JP2002208256A - Information recording method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To realize recording shortened in the time for recording processing in the case a rewritable recording and reproducing medium having a large number of the sectors of a user information region is handled just once as a recordable recording and reproducing medium. SOLUTION: The management information for managing the unrecorded sector range of the information recording medium is used, by which the recording range of the recording and reproducing medium is reproduced and is recoded to the recording and reproducing medium and the time for the recording process is shortened without executing the process to check that the information is unrecorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information recording technique for recording information on an information recording medium.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an information recording / reproducing apparatus which treats a rewritable information recording medium as an information recording medium capable of recording only once, a plurality of flags are written in a written sector flag area provided in an area other than a user information area of the medium. Means for managing unrecorded sectors by recording and indicating the recorded or unrecorded state of each sector in the user information area of the information recording medium by the state of the plurality of flags is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-3368.
No. 6,009,045. The information recording / reproducing apparatus reads the information of the written sector flag area of the information recording medium when receiving the recording instruction of the user information from the host device,
After confirming from the information that all sectors in the recording instruction range are unrecorded, recording on the information recording medium is performed. Means for preventing overwriting on a recorded sector by using the above method has been used.

[0003] The method of using an information recording medium that can be recorded only once is such that when recording, the user information is continuously recorded from the head of the user information area to the end of the information recording medium that has not been recorded. Is recorded, and after the information recording medium is removed from the information recording / reproducing apparatus, there is a usage method called a Disc At Once method in which the user information is not recorded again.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The above-mentioned Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4-336 is disclosed.
In the case of using the conventional technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 8-185, for example, in the case of a rewritable optical disk (DVD-RAM) defined in International Standard ISO / IEC-16824, the number of sectors in the user information area is 2295072, If the discrimination between recorded and unrecorded of one sector is represented by 1-bit flag information, the capacity of the written sector flag area is 28 bits.
This requires a large capacity of 6,884 bytes (about 280 kilobytes). Furthermore, if the information of the written sector flag area of the information recording medium is read every time a recording instruction of the user information is received from the host device, the processing time at the time of recording is extended. To reduce this processing time,
In order to always store the information of the sector flag area which has been written in the memory of the information recording / reproducing apparatus, the memory of the information recording / reproducing apparatus requires a capacity of 280 kilobytes as described above.

An object of the present invention is to provide a small information recording medium area and a small information recording / reproducing apparatus memory area even in the case of a medium having a large number of sectors in a user information area such as the DVD-RAM medium. Is to manage the range of unrecorded sectors by using
An object of the present invention is to provide a recording method for shortening the processing time at the time of recording when used like the ce method.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a rewritable information recording medium having a user information area and a medium management area for managing the type and state of the medium, and the like. When receiving and recording user information on a medium, first read the user information area to check whether user information has already been recorded in the area, and if there is no user information, perform recording in the area. However, when the user information is present, by stopping the recording, the user information is loaded into an information recording / reproducing apparatus having a recording protection function for preventing overwriting of the user information, and when the user information is recorded on the information recording medium, The information recording / reproducing apparatus reads a flag information recording area indicating that user information provided in the medium management area has been recorded, and indicates that the user information has been recorded. If the flag is not set, after recording the information set the used flag in the flag information recording area is achieved by recording the user information in the user information area.

[0007] The present invention can be applied to a medium having a large number of sectors in the user information area, such as the medium of the DVD-RAM, but is not limited to this. That is, the area of the information recording medium used when managing the range of the unrecorded sector (unrecorded area) of the user information area (or recordable area) of the information recording medium, or
An object of the present invention is to provide a technique for reducing a memory area of an information recording / reproducing apparatus.

[0008] Alternatively, by reducing the area of the information recording medium used for managing the range of the unrecorded sector of the user information area of the information recording medium or the memory area of the information recording / reproducing apparatus, the recording is reduced. Processing time can be reduced.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings by using examples. In the following description, the information recording medium will be described as a recording / reproducing medium.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of an information recording / reproducing apparatus according to the present invention. In the figure, an information recording / reproducing apparatus 1 includes an interface controller 2 for controlling transmission and reception of signals to and from a higher-level device 9 such as a host computer, and a high-speed IC memory for storing recording and reproducing information such as user information. Buffer memory 3 and host device 9
A microprocessor 4 for operating the apparatus in a predetermined procedure so as to realize a recording / reproducing operation in response to an instruction from the CPU, a reproducing circuit 5 for reproducing information from the recording / reproducing medium 8 and storing it in the buffer memory 3, and an information from the buffer memory 3. And a control memory 7 which is a high-speed IC memory for storing information defining a control operation by the microprocessor 4. The information recording / reproducing apparatus 1 can remove the recording / reproducing medium 8 and load another recording / reproducing medium.

