JP4976523B2 - Information playback method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent the setting of a reproducing control system or the like from mismatching with the system of the information recording layer or the like, even if malfunction or the like of the information recording and reproducing device has caused an errorneous access to an information recording layer different from the information recording layer to be accessed. <P>SOLUTION: An information recording and reproducing device includes: a layer number acquisition section 222 which identifies an accessed information recording layer L1; and a layer-type discrimination section 223 which discriminates the kind of the information recording layer L1 identified by the layer number acquisition section 222. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&amp;INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an information recording / reproducing apparatus for recording and / or reproducing information on a multilayer information recording medium having a plurality of information recording layers having different recording characteristics.

  In recent years, an increase in recording capacity of information recording media has been demanded for enormous information processing such as images.

  As a method for improving the recording capacity of the information recording medium, it is conceivable to increase the number of information recording layers of the information recording medium. For example, at present, multilayer information recording media having up to two information recording layers in a DVD (Digital Versatile Disc), a BD (Blu-ray Disc; registered trademark), etc. are standardized and sold.

  By the way, in a multilayer information recording medium having two or more information recording layers, in order to reproduce information recorded on the information recording layer farther from the reproduction light incident side, information closer to the reproduction light incident side is used. Since it is necessary to transmit the reproduction light in the recording layer, there is a problem that it is necessary to set the reflectance of the information recording layer closer to the reproduction light incident side to be low. There is also a problem that the intensity of the return light from the information recording layer farther from the reproducing light incident side becomes smaller as the number of layers increases.

  Due to the existence of such problems, it is particularly difficult to increase the number of information rewritable information recording layers, and at present two layers are limited.

  By the way, in recent years, in addition to the information rewritable information recording layer, an information recording layer in which various contents are recorded and a reproduction-only information recording layer that can only be reproduced or an information recording layer that can be additionally recorded have been added. Thus, an optical information recording medium with improved recording capacity (hereinafter sometimes referred to as “hybrid optical information recording medium”) has been demanded.

  Hereinafter, the rewritable information recording layer is referred to as an RE (RE-writable) layer, the reproduction-only information recording layer is referred to as a ROM (Read Only Memory) layer, and the additional recordable information recording layer is referred to as an R (Recordable). ) Call a layer.

  As a technique related to the multilayer optical information recording medium as described above, there is an optical disc and an optical disc apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1.

  The optical disc disclosed in Patent Document 1 has a plurality of information recording layers with different optical disc standards formed into a single disc, and another information recording layer is recorded in the management area of the information recording layer having the highest recording density. Information indicating the type of the layer is recorded.

  Further, the optical disc apparatus accesses the management area of the information recording layer having the highest recording density, reads and holds information indicating the type of another information recording layer, determines the information recording layer to be accessed, and determines the other information A recording / reproduction control method such as power setting suitable for the information recording layer to be accessed is set based on information representing the type of the recording layer.

JP 2006-260610 A (published on September 28, 2006)

  However, in the conventional optical disc and the optical disc device disclosed in Patent Document 1, when an information recording layer other than the information recording layer to be accessed is accessed due to malfunction of the optical disc device, the type of the information recording layer Therefore, there is a possibility that the setting of the recording / reproduction control method and the like may be mismatched with the method of the information recording layer.

  That is, the conventional information recording / reproducing apparatus employs a configuration that recognizes the position and type of the information recording layer before accessing the target information recording layer, and cannot recognize the position and type of the information recording layer after access. There is a problem.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described conventional problems, and the object thereof is to access an information recording layer different from the information recording layer to be accessed due to malfunction or the like of the information recording / reproducing apparatus. Even in such a case, it is an object of the present invention to provide an information reproduction method and the like that can prevent the setting of the reproduction control method and the like from mismatching with the method or the like of the information recording layer.

  In order to solve the above problems, the information reproducing method of the present invention comprises a plurality of two or more types of information recording layers, and identifies the information recording layer and other information recording layers in the address information of the information recording layer. Layer number information is included, and in the management information area of at least one information recording layer, layer type information indicating the type of the information recording layer is recorded, and according to the type of the information recording layer, An information reproducing method for reproducing data from an information recording medium in which the recording position of the layer number information is different in an address information recording area where the address information is recorded, the management information area of the at least one information recording layer Layer type information acquisition step for acquiring layer type information recorded on the layer, and layer number information for acquiring layer number information from the recording position of the layer number information corresponding to the type of the information recording layer accessed Referring to the layer number information obtained in the obtaining step, the layer number information obtained in the layer number obtaining step, the access layer identifying step for identifying the accessed information recording layer, and the layer type information obtained in the layer type information obtaining step. And an access layer type determining step for determining the type of the accessed information recording layer specified in the access layer specifying step.

  According to the method, in the access layer specifying step, an accessed information recording layer is specified among the plurality of information recording layers.

  Therefore, the accessed information recording layer can be specified from the plurality of information recording layers.

  Note that “access” means reproducing information recorded on the information recording medium or recording information on the information recording medium.

  Further, “accessed” means not after accessing the information recording layer but after accessing the information recording layer.

  Further, according to the method, in the access layer type determination step, the type of the accessed information recording layer specified in the access layer type determination step is determined.

  Therefore, it is possible to determine the type of the information recording layer that has been accessed.

  Examples of “types of information recording layer” include types of recording characteristics such as a rewritable information recording layer, a reproduction-only information recording layer, and an additionally recordable information recording layer, and types of standards such as DVD and BD. it can.

  Therefore, even when an information recording layer different from the accessed information recording layer is accessed due to malfunction of the information recording / reproducing device, the information recording / reproducing device determines the type of the accessed information recording layer. be able to. Therefore, it is possible to prevent mismatch between the setting of the reproduction control method and the method of the accessed information recording layer by appropriately setting the reproduction control method and the like according to the determined type of the information recording layer. it can.

  From the above, even when an information recording layer other than the information recording layer accessed due to malfunction of the information recording / reproducing apparatus is accessed, the setting of the reproduction control method etc. does not match the method of the information recording layer. You can avoid it.

  According to the method, in the layer number acquisition step, layer number information included in the accessed information recording layer is acquired.

  According to the method, in the access layer specifying step, the accessed information recording layer is specified with reference to the layer number information acquired in the layer number acquiring step.

  Therefore, by assigning different layer number information to each information recording layer of the information recording medium, each information recording medium can be easily identified.

  According to the method, in the layer type information acquisition step, layer type information indicating the type of the information recording layer is acquired.

  Further, in the access layer type determining step, the type of the accessed information recording layer is determined with reference to the layer type information acquired in the layer type information acquiring step.

  Therefore, it is possible to determine the type of the information recording layer that has been accessed.

  Here, the “layer number information” may be any information as long as the accessed information recording layer can be distinguished from other information recording layers.

  An example of “layer number information” is a binary display of the number when each information recording layer from the information recording layer closest to the substrate side of the information recording medium to the information recording layer farthest is assigned. it can.

  In addition, a binary number display of the number when each information recording layer from the information recording layer closest to the reproducing light incident side of the information recording medium to the information recording layer farthest is given can be exemplified.

  Note that the numbers given to each information recording layer may be incremented or decremented by one, or may be randomly numbered.

  Examples of “layer type information” include information indicating the type of recording characteristics such as a rewritable information recording layer, a read-only information recording layer, and the additional recordable information recording layer, and a DVD or BD. As shown in FIG.

  In the method, the layer number information is included in the address information of the information recording layer.

  Thereby, by including the layer number information in the address information for specifying the position on the information recording medium, the layer number information can be obtained at any accessible radial position in the medium surface direction on the information recording medium. Can do.

  In the method, the layer type information is recorded in a management information area of at least one information recording layer of the information recording medium.

  Thus, by recording the layer type information in the easily accessible management information area, the layer type information of the information recording medium can be easily and collectively acquired from the management information area.

