JPH07176092A - Magneto-optical disk and magneto-optical disk device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enhance the rate of operation of a host device by enabling two commands to simultaneously operate the magneto-optical disk device using a cartridge type magneto-optical disk. CONSTITUTION:The cartridge 106 is provided with two head access opening parts 101 and 102, and when it is inserted into the magneto-optical disk device, a shutter 103 is opened to enable simultaneous access of two independently operatable heads to the magneto-optical disk medium 105. The conventional device can also be used for the cartridge 106 by its head access opening part 101. A magneto-optical disk discriminating hole 107 is provided for the purpose of discriminating this cartridge 106 from the conventional magneto-optical disk having one head access opening part. The magneto-optical disk device for using this magneto-optical disk has two systems of heads, head control parts, buffers and simultaneous operation control parts for controlling both systems to be used, and is hence capable of simultaneous operation of two commands from plural host devices, whereas the conventional magneto-optical disk can also be used by discriminating it with a discriminating mechanism.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a magneto-optical disk and a magneto-optical disk device, and more particularly to a replaceable magneto-optical disk in which a magneto-optical disk medium capable of recording and reproducing is stored in a cartridge, and a magneto-optical disk of this type. The present invention relates to a magneto-optical disk device for recording and reproducing on a disk.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The magneto-optical recording system has attracted attention as a recording system which has a high recording density and can be freely written and read, and is particularly expected to be used as an exchangeable large-capacity storage medium replacing a floppy disk. ing.

The conventional magneto-optical disk and the magneto-optical disk device are constructed by the same design concept as that of the floppy disk using the magnetic recording system, and one head is provided for one magneto-optical disk. It corresponds to in. Therefore, even if a plurality of command execution requests are issued to one magneto-optical disk, other commands cannot be executed until the execution of one command is completed.

[0004]

In the above-described conventional magneto-optical disk and magneto-optical disk device, while a command from the host device is being executed, it cannot be executed even if another command is accepted. Although the storage capacity of the magneto-optical disk is about two orders of magnitude larger than that of a floppy disk of the same diameter, the read / write speed does not increase proportionally due to mechanical restrictions such as the rotation speed and seek speed. For this reason, the possibility that access requests to one disk will occur at substantially the same time will increase, and there has been a problem that the operating rate of the host device will decrease.

An object of the present invention is to provide a magneto-optical disk and a magneto-optical disk device capable of simultaneously executing a plurality of commands.

[0006]

A magneto-optical disk of the present invention comprises a cartridge accommodating a magneto-optical disk medium, a first head access opening for recording and reproducing,
In a magneto-optical disk having a shutter that normally closes the first head access opening and opens when inserted into a magneto-optical disk device, the first head is provided in the cartridge with respect to a center line perpendicular to the insertion direction. A second head access opening provided line-symmetrically to the access opening; and a magneto-optical disc discriminating hole for discriminating a conventional magneto-optical disc having only one head access aperture, The shutter is configured to simultaneously open and close the second head access opening.

The magneto-optical disk device of the present invention is a magneto-optical disk device for recording / reproducing information on / from a magneto-optical disk medium housed in a cartridge, the magneto-optical disk device being arranged at a position symmetrical with respect to the rotation center of the magneto-optical disk medium. Two independently operable heads, two head control units for controlling these two heads respectively, two buffers for temporarily storing write / read data for the two heads, and an inserted optical Magneto-optical disk discriminating mechanism for discriminating the type of the magnetic disc based on the presence / absence of a magneto-optical disc discriminating hole on the cartridge and setting one or both of the above-mentioned two head systems in an operable state, and an operating state of the two head systems. And control the response to commands from the host device and the proper use of the two head systems. A simultaneous operation control unit which is configured by a SCSI interface for interfacing processing including disconnect / reconnect to the external bus.

[0008]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a plan view of an embodiment of a magneto-optical disk of the present invention, showing an example of a 3.5 "magneto-optical disk.

The magneto-optical disk 100 of this embodiment is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 2, two head access openings 10 are provided in the cartridge 106 in which the magneto-optical disk medium 105 is housed.
1, 102 and spindle access unit 104 (only one side)
Are provided, and the shutter 103 always protects the magneto-optical disk medium 105. The head access opening 101 on the insertion direction side is located at the same position as the head access opening of the conventional magneto-optical disk, and can be used in the conventional magneto-optical disk device. The second head access opening 102 is provided at a position symmetrical with respect to a center line (shown by a chain line) perpendicular to the insertion direction. The magneto-optical disc discriminating hole 107 is provided to distinguish it from a conventional magneto-optical disc having only one head access opening.

When the magneto-optical disk 100 is inserted into the magneto-optical disk device, the shutter 103 slides in the lateral direction to access the spindle access section 104, and the head access opening sections 101 and 102 are used to access the magneto-optical disk medium 105. Writing and reading can be performed.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the magneto-optical disk device of the present invention.

The magneto-optical disk device 200 of this embodiment is
As shown in FIG. 2, the heads 201 and 202 which can be independently operated by two independent access mechanisms, and the head 20.
Two head control units 203, 20 for controlling the control unit 1, 202
4, a buffer 205, 206 for temporarily storing write / read data, a simultaneous operation control unit 207 for controlling the proper use of the two head systems, and a magneto-optical disc discriminating mechanism 208 for discriminating the type of the inserted magneto-optical disc. , An SCS that handles the interface to an external SCSI bus
It is composed of an I interface 209 and an internal bus 210.

