JP3272926B2 - Information storage control device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information storage control apparatus for repeatedly recording and reproducing moving images and the like on an optical disk or the like by using a recording / reproducing apparatus mainly for a variable medium.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, with the development of multimedia that handles various types of data such as moving images, still images, sounds, and characters on a computer in a complex manner, the amount of data to be handled has become enormous. Since the memory temporarily stored for the processing of such data also requires a large capacity,
Instead, a recording medium such as an optical disk may be used. The recording medium used for recording such information deteriorates as it is used, due to the growth and growth of defects, aging due to a long-term environment due to temperature and humidity, and physical changes due to repeated recording. This causes the reliability of data recorded on the medium to decrease.

In order to solve such a problem, a method of detecting medium deterioration in advance in a recording / reproducing apparatus for a medium such as an optical disk has been devised. As a first method, as described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 1-182974, the amount of error correction of a medium reproduction signal is compared with a preset limit value, and when the limit value is exceeded, a recording / reproducing apparatus is used. A warning signal is generated to the subsequent processing system.

As a second method, there is generally known a method of performing exchange with write-and-verify. That is, the same area recorded immediately after the data is recorded is reproduced, and it is checked whether the error correction amount exceeds the limit value. If the error correction amount exceeds the limit value, the data is rewritten to the exchange area.

A third method is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 60-16 / 1985.
As described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7128, the number of erasures of a medium is recorded on a medium, and the number of erasures is controlled so that erasure is not performed more than a predetermined number of times.

[0006]

However, in such a first method, it is necessary for the external processing system (upper processing system) of the recording / reproducing apparatus to take measures for ensuring the reliability of the actual recorded data. is there. In particular, when recording continuous stream data such as a moving image, a specific method for securing the reliability of the recorded data with respect to deterioration of the characteristics of the medium due to repeated recording has been a problem.

Further, in the second method, reproduction of a recording signal from a medium and error correction code (ECC) are performed as a verify operation of the same area as recording.
Decoding operation (but not data transfer operation to the host device), and if the error correction amount exceeds the reference value and the recording area needs to be replaced, the seek operation to the replacement area must be performed. Accordingly, there is a problem in that the recording performance is lowered, that is, the transfer rate of execution data of the recording / reproducing apparatus is lowered.

In the third method, there is no mention of a method of setting the upper limit of the predetermined number of erasures. Regardless, the use of the medium is restricted early, and there is a problem in that the use of the medium is terminated before the performance of repeated use of the medium can be sufficiently obtained.

The present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problem of the prior art. In order to temporarily record an enormous amount of data, a case where recording is repeatedly performed in the same area of a medium by using a recording / reproducing apparatus. In order to provide an excellent information storage control device that can slightly reduce the execution transfer rate of the recording / reproducing device, secure the reliability of the recorded data, and use the recording durability limit of the medium. And

[0010]

In order to achieve this object, the present invention comprises means for initiating a repetitive recording operation on the same area on a medium and recording data inserted between the repetitive recording operations. Means for initiating an operation for notifying that the error correction amount has exceeded the set excess determination reference value,
Means for estimating the number of recordable times from an error correction amount indicating that the excess judgment reference value has been exceeded and a judgment reference value indicating the setting of the number of recordable times within the same range, and a means for counting the number of times of recording repeatedly performed Means for judging that the number of recordings has reached the number of recordable times, means for issuing a signal for stopping the use of the recording range on the medium when it is determined that the recording has been reached, and setting of the number of recordable times within the same range on the medium And means for reading the recorded judgment reference value.

According to the above arrangement, each time the recording operation of the same area on the medium is repeatedly performed, the recording area is sequentially moved from the start end to the end of the area divided at a constant data amount interval, so that the recording operation is performed in the middle of the recording operation. Can be notified of the error correction amount of the recording data.

Further, the number of recordable times can be obtained from the error correction amount information and a determination reference value indicating the setting of the number of recordable times within the same range, and the recording range can be used up to the recordable number of times.

Further, by recording a determination reference value indicating information on the number of recordable times in the same range on a medium, it is possible to attach information indicating a state of deterioration to the medium.