  By the way, in two or more types of information recording media, in order to reduce costs, a stamper for producing an information recording layer having the same recording characteristics between the old standard information recording medium and the new standard information recording medium is: It is preferable that they can be used in common. In other words, when there are information recording layers having the same recording characteristics in information recording media of different standards, if these information recording layers can be manufactured with the same stamper, the overall cost can be reduced.

  For example, a two-layer combination disk of a ROM layer and an RE layer requires a stamper for the ROM layer and a stamper for the RE layer, but the ROM layer used in the ROM layer only disk or the RE layer only disk If the stamper for the RE layer can be used, the cost can be reduced.

  However, when a single-layer ROM layer and a single-layer RE layer stamper are used, the layer number information is normally “0” indicating that it is a single layer. There is a problem that the information recording / reproducing apparatus cannot determine which layer is focused on.

  Therefore, for example, it is conceivable to change the number of either one to “1” in the above-mentioned two-layer combination disc created with the ROM layer and the RE layer stamper. There is a problem that it is impossible to distinguish between the RE layer of a two-layer combination disc and the RE layer of a two-layer combination disc of a ROM layer and an RE layer.

  In order to solve such a problem, in the method, the address information is recorded in an address information recording area of the information recording layer, and the address information recording area depends on the type of the information recording layer. In the layer number acquisition step, the layer number information is acquired from the recording position of the layer number information according to the type of the accessed information recording layer.

  In the method, in the layer number acquisition step, the layer number information is acquired from the recording position of the layer number information with reference to the layer type information acquired in the layer type information acquisition step.

  According to the method, since the recording position of the layer number information in the address information recording area differs depending on the type of the information recording layer, for example, the same layer number information included in each of the information recording media having different standards Can be distinguished from each other.

  That is, for example, it is possible to distinguish between the RE layer of a two-layer combination disc having two RE layers and the RE layer of a two-layer combination disc of a ROM layer and an RE layer.

  As described above, the information reproducing method of the present invention includes the layer type information acquisition step for acquiring the layer type information recorded in the management information area of the at least one information recording layer, and the type of the information recording layer accessed. A layer number information acquisition step for acquiring layer number information from the recording position of the corresponding layer number information, and an access layer specification for specifying the accessed information recording layer with reference to the layer number information acquired in the layer number acquisition step And an access layer type determining step for determining the type of the accessed information recording layer specified in the access layer specifying step with reference to the layer type information acquired in the layer type information acquiring step. is there.

  Therefore, even when an information recording layer other than the information recording layer accessed due to malfunction of the information recording / reproducing apparatus is accessed, the setting of the reproduction control method does not match the method of the information recording layer, etc. There is an effect that it can be prevented.

It is a block which shows the structure of the principal part of the information recording / reproducing apparatus which is one Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the general | schematic structure of the whole information recording / reproducing apparatus. It is a schematic diagram which shows the structure of the information recording medium which is one Embodiment of this invention, (a) is a schematic diagram which shows a mode when it sees from the reproducing light incident side of an information recording medium, (b) is It is a schematic diagram which shows the mode of a part of cross section in an information recording medium. (A) is a figure which shows an example of layer type information, (b) is a figure which shows an example of a recording layer-recording area correspondence table, (c) is four examples of an address information recording area. (D) is a figure showing an example of a layer number-recording layer correspondence table. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of operation | movement (layer type information acquisition step) of the said information recording / reproducing apparatus. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of operation | movement (layer number acquisition step) of the said information recording / reproducing apparatus. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of operation | movement (recording / reproduction | regeneration condition setting step) of the said information recording / reproducing apparatus. (A) is a figure which shows another example of the utilization form of an address information recording area, (b) is a figure which shows another example of the utilization form of an address information recording area. (A) is a figure which shows another example of the utilization form of an address information recording area, (b) is a figure which shows another example of the utilization form of an address information recording area.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. For convenience of explanation, members having the same functions as those shown in the drawings are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof is omitted.

[1. Configuration of information recording / reproducing apparatus]
First, based on FIG.1 and FIG.2, the structure of the optical disk apparatus (information recording / reproducing apparatus) 1 which is one Embodiment of this invention is demonstrated.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a main part of an optical disc apparatus 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an overall schematic configuration of the optical disc apparatus 1.

  First, an overall schematic configuration of the optical disc apparatus 1 will be described with reference to FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the optical disc apparatus 1 mainly includes a storage unit 3, a disc loading recognition unit 6, an operation unit 7, a recording / reproducing circuit group 10, an optical head 11, an optical pickup 12, and a control unit 20.

  The recording / reproducing circuit group 10 mainly includes a pickup driving circuit 13, a laser driving circuit 14, and a reproducing circuit 15.

  The optical disk apparatus 1 is an apparatus for recording and reproducing information with respect to an optical information recording medium (information recording medium) such as a DVD or a BD including the optical disk (information recording medium) 100.

  As shown in FIG. 2, in the optical disc apparatus 1, the control unit 20 moves the optical pickup 12 via a pickup drive circuit 13 to a track (not shown) of the rotating optical disc 100.

  The optical pickup 12 is provided with an optical head 11. Then, the control unit 20 sets recording conditions via the laser drive circuit 14 and irradiates a recording part of the optical disc 100 with a recording laser beam from the optical head 11, whereby information is recorded on the track of the optical disc 100. It is like that.

  Further, in the optical disc apparatus 1, the control unit 20 moves the optical pickup 12 to the recording part of the optical disc 100 via the pickup drive circuit 13. Then, the control unit 20 sets a reproduction condition via the laser drive circuit 14 and irradiates the optical disk 100 with a reproduction laser beam from the optical head 11.

  The reflected light detected by the optical head 11 is converted into a reproduction signal by the reproduction circuit 15 and input to the control unit 20. As a result, the optical disc apparatus 1 reproduces information recorded on a track (consisting of a plurality of sectors) of the optical disc 100.

  The optical disc apparatus 1 is provided with a disc loading recognition unit 6. The disc loading recognition unit 6 is for detecting the loading of the optical disc 100. For example, various sensors can be exemplified, but any sensor can be used as long as the loading of the optical disc 100 can be detected. .

  Further, the disc loading recognition unit 6 outputs the detected result to the control unit 20 as a detection signal.

  The operation unit 7 is used by the user to input various operation commands to the optical disc apparatus 1, and examples thereof include operation buttons and their interfaces.

  Next, the configuration of the main part (such as the control unit 20) of the optical disc apparatus 1 will be described with reference to FIG.

  First, as shown in FIG. 1, the storage unit 3 includes a recording layer-recording area correspondence table recording unit 31, a layer number-recording layer correspondence table recording unit 32, a layer type discrimination result recording unit 33, and a recording / reproduction control method setting. Information (recording conditions / reproduction conditions) Data necessary for calculation / processing of information by the control unit 20 such as the recording unit 34 is recorded constantly or temporarily. The storage unit 3 also stores a program (not shown) for operating the control unit 20.

  The recording layer-recording area correspondence table recording unit 31 has table information indicating the correspondence between the recording areas A1 to A8... In the management information area 101 of the optical disc 100 described below and each information recording layer of the optical disc 100. Recorded in advance.

  The layer number-recording layer correspondence table recording unit 32 identifies the information recording layer and other information recording layers included in the address information recording area 107 of each information recording layer of the optical disc 100 (layer number). Information) and table information indicating the correspondence between each information recording layer of the optical disc 100 is recorded in advance.

  The layer type discrimination result recording unit 33 records the discrimination result of the type of the information recording layer accessed among the information recording layers of the optical disc 100 determined by the layer type discrimination unit 223.

  Note that “access” refers to reproducing information recorded on the optical disc 100 or recording information on the optical disc 100.

  Further, “accessed” means not after accessing the information recording layer but after accessing the information recording layer.

