JPH0581672A - Information recording and reproducing method - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To shorten reproducing time and to improve memory efficiency in recording and reproducing information in/from a DRAW type optical information recording medium. CONSTITUTION:At the time of inspecting the information recording condition of an information recording sector formed on the DRAW type optical information recording medium, when the information recording condition of the information recording sector is judged abnormal recording, the information recording sector is regarded as unrecorded.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method of recording and / or reproducing information on a write-once type optical information recording medium such as an optical card.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A plurality of information recording media which have been used conventionally are provided with a plurality of information recording sectors. When recording or reproducing information, one sector is the minimum unit for recording / reproducing information. Is becoming At the time of recording information, the information to be recorded, the error correction code to restore the original information when a part of the information is lost at the time of reading, or whether the information was recorded correctly is judged at the time of reading. The code for doing so is converted according to some rule, and the information is written in the sector to be recorded. on the other hand,
When reading information, reproduce all the information recorded in the sector to be read, follow the conversion law at the time of recording information, check the presence of errors and correct the errors, then restore the original information. The operation of getting is done.
At this time, if it is determined that the reproduced information has an error, and if the error cannot be completely corrected by the error correction, the "read error" means that the error occurred in the information reading operation. Indicates that the information was generated and the information could not be read. When giving more detailed error information, it is not just a "read error". For example, if the information could be read to some extent but the information was too lost to correct the error, "Error correction not possible" Error may occur.

In an information recording medium such as a floppy disk or a fixed magnetic disk in which information can be recorded and erased in the same sector as many times as possible, when information is read from a certain sector, The sector is not usually blank (blank), and it is initialized with meaningless information recorded or filled with specific data that has been determined in advance (for example, OOH or FFH). It is often done. When writing information, the target sector does not necessarily have to be initialized with the specific data as described above, and even if new information is overwritten on unnecessary information It doesn't matter.

On the other hand, in a write-once type information recording medium in which information cannot be re-initialized or re-recorded in a sector in which information is once recorded, such as an optical card, information writing is always performed in a blank sector. Must be done again,
If you try to read information in a blank sector,
Since there is absolutely no information to read, it is necessary to generate an error signal "trying to read blank sector". Therefore, when recording / reproducing information on / from such a write-once type information recording medium, it is extremely difficult to inspect a sector to be recorded / reproduced and detect that the sector is blank. Is both important and essential. In addition, in the sector where information is once recorded,
When another information is accidentally overwritten, the information recording medium is originally not allowed to be overwritten, and naturally the information recorded at that time and the original information are lost. When this sector is inspected, the detected recording signal becomes an abnormal one different from the one recorded normally, so the inspection result is "overwrite detection" or "abnormal recording detection". However, in a file system etc. where the procedure of writing information is strictly defined and the restrictions of the write-once type information recording medium as described above are taken into consideration, information recording / playback is performed in a closed environment in the system. If so, an error such as "overwrite detection" or "abnormal record detection" does not normally occur. In other words, a strictly defined file system is designed so that the above error does not occur as long as it is used correctly.

[0005]

Information is recorded and reproduced optically like an optical card, the information recording surface of the medium is always exposed to the outside, and foreign matter such as dust, dust, and fingerprints is recorded on the information. For information recording media that are likely to adhere to the surface, when inspecting a sector that should be blank and nothing is recorded, it may be erroneously detected that information is recorded due to the influence of these foreign substances. is there. Of course, information that is erroneously detected in this way does not have any regularity, unlike information that is correctly recorded, so it is easy to make it meaningless by performing processing such as error correction. Can be determined. However, in this case, the inspection result of the sector becomes "overwrite detection" or "abnormal recording detection", and the "blank" that should be detected is not detected. If the sector in which normal data is recorded is dirty, at least part of the data is read unless the entire area of the sector is dirty, so the inspection result is "error uncorrectable". In many cases

In the write-once type information recording medium as described above, the number of recordings is unknown, and when all the already recorded information is reproduced, not all the recording area is reproduced, but the unrecorded information is recorded. By performing the reproduction operation until the sector is detected, the time required for information reproduction may be shortened.

In such a reproducing operation, in the conventional sector determination method, an area which is originally blank may be mistakenly determined to be abnormal recording due to the influence of dust or the like. Therefore, there is a problem that the reproduction time is increased by inspecting the sectors more than necessary. In addition, even if the stain is so light that the information is not recorded, the "abnormal recording" is detected and the information is not recorded in that sector, so that the unrecorded sector is wasted. There are also points.

An object of the present invention is to provide an information recording / reproducing method capable of avoiding the occurrence of the above problems when an abnormal recording is detected when determining an unrecorded sector. It was done.

