JPH01151080A - Data recording and reproducing system for rotary head type tape recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve responsibility by dividing the section between the starting and termination of a tape into plural areas and forming a target area to record the target of data recorded in respective dividing areas at the peak part of respective dividing areas. CONSTITUTION:The section between the starting and termination of the tape is divided into plural areas, a target area TOC (table of contents) to record the target of the data recorded in respective dividing areas is formed at the peak part of respective dividing area and the dividing control of the tape can be executed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (a) Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to a data recording and reproducing method for using, for example, a rotary head digital audio tape recorder (R-DAT) as a storage device for information equipment. be.

(Ex) Conventional technology Conventionally, in R-DAT, an information recording area for recording digitally converted music signals is formed in the center of the trace of each track of a tape that is helically scanned by a rotating head, and this information is A subcode area is formed along with a tracking area (ATF area) on both sides of the recording area, that is, at the trace start and end of each track.A servo signal for tracking control is provided in this tracking area. The start ID indicating the beginning of the song is recorded in the sub-food area along with the song number and time information.
etc. were recorded.

However, recently it has been considered to be used as a storage device for such R-DATe information equipment, for example, 120
R-DAT, which uses minute tapes, can achieve a storage capacity of approximately IGBytes, making it a storage device with a lower price, larger capacity, and smaller space than the MT devices and hard disk devices that were conventionally used as storage devices. can be provided.

(c) Problems to be Solved by the Invention Specifically, when such an R-DAT is used as a storage device of an information device, its track format is compliant with audio, and the above-mentioned information recording area is replaced with a music signal. However, if multiple programs and digital data are sequentially recorded from the beginning of the tape to the end in the same way as when recording music signals, it will be difficult to read out the programs or digital data after recording. Since the responsiveness of the disc device is extremely poor compared to that of a disk device, it has been desired to realize a data recording and reproducing system with good responsiveness.

Furthermore, when attempting to initialize the entire surface of the tape in the same manner as the FORMAT command of a disk device, there is a problem in that it takes a very long time to record 120 minutes on a 120 minute tape.

(d) Means for Solving the Problems In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a rotary head type system in which programs and digital data are recorded on each track on a tape that is helically scanned by a rotary head. A tape recorder in which the tape is divided into multiple areas between the beginning and the end, and a catalog area is formed at the beginning of each divided area to record a list of data recorded in each divided area. It is.

(e) Effect: According to the data recording and reproducing method of the present invention described above, programs and digital data can be managed for each divided area, and the start point of recording and reproducing can also be increased in accordance with the number of tape divisions. This allows for a significant improvement in responsiveness.

(f) Examples An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

That is, according to the data recording and reproducing method of the present invention, the tape is divided into a plurality of areas at equal intervals between the beginning and the end, and a list of data to be recorded in each divided area is recorded at the beginning of each divided area. A catalog area is created to allow tapes to be managed separately. Hereinafter, this divided area will be referred to as a class, and its catalog area will be referred to as a TOC (table o
f content's) area, and T of this class
In the data area other than the OC area, programs and digital data can be recorded in the information recording area of each track, and in the sub-food area, the class number, identification signal of TOC area or data area, etc. are recorded. . Further, in this subcode area, a sector number is recorded when two tracks are defined as one frame and eight frames are defined as one sector, and the data area is expressed as a collection of sectors. The TOC area of each class is equivalent to 50 sectors, and the information recording area of each track includes a sector map showing which sectors in the data area are used and which sectors in the data area. A BAD sector map indicating whether the program is unusable, the name of each program, the sector size of each program, etc. are recorded, and the same contents as the sub-food area in the data area are recorded in the sub-code area. Here, it is assumed that the remaining areas of each track, such as the ATF area, conform to the audio DAT track format as is. In this invention, the division management method in which the tape is divided into a plurality of classes at equal intervals between the beginning and the end is referred to as "one class format" in this invention.

Specifically, the tape is divided according to its type into the number of tape divisions shown in Figure 1, and the number of tape divisions is 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, or 6. Set the tape type, 15 minutes, 30 minutes, 45 minutes.
Six types are selected: minutes, 60 minutes, 90 minutes, and 120 minutes. Here, ``rl'' represents the number of divisions that can be specified, and ``0'' represents the number of divisions that cannot be specified. The section in which the tape was run for 15 minutes was defined as the minimum division section, and the number of divisions was set to be a positive integer multiple of this minimum division section. Therefore, there is one division format for a 15-minute tape as shown in Figure 2, two division formats for a 30-minute and 45-minute tape as shown in Figures 3 and 4, and a division format for a 60-minute tape. 3 as shown in Figure 5.
There are four types of 90-minute and 120-minute tapes as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7.

