JP2017004580A - Optical disk library apparatus and optical disk device selection method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To efficiently select optical disk devices for use in an optical disk library apparatus for recording and reproducing.SOLUTION: When recording data on an optical disk, each optical disk device 30 records self monitoring information indicating a performance degradation of the optical disk device. An optical disk device monitoring unit 16 acquires the self monitoring information from each optical disk device, evaluates a device state of each optical disk device, determines whether each optical disk is in a reproducible only state or a non-recordable, non-reproducible state, and holds a determination result in a database 18 as device state information. A library control unit 11 selects one optical disk device 30 used for recording or reproducing while referring to the device state information in the database 18.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a technique for managing an apparatus state of each optical disk apparatus in an optical disk library apparatus using a plurality of optical disk apparatuses and selecting an optical disk apparatus to be used in accordance with an application.

  As a management technique of an optical disk apparatus used in an optical disk library apparatus or the like, Patent Document 1 describes that “self-monitoring information is obtained from an optical disk monitoring unit before information is recorded or reproduced on an optical disk by the optical disk apparatus, "Evaluation of the priority of use of the optical disk device based on the usage frequency information or deterioration information included in the monitoring information, and selection of an optical disk device to be used for recording or reproducing information based on the priority of use" is described. Yes. Patent Document 2 states that “the updated loading count, seek operation count, and write block count are compared with preset threshold values, and if any of these exceeds the threshold value, the optical disc drive is used. “Prohibit or write-protect”.

JP 2013-62006 A JP 2006-18955 A

  In an optical disc library apparatus using a plurality of optical disc apparatuses, the number of optical disc apparatuses for recording or reproducing data is limited, so that it is necessary to select and use the optical disc apparatus efficiently.

  According to the technique described in Patent Document 1, since the recording performance and the reproduction performance of the optical disk apparatus are uniformly evaluated, the optical disk apparatus evaluated as degraded is not selected for recording or reproduction. . However, if there is a difference in required performance between recording and playback, such as recording and playback on a hologram medium, it may be used for playback even if it cannot be used for recording. It is desirable to choose.

  In this regard, the description in Patent Document 2 states that “by enabling read-related commands to be processed, for example, the operation as a read-only machine is continued when accessing a drive that has reached the end of its life” (paragraph 0043). Yes. However, not all drives that have reached the end of their life have the performance of read-only machines, and confirmation is required before use.

  An object of the present invention is to evaluate performance degradation of an optical disc apparatus used in an optical disc library apparatus separately for recording and for reproduction, and to select efficiently according to the evaluation result.

  In order to solve the above problems, an optical disc library apparatus according to the present invention includes a library control unit that controls a plurality of optical disc devices, an optical disc device monitoring unit that monitors the status of each optical disc device and holds device status information of each optical disc device, . Each optical disk device has a self-monitoring information recording unit that records self-monitoring information indicating performance degradation of the optical disk device when data is recorded on the optical disk, and the optical disk device monitoring unit performs self-monitoring from each optical disk device. Information is obtained and the device status of each optical disk device is evaluated, whether it is in a recordable / reproducible state, a state in which only playback is possible, or a state in which recording / reproduction is impossible is determined and stored in the database as device state information . The library control unit refers to the device status information of each optical disk device held in the database and selects an optical disk device to be used for recording or reproduction.

  An optical disk apparatus selection method according to the present invention is based on a self-monitoring information acquisition step for acquiring self-monitoring information indicating performance degradation of the optical disk apparatus when the optical disk apparatus records data on the optical disk, and the self-monitoring information. An apparatus state evaluation step for evaluating the apparatus state of the optical disc apparatus and determining whether the recording / reproduction is possible, the reproduction only is possible, or the recording / reproduction is impossible, and the apparatus state information is referred to, Selecting an optical disc device to be used for data recording or reproduction.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to efficiently select each optical disk apparatus mounted on the optical disk library apparatus for recording and reproduction, thereby maximizing the processing function of the library apparatus.

The block diagram which shows the structure of an optical disk library apparatus. 1 is a block diagram showing an internal configuration of an optical disc device. The figure explaining the structure of a pickup and the operation | movement at the time of recording. The figure explaining the structure of a pickup and the operation | movement at the time of reproduction | regeneration. 6 is a flowchart showing basic processing operations of the optical disc library apparatus. 10 is a flowchart showing selection processing (S110) of the optical disc apparatus. 10 is a flowchart showing device state evaluation processing (S150) of the optical disc device. The figure which shows the relationship between the value of a reproduction error rate, and apparatus state evaluation. 10 is a flowchart in which a process for independently evaluating recording performance is added (Example 2). The flowchart which added the process of evaluating reproduction | regeneration performance independently. The flowchart which combines and automatically switches the method of evaluating recording performance and reproducing performance independently. FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing the internal configuration of an optical disc device (Example 3).

