1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a technology for recording information onto an information recording medium such as an optical disc.
2. Related Art
In recent years, attention has been paid to an optical disc such as a DVD-RAM as a large capacity information recording medium, and the optical disc has been developed and merchandised for an external memory of a computer and for picture and voice recording. In general, the optical disc is provided with a spiral or concentric track on a disc surface and laser beams are irradiated along the track, thereby recording and reproducing information. Moreover, the track is further divided into a plurality of sectors which become the minimum unit for recording and reproducing information data.
As a method for recording information onto the optical disc, there has generally been known a light modulation recording method for modulating the intensity of a laser beam irradiated on the track onto which data are to be recorded according to the data to be recorded. Typically, there have been known recording methods applicable to an optical disc material over a wide range, for example, a phase change type optical disc, an organic pigment type optical disc, a magneto-optical disc and the like.
Moreover, a pulse width modulation method (which will be hereinafter referred to as a “PWM method”) has been known as a method for recording data onto an optical disc at a high density. The PWM method serves to perform modulation such that the edges of front and rear edges of a recording mark correspond to “1” of a digital signal, and can assign more bits into the recording mark having the same length as compared with a pulse position modulation method for performing modulation such that the position of the recording mark corresponds to “1” of the digital signal. Therefore, the PWM method is suitable for an enhancement in the density.
In the PWM method, the width of the recording mark has information. Therefore, it is necessary to homogeneously form the recording mark on the front and rear edges without distortion. However, in the case where a long mark is to be particularly recorded by the heat regenerating effects of a recording film by means of the phase change type optical disc or the like, the width of the recording mark in the radial direction is gradually increased toward a latter half portion. In other words, there has been a problem in that the recording mark is distorted like a teardrop. In order to solve the problem, there has been proposed a recording method for forming one recording mark by the irradiation of a plurality of short pulse chain (which has been disclosed Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 3-185628, for example).
Moreover, there has also been proposed a method for changing and recording pulse positions corresponding to a recording leading edge portion and a recording mark terminating portion in a recording pulse chain are changed and recorded for each mark length/space length of data to be recorded, thereby compensating for a peak shift by a thermal interference between marks and a frequency characteristic obtained during reproduction (which has been disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 7-129959, for example).
The operation for forming the recording mark of good quality by changing the position of the recording pulse as described above is generally referred to as “recording compensation”.
In the case where the position of the recording pulse is to be changed for the recording compensation, it is necessary to change the edge position of the recording pulse in a time unit which is much shorter than one channel bit of the record data. Therefore, it is hard to generate the recording pulse by a synchronous circuit using a clock signal having a one-channel bit cycle. Therefore, there has generally been taken such a structure that the position of the recording pulse is changed by signal delay means capable of controlling a delay amount (which has been disclosed in the Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 7-129959, for example).
In the signal delay means, however, the delay amount is generally changed readily for a change in a source voltage, a temperature or the like. In the case where the change in the delay amount which is obtained by a fluctuation in the source voltage, a fluctuation in the temperature or the like is comparatively small, the quality of the record data is not affected. However, in the case where the change in the delay amount is comparatively great, the position of the recording pulse is shifted from a proper position. Therefore, the recording mark cannot be formed correctly so that recording and reproducing characteristics are deteriorated.
In a conventional optical disc recording device, a delay amount for a specific mark length/space length has been fixedly set and there has no means for correcting the positional shift of the recording pulse which is caused by a fluctuation in a source voltage, a temperature or the like.
The conventional optical disc recording device has had such a structure that separate signal delay means is provided for each pulse portion to individually perform control when a plurality of pulse portions in the recording pulse are to be changed in different delay amounts. For this reason, separate signal delay means are required corresponding to the number of the pulse portions to be changed independently. Consequently, a circuit scale tends to be increased. Furthermore, as the position variable range of the pulse portion is more increased, a delay length to be required for individual signal delay means is more increased so that the circuit scale is more enlarged.
In consideration of the above-mentioned problems, it is an object of the present invention to provide an information recording device and an information recording method which comprises means for eliminating the drawbacks and attain the following objects.
(Object 1) To perform recording with high precision even if an environment such as a fluctuation in a source voltage, a fluctuation in a temperature or the like in a device for recording information on an optical disc is changed.
(Object 2) To implement the position control of a recording pulse with high precision within a wide range in a small circuit scale.
In order to attain the above-mentioned (Object 1), the present invention provides an information recording device for recording data onto an optical disc by irradiating laser beam having at least two kinds of power values which are modulated according to data to be recorded.
the present invention provides an information recording device for recording data onto an optical disc by irradiating laser beam having at least two kinds of power values which are modulated according to data to be recorded.
