # 2,. That is, the differential address value from the VOBU head of the ECC block including the audio pack at the same time as the I picture audio position I picture start time in FIG. 27 is recorded in 1 byte. Of the 1 byte, the most significant bit identifies whether the audio sample position is behind or ahead from the beginning of the VOBU. In particular,
Most significant 1 bit = 0: Being behind Most significant 1 bit = 1: Being in the front.

  Recording of the video object DA22 onto the disk 10 is continued until the end of recording is input (for example, until the user instructs to stop recording or until the free area of the disk 10 is used up) (NO in step ST206). ST200 to ST204A / ST204B).

  If there is a recording end input (YES in step ST206), information related to recording such as the recording date and time is written in the management area (control information DA21) of the disk 10 (step ST208). . At this time, the control information rewrite count CIRWNs in FIG. 18 is incremented by one as the management area is written.

  The value obtained by counting the sample number in the ECC block at the audio sample position at the same time as the I picture start time by the serial number of all audio packs is “I picture start audio sample number # 1 included in the audio synchronization information of FIG. , # 2,... ”Are written in the management area (control information DA21) (step ST208).

  Note that the expression of the recording position of the disk 10 is not limited to the AV address. The “recording position of the disk 10” can also be expressed using a logical block number, a logical sector number, or a physical sector number.

<Editing Process of Cell Containing Audio Synchronization Information in FIG. 27>
Now, as shown in FIG. 79, the record information is arranged in the order of cell # 1, cell # 2, and cell # 3 on the disk 10 as shown in FIG. Dividing into cell # 2B, moving cell # 2A to the empty area 91 as shown in FIG. 81,
Cell # 2A → Cell # 1 → Cell # 2B → Cell # 3
Consider the case where playback is possible in the order of.

  In this case, the VOBU 108e is re-encoded and divided into a VOBU 108p and a VOBU 108q. At that time, the audio information synchronization processing unit in the main MPU unit 30 moves from the disk 10 to the cell # 2A to be moved from the I picture audio position (FIG. 27) and the I picture start audio sample number (FIG. 27). Find the location of the included audio pack.

  If the audio pack included in the cell # 2A is in the VOBU 108c or VOBU 108q, the corresponding audio pack is taken in and embedded in the VOBU 108d * or VOBU 108p.

  This embedding is performed on an extra dummy pack (having no meaningful recording data) in the VOBU. If there is no such dummy pack, the format is rearranged and, in some cases, re-encoded.

  On the other hand, when an audio pack used in VOBU 108c or VOBU 108f is included in cell # 2A, the corresponding audio pack is copied from cell # 2A and inserted (embedded) into VOBU 108c or VOBU 108f. At this time, the insertion (embedding) processing result is recorded again in the I picture audio position and the I picture start audio sample number (FIG. 27). This series of operation control is mainly executed by the audio information synchronization processing unit of the main MPU unit 30 of FIG.

  Next, a case will be described in which existing audio information is recorded as background music from a digital audio information storage medium such as a CD or MD on the video information after reproduction / editing as described above.

  As a method for over-recording audio information, there are a method for replacing the dummy pack of FIGS. 24 and 25 with an audio pack, and a method for re-encoding audio information to be over-recorded.

  By the way, the audio information sampling frequency (32 kHz or 44.1 kHz) may be different from the audio information sampling frequency (48 kHz or 96 kHz) in the recorded video information. Further, although the nominal frequency is the same, the frequency fluctuation (frequency fluctuation) of the crystal oscillator that generates the reference frequency is usually about ± 0.1%. Therefore, when digital dubbing of digital audio information is performed, recording is performed at different reference frequencies. For this reason, when reproduction is performed at the frequency of the audio information recorded from the beginning, a synchronization error occurs.

  In order to prevent this problem, in the present invention, the number of audio samples for each VOBU with respect to audio information digitally dubbed as an option can be recorded in the management area (control information DA21 in FIG. 18).

  That is, as shown in audio synchronization information flags # 1, # 2,... In FIG. 27, a flag is set as to whether or not audio synchronization data is recorded for each audio stream number. Represents the number of audio samples for each VOBU in 2 bytes using the audio synchronization information of FIG.

  This audio synchronization information can be recorded as follows, for example.

  First, the audio information to be overlaid is converted into audio packs of 2048 bytes by the formatter 56 in FIG. At this time, the required time for each VOBU of the corresponding video information is notified from the audio information synchronization processing unit in the main MPU unit 30 of FIG. Based on the time information, the formatter 56 returns the number of audio samples for each VOBU to the audio information synchronization processing unit.

  Then, the audio pack containing the audio information to be overlaid is replaced with a dummy pack, thereby completing the video object DA22.

  Thereafter, based on the number of audio samples for each VOBU returned from the formatter 56 to the main MPU unit 30, information necessary for audio synchronization information on the disk 10 is recorded by the audio information synchronization processing unit.