  The recording / reproduction control method setting information recording unit 34 records in advance recording / reproduction control method setting information (recording conditions / reproduction conditions) set in accordance with the standard type of each information recording layer and the type of recording characteristics. ing.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 1, the control unit 20 includes a disk management unit 21, a reproduction control unit 22, a recording control unit (recording condition setting means) 23, and a recording / reproduction circuit group control unit 24.

  The disc management unit 21 receives a detection signal indicating that the optical disc 100 has been loaded from the disc loading recognition unit 6 or specifies the structure of the optical disc 100 from the identification information acquired from the optical disc 100, so that the playback control unit 22 and the recording control unit 23 are controlled.

  The playback control unit 22 includes a layer type information acquisition unit (layer type information acquisition unit) 221, a layer number acquisition unit (layer number acquisition unit, access layer identification unit) 222, a layer type determination unit (access layer type determination unit) 223, and The reproduction control method setting unit (reproduction condition setting means) 224 and the like are operated, and control for reproducing mainly information recorded on the optical disc 100 is performed.

  The reproduction data holding unit 225 receives the layer type information acquired by the layer type information acquisition unit 221 and the layer number (layer number information) acquired by the layer number acquisition unit 222 and temporarily records them. Various types of data are exchanged by transmitting to the layer type determination unit 223.

  The layer type information acquisition unit 221 acquires (reads out) layer type information indicating the type of information recording layer recorded in each of the recording areas A1 to A8... Included in the management information area 101 of the optical disc 100. It is.

  Note that the layer type information acquired by the layer type information acquisition unit 221 may be always recorded in the storage unit 3 by the disc management unit 21 in association with the identification information of the optical disc 100 (not shown).

  At this time, when the optical disc 100 is loaded again, the disc management unit 21 acquires layer type information corresponding to the identification information of the optical disc 100 from the storage unit 3 and transmits the layer type information to the layer type information acquisition unit 221. It is preferable.

  As a result, the layer type information acquisition unit 221 does not need to repeatedly acquire the layer type information for the same optical disc 100, so that even when the recording information layer of the optical disc 100 is accessed without reading the management information area 101, the access is made. The type of information recording layer can be reliably determined.

  Examples of “layer type information” include information indicating the type of recording characteristics such as a rewritable information recording layer, a read-only information recording layer, and the additional recordable information recording layer, and a DVD or BD. As shown in FIG.

  The layer number acquisition unit 222 identifies, among the information recording layers of the optical disc 100, the layer number (layer number) included in the address information of the accessed information recording layer for identifying the information recording layer and other information recording layers. Information) is acquired (read out).

  Thereby, by including the layer number information in the address information for specifying the position on the information recording medium, the layer number information can be obtained at any accessible radial position in the medium surface direction on the information recording medium. Can do.

  Also, the layer number acquisition unit 222 responds to the type of the information recording layer accessed when the address information recording area 107 of the optical disc 100 has a different layer number recording position according to the type of the information recording layer. The layer number may be acquired from the recording position of the layer number.

  Further, the layer number acquisition unit 222 may acquire the layer number from the recording position of the layer number specified by referring to the layer type information acquired by the layer type information acquisition unit 221.

  Accordingly, the recording position of the layer number in the address information recording area 107 differs depending on the type of the information recording layer of the optical disc 100. For example, the same layer number included in each of the information recording media with different standards is used. The information recording layers possessed can be identified.

  That is, for example, it is possible to distinguish between the RE layer of a two-layer disc having two RE layers and the RE layer of a two-layer combination disc of a ROM layer and an RE layer.

  The layer number acquisition unit (access layer specifying unit) 222 may specify the accessed information recording layer with reference to the layer number instead of the layer type determination unit 223 described below.

  According to the above configuration, the accessed information recording layer can be specified from the plurality of information recording layers in the optical disc 100.

  Therefore, each information recording medium can be easily identified by assigning different layer numbers to each information recording layer of the optical disc 100.

  The “layer number” may be any information as long as the accessed information recording layer can be distinguished from other information recording layers.

  As an example of the “layer number”, a binary display of the number when each information recording layer from the information recording layer closest to the substrate side of the optical disc 100 to the information recording layer farthest is given can be exemplified.

  As another example of the “layer number”, a binary number is displayed when a number is assigned to each information recording layer from the information recording layer closest to the light incident side of the optical disc 100 to the information recording layer farthest. Etc. can be exemplified.

  Note that the numbers given to each information recording layer may be incremented or decremented by one, or may be randomly numbered.

  The layer type determination unit 223 reads the layer number acquired by the layer number acquisition unit 222 from the reproduction data holding unit 225, refers to the layer number-recording layer correspondence table recorded in the storage unit 3, and accesses the information recording The layer is specified.

  According to the above configuration, the accessed information recording layer can be specified from the plurality of information recording layers in the optical disc 100.

  Further, the layer type discriminating unit 223 corresponds to the recording layer-recording area correspondence recorded in the storage unit 3 and the layer type information recorded for each of the recording areas A1 to A8... Acquired by the layer type information acquiring unit 221. With reference to the table, the type of the accessed information recording layer is determined from the layer type information of each information recording layer of the optical disc 100.

  Examples of “type of information recording layer” include types of recording characteristics such as a rewritable RE layer, a read-only ROM layer, and an additionally recordable R layer, and types of standards such as DVD and BD.

  The reproduction control method setting unit 224 sets reproduction conditions for reproducing information recorded on the information recording layer according to the type of the accessed information recording layer determined by the layer type determining unit 223.

  Further, the reproduction control unit 22 of the optical disc apparatus 1 reproduces information recorded on the information recording layer accessed according to the set reproduction condition.

  Therefore, even when an information recording layer different from the target information recording layer is accessed due to malfunction of the optical disc apparatus 1 or the like, it is possible to set a reproduction condition that matches the reproduction condition of the information recording layer.

  Examples of “reproduction conditions” include various setting conditions during reproduction control (setting conditions such as focus control, tracking control, and reproduction power).

  The recording control unit 23 drives the recording / reproducing circuit group 10 via the recording / reproducing circuit group control unit 24 and performs control for recording information on the optical disc 100 by performing tracking control of the optical pickup 12 and focus control of the optical head 11. Is to do.

  The recording control unit 23 sets recording conditions for recording information on the information recording layer according to the type of the accessed information recording layer determined by the layer type determining unit 223.

  Here, the recording control unit 23 has been described as having a function of setting a recording condition. However, like the reproduction control unit 22 described above, the recording control unit 23 includes the layer type information acquisition unit 221, A configuration in which the layer type information acquisition unit 221, the layer type determination unit 223, and the reproduction data holding unit 225 are provided, and the reproduction control method setting unit 224 is replaced with a recording control method setting unit (not shown) may be adopted. good.

  In addition, the recording control unit 23 uses the recording control method setting unit (not shown) in common with the layer type information acquisition unit 221, the layer type information acquisition unit 221, the layer type determination unit 223, and the reproduction data holding unit 225 of the reproduction control unit 22. ) Only.

  The recording control unit 23 records information on the information recording layer accessed according to the set recording conditions.

  Therefore, even when an information recording layer different from the target information recording layer is accessed due to malfunction of the optical disc apparatus 1 or the like, it is possible to set a recording condition that matches the recording condition of the information recording layer.

  Examples of “recording conditions” include various setting conditions during recording control (setting conditions such as focus control, tracking control, and recording power).

  As described above, even when an information recording layer different from the information recording layer accessed due to malfunction or the like of the optical disc apparatus 1 is accessed, the optical disc apparatus 1 determines the type of the accessed information recording layer. Can do.

  Therefore, by appropriately setting the recording / playback control method according to the discriminated type of information recording layer, the setting of the recording / playback control method and the method of the accessed information recording layer are not mismatched. Can be.