FIG. 5 shows the shape of the recording / reproducing medium 8 used in the present invention. The disk-shaped recording / reproducing medium 8 has an inner periphery 40.
A spiral continuous recording track is formed from 2 (radius Ri) to the outermost circumference 401 (radius Ro). The information recording / reproducing apparatus 1 records data by moving a light spot (not shown) along the track, modulating the light intensity of the light spot, and forming portions having different reflectances on the recording track. When reproducing data, the information recording / reproducing apparatus 1 moves a light spot (not shown) along the track, detects reflected light, and reproduces data from the detected change in intensity. The area is a user information area 404 for recording user data. On the other hand, further inside the inner circumference 402, a medium management area 405 for recording information for managing the user information area 404 is provided between the innermost circumference 403 and the inner circumference 402. The data recording method and the reproducing method in the medium management area 221 are the same as those in the user information area 222. In each area, data is arranged from the inner circumference to the outer circumference. As a result, each data is linearly arranged with the innermost side as the first sector and the outermost side as the last sector in each area. Each region is expressed in such a manner and will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a control example of unrecorded sector management information. The unrecorded sector management information 210 stored in the control memory 7 of the information recording / reproducing apparatus 1 includes a first address 2 in which an address of a first sector in an unrecorded sector range is stored.
11, a final address 212 storing the address of the last sector in the unrecorded sector range. The recording / reproducing medium 8 includes a medium management area 221 for managing the type and state of the medium, and a used flag area 2 set when user information is recorded on the medium in the medium management area 221.
23, sector 224, which is a unit for recording and reproducing user information
Is provided with a user information area 222 in which the Here, the medium management area 221 corresponds to the medium area 405 in FIG.
The user information area 222 corresponds to the user information area 404 in FIG. The unrecorded sector range 231 is the user information area 2
22, the user information is stored in the user information area 222.
, It decreases accordingly. The unrecorded sector management information 210 records information of the unrecorded sector range 231.
The recording instruction range 232 is a range of the sector instructed to record the user information from the host device.

FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing a user information recording operation when an instruction to record user information on a recording / reproducing medium is issued from a host device.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a process when a recording / reproducing medium is loaded in the information recording / reproducing apparatus.

The operation of the embodiment shown in FIG.
Control example of unrecorded sector management information in FIG. 3 and FIGS. 1 and 4
This will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

The information recording / reproducing apparatus 1 described below
Are all performed under the control of the microprocessor 4. In the recording / reproducing medium 8 used in this embodiment, the user information area 222 has the same format as the standard recording / reproducing medium, but can be recorded only once in an area of the medium management area 221 which is not used in the standard recording / reproducing medium. Is recorded, and the information recording / reproducing apparatus 1
Detects this identification information to determine whether or not the medium is the object of the present invention.