The device comprises a recording pulse generator for generating a recording pulse signal by modulating the data to be recorded and correcting a predetermined edge position of the recording pulse signal by delaying the edge position in a delay section incorporated in the recording pulse generator to output the corrected recording pulse signal, a laser driver for driving a laser while switching a power value according to the recording pulse signal, a delay amount measuring section for measuring a delay amount in the delay section, and a recording pulse position correcting section for correcting the predetermined edge position of the recording pulse based on a result of the measurement of the delay amount in the delay amount measuring section.
The laser driver may comprise a plurality of current sources and a plurality of switches for independently turning on/off the supply of an output current from each of the current sources to the laser. The recording pulse generator may output a plurality of recording pulses to the laser driver to control the turning on/off operation of the switches according to the recording pulses.
The recording pulse generator may include a pulse timing generator for generating a reference pulse signal by modulating the data to be recorded, and a delay amount variable delay section for receiving the reference pulse signal to output a delay pulse capable of changing the delay amount externally.
The delay section of the recording pulse generator may have a plurality of inverter elements having each input and output connected in series and selectors for selecting the output of each of the inverter elements. The recording pulse position correcting section may control selection operation of each selector.
The delay section of the recording pulse generator may have a plurality of buffer elements having each input and output connected in series and selectors for selecting the output of each of the buffer elements. The recording pulse position correcting section may control selection operation of each selector.
The delay section of the recording pulse generator may comprise a voltage-controlled delay element, and the recording pulse position correcting section may control the control voltage of the voltage-controlled delay element to correct the predetermined edge position of the recording pulse.
The delay amount measuring section may measure the delay amount between the input and output of the delay section of the recording pulse generator by using a delay measuring clock signal.
The delay amount measuring section may measure a difference in a delay between two kinds of different outputs of the delay amount of the delay sections provided in the recording pulse generator by using a delay measuring clock signal.
The recording pulse position correcting section may calculate a delay setting value with which the delay amount between the input and output of the delay section in the recording pulse generator is a time of about one channel bit, based on the result of the measurement of the delay amount from the delay amount measuring section, and may correct the predetermined edge position of the recording pulse based on the delay setting value.
The recording pulse position correcting section may calculate a delay set value with which the delay difference between two kinds of outputs having different delay amounts of the delay section in the recording pulse generator is a time of about one channel bit, based on the result of the measurement of the delay amount from the delay amount measuring section, and corrects the predetermined edge position of the recording pulse based on the delay set value.
The recording pulse position correcting section may correct the predetermined edge position of the recording pulse generated by the recording pulse generator to a position which is varied depending on the bit length of a recording mark, a last space length or a last space length.
A method according to the invention is a method for recording data on an optical disc while controlling a laser power by using a recording pulse generated by the recording pulse generator. The method comprises the steps of correcting the edge position of a recording pulse while the data are not recorded, and recording data by using a recording pulse of which edge position is corrected.
An another method according to the invention is a method for recording data on an optical disc while controlling a laser power by using a recording pulse generated by the recording pulse generator. The method comprises the steps of recording data, verifying the recorded data, deciding whether or not an edge position of a recording pulse is to be corrected based on an error status of the recorded data with reference to the result of the verification, and correcting the edge position of the recording pulse only when it is decided that the edge position of the recording pulse is to be corrected based on the result of the decision.
The deciding step may decide whether the edge position of the recording pulse is corrected by reference to the error status of the reproduced data in results of a plurality of verifications previously executed.
The correcting step may measure the delay amount of the delay section in the recording pulse generator, and correct the predetermined edge position of the recording pulse based on the result of the measurement of the delay amount.
The correcting step may include the steps of setting a selection signal value for determining the delay amount of the delay section of the recording pulse generator, reading the result of the measurement of the delay amount for the set selection signal value, calculating by using the result of the measurement of the delay amount, a selection signal value corresponding to a delay amount Tw which is a time equal to one cycle of a clock to be used for the recording pulse generator, and converting a time table related to the edge position of a given recording pulse into a set value table of the selection signal value based on the obtained selection signal value.
The time Tw may be a time corresponding to one channel bit of the record data.
The time table may preferably include time information related to variable position of each edge of the recording pulse. Furthermore, the time table may have individual time information for each mark length of data to be recorded, individual information for each combination of the mark length of the data to be recorded and a last space length, or individual time information for each combination of the mark length of the data to be recorded and a next space length.
The correcting step, in the recording pulse generator including a delay section having a plurality of taps of delay elements, may measure a delay amount for each delay element group including a predetermined number of taps of delay elements, and control the output of the delay section to determine the edge position of the given recording pulse based on the measured delay amount for each delay section group.
