JPH02185728A - Optical information recording and reproducing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To realize stable, accurate, and fast operation by using light sources which emit light independently, arraying spots on tracks, and switching the functions of respective spots corresponding to areas of a recording medium and a change in state due to an error. CONSTITUTION:Lasers 8 emit light independently and are driven independently by laser drivers 35-40. The laser drivers switch the driving states of the respec tive lasers with a signal from a switching circuit (I)32. Namely, the functions of the spots 200-202 are changed according to the positions on the storage medi um or time to put spots with specific functions in operation in specific order, and parallel erasure, recording, and reproduction on tracks are enabled. Conse quently, information can fast, stably and accurately be erased, recorded, and reproduced.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an optical information recording jQ production device for erasing, recording, and/or producing information.

[Prior Art] Various media such as optical discs, optical cards, and optical tapes have been known as media for recording and reproducing information using light. Each of these has its own characteristics and is used depending on the purpose and application. Among them, optical cards are easy to manufacture, easy to carry, and easy to access, so their uses will continue to expand in the future. It is thought that it will go.

FIG. 4 is a schematic block diagram showing an example of an optical information recording #11 recording device a configured for a card-shaped recording medium.

In the figure, 1 is an optical card on which information is to be recorded, 3 is an optical head (the part surrounded by a dotted line in FIG. 4), 4 is a light beam from the optical head 3, and 5 is a shuttle for atIl the optical card I. , 8 is a laser, and 9 is a frimeter lens. 10 is a polarizing beam splitter, 30 is an I/4 wavelength plate, and the combination of these two members allows light traveling from the top to the bottom of the figure to pass through, but light traveling from the bottom toward E is bent in the right angle direction. 11 is an objective lens that converts parallel light into optical card 1.
It works by concentrating light at the top.

I2 is an optical sensor, 13 is a preamplifier, 14 is an autofocusing servo, 15 is an autotracking servo,
16 is a decoder, 17 is an interface, 18 is a computer, 19 is an encoder, and 20 is a laser driver. Reference numeral 21 denotes a stepping device which functions to move the optical head 3 in a direction perpendicular to the paper surface.

Numerals 22 and 23 are pulleys, and a belt 24 is looped around the pulleys 22 and 23. The belt 24 has an optical card l.
A shuttle 5 is attached for placing and fixing. The pulley 22 is attached to the shuttle of a motor 26, and the rotation of the pulley 26 causes the optical card l to reciprocate linearly in the direction of the arrow in the figure. This movement is performed by the dryer servo 27 at a constant speed within the recording area of the optical card 1, and is reversed by deceleration, stop, and acceleration outside the recording area, resulting in smooth linear reciprocating movement. In addition,
The rotational speed of the dryer 26 is detected by an optical encoder and input to the dryer servo 27.

Next, the operation of the apparatus shown in FIG. 4 will be explained using the case of raw information 111 as an example.

In FIG. 4, the light beam oscillated from the laser 8 is
The collimator lens 9 converts the light into parallel light, which passes through the polarizing beam splitter 10 and the 174-wave plate 30 and is further condensed by the objective lens 11 to form a minute spot on the optical card 1. The reflected light from the optical card l is modulated depending on whether or not there is an information bit in the area irradiated by the minute spot, and this modulated light is turned into parallel light by the objective lens 11 again and is incident on the optical sensor 12 by the polarizing beam splitter 10. be done. The optical sensor 12 detects a change in the amount of modulated light, converts it into an electrical signal, and sends it to the preamplifier I3. Autofocusing servo 1 from preamplifier 13
A signal is sent to the autofocusing servo +4, and an actuator (not shown) moves the objective lens 11 in the direction B in response to the signal from the autofocusing servo +4.
The distance between the objective lens II and the optical card 1 is controlled so that the lens is focused on the optical card 1.

During initial operation of the device, the autofocusing servo 14. A servo pull-in command is sent to the auto-tracking servo 15. The interface 17 here includes a microprocessor unit, etc., is completed as an independent device 6, and has a communication function with an external computer 18.

The signal from the preamplifier 13 is also sent to an auto-tracking servo 15, and the signal from the auto-tracking servo 15 causes an actuator (not shown) to move the objective lens It in the direction perpendicular to the plane of the drawing, and the light beam 4.
control to focus on a predetermined position. Auto focusing servo 14 and auto tracking servo 15
For this, several specific methods have been proposed.1 For example, the light beam 4 is divided into multiple parts using a grating, etc., and the optical card 1 is preformatted with one track for autofocusing or autotracking. An example has been proposed in which information is reproduced using at least one of a plurality of light beams, and signals for autofocus and autotracking are extracted using other beams.