Next, an example of a system configuration for realizing the above class format will be described using FIGS. 8 and 9. That is, (1) in the figure is R-DA for Saiichi Dio.
The mechanism (1) has the same structure as T, and the mechanism (1) includes a rotating cylinder, a capstan motor, a reel motor, etc. 88. (2) is 180' to the rotating cylinder.
Two recording/reproducing rotary heads (A, B) placed apart.
(3) is a recording/reproducing amplifier that sends and receives recording and reproduction signals to and from the head); (3) adds an error correction code to the recording signal during recording in units of one frame, performs interleaving, etc., and performs error correction on the reproduction signal during reproduction; An intra-frame signal processing circuit that performs de-interleaving, etc.; (4) an intra-sector signal processing circuit that adds an error correction code and performs interleaving, etc. during recording in sector units, and performs error correction, de-interleaving, etc. during playback; (5) (6) is the reel servo circuit that drives and controls the reel motor, (7) is the capstan servo circuit that drives and controls the capstan motor, (8) is the in-frame signal during playback. The ATF circuit extracts signals in the ATF area from the output of the recording/playback amplifier (2) through the processing circuit (3) and generates a tracking error signal.This error signal is supplied to the capstan servo circuit (7) and output from the capstan servo circuit (7). Used to control the rotation speed of stun motors. (9) is a sub-code processing circuit that extracts the signal of the sub-food area from the output of the recording/playback amplifier (2) through the intra-frame signal processing circuit (3) during playback, and (10) is the sub-code processing circuit that uses various operating keys manually. (9) or the command circuit described later, the sector signal processing circuit (4), the frame signal processing circuit (3), and the cylinder servo circuit (
5), a system control circuit that controls the reel servo circuit (6) and the capstan servo circuit (7), and (11) a translucent non-magnetic material section (hereinafter referred to as leader tape) provided at the beginning and end of the tape. (12) is a reel FG counter that counts the FG pulses of the reel motor; (13) is an envelope detector that detects the output of the recording/playback amplifier (2) during playback. It is a circuit.

(14) is an input/output device that serves as an input/output terminal to the host computer, and (15) is this input/output device (
a command circuit that gives commands to the system control circuit (10) in response to commands from the host computer through the host computer (14);
The command circuit (15) is constructed as shown in FIG. That is, (16) is a first class memory in which the number of tape divisions that can be specified according to the tape type is stored in advance;
Specifically, a matrix table as shown in FIG. 1 is stored. (17) is a second class memory in which the reel motor FC and pulse count numbers from the beginning of the tape indicating each division point of the number of tape divisions that can be specified according to the tape type are stored in advance. A matrix table as shown in FIG. 10 is stored. Here, the number is R-.

It represents the FG pulse count number of the reel motor at the time of division of the DAT tape, that is, at the beginning of each class.
′×” indicates that the area is unrelated to the time of division. In addition, the tape starting edge referred to here refers to the starting edge of the non-transparent magnetic material part that can be recorded and reproduced, and the tape ending point refers to the ending point of the magnetic material part. Therefore, the FG pulse at the tape ending point The count is the total number of FG pulses of the reel motor generated between the beginning and the end of the tape magnetic material portion. (18) is a TOC memory in which the TOC information recorded in the TOC area of the class in which data is currently being recorded/played is temporarily stored, and (19) is the TOC memory that is sent from the host computer at the time of recording (save). A data buffer memory temporarily stores incoming programs and digital data, and temporarily stores programs and digital data reproduced from the tape during playback (loading). (20) decodes commands from the host computer and outputs them to the control circuit described later. The instruction decoding circuit (21>) receives the output from the instruction decoding circuit (20), and receives the output from the first and second class memories (16), (17),
TOC Mem (18), Data Bach Memory (19),
This is a control circuit that controls the system control circuit (10).

Next, the operation of such a system configuration example will be explained using a blank tape as an example. That is, in order to realize the class format described above, in the case of a blank tape, before recording data from the host computer, the tape is first divided into classes between the beginning and end, and the TOC area of each class is recorded. , referred to as initialization), and the initialization will be explained below according to the flowcharts of FIGS. 11 to 13. Here, the flowchart includes a part for determining whether the tape has been initialized (Figure 11), a part for determining whether the specified tape type and number of tape divisions are correct (Figure 12), and a part for determining whether the tape has been initialized (Figure 12). The first part is the part that executes the conversion.
It can be roughly divided into three types (Figure 3).

First, the tape type (the type of blank tape to be used) and the number of tape divisions are specified by keyboard operation on the host combination coater side, and an initialization command is issued.In step (22), the initialization command is sent to the input/output device. (14)
is input to the command circuit (15), and its command decoding circuit (
After being decoded at step 20), it is input to the control circuit (21). Then, the system control circuit (lO) is controlled by each servo circuit (5) according to a command from this control circuit (21).
)(a) Control (7) to temporarily set the R-DAT mechanism to the rewind state and start rewinding. Step (
23)) When the tape start/end sensor (11) detects that the tape is at the beginning (in the case of an initialized tape, the tape has arrived at the beginning), the process proceeds to step 24) and enters the playback state. Transition. Then, in this playback state, the presence or absence of the envelope output of the envelope detection circuit (13) is determined at a predetermined time step (25)''t', and if it is determined that there is no envelope output, the process moves to step (26) and the rewinding state is resumed. , and rewinds the tape to its beginning.Also, if it is determined that there is an envelope output in such a playback state,
In step (27), the fact that the tape has been initialized is displayed on the host computer through the input/output device (14) and a warning is issued to the user.

