JPH0676490A - Optical disk recorder and reproducer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To contrive writing-processing at high speed by executing initialization for a succeeding sector immediately after the completion of verification at the time of writing data in the successive sectors. CONSTITUTION:When a writing instruction is inputted from a host computer to a host I/F controller 2, CPU 1 transmits a shift control signal to the required track of an optical head 6, transmits a control signal to an external magnetic generating circuit 7 so as to adopt an external magnetic field as an initialization direction and, moreover, sets a sector area to be initialized SFC(sector format controller) 5. SFC 5 detects ID from reproduction signals 12 transmitted from an optical head 6. When this ID coincides with ID of a head sector S designated by CPU 1, the optical head 6 reaches a designated sector area. Then, all the designated sector areas are initialized, data is transmitted from a data buffer 3 to an ECC circuit 4 so as to be added and writing is executed in the optical head 6. After data is verified, the succeeding sector is initialized.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a rewritable optical disc recording / reproducing apparatus used as an external storage device of a computer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an optical disc has a structure in which its recording area is divided into a plurality of concentric or spiral tracks. Each track is divided into a plurality of areas called sectors, and data recording or reproduction is performed in sector units.

Writing data on a rewritable optical disk such as a magneto-optical disk has the following differences compared to writing data on a magnetic disk. 1) Before writing data, the magnetization direction of a desired data portion is aligned (initialized) in a fixed direction in advance. 2) Since the optical disk has a higher bit error rate than the magnetic disk, after writing the data, the written sector is read to check whether the data can be read correctly (verify processing).

That is, when writing data to a certain sector, three processes of initialization process → write process → verify process were sequentially performed. When performing such three processes on a rotating optical disc, the process is as follows. First, the optical head is moved to a desired track (track having a desired sector) on the rotating optical disc.
This is done by moving the optical head in the radial direction of the optical disc. When the optical head comes on the desired track, the desired sector comes to the position of the optical head while the optical disk makes one revolution. At this time, initialization processing is performed on the desired sector. One more optical disc
When rotated, the desired sector comes again to the position of the optical head. At this time, in the case where the tracks are concentric, if the tracks are traced while the optical disk makes one revolution, the desired sector will pass again through the position of the optical head.
If the track is spiral, the optical head moves to the adjacent track if the track is traced for one rotation of the optical disk. Therefore, it is necessary to move the optical head to the original track. is there.

In this way, when the desired sector comes to the position of the optical head again, data is written to that sector. Then, when the desired sector reaches the position of the optical head three times, the optical disk rotates once more, the data written in the sector is read, and the verify process is performed. As described above, when the three processes of the initialization process → the writing process → the verify process are sequentially performed, a time (rotation waiting time) to wait for the rotation of the optical disc is included between the respective processes.

[0006]

In the conventional recording / reproducing apparatus as described above, the data to be written in the writing process is generally stored in the data buffer before the writing process is started. The amount of data that can be stored in the data buffer is limited. When the amount of data to be written exceeds the capacity of the data buffer, a series of processing of initialization processing → writing processing → verification processing is performed twice or more. That is, a series of processes is performed with a data amount equal to or less than the capacity of the data buffer as one process unit, and the process is executed a plurality of times to write data in all desired regions. At this time, in one processing, after the verification processing is completed, the initialization processing of the next area is performed. Therefore, after the verification process is completed,
Until the next area is initialized, a disk rotation wait will occur.

As a result, there is a problem in that the writing process takes time and the transfer rate at the time of writing becomes low. In order to solve this, it is sufficient to increase the data buffer capacity, but having a large capacity memory increases the cost. Therefore, the present invention is
It is an object of the present invention to provide an optical disc recording / reproducing apparatus capable of performing high-speed writing processing without increasing the capacity of a data buffer.

[0008]

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention relates to a rewritable optical disc having a track consisting of a plurality of sectors, and after initializing the data in a desired sector, In an optical disk device for writing data and verifying the data written in the sector after the writing, when writing data in consecutive sectors, initialization is performed for the next sector immediately after the end of verification. And

Further, the initialization is performed by setting an external magnetic field in a data initializing direction, and the external magnetic field is set in a data initializing direction at the time of verify.

[0010]

In the present invention, the initialization of the next sector is performed immediately after the completion of the verification process, so that it is possible to eliminate the waiting for rotation from the completion of the verification to the initiation of the initialization of the next sector.