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the optical disc library apparatus. The optical disc library apparatus 10 (hereinafter abbreviated as “library apparatus”) mounts a plurality of optical disc apparatuses 30 and records and reproduces data with respect to the optical disc 40 accommodated in the rack 13. The library apparatus 10 is connected to the host computer 20 via the host interface 14, and transmits and receives various commands such as recording and reproduction and recording / reproduction data. The rack 13 includes a plurality of slots, and one optical disk 40 can be stored in each slot. Here, a hologram recording medium capable of recording a large amount of data is used as the optical disc 40.

  The library control unit 11 controls the overall operation of the library apparatus 10. First, the changer mechanism 12 is operated to take out a predetermined optical disk 40 from the rack 13, transport it to a predetermined optical disk device 30, and insert it. Or conversely, the optical disk 40 ejected from the predetermined optical disk device 30 is transported to and stored in a predetermined slot of the rack 13. The library control unit 11 is connected to each optical disk device 30 via the drive interface 15, and transmits various commands such as recording and reproduction and data to be recorded to a predetermined optical disk device 30, and the execution result of the command. Reproduced data and self-monitoring information (reproduction error rate, replacement recording count, etc.) described later are received.

  The optical disk device monitoring unit 16 receives the self-monitoring information from the library control unit 11, evaluates the device state of each optical disk device 30 (whether it can be used for recording and reproduction), and uses the optical disk device as device state information. It is stored and managed in the monitoring database 18. The optical disk device selection unit 17 in the library control unit 11 acquires the device status information of each optical disk device 30 via the optical disk device monitoring unit 16, and selects the optical disk device 30 to be used for data recording / reproduction based thereon. .

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an internal configuration of the optical disc apparatus 30. Recording and reproduction are performed on a hologram medium (optical disc 40) using holography as a recording principle. The optical disc apparatus 30 is connected to the drive interface 15 of the library apparatus 10 via the input / output control circuit 490, and transmits / receives recording / reproduction data and commands.

  The recording data input via the input / output control circuit 490 is subjected to signal processing by the signal generation circuit 486 and sent to the pickup 411. In the pickup 411, signal light is generated by a spatial light modulator, and the signal light and the reference light are incident on the optical disc 40 so as to overlap each other, thereby forming an interference fringe pattern and recording data.

  When data is reproduced from the optical disk 40, reference light having a direction opposite to that at the time of recording is generated by the reproduction reference light optical system 412 and is incident on the optical disk 40. Reproduced light from the optical disk 40 is detected by a photodetector in the pickup 411, subjected to signal processing (binarization, error correction, etc.) by a signal processing circuit 485 to be reproduced data, and output via an input / output control circuit 490. To do.

  The self-monitoring information recording unit 491 records the self-monitoring information of the optical disc device 30 in the drive memory 492 every time an event related to the self-monitoring information occurs. Here, the “self-monitoring information” is information reflecting performance degradation of the optical disk device such as a reproduction error rate and the number of replacement recordings in the recording / reproducing operation of the optical disk device 30. The “reproduction error rate” is an error rate of the reproduction signal before the error correction processing is performed by the signal processing circuit 485, and the “number of alternate recordings” is a reproduction error rate equal to or higher than a threshold in the verification processing of the recorded data. This is the number of re-recording performed in the case of.

  Other constituent circuits / parts in the optical disc apparatus 30 will be described. The controller 489 controls the operation of each unit of the optical disc device 30. The rotation motor 450 rotates the optical disk 40, the disk rotation angle detection optical system 414 detects the rotation angle of the optical disk 40, and the disk rotation motor control circuit 488 uses the rotation angle detection signal to detect the rotation angle of the optical disk 40. Control the rotation angle. The shutter control circuit 487 controls the opening / closing time of the shutter in the pickup 411 and adjusts the irradiation time of the reference light and the signal light irradiated on the optical disc 40.