[0014]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an information storage control device according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a unit for activating recording repeatedly in a recording range that is the same range on a medium as a set of recording operations, and a recording operation activation circuit that issues a recording command a. Means for starting an operation of notifying an excess determination value c indicating that the error correction amount of the recording data has exceeded the excess determination reference value in one of the areas, and an error correction amount notification circuit for issuing a notification command b. Is a means for predicting and estimating the number of recordable times of the medium from the excess determination value c and the determination reference value d recorded on the medium, and reading out the recorded determination reference value d. The circuit 4 is a recording frequency counting circuit which is a means for counting the number of recordings in which repetitive recording is performed. The circuit 5 determines whether or not the number of recordings has reached the recordable number, and is updated according to the conditions. Judgment criteria Reference numeral 6 is a comparison determination circuit which is a means for writing h to the medium, and reference numeral 6 is a stop signal generation circuit which is a means for displaying the output of the stop signal i for stopping the writing to the recording range on the medium and displaying the stop of the writing of the recording range. .

In the information storage control device configured as described above, when the recording data is repeatedly recorded in the same area on the medium using the recording / reproducing device, first, the recording operation starting circuit 1 first operates the recording operation starting circuit 1 on the medium in the recording / reproducing device. Repeat over the recording range of
A recording command a for recording stream data is issued. In addition, the error correction amount notification circuit 2 outputs the recording command a
Verifying the recording data with respect to a part of the recording data recorded on the medium by the recording / reproducing apparatus, and an excess determination value indicating that the error correction amount obtained thereby exceeds the excess determination reference value. Issue a notification command b for notifying c.

Here, the operation sequence of the recording operation starting circuit 1 and the error correction amount notifying circuit 2 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an operation sequence of the repetitive recording according to the present embodiment. In FIG. 2, the entire horizontal axis represents the recording range in which data is repeatedly recorded,
The scale is one area obtained by dividing the recording range into N, W is a recording operation executed by the recording / reproducing apparatus by a recording command a issued by the recording operation starting circuit 1, and R is a notification command b issued by the error correction amount notification circuit 2. Shows a verify operation performed by the recording / reproducing apparatus.

At the beginning of the repetitive recording in the recording range on the medium, that is, at the 0th time, the recording operation start circuit 1 issues a recording command a for performing the recording operation of the stream data over the entire recording range. After the recording has been completed up to the end of the recording range,
The notifying command b is issued from the error correction amount notifying circuit 2 to the first one area to perform a verify operation, and subsequently, the recording command a is issued from the recording operation starting circuit 1 to the next area and thereafter to execute the recording operation. Do. Further, in the second recording after the first recording is completed, a recording command a for recording stream data from the beginning of the recording range to the area where the verify operation was performed in the first recording is issued,
The notification command b is issued to the next one area that follows, and the recording command a is issued to the subsequent area.

Similarly, each time the recording is repeatedly performed, the area for performing the verify operation is sequentially moved backward by the notification command b, and the operation is performed until the Nth time the verify operation of the last area of the recording range is completed. Further, after finishing the Nth time, the operations from the first time onward are repeated in the same manner as described above. In this manner, by controlling the timing at which the recording command a for performing repetitive recording and the notification command b for performing the verify operation are generated, the return from the end of the recording range to the start of the recording range is required for all areas within the recording range. It is possible to eliminate the occurrence of an extra number of seeks than the number of seeks to be performed, and to execute the verify operation in the middle of the recording operation in the recording range where repetitive recording is performed.

From the above, the error correction amount notification circuit 2
, The recording / reproducing apparatus starts and executes the operation of verifying the area, that is, the operation of reproducing the recorded data from the medium and demodulating the error correction code. As a result, in the entire recording range, the recording state of the recording data recorded immediately before the repetitive recording can be confirmed by the verify operation.
The above-described operation of repeatedly performing recording in the same area on the medium is performed by the recording operation starting circuit 1 and the error correction notification circuit 2.

Next, in a verify operation performed in the middle of the repetitive recording operation, the recording / reproducing apparatus sets the error correction amount, which is the number of error bytes corrected by the error correction code, in a recording / reproducing apparatus. When the value exceeds the value, the error correction amount is notified to the recordable number estimation circuit 3 as an excess determination value c indicating that the value has been exceeded. Further, if there is a determination reference value d recorded on the medium, the recording / reproducing apparatus notifies the recording possible number estimation circuit 3 together.