Then, in step (28), it is determined whether an initialization command has been issued again from the host computer, and if there is no initialization command, the process proceeds to step (29), where the initialization operation is stopped and the initialization command is issued. If there is, the process proceeds to step (26) and the tape is rewound to the beginning. Then, the process proceeds to step (30) where the tape S class specified at the time of the initialization command is stored in the first class memory (16). It is determined whether the tape type exists (that is, it matches one of the tape types stored in advance), and if it does not exist, step (31) is performed.
) (32), the input/output device (14) notifies the host computer that the request cannot be accepted, and this fact is displayed on the host computer. Also, step (30)
If it is determined that there is a
It is determined whether the tape exists in the class memory (16) (that is, the number of divisions that can be specified for the specified tape type), and if it does not exist, the process proceeds to steps (31) and (32) and is not accepted. The host computer is notified of this fact and the host computer displays the fact. If it is determined in step (33) that the tape exists, the process proceeds to step (34), where the recording state starts from the beginning of the tape, and recording of the class 1 TOC area is started, and the reel FG counter (12) FG of reel motor
Start pulse counting. When the recording of the TOC area is completed, the process proceeds to step (35), where it is determined whether the specified number of divisions is 1, and if it is 1, step (36) is performed.
) to finish the initialization, and if it is 1 or more, proceed to step (
37) to enter the fast-forward state, and during the fast-forward period, proceed to step (38) to detect the tape start/end sensor (11).
It is determined whether or not the end of the tape has been reached at step (39).
Rapid forwarding is continued until it is determined that the G pulse count number and the FG pulse count number obtained from the reel motor match. Then, if it is determined in step (39) that the FG pulse count numbers match, the process proceeds to step (40), shifts to the recording state, and starts recording the TOC area of class N (class 2 in this case). . When the recording of the TOC area is completed, the process proceeds to step (41) to determine whether the class number N has reached the specified number of divisions, and if it has reached the specified number of divisions, the process proceeds to step (36) to complete the initialization. However, if the end of the tape is not reached, the process returns to step (37) and repeats the above operation until the end of the tape is reached.If it is determined in step (38) that the end of the tape has been reached during the fast-forward period, step (42) By comparing the number of FG pulses counted by the reel FG counter (12) until the end of the tape is reached with the number of FG pulses counted at the end of the tape in the second class memory (17). Get the actual tape type. In step (43), the tape type specified at the initialization command is converted to the obtained tape type, and if the converted tape type has the specified number of divisions, the number of divisions is left as is, and if there is no, the converted tape type Shift to the smaller number of divisions in .

After rewinding the tape to the end in step (44), the process returns to step (34) and initialization is performed again.

In addition, in the above flowchart, the specified tape type,
In the part that determines whether the number of tape divisions is correct (Fig. 12), if it is determined in step (33) that the number of tape divisions specified at the time of the initialization instruction does not exist in the first class memory (16). However, the first
As shown in Figure 4, step (45) is added to store the number of tape divisions in the first class memory (16) while keeping the tape type the same.
The number of divisions may be automatically converted to the smaller number of divisions existing within. Furthermore, in this embodiment, in the initialization execution portion of the flowchart (FIG. 13), it is determined whether or not the end of the tape has been reached during the fast forwarding period. Among other things, if it is determined whether or not the end of the tape has been reached, a more reliable initialization operation can be performed.

(g) Effects of the Invention According to the data recording and reproducing method of the present invention described above, programs and digital data can be managed for each class, and the start point of recording and reproducing can also be increased in accordance with the number of tape divisions. This allows for a significant improvement in responsiveness.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The figures show an embodiment of the present invention; Fig. 1 shows the number of tape divisions depending on the tape type; Fig. 2 shows the division form of a 15-minute tape; and Fig. 3 shows the division of a 30-minute tape. Figure 4 is a diagram showing the division format of a 45 minute tape, Figure 5 is a diagram showing the division format of a 45 minute tape.
The figure shows the division form of a 60-minute tape, the 6th section shows the division form of a 90-minute tape, the figure 7 shows the division form of a 120-minute tape, and the figure 8 shows an example of the system configuration. 9 is a diagram showing a specific configuration example of the command circuit, FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the FG pulse count number at the time of tape division, and FIG. 11 is a diagram showing whether or not the tape has been initialized. 12 is a flowchart of the part that determines whether the specified tape type and number of tape divisions are correct. FIG. 13 is a flowchart of the part that executes initialization. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing another embodiment of FIG. (10)...System control circuit, <11)...Tape start/end sensor, (12)...Reel FG counter,
(13)...Envelope detection circuit, (14)...
- Input/output device, (15)...command circuit.

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) A rotary head tape recorder in which programs and digital data are recorded on each track on a tape that is helically scanned by a rotary head, and the tape is divided into multiple areas between the beginning and the end. A data recording and reproducing method for a rotary head type tape recorder, characterized in that a catalog area is formed at the beginning of the area to record a list of data recorded in each divided area.