The correcting step, in the recording pulse generator including a delay section having a plurality of taps of delay elements, may measure a delay amount for each delay element group comprising delay sections in a predetermined number of taps, calculate a delay profile of the whole delay section based on the measured delay amount for each delay element group, and control the output of the delay section for determining the edge position of the given recording pulse based on the calculated delay profile. The delay profile to be calculated may be a function represented by the same number of polygonal lines as the number of the delay element groups. The correcting step may detect a region where the delay time of the delay section is almost coincident with one cycle of a clock signal, by using the clock signal having a cycle which is equal to or less than a half of the total delay time of the delay section of the recording pulse generator, control the output of the delay section based on the result of the detection, and determine the edge position of the given recording pulse.
In order to attain the above-mentioned (Object 2),
a method according to the invention is a method for forming each mark by irradiating power-controlled laser beams on an optical disc according to a recording pulse made of a plurality of pulse chain and for recording data with high precision by suitably controlling a predetermined edge position of the recording pulse. The method comprises the steps of generating a delay clock which is obtained by delaying a recording clock having a Tw/n cycle (Tw is one channel bit of the record data and n is a natural number) used for modulation of record data by a suitably controlled delay amount, and determining the predetermined edge position of the recording pulse by a timing of the delay clock.
An another method according to the invention comprises the steps of generating a delay clock which is obtained by delaying a recording clock having a Tw/n cycle (Tw is one channel bit of the record data and n is a natural number) used for modulation of record data by a suitably controlled delay amount and a reference axis window signal which is pulse-shaped signal, the reference axis window signal having a time width of at least Tw/n synchronized with a rising edge of the recording clock or the falling edge, and having a variable start position by a time unit of Tw/2n, and determining a predetermined edge position of a recording pulse by timings of the delay clock and the reference axis window signal.
When it is necessary to suitably control the predetermined edge position of the recording pulse within a time range of at least d×Tw/2n (d and n are a natural number), the reference axis window signal may be controlled in (d+1) kinds of timings with a time unit of Tw/2n.
A further method according to the invention is a method for recording data on an optical disc, comprising the-steps of forming one mark by irradiating a laser beam, the laser beam being power-controlled according to a recording pulse obtained by synthesizing at least one of a first pulse, a multi-pulse chain which is a repetitive waveform having a Tw cycle and a last pulse, and suitably controlling at least one of a leading edge position of the first pulse and a trailing edge position of the last pulse, thereby recording data with high precision, the leading edge position of the first pulse being defined based on a relative relationship between the leading edge position and a rising phase of the multi-pulse chain, the trailing edge position of the last pulse being defined based on a relative relationship between the trailing edge position and a rising phase of the multi-pulse chain. The method comprises the steps of a) generating a first pulse reference clock having a Tw/n cycle, a last pulse reference clock having a Tw/n cycle, a first pulse reference axis window signal and a last pulse reference axis window signal, and b) determining a leading edge position of the first pulse by timings of the first pulse reference clock and the first pulse reference axis window signal, and determining a trailing edge position of the last pulse by timings of the last pulse reference clock and the last pulse reference axis window signal. The first pulse reference clock is obtained by delay-control in a relative time having at least a range of ±Tw/4n (n is natural number) for the rising phase of the multi-pulse chain or a phase with delay by about 180 degrees from the rising phase. The last pulse reference clock is delay-controlled within a time range of ±Tw/4n for the rising phase of the multi-pulse chain or the phase with delay by about 180 degrees from the rising phase. The first pulse reference axis window signal synchronizing with the rising phase of the multi-pulse chain or the phase with delay by about 180 degrees from the rising phase, is a pulse-shaped signal having at least one cycle width of the first pulse reference clock, and has a start position variable by a time unit of Tw/2n. The last pulse reference axis window signal synchronizing with the rising phase of the multi-pulse chain or the phase with delay by about 180 degrees from the rising phase, is a pulse-shaped signal having at least one cycle width of the last pulse reference clock, and has a start position variable by a time unit of Tw/2n.
An another device according to the invention is a device for recording data on an optical disc by irradiating laser beams obtained by switching a power value in response to a recording pulse derived by modulated data to be recorded. The device comprises a recording clock generator for generating a recording clock having a Tw/n cycle, a clock delay section for generating m (m is a natural number) kinds of delay clocks having different delay amounts by delaying the recording clock, a pulse reference signal generator for generating m kinds of pulse reference signals each having at least one cycle width or more of the recording clock, by using the record data and the recording clock, a pulse timing signal generator for generating m kinds of pulse timing signals by associating any one of the m kinds of delay clocks with any one of the m kinds of pulse reference signals, a delay amount controller for controlling the delay amount of the m kinds of delay clocks, and a recording pulse synthesizing section for synthesizing the m kinds of pulse timing signals to obtain recording pulses, whereby m of predetermined edge positions in the recording pulse are made variable.