Further, the signal from the preamplifier 13 is sent to a decoder 16 and subjected to necessary electrical processing, and then sent to an interface 17. Information signals are sent from the interface 17 to the computer 18 . Further, a signal is sent from the interface 17 to the encoder 19, modulated as necessary, and then passed through the laser driver 20 to control the oscillation of the laser 8.

Further, signals are sent from the interface 17 to the stepping motor 21 and the servo servo 27 to control the position of the optical radar 3 in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the paper and the rotation of the motor 26, respectively.

[Background of the Invention and Problems to be Solved by the Invention] In an optical card recording/reproducing device that performs such an operation, the accuracy of recorded information must be checked, as shown in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 52-3405. It is known that the reliability of recording and reproducing information can be improved by having a function similar to a so-called direct read-out function after writing.

To this end, as shown in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 62-298033, a direct reading device after writing using an integrated semiconductor array laser as a light source has been proposed. but,
Lasers that perform both recording and recording have the following problems: the override function of writing immediately after erasing cannot be achieved; the characteristics of high-power lasers; the fluctuation of optical output due to crosstalk between lasers; This had the problem of instability of the servo when switching back and forth between reciprocating motions. Therefore, the present applicant solved these problems and proposed a device capable of achieving a high luminous flux and high reliability in Japanese Patent Application No. 63-252121.

Furthermore, the applicant uses a two-dimensional array laser as a light source and changes the functions of multiple spots on the medium F in response to the forward and backward movements of the reciprocating movement of the medium and the optical head. - A device that can achieve high speed and high reliability has been proposed in Japanese Patent Application No. 63-252122.

However, these devices are devices in which the medium and optical head move relatively back and forth, and the function of each spot is switched in response to the switching of the back and forth, so even if the medium is in the form of a card or tape, Of these, only those that perform reciprocating motion have the effect of increasing speed and reliability.
With disks, spinning cards, tapes that move in only one direction, etc., the only effect that can be expected is the speeding up of normal parallel erasing, recording, or playback.

Furthermore, since the function of each spot was switched when the reciprocating motion was reversed, there was also the problem that autofocus and autotracking had to be switched, especially when mechanical vibrations were large.

[Means for Solving the Problems] The present invention has been made to improve the above-mentioned problems, and is to improve the transfer efficiency of a device that performs erasing, recording, and reproduction in parallel on a plurality of tracks.

A device 6 that achieves improved access time, especially faster erasure due to defects, etc., error processing during recording, and higher functionality, and that can erase, record, and write information at high speed, stably, and accurately. It is about providing.

The first method described above is to use a plurality of light sources capable of emitting light substantially independently on a plurality of tracks of the medium.

Is it possible to place multiple spots? This is achieved by an optical information recording/reproducing device Ff characterized in that the function of the IJ number of spots is changed depending on the area of the medium.

[Operation] According to the present invention, the functions of the plurality of spots on each track E are changed depending on the position or time on the recording medium, so that the spots with a predetermined function can be arranged in a predetermined order or in a predetermined arrangement6. This makes it possible to enjoy the advantage of increasing the degree of freedom in information processing by switching spot functions.

[Embodiments] Hereinafter, specific embodiments of the optical information recorder 4 reproducing apparatus according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows the first part of the optical information recording/reproducing apparatus i of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

In the same figure, the same components as those in the configuration of the device shown in FIG. 4 are given the same numbers, and in the optical head 3,
The laser 8 includes six semiconductor lasers 1 on the same semiconductor substrate.
00-105 (Only 100-102 is shown in the figure)
and 1,200 photodiodes corresponding to each are integrated.

Each laser emits light independently, and the laser drivers 35 to 4
independently driven by 0. The laser driver can independently switch the driving state of each laser by a signal from the switching circuit (1) 32.

The laser beams each converted into six parallel beams by the collimator lens 9 pass through a polarizing beam splitter 10 and then are separated by an objective lens 11 .

Six spots 200 to 205 are imaged on the card 1 (only three spots are shown in FIG. 1), and the focal length of the collimator lens 9 is made larger than that of the objective lens It to form a reduced image. By doing so, it is possible to reduce the manufacturing precision of the array laser and to suppress fluctuations in the spot on the card due to temperature fluctuations and the like.