[0011]

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the structure of a recording / reproducing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 3, reference numeral 2 denotes a host interface controller, which transmits a command sent from the host computer to the CPU 1. 3 is de
Data buffer, sent from the host computer,
It is for storing data to be written to the optical disc. An ECC circuit 4 adds an ECC code (error correction code) to the data to be written,
Alternatively, the error is detected by using the ECC code in the reproduction signal from the optical disk. 5 is sector
It is a mat controller (hereinafter, abbreviated as SFC), and the optical head 6 is placed in a sector designated by the CPU 1.
Whether or not has reached the ID in the reproduction signal from the optical head 6.
Judgment is made by reading the signal (signal indicating the identification number of the sector). Also, the data to be recorded on the optical disk is sent to the optical head 6. An optical head 6 irradiates the recording surface of the optical disk with laser light to record a signal on the optical disk and reproduce the recorded signal. An external magnetic field generator 7 is for applying a magnetic field to the optical disk in a desired direction at the time of initialization or writing of the recording surface of the optical disk. Reference numeral 1 denotes a CPU, which exchanges control signals with the host interface controller 2, the ECC circuit 4, the SFC 5, the optical head 6, and the external magnetic field generator 7, and controls the recording / reproducing operation with respect to the optical disc. is there. The configuration and operation of the recording / reproducing apparatus of this embodiment will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an operation timing at the time of writing data below the capacity of the data buffer 3 in the recording / reproducing apparatus of this embodiment. Further, FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an operation timing at the time of writing data that exceeds the capacity of the data buffer 3. 1 and 2 show movement of the optical head 6 when writing data to consecutive N + 1 sectors S to S + N on the track (see FIGS. 1A and 2).
(A)), switching of the external magnetic field direction by the external magnetic field generation circuit 7 (FIGS. 1B and 2B), recording / reproducing operation by the SFC 5 (FIGS. 1C and 2C), Operation of ECC code generation and error correction by the ECC circuit 4 (FIGS. 1D and 2D), timing of updating data to be stored in the data buffer 3 (FIG. 1E) ，
2 (e)) is shown.

First, data writing below the capacity of the data buffer 3 will be described with reference to FIGS. When a data write command is input to the host interface controller 2 from a host computer (not shown), the CPU 1 first outputs a control signal for moving the optical head 6 to a desired track (FIG. 2).
(A)). Then, the CPU 1 sends a control signal to the magnetic field generation circuit 7 to set the external magnetic field 7 in the initialization direction (see FIG.
(B)) Further, the sector area to be initialized (sector S
~ S + N) is set in SFC5. The SFC 5 detects the ID (sector identification number) from the reproduction signal 12 sent from the optical head 6. If this ID matches the ID of the first sector (sector S) in the sector area designated by the CPU 1, it means that the optical head 6 has reached the designated sector area. When the optical head 6 reaches the sector S, all the designated sector areas (sectors S to S + N) are initialized (FIG. 2 (c)). When the initialization is completed, the CPU 1 is notified of the result.

The CPU 1 transfers data to be written to the data buffer 3 via the host interface controller 2 during initialization of the sector area (FIG. 2).
(E)). When the initialization of the sector area is completed, the optical disk is in a rotation waiting state. Upon receiving the initialization completion notification from the SFC 5, the CPU 1 outputs a control signal to the optical head 6 and the magnetic field generation circuit 7 while the optical disk makes one revolution.
At the same time as moving the optical head 6 to a desired track again, the external magnetic field is switched in the recording direction (FIG. 2A).
(B)). Further, the sector area to be written (sector S
~ S + N) is set in SFC5. After the initialization, the data to be written, which is stored in the data buffer 3, is sequentially transferred to the ECC circuit 4, the ECC code is added, and the write data is prepared (FIG. 2 (d)). S
When the FC 5 detects the ID of the sector S designated by the CPU 1 from the reproduction signal 12, the FC 5 outputs a control signal to the ECC circuit 4. Then, the data to be written to which the ECC code is added is sequentially output to the SFC 5, and the data is SF
A predetermined modulation is applied at C5, and the write signal 11 is generated. Then, the optical head 6 writes data in the designated sector area (sectors S to S + N) (FIG. 2 (c)). After writing all the data, SF
C5 notifies the CPU 1 of the end of writing.