An another device according to the invention is a device for recording data on an optical disc by irradiating laser beams obtained by switching a power value in response to a recording pulse derived by modulated data to be recorded. The device comprises a recording clock generator for generating a recording clock having a Tw/n cycle (Tw is one channel bit of the data to be recorded, n is a natural number), a clock delay section for generating m (m is a natural number) kinds of delay clocks having different delay amounts by delaying the recording clock, a pulse reference signal generator for generating m kinds of pulse reference signals each having at least one cycle width or more of the recording clock, by using the record data and the recording clock, the pulse reference signal being a pulse shaped signal and capable of changing the start position by a time unit of Tw/2n, a pulse timing signal generator for generating m kinds of pulse timing signals by associating any one of the m kinds of delay clocks with any one of the m kinds of pulse reference signals, a delay amount controller for controlling the delay amount of the m kinds of delay clocks and a timing of the m kinds of pulse reference signals, and a recording pulse synthesizing section for synthesizing the m kinds of pulse timing signals to obtain recording pulses, whereby m of predetermined edge positions in the recording pulse are made variable.
The pulse timing signal generator may comprise m D flip-flops. The m kinds of delay clocks may be connected to clock input terminals of the m D flip-flops respectively, the m kinds of pulse reference signals may be connected to D input terminals of the D flip-flops respectively. Thereby m kinds of pulse timing signals could be retrieved from Q output terminals of the m D flip-flops.
The device may further comprises a delay amount measuring section for measuring the delay amount of the clock delay section, whereby the delay amount controller could control the delay amounts of the m kinds of delay clocks based on the result of the measurement of the delay amount which is obtained by the delay amount measuring section.
An another method according to the invention is a method for recording data on an optical disc while controlling a laser power by using a recording pulse modulated according to record data. The method comprises the steps of detecting a temperature of a device for recording data on the optical disc, deciding a change in the detected temperature, correcting an edge position of a recording pulse only when it is decided that the change in the temperature is equal to or more than predetermined value based on the decision of the change in the temperature and recording data by using the recording pulse having a corrected edge position. The edge position can be corrected based on the supply voltage of the device instead of the temperature of the device.
A preferred embodiment of an optical disc device for recording information on an optical disc according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
<Structure of Optical Disc Device>
A servo controller 105 performs the control of the rotation of the disc motor 102, the control for moving the optical head 103 in the radial direction of the optical disc 101, focus control for focusing the optical spot on the recording face and tracking control for tracking the optical spot on the center of a track. A focus error signal (an electric signal indicating the shift of the optical spot from the recording face of the optical disc 101 in an almost vertical direction to the recording face) and a tracking error signal (an electric signal indicating the shift of the optical spot from a predetermined track on the recording face of the optical disc 101) in the reproduction signals which are outputs of the amplifier 104 are used for the focus control and the tracking control.
A reproducing signal processor 106 fetches a signal component corresponding to data recorded on the optical disc 101 from the regenerative signal which is the output of the amplifier 104, digitizes the fetched signal, and generates a read clock and read data synchronous with the read clock from the digitized data and a reference clock by means of a built-in PLL (Phase Locked Loop).
A laser driver 108 serves to generate a laser driving signal such that the semiconductor laser provided in the optical disc 103 emits light with a reproducing power during the reproduction of an address and data and a recording power during recording.
A format encoder/decoder 107 serves to reproduce address information recorded on the optical disc 101 based on the read clock and the read data which are output from the reproducing signal processor 106, and to generate and supply each timing signal required for recording and reproduction in a timing synchronous with the sector of the optical disc 101 on the basis of a reproduced address position. For example, data can be recorded and reproduced in a correct timing by outputting a timing signal such as a read gate required for the digitizing addresses or data and PLL processes to the reproducing signal processor 106 and outputting, to the laser driver 108, a timing signal such as write gate for permitting the light emission having a laser power for data recording.
Moreover, during the recording, the format encoder/decoder 107 adds redundant data such as an error correction code to user data supplied from the outside of the device through a host interface 109, further processes a bit sequence modulated according to a predetermined format by a built-in recording pulse generator 111 to make a recording pulse signal and outputs the recording pulse signal to the laser driver 108. During the reproduction, the format encoder/decoder 107 performs the demodulation and error correcting processes of the address information and data recorded on the optical disc 101 based on the read clock and the read data which are output from the reproducing signal processor 106, and transmits the corrected data to the outside of the device through the host interface 109.
Furthermore, a recording pulse position correction section 112 and a delay amount measuring section 113 are provided in the format encoder/decoder 107. The recording pulse position correction section 112 serves to set the position of the recording pulse signal generated by the recording pulse generator 111 and to make the specific edge position of the recording pulse signal variable. The delay amount measuring section 113 serves to measure the delay amount of a pulse generated by the recording pulse generator 111. The specific operations of the delay amount measurement and the recording pulse position correction will be described later.
