JPH09245418A - Data recording apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To correctly record data without ineffective use of a recording medium by selecting only the data which has generated error in recording and then re-recording the selected data. SOLUTION: Immediately after digital data is recorded, it is then reproduced, data which cannot be reproduced correctly is detected and then held and after all digital data are recorded, the re-recording operation is performed until the data being held in the holding means 37 is judged to be reproduced correctly. Moreover, correct recording is confirmed after recording of all digital data and if there is the data which is judged impossible for correct reproducing, the re-recording operation is executed until such data can be judged to be reproduced correctly.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a recording device for recording digital data.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A data recording device is usually used for backing up computer data. Only a few tens of MB of data is handled for a part of personal computer data, but a few tens of GB or a few TB of data may be handled for backup of the entire system of a large workstation.

In a conventional data recording apparatus, recording of data and confirmation of whether or not the data was correctly recorded have been performed as follows. This will be described below.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a dubbing method of a conventional digital recording VTR. 11 is a transmitter / receiver, 12 is a format converter, 13 is a recording signal converter, 14 is a recording head, 15 is a reproducing head, and 16 is a reproducing head. Is a reproduction signal converter, and 17 is a controller. Here, DAT (Digital Audio Tape rec)
DDS (Digit, which is a data recording device using order)
al Data Storage) as an example. In DDS, using a head mounted on a cylinder, a tape as a recording medium is wound around the cylinder by 90 degrees to perform helical recording. The structures of the recording head and the reproducing head are shown in FIG.
The recording head and the reproducing head have different azimuths.
There are heads and B heads.

In the data recording device configured as described above, the transceiver 11 first receives a command from an external device, returns a status, and exchanges data with the external device. In the command, check the device name,
There are data recording, reproduction, search, etc. The controller 17 controls the entire device based on these commands.

The format converter 12 adds predetermined management information to the data input following the command to record these data and converts the data into a predetermined format. The external device and the data recording device generally exchange data in units of blocks, and in order to search the reproduced data and divide it into block units again,
It is necessary to have information about the number, size, order, etc. of the blocks and information for deriving which part on the tape which is the recording medium these blocks are recorded, and these are collectively called management information.

The recording signal converter 13 performs predetermined processing such as error correction coding, addition of a synchronization pattern / address as a recording block, and modulation on the format-converted data to obtain a recording signal, and the recording signal is recorded by the recording head 14. To be recorded on the recording medium.

The reproducing head 15 obtains a reproduced signal from the recording medium, the reproduced signal processor 16 demodulates the reproduced signal, and discriminates the recording block while dividing it into recording blocks based on the sync pattern address. Decode the correction.

The format converter 12 determines whether or not the error-correction-decoded data is inspected and recorded correctly. As a method of inspecting the data, all the reproduced data and the recorded data may be compared, only the checksum may be compared, or the error occurrence amount may be included in the determination standard. As a result of the inspection, the data determined not to be recorded correctly is recorded again. The context of recording / playback / inspection / re-recording is as shown in the timing chart of FIG. This division corresponds to the scan of the head. The operations of recording / reproducing / inspecting / re-recording are performed in units of error correction code processing units.

Two scans are called C1 which is called one frame.
It is a unit of & C2 error correction code and the minimum unit of RAW. Frame D1 in FIG. 6 is recorded by dividing the track whose azimuth is A and the track whose azimuth is B.
If D1 could not be recorded correctly, frame D2 and frame D3 have already been recorded by the time it becomes clear.
However, if I re-record frame D1, then after
It is necessary to record D2 and D3 in succession, and if these were originally recorded correctly, it would be useless recording.

In the DDS, the minimum recording unit group is 23 frames = 126632 bytes (22 frames when the C3 error correction code is not used), and one frame contains 5756 bytes of data. Will be placed. Therefore, the unit of re-recording is in small increments as compared to the unit of recording.

[0012]

By the way, in a data recording apparatus, it is very likely that the whole data becomes unusable if a very small part of the recorded data, even 1 bit, cannot be reproduced. It is natural to replay and inspect the recorded data after recording and re-record the necessary data. However, as mentioned above, data that does not need to be re-recorded per re-recording is re-recorded. Since recording is performed, there is a problem that the recording medium is wasted.

An object of the present invention is to provide a data recording apparatus in which the waste of the recording medium does not occur in consideration of the problems of the conventional data recording apparatus.

