JPH11191285A - Recording device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To dissolve needless consumption of a recording region and to prevent needless consumption of a recordable time. SOLUTION: When operation of recording input data in a recording medium is performed, reading out data is performed from the last recording position of a data unit being data already recorded in the recording medium as processing about a first recorded data unit, and it is stored in a memory means, while the first recorded data unit is generated by adding data of the leading part out of input data written in a memory means after a start point of recording operation to an effective data of the last data unit, and operation in which this first data unit is recorded in a recording position of the last data unit in the recording medium is performed. A recorded leading data part is recorded in a dummy data part in the last data unit of the preceding record.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a recording apparatus corresponding to a recording medium on which data such as audio data can be recorded.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Various recording media and recording apparatuses corresponding to them have been developed. In particular, recently, as is known as a mini-disc system, a type in which a user can freely record music data and the like has become widespread. I have.

For example, in the case of this mini-disc system, in order to manage an area on the disc where a user has recorded or an area where nothing has been recorded, a user TOC ( Below U-TOC
) Is recorded, and the recording apparatus determines an area for recording with reference to the U-TOC. That is, the U-TOC manages each recorded song or the like in units of tracks, and describes its start address, end address, and the like. For an unrecorded area (free area) in which nothing is recorded, its start address, end address, and the like are described. Then, for example, when an additional recording of a certain music piece is to be performed, the recording device checks the address of the free area on the disc from the U-TOC, and records the audio data there.

By the way, with respect to audio data to be recorded, recording on a disc is performed with a predetermined amount of data unit as one delimiter. As will be described in detail later, in the case of the mini disk system, a data unit called a cluster is the minimum unit of the recording operation. The cluster is composed of 36 sectors, of which 32 sectors are used for recording actual audio data. One sector is formed by 2352 bytes,
Among them, actual audio data is recorded in a portion excluding required data such as an address and a synchronization pattern, and when viewed in one cluster, it is 2.04 in terms of reproduction time.
Audio data corresponding to 16 seconds is recorded.

Here, a recording operation performed in cluster units will be described with reference to FIG. 7, taking a mini disk system as an example. In the mini-disc system, data (for example, audio data such as music) continuously input for recording is subjected to data compression processing and then temporarily stored in a buffer memory. Then, data is read from the buffer memory in cluster units of n clusters (n is a natural number), subjected to necessary encoding processing, and recorded on the disk.

The processing procedure for such a recording operation is as shown in FIG. In the mini disc system, as a user operation for recording, first, a recording operation (for example, pressing a recording key) is performed. Then, the processing of the recording apparatus proceeds from step F201 to F202 in FIG. 7 to search for a free area on the disk, and perform processing for setting the recording standby at that position. That is, in a state where the recording head is at the head position where recording on the disk is executed, the recording head is set to the recording pause and stands by.

Subsequently, the user is required to output audio data from a music source (microphone, radio tuner, CD player, etc.) (input timing to a recording device).
, The user performs a recording start operation at a timing at which the user wants to start recording. For example, in this case, the reproduction key and the pause key are treated as recording start operation keys. Then, the process proceeds from step F203 to F204, and the actual recording operation is started. That is, first, in step F204, the input of the input audio data into the buffer memory is started. In step F206, the amount of audio data stored in the buffer memory is monitored.
Each time a cluster is reached, the process proceeds to step F207, and data for the n clusters is recorded on the disk. That is, data of n clusters is read from the buffer memory, subjected to necessary encoding processing, and supplied to the recording head.
The area from which data for n clusters has been read out in the buffer memory is used for subsequent storage of input audio data.

[0008] By the processing of steps F206 and F207, continuously input audio data is recorded on the disk in cluster units. If the user performs an end operation (for example, pressing a stop key) at a certain point, the process proceeds from step F205 to F208. At this point, the input of the input audio data into the buffer memory is completed. However, at this time, the amount of data that is less than n clusters (that is, voice data input before the end operation)
Is often left in the buffer memory. Since the remaining audio data is data that the user desires to record, a process of recording the data on a disc is performed in step F209. That is, since the actual data is less than the amount of n clusters, dummy data (zero data corresponding to silence) is added as an insufficient part to form a data stream of n clusters and recorded on the disk. Become. After the above processing, a series of recording operations is completed.

