JPH02240869A - Information recording and reproducing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To shorten time required for referring a control area by recording the other control information for alternative processing in a lump within the block every time control information for alternative processing is recorded on the control area. CONSTITUTION:Information is written in one sector unit and a verifying check whether the information is correctly recorded or not is executed by an ECC circuit 6. When the recording is correct and the alternative processing is unnecessary, next operation is executed. When the alternative processing is necessary, a write address is changed and the information is written in an exchange sector. Then, it is checked again whether the information is correctly recorded or not and the alternative processing is executed again when it is not correct. When the information is correctly recorded on the exchange sector, the address of a defect sector and the address of the exchange sector are written in the control area. Thus, the plural pieces of control information can be referred in a lump and the referring time of the control area at the time of reproducing is shortened.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention [Industrial Application Field 1] The present invention relates to an information recording and reproducing device that records or reproduces information on a recording disk, and in particular improves a management method for performing alternative processing for bad sectors. The present invention relates to an information recording/reproducing device.

[Prior Art] Generally, in an optical disk, recording tracks are provided concentrically or spirally, and each track is divided into a plurality of sectors in order to record variable length data and to speed up access. Optical recording and reproduction is performed in units of sectors. Furthermore, there are other information recording and reproducing apparatuses that perform optical recording and reproducing on a track-by-track basis. Therefore, this recording/reproducing unit is hereinafter referred to as a block.

In an information recording/reproducing device using such an optical disk as a medium, a laser beam emitted from a semiconductor laser is focused onto a recording layer on the optical disk, and holes are made in the recording layer, reflectance, etc. Information is recorded by forming recording pits with varying transmittance.

By the way, defects on a disc may have various adverse effects during recording and reproduction. For example, a normal information recording/reproducing operation may be interrupted in an incomplete state due to a detection error in the sector ID part during information recording/reproducing operation or a tracking error (AT misalignment) during information reproduction. Furthermore, it may cause an error that exceeds the ability of the error control function of the information recording/reproducing device.

Therefore, in order to eliminate such errors, it may be possible to conduct an inspection to completely detect defects on all recording surfaces of all discs before shipping them, but this method is disadvantageous in terms of cost. be. In addition, in write-once recording media such as ordinary optical discs, information recorded once cannot be erased in principle, so data for defect detection is recorded and inspected before shipping as described above. It is not possible.

Therefore, in order to logically avoid such defects on the disk, alternative processing methods are essential.

That is, in this alternative processing method, after the actual recording operation, a reproduction operation or an error check operation is immediately performed, and when a defective portion is detected, the block is rewritten to a predetermined replacement block. In general, in alternative processing for optical discs, according to the data format on the optical disc, sectors, tracks, etc. are used as units of recording and playback, and are hierarchically divided into stages corresponding to the degree of defects, such as the number of defective parts, and the settings are set at each stage. If a recording quality standard cannot be met, the block is replaced with a pre-prepared replacement block.

When switching a block in which an error has occurred to another block, it is necessary to manage the switching situation.

Therefore, the following management methods have been put into practice.

(1) Decide the location of the replacement blocks in advance, write blocks with errors in the prepared blocks in order, and if an error occurs during playback, search from the prepared replacement blocks in order. do.

One method for this search is to write information (address information) indicating the location of the block to be replaced where an error has occurred in the replacement block together with the data, and then refer to this information to search for the corresponding replacement block. It is taken.

(2) When it becomes necessary to replace the block, the data of the block in which the error occurred is written to the replacement block, and information (address information) indicating which block was replaced with which block is stored in a management area prepared in advance. If an error occurs during playback, the management area is referenced to search for the corresponding replacement block.

[Problem to be Solved by the Invention] However, in the method (1) above, when a recording medium that frequently causes errors is used, replacement processing is high, so it is difficult to search for desired address information during playback. ,
This method requires sequential reference to many scattered exchange blocks, which has the disadvantage of slow access.