  At the time of reproduction, the audio information synchronization processing unit of the main MPU unit 30 reads the audio synchronization information on the disk 10 and sends the number of audio samples for each VOBU to the reference clock generation unit 61 in the form of “audio synchronization signal A-SYNC”. . The reference clock generator 61 generates a reference clock having a frequency (synchronized / locked) with the information (A-SYNC), and the audio decoder 68 synchronizes with the video information according to the frequency of the reference clock. The audio information inserted later (audio information to be overlaid) is reproduced.

  As described above, it is possible to perform audio reproduction without synchronizing with video information.

  In the above description, the number of audio samples is recorded in units of VOBU. However, the number of audio samples may be recorded in units of cells or video frames.

According to the embodiment described above, the following effects can be obtained:
A) Rearrangement of video information that guarantees synchronization of audio signals is possible;
B) Even when digital audio information generated at a sample frequency different from the original by digital dubbing processing is recorded in a dummy pack after video recording, the synchronized audio information can be reproduced;
c) Even when rearrangement of multi-channel audio information such as AC-3 and mixdown editing from digital sources with different sampling frequencies are performed, synchronization between channels can be guaranteed.

  In the above description, the DVD-RAM disk is taken as an example of the information storage medium, but the system of the present invention (particularly the system that performs address management and replacement processing in units of 32 kbyte ECC blocks) is used as the information storage medium. The present invention can also be applied to a system using a magneto-optical disk (MO disk) and a file allocation table (FAT) for a personal computer as a file system.

  In addition to MS Windows, NTFS (New Technology File System), UNIX, etc. can be used as system software (or operating system). Specifically, in the ROM / RAM double-layer disc, necessary system software (one or more types of operating system OS) and application software are embossed and recorded in the ROM layer 17A, and the ROM layer is used during recording / reproduction processing. The OS and directory information of the 17A can be copied to the main memory of the personal computer, and the application software stored in the ROM layer 17A can be used as it is. In that case, the space of the main memory can be expanded as long as the application software is not expanded in the main memory. In such a personal computer system, the RAM layer 17B of the same disk 10 can be used as a large-capacity storage medium for storing work results (such as edited video) by the application software of the ROM layer 17A.

  Furthermore, although the description has been made taking the AV address in units of ECC blocks as the address of the AV data structure, the address management of AV data can also be performed by an address in units of 2048 bytes, for example.

[Effects of the embodiment]
(1) By using the integrated logical sector number LSN, a plurality of recording media (or a plurality of recording layers) having address ranges that are not continuous with each other can be managed in a large-capacity one-volume space.

  (2) If an AV address in ECC block units (32 kbyte units) is adopted for address management, address management of a huge volume space exceeding several tens of gigabytes can be performed using an existing personal computer system. .

  (3) Since rewriting (overwriting) or erasing is possible in units of ECC blocks, it is necessary to tamper with ECC blocks that do not need to be rewritten (peripheral ECC blocks of the ECC block to be rewritten / erased) during rewriting / erasing. Disappear.

  (4) If the number of rewrites of the management area is held for each medium, and if the number of rewrites exceeds a predetermined value, the recording location of the management area is changed, there is a concern that reliability may be reduced due to repeated rewriting. Even in the phase change recording medium, the security of the recorded information in the management area is ensured.

  (5) Since the cell structure of the program chain to be recorded can be appropriately modified in accordance with the performance of the disk drive to be used, seamless continuous reproduction or seamless continuous recording can be performed using any disk drive.