[0009]

However, as described above,
Since the recording operation is performed in units of clusters, there is a problem that a useless recording portion is generated, and a recordable time on the disc (remaining recordable time recognized by the user) is wasted. This will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 6A shows a program area on the disk, that is, an area used for recording music data, and it is assumed that a broken line indicates a cluster unit.
First, it is assumed that music data DR1 is recorded in a certain recording operation REC1 as shown in FIG. At this time, the dummy data BL1 is added by the processing of step F209 in FIG. 7 described above because the valid data as the music data DR1 is less than one cluster and remains in the buffer memory for the last cluster. The data amount for one cluster is recorded on the disc as the last cluster in the recording operation REC1.

Subsequently, when the recording operation REC2 is performed at a later point in time, as shown in FIG. 6C, this recording operation is performed from the next cluster following the last cluster in the recording operation REC1. Music data DR2 is recorded from the cluster. Also at this time, the dummy data BL2 is added by the processing of step F209 in FIG. 7 because the valid data as the music data DR2 is left in the buffer memory in a state of less than one cluster for the last cluster. The data amount is one cluster, and is recorded on the disk as the last cluster in the recording operation REC2.

Then, as a recording operation REC3,
When the recording operation is performed from the next cluster following the last cluster in the recording operation REC2, as shown in FIG.
Music data DR3 is recorded from the cluster.
Also at this time, the music data DR
Since the valid data as No. 3 was left in the buffer memory in a state of less than one cluster, the dummy data BL
3 is added to the data amount for one cluster, and is recorded on the disk as the last cluster in the recording operation REC3.

In the recording operation, it is rare that dummy data is actually not added to the last cluster at all (in other words, dummy data is added only when the total amount of music data to be recorded is an integral multiple of the data amount of the cluster). Data becomes unnecessary), and therefore, for most recording operations, FIG.
Thus, there is a portion where dummy data is recorded. As described above, the audio data of one cluster is 2.04
Since this corresponds to 16 seconds of audio, the amount of dummy data generated in one recording operation is a data amount corresponding to a time less than 2.0416 seconds at the maximum. For example, in a mini-disc system, it is possible to record 74 minutes of music, but as the number of recording operations increases, the time length of the portion as dummy data increases, and in some cases, it can reach several tens of seconds to several minutes. There is also. That is, the recordable time for the disc is wasted.

[0013]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and has been made in view of the above circumstances. Aim.

For this purpose, in a recording apparatus that performs data recording on a recording medium using a data unit having a predetermined data amount as one recording operation unit, such as the above-mentioned cluster, the control means includes: When the operation of recording the data on the recording medium is performed, as a process relating to the first data unit to be recorded, the read processing means outputs data from the recording position of the last data unit as data already recorded on the recording medium. The reading is executed and stored in the memory means, and the valid data of the last data unit is
The first data unit to be recorded is generated by adding the data at the beginning of the input data written to the memory means after the start of the recording operation, and the first data unit is recorded as the last data unit on the recording medium. The recording processing means can be caused to execute the operation of recording at the recording position in the data unit. That is, since the recording operation is performed in units of data such as clusters, the last data unit of one recording operation is unavoidable to include some dummy data. Is
The leading data portion of the data recording is recorded in the dummy data portion in the last data unit of the previous recording, so that the dummy data is not left.

[0015]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below. An example of this embodiment is a recording / reproducing apparatus corresponding to a magneto-optical disk (mini disk). The description will be made in the following order. 1. 1. Configuration of recording / reproducing device 2. Cluster format Area structure 4. Recording operation

1. FIG. 1 shows an internal configuration of a mini disc recording / reproducing apparatus 1 of the present embodiment. A magneto-optical disk (mini disk) 90 on which audio data is recorded is driven to rotate by the spindle motor 2. The disk 90 is irradiated with laser light by the optical head 3 during recording / reproduction.

The optical head 3 performs a high-level laser output for heating a recording track to the Curie temperature during recording, and a relatively low-level laser for detecting data from reflected light by a magnetic Kerr effect during reproduction. Perform output. Therefore, the optical head 3 is equipped with a laser diode as a laser output unit, an optical system including a polarizing beam splitter and an objective lens, and a detector for detecting reflected light. The objective lens 3a is held by the biaxial mechanism 4 so as to be displaceable in the radial direction of the disk and in the direction of coming into contact with and separating from the disk.

The optical head 3 with the disk 90 interposed therebetween
The magnetic head 6a is arranged at a position facing the above. The magnetic head 6a performs an operation of applying a magnetic field modulated by the supplied data to the magneto-optical disk 90. The entire optical head 3 and the magnetic head 6a can be moved in the disk radial direction by the thread mechanism 5.