In addition, in method (2) above, since the address of the block in which the error occurred and the address of the replacement block are written in the management area, each block in the management area can be referenced at once during playback, and from the point of view of access. This method is more advantageous than method (1). However, in method (2), each block in the management area mainly stores only the address of one block in which an error occurred and the address of one replacement block, so the utilization efficiency of each block is reduced. It has the disadvantage of being bad.

For example, if the number of bytes in one block is 512 bytes,
Assuming that the address of each block is 2 bytes, each block in the management area stores only 2 x 2 = 4 bytes of data, and the remaining 508 bytes remain empty.
Most of the space within the block is wasted. Since each block in the management area stores information for only one alternative process, when referring to the management area, it is necessary to refer to a large number of blocks in order to find the information for the desired alternative process. , the disadvantage is that the reference time is long.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an information recording and reproducing device that can improve the efficiency of reading management information for alternative processing of bad blocks from a management area and shorten the time required to refer to this management area. do.

[Means for Solving the Problems] The present invention is used for alternative processing when a defective block occurs in an information recording/reproducing apparatus that records or reproduces information on a recording medium in block units that accommodate a predetermined data length. It has a management area that collectively records management information,
Based on the occurrence of a bad block, when recording management information for alternative processing of the bad block in the management area, the management information and the management information for other alternative processing already recorded in the management area are It is characterized by recording all the data in one block.

[Operation] In the present invention, each time management information for alternative processing is recorded in the management area, management information for other alternative processing is also recorded in this block. By referring to , you can refer to the management information from the latest alternative process as well as the management information from previous alternative processes at once.

Therefore, compared to the conventional method of reading and referencing a large number of blocks that correspond one-to-one with management information by one alternative process, the work of reading management information can be made more efficient and the time required to refer to the management area can be reduced. be able to.

[Example] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention.

The information recording and reproducing apparatus l of this embodiment uses an optical disc as a recording medium, and includes a 5C3I adapter 2, an MPU 3
, ROM4% RAM5. ECC circuit 6, I10 control section 7
．． It has a read/write section 8. Further, this information recording/reproducing device 11 is controlled by a host computer 10.

MPU3 is based on the program in ROM4.

While controlling the information recording/reproducing device M1 as a whole,
Performs alternative processing to replace bad sectors that occur on the optical disk.

Further, the ECC circuit 6 performs a check to detect defective sectors when information is recorded on the optical disc.

Furthermore, the read/write unit 8 records and reproduces information on the optical disc, and includes a rotation control unit for the optical disc, a drive control unit for the optical pickup device, a processing circuit for recording/reproducing signals, and the like. There is.

In the information recording and reproducing apparatus l of this embodiment, information is written and reproduced in units of one sector (that is, %l block=1 sector).

The defective sector replacement process is managed by sequentially writing the address of the defective sector and the address of the replacement sector into the management area.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation of this information recording and reproducing apparatus 1 when recording information on an optical disc.

First, information is written in one sector unit (Sl).

A verification check is performed by the ECC circuit 6 to see if this has been correctly recorded (S2).

Then, if normal recording is performed and alternative processing is not necessary (53), the process moves to the next operation (54).

If recording is not performed normally and alternative processing is required, the write address is changed (S5) and the information is written to the exchange sector (S6).

And whether it was recorded correctly in this exchange sector,
Check again (S7) and if it is not normal (38)
, 35 to execute the alternative process again. If the information is correctly recorded in the replacement sector, the address of the defective sector and the address of the replacement sector are written in the management area (S9).

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing the structure of each sector 11, 12 written in the management area in this way.

Sector 11 was written by alternative processing when an error first occurred, and address a1 of the error sector and address a2 of the replacement sector are in sector 1.
They are written in order from the beginning of number 1. Here, the set of each address al, &2 is defined as management information AI.

Also, sector 12 was written by alternative processing when an error occurred second;
2, the addresses &l and &2 are written at the beginning, and then the address a3 of the second sector in error and the address a4 of the replacement sector are written in order. Here, each set of addresses a3 and a4 is set to management information A2.
shall be.