[2. Configuration of information recording medium]
Next, based on FIG. 3, the structure of the optical disk (information recording medium) 100 which is one Embodiment of this invention is demonstrated.

  FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing the structure of the optical disc 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3A is a schematic diagram showing a state when viewed from the reproduction light incident side of the optical disc 100. FIG. 3B is a schematic diagram showing a part of a cross section of the information recording medium.

  As shown in part (a) of FIG. 3 and part (b) of FIG. 3, the optical disc 100 can be roughly divided into two areas: a management information area (management information recording area) 101 and a user recording area 102. it can.

  The management information area 101 is an area that does not require tracking control or a recording area that can be accessed only by focus control.

  If the layer type information is recorded in the management information area 101 that can be easily accessed in this way, the layer type information of the optical disc 100 can be easily and collectively acquired from the management information area 101.

  The user recording area 102 is composed of a plurality of tracks (not shown), and this track is composed of a plurality of sectors.

  A sector 106 shown in part (a) of FIG. 3 is obtained by extracting one of the plurality of sectors. However, the size is exaggerated.

  The sector 106 is accompanied by an address information recording area 107. The address information recording area 107 includes a layer number recording area B1 and a sector number recording area B2.

  The layer number is recorded in the layer number recording area B1 of the present embodiment, and the layer number indicates the number of the layer from the substrate side (opposite side to the reproduction light incident side, the substrate is not shown). It is shown.

  For example, when the optical disc 100 is composed of eight information recording layers L0 to L7 from the substrate side, “1” or “0” is used as information recorded in the layer number recording area B1. In binary representation, the information recording layer L0 is “000”, the information recording layer L1 is “001”, and so on.

  Here, “the address information recording area 107 is attached” means that the address information is recorded by wobbling (meandering) the track including the sector 106 in addition to the case where the address information is directly recorded in the sector 106 by the pit. It is intended to include the case where is recorded.

  In the ROM layer, address information may be recorded directly by pits, and the RE layer and R layer may be recorded by wobbling the track.

  3 conceptually shows the recording capacity of the address information recording area 107 in part (a) of FIG. 3, and a part of the recording capacity of the address information recording area 107 is assigned to the layer number recording area B1, It only indicates that the remaining recording capacity is allocated to the sector number recording area B2.

  Next, as shown in part (b) of FIG. 3, the optical disc 100 is a multilayer recording in which information recording layers L0 to L7... Are provided in order from the side opposite to the reproduction light incident side (the substrate side not shown). It is a medium.

  3B shows a state where the light spot position S is irradiated with the light spot of the reproduction light R from the optical head 11 on the information recording layer L1 of the optical disc 100. FIG.

  Here, the information recording layer L0 is an RE layer, and the management information area 101 on the inner circumference side includes a BCA (Burst Cutting Area) 103 and a PIC (Permanent Information & Control data) 104.

  Identification information indicating the structure of the optical information recording medium is mainly recorded on the BCA 103.

  Specific examples of identification information include disc layer type (reproduction-only type, write-once type, rewritable type), disc size, disc version (related to speed, etc.), and standard conditions for recording / reproduction on the disc. The polarity of the servo, the polarity of the recording mark, the number unique to the disk, etc. can be exemplified, but the recording order (or arrangement method) of these identification information in the BCA 103 may be arbitrary. These recording orders are usually determined by standards and the like.

  In the present embodiment, layer type information is recorded in each of the recording areas A1 to A8 of the layer type information recording area 105 included in the BCA 103. The arrangement of the layer type information recording area 105 in the BCA 103 is arbitrary.

[3. Information recorded on information recording medium]
Next, specific examples of information recorded on the optical disc 100 will be described with reference to FIGS.

  Here, a case will be described in which the information recording layer of the optical disc 100 is eight layers of information recording layers L0 to L7. In the following description, it is assumed that the total number of bits in the address information recording area 107 is 32 bits, of which 8 bits are allocated to the layer number recording area B1 and 24 bits are allocated to the sector number recording area B2.

  4A is an example of layer type information recorded in the recording areas A1 to A8.

  In this embodiment, the layer type information is described as “01” indicating the ROM layer, “10” indicating the RE layer, and “11” indicating the R layer. Can be arbitrarily associated. Note that “00” indicates no layer, that is, no information recording layer exists.

  Now, in the recording area A1 of FIG. 4A, “10” is shown, which indicates that the type of the information recording layer corresponding to the recording area A1 is the RE layer. .

  The recording areas A2 to A4 are “01”, which indicates that the type of information recording layer corresponding to the recording areas A2 to A4 is a ROM layer.

  The recording areas A5 to A8 are “00”. This is because there is no information recording layer corresponding to the recording areas A5 to A8, and the number of information recording layers of the optical disc 100 is four. It shows that there is.

  Next, FIG. 4B is an example of a recording layer-recording area correspondence table recorded in the recording layer-recording area correspondence table recording unit 31 of the storage unit 3.

  “Recording layer—example 1” indicates that each of the recording areas A1 to A8 corresponds to the information recording layers L0 to L7 in the same order.

  “Recording layer—example 2” indicates that each of the recording areas A1 to A8 corresponds to the information recording layers L7 to L0 in the reverse order.

  “Recording layer—example 2” shows a case where the correspondence between each of the recording areas A1 to A8 and each of the information recording layers L7 to L0 is random.

  Next, FIG. 4C shows four examples (Examples 1 to 4) of the layer number recorded in the layer number recording area B1 of the address information recording area 107 of the sector 106 and the sector number recorded in the sector number recording area B2. 4).

  FIG. 4D is an example of a layer number-recording layer correspondence table recorded in the layer number-recording layer correspondence table recording unit 32.

  Here, as shown in FIG. 4D, the layer numbers associated with the information recording layers L0 to L7 are assumed to be “000” to “111”, respectively.

  In the example shown in FIG. 4D, the correspondence relationship between the information recording layers L0 to L7 and the layer number is regularly associated in the order of increasing binary numbers, but the number of layers is the same. For example, they may be regularly associated in the order of decreasing binary numbers, or may be associated randomly.

  In Example 1 of FIG. 4C, since the layer number recorded in the layer number recording area B1 of the accessed information recording layer is “000”, the layer number acquiring unit 222 determines that the accessed information recording layer is the information recording layer. Identified as L0.

  In Example 2, since the layer number recorded in the layer number recording area B1 is “001”, the layer number acquisition unit 222 specifies that the accessed information recording layer is the information recording layer L1.

  In Example 3, since the layer number recorded in the layer number recording area B1 is “010”, the layer number acquisition unit 222 specifies that the accessed information recording layer is the information recording layer L2.

  In Example 4, since the layer number recorded in the layer number recording area B1 is “011”, the layer number acquisition unit 222 specifies that the accessed information recording layer is the information recording layer L3.

  As described above, the optical disc 100 is an information recording medium including a plurality of information recording layers of two or more types, and the address information recorded in the address information recording area 107 includes the information recording layer and other information recording layers. A layer number for identifying the layer is included, and layer type information indicating the type of the information recording layer is recorded in the management information area 101.

  Thus, it is possible to provide the optical disc 100 capable of acquiring the layer number from the address information recorded in the address information recording area 107 of the accessed information recording layer and acquiring the layer type information from the management information area 101. Can do.

[4. Operation of information recording / reproducing apparatus]
Next, the operation of the optical disc apparatus 1 will be described with reference to FIGS.

  5 to 6 are flowcharts showing the flow of operations of the layer type information acquisition step, the layer number acquisition step, and the recording / playback condition setting step, respectively.

  In the present embodiment, the steps until the type of one information recording layer is specified will be described in the order of the layer type information acquisition step, the layer number acquisition step, and the recording / playback condition setting step. The order of the layer type information acquisition step and the layer number acquisition step is arbitrary.

(4-1. Layer type information acquisition step)
First, the layer type information acquisition step in FIG. 5 will be described.