[0014]

The present invention is a data recording device for recording digital data, comprising at least:
Reproducing means for reproducing the digital data immediately after recording, inspection means for inspecting the reproduced data, holding means for holding data that could not be correctly reproduced as a result, or information about the data, and all the digital data. And a control means for performing a re-recording operation until it is determined that the data or the information held in the holding means has been correctly reproduced after the end of the recording.

Further, the present invention is a device for recording digital data, which comprises recording / reproducing signal converting means and a head, and at least confirms whether or not the digital data has been correctly recorded after the recording. The data recording apparatus is characterized by comprising control means for performing a re-recording operation until it is judged that the data judged to be unable to be correctly reproduced can be reproduced correctly.

[0016]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The present invention will be described below with reference to embodiments.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a data recording apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. 31 is a transceiver, 32 is a format converter, 33 is a recording signal converter, 34 is a recording head, and 35 is a recording head. Is a reproduction head, 36 is a reproduction signal converter, 37 is a data holder, and 38 is a controller.

In the data recording apparatus configured as described above, the transceiver 31 first receives a command from an external device, returns a status, exchanges data with an external device, like the transceiver 11. To do. Controller 38
Controls the entire device based on these commands.

The format converter 32 adds predetermined management information to the data input following the command to record these data and converts the data into a predetermined format. The management information is also the same as that of the conventional data recording device.

The recording signal converter 33 performs a predetermined process such as error correction coding, addition of a sync pattern / address as a recording block, modulation, etc. on the format-converted data to obtain a recording signal, and the recording signal is recorded by the recording head 34. To be recorded on the recording medium.

The reproducing head 35 obtains a reproduced signal from the recording medium, the reproduced signal processor 36 demodulates the reproduced signal, and discriminates the recording block while dividing it into recording blocks based on the sync pattern address. Performs error correction decoding.

The format converter 32 checks the error-corrected and decoded data to determine whether the data is correctly recorded, and the data holder 37 receives the result and determines that the data is not correctly recorded. Holds the data that was created. As a method of checking the data, all the reproduced data and the recorded data may be compared, only the checksum may be compared, or the error generation amount may be included in the determination criterion.

When the recording command is received, all the data designated by the command is recorded until it is recorded, and thereafter, the re-recording of the data held in the data holder 37 which is judged to be not correctly recorded. Do.
At this time, information indicating which data is recorded on which part of the tape is recorded at the same time. As described above, recording / reproduction / inspection and re-recording are repeated until it is determined that all data has been correctly recorded, and data recording is completed.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the data to be re-recorded can be limited to the portion that could not be correctly recorded in the recording up to that time. There is no waste.

FIG. 2 is an example showing how the data is actually recorded on the tape when recorded in this way.
That is, each area is continuously recorded while recording / reproducing / inspecting. From the left, the data area that has already been recorded,
Gap area, data recording area (A), gap area,
A management information area (B) for re-recording data, an area (C) for recording data that needs to be re-recorded, a gap area, a management information area (D) for data to be re-recorded again, and data that needs to be re-recorded again. It is a recording area (E), a gap area, and an unused area. The gap area is an area for guaranteeing tracking in consideration of the possibility that the track pitch may not be maintained with respect to the previously recorded track at the time of append recording, and is always recorded depending on the accuracy of the mechanism of the device. It is not necessary.

In the present embodiment, the data holder 37
Although it is assumed that the data is stored in the memory, it is expected that if all the data is stored, the memory amount will increase, and information that indicates which data is (for example, a group number or frame number may be used, or input / output from an external device). The same effect can be obtained by holding a block number which may be a unit block).

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a data recording apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention, in which 21 is a transmitter / receiver, 22 is a format converter, 23 is a recording / reproducing signal converter, and 24 is a head. 25 is a controller.

In the data recording apparatus configured as described above, the transceiver 21 first receives a command from an external device, returns a status, exchanges data with an external device, like the transceiver 11. To do. Controller 25
Controls the entire device based on these commands.

The format converter 22 adds predetermined management information to the data input following the command to record these data, and converts the data into a predetermined format. The management information is also the same as that of the conventional data recording device.