For example, if each sector is 1024 bytes and the address of each sector is 2 bytes, the maximum number of management information that can be stored in one sector is 1024/(2X2)=256. Therefore, management information up to the 256th alternative process can be written and managed in one sector.

Therefore, if an error occurs when reproducing information, by referring to the sector recorded at the end of the management area,
The address of the desired exchange sector can be quickly and easily retrieved.

Note that the above sectors and address byte numbers are just examples.

By the way, in the case of an optical disc with a high error rate, alternative processing is performed frequently, so that the management information resulting from the above-mentioned alternative processing does not fit within one sector.

Therefore, in such a case, the management information for the 257th and subsequent alternative processes is written from the beginning of the 257th sector in the same manner as the above-mentioned first management information.

Figure 4 shows the 256th sector 1 written in the management area.
12 is a schematic diagram showing the 256th and 257th sectors 1257. FIG.

At the end of the 256th sector 1256, management information A256 resulting from the 256th alternative process is not written. Furthermore, management information A251 based on the 257th alternative process is written at the beginning of the 257th sector 1257.

Then, in sectors from the 258th to the 512th, management information from subsequent alternative processing is sequentially written, starting with management information A257 from the 257th alternative processing.

Furthermore, by repeating the same operation even if the alternative process is performed 513 times or more, the 768th, 102nd
The 4024th sector is just filled with management information.

When reproducing information, among the sectors recorded in the management area as described above, the last sector and 256
th, 512th, 768th.

By referring to the 1024024th sector, it is possible to refer to the addresses of the defective sectors and replaced sectors resulting from all alternative processing.

In addition, in the above example, the entire capacity of the management area sectors is used for storing addresses by alternative processing, and in particular, the 256th, 512th, etc. sectors are filled with management information. However, information indicating the usage status of the sector may be stored at the end (for example, several bytes) of each sector in the management area.

For example, in the example shown in FIG. 5, the 256th sector 1
Management information up to the 255th alternative process is stored in sector 1256, and information E indicating that the sector is used up is stored in the last 4 bytes of sector 1256.

Therefore, during playback, by referring to the sector in which this information E is written and the final sector, it is possible to quickly refer to the management information of all alternative processes.

Furthermore, FIG. 6 shows a format for recording schematic data indicating the configuration of sectors 21 and 22 written in the management area of an optical disc in an information recording/reproducing apparatus employing the MCAV method, with a constant angular velocity on the recording track. There is a CAW method in which recording pits are formed, and a CLV method in which recording bits are formed at a constant linear velocity.

In the CAW method, since recording is performed at a constant angular velocity, the recording density at the outer circumference of the disk is lower than that at the inner circumference, and it is inferior to the CLV method in terms of efficient use of recording capacity.

On the other hand, the CLV method has the drawback that the access time is long because the sectors are not radial and the rotation speed varies depending on the recording position.

Therefore, for example, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 59-167874, MCAV, which has both the ease of access of the CAW method and the superior recording density of the CLV method, is proposed.
A method has been proposed.

In other words, the MCAV method divides the disk in the radial direction into multiple zones, and records at a lower rotational speed toward the outer periphery, thereby increasing the recording density toward the outer periphery, which was a disadvantage of the CAT method. This is an improvement on the point that the value is low.

In addition, as an MCAV method that has the same effect as this,
A method has also been proposed in which the rotational speed on the inner and outer peripheries is kept constant, and recording is performed by increasing the recording/reproducing frequency toward the outer periphery.

In this embodiment, of the two MCAV methods mentioned above, the recording area of the optical disc is divided in the radial direction to form a plurality of annular zones, and the rotational speed increases from the inner zone to the outer zone. It uses the MCAV method, which records at a lower rate.

The hardware configuration of this information recording and reproducing apparatus is similar to that shown in FIG. 1 above, and the operation when recording information is also almost the same as that shown in FIG. 2 above.

However, in this embodiment, in alternative processing when a bad sector occurs, the address of the bad sector and replacement sector as well as the zone number of each sector are written in the management area. Further, unlike the above embodiment, the writing order of each sector in the management area is opposite to the rotational direction of the optical disk (arrow D in FIG. 6).