A system controller 110 interprets a command (an instruction) supplied from the outside of the device through the hose interface 109, and controls the operation of the whole device, that is, each component of the device such as the servo controller 105, the reproducing signal processor 106, the format encoder/decoder 107, the laser driver 108, the host interface 109 and the like such that data are recorded and reproduced on the predetermined section of the optical disc 101.
The laser driver 108 comprises a current value controller 204, four current sources 203a, 203b, 203c and 203d and three switches 202a, 202b and 202c. The current value controller 204 controls respective output current values of the four current sources 203a, 203b, 203c and 203d on receipt of the power setting 205 from the system controller 110. The switch 202a turns on/off the supply of the output current of the current source 203a to the semiconductor laser 201 in response to the recording pulse 206a supplied from the recording pulse generator 111.
Similarly, the switch 202b turns on/off the supply of the output current of the current source 203b to the semiconductor laser 201 in response to the recording pulse 206b. In the same way, the switch 202c turns on/off the supply of the output current of the current source 203c to the semiconductor laser 201 in response to the recording pulse 206c. The current source 203d is directly connected to the anode side of the semiconductor laser 201 provided in the optical head 103, and the output current of the current source 203d is always supplied as a base current to the semiconductor laser 201.
Each of the switches 202a, 202b and 202c is connected in parallel on the anode side of the semiconductor laser 201. Consequently, an output current 207 flowing to the semiconductor laser 201 is the total of the output currents of the current sources 203a, 203b and 203c which are supplied through the switches 202a, 202b and 202c and the output current of the current source 203d. Thus, it is apparent that the power of the laser beam, and furthermore, the power of an optical spot collected on the optical disc are controlled according to a current value to be sent to the semiconductor laser 201.
In
A light emitting waveform for recording one mark (6T mark in the present example) is divided into a plurality of pulse portions which will be sequentially referred to as a first pulse portion, a multi-pulse portion, a last pulse portion and a cooling pulse portion on a time basis. For a recording method for changing a recording film by heat that is applied to a phase change optical disc, it has been known that a method for forming one recording mark by a plurality of pulse portions in time series as in the present embodiment is effective. For example, the multi-pulse portion intermittently gives a high power and a low power, thereby preventing the shape of the mark from having a teardrop shape in the case where a comparatively long mark is to be recorded as described in the prior art. Moreover, the cooling pulse portion serves to interrupt the influence of the heat to a next mark to be recorded.
On the other hand, the longitudinal direction of the light emitting waveform, that is, an amplitude indicates the light emitting power of a laser in
<Operation of Laser Driver>
Next, description will given to the relationship between the four kinds of powers and the operation of the laser driver 108 described with reference to
First of all, the bias power 3 can be implemented by turning off all the switches 202a, 202b and 202c, that is, by setting all the recording pulses 206a, 206b and 206c to the L (LOW) level in the example of
The bias power 2 can be implemented by turning on only the switch 202a, turning off the switches 202b and 202c, that is, by setting the recording pulse 206a to the H (HIGH) level and setting the recording pulses 206b and 206c to the L level. At this time, the sum of the output current of the current source 203a and the output current of the current source 203d is supplied to the semiconductor laser 201 so that the semiconductor laser 201 emits light with a power equivalent to an amplitude (Pa+Pd).
The bias power 1 can be implemented by turning on the switches 202a and 202b, turning off the switch 202c, that is, by setting the recording pulses 206a and 206b to the H level and setting the recording pulse 206c to the L level. At this time, the sum of the output currents of the current sources 203a, 203b and 203d is supplied to the semiconductor laser 201 so that the semiconductor laser 201 emits light with a power equivalent to an amplitude (Pa+Pb+Pd). The peak power can be implemented by turning on all the switches 202a, 202b and 202c, that is, by setting all the recording pulses 206a, 206b and 206c to the H level. At this time, the sum of the output currents of all the four current sources 203a, 203b, 203c and 203d is supplied to the semiconductor laser 201 so that the semiconductor laser 201 emits light with a power equivalent to an amplitude (Pa+Pb+Pc+Pd).
The power amplitudes Pa, Pb, Pc and Pd are controlled by the power setting 205 to be performed for the current value controller 204, respectively. For example, the current value controller 204 separately holds set values related to the power amplitudes Pa, Pb, Pc and Pd, and independently controls the current of each of the current sources 203a, 203b, 203c and 203d to obtain a power amplitude corresponding to a value set by the power setting 205. By this structure, the power amplitudes Pa, Pb, Pc and Pd can be independently controlled, respectively.
Moreover, a first pulse rising position (which will be hereinafter referred to as “SFP”), a first pulse falling position (which will be hereinafter referred to as “EFP”), a multi-pulse width (which will be hereinafter referred to as “MPW”), a last pulse rising position (which will be hereinafter referred to as “SLP”), a last pulse falling position (which will be hereinafter referred to as “ELP”) and a cooling pulse rising position (which will be hereinafter referred to as “ECP”) can be independently changed in the timings of the recording pulses 206a, 206b and 206c, respectively.