  (6) By providing audio synchronization information, even if after recording is performed from various sound sources (digital sound sources created at various sample rates), the original video signal is synchronized with the after-recorded audio signal. It can prevent shifting.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Information storage medium / Information storage medium (DVD-RAM / DVD-RW, DVD-R, etc. optical disks); 100 ... Disc changer (disc pack); 11 ... Cartridge (for storing DVD-RAM discs); 17 ... Recording layer; 17A ... ROM layer (semi-transparent light reflecting layer); 17B ... RAM layer (phase change recording layer); 19 ... Information reading surface (laser light incident surface); 22 ... disc center hole; 24 ... clamp area; 25 ... information area; 26 ... lead-out area (rewritable); 27 ... lead-in area (rewritable); 28 ... data recording area (volume space; 30 ... main MPU section; 32 ... disk drive (DVD-ROM / DVD-RAM compatible); 34 ... 36. Data processor; 38 ... System time counter (system time clock); 50 ... Encoder unit; 51 ... Frame memory for reduced image; 52 ... Analog-to-digital converter for video; 53 ... Video encoder; 55 ... Sub-picture encoder; 56 ... Formatter; 57 ... Buffer memory; 58 ... Reduced video encoder; 59 ... Memory; 60 ... Decoder unit; 61 ... Reference clock generation unit; 62 ... Separator; Decoder; 65 ... Sub-picture decoder; 66 ... Video processor; 68 ... Audio decoder; 602 ... Video mixer; 604 ... Frame memory; 70 ... Volume / file management information area (rewritable); 73 ... Other recording area (optional) 90: Phase change recording material Layer 90 (Ge2Sb2Te5); 92, 94 ... Zinc sulfide / silicon oxide mixture (ZnS / SiO2); 101 ... Information reproducing unit / information recording / reproducing unit (physical block); 102 ... Application component (application block); 103 ... Information reproduction apparatus (DVD player function) / information recording / reproduction apparatus (DVD recorder function); 111 ... main CPU; 112 ... main memory; 113 ... memory address line; 114 ... memory data line; 115 ... display controller; 117: Video RAM; 118 ... Keyboard controller; 119 ... Keyboard; 120 ... IDE controller; 122 ... CD-ROM drive; 123 ... Parallel I / F controller; 124 ... Printer;
126 ... EISA bus; 127 ... sound board; 128 ... microphone; 129 ... speaker; 130 ... serial I / F controller; 131 ... modem; 132 ... IEEE 1392 board; 133 ... PCI bus; 134 ... MPEG board; 135 ... JPEG board; 136 ... Audio encoder / decoder board; 137 ... Dedicated DSP (digital signal processor); 138 ... SCSI board; 139 ... LAN board; 140 ... DVD-ROM / DVD-RAM compatible drive; 143 ... PCI bus controller; 144 ... EISA bus 145 ... I / O address line; 146 ... I / O data line; 202 ... optical head; 203 ... optical head moving mechanism (feed motor); 204 ... spindle motor; 205 ... semiconductor laser drive circuit; 06: Recording / playback / erasing control waveform generation circuit; 207 ... Modulation circuit; 208 ... ECC encoder; 209 ... Error correction circuit; 210 ... Demodulation circuit; 211 ... PLL circuit; 214 ... Medium (optical disk) rotational speed detection circuit; 215 ... Spindle motor drive circuit; 216 ... Feed motor drive circuit; 217 ... Focus tracking error detection circuit; 218 ... Objective lens actuator drive circuit; 219 ... Semiconductor memory; 221 ... turntable (rotary table); 222 ... data I / O interface; A-SYNC ... audio synchronization signal obtained from the audio information synchronization processor in the MPU 30; DVC ... digital video cassette; DVHS ... digital VHS cassette; PC ... Personal computer Computer; SRC ... sample rate converter.

Claims (5)

AV file,
Cell time information and
In an information storage medium in which PGC information is recorded in different areas,
The AV file includes a video object;
The cell time information includes a time code table associated with the video object;
A cell indicating a playback section in the video object;
A PGC indicating the playback order of the cells is defined,
The same part in the video object can be reproduced repeatedly between different cells in different PGCs,
The PGC information indicates a playback procedure of a cell in the PGC;
The PGC information includes information specifying the cell time information,
Specific block number information or block number information in the video object is included in the time code table,
Information related to whether or not the video object is compressed in MPEG2 is included in the cell time information,
The time code table includes information about a specific unit;
The cell time information includes information related to the number of the specific units,
The information related to whether or not the MPEG2 is compressed is included in a different area from the information related to the number of the specific units,
Information regarding the sampling frequency of the audio signal in the video object is included in the cell time information,
The time code table includes information about a specific unit;
The cell time information includes information related to the number of the specific units,
An information storage medium characterized in that information relating to the sampling frequency is included in a region different from information relating to the number of the specific units. AV file,
Cell time information and
In an information storage medium on which information indicating that PGC information can be recorded in different areas is recorded.
The AV file includes a video object;
The cell time information includes a time code table associated with the video object;
A cell indicating a playback section in the video object;
A PGC indicating the playback order of the cells is defined,
The same part in the video object can be reproduced repeatedly between different cells in different PGCs,
The PGC information indicates a playback procedure of a cell in the PGC;
The PGC information includes information specifying the cell time information,
Specific block number information or block number information in the video object is included in the time code table,
Information related to whether or not the video object is compressed in MPEG2 is included in the cell time information,
The time code table includes information about a specific unit;
The cell time information includes information related to the number of the specific units,
The information related to whether or not the MPEG2 is compressed is included in a different area from the information related to the number of the specific units,
Information regarding the sampling frequency of the audio signal in the video object is included in the cell time information,
The time code table includes information about a specific unit;
The cell time information includes information related to the number of the specific units,
An information storage medium characterized in that information relating to the sampling frequency is included in a region different from information relating to the number of the specific units.   3. An information reproducing method, wherein the video object is reproduced from the information storage medium according to claim 1.   The information recording method according to claim 2, wherein the video object is recorded on the information storage medium. A reading unit that reads the PGC information from the information storage medium according to claim 1 and reads the video object;
A decoder unit for decoding the video object;
An information reproducing apparatus, wherein the same portion in the video object can be reproduced repeatedly between the different cells in different PGCs.

Images