When the recording / reproducing medium 8 is loaded in the information recording / reproducing apparatus 1, the information recording / reproducing apparatus 1 transmits the information in the medium management area 221 of the recording / reproducing medium 8 via the reproducing circuit 5 in step 301 in FIG. The information is stored in the buffer memory 3.
Thereafter, the process proceeds to step 302 to determine whether the used flag 223 included in the information is set to used. If the used flag 223 is not set as used, the process proceeds to step 303 and the address 222FM of the first sector of the user information area 222 is stored in the first address area 211 of the unrecorded sector management information 210 as shown in FIG. The last address area 2 of the unrecorded sector management information 210
12 is the address 2 of the last sector of the user information area 222
22EM, the unrecorded sector management information 21
0 is set in the unrecorded sector range 231-1B where the entire user information area 222 is an unrecorded sector. In this state, when recording of the user information is instructed by the higher-level device 9 in the recording instruction range 232-2C of FIG. 3B, the recording instruction range 232 of the higher-level device 9 is determined in step 101 of FIG.
It is determined whether the −2C sector is included in the unrecorded sector range 231-1B of the unrecorded sector management information 210. The recording instruction range 232-2C is the unrecorded sector range 231-1.
If it is included in B, the process proceeds to step 106 to determine whether the used flag 223 of the recording / reproducing medium 8 is set to used. If the used flag 223 is not set to used, the process proceeds to step 107 to record the data in the medium management area 221 of the recording / reproducing medium 8 via the recording circuit 6 and set the used flag 223 to used. . Thereafter, the process proceeds to step 104 to record the user information from the higher-level device 9 via the interface controller 2, the buffer memory 3, and the recording circuit 6 in the recording instruction range 232-2M of the user information recording area 222 of the recording / reproducing medium 8. I do. Next, the routine proceeds to step 108, where it is determined whether or not the sector of the recording instruction range 232-2C from the upper level device 9 overlaps with the unrecorded sector range 231-1B of the unrecorded sector management information 210. If there is an overlap, the process proceeds to step 109 and the start address area 2 of the unrecorded sector management information 210
11, the address of the sector next to the recording instruction range 232-2C is stored, and the recording process ends. The unrecorded sector range in this state is referred to as an unrecorded sector range 231-2B. Subsequently, when recording of user information is instructed by the higher-level device 9 in the recording instruction range 232-3C in FIG. 3C, the recording instruction range 232 from the higher-level device 9 is determined in step 101 in FIG.
It is determined whether the −3C sector is included in the unrecorded sector range 231-2B of the unrecorded sector management information 210. The recording instruction range 232-3C is equal to the unrecorded sector range 231-2.
If it is included in B, the process proceeds to step 106 to determine whether the used flag 223 of the recording / reproducing medium 8 is set to used. If the used flag 223 is set to “used”, the process proceeds to step 104 and the user information from the host device 9 is transmitted to the user of the recording / reproducing medium 8 via the interface controller 2, the buffer memory 3 and the recording circuit 6. Recording instruction range 2 of information recording area 222
Record at 32-3M. Thereafter, the process proceeds to step 108, where the sector of the recording instruction range 232-3C from the higher-level device 9 is set to the unrecorded sector range 2 of the unrecorded sector management information 210.
It is determined whether it overlaps with 31-2B. If there is an overlap, the process proceeds to step 109, where the address of the next sector of the recording instruction range 232-3C is stored in the head address 211 of the unrecorded sector management information 210, and the recording process ends. The unrecorded sector range in this state is referred to as an unrecorded sector range 231-3B.
Call. Subsequently, when the host device 9 instructs the recording of the user information in the recording instruction range 232-4C of FIG. 3D, in step 101, the sectors in the recording instruction range 232-4C from the upper device 9 are not yet recorded. It is determined whether the recording sector management information 210 is included in the unrecorded sector range 231-3B. The recording instruction range 232-4C is the unrecorded sector range 23
If it is not included in 1-3B, the process proceeds to step 102 and the recording instruction range 232-4M of the recording / reproducing medium 8 is reproduced via the reproducing circuit 5. Next, the process proceeds to step 103, where it is determined whether all reproduced sectors are unrecorded sectors. If there is a non-recorded sector, step 1
Then, the process proceeds to step 05, where the fact that a used sector exists in the recording instruction range 232-4C is reported to the upper-level device 9, and the process ends.

When the recording / reproducing medium 8 is loaded in the information recording / reproducing apparatus 1, the information recording / reproducing apparatus 1 transmits the information in the medium management area 221 of the recording / reproducing medium 8 via the reproducing circuit 5 in step 301 in FIG. To store information in the buffer memory 3. Then, the process proceeds to step 302 to determine whether the used flag 223 included in the information is set to used. If the used flag 223 has been set to used, the process proceeds to step 304 and the last sector of the user information area 222 is added to the start address area 211 and the last address area 212 of the unrecorded sector management information 210 as shown in FIG. The next address of 222EM is stored, and a parameter in which the unrecorded sector range 231 cannot exist is set in the unrecorded sector management information 210. That is, the state is set to a state in which all are recorded. At this time, if recording of user information is instructed from the higher-level device 9, the higher-level device 9
Is determined to be included in the unrecorded sector range 231-5B of the unrecorded sector management information 210. If the recording instruction range 232-5C is not included in the unrecorded sector range 231-5B, the process proceeds to step 102, where the recording instruction range 2 of the recording / reproducing medium 8 is recorded.
32-5C is reproduced via the reproduction circuit 5. Next, the process proceeds to step 103, where it is determined whether or not all reproduced sectors are unrecorded sectors. If all the sectors have not been recorded, the process proceeds to step 104 to transfer the user information from the host device 9 to the user information recording area 222 of the recording / reproducing medium 8 via the interface controller 2, the buffer memory 3 and the recording circuit 6. Recording is performed in the recording instruction range 232-5M. Thereafter, the process proceeds to step 108 to determine whether the sector in the recording instruction range 232-5C from the higher-level device 9 overlaps with the unrecorded sector range 231-5B in the unrecorded sector management information 210. If they do not overlap, the recording process ends.