The information detected from the disk 90 by the optical head 3 by the reproducing operation is supplied to the RF amplifier 7. The RF amplifier 7 extracts a reproduction RF signal, a tracking error signal TE, a focus error signal FE, groove information GFM, and the like by performing an arithmetic process on the supplied information. The groove information GFM is absolute position information recorded on the magneto-optical disk 90 as a pre-groove (wobbling groove). The extracted reproduced RF signal is supplied to the encoder / decoder section 8. Further, the tracking error signal TE and the focus error signal FE
Is supplied to the servo circuit 9, and the groove information GFM is supplied to the address decoder 10.

The servo circuit 9 receives the supplied tracking error signal TE and focus error signal FE and the system controller 1 constituted by a microcomputer.
Various servo drive signals are generated based on a track jump command, an access command, rotation speed detection information of the spindle motor 2 and the like from the controller 1 to control the two-axis mechanism 4 and the thread mechanism 5 to perform focus and tracking control. 2 is controlled to a constant linear velocity (CLV).

The address decoder 10 decodes the supplied groove information GFM to extract address information.
This address information is supplied to the system controller 11 and used for various control operations. The reproduced RF signal is subjected to decoding processing such as EFM demodulation and CIRC in the encoder / decoder section 8. At this time, addresses, subcode data, and the like are also extracted and supplied to the system controller 11.

EFM demodulation in the encoder / decoder section 8
The decoded audio data (sector data) such as CIRC is temporarily written into the buffer memory 13 by the memory controller 12. The reading of data from the disk 90 by the optical head 3 and the transfer of reproduced data in the system from the optical head 3 to the buffer memory 13 are at 1.41 Mbit / sec, and are usually performed intermittently.

The data written in the buffer memory 13 is read out at a timing when the transfer of the reproduction data becomes 0.3 Mbit / sec, and supplied to the encoder / decoder section 14. Then, subjected to reproduction signal processing of the decoding processing and the like for the audio compression processing, 44.1KH _Z sampling, 1
This is a 6-bit quantized digital audio signal. This digital audio signal is converted into an analog signal by the D / A converter 15, the output processing unit 16 performs level adjustment, impedance adjustment, and the like, and outputs the analog audio signal Aout from the line output terminal 17 to an external device. . In addition, it is supplied to the headphone output terminal 27 as the headphone output HPout, and is output to the connected headphones.

The digital audio signal decoded by the encoder / decoder section 14 is supplied to the digital interface section 22, so that the digital audio signal can be output from the digital output terminal 21 to an external device as a digital audio signal Dout. . For example, it is output to an external device in the form of transmission by an optical cable.

When a recording operation is performed on the magneto-optical disk 90, the recording signal (analog audio signal Ain) supplied to the line input terminal 18 is converted into digital data by the A / D converter 19. Thereafter, the data is supplied to the encoder / decoder unit 14 and subjected to audio compression encoding processing. Or from a digital input terminal 20
Is supplied with the digital audio signal Din,
The digital interface unit 22 extracts control codes and the like, and the audio data is supplied to the encoder / decoder unit 14 and subjected to audio compression encoding processing. Although not shown, it is naturally possible to provide a microphone input terminal and use the microphone input as a recording signal.

The recording data compressed by the encoder / decoder 14 is temporarily written and accumulated in the buffer memory 13 by the memory controller 12, and then read out in units of a predetermined amount of data to be read by the encoder / decoder.
The data is sent to the decoder unit 8. After being subjected to encoding processing such as CIRC encoding and EFM modulation in the encoder / decoder section 8, it is supplied to the magnetic head drive circuit 6.

The magnetic head drive circuit 6 supplies a magnetic head drive signal to the magnetic head 6a according to the encoded recording data. That is, the magnetic head 6a applies an N or S magnetic field to the magneto-optical disk 90. At this time, the system controller 11 supplies a control signal to the optical head so as to output a laser beam at a recording level.

The operation unit 23 indicates a part to be operated by a user, and is provided with various operation keys and operators as dials. The controls include, for example, playback, recording, pause, stop, FF (fast forward), REW (fast reverse), AMS
Operators related to recording / reproducing operations such as (search for cue), operators related to play modes such as normal playback, program playback, shuffle playback, and operations for display mode operation for switching the display state on the display unit 24 Various necessary controls are provided, such as controls for editing operations such as a child, track division, track connection, track deletion, track name input, and disc name input. Operation information from these operation keys and dials is supplied to the system controller 11, and the system controller 11 executes operation control according to the operation information.

