JPH11162142A - Information recording/reproducing system and information recording/reproducing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To utilize an information recording/reproducing device which uses a recording disc such as an optical disc which has an excellent cost-performance for one byte with an easy attachment performance same as that of a memory card even in an electronic apparatus which has a memory card interface only. SOLUTION: A memory card 3 on which a semiconductor memory is mounted and an optical disc recording/reproducing device 4 itself are compatible with each other. The optical disc recording/reproducing device 4 which has an interface compatible with the memory card is attached to a memory card attachment part which is conventionally provided in an electronic apparatus such as a PC(personal computer), etc., to make an identical information record carrier seemingly exist from the electronic apparatus such as the PC.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information recording / reproducing system and an information recording / reproducing apparatus, and more particularly to an information recording / reproducing apparatus such as a small-sized and large-capacity optical disk apparatus which can be easily attached to and detached from electronic equipment. And an information recording / reproducing system using the same.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An optical disk device (optical disk drive) is a typical example of a conventional large-capacity recording device capable of recording and exchanging a recording medium. This optical disk device is incorporated in the main body of an electronic device such as a personal computer (hereinafter, referred to as a PC), or
Most of them are used by connecting to an electronic device such as a PC via an appropriate interface.

On the other hand, there is an IC card using a semiconductor memory which is attracting attention as a very small memory device. As a conventional example of a semiconductor memory card and a disk-shaped recording medium that can be used in the same device,
There is an apparatus described in JP-A-7-93962. In the prior art disclosed in this prior application, a disk cartridge or an IC card can be mounted in the same space in the apparatus. That is, the device can be used by inserting an IC card into a dedicated slot of the device, and the device can be used by inserting a disk cartridge instead of the IC card into the same slot so that the disk in the disk cartridge can be used. It functions as a disk drive device.

[0004]

The conventional optical disk drive which can be carried as a single unit has to be connected to an electronic device such as a PC via a connection cable, though it is small and convenient to carry. For this reason, the connection operation is complicated, and it is hard to say that this is a practical portable recording device.

[0005] On the other hand, the recording capacity of an IC card using a semiconductor memory is increasing year by year, and some cards can record 100 MB or more. However, as the recording capacity increases with the progress of semiconductor technology, IC
The ability of the CPU to process card data has also improved, and the data being handled has changed from text to graphics, natural still images, and natural moving images. For this reason, at present, there are many examples in which the capacity of the IC card is insufficient for some applications. Further, the cost per byte is more than 100 times higher than that of a disk.

[0006] As described above, it is particularly convenient for portable use,
At present, no small-sized, easy-to-use, large-capacity, low-cost information recording carrier or information recording / reproducing apparatus has been found.

In the prior art according to the above-mentioned prior application, a disk-shaped recording medium (recording disk) having a larger capacity than an IC memory card is used to cope with an increase in the amount of information. However,
In this prior art, a disk drive unit, a read / write unit, etc. as a unit capable of recording and reproducing a recording disk are incorporated in the apparatus main body in advance, and apart from this, a connection unit and an interface for an IC card are further incorporated. It has a configuration. Then, the recording disk and the IC card are controlled using the above-described individually prepared dedicated means. Therefore, the IC card and the recording disk, which are the information recording carriers, are configured to be mounted in the same space in the apparatus main body. At first glance, it seems that the same space is effectively used. The portions for recording and reproducing information are provided separately from each other, and are incorporated in the apparatus main body. Therefore, it cannot be said that the space is effectively utilized. Therefore, there is a problem that there is a limit in reducing the size of the apparatus main body. .

Further, the prior art according to the above-mentioned prior application publication has a configuration in which control units for two different types of information recording carriers are individually provided on the apparatus main body side.
For example, a conventional PC having only a memory card interface can be used.
In such electronic devices, there is also a problem that a small and large-capacity record carrier such as an optical disk cannot be used except for connecting a disk device to the electronic device via a connection cable.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points,
The purpose is to provide an information recording / reproducing device that uses a recording disk such as an optical disk with excellent cost performance per byte in an electronic device such as a PC having only a memory card interface, as easily as a memory card. To make it usable.