  The cure optical system 413 generates a light beam used for pre-cure and post-cure of the optical disc 40. The light source drive circuit 482 supplies a predetermined drive current to each light source in the pickup 411, the cure optical system 413, and the disk rotation angle detection optical system 414, and a light beam having a predetermined light amount is emitted from each light source. . The access control circuit 481 performs position control when the pickup 411 and the cure optical system 413 are slid in the radial direction of the optical disc 40. The servo signal generation circuit 483 and the servo control circuit 484 detect and correct the deviation amount of the reference beam angle in the holographic angle multiplex recording.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of the pickup 411 and the operation during recording. The light beam emitted from the light source 301 passes through the collimator lens 302 and enters the shutter 303. When the shutter 303 is open, the light beam passes through the shutter 303 and is then polarized by the optical element 304 such as a half-wave plate so that the light quantity ratio of p-polarized light and s-polarized light becomes a desired ratio. Is then incident on a PBS (polarization beam splitter) prism 305.

  The light beam that has passed through the PBS prism 305 functions as signal light 306, and after the light beam diameter is expanded by the beam expander 308, the light beam passes through the phase mask 309, the relay lens 310, and the PBS prism 311 and enters the spatial light modulator 312. Incident.

  The signal light to which the recording data is added by the spatial light modulator 312 reflects the PBS prism 311 and propagates through the relay lens 313 and the spatial filter 314. Thereafter, the signal light is condensed on the optical disk 40 by the objective lens 315.

  On the other hand, the light beam reflected from the PBS prism 305 functions as reference light 307 and is set by the polarization direction conversion element 316 to a predetermined polarization direction according to recording or reproduction, and then passes through mirrors 317 and 318 and then a galvanometer mirror. 319 is incident. The angle of the galvanometer mirror 319 is adjusted by the actuator 320, and the incident angle of the reference light incident on the optical disc 40 after passing through the lenses 321 and 322 is set to a desired angle.

  Thus, in recording on an optical disk (hologram medium), an interference fringe pattern is formed in the recording medium by causing the signal light and the reference light to enter the optical disk 40 so as to overlap each other, and this pattern is applied to the recording medium. Record information by writing. Further, by changing the incident angle of the reference light incident on the optical disc 40 by the galvanometer mirror 319, recording by angle multiplexing becomes possible.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining the configuration of the pickup 411 and the operation during reproduction. When reproducing recorded data, the reference light is incident on the optical disc 40 as described above, and the light beam transmitted through the optical disc 40 is reflected by the galvano mirror 324 whose angle is adjusted by the actuator 323, thereby reproducing the phase conjugate. A reference beam is generated. The actuator 323 and the galvanometer mirror 324 correspond to the reproduction reference light optical system 412.

  Reproduction light obtained by irradiating the reproduction reference light onto the optical disk 40 propagates through the objective lens 315, the relay lens 313, and the spatial filter 314. Thereafter, the reproduction light passes through the PBS prism 311 and enters the photodetector 325 to reproduce the recorded data. As the photodetector 325, an image sensor such as a CMOS image sensor or a CCD image sensor is used.

  Comparing the recording operation and the reproducing operation described above, both the optical path of the signal light 306 and the optical path of the reference light 307 are used during recording, but the processing is performed without using a part of the optical path of the signal light 306 during reproduction. Do. Specifically, the beam expander 308, the phase mask 309, the relay lens 310, the spatial light modulator 312 and the like are not used. In this way, there is a difference in the optical paths used for recording and reproduction. For example, the spatial light modulator 312 serves to add recording data to the signal light 306 for recording. However, when dust adheres to the surface of the spatial light modulator 312, the information on the dust adhesion location is lost and the data Since the reliability is greatly impaired, the recording performance is likely to deteriorate. On the other hand, during reproduction, even if dust adheres to the surface of the spatial light modulator 312, the reproduction reference light 307 is not affected, so that data can be reproduced normally. As described above, in recording and reproduction using a hologram medium, the degree of deterioration allowed for recording and reproduction differs, and in order to use the optical disc apparatus efficiently, the apparatus can be selected according to the application. is necessary.

  Hereinafter, a processing operation for efficiently selecting an optical disk device to be used in the optical disk library apparatus 10 will be described.

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the basic processing operation of the optical disc library apparatus. When the library control unit 11 receives a recording (or reproduction) command issued from the host computer 20 (S100), the optical disk device 30 used for executing recording (or reproduction) processing by the optical disk device selection unit 17 is performed. Is selected (S110). At that time, with reference to the apparatus status information stored in the optical disk apparatus monitoring database 18 via the optical disk apparatus monitoring unit 16, whether the optical disk apparatus 30 satisfies the conditions for use for recording or does not satisfy the recording conditions Is selected based on whether it satisfies the conditions for use for reproduction. Details of the optical disk device selection process (S110) and device status information will be described later.