[0009]

In order to solve the above-mentioned object, an information recording / reproducing method of the present invention comprises an information recording sector formed on an optical information recording medium, in which information is optically recorded only once. In the information recording / reproducing method in which the information recording state is at least unrecorded, normal recording or abnormal recording is checked at the time of information reproduction, it is determined that the information recording state of the information recording sector is abnormal recording. In this case, the information recording sector is regarded as unrecorded.

[0010]

As described above, when the recording state of the medium on which the information is correctly recorded is inspected, even if the inspection result of the unrecorded sector is determined to be abnormal recording due to dirt on the medium surface, etc. Is regarded as unrecorded, there is no need to make an erroneous determination such as unrecorded as abnormal recording, and it is not necessary to perform unnecessary processing to judge abnormal recording, and memory efficiency is improved. be able to.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 shows a schematic structure of an optical card as an example of an information recording medium to which the information recording method according to the present invention can be applied. An optical recording area 2 for optically recording information is formed on the surface of the optical card 1.
FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of the optical recording area 2. As shown in FIG. 2, an information recording track 3 is provided in the optical recording area 2 in parallel with the longitudinal direction of the optical card 1. Sectors 4 are formed on the track 3, and when a plurality of sectors 4 are formed on one track 3, the sectors 4 are separated by a gap 5. Further, FIG. 3 is a further enlarged view of the sector 4. The sector S1 in which information is recorded is made up of an array of pits 6 optically created on the recording medium. The sector S2 is an unrecorded sector and has no pit.

A first embodiment of the information reproducing method according to the present invention will be described below. FIG. 4 shows an example in which individual information is recorded sequentially as a first embodiment.
Information is already recorded in sectors 0 to 4 of a certain track T. When all the information recorded on this track is reproduced, the pit information for the tracks is read at one time, and then each sector is inspected in order from sector 0. Is recorded, and the information recorded up to sector 4 is obtained. At this time, the number of information items already recorded can be determined to be five. Here, if it is determined that the sectors 5 and 6 are not recorded unrecorded but are abnormally recorded due to dust, for example, in the conventional method, the sector inspection is continued until unrecorded sector 7 is detected. Here, if the method according to the present invention is used, by considering the sector 5 as unrecorded, the inspection of the sector can be terminated at this point, and it is not necessary to perform an extra inspection procedure.

By the way, when the above-mentioned new information of the track T is added, in the conventional method, the recording is started from the sector 7, but in the method of the present invention, the sector 5 is regarded as unrecorded. It will be recorded from the sector 5. At this time, after the writing, the reading is performed again to confirm whether the writing has been correctly performed. if,
Assuming that the stain is mild and the recording is performed correctly, the method of the present invention can effectively use the sector which was conventionally discarded as an abnormal sector, and the memory efficiency is improved as compared with the conventional method. Further, even if writing is bad and the writing is bad, since the sector is originally discarded, the memory efficiency does not deteriorate as compared with the conventional case.

FIG. 5 shows, as a second embodiment, an example in which the end of recording is considered when a plurality of unrecorded sectors continue. In this example, 3 sectors can be recorded per track, and when 3 sectors are continuously unrecorded, it is considered that the recording is completed.
Information shall be recorded from the track T1 to the track T4. Sector 0 and sector 1 of track T1
The information has already been recorded correctly in. Normally, sector 2 of track T1 and sector 0, sector 1 of track T2
When it is detected that the data is not recorded, the sector inspection operation is ended. Now, assuming that both the sectors T2 of the tracks T1 and T2 are dirty and abnormal recording is detected, in the conventional method, the following sectors are detected until unrecorded three sectors 0, 1 and 2 of the track T3 are detected. Will be inspected by using the method according to the invention.
Since the sector 2 is regarded as unrecorded, as in the uncontaminated state, the succeeding 3 sectors of the normally recorded sector, that is, the sector 2 of the track T1 and the sectors 0 and 1 of the track T2 are inspected. The inspection of the sector ends. Therefore, as compared with the conventional method, the inspection for 4 sectors becomes unnecessary, or the read operation of 1 track becomes unnecessary.

In this embodiment, 3 tracks per track
Although a recording format capable of sector recording is used, another recording format may be used. Further, the end of recording is judged to be the case where three unrecorded sectors continue, but this sector number may be another value.

FIG. 6 shows, as a third embodiment, an example of file management that enables efficient information reproduction by applying the second embodiment.

In the area A, the name of the file to be recorded,
Information such as date, size and recording position is 1 per file
It is recorded in the sector. In the area B, the actual file data is recorded. Further, when it is necessary to change the information of the area A such as the file name, the changed information is recorded in the area C, and further, in the area D, which information of the area A is changed and the information of the area C is changed. Record the replacement information where you re-recorded. Therefore, when reading the contents of the file recorded on this recording medium, it is necessary to check whether the information in the area A has been changed or not with the replacement information in the area D. Shall be played and stored in memory. Further, in order to know the number of files recorded on the recording medium, it is necessary to inspect each sector of the area A.