When the writing is completed, a rotation waiting state is entered. While waiting for rotation, the CPU 1 outputs a control signal to the optical head 6 and the magnetic field generation circuit 7 to move the optical head 6 to a desired track three times. Then, the external magnetic field is turned off (FIGS. 2A and 2B). Further, the sector area (sectors S to S + N) to be verified is set in SFC5. Further, the CPU 1 sets the number of errors allowed in one sector in the ECC circuit 4. SFC5
Detects the ID of the sector S designated by the CPU 1 from the reproduction signal 12, the sector area (sectors S to S + N)
The data written in is read out (FIG. 2C), the data is demodulated, and the demodulated data is transferred to the ECC circuit 4. The ECC circuit 4 checks how many errors are contained in one sector data transferred by using the ECC code (FIG. 2D), and if it is within the error allowable range set by the CPU 1, the verify operation is performed. Good, otherwise, the verify error is notified to the CPU 1. This operation is performed for all sectors (sectors S to S + N) in the area to be verified.

The CPU 1 rewrites the sector having the verify error. That is, only the sector having the verify error is reinitialized, the data is written, and the verify is performed. The above is a series of write processing processes when the amount of data to be written is less than or equal to the data buffer capacity. If the amount of data to be written exceeds the capacity of the data buffer 3, the above process is repeated twice or more.
Now, consider a case where data is written in consecutive sectors S to S + 2N. It is assumed that the capacity of the data buffer 3 is only the capacity to store the data to be written in the sectors S to S + N (that is, the capacity of N + 1 sectors). In this case, the sectors S to S + N are processed in the first series of processing.
Data is written up to the sector S + N in the second processing
Write data to +1 to S + 2N. In the first processing, when the data is read out after the writing, the optical head 6 is located on the sector S + N. However, the verification process in the ECC circuit 4 continues for a while after reading the data. As shown in FIG. 2, when the verify process is completed, the optical head 6 is not located on the sector S + N but on the next sector S + N + 1.
Has also passed. Therefore, if the second processing is started after the verification processing is completed,
Since the sector S + N + 1, which is the start sector of the second processing, has already passed, it is necessary to wait for the optical disc to make one rotation.

By the way, in the second processing, the data
The contents of the data buffer 3 will be updated. That is,
The data buffer 3 stores the data to be written in the sectors S + N + 1 to S + 2N. It is preferable to update the data buffer 3 after waiting for the completion of the verify process in the first process. This is because, as a result of the verify process, rewriting is performed on the sector in which the verify error has occurred, but if the contents of the data buffer 3 are updated at this time, the rewrite process will be inconvenient. is there.

In view of the above points, in this embodiment, when the amount of data to be written exceeds the capacity of the data buffer 3, the operation described below is performed. The operation when the amount of data to be written exceeds the capacity of the data buffer 3 will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 and 3. When a data write command that exceeds the capacity of the data buffer 3 is input from the host computer (not shown), the CPU 1 should first write via the host interface controller 2 from the host computer. Data buffer 3
Is transferred until it becomes full (Fig. 1 (e)). Also,
A control signal for moving the optical head 6 to a desired track is output (FIG. 1A). Then, the CPU 1 sends a control signal to the magnetic field generation circuit 7, sets the external magnetic field 7 in the initialization direction (FIG. 1B), and sets the sector area (sectors S to S + N) to be initialized in the SFC 5. SF
C5 is I from the reproduction signal 12 sent from the optical head 6.
D (sector identification number) is detected. This ID is CPU
If the ID coincides with the ID of the first sector (sector S) of the sector area designated from 1, the optical head 6 has reached the designated sector area. When the optical head 6 reaches the sector S, all the designated sector areas (sectors S to S + N) are initialized (FIG. 1 (c)). When the initialization is completed, the CPU 1 is notified of the result.

When the initialization of the sector area is completed, the optical disk is in a rotation waiting state. When receiving the initialization completion notification from the SFC 5, the CPU 1
Outputs a control signal to the optical head 6 and the magnetic field generation circuit 7 to move the optical head 6 to a desired track again, and at the same time, switches the external magnetic field in the recording direction (FIG. 1A).
(B)). Further, the sector area to be written (sector S
~ S + N) is set in SFC5. After the initialization is completed, the data to be written stored in the data buffer 3 is sequentially transferred to the ECC circuit 4 and the ECC code is added thereto to prepare to generate write data (FIG. 1 (d)). S
When the FC 5 detects the ID of the sector S designated by the CPU 1 from the reproduction signal 12, the FC 5 outputs a control signal to the ECC circuit 4. Then, the data to be written to which the ECC code is added is sequentially output to the SFC 5, and the data is SF
A predetermined modulation is applied at C5, and the write signal 11 is generated. Then, the optical head 6 writes data in the designated sector area (sectors S to S + N) (FIG. 1 (c)). After writing all the data, SF
C5 notifies the CPU 1 of the end of writing.