  When the optical disk device 30 to be used is selected, the changer mechanism 12 is operated to take out a predetermined optical disk 40 from the rack 13, and it is transported to and inserted into the selected optical disk device 30 (S120). Then, a recording (or reproduction) command issued from the host computer 20 is executed (S130).

  When the optical disk device 30 performs data recording in S130, the controller 489 generates self-monitoring information of the optical disk device 30 every time an arbitrary recording unit (for example, a book unit in hologram recording) is completed, and the self-monitoring information. Recording is performed in the drive memory 492 via the recording unit 491 (S140). Since the recording command in this embodiment is accompanied by a verify process after data recording, the self-monitoring information when data is recorded can include the reproduction error rate and the number of alternate recordings. The drive memory 492 stores all self-monitoring information from the start to the end of recording.

  After executing the data recording (or reproduction) process, the library apparatus 10 acquires the self-monitoring information from the used optical disk apparatus 30, evaluates the apparatus state, and updates the apparatus state information (S150). That is, the self-monitoring information recorded in the drive memory 492 of the optical disk device is sent to the optical disk device monitoring unit 16 to evaluate the device state, and stored (updated) in the optical disk device monitoring database 18 as device state information. Details of the device state evaluation process (S150) of the optical disk device will be described later.

  The optical disk 40 that has undergone the recording (or reproduction) process is ejected from the optical disk device 30, transported by the changer mechanism 12, and stored in a predetermined slot of the rack 13 (S160).

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the selection process (S110) of the optical disc apparatus in FIG. The optical disk device selection unit 17 acquires device status information of each optical disk device 30 in the optical disk device monitoring database 18 via the optical disk device monitoring unit 16 (S111). The device state information is a state (D1) in which the optical disc apparatus is recordable / reproducible, a state (D2) in which only reproduction is possible (reproduction only), or a state (D3) in which neither recording nor reproduction is possible. It is information indicating whether or not.

  If the command issued in S100 of FIG. 5 is recording (S112), a recordable / reproducible optical disk device D1 is selected (S113). If the command issued in S100 is playback (S112), it is determined whether or not there is a playback-only optical disk device D2 (S114). If there is a reproduction-only device, the reproduction-only optical disk device D2 is selected (S115), and if there is no reproduction-only device (including the case where the reproduction-only device is already used), the recording / reproducing optical disk device D1 is selected ( S113). Thus, the selection process of the optical disk device is completed, and the process proceeds to S120 in FIG.

  FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the apparatus state evaluation process (S150) of the optical disk apparatus in FIG.

  When the self-monitoring information after data recording in the optical disk device 30 is generated in S140 of FIG. 5, the library control unit 11 acquires the self-monitoring information via the drive interface 15 (S151), and the optical disk device monitoring unit 16 performs the optical disk monitoring. The device state of the device 30 is evaluated (S152 and later). Here, a case where the apparatus state of the optical disk apparatus 30 is evaluated using the reproduction error rate as the self-monitoring information will be described. In the library device 10, in order to ensure the reliability of the recorded data, it is necessary that the reproduction error rate of the data recorded by the verify process is equal to or less than an allowable value (threshold value).

  FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the relationship between the value of the reproduction error rate and the apparatus state evaluation. Since the library apparatus 10 uses a plurality of optical disk apparatuses 30 to record information, the threshold value Th1 of the reproduction error rate in the verify process is set in consideration of individual differences for each apparatus. Specifically, the reproduction error rate threshold Th1 for the verify process is determined so that data can be reproduced by all the optical disk devices 30. Separately from this, a reproduction error rate threshold Th2 (error state that can be corrected by performing error correction processing), which is a limit of data reproduction, is determined. The threshold value Th2 is higher than the threshold value Th1.

  In the evaluation of the device state, the reproduction error rate E of the device is compared with two threshold values Th1 and Th2. First, the error rate E is compared with the threshold value Th1 for verification processing (S152). If the error rate E is smaller than Th1, it is determined that the optical disk device D1 is a recordable / reproducible optical disc device D1 that satisfies the recording and reproducing conditions (S153). .