The number-of-recordable-times estimation circuit 3 calculates an excess determination value c.
From the recorded judgment reference value d, the number of recordable times e for each area of the medium in the recording / reproducing apparatus is estimated based on a search table shown in (Table 1).

[0022]

[Table 1]

Table 1 shows one search table used in the method of estimating the number of recordable times according to the present embodiment. The search table is used for each judgment criterion value. It has a search table that is set in consideration of the accuracy of the search. In addition, the number of recordable times in the search table takes into account variations such as individual differences of the medium and individual differences of the recording / reproducing apparatus, and the recordable recording is performed after the occurrence of the excess determination value c. It shows the minimum value. The recordable number estimation circuit 3 selects a search table from the criterion values d recorded on the medium, and can record data by using an excess criterion value c indicating that an excess criterion value preset in the recording / reproducing apparatus has been exceeded as a key. The number of times e is read from the search table and transmitted to the comparison and determination circuit 5.

On the other hand, the recording operation starting circuit 1 outputs a recording number pulse f each time recording is repeatedly performed in the same range once. After the number-of-recordable times estimation circuit 3 outputs the number-of-recordable times e, the number-of-recordings counting circuit 4 sets the number-of-recording-pulses f
Is started, and the number of times of recording g is transmitted to the comparison determination circuit 5. The comparison determination circuit 5 calculates the recordable number e and the record number g.
When the number of recordings g counted each time recording is repeated reaches the number of recordable times e, a signal indicating the arrival is sent to the stop signal generation circuit 6. The stop signal generating circuit 6 generates a stop signal i for stopping the recording in the recording range where the recording is being performed repeatedly.

Further, when the interruption or the termination of the repetitive recording for the current recording range occurs, for example, when the stop signal i is generated or the recording medium is replaced, the comparison and judgment circuit 5 is executed.
Is recorded and stored in the medium as a new determination reference value h obtained from the number of recordings g. As a result, even in a variable medium, the state of deterioration can be left. Further, by specifying a recording range used for repeated recording and prohibiting data recording there, the medium can be used as a normal medium. Also, by using the stop signal i, stream data to be recorded after the stop signal i is generated can be recorded in a new recording range on the current medium in which the error correction amount does not exceed the excess determination reference value, It is possible to suppress errors in the recorded data by a method such as a display that prompts replacement of the current medium.

As described above, according to the embodiment of the present invention, the recording command a for instructing the repetitive recording of the recording range by the recording operation starting circuit 1 and the error correction amount of the data recorded by the error correction amount notifying circuit 2 Is controlled so that the verify operation is performed in the middle of the repetitive recording, the number of extra seeks can be reduced, and the decrease in the execution transfer rate can be suppressed only slightly. Further, the number of repetitive recordings of the recording range is limited within the number of recordable times e obtained from the excess judgment value c and the judgment reference value d recorded by the recordable number estimation circuit 3, thereby ensuring the reliability of the record data on the medium. Can be used up to the limits set. In addition, the new determination reference value h obtained from the number of recordings g by the comparison determination circuit 5 is recorded on the medium, so that information indicating the progress of deterioration is attached to a variable medium. Can be used for

In the above description, an example has been described in which the number of recordable times is estimated based on information indicating that the error correction amount of recording data notified from the recording / reproducing apparatus has exceeded a set value. The present invention can be similarly performed even when an error correction amount due to error correction of recording data notified from the reproducing apparatus occurs.

Further, after the recording / reproducing apparatus outputs the first recordable number e from the excess judgment value c indicating that the initially set excess judgment reference value has been exceeded and the recorded judgment reference value d, the following recording is performed. In the verify operation by the notification command b, the second recordable number of times e is read from the search table based on the excess determination value c that has occurred again, and transmitted to the comparison determination circuit 5.
The comparison determination circuit 5 makes a comparison determination between the second number of recordable times e and the number of times of recording g in which the count of the number of recording pulses f is continued. By changing the number of recordable times e for each generated excess determination value c in this way, in addition to the effect of the above-described embodiment, the number of recordable times e can be sequentially driven from the deterioration state of the medium, so that higher accuracy can be achieved. The number of recordable times e can be estimated, and the recording durability of the medium can be further improved.