  As shown in FIG. 5, in step S1 of the layer type information acquisition step (hereinafter, “step” is omitted), the disc loading recognition unit 6 shown in FIG. Section 21 is notified and the process proceeds to S2.

  In S <b> 2, first, the disc management unit 21 notifies the reproduction control unit 22 that the optical disc 100 has been loaded (loading notification), acquires the identification information recorded in the BCA 103 of the optical disc 100, and stores it in the storage unit 3. A command (identification information holding command) for holding is issued to the reproduction control unit 22.

  Next, upon receiving the loading notification and the identification information holding command from the disc management unit 21, the playback control unit 22 drives the recording / playback circuit group 10 via the recording / playback circuit group control unit 24, and the BCA 103 (layer) of the optical disc 100. The optical pickup 12 is moved in the vicinity (including the type information recording area 105), and the process proceeds to S3.

  In S3, the reproduction control unit 22 drives the recording / reproduction circuit group 10 via the recording / reproduction circuit group control unit 24, and the information recording layer L0 in which the BCA 103 (including the layer type information recording area 105) of the optical disc 100 exists. When the focus control is performed and the information recorded in the BCA 103 can be reproduced, the process proceeds to S4. At this time, tracking control is unnecessary.

  In S <b> 4, the reproduction control unit 22 acquires the identification information of the optical disc 100 recorded on the BCA 103 and stores it in the storage unit 3.

  Further, when the light spot position S of the reproduction light R irradiated to the BCA 103 reaches the layer type information recording area 105, the layer type information is reproduced, and therefore the layer type information acquisition unit 221 uses the layer type information as reproduction data. The data is recorded in the holding unit 225 or the storage unit 3 and the process proceeds to the connector “A”.

  In the above description, the case where the layer type information acquisition unit 221 reads the layer type information recorded in the BCA 103 directly from the optical disc 100 has been described.

  However, in addition, the identification information of the optical disc 100 and the layer type information recorded in the BCA 103 are recorded in the storage unit 3 in association with each other, and the layer type information acquisition unit 221 records the identification recorded in the storage unit 3. When the optical disc 100 matches the information, the layer type information corresponding to the optical disc 100 may be read from the storage unit 3.

  If the recording method of the layer type information is determined according to the standard of the optical disc 100, the layer type information corresponding to the optical disc 100 is recorded in the storage unit 3 in advance, and the layer type information acquisition unit 221 The layer type information corresponding to the optical disc 100 may be read from the storage unit 3.

  According to the above, the type of the information recording layer accessed cannot be determined even if only the layer number is acquired, but the layer type information in the BCA 103, the layer type information read from the BCA 103, or the layer recorded in the storage unit 3 in advance By referring to any of the type information, it is possible to determine the type of the accessed information recording layer (such as any of the R layer, RE layer, and ROM layer).

(4-2. Layer number acquisition step)
Next, the layer number acquisition step in FIG. 6 will be described.

  As shown in FIG. 6, in the layer number acquisition step, the process proceeds from the connector “A” to S5.

  In S5, the user shown in FIG. 1 instructs the target layer to record or reproduce information via the operation unit 7 (recording / reproducing instruction). In response to this recording / reproduction instruction, the reproduction control unit 22 causes the recording / reproduction circuit group control unit 24 to perform focus control and tracking control on the target layer (in this case, the L1 layer), so that address information of the optical disc 100 is obtained. The recording area 107 is reproduced.

  At this time, the layer number acquisition unit 222 temporarily records the layer number “001” read from the address information recorded in the address information recording area 107 of the optical disc 100 in the reproduction data holding unit 225 or the storage unit 3. Proceed to S6.

  In S 6, the layer type determination unit 223 reads the layer number “001” recorded in the reproduction data holding unit 225 or the storage unit 3 and records it in the layer number-recording layer correspondence table recording unit 32 of the storage unit 3. The layer accessed by referring to the layer number-recording layer correspondence table (see FIG. 4D) is specified as the L1 layer.

  The layer type discriminating unit 223 is a recording layer-recording area correspondence table recorded in the recording layer-recording area correspondence table recording unit 31 of the storage unit 3 (in the case of the recording layer of FIG. 4B-example 1). Referring to (A), the recording area in which the layer type information corresponding to the L1 layer is recorded is specified as “A2”.

  Next, the layer type determination unit 223 refers to the layer type information held in the reproduction data holding unit 225 or the storage unit 3 (see FIG. 4A), and the layer type information corresponding to the recording area “A2” is “ 01 ”, that is, it is determined that the accessed information recording layer L1 is a ROM layer, and the determination result (the layer type determination result is recorded in the layer type determination result recording unit 33 of the storage unit 3 and the process proceeds to the connector“ B ”. .

(4-3. Recording / playback condition setting step)
Next, the recording / playback condition setting step of FIG. 7 will be described.

  As shown in FIG. 7, in the recording / playback condition setting step, the process proceeds from the connector “B” to S7.

  In S7, the reproduction control method setting unit 224 (for reproduction) or the recording control unit 23 (for recording) triggers that the layer type discrimination result is recorded in the layer type discrimination result recording unit 33 as a trigger. Information recording layer L1 layer (ROM layer) of the recording / reproducing circuit group 10 in the reproduction control unit 22 or the recording control unit 23 with reference to the reproduction condition or recording condition recorded in the recording / reproduction control method setting information recording unit 34 The recording / reproduction control method corresponding to is set, and the process proceeds to S8.

  In S8, the reproduction control unit 22 or the recording control unit 23 reproduces or records the information recording layer L1 by the set recording / reproduction control method, and proceeds to S9.

  In S <b> 9, if the user instructs another information recording layer other than the information recording layer L <b> 1 via the operation unit 7 to record / reproduce information, the result is “YES” and the process proceeds to the connector “C”.

  On the other hand, if the user has not instructed another information recording layer other than the information recording layer L1 via the operation unit 7 to record / reproduce information, the result is “NO” and “END”.

  If the process proceeds to the connector “C”, the process returns to S5 as shown in FIG.

[5. Various usage forms of address information recording area]
Next, various usage forms of the address information recording area will be described with reference to FIGS. 8A and 8B and FIGS. 9A and 9B.

  First, FIG. 8A is a diagram showing another example of the usage form of the address information recording area described above.

  In the example shown in FIG. 8A, the address information recording area 107 includes three recording areas: a layer type recording area C1, a layer number recording area C2, and a sector number recording area C3.

  That is, the layer type information is included in the address information of the optical disc 100.

  Thereby, by including the layer type information in the address information for specifying the position on the information recording medium, the layer type information can be obtained at any accessible radial position in the medium surface direction on the information recording medium. Can do.

  Also, according to the usage form of the address information recording area 107, according to the above configuration, the layer type information can be obtained directly from the accessed information recording layer, so that the management information area 101 described above is reproduced. Even when it is suddenly accessed without performing the process, the type of the information recording layer can be determined.

  For example, in the example shown in FIG. 8A, it is specified that the information recording layer accessed from “000” recorded in the layer number recording area C2 of the address information recording area 107 is the information recording layer L0. It can be determined from the “01” recorded in the number recording area C2 that the information recording layer L0 is the RE layer.

  Next, FIG. 8B is a diagram showing still another example of the usage form of the address information recording area described above.

  In the example shown in FIG. 8B, the number of bits is made smaller than “001” recorded in the layer number recording area B1 as “01” recorded in the layer number recording area D1.

  This is because the total number of bits in the address information recording area 107 is a fixed number (for example, in DVD, the total number of bits is 32, the number of bits in the sector number recording area is 24, and the number of bits in other recording areas is 8). Therefore, the number of bits of information other than the sector number is considered to be limited.