  When the error rate E is larger than the verify processing threshold Th1, it is compared with the data reproduction limit threshold Th2 (S154). If it is smaller than Th2, it is determined that the reproduction-only device D2 does not satisfy the recording condition but satisfies the reproducing condition (S155). If it is larger than Th2, it is determined that the device D3 cannot record / reproduce (S156).

  Then, the optical disk device monitoring unit 16 stores the determined device state evaluation result in the optical disk device monitoring database 18 and updates the device state information (S157). Note that the value of the reproduction error rate used for the evaluation may be stored in the optical disc apparatus monitoring database 18. When the optical disk device is selected next time, the updated device status information can be used.

  Here, the reproduction error rate is used as the self-monitoring information. However, the number of replacement recordings may be included in the evaluation condition in consideration of the recording transfer rate of the optical disc apparatus 30. When adding the number of replacement recordings as a condition, the number of replacement recordings executed when recording a predetermined amount of data is taken up. According to this evaluation, it is possible to select the optical disc apparatus 30 that can secure a stable recording transfer rate with a small number of alternate recordings.

  As described above, according to the first embodiment, the apparatus state is evaluated based on the self-monitoring information, each optical disk apparatus mounted on the optical disk library apparatus is efficiently selected for recording and reproduction, and the library apparatus It is possible to maximize the processing function.

  In Example 1, the apparatus state of the optical disk apparatus was evaluated based on self-monitoring information at the time of data recording. As a result, even if the optical disc apparatus has been determined not to satisfy the recording conditions or the reproducing conditions, it cannot be said that the recording performance has been correctly evaluated if the used optical disc is defective. . Or, when reproducing an optical disc in which data is not correctly recorded, it cannot be said that the reproduction performance is correctly evaluated. Therefore, in the second embodiment, a method for re-evaluating the recording performance and the reproduction performance of the optical disc apparatus independently using the recording test disc or the reproduction test disc without being affected by the poor performance of the optical disc will be described.

  The configurations of the optical disc library apparatus 10 and the optical disc apparatus 30 are the same as those in the first embodiment, and a description thereof will be omitted. Further, the basic processing operation of the optical disc library apparatus and the selection processing of the optical disc apparatus are the same as those in the first embodiment (FIGS. 5 and 6), and description thereof is omitted.

  FIG. 9 is a flowchart in which a step of independently re-evaluating the recording performance is added. That is, the recording performance is independently evaluated using a recording test disk. The recording test disk 40r is an optical disk that is guaranteed to have a predetermined recording quality (reproduction error rate) when test data is recorded by an optical disk device that satisfies the recording conditions. The recording test disk 40 r is stored in the rack 13.

  Steps S151 to S153 and S155 to S157 are the same as in FIG. 7, and steps S170 to S173 for independently evaluating the recording performance are added thereto. In S151 to S153, the library control unit 11 acquires the self-monitoring information from the optical disc device 30, and compares the error rate E with the verification processing threshold Th1. If it is smaller than Th1, it is determined that the optical disc device D1 is recordable / reproducible.

  If it is determined in S152 that the error rate E is larger than the verification processing threshold Th1, the recording test disk 40r is loaded in the optical disk apparatus (S170). The changer mechanism 12 takes out the recording test disk 40r from the rack 13 and inserts it into the optical disk apparatus.

  Test data is recorded on the recording test disk 40r by the optical disk apparatus, and a reproduction error rate Er (self-monitoring information) when the recorded data is verified is acquired (S171). The obtained error rate Er is compared with the threshold value Th1 for verification processing (S172). This threshold value Th1 is the same as the threshold value Th1 in FIGS. If the error rate E1 is smaller than Th1, it is determined that the optical disk apparatus D1 is a recordable / reproducible optical disk apparatus D1 that satisfies the recording and reproducing conditions (S153).

  When the error rate E1 is larger than Th1, the error rate Er is compared with the threshold value Th2 of the data reproduction limit (S173). This threshold value Th2 is the same as the threshold value Th2 in FIGS. If the error rate Er is smaller than Th2, it is determined that the reproduction-only device D2 does not satisfy the recording conditions but satisfies the reproduction conditions (S155). If it is greater than Th2, it is determined that the device D3 is incapable of recording / reproducing (S156).

  Then, the optical disk device monitoring unit 16 stores the determined device state evaluation result in the optical disk device monitoring database 18 and updates the device state information (S157).