In other words, to explain specifically using the example of FIG. 6, sector 21 is written by alternative processing when an error occurs first, and the zone number Zl and address bt of the sector in error and the replacement sector are written. zone number Z2 and address b2 are written. Moreover, this sector 21 is written in the last part of the management area. here,
Each data b1 by the first alternative processing. b2, Z+,
Let Z2's set be management information B1.

Sector 22 is written by alternative processing when an error occurs second, and data management information B1 by the first alternative processing is written at the beginning, and then sector 22 is written by the alternative processing when an error occurs.
The zone number Z3 and address b3 of the sector with the th error and the zone number Z4 and address b4 of the replacement sector are written in order. This sector 22 is written second from the last part of the management area.

Furthermore, if the number of bytes in each sector is 1024 bytes, and if the sector address is composed of 2 bytes and the zone number is 4 bits, then 5 bytes of storage capacity is required for the management information of one alternative process. Therefore, one sector can store data for a maximum of 204 alternative processes.

By writing the zone number together with the address in this manner, zone switching management in playback operations involving alternative processing can be easily performed, and the burden on software can be reduced.

In addition, since each sector in the management area is written in order in the counter-rotational direction of the optical disc, when this management area is played back, the newest sector, that is, the final sector, will be played first. , it is possible to achieve faster access. Specifically, as shown in Figure 7,
When referring to the management area 70, first the unrecorded area...
...When reaching the area C1l where recording data first exists through CHa, C13, and C12, this area C1l
Since this is the final sector to be referenced, the management area 70
The address of a desired replacement sector can be retrieved without referring to other sectors in the sector.

Note that since errors occur frequently, a case where the amount of management information becomes too large to fit into one sector can be handled in the same manner as in the above embodiment. Further, it is also possible to provide information other than management information, such as information indicating usage status, in sectors of the management area, as in the above embodiment.

Furthermore, the present invention is not limited to an information recording and reproducing apparatus using an optical disk as a recording medium as in the above embodiment, but can also be applied to an apparatus using other information recording media that performs recording and reproducing on a sector-by-sector basis. - [Effects of the Invention] According to the present invention, management information based on the latest alternative processing and management information based on previous alternative processing are collectively recorded in a block of the management area, so that a specific block can be referenced. This has the effect that a plurality of pieces of management information can be referenced at once, and the time required to refer to the management area during playback can be shortened.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation when recording information on an optical disc in the apparatus of the embodiment. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of each sector written in the management area of the optical disc in the same embodiment device. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing the structure of the 256th sector and the 257th sector written in the management area in the same embodiment device. FIG. 5 shows an apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of each sector written in a management area of an optical disc. FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing the structure of each sector written in the management area of an optical disc in a device according to still another embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing the recording position of each sector in the management area of the optical disc in the apparatus of the embodiment shown in FIG. 6. l... Information recording and reproducing device. 3.--MPU. 4...ROM. 5...RAM. 6...ECC circuit. 8... Read/write section, 10... Host computer. 11.12.21.22...Sector. 70... Management area. Patent applicant Canon Co., Ltd. Agent Arata Yokubo −

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) In an information recording and reproducing device that records or reproduces information on a recording medium in blocks having a predetermined data length, a management area that collectively records management information used for alternative processing when a bad block occurs. Based on the occurrence of a bad block, when recording management information for alternative processing of the bad block in the management area, the management information and other alternative processing already recorded in the management area are An information recording/reproducing device characterized in that the information recording and reproducing apparatus records the management information and management information collectively in one block. (2) In claim (1), each block recorded in the management area is given information indicating the data storage status of the block, and the information indicating the data storage status means that the block is full of management information. An information recording/reproducing device characterized in that the information is information indicating that. (3) The information recording/reproducing apparatus according to claim (1), wherein each block recorded in the management area is sequentially recorded in a direction opposite to a traveling direction of the recording medium.