JP3336044B2 - Recording method on information recording medium - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method of recording information on an information recording medium in which, when rewriting recorded information, the original recorded information is temporarily erased and then new information is recorded.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, a magneto-optical disk device capable of rewriting recorded information has been frequently used as an external storage device of various computer systems.

A magneto-optical disk device records information on a magneto-optical disk. In a magneto-optical disk, a large number of sectors, which are recording units of information, are formed on recording tracks in the same manner as a magnetic disk or the like.

In a computer system, when a data file is stored in or read from a magneto-optical disk device, generally, a DOS (Disk Operating) is used.
System) executes a recording / reproducing control operation for the magneto-optical disk.

When a DOS records a data file on a magneto-optical disk, a FAT (Fil) file is stored in a certain sector.
e Allocation Table).
After recording the data file in one or more vacant sectors, the used sector number is
To record. When a plurality of sectors are used, information indicating how the sectors are connected is also recorded.

[0006] Magneto-optical disk drives currently in practical use cannot be overwritten. For this reason, when rewriting a once-recorded data file, the recording data of the corresponding sector is temporarily erased and new data is recorded.

[0007]

By the way, if such data rewriting is repeated many times, the characteristics of the magneto-optical disk deteriorate, and the recorded data remains unerased even after the normal erasing operation is performed. It is known that the CN ratio decreases when reading overwritten data.

Therefore, for example, when the same data file is rewritten many times with one magneto-optical disk, the characteristics of the specific sector are deteriorated, and the data file cannot be read correctly.

Further, when a large number of data files are created or rewritten, the characteristics of the sector in which the FAT is recorded are deteriorated, and the FAT information may not be correctly read.

As described above, the conventional magneto-optical disk device has a problem that the recorded information cannot be read correctly and the reliability is low.

An object of the present invention is to provide a recording method for an information recording medium which can solve the above-mentioned problems and can improve reliability.

[0012]

For this purpose, according to the present invention, every time a data file is newly recorded or updated, a predetermined system area is temporarily erased and rewritten with new management information. In the case of the recording method, the number of erasures of the system area is recorded in a certain area, and when the number of erasures of the system area exceeds a certain value when recording or updating a data file, the number of erasures is recorded. Is executed a plurality of times repeatedly when the system area does not exceed a predetermined value.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a recording method in which a predetermined system area is temporarily erased and rewritten with new management information every time a data file is newly recorded or updated. The number of erasures in the system area is recorded in a certain area, and when recording or updating a data file, if the number of erasures in the system area exceeds a certain value, the emission power of the laser beam used for the erasing operation Is increasing.

[0014]

According to the present invention, it is possible to prevent new information from being recorded in a system area managed by DOS, such as the FAT, in a state where recorded information remains unerased.
As a result, new information can always be recorded and read correctly, and the reliability of the storage device is improved.

[0015]

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

FIG. 1 shows a schematic block diagram of a computer system according to a first embodiment of the present invention. A magneto-optical disk drive 1 is connected to a host computer 2. The recording / reproducing unit 11 in the magneto-optical disk device 1 records and writes information on the magneto-optical disk 12 in accordance with various instructions input from the host computer 2.
Playback is performed.

The magneto-optical disk 12 is an ISO (Intele
rational Organization fo
r Standardization) DIS1
0090.

FIG. 2 shows the format of the data field of each sector of the magneto-optical disk 12. The SYNC code, a part of the user data, the RS code, a part of the user data, etc., from the beginning of the data field.・ ・ 、
Each piece of information is arranged in the order of the number of erasures, the CRC code, a part of the ECC code, the RS code, and the remaining ECC code. The number of erasures is located in a vendor unique area determined by the above standard. The vendor / unique area is a 4-byte area in which information arbitrarily defined by an apparatus maker or the like can be recorded.

With the above configuration, generally, the host computer 2 operates with the DOS and the application program set. The application program of the present embodiment stores and reads data files on the magneto-optical disk 12 as needed. At this time, DOS
Executes a control operation of the magneto-optical disk device 1 for storing and reading data files.

Assume that command information for recording and reproducing data is output from the host computer 2 to the magneto-optical disk drive 1 by the DOS. The command information includes a read / write distinction and a sector number. In the case of a write command, user data to be further recorded is output.

According to the command information, the recording / reproducing section 11 reads out the recording data of the corresponding sector of the magneto-optical disk 12 and sends it to the host computer 2 or inputs the data from the host computer 2 and records the data in the corresponding sector.