[0010]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention uses a small and thin optical disk recording / reproducing apparatus compatible with an existing system using a memory card equipped with a semiconductor memory. . That is, in the present invention, the memory card mounting semiconductor memory and the optical disk recording / reproducing apparatus itself are made compatible with each other by using a memory card mounting part conventionally provided in electronic devices such as a PC. By mounting an optical disk recording / reproducing device having an interface compatible with a memory card, the same information recording carrier appears to be present from an electronic device body such as a PC. The optical disk used in the optical disk recording / reproducing apparatus according to the present invention is not compatible with other conventional optical disks, and has a completely original structure.
This is a format, and by doing so, it is possible to obtain a disk recording medium having a smaller size and a larger capacity than ever before.
Conversely, in the present invention, since the optical disk recording / reproducing apparatus itself has a common interface with a memory card such as an IC card, the format is set so that this interface can be easily obtained. With such a configuration, it is possible to realize an information recording / reproducing apparatus such as an optical disk recording / reproducing apparatus which is compatible with existing systems and has excellent mountability and portability, and an information recording / reproducing system using the same. it can.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an outline of an information recording / reproducing system according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG.
In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a PC (personal computer) main body, which has a memory card slot (hereinafter, referred to as a slot) 2 of PCMCIA type 3. An optical disk drive (PCMIA card type 3 card (memory card equipped with a semiconductor memory) 3) is inserted into the memory card slot 2 for use, and has an interface compatible with the PCMCIA card according to the present invention. Optical disk recording / reproducing device) 4
Is inserted and used.

In PCMCIA type 3, card 3
Its shape is width 54mm, height 10.5mm, depth 8
It is determined to be 5.6 mm and has 30-pin electrical contacts. The slot 2 is formed into a shape into which the card 3 can be inserted (attached), and
A 30-pin electrical contact corresponding to the 30-pin electrical contact is provided.

FIG. 1 shows a state in which an optical disk drive 4 according to the present invention is about to be inserted into a slot 2. An optical disk cartridge 5 is removably inserted (mounted) into the optical disk drive 4. ing. In the present embodiment, the optical disk drive 4 is a magneto-optical disk drive, and the optical disk cartridge 5 is a magneto-optical disk cartridge.

FIG. 2A shows the slot 2 of the PC body 1.
3 is a cross-sectional view showing a state where the card 3 is mounted. As shown in FIG. 1, the card 3 mounted in the slot 2 of the PC main body 1 is electrically connected to the PC main body 1 by a connector 20 on the PC main body 1 and a connector 30 on the card 3 side. The connector 20 on the PC body 1 and the connector 30 on the card 3 both conform to the PCMCIA standard.

FIG. 2B shows the slot 2 of the PC body 1.
FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a state where the optical disk drive 4 is mounted. As shown in FIG.
The optical disk drive 4 mounted on the optical disk drive 4 has a connector 20 on the PC main body 1 side and a connector 40 on the optical disk drive 4 side.
With this, it is electrically connected to the PC main body 1. The connector 40 of the optical disk drive 4 is also a PCMCI
A according to the standard of A, and the connector 30 of the card 3
It has the same shape as. In a state where the optical disk drive 4 is mounted in the slot 2, the optical disk cartridge 5 can be attached to and detached from the optical disk drive 4.

In the main body of the optical disk drive 4, FIG.
(B), a spindle motor 41 for rotating the optical disk 51 in the optical disk cartridge 5,
An optical pickup 42 for recording / reproducing a signal to / from an optical disk 51; and an optical disk (here, a magneto-optical disk) 5
At least a magnetic head 43 for applying a magnetic field to the control unit 1 and a circuit unit 44 for controlling each unit of the optical disk drive 4 and performing signal processing are provided.

In this embodiment, the laser light source of the optical pickup 42 of the optical disk drive 4 has a wavelength of 65 nm.
The optical pickup 42 uses a red laser of 0 nm.
The objective lens having an NA of 0.6 is used. Although not shown, recording and reproduction on the disk 51 in the optical disk cartridge 5 are performed from a window provided on the optical disk cartridge.

The optical disk 51 in this embodiment is a magneto-optical disk as described above, and its recording film has a rare earth-transition metal (R) such as Tb-Fe-Co alloy.
E-TM) alloy is used. Also, the optical disk 5
1 has a thickness of 0.6 mm, is a single-sided disk made of a glass substrate, and has a diameter of 50 mm or less. However, the configuration of the disk is not limited to the configuration of the present embodiment.

The circuit section 44 of the optical disk drive 4 includes a modulation / demodulation circuit for modulating or demodulating data, a servo circuit for controlling a pickup and a spindle motor, a drive circuit for laser emission, and a magnetic field for generating a magnetic field. And a control microcomputer for controlling these operations.

Further, in addition to the circuit portion having the function of controlling the disk drive itself, the circuit portion 44 is provided with an interface circuit portion for performing the same signal control as that of the PCMCIA card. As a result, the optical disk drive 4 mounted in the slot 2 of the PC main body 1 has the same interface as the interface of the card 3, and the information of the information is transmitted from the PC main body 1 in the same manner as when the card 3 is mounted. A write or read control operation can be performed. In other words, the PC main body 1 can be regarded as having the same type of information recording medium mounted thereon, regardless of whether the card 3 is mounted or the optical disk drive 4 is mounted (the same type of information recording medium). It can be handled as a carrier).