While the first pulse rising position (SFP) has been described in the example of
Moreover, for a duty ratio of each pulse (which will be hereinafter referred to as “a multi-pulse”) of the multi-pulse portion, the falling position of the multi-pulse can be changed with the multi-pulse width set value MPW by synchronizing the rising timing of the multi-pulse with the rising timing of the pulse reference clock 301. For example, if a set value is determined such that the duty ratio is 50% with the multi-pulse width set value MPW=0, where the ratio of the light emitting time of the peak power to the light emitting time of the bias power 3 is 1 to 1, the width can be changed before and after for the duty ratio of 50% by setting the MPW within a predetermined integer range about 0.
Thus, the change of the position of the recording pulse or the duty ratio is generally referred to as “recording compensation” and a variation in the position of the recording pulse or the duty ratio is generally referred to as “a recording compensation amount”. It is progressing to attempt to reduce the influence of thermal interference between the recording marks and the like and to increase a recording density by the recording compensation.
<Operation of Recording Pulse Generating Section>
In
The first pulse reference timing 411a is a pulse signal having the H level for one cycle with a clock 410 from the rising edge of the modulated data 208 as shown in
The multi-pulse reference timing 412a is obtained by exactly outputting third and fourth clock waveforms with the clock 410 counted from the rising edge of the modulated data 208, and is kept at the L level in other portions. The foregoing corresponds to the 6T mark. More generally, the multi-pulse reference timing 412a for an mT mark (m represents an integer of 3 to 11) is obtained by exactly outputting clock waveforms for (m−4) cycles from the third waveform with the clock 410 counted from the rising edge of the modulated data 208 and is kept at the L level in other portions. In the case of m=3, 4, that is, a 3T mark or a 4T mark, the multi-pulse reference timing 412a is kept at the L level.
The last pulse reference timing 413a is a pulse signal having the H level for one cycle from the falling position of the clock 410 which is obtained by going back from the falling edge of the modulated data 208 by 2.5 cycles as shown in
The cooling pulse reference timing 414a is a pulse signal having the H level for one cycle from the falling position of the clock 410 which is obtained by going back from the falling edge of the modulated data 208 by 1.5 cycles as shown in
The pulses 411a, 412a, 413a and 414a generated by the pulse timing generating portion 401 are input to corresponding pulse delay sections 402, 403, 404 and 405, respectively. Moreover, SFP and EFP which are set by a recording pulse position correction section 112 are given to the first pulse delay section 402. Similarly, MPW is given to the multi-pulse delay section 403, SLP and ELP are given to the last pulse delay section 404 and ECP is given to the cooling pulse delay section 405.
The first pulse delay section 402 outputs a first pulse leading edge reference signal 411b and a first pulse trailing edge reference signal 411c which are obtained by delaying a first pulse reference timing 411a by a predetermined time based on the SFP and the EFP set by the recording pulse position correction section 112. The first pulse leading edge reference signal 411b and the first pulse trailing edge reference signal 411c are signals for determining the leading and trailing edges of the first pulse portion and are input to a first logic device 406a. The first logic device 406a performs AND operation between the above-mentioned two inputs when a set value SFP is greater then a set value EFP, and performs OR operation between the above-mentioned two inputs when the set value SFP is smaller than the set value EFP. Thus, the result of AND or OR operation is output as a first pulse signal 415.
The multi-pulse delay section 403 outputs the multi-pulse trailing edge reference signal 412c obtained by delaying the multi-pulse reference timing 412a by a predetermined time based on the value of MPW which is set by the recording pulse position correction section 112. When the set value of MPW is 0 or a positive value, that is, the duty ratio in the multi-pulse portion is 50% or more, the falling edge of the multi-pulse trailing edge reference signal 412c determines the trailing edge of the multi-pulse portion. Moreover, when the set value of MPW is a negative value, that is, the duty ratio of the multi-pulse portion is less than 50%, the rising edge of the multi-pulse trailing edge reference signal 412c determines the trailing edge of the multi-pulse portion. The multi-pulse reference timing 412a and the multi-pulse trailing edge reference signal 412c are input to a second logic device 407a. In the second logic device 407a, the above-mentioned two inputs are ORed when the set value of MPW is 0 or a positive number, while the multi-pulse reference timing 412a and the inversion of the multi-pulse trailing edge reference signal 412 are ANDed when the set value of MPW is a negative number.