  For example, when the recording density of the information recording layer in which the super-resolution film is provided on the optical disc 100 is increased, the total number of bits of the sector number recorded in the sector number recording area D2 may increase. Therefore, in this case, the range of the sector number recording area D2 may be increased to narrow the range of the layer number recording area B1.

  Another example of the usage form of the address information recording area will be described.

  In the following, a usage form of the address information recording area 107 that can partially share the layer number recording area and the layer type information recording area will be described.

  For example, let us consider a case where a layer number recording area uses 3 bits in a two-layer combination disc of an RE layer and a ROM layer.

  In the case of the ROM layer, “000” is used as the layer number, and in the case of the RE layer, “100” is used as the layer number.

  That is, in the case of the ROM layer, a number in which the most significant bit is “0” among the layer number 3 bits is used, and in the case of the RE layer, the most significant 1 bit is “1” in the layer number 3 bits. ”Is used.

  In other words, the layer type of the information recording layer can be known by acquiring the most significant 1 bit out of the 3 bits of the layer number.

By assigning the layer number as described above, among the 3 bits of the layer number recording area,
The most significant bit can be used as a layer type information recording area. In other words, by assigning numbers that include layer type information in the layer number recording area, the area to be used can be reduced.

  Further, when the number of information recording layers is increased, in the case of the ROM layer, one of “000”, “001”, “010”, and “011” is used as the layer number, and in the case of the RE layer, the layer number is “ Any one of “100”, “101”, “110”, and “111” is used.

  That is, the layer type of the information recording layer can be determined by acquiring the most significant 1 bit out of the 3 bits of the layer number recording area.

  By assigning the layer number as described above, the most significant 1 bit among the 3 bits of the layer number recording area can be used as the layer type information recording area.

  That is, even when the number of information recording layers further increases, the number of areas to be used can be reduced by assigning numbers that include layer type information in the layer type information recording area.

  In the above description, the most significant 1 bit of the 3 layer number recording areas is used as the layer type information recording area. However, the least significant 1 bit of the 3 layer number recording areas is the layer type information recording area. It may be used as The most significant 2 bits of the 3 layer number area bits may be used as the layer type information recording area.

  Next, in the example shown in FIGS. 9A and 9B, an example in which the recording position of the layer number in the address information recording area 107 where the address information is recorded differs according to the type of the information recording layer. explain. Here, for the sake of simplicity, a case where the optical disc 100 has two layers will be described.

  Here, a case of a two-layer combination disc composed of an RE layer and a ROM layer will be described.

  By the way, in the case of a two-layer combination disk composed of an RE layer and a ROM layer (referred to as a ROM-RE disk), a ROM stamper for the ROM disk and a RE for the ROM-RE disk are prepared for creating the ROM layer of the ROM-RE disk. If the RE stamper of the RE disk can also be used for creating the layer, the cost of disk creation can be reduced.

  In general, the cost for producing the ROM layer stamper is higher than the cost for producing the R, RE layer stamper. Therefore, it is preferable that at least a ROM stamper can be used in a ROM-RE disc.

  However, when both the single-layer ROM layer stamper and the single-layer RE layer stamper are used as the dual stamper, both the ROM layer and the RE layer have predetermined recording positions (for example, FIG. 9A shows a conventional layer number recording). In general, a single layer “0” layer number is recorded in the position).

  In this case, the layer number of both information recording layers becomes “0” only by reproducing the address information, which makes it difficult to specify the accessed information recording layer.

  Therefore, it is considered that both the ROM layer stamper and the RE layer stamper cannot be used as the dual stamper. Normally, it is considered that the expensive ROM layer stamper is also used and the RE layer stamper is not used.

  On the other hand, for example, in the method of changing the layer number of the RE layer of the information recording layer L0 to “1”, which is a number different from “0”, the following problems occur.

  That is, in a two-layer disc having only the RE layer (referred to as an RE-RE disc), if both RE layers are set to “1”, the information recording layers L0 and L1 cannot be distinguished.

  Then, if the information recording / reproducing apparatus is an apparatus that performs reproduction or the like without reproducing the BCA, the information recording / reproducing apparatus normally tries to obtain reproduction information from the information recording layer L0. Even if the information recording layer L0 is accessed, the information recording layer L1 of the ROM-RE disc is recognized as being accessed, and there is a possibility of trying to jump to the information recording layer L0 that does not actually exist. is there.

  However, since the information recording layer L0 of the RE-RE disc is actually accessed, there is a possibility that the layer jump will be repeated indefinitely.

  From the above, the layer number of the RE layer of the ROM-RE disc must be at least at a position different from normal. That is, it is necessary to be different from the layer number position in the address information of the ROM layer.

  From the above viewpoint, as shown in FIG. 9B, in the optical disc 100, the recording position of the layer number in the address information recording area 107 may be different depending on the type of the information recording layer (note that The recording position shown in FIG. 9B is an old standard reserved area).

  At this time, the layer number acquisition unit 222 of the optical disc apparatus 1 is configured to acquire the layer number from the recording position of the layer number corresponding to the type of the information recording layer accessed.

  Further, the layer number acquisition unit 222 of the optical disc apparatus 1 records the layer number by referring to the layer type information acquired by the layer type information acquisition unit 221 or the layer type information when it is previously recorded in the storage unit 3. It is preferable to obtain the layer number from the position.

  Thereby, the recording position of the layer number in the address information recording area 107 differs depending on the type of the information recording layer. For example, the information recording having the same layer number included in each of the information recording media having different standards Layers can be identified.

  That is, for example, it is possible to distinguish between the RE layer of a two-layer combination disc having two RE layers and the RE layer of a two-layer combination disc of a ROM layer and an RE layer.

  The information recording / reproducing apparatus of the present invention is an information recording / reproducing apparatus that performs reproduction on a multi-layer optical recording medium having a plurality of different types of layers. Reproducing means for reading reflected light from the recording medium, layer number obtaining means for obtaining a layer number included in each layer, and layer type information corresponding to the layer number included in the management information area of at least one layer A layer type information acquisition unit and a layer type determination unit that determines the type of each layer based on the information obtained from the layer number acquisition unit and the layer type information acquisition unit may be provided.

  In the information recording / reproducing apparatus of the present invention, the layer number area may be included in address information.

  In the information recording / reproducing apparatus of the present invention, the management information area may include an area that can be reproduced without performing tracking control.

  Also, the information recording / reproducing apparatus of the present invention reads a reflected light from the optical recording medium by irradiating the multilayer optical recording medium having a plurality of different types of layers with a laser beam. A reproduction step; a layer number acquisition step for acquiring a layer number included in each layer; a layer type information acquisition step for acquiring layer type information corresponding to the layer number included in the management information area of at least one layer; A layer type determining step for determining the type of each layer based on the information obtained from the layer number acquiring step and the layer type information acquiring step may be included.

  In the information recording / reproducing apparatus of the present invention, the layer number acquisition unit may acquire the layer number in the address information corresponding to the layer type based on the layer type information obtained from the layer type information acquisition unit. good.

  The information recording medium of the present invention may include a management information area having address information and layer type information of each layer having a layer number.

  The information recording medium of the present invention has at least an information reproducing layer (ROM) that can only read information and an information recording / reproducing layer (R, RE) that includes an area where information can be recorded. The positional relationship between the recording position of the address specifying the in-plane position in each layer included in the address information recorded in the information recording layer and the recording position of the layer number is recorded in the information reproducing layer. The positional relationship between an address specifying an in-plane position in each layer included in the address information and the layer number may be different.

  The information recording medium of the present invention is an information recording medium having a plurality of information recording layers of two or more types, and for identifying the information recording layer from the information recording layer and other information recording layers. Layer number information may be included, and layer type information indicating the type of the information recording layer may be recorded in a management information area of at least one information recording layer.

  In the information recording medium of the present invention, the layer number information may be included in the address information of the information recording layer.

  In the information recording medium of the present invention, the layer type information may be included in the address information of the information recording layer.