FIG. 3 shows the operation when the recording / reproducing unit 11 records data in one sector of the magneto-optical disk 12. That is, in this case, first, the number of erasures recorded in the vendor unique area of the corresponding sector of the magneto-optical disk 12 specified by the write command is read (processing 10).
1). Then, the read erase count is compared with a preset fixed count (process 102). Here, when the number of erasures is equal to or less than a certain number (Y in step 102), the number of erasures is incremented by one and temporarily stored (step 103).

Next, the corresponding sector is erased. This erasing operation is a known operation of irradiating a laser beam having a constant power once while applying a constant magnetic field to a corresponding sector section on a recording track of the magneto-optical disk 12 (Process 10).
4). Then, 51 input from the host computer 2
Two bytes of user data and four bytes of data of the number of times of erasure are recorded in a predetermined area of the sector.
Also, the CRC code and ECC corresponding to those data
And a code are recorded in a predetermined area (process 10).
5).

Thereafter, verify, that is, the recording data of the sector is read and compared with the original data to confirm that the data is correct (process 106).

When data is recorded in each sector of the magneto-optical disk 12, the above operation is performed. As a result, the number of erases of each sector is recorded in the vendor unique area of each sector.

On the other hand, if the number of times of erasing read exceeds a certain number (N in process 102), the replacement sector process is executed (process 107). The replacement sector process is a known process of registering one sector as a defective sector so that one sector in the replacement area is used instead of that sector. The replacement area is a spare area formed on the magneto-optical disk 12 in advance.

In this case, the number of erasures is then set to "0" (step 108), and data is recorded in the one sector subjected to the replacement process in the same manner as described above (to step 105).

As described above, in this embodiment, the number of data erases is recorded for each sector, the number of erases is checked at the time of data rewriting, and the number of erases exceeds a certain number. In such a case, the sector is not used and another sector is used by the replacement process.

In general, when recording data is rewritten many times, the characteristics of the magneto-optical disk deteriorate, and data to be erased remains, or the CN ratio at the time of reading recorded data deteriorates. Data may not be read correctly.

In this embodiment, as described above, the sector in which the recording data has been rewritten many times is not used, so that the recording data can always be read correctly and the reliability of the apparatus is improved. Become.

Since the number of erasures is recorded in a vendor unique area defined by the ISO standard, the processing of this embodiment can be executed in a standard format conforming to the standard.

In the above-described embodiment, the magneto-optical disk drive 1 is operated in accordance with the DOS command of the host computer 2.
Described the operation of recording and reproducing data in sector units.

Next, as a second embodiment of the present invention, an operation in which the DOS controls the magneto-optical disk device 1 to record and reproduce data will be described.

The magneto-optical disk 12 has a DO
It is assumed that the FAT is formed in a certain sector by S, and various data files are stored on the magneto-optical disk 12 by the application program. Each sector of the magneto-optical disk 12 has the same format as in the above embodiment, and the FAT is recorded in an area corresponding to the user data in FIG. In this embodiment, the number of erases is recorded in the vendor unique area of the sector of the FAT.
It is assumed that the number of erasures is not recorded in the vendor unique area of the sector where the user data is recorded.

When using this computer system, as shown in FIG. 4, the operator first installs the magneto-optical disk 12 as a storage medium in the magneto-optical disk device 1.
Is attached (process 201). D of host computer 2
When the medium is loaded, the OS controls the magneto-optical disk device 1 to read the FAT of the magneto-optical disk 12 and the number of times the vendor unique area has been erased (processing 20).
2). Then, the read erase count is temporarily stored (process 203).

Next, the activation of the file control is monitored (N loop of process 204).

The application program stores a data file on the magneto-optical disk 12 and reads and updates the stored data file as needed. In this case, the application program is DO
A predetermined control operation for the magneto-optical disk 1 in S is started.

When the DOS is started by the application program (Y in step 204), it determines the operation contents (step 205). Here, when storage of a data file is instructed (“storage” in step 205), a known recording process is performed on the corresponding sector. That is, in this recording process, the sector in which the data file is to be stored is determined based on the contents of the FAT. Next, the recording data of the sector is erased. Next, data specified by the application program is recorded in those sectors. Then, the recording data is read and verified. Such a series of operations are executed (process 20).
6).

Next, the read erase count is compared with a preset fixed count (process 207). If the number of erasures is equal to or less than a certain number (Y in step 207), the recording information of the FAT sector is erased. As described above, this erasing operation is an operation of irradiating a laser beam of a constant power once to a corresponding sector section on a recording track of the magneto-optical disk 12 while applying a constant magnetic field (step 208).