The last pulse delay section 404 outputs a last pulse leading edge reference signal 413b and a last pulse trailing edge reference signal 413c which are obtained by delaying the multi-pulse reference timing 413a by a predetermined time based on the values of SLP and ELP which are set by the recording pulse position correction section 112. The last pulse leading edge reference signal 413b and the last pulse trailing edge reference signal 413c are signals for determining the leading and trailing edges of the last pulse portion, respectively, and are input to a first logic device 406b. In the first logic device 406b, the above-mentioned two inputs are ANDed when the set value of SLP is greater than the set value of ELP, and are ORed when the set value of SLP is smaller than the set value of ELP. The result of the AND and OR operations are output as a last pulse signal 417.
The cooling pulse delay section 405 outputs the cooling pulse trailing edge reference signal 414c obtained by delaying the cooling pulse reference timing 414a by a predetermined time based on the value of ECP which is set by the recording pulse position correction section 112. When the value of ECP is a positive number, the falling edge of the cooling pulse trailing edge reference signal 414c determines the trailing edge of the cooling pulse portion. Moreover, when the value of ECP is a negative number, the rising edge of the cooling pulse trailing edge reference signal 414c determines the trailing edge of the cooling pulse portion. The cooling pulse reference timing 414a and the cooling pulse trailing edge reference signal 414c are input to a second logic device 407b. In the second logic device 407b, the above-mentioned two inputs are ORed when the set value of ECP is a positive number, while the cooling pulse reference timing 414a and the inversion of the cooling pulse trailing edge reference signal 414c are ANDed when the value of ECP is a negative number.
The first pulse signal 415, the multi-pulse signal 416, the last pulse signal 417 and the cooling pulse signal 418 which are generated as described above are input to a pulse synthesizing section 408. The pulse synthesizing section 408 synthesizes and outputs three recording pulses 206a, 206b and 206c from the above-mentioned four kinds of signals.
As described above with reference to
<Specific Structure of Pulse Delay Section>
Next, an example of the structures of pulse delay sections 402 to 405 will be described by taking the first pulse delaying section 402 as an example.
In
A selecting section 2002 is connected to outputs in even-numbered taps of each inverter element 2001, selects any one of the outputs of the inverter elements 2001 in the even-numbered taps in response to a selection signal 419a corresponding to a first pulse leading position set SFP, and outputs the selected output as the first pulse leading edge reference signal 411b. Similarly, a selecting section 2003 is connected to outputs in even-numbered taps of each inverter element 2001, selects any one of the outputs of the inverter elements 2001 in the even-numbered taps in response to a selection signal 419b corresponding to a first pulse trailing position set EFP, and outputs the selected output as the first pulse railing edge reference signal 411c.
As described above, the first pulse delay section 402 can easily be constituted by combining the inverter element 2001 for sequentially delaying the first pulse reference timing 411a acting as an input pulse and the selecting sections 2002 and 2003 for selecting the output of each inverter element. This structure can similarly be applied to other delay sections used for the recording pulse generator 111 shown in
Moreover, the minimum adjusting step of each edge position of the recording pulse which is the resolution of a recording compensation amount is equivalent to a delay time passing about two inverter elements.
While the inverter element 2001 is used as the delay element in the example of
Since such a structure as to utilize the inverter element and the buffer element shown in
While the example of the internal structure of the recording pulse generator 111 has been described with reference to
<Another Specific Structure of Recording Pulse Generator>
In
A clock delay section 502 inputs a clock 510 synchronous with the modulated data 208 (one cycle is one channel bit), and outputs seven kinds of delay clocks, that is, a first pulse leading edge position reference clock 511b, a first pulse trailing edge position reference clock 512b, a multi-pulse leading edge reference clock 513b, a multi-pulse trailing edge reference clock 513c, a last pulse leading edge position reference clock 514b, a last pulse trailing edge position/cooling pulse leading edge position reference clock 515b and a cooling pulse trailing edge position reference clock 516b based on SFP, EFP, MPW, SLP, ELP and ECP set by the recording pulse position correction section 112.
The multi-pulse leading edge reference clock 513b is a clock signal which acts as the reference of all pulse edges and defines the leading edge position of the multi-pulse portion. Each of the set values of SFP, EFP, MPW, SLP, ELP and ECP is defined based on a time relationship with the multi-pulse leading edge reference clock 513b. For example, in the case of the example of the waveform in
As shown in
The first pulse trailing edge reference timing 512a is a pulse signal having the H level for one cycle from the falling edge of the multi-pulse leading edge reference clock 513b of the first wave starting from the rising edge of the modulated data 208 as shown in
The multi-pulse reference timing 513a is a gate signal having the H level for a period from the rising edge of the multi-pulse leading edge reference clock 513b of the third wave of the rising edge of the modulated data 208 to the rising edge of the multi-pulse leading edge reference clock 513b of the fifth wave. The foregoing corresponds to a 6T mark. More generally, the multi-pulse reference timing 513a for an MT mark (M is an integer from 3 to 11) is set to the H level for a (M−4) channel bit cycle at the rising edge of the multi-pulse leading edge reference clock 513b of the third wave from the rising edge of the modulated data 208. In the case of M=3, 4, that is, a 3T mark or a 4T mark, the multi-pulse reference timing 412a is kept at the L level.