  Finally, each block of the optical disc apparatus 1, particularly the control unit 20, may be configured by hardware logic, or may be realized by software using a CPU as follows.

  That is, the optical disc apparatus 1 includes a CPU (central processing unit) that executes instructions of a control program that realizes each function, a ROM (read only memory) that stores the program, a RAM (random access memory) that expands the program, A storage device (recording medium) such as a memory for storing the program and various data is provided. An object of the present invention is to provide a recording medium in which a program code (execution format program, intermediate code program, source program) of a control program of the optical disc apparatus 1 which is software that realizes the above-described functions is recorded so as to be readable by a computer. This can also be achieved by supplying the optical disc apparatus 1 and reading and executing the program code recorded on the recording medium by the computer (or CPU or MPU).

  Examples of the recording medium include a tape system such as a magnetic tape and a cassette tape, a magnetic disk such as a floppy (registered trademark) disk / hard disk, and a compact disk-ROM / MO / MD / digital video disk / compact disk-R. A disk system including an optical disk, a card system such as an IC card (including a memory card) / optical card, or a semiconductor memory system such as a mask ROM / EPROM / EEPROM / flash ROM can be used.

  The optical disc apparatus 1 may be configured to be connectable to a communication network, and the program code may be supplied via the communication network. The communication network is not particularly limited. For example, the Internet, intranet, extranet, LAN, ISDN, VAN, CATV communication network, virtual private network, telephone line network, mobile communication network, satellite communication. A net or the like is available. Also, the transmission medium constituting the communication network is not particularly limited. For example, even in the case of wired such as IEEE 1394, USB, power line carrier, cable TV line, telephone line, ADSL line, etc., infrared rays such as IrDA and remote control, Bluetooth ( (Registered trademark), 802.11 wireless, HDR, mobile phone network, satellite line, terrestrial digital network, and the like can also be used. The present invention can also be realized in the form of a computer data signal embedded in a carrier wave in which the program code is embodied by electronic transmission.

  The present invention can also be expressed as follows.

  The information recording / reproducing apparatus of the present invention is an information recording / reproducing apparatus that records or reproduces information on an information recording medium having a plurality of information recording layers of two or more types. Of these, access layer specifying means for specifying the accessed information recording layer and access layer type determining means for determining the type of the accessed information recording layer specified by the access layer specifying means may be provided.

  The information recording / reproducing apparatus of the present invention is a method for controlling an information recording / reproducing apparatus that records or reproduces information on an information recording medium having a plurality of information recording layers of two or more types. An access layer specifying step for specifying an accessed information recording layer among the recording layers; and an access layer type determining step for determining the type of the accessed information recording layer specified in the access layer specifying step. Also good.

  According to the configuration or the method, the access layer specifying means or the access layer specifying step specifies the accessed information recording layer among the plurality of information recording layers.

  Therefore, the accessed information recording layer can be specified from the plurality of information recording layers.

  Note that “access” means reproducing information recorded on the information recording medium or recording information on the information recording medium.

  Further, “accessed” means not after accessing the information recording layer but after accessing the information recording layer.

  Further, according to the configuration or method, the access layer type discriminating unit or the access layer type discriminating step discriminates the type of the information recording layer accessed by the access layer type discriminating unit or the access layer type discriminating step. It is like that.

  Therefore, it is possible to determine the type of the information recording layer that has been accessed.

  Examples of “types of information recording layer” include types of recording characteristics such as a rewritable information recording layer, a reproduction-only information recording layer, and an additionally recordable information recording layer, and types of standards such as DVD and BD. it can.

  Therefore, even when an information recording layer different from the accessed information recording layer is accessed due to malfunction of the information recording / reproducing device, the information recording / reproducing device determines the type of the accessed information recording layer. be able to. Therefore, by appropriately setting the recording / playback control method according to the discriminated type of information recording layer, the setting of the recording / playback control method and the method of the accessed information recording layer are not mismatched. Can be.

  As described above, even when an information recording layer other than the information recording layer accessed due to malfunction of the information recording / reproducing apparatus is accessed, the setting of the recording / reproduction control method, etc. You can avoid mismatches.

  The information recording / reproducing apparatus of the present invention comprises layer number acquisition means for acquiring layer number information included in the accessed information recording layer for identifying the information recording layer and other information recording layers, and the information recording Layer type information acquisition means for acquiring layer type information indicating the type of layer, wherein the access layer specifying means refers to the layer number information acquired by the layer number acquisition means, and accesses the information record. The layer may be specified, and the access layer type determination unit may determine the type of the accessed information recording layer with reference to the layer type information acquired by the layer type information acquisition unit.

  According to the above configuration, the layer number obtaining unit obtains the layer number information included in the accessed information recording layer.

  According to the above configuration, the access layer specifying unit specifies the accessed information recording layer with reference to the layer number information acquired by the layer number acquiring unit.

  Therefore, by assigning different layer number information to each information recording layer of the information recording medium, each information recording medium can be easily identified.

  Further, according to the above configuration, the layer type information acquisition means acquires layer type information indicating the type of the information recording layer.

  Further, the access layer type determination means determines the type of the accessed information recording layer with reference to the layer type information acquired by the layer type information acquisition means.

  Therefore, it is possible to determine the type of the information recording layer that has been accessed.

  Here, the “layer number information” may be any information as long as the accessed information recording layer can be distinguished from other information recording layers.

  An example of “layer number information” is a binary display of the number when each information recording layer from the information recording layer closest to the substrate side of the information recording medium to the information recording layer farthest is assigned. it can.

  In addition, a binary number display of the number when each information recording layer from the information recording layer closest to the reproducing light incident side of the information recording medium to the information recording layer farthest is given can be exemplified.

  Note that the numbers given to each information recording layer may be incremented or decremented by one, or may be randomly numbered.

  Examples of “layer type information” include information indicating the type of recording characteristics such as a rewritable information recording layer, a read-only information recording layer, and the additional recordable information recording layer, and a DVD or BD. As shown in FIG.

  In the information recording / reproducing apparatus of the present invention, the layer number information may be included in the address information of the information recording layer.

  Thereby, by including the layer number information in the address information for specifying the position on the information recording medium, the layer number information can be obtained at any accessible radial position in the medium surface direction on the information recording medium. Can do.

  In the information recording / reproducing apparatus of the present invention, the layer type information may be recorded in a management information area of at least one information recording layer of the information recording medium.

  Thus, by recording the layer type information in the easily accessible management information area, the layer type information of the information recording medium can be easily and collectively acquired from the management information area.

  In the information recording / reproducing apparatus of the present invention, the management information area may be an area that does not require tracking control, or may be an area that can be accessed only by focus control.

  According to the above configuration, the layer type information is stored in an easily accessible area (management information area) such as an area that does not require tracking control or can be accessed only by focus control without reproducing all the information recording layers. By recording, the layer type information of the information recording medium can be easily and collectively acquired from the management information area.

  In the information recording / reproducing apparatus of the present invention, the layer type information may be included in address information of the information recording layer.

  According to the above configuration, since the layer type information can be obtained directly from the accessed information recording layer, the layer type of the information recording layer can be changed even when the access is made without reproducing the management information area described above. Can be determined.

  For example, when recording layer type information in the management information area, a recording area associated with the information recording layer is provided, and the layer type information of the information recording layer corresponding to the recording area is recorded. Just do it.

  By the way, in two or more types of information recording media, in order to reduce costs, a stamper for producing an information recording layer having the same recording characteristics between the old standard information recording medium and the new standard information recording medium is: It is preferable that they can be used in common. In other words, when there are information recording layers having the same recording characteristics in information recording media of different standards, if these information recording layers can be manufactured with the same stamper, the overall cost can be reduced.