In the recording / reproducing signal converter 23, the format-converted data is subjected to predetermined processing such as error correction coding, addition of a synchronization pattern / address as a recording block, modulation, etc., to obtain a recording signal, and the recording signal is used as a head. It records on a recording medium by 24. When a recording command is received, all the data instructed by the command is recorded until it is recorded, and thereafter, reproduction is performed to confirm whether or not the data was correctly recorded. The head 24 obtains a reproduction signal from the recording medium, the recording / reproduction signal processor 23 demodulates the reproduction signal, and identifies the recording block while dividing it into recording blocks on the basis of the synchronization pattern address. Decrypt. Further, the format converter 22 judges whether or not the error-corrected and decoded data is inspected and whether or not the data is correctly recorded. As a method of checking the data, all the reproduced data and the recorded data may be compared, only the checksum may be compared, or the error generation amount may be included in the determination criterion. As a result of the inspection, the data determined not to be recorded correctly is recorded again.
At this time, it is necessary to simultaneously record information indicating which data is recorded in which part on the tape.

As described above, recording, reproduction / inspection, and re-recording are repeated until it is determined that all data can be recorded correctly, and data recording is completed.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the data to be re-recorded can be limited to the portion that could not be correctly recorded in the recording up to that time. There is no waste.

FIG. 2 is an example showing how the data is actually recorded on the tape when recorded in this way.
That is, as a result, the same tape pattern as that recorded by the data recording apparatus of the first embodiment can be obtained.
Actually, after rewinding the area (A) once after recording, the area
The inspection is performed while reproducing (A), and then the area (B),
After the recording (C) is rewound after recording, the inspection is performed while reproducing the areas (B) and (C), and each area is continuously recorded. The gap region is the same as in the first embodiment.

In the second embodiment, the time required to completely complete the recording of all data is longer than that in the first embodiment, but it is not necessary to have a data holder, and the circuit is not necessary. Since recording / reproducing is not performed simultaneously, a dual-purpose circuit is sufficient, and the present invention can be applied to any head-cylinder configuration. Also in the first embodiment, the present invention can be applied to any head-cylinder configuration as long as recording and reproduction can be performed in parallel.

In the present embodiment, information that is not correctly recorded is information (eg, group number, frame number, or block that is a unit of input / output from an external device) that identifies the data. (It may be a block number based on the above), and the data is recorded again, but it is also possible to re-record each time it detects data that was not recorded correctly. Is.

Note that the block configurations given in the first and second embodiments above are merely examples, and data can be recorded by the same method with different configurations. Further, the criterion for judging whether the data is correctly recorded is arbitrary depending on the data recording device. As the management information of the data to be re-recorded, any information may be used as long as it is clear what was recorded and how.

In this patent, the data recording device is described, but the recording part of the data recording / reproducing device is also the same.

A computer is usually the main external device. In order for the data recording device to perform such an operation, once data backup is started, data is overwritten on the computer and recorded. Even if it is not wrong, it will be different when comparing, so keep the data overwriting in another area during backup and make a regular overwriting again after the backup is completed. Need to control.

[0039]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to correctly record data without wasting the recording medium by selecting and re-recording only the data in which an error occurred during recording. It is possible and its practical effect is great.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a data recording device according to a first embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 2 is an example of a tape pattern recorded by the data recording device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a data recording device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a conventional data recording device.

FIG. 5 is an example of a head configuration of a conventional data recording device.

FIG. 6 is a timing chart of a recording operation of a conventional data recording device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 31 Transmitter / receiver 32 Format converter 33 Recording signal converter 34 Recording head 35 Playback head 36 Playback signal converter 37 Data holder 38 Controller

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A data recording device for recording digital data, comprising at least a reproducing means for reproducing the digital data immediately after recording the digital data, an inspection means for inspecting the reproduced data, and as a result, a correct reproducing operation. Holding means for holding the missing data or information relating to the data, and control means for performing the re-recording operation until it is judged that the data or the information held in the holding means has been correctly reproduced after the recording of all the digital data is completed. A data recording device comprising: 2. The control means, when performing the re-recording operation, generates and adds management information indicating which part of the original digital data it is to the data to be re-recorded. 1. The data recording device according to 1. 3. The data recording apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the holding means holds all the data to be recorded again. 4. The data recording apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the holding means holds only information indicating which part of the data is to be re-recorded. 5. A device for recording digital data, comprising a recording / reproducing signal converting means and a head, wherein at least after completion of recording of all the digital data, it is confirmed whether or not the recording has been successful, and correct reproduction is performed. A data recording device comprising a control means for performing a re-recording operation until it is determined that data that has been determined to be impossible can be correctly reproduced. 6. The control means, when performing the re-recording operation, generates and adds to the re-recorded data management information indicating which part of the original digital data. 5. The data recording device according to 5.