  As described above, the reproduction error rate Er when using the recording test disk 40r is not affected by the performance defect of the optical disk, and therefore the recording performance of the optical disk apparatus is more accurately evaluated. That is, the obtained error rate Er is expected to be lower than the error rate E of the first embodiment (FIG. 7). As a result, even if the device is determined as the reproduction-only device D2 (S155) in the determination of the first embodiment (FIG. 7), the device is rescued as the recording / reproducing device D1 (S153) or becomes the recording / reproducing impossible D3 (S156). Even the other device can be rescued as a reproduction-only device D2 (S155).

  FIG. 10 is a flowchart in which a step of independently re-evaluating the reproduction performance is added. That is, the reproduction performance is independently evaluated using a reproduction test disk. The reproduction test disk 40p is an optical disk in which reproduction evaluation test data is written in a predetermined area and a predetermined reproduction quality is guaranteed. A test disk 40p for reproduction is also stored in the rack 13.

  Steps S151 to S153 and S155 to S157 are the same as in FIG. 7, and steps S180 to S182 for independently evaluating the reproduction performance are added thereto. In S151 to S153, the library control unit 11 acquires the self-monitoring information from the optical disc device 30, and compares the error rate E with the verification processing threshold Th1. If it is smaller than Th1, it is determined that the optical disc device D1 is recordable / reproducible.

  When the error rate E is larger than the verify processing threshold Th1 in the determination of S152, the reproduction test disk 40p is mounted on the optical disk device (S180). The changer mechanism 12 takes out the reproduction test disk 40p from the rack 13 and inserts it into the optical disk apparatus.

  Test data is reproduced from the reproduction test disk 40p by the optical disk device, and the reproduction error rate Ep (self-monitoring information) at that time is acquired (S181). The obtained error rate Ep is compared with the threshold value Th2 of the data reproduction limit (S182). This threshold value Th2 is the same as the threshold value Th2 in FIGS. If the error rate Ep is smaller than Th2, it is determined that the read-only device D2 satisfies the reproduction conditions but does not satisfy the recording conditions (S155). If it is greater than Th2, it is determined that the device D3 is incapable of recording / reproducing (S156).

  Then, the optical disk device monitoring unit 16 stores the determined device state evaluation result in the optical disk device monitoring database 18 and updates the device state information (S157).

  As described above, by using the reproduction test disk 40p, the error rate Ep becomes a value obtained by more accurately evaluating the reproduction performance of the optical disk apparatus. That is, since it is not affected by the deterioration of the recording performance of the optical disc apparatus, the obtained error rate Ep is expected to be lower than that in the case of the first embodiment (FIG. 7). As a result, even an apparatus that has been determined to be incapable of recording / reproducing (S156) in the determination of the first embodiment (FIG. 7) can be rescued as being usable only for reproduction (S155).

  Further, a method of evaluating by combining the reevaluation method of the recording performance of FIG. 9 and the reevaluation method of the reproduction performance of FIG. 10 is also possible.

  FIG. 11 is a flowchart of automatic switching by combining methods for independently evaluating recording performance and reproduction performance. A plurality of optical disk devices 30 are mounted on the optical disk library device 10. In order to maintain the target recording or reproducing performance, a threshold is set for the effective number of optical disk devices that can be recorded or reproduced. It is necessary to secure. Therefore, the current effective number of devices capable of recording or reproduction is compared with a threshold value, and the evaluation method is switched.

  If it is determined in S152 that the optical disc apparatus does not satisfy the recording conditions, the number of apparatuses that are currently capable of recording or reproduction is confirmed (S190). If the number of valid devices is larger than a threshold (for example, 7 out of 10 are valid device thresholds), it is determined that the performance can be maintained at present, and the device status information is updated without re-evaluation. This is performed (S157).

  On the other hand, if the number of effective devices is smaller than the threshold value, it is determined that the performance of the library device 10 has deteriorated, and the performance of the optical disk device determined not to be an effective device is re-evaluated. First, a test disk 40r for recording is mounted, test data is recorded, and a reproduction error rate Er (self-monitoring information) is acquired (S170, S171). The error rate Er is compared with the threshold value Th1 for verification processing (S172). If the error rate Er is smaller than Th1, it is determined that the optical disk device D1 is recordable / reproducible (S153).

  When the error rate E1 is larger than Th1, the reproduction test disk 40p is loaded to reproduce the test data, and the reproduction error rate Ep (self-monitoring information) is acquired (S180, S181). The error rate Ep is compared with the threshold value Th2 of the data reproduction limit (S182), and if it is smaller than Th2, it is determined that the apparatus is a reproduction-only device D2 (S155). If it is larger than Th2, it is determined that the device D3 cannot record / reproduce (S156).