The display operation of the display unit 24 is controlled by the system controller 11. That is, the system controller 11 transmits data to be displayed when the display operation is performed to the display driver in the display unit 24. The display driver drives a display operation of a display by a liquid crystal panel or the like based on the supplied data, and executes display of required numbers, characters, symbols, and the like. The display unit 24 shows the operation mode state of the recording / reproducing disc, the track number, the recording time / reproduction time, the editing operation state, and the like. The disk 90 can record character information (track name and the like) managed in association with a program track (music and the like) as main data, but displays input characters when the character information is input, and reads from the disk. The displayed character information is displayed.

The system controller 11 is a microcomputer having a CPU, a program ROM, a work RAM, an interface, and the like, and controls the various operations described above.

When performing a recording / reproducing operation on the disk 90, management information recorded on the disk 90, that is, P-TOC (pre-mastered TOC),
It is necessary to read U-TOC (user TOC).
The system controller 11 determines the address of the area to be recorded on the disk 90 and the address of the area to be reproduced on the disk 90 according to the management information. This management information is held in the buffer memory 13. Then, when the disk 90 is loaded, the system controller 11 reads out the management information by executing a reproduction operation on the innermost peripheral side of the disk on which the management information is recorded, and stores the information in the buffer memory 13. Thereafter, it can be referred to at the time of recording / reproducing / editing operation of the program on the disc 90.

The U-TOC is rewritten in accordance with recording of program data and various editing processes. The system controller 11 stores the U-TOC updating process in the buffer memory 13 every time a recording / editing operation is performed. The rewriting operation is performed on the U-TOC information, and the U-TOC area of the disc 90 is rewritten at a predetermined timing in accordance with the rewriting operation.

2. Cluster Format A data unit called a cluster will be described with reference to FIG.
As a recording track in the mini disc system, clusters CL are continuously formed as shown in FIG. 2, and one cluster is a minimum unit for recording. One cluster is 2-3
The audio data to be recorded, which corresponds to the number of orbital tracks, has a data amount corresponding to 2.0416 seconds as the reproduction time.

One cluster CL is composed of a sector S
It is formed of a linking area of 4 sectors FC to SFF and a main data area of 32 sectors indicated as sectors S00 to S1F. One sector is a data unit formed of 2352 bytes. Of the four sub data areas, the sector SFF is a sub data sector,
Although it can be used for information recording as sub-data, three sectors SFC to SFE are not used for data recording. However, in the mini disc system, a read-only disc is also prepared, and in the read-only disc, sectors SFC to SFE are also used for recording sub data. On the other hand, recording of TOC data, audio data, and the like is performed in the main data area for 32 sectors. The address is recorded for each sector.

The sectors are further subdivided into units called sound groups, and two sectors are divided into 11 sound groups. That is, as shown in the figure, the sound groups SG00 to SG0A are included in two consecutive sectors such as an even sector such as the sector S00 and an odd sector such as the sector S01. One sound group is formed of 424 bytes,
The amount of audio data is equivalent to 11.61 msec. In one sound group SG, data is recorded while being divided into an L channel and an R channel. For example, the sound group SG00 includes L channel data L0 and R channel data R0.
Is composed of L channel data L1 and R channel data R1. Note that 212 bytes, which is a data area of the L channel or the R channel, is called a sound frame.

3. Area Structure The area structure of the disc 90 of this example will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3A shows an area from the innermost side to the outermost side of the disk. Disk 90 as magneto-optical disk
Is a pit area on the innermost side where reproduction-only data is formed by embossed pits.
C is recorded. The outer periphery of the pit area is a magneto-optical area, which is a recordable / reproducible area in which a groove is formed as a guide groove for a recording track. The section from the innermost cluster 0 to the cluster 49 in the magneto-optical area is used as a management area, and actual music and the like are recorded as one track each in the clusters 50 to 2.
Up to 251 program areas. The lead-out area is located outside the program area.