When the writing is completed, the rotation wait state is entered. While waiting for rotation, the CPU 1 outputs a control signal to the optical head 6 and the magnetic field generation circuit 7 to move the optical head 6 to a desired track three times. Then, the external magnetic field is set as the initialization direction (FIGS. 1A and 1B). Furthermore, the sector area to be verified with respect to SFC5 (sectors S to S + N)
Set. Further, the CPU 1 sets the number of errors allowed in one sector in the ECC circuit 4. SFC5
Detects the ID of the sector S designated by the CPU 1 from the reproduction signal 12, the sector area (sectors S to S + N)
The data written in is read (FIG. 1C), the data is demodulated, and the demodulated data is transferred to the ECC circuit 4. The ECC circuit 4 detects how many error bytes are contained in one sector data transferred using the ECC code (FIG. 1 (d)), and determines whether the error bytes are within the error allowable range set by the CPU 1. If the verification is good, otherwise, the verification error is notified to the CPU 1. This operation is performed for all sectors (sectors S to S + N) in the area to be verified.

During this time, the CPU 1 preliminarily writes the next sector area (sectors S + N + 1 to SFC5) to the SFC 5 before the verification of all the sector areas is completed.
S + 2N) is specified. The SFC 5 can stack only one next command during execution of one command processing, and immediately executes the stacked command after completion of the command. That is, SFC5 is a CPU
Although the process based on the verify command from 1 is performed, in this case, the command for designating the next sector area to be initialized is received during the process based on the verify command. The SFC 5 stacks the sector area designation command until the end of the verify command processing, and immediately after the end of the verify command processing, shifts to the sector area initialization processing based on the sector area designation command. At the time when the SFC 5 finishes the processing based on the verify command, the ECC circuit 4 is in an error detection state and is in a busy state. It is possible to shift to the initialization operation. Therefore, the rotation waiting does not occur before the initialization of the next sector area (sectors S + N + 1 to S + 2N) (FIG. 1 (d)).

When the CPU 1 confirms that the ECC circuit 4 has verified all the sectors,
A required amount of data is newly transferred from the host interface controller 2 to the data buffer 3, and the contents of the data buffer 3 are updated (FIG. 1 (e)). This data buffer 3 is updated by updating the sector area (sectors S + N + 1 to S +
2N) may be completed before the data writing process is started.

By repeating the above operation, data exceeding the buffer capacity is written. In the present embodiment, the update of the data buffer 3 is described immediately after the verify operation of all the data in the data buffer is completed, but it may be updated each time the verify for each sector is completed. For example, after verifying the sector S, the data to be written in the sector S in the data buffer 3 is written.
The data may be updated with the data to be written to the sector S + N + 1.

[0024]

As described above, according to the present invention, the write processing time can be shortened without increasing the data buffer capacity. Therefore, it is possible to provide an optical disk recording / reproducing device having a low transfer rate and a high transfer rate.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an operation timing chart when the data to be written exceeds the capacity of the data buffer according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an operation timing chart when the data to be written is less than or equal to the capacity of the data buffer according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an optical disc recording / reproducing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 ... CPU 2 ... Host interface controller 3 ... Data buffer 4 ... ECC circuit 5 ... Sector format controller 6 ... Optical head 7 ... External magnetic field generation circuit 11 ... Recording signal 12 ... Playback signal

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. On a rewritable optical disc having a track composed of a plurality of sectors, data in a desired sector is initialized, then data is written to the sector, and then written to the sector. An optical disk recording / reproducing apparatus characterized in that, when data is written in consecutive sectors in an optical disk apparatus for verifying data, the next sector is initialized immediately after the verification is completed. 2. The optical disk recording / reproducing according to claim 1, wherein the initialization is performed by setting an external magnetic field in a data initializing direction, and the external magnetic field is set in a data initializing direction during the verify. apparatus.