The reflected light from the optical card 1 passes through the 1/4 wavelength plate 30,
After being reflected by the polarizing beam splitter 10, the sensor lens 31
The light is focused on the optical sensor 12. The sensor 12 includes six light receiving sections 41 to 46 (4
(Only 1 to 43 are shown) are arranged, and their photocurrent outputs are subjected to current-voltage conversion and amplification 11 required by preamplifiers 49 to 52, respectively.
1. Filtering, waveform shaping, performance, etc. are performed and input to the switching circuit (11) 33.

The functions of the switching circuit (1) 32 and the switching circuit (It) 33 will be explained using FIG. 2, which shows the spot arrangement on the card.

In FIG. 2, tracks 40a, 40b, . . .
40g is provided parallel to the direction of relative movement of the optical card. Spots 200, 201, 202 created by laser 100, 10% 1.102 are on the same track 40c, and spot 203 created by laser 103, 104° 105 is located on the same track 40c.
, 204, 205 are on the adjacent track 40d.

The most basic operation of this embodiment is to
Erasing and recording simultaneously in parallel for 0c and 40d,
Any combination of regeneration may be performed independently. As a result, compared to the case of erasing, recording, and recording in one spot, the speed is increased by more than an order of magnitude when considering the lost time due to round trip.
As shown in No. 52122. In this case, Subo 1
-200,203 are for erasing, 201,204 are for recording,
202 and 205 are spots for reproduction. This switching is performed from the interface +7 to the laser driver 20.
is transmitted to the switching circuit 32 and executed. The information to be recorded (in this case parallel) is sent from the computer 18 via the interface 17 by the encoder 19.
It is converted into a modulated signal for recording, and the switching circuit (1) 3
2, the power of each recording laser is modulated. For example, if an InSe recording medium is used, seven erasing spots are used.
The crystallization level is set to mW, and the high output level of the recording spot is set to 15 ml to reach the amorphous level, thereby forming bits and achieving override. The reproduction spot is a low-power ImW, and after writing, inscribed reading is realized together with override. In this case, erasure and No. 11 main 1-the are CW lighting.

In the present invention, the functions of each spot can be switched arbitrarily by commands from the computer 18 and the interface 17, so that the following operations are possible.

The reflected light from the card at the playback spot 202 is transmitted to the light receiving section 41. The signal is obtained via a preamplifier 47. Its output is
Preamplifier 47.4 also via interface 17
8.49 are switched by the switching circuit (II) 32 to correspond to reproduction, recording, and erasing, respectively, so the reproduction signal is sent to the decoder 16 via the switching circuit (II) 32. is input. The information reproduced by the decoder +6 is transmitted to the interface I7 and compared with the information that should originally have been recorded (verify operation). Depending on the type and degree of error detected as a result, predetermined processing is selected and executed.

For example, if the error correction code is within the correction capability of the error correction code to be added, the error correction code may be added as is. Furthermore, an index may be recorded to reduce the possibility that the error occurred during recording. On the other hand, if the error exceeds the correction ability, it can be dealt with by erasing or recording again, or by recording in one alternative area, or by a combination thereof. In this case, first, in the case of an erasable medium like this embodiment, the original defective area (block or sector) is recognized by an operation called initialization or formatting, and it is skipped and logically addressed. is set, so the iQ
The degree of possibility of recording is determined, and either re-recording or alternative area recording is selected.

If 1 recording is selected, another degree (or several degrees)
Erasing, recording, and reproducing are repeated, but it is possible to estimate whether it is an erasing error or a recording error by verifying, and it is also known that recording is almost possible if erasing is complete due to the media device. If so, erase two of the three spots at 200 and 201, and one at 202.
18, confirm the erase, and then perform a direct read verify after writing in 202 of the 3 spots, or try erasing in 3 spots, then 200, 111, and erase. After checking, 201
According to this embodiment, operations such as recording at step 202 and performing read-out verification directly after -q writing at step 202 are possible. In the case of re-recording, the relative positions of the medium and the spot must be returned to their original positions, which results in a large loss of time.
Compared to the case of l spot, the deviation is 1 due to this embodiment.
A speedup of nearly an order of magnitude can be achieved. Furthermore, in the case of a device that performs reciprocating motion, according to this embodiment, if the functions of each spot are optimally switched (the simplest way is to reverse the order), the loss time will be reduced accordingly, and the spiral track In the case of an optical disc, after one rotation, the leading spot group 200-202 moves to the track 40b, but the trailing spot group 203-205 comes on the track 40c, so according to the present invention, the functions of the spots 203-205 are changed. Switch to the optimal combination, re-record, and record 200~
202 is after skipping the error area.