  The optical disk device monitoring unit 16 stores the determined device state evaluation result in the optical disk device monitoring database 18 and updates the device state information (S157).

  According to this method, it is possible to maintain the target performance of the library apparatus 10 and to efficiently re-evaluate the performance of the optical disk apparatus when the performance is expected to decrease. In the confirmation of the number of effective devices in S190, the threshold of the effective number is divided for recording and reproduction, and either re-evaluation for recording or re-evaluation for reproduction is performed according to the comparison result. May be.

  Further, when the reproduction-only device is determined (S155) and the recording-unreproducible device is determined (S156), the library control unit 11 sends the reproduction-only device D2 or recording / reproduction failure to the host computer 20 via the host interface 14. By notifying the existence of the possible device D3, it is possible to accurately determine whether or not the maintenance of the library device 10 is necessary.

  As described above, according to the second embodiment, even when an optical disk is defective, the apparatus state can be more accurately evaluated based on the self-monitoring information, and the optical disk apparatus to be used can be efficiently selected. . As a result, the processing function of the optical disc library apparatus 10 can be further improved.

  In the first and second embodiments, the optical disk device monitoring unit 16 of the optical disk library device 10 acquires the self-monitoring information of each optical disk device 30 and evaluates the device state. Instead, in the third embodiment, each optical disk device 30 itself evaluates the state of the own device based on the self-monitoring information, and transmits the evaluation result (device state information) to the library control unit 11. As a result, the optical disk library apparatus 10 does not require the optical disk apparatus monitoring unit 16 for evaluating the apparatus state, and is configured to directly store the apparatus state information received from each optical disk apparatus 30 in the optical disk apparatus monitoring database 18.

  FIG. 12 is a block diagram illustrating an internal configuration of the optical disc device 30 according to the third embodiment. As a configuration in which the optical disk device state evaluation unit 493 is added to the configuration of the optical disk device 30 of the first embodiment (FIG. 2), the optical disk device state evaluation unit 493 evaluates the device state of the optical disk device 30. The basic processing operation of the optical disc library apparatus 10 and the selection processing of the optical disc apparatus 30 are the same as those in the first embodiment (FIGS. 5 and 6), and the description thereof is omitted.

  The apparatus state evaluation method of the optical disk apparatus in the third embodiment is basically the same as the flowchart of the first embodiment (FIG. 7), and the changing process will be described.

  When the self-monitoring information (reproduction error rate) after data recording is generated in the optical disk device 30, the optical disk device state evaluation unit 493 reads the self-monitoring information recorded in the drive memory 492 (S151), and the optical disk device 30 Is evaluated (S152, S154). That is, the reproduction error rate E is compared with the threshold value Th1 for verify processing and the data reproduction limit threshold Th2, and the optical disk device D1 (S153) capable of recording / reproduction, the reproduction-only device D2 (S155), and the device D3 (S156) impossible to record / reproduce. ) These evaluation results are sent to the library control unit 11 via the drive interface 15, and the apparatus status information stored in the optical disk apparatus monitoring database 18 is updated (S157).

  According to this, when the optical disk device selection unit 17 selects the next optical disk device (S110), the updated device state information stored in the optical disk device monitoring database 18 can be used similarly. Here, the reproduction error rate is used as the self-monitoring information, but the number of replacement recordings may be included in the condition.

  Also according to the third embodiment, each optical disk device mounted on the optical disk library device can be efficiently selected for recording and reproduction, and the processing function of the library device can be maximized. In the third embodiment, fine evaluation can be performed by uniquely setting the evaluation condition (threshold value) of the apparatus state for each optical disc apparatus as necessary.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and includes various modifications. For example, the above-described embodiments have been described in detail for easy understanding of the present invention, and are not necessarily limited to those having all the configurations described. It is also possible to add the configuration of another embodiment to the configuration of one embodiment. Further, it is possible to add, delete, and replace other configurations for a part of each embodiment.

  In addition, each of the above-described configurations may be configured such that some or all of them are configured by hardware, or are implemented by executing a program by a processor. Further, the control lines and information lines indicate what is considered necessary for the explanation, and not all the control lines and information lines on the product are necessarily shown. In practice, it can be considered that almost all the components are connected to each other.