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the optical disk drive 4 of the present embodiment. In FIG. 3, the components described above are given the same reference numerals.
In FIG. 3, 441 is an interface, 442 is a servo control unit, 443 is a signal processing unit, 444 is a mechanical drive unit, 445 is a preamplifier, 446 is a laser drive circuit,
47 is a magnetic head drive circuit.

Signal exchange between the optical disk drive 4 and the outside is performed through an interface 441, and all signal formats conform to the PCMCIA standard. The signal transmitted through the PCMCIA standard interface 441 is transmitted to the signal processing unit 443, the servo control unit 442, and the mechanical drive unit 444, and each unit performs a process according to the command. That is, the signal processing unit 44
In the case of recording, in the case of recording, the recording data signal is converted into a predetermined format signal and transmitted to the laser driving circuit 443, and the magnetic head driving circuit 447 is controlled to perform recording on the optical disk 51. , For playback,
The reproduced data signal input from the pickup 42 via the preamplifier 445 is demodulated into a digital signal of a predetermined format and output. Further, the servo control unit 442 controls the actuator of the pickup 42 to perform focus and tracking servo control. Further, the mechanical drive unit 44 controls a motor, a clamp operation between the disk and the spindle motor 41, and the like.

As described above, in this embodiment, a small optical disk drive (optical disk recording / reproducing device) 4
Can be handled as an interface device conforming to the interface standard of the PCMCIA card, which is a general interface. Therefore, even when the optical disk drive 4 is connected to the PC main body 1, the PC main body 1 can use the existing external storage means. Can be performed in the same manner as when is connected. Therefore, the same handling can be performed as when a PCMCIA type memory card is used or when a PCMCIA type small hard disk device is used. For this reason, a user can use an optical disc which is a small-sized large-capacity external storage device and has excellent cost performance per byte as an information recording carrier without changing the current use environment in both hardware and software. The recording / reproducing device can be used as a device having good wearability and excellent portability. Further, since the optical disk recording / reproducing apparatus can easily exchange the optical disk (optical disk cartridge), the storage capacity can be freely increased, and the optical disk recording / reproducing apparatus can be exchanged for an arbitrary optical disk storing various programs and the like.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. The present embodiment is an example in which the information recording / reproducing system of the present invention is applied to a video camera. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an outline of a video camera (information recording / reproducing system) according to a second embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 4, 10
Reference numeral 1 denotes a video camera body, a camera unit 112 for photographing, and a liquid crystal display 11 for checking a subject and monitoring a reproduced image.
1. It has a slot 102 for inserting a recording medium. This slot 102 is a PCMCIA standard memory card slot similar to that of the first embodiment, and the electrical interface conforms to this.

In the slot 102 of the PCMCIA standard,
Naturally, PCMCI equipped with semiconductor memory
An A-standard memory card can be removably mounted, but a PCMCIA card compatible optical disk drive 4 can be mounted similarly to the first embodiment, and is removably mounted on the disk drive 4. A photographed image and the like are recorded on the optical disk in the optical disk cartridge 5 and can be reproduced as needed.

In this embodiment having such a configuration,
Small optical disk drive (optical disk recording / reproducing device)
4 can be handled as an interface device conforming to the interface standard of a PCMCIA card, which is a general interface. Therefore, even when the optical disc drive 4 is mounted on the video camera body 101, a PCMCIA type memory card is used. Recording and reproduction can be performed in the same manner as in the case and when a small hard disk drive of PCMCIA type is used.

The optical disk drive 4 of the present embodiment
The capacity of the optical disc in the optical disc cartridge 5 to be mounted is 300 MB, and a moving image of about 30 minutes can be recorded. Moreover, by exchanging only the optical disk cartridge 5 with the optical disk drive 4 mounted on the video camera main body 101, it is possible to continue recording moving images.

Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described.
The present embodiment is an example in which the information recording / reproducing system of the present invention is applied to a game machine. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an outline of a game device (information recording / reproducing system) according to a third embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 5, reference numeral 201 denotes a game machine main body, which is a ROM for inserting (mounting) a ROM cassette 203;
An insertion slot 202 for a cassette is provided.
When the ROM cassette 203 is inserted into the game machine main body 201, the connector of the ROM cassette 203 is connected to the connector of the game machine main body 201. An operation unit 210 is connected to the game device main body 201, and the operation of the game is performed using the operation unit 210.