If normal erasing, recording, and +Q raw operations are performed, the loss time due to errors will be as small as 1.

By the way, when (1) alternative area recording is selected for an uncorrectable error (this may be selected even when re-recording is not possible), (2) according to this embodiment, the adjacent track 40d is transferred to the alternative area. It can be used as At that time, information indicating that it is an error area (flag, mark, etc.)
and the information f4i (pointer etc.) of the location (address etc.) of the alternative area is recorded. Even if you try re-recording, if the errors are reproducible or burst-like, the media is likely to have a major defect, so identify that area and avoid using it again. It is also possible to perform other processing. Of course, this information can be recorded in the directory area if necessary. The advantage of providing an alternative area in the adjacent track 40d is that it does not require any special relative movement between the medium and the optical head, especially in the track arrangement direction, so that alternative recording can be performed almost in real time. Therefore, the recording time is 1+
In addition, since the 111 live spots are located in parallel at 1:00 a.m., it is possible to play back in real time, and the speed of the entire device can be increased. Furthermore, according to this embodiment, if each track is provided with a spare area corresponding to an alternative area, it is possible to keep the maximum physical capacity within one track constant, and the logical content tr
Since t does not change, for example, if the logical track
Physically, it is possible to access multiple tracks without any problems even if they are accessed across multiple tracks, so in addition to the above-mentioned 11 speedup benefits, there is also a reduction in capacity caused by replacing blocks, sectors, or track Ii 1st position. Efficient erasing and recording that suppresses deterioration, 1■!
can live life. In that case, 40 replacement trucks
d The first spot 203 of l is switched to 1st grade, and while reading the recorded information, it is judged whether it is OK to erase or not, and the substitute area is confirmed. However, the operation of recording at 205 can also be performed by switching the spot function according to this embodiment.
performance and reliability.

Furthermore, in a special case, in order to achieve high-speed switching, when the same information is written on two tracks, an error occurs that requires alternative recording on the following track.
In other words, it is also possible to use that portion of the preceding track as a substitute.

Furthermore, the effects of this embodiment include not only the above-mentioned error processing, but also erasing at spot 200 on the preceding track 40c, reproducing at 201, and verifying the erasure.
If the erasure is incomplete, ensure erasure is performed in the preceding spot group by erasing again at 202, and if it is a round trip type,
Verify erasure at 205, write at 204, and verify recording at 203.If it is a one-way type, it is also possible to verify erasure at 203, record at 204, and verify recording at 205, improving reliability. As a result, capacitance can be used effectively and speeding up can be achieved.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the arrangement of spots on the track.
The five spots 206a to 210c correspond to the light emitting points of a two-dimensional 15 semiconductor array laser (not shown), respectively.

The apparatus includes the equipment shown in FIG. 1 [2i], a laser driver 8, a switching circuit (1) 32, a sensor amplifier 12. preamp +3,
Switching circuit (13) 33 and interface I7 to 15
It only needs to be modified for individual lasers and spots.

The most basic arrangement of spot functions is spot 206.
aNc is for first reproduction, 207 a - c is for erasing, 2
08a to 08c are for second reproduction, 209a to C are for recording, and 210a to c are for third reproduction, corresponding to the operation of erasing, recording, and rQ generation of three tracks in parallel. The first reproduction spot 206 aw c detects whether information has already been recorded and what kind of information has been recorded, which is useful for determining whether or not to erase the information. The erasing spots 207a to 207c perform erasing taking such information into consideration, and the second reproduction spot 208a wc performs erasing verification.

Thereafter, overwriting is performed using the recording spots 2098 to 209C, and recording verification is performed using the third reproduction spots 210a to 209c.

In this embodiment, the number of spots is increased compared to the previous embodiment, and the degree of freedom in processing by switching the spot functions is increased accordingly.
It becomes possible to respond to various situations.

Even in the most basic case of π1, since erasing and recording are verified independently and separately, for example, it is easy to distinguish between erasing errors and recording errors, and the corrective action can be selected immediately. In addition to improving reliability, it also has the effect of increasing speed. For example, spot 207
If an error in erasing is detected in any of steps 8 to C and the process of erasing one car is selected based on the judgment described in the above embodiment, that is, the spot 20 corresponding to that track is selected.
By switching the function of any of 8a to 8c to an erasing operation instead of recording, it becomes possible to try erasing again in real time, improving the reliability of erasing. Then verify the erase at spot 209 on that track,
It is also possible to override at spot 210,
Immediate override at spot 209, spot 210
It is also possible to switch the spot function of verifying with , and one of them is selected depending on the type of error that occurred and the characteristics of the medium and device.