  For example, a two-layer combination disk of a ROM layer and an RE layer requires a stamper for the ROM layer and a stamper for the RE layer, but the ROM layer used in the ROM layer only disk or the RE layer only disk If the stamper for the RE layer can be used, the cost can be reduced.

  However, when a single-layer ROM layer and a single-layer RE layer stamper are used, the layer number information is normally “0” indicating that it is a single layer. There is a problem that the information recording / reproducing apparatus cannot determine which layer is focused on.

  Therefore, for example, it is conceivable to change the number of either one to “1” in the above-mentioned two-layer combination disc created with the ROM layer and the RE layer stamper. There is a problem that it is impossible to distinguish between the RE layer of a two-layer combination disc and the RE layer of a two-layer combination disc of a ROM layer and an RE layer.

  In order to solve such a problem, the address information is recorded in an address information recording area of the information recording layer, and the layer number in the address information recording area is determined according to the type of the information recording layer. The recording position of the information is different, and the layer number acquisition unit may acquire the layer number information from the recording position of the layer number information corresponding to the type of the accessed information recording layer.

  The information recording / reproducing apparatus of the present invention further includes a layer type information acquisition unit that acquires layer type information indicating the type of the information recording layer, and the layer type information acquisition unit acquires The layer number information may be acquired from the recording position of the layer number information with reference to the layer type information.

  According to the above configuration, since the recording position of the layer number information in the address information recording area differs depending on the type of the information recording layer, for example, the same layer number information included in each of the information recording media with different standards Can be distinguished from each other.

  That is, for example, it is possible to distinguish between the RE layer of a two-layer combination disc having two RE layers and the RE layer of a two-layer combination disc of a ROM layer and an RE layer.

  According to the information recording / reproducing apparatus of the present invention, the reproduction condition for setting the reproduction condition for reproducing the information recorded in the information recording layer according to the type of the accessed information recording layer determined by the access layer type determining means Setting means may be provided, and the information recorded in the accessed information recording layer may be reproduced in accordance with the reproduction condition set by the reproduction condition setting means.

  According to the above configuration, the reproduction condition setting means sets reproduction conditions for reproducing the information recorded on the information recording layer according to the type of the accessed information recording layer determined by the access layer type determination means. The information recording / reproducing apparatus of the present invention reproduces information recorded on the accessed information recording layer in accordance with the set reproduction condition.

  Therefore, even when an information recording layer different from the target information recording layer is accessed due to a malfunction of the information recording / reproducing apparatus, it is possible to set a reproducing condition that matches the reproducing condition of the information recording layer.

  Examples of “reproduction conditions” include various setting conditions during reproduction control (setting conditions such as focus control, tracking control, and reproduction power).

  The information recording / reproducing apparatus of the present invention comprises recording condition setting means for setting a recording condition for recording information on the information recording layer according to the type of the accessed information recording layer determined by the access layer type determining means. And information may be recorded on the accessed information recording layer in accordance with the recording condition set by the recording condition setting means.

  According to the configuration, the recording condition setting means sets a recording condition for recording information on the information recording layer according to the type of the accessed information recording layer determined by the access layer type determining means, The recording / reproducing apparatus records information on the accessed information recording layer according to the set recording condition.

  Therefore, even when an information recording layer different from the target information recording layer is accessed due to a malfunction of the information recording / reproducing apparatus, a recording condition that matches the recording condition of the information recording layer can be set.

  Examples of “recording conditions” include various setting conditions during recording control (setting conditions such as focus control, tracking control, and recording power).

  The information recording medium of the present invention is an information recording medium having a plurality of information recording layers of two or more types, and for identifying the information recording layer from the information recording layer and other information recording layers. Layer number information may be included, and layer type information indicating the type of the information recording layer may be recorded in a management information area of at least one information recording layer.

  According to the above configuration, it is possible to provide an information recording medium capable of acquiring layer number information from the accessed information recording layer and acquiring layer type information from the management information area of at least one information recording layer. it can.

  Further, in the information recording medium of the present invention, in addition to the above configuration, the layer number information may be included in the address information of the information recording layer.

  Thus, by including the layer number information in the address information for specifying the position on the information recording medium, the layer number can be acquired at any radial position in the medium surface direction accessible on the information recording medium. A possible information recording medium can be provided.

  In the information recording medium of the present invention, the layer type information may be included in the address information of the information recording layer.

  Thereby, by including the layer type information in the address information for specifying the position on the information recording medium, the layer type information can be obtained at any accessible radial position in the medium surface direction on the information recording medium. Can do.

  As described above, since the layer type information can be obtained directly from the accessed information recording layer, it is possible to determine the type of the information recording layer even when it is accessed suddenly without reproducing the management information area described above. A possible information recording medium can be provided.

  Each means, each function, each process, and each step and each process in the information recording / reproducing apparatus and its control method may be realized by a computer. In this case, the computer is used as each means. The information reproducing program for causing the computer to realize the information recording / reproducing apparatus and the control method thereof by causing the computer to realize each function, or causing the computer to execute each process, each step, or each process, and A recorded computer-readable recording medium also falls within the scope of the present invention.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the claims, and the technical means disclosed in different embodiments can be appropriately combined. Such embodiments are also included in the technical scope of the present invention.

  The present invention can be widely applied to an optical information recording medium having a multilayer structure in which a ROM layer, an RE layer, and an R layer are mixed, an optical information recording / reproducing apparatus for recording / reproducing information on the optical information recording medium, and the like. .

1 Optical disk device (information recording / reproducing device)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 3 Storage part 6 Disc loading recognition part 7 Operation part 10 Recording / reproduction circuit group 11 Optical head 12 Optical pickup 13 Pickup drive circuit 14 Laser drive circuit 15 Reproduction circuit 20 Control part 21 Disk management part 22 Reproduction control part 23 Recording control part (Recording) Condition setting means)
24 recording / reproducing circuit group control unit 31 recording layer-recording area correspondence table recording unit 32 layer number-recording layer correspondence table recording unit 33 layer type discrimination result recording unit 34 recording / reproduction control method setting information recording unit (recording condition / reproduction condition) )
100 Optical disc (information recording medium)
101 Management information area 102 User recording area 103 BCA
104 PIC
105 Layer Type Information Recording Area 106 Sector 107 Address Information Recording Area 221 Layer Type Information Acquisition Unit (Layer Type Information Acquisition Unit)
222 Layer number acquisition unit (layer number acquisition means, access layer identification means)
223 Layer type discrimination unit (access layer type discrimination means)
224 Recording / reproduction control method setting unit (reproduction condition setting means)
225 Playback data holding unit A1 to A8 Recording area B1 Layer number (layer number information) recording area B2 Sector number recording area C1 Layer type (layer number information) recording area C2 Layer number (layer number information) recording area C3 Sector number recording area D1 Layer number (layer number information) recording area D2 Sector number recording area L0 to L7 Information recording layer R Reproducing light S Light spot position

Claims (1)

An information recording medium comprising a plurality of information recording layers of two or more types,
The two or more types of information recording layers include at least a read-only layer and a rewritable layer or a recordable layer, and include different types of information recording layers having the same layer number information. The layer number information is included in the address information of the information recording layer, and among the information recording layers, the read-only layer records the address information in pits, and is a rewritable layer or additional recording The possible layer has the address information recorded by wobbling the track, and the recording position of the layer number information in the address information recording area where the address information is recorded differs according to the type of the information recording layer. in which, in the management information area of the at least one information recording layer, the recording control information or SL information reproduction control information is recorded corresponding to the type of the information recording layer An information reproducing method for reproducing data from the medium,
A layer number obtaining step of obtaining access information recording layer or et layer number information,
An access layer type determining step for determining the type of the accessed information recording layer by referring to the recording position of the layer number information according to the type of the information recording layer in the accessed information recording layer;
And a recording / reproducing condition specifying step for specifying a recording condition or a reproducing condition corresponding to the accessed information recording layer .

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