FIG. 3 shows the inside of the management area in detail.
(B). FIG. 3B shows sectors in the horizontal direction and clusters in the vertical direction. The sectors SFC to SFE not used for data recording are omitted. In the management area, clusters 0 and 1 are buffer areas with the pit area. The cluster 2 is a power calibration area PCA and is used for adjusting the output power of the laser beam. For clusters 3, 4, and 5, U-TOC is recorded. Although a detailed description of the contents of the U-TOC is omitted, a data format is defined in each sector in one cluster, and predetermined management information is recorded. That is, the address of each track recorded in the program area, the address of the free area, etc. are recorded, and the track name attached to each track,
The U-TOC sector is defined so that information such as recording date and time can be recorded. Clusters having a sector serving as such U-TOC data are clusters 3, 4, 5
Is recorded three times. Clusters 47, 48, 49
Is a buffer area with the program area.

In the program area after the cluster 50 (= 32h in hexadecimal notation), one or a plurality of audio data such as music pieces are recorded in a compression format called ATRAC.
Each recorded program and recordable area are U-TO
Managed by C. In each cluster in the program area, the sector FFh can be used for recording some information as sub data as described above.

4. Recording Operation A recording operation that is a characteristic operation of the recording / reproducing apparatus of this example will be described with reference to FIGS. This operation is different from the conventional recording operation described with reference to FIGS.
For each recording operation, the dummy data in the last cluster in the past recording operation is eliminated.

In this example, data (for example, music data) continuously input for recording from the terminal 18 or the terminal 20 is subjected to data compression processing in the ATRAC system by the encoder / decoder unit 14 as described above. Thereafter, it is stored in the buffer memory 13. Then, data is read from the buffer memory 13 in units of n clusters (n is a natural number), and the encoder / decoder unit 8 performs processing such as sector encoding, addition of an error correction code, and EFM encoding to obtain recording data. When supplied to the magnetic head drive circuit 6, the data is recorded on the disk.

FIG. 5 shows a control processing procedure of the system controller 11 for this recording operation. As a user operation for recording, first, a recording operation (for example, pressing a recording key) is performed. Then, the system controller 11
Goes from step F100 to F101 in FIG.
If one or more tracks have already been recorded on the disc 90, the process further proceeds to step F102, where the optical head 3 is caused to search for the position of the last cluster of the already recorded tracks on the disc 90.
For example, if only one song (one track) has been recorded on the disc 90, an operation of searching for the last cluster of the first track is performed, and if two songs (two tracks) have been recorded, the second cluster is searched. This is an operation of searching for the last cluster of the track. That is, in the recorded state of n tracks, the reproduction time is the last (reproduction operation is in track number order).
Search the last cluster of the n-th track.

In the mini disc system, tracks need not always be recorded physically continuously.
Also, the positional relationship between the front and rear (inner or outer circumference) on the disk is not limited. In other words, a plurality of parts (recorded portions of audio data) as one track are sequentially read out by the access operation, so that the reproduced audio of each part can be reproduced in the correct order on the time axis. The relationship between the tracks is the same. For example, the second track may be recorded on the inner peripheral side of the first track. Further, the physical position can be changed to various states by an editing operation (moving a track number, connecting tracks, dividing tracks, erasing, etc.). The final cluster searched in step F102 is the U-TO at that time regardless of the physical position state.
The last cluster (the last cluster in the reproduction time) of the track of the last track number (the last track in the reproduction time) managed by C. The position (address) of such a final cluster can be determined from information in the U-TOC.

When the search for the last cluster is completed, the data of the last cluster is read out, and the read data is decoded and the buffer memory 1 is read.
Read in 3. Then, proceed to Step F103,
At the start position of the last cluster where the search / read has been performed, a process for setting the recording standby is performed. That is, the recording pause is set in a state where the optical head 3 and the magnetic head 6a are at the head position of the last cluster.

If the disk 90 is a virgin disk on which no audio data is recorded, step F
From 101, proceed to F103, and naturally, step F
The search and data reading processing of the last cluster in 102 are not performed. In step F103, a process for setting the recording standby at the head position of the program area (in the case of a virgin disk, this is the head position of the free area) is performed.

Subsequently, the user is required to output audio data from a music source (microphone, radio tuner, CD player, etc.) (input timing to a recording device).
, The user performs a recording start operation at a timing at which the user wants to start recording. For example, in this case, the reproduction key and the pause key are treated as recording start operation keys. Then, the process proceeds from step F104 to F105, and the actual recording operation is started. That is, in step F105, the system controller 11 starts taking in the input audio data into the buffer memory 13. However, at this time, the input data is stored following the effective data storage area of the last cluster fetched in step F102. The data of the last cluster includes valid data as actual audio data and dummy data, and input data is written following the valid data. Therefore, the dummy data is deleted on the buffer memory 13. Note that, at the time of capturing in step F102, only valid data may be stored in the buffer memory 13.