  10: Optical disk library apparatus, 11: Library control section, 12: Changer mechanism, 16: Optical disk apparatus monitoring section, 17: Optical disk apparatus selection section, 18: Optical disk apparatus monitoring database, 30: Optical disk apparatus, 40: Optical disk, 489: Controller 491: Self-monitoring information recording unit, 492: Drive memory, 493: Optical disk apparatus state evaluation unit.

Claims (11)

In an optical disc library apparatus that has a plurality of optical disc apparatuses and records and reproduces data on an optical disc,
A library controller for controlling the plurality of optical disk devices;
An optical disc device monitoring unit that monitors the status of each optical disc device and holds device status information of each optical disc device,
Each optical disc device has a self-monitoring information recording unit that records self-monitoring information indicating performance degradation of the optical disc device when data is recorded on the optical disc,
The optical disc device monitoring unit obtains the self-monitoring information from each optical disc device and evaluates the device status of each optical disc device, whether it is in a recordable / reproducible state, a reproducible state, or a recording / reproducing state. It is determined whether it is in a possible state and stored in the database as the device state information,
The optical disc library apparatus, wherein the library control unit selects an optical disc apparatus to be used for recording or reproduction with reference to the apparatus status information of each optical disc apparatus held in the database. The optical disc library apparatus according to claim 1,
The optical disk device monitoring unit re-evaluates the device state of the optical disk device using self-monitoring information indicating performance degradation when recording test data on a recording test disk whose recording quality is guaranteed by the optical disk device. ,
The library control unit selects an optical disk device to be used for recording with reference to the reevaluated device status information. The optical disc library apparatus according to claim 1,
The optical disk device monitoring unit reevaluates the device state of the optical disk device using self-monitoring information indicating performance degradation when the test data is reproduced from a reproduction test disk whose reproduction quality is guaranteed by the optical disk device. ,
The library control unit selects an optical disk device to be used for reproduction with reference to the reevaluated device status information. The optical disc library apparatus according to claim 1,
The library controller, when reproducing data, preferentially selects the optical disc apparatus determined to be in a state where only reproduction is possible. The optical disc library apparatus according to claim 1,
The optical disc library apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the self-monitoring information includes a reproduction error rate at the time of data recording / reproduction or the number of alternate recordings. The optical disc library apparatus according to claim 1,
The optical disk library apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each of the optical disk apparatuses has a difference in an optical path used when recording and reproduction are performed on the optical disk. In an optical disc library apparatus that has a plurality of optical disc apparatuses and records and reproduces data on an optical disc,
A library control unit for controlling the plurality of optical disk devices;
Each optical disk device acquires self-monitoring information indicating performance degradation of the optical disk device when data is recorded on the optical disk, evaluates the device state of the optical disk device, and is in a recordable / reproducible state, An optical disk apparatus state evaluation unit for determining whether the reproduction is possible or the recording / reproduction is impossible;
The optical disk library apparatus, wherein the library control unit selects an optical disk apparatus to be used for recording or reproduction with reference to apparatus state information evaluated by each of the optical disk apparatuses. A method of selecting an optical disk device to be used for data recording / reproduction in an optical disk library device equipped with a plurality of optical disk devices,
A self-monitoring information acquisition step for acquiring self-monitoring information indicating performance degradation of the optical disc device when the optical disc device records data on the optical disc;
A device state evaluation step for evaluating the device state of the optical disc device based on the self-monitoring information, and determining whether the recording / playback state, the playback-only state, or the recording / playback state is impossible;
Selecting an optical disk device to be used for data recording or reproduction with reference to the device status information; and
A method for selecting an optical disc apparatus, comprising: A method for selecting an optical disc device according to claim 8,
Re-evaluating the apparatus state of the optical disk apparatus using self-monitoring information indicating performance degradation when recording test data on a recording test disk whose recording quality is guaranteed by the optical disk apparatus;
A method of selecting an optical disk device, wherein the optical disk device to be used for recording is selected with reference to the reevaluated device status information. A method for selecting an optical disc device according to claim 8,
Re-evaluating the apparatus state of the optical disk apparatus using self-monitoring information indicating performance degradation when reproducing test data from a reproduction test disk whose reproduction quality is guaranteed by the optical disk apparatus;
A method of selecting an optical disk device, wherein an optical disk device to be used for reproduction is selected with reference to the reevaluated device status information. A method for selecting an optical disc device according to claim 8,
A method of selecting an optical disc apparatus, wherein when reproducing data, the optical disc apparatus determined to be in a state where only reproduction is possible is preferentially selected.

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