A magneto-optical disk 1 having the function shown in FIG.
When 00 is used, when the magneto-optical disc 100 is inserted into the magneto-optical disc device 200, the magneto-optical disc discriminating mechanism 208 discriminates this by the magneto-optical disc discriminating hole 107, and two heads 201 capable of operating independently. , 202
To be operable together.

When a READ command is issued to the magneto-optical disk device 200 from the host device 300 which has acquired the SCSI bus, the simultaneous operation control unit 207 receives the READ command via the SCSI interface 209. The simultaneous operation control unit 207 manages a flag indicating the operating state of the heads 201 and 202, and if the head 201 is in the non-operating state, sets the flag indicating that the head 201 is in operation and then sets the head control unit. REA to 203
Make a D request. When the head control unit 203 receives the READ command, the head control unit 203 causes the head 201 to execute the READ to store the READ data in the buffer 205, and
SCSI interface 2 via the simultaneous operation control unit 207
Issue a disconnect request to 09. When the SCSI interface 209 receives the request, it releases the SCSI bus.

After the SCSI bus is released and becomes free, before the completion of the previous READ request, a WRITE command is issued to the magneto-optical disk device 200 from the host device 400 that has acquired the SCSI bus next. And SC
Simultaneous operation control unit 20 via SI interface 209
7 receives the WRITE command. Simultaneous operation control unit 2
In 07, since the head 201 is in operation, a flag indicating that the head 202 in operation is in operation is set, and a WRITE request is made to the head controller 204. Upon receiving the WRITE command, the head control unit 204 accepts the WRITE data in the buffer 206 and causes the head 202 to execute the WRITE, issues a disconnect request to the SCSI interface 209 via the simultaneous operation control unit 207, and releases the SCSI bus. .

Here, if the READ operation of the head 201 is completed first, the head control section 203 notifies the simultaneous operation control section 207 of the end of the READ operation. Upon receiving the notification of the end of the READ operation, the simultaneous operation control unit 207
The CSI interface 209 is requested to reconnect to the higher-level device 300. When the reconnection is successful, the simultaneous operation control unit 207 sends the REDA data from the buffer 205 via the SCSI interface 209 to the higher-level device 30.
0, the end of the command is notified, the SCSI bus is released, and the flag indicating that the head 201 is in operation is cleared.

During this time, when the WRITE operation of the head 202 is completed, the head controller 204 causes the simultaneous operation controller 2 to operate.
07 is notified of the end of the WRITE operation. The simultaneous operation control unit 207, which has received the notification of the completion of the WRITE operation, waits until the previous READ command end processing is completed, and after the completion, S
It requests reconnection to the higher-level device 400 via the CSI interface 209. When the reconnection is successful, the simultaneous operation control unit 207 notifies the upper device 400 of the end of the WRITE command via the SCSI interface 209, releases the SCSI bus, and clears the flag indicating that the head 202 is in operation.

The magneto-optical disk device 20 of the present embodiment.
For 0, a conventional magneto-optical disk having only one head access opening can also be used. When a conventional magneto-optical disc is inserted, the magneto-optical disc discriminating mechanism 208 detects that there is no magneto-optical disc discriminating hole 107, and only one head (for example, the head 201) on the side corresponding to the head access opening 101 is provided. Is ready for operation.

[0020]

As described above, when the magneto-optical disk and the magneto-optical disk apparatus of the present invention are used, the same magneto-optical disk can be simultaneously accessed by different heads, so that a plurality of upper layers can be accessed via the same bus. When connected to the device, the commands from the two higher-level devices can be simultaneously executed, which has the effect of improving the operating rate of the higher-level device.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an embodiment of a magneto-optical disk of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of a magneto-optical disk device of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 100 magneto-optical disk 101, 102 head access opening 103 shutter 104 spindle access section 105 magneto-optical disk medium 106 cartridge 107 magneto-optical disk discriminating hole 200 magneto-optical disk device 201, 202 head 203, 204 head controller 205, 206 buffer 207 Simultaneous operation control unit 208 Magneto-optical disk discriminating mechanism 209 SCSI interface 210 Internal bus 300,400 Upper device

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A cartridge containing a magneto-optical disk medium, a first head access opening for recording and reproducing, and the first head access opening normally closed and inserted into a magneto-optical disk device. A magneto-optical disk having a shutter that opens in a vertical direction, the cartridge having a second head access opening provided at a position symmetrical to the first head access opening with respect to a center line perpendicular to the insertion direction. And a magneto-optical disc discriminating hole for discriminating a conventional magneto-optical disc having only one head access opening, and the shutter is configured to simultaneously open and close the second head access aperture. A magneto-optical disk characterized by the above. 2. A magneto-optical disk device for recording / reproducing data on / from a magneto-optical disk medium housed in a cartridge, which is independently operable and arranged at a position symmetrical with respect to the center of rotation of the magneto-optical disk medium. One head, two head control units for respectively controlling these two heads, two buffers for temporarily storing write / read data for the two heads, and the type of the inserted magneto-optical disk on the cartridge. And a magneto-optical disc discriminating mechanism for discriminating the presence or absence of the magneto-optical disc discriminating hole and setting one or both of the above-mentioned two head systems in an operable state, and managing the operating states of the two head systems and from a host device. Response to the command of the above and the simultaneous operation control unit for controlling the proper use of the two head systems, and the external buffer. And a SCSI interface for performing interface processing including disconnect / reconnect to the memory device.