Further, an example has been described in which the criterion value d recorded when the medium is used is used. However, even when the criterion value d is not recorded on the medium, it is determined that the error correction amount is excessive. The number of recordable times can also be estimated by providing a search table that is selected from the determined excess determination value c when the recorded reference value d is not specified.

[0030]

As described above, according to the present invention,
When recording is repeatedly performed in the same range using a recording / reproducing apparatus, the decrease in the effective transfer rate of the recording / reproducing apparatus can be slightly suppressed, and the recording durability can be used up to the limit of the recording durability of the medium. By recording the information indicating the above, there is an effect that the reliability of the recording data of the medium is ensured, including the variable medium, and the medium can be effectively used.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an information storage control device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an operation sequence of repetitive recording in the present embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

1. Recording operation start circuit 2. Error correction amount notification circuit
3: recordable number estimation circuit, 4: recordable number counting circuit, 5: comparison determination circuit, 6: stop signal generation circuit.

────────────────────────────────────────────────── (5) References JP-A-58-6509 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G11B 20/18, 20/12

Claims (7)

(57) [Claims] 1. A method for repeatedly recording the same area on a medium,
An information storage control device for performing an error correction check on recording data during the repeated recording. 2. A means for initiating a repetitive recording operation in the same area on a medium, and an excess judgment inserted between the repetitive recording operations and setting an error correction amount obtained by error correction of recording data. 2. The information storage control device according to claim 1, further comprising: means for activating an operation for notifying that the reference value has been exceeded. 3. The repetitive recording operation on the same area on the medium is a set of divided recording operations, and the same area on the medium is divided at a constant data amount interval every time the repetitive recording operation is performed. 3. The method according to claim 2, further comprising the step of sequentially moving from the start end to the end of the same range to notify the amount of error correction of the recording data during the recording operation.
Information storage control device as described. 4. Repetitive recording in the same area on a medium,
An error correction check is performed on the recording data during the repeated recording, a recordable number is predicted from the error correction amount obtained by the error correction check, and the same range is used up to the recordable number. Information storage control device. 5. A means for initiating an operation of repetitive recording in the same area on a medium, and an excess judgment reference value inserted between the operations of the repetitive recording and set for an error correction amount of recording data on the medium. Means for activating an operation for notifying that the number of times of recording has been exceeded, and estimating the number of recordable times from an error correction amount indicating that the excess judgment reference value has been exceeded and a judgment reference value indicating setting of the number of recordable times within the same range. Means for counting the number of times of repetitive recording, means for counting the number of times of recording, means for judging that the number of times of recording has reached the number of recordable times, and use of the recording range on the medium when it is judged that the number of times of recording is reached. 5. The information storage control device according to claim 4, further comprising: means for outputting a signal for stopping the recording, wherein the same range is used up to the recordable number of times. 6. A repetitive recording in the same area on a medium,
During the repeated recording, an error correction check is performed on the recording data, the number of recordable times is predicted from the error correction amount obtained by the error correction check, and the same range is used until the recordable number is reached. An information storage control device, wherein information indicating the setting of the number of recordable times in the same range is recorded thereon, and information indicating the progress of deterioration is attached to the medium. 7. A means for initiating a repetitive recording operation on the same area on a medium, and an excess determination reference value inserted between the repetitive recording operations and set for an error correction amount of recording data on the medium. Means for activating an operation for notifying that the number of times of recording has been exceeded, and estimating the number of recordable times from an error correction amount indicating that the excess judgment reference value has been exceeded and a judgment reference value indicating setting of the number of recordable times within the same range. Means for counting the number of times of repetitive recording, means for counting the number of times of recording, means for judging that the number of times of recording has reached the number of recordable times, and use of the recording range on the medium when it is judged that the number of times of recording is reached. Means for outputting a signal to stop, means for recording a judgment reference value indicating the setting of the number of recordable times in the same range on a medium, and means for reading the recorded judgment reference value. The information storage control device according to claim 6.