Thereafter, the number of erasures is incremented by one (step 20).
9). Then, new FAT information is created, and the FAT
The information and the number of erases are recorded in the erased sector (step 210).

As described above, when a data file of the magneto-optical disk 12 is newly created or updated,
Each time, the recording information of the FAT sector is erased and rewritten. Therefore, the number of erasures is recorded in the vendor unique area of the FAT.

As described above, when the number of times of erasing read exceeds a certain number (N in step 207), the erasing operation of the sector of the FAT is repeatedly performed a plurality of times. That is, in this case, a laser beam having a constant power is applied to the corresponding sector section on the recording track a plurality of times while applying a constant magnetic field (process 211). Then, new information is recorded in the sector in the same manner as described above (to process 209).
Then, the process returns to the start monitoring state (to step 204).

On the other hand, when reading of the data file is started from the application program ("read" in process 205), the recording data of the corresponding sector is read and output to the application program (process 212). Then, the process returns to the start monitoring state (to step 204).

As described above, in the present embodiment, the number of erasures of the FAT is recorded in the corresponding sector, and when the number of erasures exceeds a certain number, the erasing operation is executed a plurality of times.
New FAT information is recorded.

As described above, in the magneto-optical disk, if the recorded information is rewritten many times, the recorded information may remain unerased. In this embodiment, however, the FAT in which the recorded information is rewritten many times is used. On the other hand, since the erasing operation is performed a plurality of times, the recorded information can be surely erased. As a result, new FAT information can be recorded and read correctly, and the reliability of the device can be improved.

In the above embodiment, the number of erasures of each sector in which the data file is recorded is not taken into account. However, in the process 206, the operations shown in the first embodiment may be executed in parallel. . Thus, reading of the FAT information can be surely performed, and reading of the data file can be surely executed.

When the number of erasures exceeds a certain number,
The erasing operation is performed a plurality of times.
Alternatively, the recorded information may be surely erased by another method, for example, by increasing the emission power of the laser beam.

In the above embodiment, if the number of erasures exceeds a certain number, an alarm may be output. This allows the operator to operate the magneto-optical disk 1
2 can be arbitrarily selected as to whether or not to use continuously.

Further, although the number of erasures is recorded in the vendor unique area of each sector, it may be recorded in another area arbitrarily defined.

Further, in each of the embodiments described above, the magneto-optical disk device has been described as an example. However, the present invention may be applied to various storage devices such as a magnetic disk device and a magnetic tape device.

[0051]

As described above, according to the present invention, the number of erasures in the system area for recording the management information of the data file is recorded in a certain area, and when the number of erasures exceeds a certain value, Since the erasure of the system area is performed more reliably, there is no remaining erasure of the recorded information, so that predetermined data can always be recorded and read correctly, and the reliability of the apparatus is improved. .

[0052]

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of a computer system according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a recording format of a data field in one sector of a magneto-optical disk.

FIG. 3 is an operation flowchart illustrating a data recording process for one sector, which is executed by the magneto-optical disk device.

FIG. 4 is an operation flowchart of a recording / reproducing process for a magneto-optical disk device executed by a DOS in a second embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Magneto-optical disk device 2 Host computer 11 Recording / reproducing part 12 Magneto-optical disk

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] A recording track is divided into a user area for recording a data file and a system area for recording management information of the recorded data file, and each time the data file is newly recorded or updated, In a recording method for an information recording medium in which a system area is temporarily erased and rewritten with new management information, when the number of times of erasure of the system area is recorded in a certain area and the data file is newly recorded or updated In the case where the number of times of erasing of the system area exceeds a certain value, the erasing operation of the system area which is performed when the number of erasing does not exceed the certain value is repeatedly performed a plurality of times. How to record on a recording medium. 2. A recording track is divided into a user area for recording a data file and a system area for recording management information of the recorded data file, and each time the data file is newly recorded or updated, In a recording method for an information recording medium in which a system area is temporarily erased and rewritten with new management information, when the number of times of erasure of the system area is recorded in a certain area and the data file is newly recorded or updated The method of recording on an information recording medium, wherein when the number of times of erasure of the system area exceeds a certain value, the emission power of laser light used for the erasing operation is increased. 3. The device according to claim 1, wherein the fixed area for recording the number of erasures is a vendor unique area.
A recording method on an information recording medium according to claim 2 or 3.