The data writing to the buffer memory 13 is specifically performed in a storage area according to a write pointer (write address) generated by the memory controller 12, but for example, in step F105. At the start of input data writing, the write pointer only needs to have a value corresponding to the area next to the area where the last data as valid data of the last cluster has been written.

After the writing of the input data to the buffer memory 13 is started so as to follow the data of the last cluster in this way, the system controller 11 determines in step F107 the amount of audio data stored in the buffer memory. When monitoring is performed, the process proceeds to step F108 each time the amount of data stored in the buffer memory reaches n clusters, and data for the n clusters is recorded on the disk. That is, data of n clusters is read from the buffer memory, encoded by the encoder / decoder unit 8, and supplied to the magnetic head drive circuit 6. In the buffer memory 13, the storage part of the audio data is used in the form of a ring memory, and the area from which data for n clusters has been read is used for storing the input audio data thereafter.

By the processing of steps F107 and F108, continuously input audio data is recorded on the disk in cluster units. Regarding the first cluster to be recorded, the valid data of the last cluster is input to the valid data of the last cluster. One cluster is formed by adding the head portion of the audio data thus obtained. And the above step F10
Since the recording standby at 3 is the position of the last cluster, the first cluster of the current recording operation is overwritten on the position of the last cluster. Note that the second and subsequent clusters for the current recording are performed from the beginning of the free area at that time. Therefore, the disk 90
(If the next cluster recording part physically continuous with the last cluster is not set as the head of the free area), the access operation to the head of the free area is performed at the time of recording the second cluster. Is required. However,
Of course, time is managed as continuous data.

If the user performs an end operation (for example, pressing the stop key) at a certain point in time, the process proceeds from step F106 to F109. At this point, the input of the input audio data into the buffer memory is completed. However, at this point, in most cases, data less than n clusters (that is, audio data input before the end operation) is mostly left in the buffer memory. Since the remaining audio data is data that the user desires to record, the system controller 11 performs a process of recording the data on a disk in step F110. In other words, since the actual data is less than the amount of n clusters, dummy data (zero data corresponding to silence) is added as an insufficient data to form a data stream of n clusters and recorded on the disk 90. become. After the above processing, a series of recording operations is completed.

In the above-described processing example, by writing the data of the last cluster at the head of the recording data storage area in the buffer memory 13, the valid data of the last cluster is input this time as the data of the first cluster to be recorded. Although the data at the beginning is synthesized, the effective data of the last cluster is stored in another area in the buffer memory 13 or another memory element, and the leading data of the input data taken into the buffer memory 13 is stored. The data stream as the first cluster may be formed by combining the data stream with the part.

The recording operation performed by the above processing is shown in FIG.
This will be described schematically. FIG. 4A shows a program area on the disk, that is, an area used for recording music data, and it is assumed that a break indicated by a broken line is a break in cluster units. FIG. 4A shows the state of a virgin disk on which no tracks are recorded.

First, it is assumed that the music data DR1 is recorded as shown in FIG. 4B by the recording operation REC1 from the state of the virgin disk. At this time, the dummy data BL1 is added by the above-described processing of step F110 in FIG. 5 because the valid data as the music data DR1 is less than one cluster in the buffer memory for the last cluster. The data amount for one cluster is recorded on the disc as the last cluster in the recording operation REC1.

Subsequently, when a recording operation is performed at a later point in time, as shown in FIG. 4C, the data of the last cluster is first read as the read operation RD1 by the process of step F102. The input data is combined with the valid data of the last cluster by the operation of the processing after step F105, and recording from the position of the last cluster is executed as the recording operation REC2. The overwriting recording of the last cluster in the operation REC1 is performed, and the second and subsequent clusters are performed on the cluster following the overwritten cluster. Therefore, in the recording portion of the last cluster in the recording operation REC1, a cluster is formed by the valid data of the last cluster in the recording operation REC1 and the data of the head portion of the audio data DR2 input this time, that is, in FIG. The portion of the dummy data BL1 generated in the state is effectively used in the current recording operation. The recording operation for the current input data DR2 is subsequently executed as a subsequent cluster, but the input data DR2 for the last cluster is
Due to the fact that the valid data as No. 2 has been left in the buffer memory 13 in a state of less than one cluster, the dummy data BL2 is added by the processing of step F110 in FIG. Operation REC2
Is recorded on the disc as the last cluster in.