The game apparatus main body 201 includes a CPU, an interface, an image output unit, a recording / reproducing unit, and the like, and the interface has a specification for a ROM cassette. Then, the RO on which the game information is recorded
By inserting the M cassette 203 into the insertion slot 202, the game device main body 201 fetches the game information,
For example, a game can be played using a television or the like as a monitor screen, and by replacing the ROM cassette 203,
Various games can be played.

In this embodiment, the ROM cassette 2
An optical disk drive 204 having substantially the same external shape as that of the ROM cassette 03, having the same connector portion as the ROM cassette 203, and having the same electrical interface as the ROM cassette 203 can be inserted into the insertion slot 202 for the ROM cassette. .

An optical disk cartridge 205 is detachably mounted on the optical disk drive 204. In the present embodiment, the optical disk in the optical disk cartridge 205 can be used only for reproduction.
A ROM / RAM mixed disk in which both an OM area and a RAM area capable of recording / reproduction are used. The game information is recorded in a ROM area having irregularities on the optical disk, and can be reproduced only. In the case of recording the progress of the game, the game information is recorded in a RAM area using a magneto-optical method. It is to be recorded.

Here, in this embodiment, either the ROM cassette 203 or the optical disk drive 204 is mounted on the game machine main body 201. However, as in the fourth embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. The ROM 601 storing the game information is stored in the optical disk drive 2
04, so that only the optical disk drive 204 can be detachably mounted.

Further, as in a fifth embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG.
3 and the optical disk drive 204 may be simultaneously and detachably mounted.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 7, the optical disk cartridge 205
The optical disk inside is a ROM / RA that stores game information.
Instead of an M-mixed type disc, it can be an optical disc dedicated to recording and reproduction (RAM only) for recording the progress, etc., and the game information (ROM information)
3.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram according to the fifth embodiment. In FIG. 8, reference numeral 701 denotes an information recording unit.
ROM cassette 203 and optical disk drive 204
The information recording unit 701 includes a ROM data storage unit 702, a disk data storage unit 703, an interface 704, an information recording unit control unit 705, and the like. 706 is a program reading unit, 707 is a game control unit, and the game control unit 707 is a CPU 71
1. Image output converter 712, controller controller 70
3, a RAM 714, and the like.

The game device main body 201 includes an information recording unit 70.
The game program is downloaded from the data stored in the ROM data storage unit 702 or the disk data storage unit 703 by the program reading unit 706, and the game control unit 707 executes the game program under the control of the CPU 711. , Games can be played.

FIG. 9 shows a processing flow according to the fifth embodiment. First, when the game apparatus main body 201 is powered on, an initial program is read and an external recording device is recognized (step ST901). next,
The data to be read is determined by an appropriate instruction from the operator (step ST902), and the data to be read is determined to be R.
It is inquired whether or not the data is ROM data in the OM cassette 203 (step ST903).
The ROM data in OM cassette 203 is downloaded (step ST904). Step ST903
If NO in step ST90, the ROM data in the optical disk is read, so the optical disk drive 204 is started (step ST905), and the ROM data on the optical disk is read by the pickup (step ST90).
6) The demodulated data is converted into a predetermined data format and output to the game device main body 201.

In the third, fourth, and fifth embodiments described above, the optical disk drive 204 has the same shape and electrical interface as the ROM cassette 203, but is inserted into a PCMCIA type optical disk drive. By using a conversion adapter which is an adapter for the port 202, a PCMCIA type optical disk drive can also be used.

[0039]

As described above, according to the present invention, even in an electronic device such as a PC having only a memory card interface, a recording disk such as an optical disk which is excellent in cost performance per byte can be converted into a simple and equivalent memory card. An information recording / reproducing apparatus such as an optical disk drive can be provided as an external recording means that can be used with a mountability and is excellent in compatibility with existing systems.
In addition, a recording disk such as an optical disk removably mounted on an information recording / reproducing device such as an optical disk drive can be easily replaced, so that the storage capacity can be freely increased. Also, by applying the present invention to an electronic device using a read-only ROM cassette memory, it is possible to record information from a data read-only device which has conventionally been read-only.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an information recording / reproducing system according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a case where a memory card is mounted on the PC according to the first embodiment of the present invention and a case where an optical disk drive is mounted.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an optical disk drive according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing an information recording / reproducing system according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing an information recording / reproducing system according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing an information recording / reproducing system according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing an information recording / reproducing system according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing functions of an information recording / reproducing system according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a processing flow according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 PC (personal computer) main body 2 PCMCIA type memory card slot 3 PCMCIA type memory card 4 Optical disk drive 5 Optical disk cartridge 20, 30, 40 Connector of PCMCIA specification 41 Spindle motor 42 Pickup 43 Magnetic head 44 Circuit part 51 Optical disk (optical) Magnetic disk)