As described above, according to the present invention, when recording of user information is instructed from a higher-level device to a sector in which user information of a recording / reproducing medium has already been recorded and has been used, It is possible to realize a function of preventing recording from being overwritten. Also, by using a 1-bit area on the recording / reproducing medium and an area for storing the addresses of a plurality of sectors in the control memory of the information recording / reproducing apparatus, the used flag in which no user information has been recorded at all has not been set. When the set recording / reproducing medium is loaded in the information recording / reproducing device and the upper device repeatedly instructs the recording range of the user information from the top to the last side of the user information area, the recording instruction range is completely unrecorded. Since the recording process can be performed without performing the process of reproducing the sector in the recording instruction range in order to confirm that the sector is the sector, the processing time at the time of recording can be reduced.

[0020]

According to the present invention, overwriting of user information on an information recording medium is prevented by using a small memory area of the information recording / reproducing apparatus and a small area of the recording / reproducing medium.
Alternatively, the processing time for recording can be reduced.

According to the present invention, an unrecorded sector of the user information area (or recordable area) of the information recording medium is provided.
It is also possible to reduce the area of the information recording medium used when managing the range of (unrecorded area) or the memory area of the information recording / reproducing apparatus.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a flowchart illustrating a recording operation when a higher-level device instructs recording of user information.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of an information recording / reproducing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a control example of unrecorded sector management information.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing processing when a recording / reproducing medium is loaded in the information recording / reproducing apparatus.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing the shape of a recording / reproducing medium.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Information recording / reproducing apparatus, 2 ... Interface controller, 3 ... Buffer memory, 4 ... Microprocessor, 5 ... Reproducing circuit, 6 ... Recording circuit, 7 ... Control memory, 8: recording / reproducing medium, 9: host device, 210: unrecorded sector management information, 211: head address, 21
2 ... last address, 221 ... medium management area, 222 ...
.User information area, 223... Used flag, 224.
Sectors, 231: unrecorded sector range, 232: recording instruction range

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A rewritable information recording medium having a user information area and a medium management area for managing the type and state of the medium, etc., receiving a user information recording instruction from a host device and recording user information on the medium. When reading, the user information area is first read to check whether the user information has already been recorded in the area, and if the user information does not exist, the recording is performed in the area, and if the user information exists, Is mounted in an information recording / reproducing apparatus having a recording protection function for preventing overwriting of user information by stopping recording, and provided in the medium management area when recording user information on the information recording medium. A flag information recording area indicating that the user information has been recorded is read out by the information recording / reproducing device, and a flag indicating that the user information has been recorded is not set. The, after recording the information set the used flag in the flag information recording area, the recording method characterized by recording user information in the user information area. 2. The information of the medium management area of the information recording medium is read out. If the used flag is not set, the address of the first sector and the address of the last sector of the user information area are recorded as unrecorded sector management information. It is stored in the memory of the information recording / reproducing apparatus as the start address and the end address of the sector range, and if the used flag is set, the start address and the end address of the unrecorded sector range are next to the last sector of the user information area. If a recording instruction range overlaps with the unrecorded sector range when a recording instruction of user information is received from a higher-level device, the head address of the unrecorded sector management information is The address of the next sector of the recording instruction range is set, and the user information is recorded on the information recording medium. 2. The user information is recorded on an information recording medium without reading out a recording instruction range if the recorded information is within an unrecorded sector range of the unrecorded sector management information on the information recording / reproducing apparatus. Recording method of information recording / reproducing device.