Thereafter, when the recording operation is performed, as shown in FIG. 4D, the data of the last cluster at that time is first read as the read operation RD2 by the process of step F102. And step F105
The input data is combined with the valid data of the final cluster by the operation of the subsequent processing, and recording from the position of the final cluster is executed as the recording operation REC3. Therefore, the first cluster of this recording operation is the recording operation REC2. The overwrite recording of the last cluster is performed, and the second and subsequent clusters are performed after the cluster following the overwritten cluster. Therefore, in the recording portion of the last cluster in the recording operation REC2, a cluster is formed by the valid data of the last cluster in the recording operation REC2 and the data of the head portion of the audio data DR3 input this time.
The part of the dummy data BL2 generated in the state of (c) is
It will be used effectively in this recording operation. The recording operation relating to the input data DR3 is subsequently performed as a subsequent cluster, but the last cluster has less than one valid data as input data DR3 left in the buffer memory 13 in the buffer memory 13. Then, by the processing of step F110 in FIG.
3 is added to the data amount for one cluster, and is recorded on the disk 90 as the last cluster in the recording operation REC2.

As described above, in this example, when the recording operation is performed, regarding the first cluster, the effective data of the last cluster in the reproduction time at that time and the head of the data input this time are combined. Data is formed and overwritten on the recording portion of the last cluster, so that the recording portion of the dummy data generated at that time is used for recording the valid data, that is, the recording portion of the dummy data is used. Useless parts can be eliminated. Therefore, it is possible to solve the problem that the recording portion as the dummy data increases as the recording is repeated many times and the recordable time of the disc 90 is wasted as in the related art.

As described above, the embodiment in which the present invention is applied to the mini disc recording / reproducing apparatus has been described. However, the present invention can be widely applied to various recording / reproducing systems. That is, the present invention can be applied to a system in which a recording operation is performed for each predetermined data unit.

[0057]

As described above, the present invention is applied to a recording apparatus which performs data recording on a recording medium using a data unit (for example, a cluster) having a predetermined data amount as one recording operation unit. When the operation of recording the recorded data on the recording medium is performed, the data read from the recording position of the last data unit as the data already recorded on the recording medium is executed as a process regarding the first data unit to be recorded. The data to be stored in the memory means is added to the effective data of the last data unit, and the data of the leading part of the input data written to the memory means after the start of the recording operation is added to the first data to be recorded. And performs an operation of recording the first data unit at the recording position of the last data unit on the recording medium. It has to so that. That is, although it is inevitable that the last data unit of one recording operation includes some dummy data, in the present invention, at the time of the next data recording, the head data portion of the data recording is Since the data is recorded in the dummy data portion in the last data unit of the previous recording, the recording area as the dummy data is used for recording the valid data. In this way, by recording the effective data while eliminating the recording portion as the dummy data, there is an effect that the recordable time is not wasted.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a recording and reproducing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a sector format of a disk according to the embodiment;

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of an area structure of a disk according to the embodiment;

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a recording operation according to the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a recording process according to the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of a conventional recording operation.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a conventional recording process.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Recording / reproducing apparatus, 3 optical head, 6a magnetic head, 8 encoder / decoder part, 9 servo circuit, 1
1 system controller, 12 memory controller, 13 buffer memory, 14 encoder / decoder section, 23 operation section, 24 display section, 90 disk

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A recording apparatus that performs data recording on a recording medium by using a data unit having a predetermined data amount as one recording operation unit, wherein the input data and the data read from the recording medium are A memory unit capable of storing, at the time of recording, a recording processing unit that reads data from the memory unit in the data unit, performs required processing, and records the data on the recording medium; A read processing unit that can read and supply the read data to the memory unit; and a process related to a first data unit to be recorded when an operation of recording input data on the recording medium is performed. The data is read from the recording position of the last data unit as the data recorded on the recording medium, and stored in the memory means. At the same time, the first data unit to be recorded is generated by adding, to the valid data of the last data unit, the data of the leading part of the input data written to the memory means after the start of the recording operation. A recording unit for causing the recording processing unit to execute an operation of recording the first data unit at a recording position of the last data unit on the recording medium. . 2. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the last data unit as data recorded on the recording medium is the last data unit on the reproduction time axis at that time. apparatus.