In this embodiment, the number of sectors per track in each area is area A: 5, area B: 1, area C: 5, and area D: 15.

It is assumed that three files have already been recorded, and that the information recorded in sector 1 of track A1 has been changed and re-recorded in sector 0 of track C1. In order to read the file of this recording medium, first, the alternation information of the area D, then the information of the area A, and the information of the area C in some cases considering the alternation information,
Finally, the information in the area B is reproduced.
In order to know the number of records of information in the areas D and A, it is necessary to reproduce all of them, so the second embodiment can be applied here. That is, for example, when a continuous unrecorded sector of the number of sectors corresponding to one track is detected,
It is determined that the recording has ended, and the inspection of the subsequent sectors is ended.

Here, in the worst case, considering that the right end of each track is almost uniformly soiled and the inspection results of the unrecorded sector at the right end are all abnormal recording, the conventional method When the end determination is made, each track always includes an abnormal recording sector, and as a result, the entire area is inspected. However, the method according to the present invention uses the same inspection frequency and the same inspection number as in the case of no contamination. It is possible to determine the end of recording in the required time. Further, similarly to the first embodiment, when recording a new file, it is possible to effectively use the unrecorded sector that has been erroneously determined.

In the above embodiment, the number of consecutive unrecorded sectors used for the end determination is the number corresponding to the number of sectors of one track, but other number of sectors may be used. Further, the number of tracks in each of the areas A to D, the number of sectors per track, the recording order of the areas, etc. need not be as shown in FIG.

[0022]

As described above, according to the present invention, when recording and reproducing information on an optical information recording medium which is originally susceptible to stains, even if an erroneous inspection result occurs due to stains, the stains are contaminated. It is possible to perform the unrecorded inspection in a required time equivalent to that in the non-existing state, and it is possible to effectively use the writable sector and improve the memory efficiency.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an optical card to which an information reproducing method of the present invention can be applied.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a sector configuration of an optical card.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a track of an optical card.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a file system to which a second embodiment of the present invention is applied.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 optical card 2 optical recording area 3 track 4 sector 5 gap 6 pit

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[Procedure amendment]

[Submission date] January 30, 1992

[Procedure Amendment 1]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0012

[Correction method] Change

[Correction content]

A first embodiment of the information reproducing method according to the present invention will be described below. FIG. 4 shows an example in which individual information is recorded sequentially as a first embodiment.
Information is already recorded in sectors 0 to 4 of a certain track T. When all the information recorded on this track is reproduced, the pit information for one track is read at a time, and then each sector is inspected in order from sector 0. 5
Is recorded, and the information recorded up to sector 4 is obtained. At this time, the number of information items already recorded can be determined to be five. Here, if it is determined that the sectors 5 and 6 are not recorded unrecorded but are abnormally recorded due to dust, for example, the conventional method continues to inspect the sector until the unrecorded sector 7 is detected. Here, if the method according to the present invention is used, by considering the sector 5 as unrecorded, the inspection of the sector can be terminated at this point, and no extra inspection procedure is required.

[Procedure Amendment 2]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0013

[Correction method] Change

[Correction content]

By the way, when new information is added to the above-mentioned track T, in the conventional method, it is recorded from the sector 7, but in the method of the present invention, the sector 5 is regarded as unrecorded. It will be recorded from the sector 5. At this time, after the writing, the reading is performed again to confirm whether the writing has been correctly performed. if,
Assuming that the stain is mild and the recording is performed correctly, the method of the present invention can effectively use the sector which was conventionally discarded as an abnormal sector, and the memory efficiency is improved as compared with the conventional method. Further, even if writing is bad and the writing is bad, since the sector is originally discarded, the memory efficiency does not deteriorate as compared with the conventional case.

[Procedure 3]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Name of item to be corrected] 0022

[Correction method] Change

[Correction content]

[0022]

As described above, according to the present invention, when recording or reproducing information on an optical information recording medium which is originally susceptible to stains, even if an error occurs in the inspection result due to stains, it is not stained. An unrecorded inspection can be performed in a required time equivalent to the state, and the writable sector can be effectively used to improve the memory efficiency.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A method for inspecting whether the information recording state of an information recording sector, on which information is optically recorded once formed on an optical information recording medium, is at least unrecorded, normally recorded or abnormally recorded. Information recording / during information playback
In the reproducing method, when it is determined that the information recording state of the information recording sector is abnormal recording, the information recording sector is regarded as unrecorded.