In this way, according to this embodiment, high reliability and high speed can be achieved at the same time. Also, in alternative recording operations, more flexible processing is possible due to the greater degree of freedom provided by this embodiment. For example, a defect is detected by the first reproduction spot 206b on the track 40c,
When alternative recording is required, it is determined from the information appearing in the first playback spots 208a, 206c of track 40b or 40d which track is suitable as the alternative area, and if necessary, Erasing, erasing verify, alternative recording, and recording verify are performed. In addition, if a defect that requires alternative recording is detected by erasure verification of the second reproduction spot 208a of track 40cJ:, after selecting an alternative track in the same way, 2
High reliability is achieved without sacrificing high speed, as the functions of the two spots can be selected from Erase 1 Alternative Recording, Alternative Recording, and Verify depending on the recording status of the selected alternate track. can.

Of course, as described in the first embodiment, in order to ensure that only erasing is performed for each area or track, and for example, in order to ensure that only recording and raw data are performed, the functions of multiple spots are required. It is also possible to switch.

Note that for autofocus and autotracking, well-known methods such as an astigmatism method and a three-beam method can be used. In that case, it is preferable to use unmodulated reproducing laser light having a constant power over an hour. A fire extinguishing laser also has a constant power, but it does not necessarily erase the data all the time and may not turn on, making it unsuitable.

Furthermore, according to the present invention, when switching the function of a spot, it is possible to do the following: 1. Switching of spots for performing servo such as autofocus and autotracking may also occur, but in that case, the two spots to be switched are used together for a certain period of time.

It is desirable that servo switching be performed smoothly. Further, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a pilot function to a spot preceding the spot to be servoed and to an adjacent preceding spot, thereby avoiding serious errors such as servo failure due to defects such as scratches or dust.

In other words, if a defect detected as a light intensity fluctuation by the preceding spot is determined to have a large effect on the servo,
Reliability can be improved by issuing a command to the autofocusing servo 14 and autotracking servo I5 to hold each servo state, and releasing the hold after confirming that the defect has passed.

Furthermore, the array laser used in the present invention can basically be of the type disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No. 63-252/22, and may be either a stripe type or a surface emitting type. Preferably, the terrestrial photodiode is integrated, and the laser drive circuit is also integrated, so that a more convenient device can be realized. Furthermore, thermal and electrical crosstalk between array lasers can be substantially reduced by an optical output control circuit if the optical output can be independently detected by the double turf diode. Furthermore, depending on the spectral characteristics of the medium, for example, the present invention can be implemented using lasers with different wavelengths and Pi numbers.

Furthermore, although the explanation has mainly been given on the case of an optical card, the effects of the present invention are also great for optical discs, optical tapes, and the like. This is effective regardless of whether the tracks are linear, concentric, spiral, or have the same radius of curvature.

Furthermore, although a series of operations such as erasing, recording, and 11th generation have been explained, this is because the effect of the present invention is most remarkable, and even if a combination of these or only a single function is performed. good. Of course, it can also be applied to non-erasable write-once optical memories.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the present invention, a plurality of light sources capable of substantially independent light emission are used, a plurality of spots are arranged in a plurality of tracks E, and an area of a recording medium, By switching the function of each spot in response to changes in the situation due to errors, etc., a stable, accurate, and high-speed optical information recording device can be realized.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an optical information recording amphibious device according to the present invention. FIGS. 2 and 3 are configuration diagrams showing the spot arrangement on the medium of the optical information recording/reproducing apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram for explaining a conventional example. 1... Optical card, 3... Optical head. 8...Multiple light sources. ! 00-105...Array laser, 200-IO...Spot, 40...Track.

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) In an optical information recording and reproducing device that erases, records, and/or reproduces information on a medium, a plurality of light sources capable of independently emitting light are used to arrange a plurality of spots on a plurality of tracks of the medium, An optical information recording/reproducing device characterized in that the functions of the plurality of spots are changed. (2) The optical information recording/reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein erasing, recording, or reproduction is performed on the plurality of tracks in parallel. (3) The function of at least one of the plurality of spots is changed according to the position on the recording medium, time, or a signal from a host device, etc.
The optical information recording and reproducing device described in 2.