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Akihiro Asada 292 Yoshida-cho, Totsuka-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa Prefecture Inside the Multimedia Systems Development Division of Hitachi, Ltd. (72) Inventor Jun Inoue Yoshida-cho, Totsuka-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa 292 Hitachi Multimedia Systems Development Division

Claims (14)

[Claims] 1. A first information recording carrier having a semiconductor memory portion capable of recording and holding information is available, and has an electrical connection terminal for writing or reading information to or from the semiconductor memory portion, An electronic device having a recording / reproducing control portion that enables an operation of writing information to the first information recording carrier via the electrical connection terminal or an operation of reading information from the first information recording carrier. An information recording / reproducing system including at least the second information recording carrier, wherein the electronic device uses a detachable second information recording carrier different from the first information recording carrier to record information on the second information recording carrier. An information recording / reproducing apparatus having a recording / reproducing control unit for reproducing and an interface unit connectable to the electronic device, or the first information recording carrier, Information recording and reproducing system, characterized in that wear to made available. 2. The information recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the information recording / reproducing apparatus is detachably mountable in a space for accommodating the first information recording carrier in the electronic apparatus. When the information recording / reproducing apparatus is mounted on the information recording / reproducing apparatus, the information recording / reproducing control is performed on the information recording / reproducing apparatus from the information device via the electrical connection terminal for performing recording / reproducing on the first information recording carrier. An information recording / reproducing system, characterized in that: 3. The information recording medium according to claim 1, wherein the first information recording carrier using a semiconductor memory is
An information recording / reproducing system having an external shape conforming to the CMCIA standard. 4. The method according to claim 1, wherein said first information recording carrier using a semiconductor memory is
An information recording / reproducing system having an electrical interface conforming to the CMCIA standard. 5. The information recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the second information recording carrier used in the information recording / reproducing apparatus is a recordable optical disk. system. 6. The optical disk according to claim 5, wherein the optical disk has a thickness of 0.6 mm or less and a diameter of 50 mm.
mm or less. 7. A first information recording carrier having a semiconductor memory portion capable of recording and holding information is available, and has an electrical connection terminal for writing or reading information to or from the semiconductor memory portion, An operation of writing information to the first information recording carrier via the electrical connection terminal;
Alternatively, the information recording / reproducing system includes at least an electronic device having a recording / reproducing control unit that enables an operation of reading information from the first information recording carrier, wherein the electronic device includes the first information recording carrier. A recording / reproduction control unit for recording or reproducing information on / from the second information recording carrier using a detachable second information recording carrier different from the above, and an interface unit connectable to the electronic device. An information recording / reproducing system, wherein both an information recording / reproducing device and the first information recording carrier are mounted and usable at the same time. 8. The information recording / reproducing system according to claim 7, wherein at least one of the first information recording carrier and the information recording / reproducing device is detachable from the electronic device. 9. The game device according to claim 1, wherein the electronic device mainly comprises a CPU, an interface unit, an image output unit, an information recording / reproducing unit, and an operation unit. The first information recording carrier is a game ROM cassette, and the information recording / reproducing device is capable of recording / reproducing information on / from the second information recording carrier via the interface unit. An information recording / reproducing system, characterized in that: 10. A first information recording carrier having a semiconductor memory portion capable of recording and holding information is made available, and has an electrical connection terminal for writing or reading information to or from the semiconductor memory portion, An operation of writing information to the first information recording carrier via the electrical connection terminal;
Alternatively, an information recording / reproducing device which can be attached to an electronic device having a recording / reproducing control portion which enables an operation of reading information from the first information recording carrier. A recording / reproducing control unit for recording / reproducing information on / from the second information recording carrier using a detachable second information recording carrier different from the first information recording carrier; And the information recording / reproducing apparatus, when mounted on the information device, from the information device, connects the electric connection terminal for recording / reproducing to / from the first information recording carrier. An information recording / reproducing apparatus characterized in that data recording / reproduction control can be performed on the information recording / reproducing apparatus via the information recording / reproducing apparatus. 11. The information recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the information recording / reproducing apparatus is detachable in a space for accommodating the first information recording carrier in the electronic device. . 12. The information recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the information recording / reproducing apparatus has a shape conforming to the PCMCIA standard and an electric interface. 13. The information recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the second information recording carrier is a recordable optical disk. 14. The optical disc according to claim 13, wherein the optical disc has a thickness of 0.6 mm or less and a diameter of 50 mm.
mm or less.