Moreover, the last pulse leading edge reference timing 514a, the last pulse trailing edge/cooling pulse leading edge reference timing 515a and the cooling pulse trailing edge reference timing 516a are pulse signals having the H level for one cycle at the fourth wave rising edge, the fifth wave rising edge and the sixth wave falling edge in the multi-pulse leading edge reference clock 513b from the rising edge of the modulated data 208 as shown in
The first pulse leading edge reference timing 511a and the first pulse leading edge position reference clock 511b are connected to the D input and the clock input of a D flip-flop 503a, and the Q output of the D flip-flop 503a acts as a first pulse leading edge position signal 511c.
The first pulse leading edge reference timing 512a and the first pulse falling edge position reference clock 512b are connected to the D input and the clock input of a D flip-flop 503b, and the Q inverted output of the D flip-flop 503b acts as a first pulse trailing edge position signal 512c.
The last pulse leading edge reference timing 514a and the last pulse leading edge position reference clock 514b are connected to the D input and the clock input of a D flip-flop 503c, and the Q output of the D flip-flop 503c acts as a last pulse leading edge position signal 514c.
The last pulse trailing/cooling pulse leading edge reference timing 515a and the last pulse trailing edge position/cooling pulse leading edge reference clock 515b are connected to the D input and the clock input of a D flip-flop 503d, the Q inverted output of the D flip-flop 503d acts as a last pulse trailing edge position signal 515c and the Q output acts as a cooling pulse leading edge position signal 515d.
The cooling pulse trailing edge reference timing 516a and the cooling pulse trailing edge position reference clock 516b are connected to the D input and the clock input of a D flip-flop 503e, and the Q inverted output of the D flip-flop 503e acts as a cooling pulse trailing edge position signal 516c.
The first pulse leading edge position signal 511c and the first pulse trailing edge position signal 512c are connected to the clock input and the reset input of the D flip-flop 505a, respectively. Moreover, the D input of the D flip-flop 505a is fixed to the H level. Consequently, a first pulse signal 517 which is the Q output of the D flip-flop 505a rises to the H level at the rising edge of the first pulse leading edge position signal 511c when the first pulse trailing edge position signal 512c has the H level, and falls to the L level at the rising edge of the first pulse trailing edge position signal 512c.
The multi-pulse reference timing 513a, the multi-pulse leading edge reference clock 513b and the multi-pulse trailing edge reference clock 513c are input to a logic device 504. The logic clement 504 ANDs the OR signal of the multi-pulse leading edge reference clock 513b and the multi-pulse trailing edge reference clock 513c and the multi-pulse reference timing 513a when the MPW is a positive number, and outputs the AND as a multi-pulse signal 518. Moreover, the logic device 504 ANDs the AND signal of the multi-pulse leading edge reference clock 513b and the multi-pulse trailing edge reference clock 513c and the multi-pulse reference timing 513a when the MPW is a negative number, and outputs the result of the AND operation as a multi-pulse signal 518.
The last pulse leading edge position signal 514c and the last pulse trailing edge position signal 515c are connected to the clock input and the reset input of a D flip-flop 505b, respectively. Moreover, the D input of the D flip-flop 505b is fixed to the H level. Consequently, a last pulse signal 519 which is the Q output of the D flip-flop 505b rises to the H level at the rising edge of the last pulse leading edge position signal 514c when the last pulse trailing edge position signal 515c has the H level, or falls to the L level at the falling edge of the last pulse trailing edge position signal 515c.
The cooling pulse leading edge position signal 515d and the cooling pulse trailing edge position signal 516c are connected to the clock input and the reset input of the D flip-flop 505c, respectively. Moreover, the D input of the D flip-flop 505c is fixed to the H level. Consequently, the cooling pulse signal 520 which is the Q output of the D flip-flop 505c rises to the H level at the rising edge of the cooling pulse leading edge position signal 515d when the cooling pulse trailing edge position signal 516c has the H level, and falls to the L level at the falling edge of the cooling pulse trailing edge position signal 516c as shown in
The first pulse signal 517, the multi-pulse signal 518, the last pulse signal 519 and the cooling pulse signal 520 which are generated as described above are input to a pulse synthesizing section 506. The pulse synthesizing section 506 synthesizes and outputs three recording pulses 206a, 206b and 206c from the above-mentioned four kinds of signals.
The clock delay section 502 can be constituted by using the multi-tap connection of inverter element or buffer elements and a voltage-controlled delay element in the same manner as each pulse delay section used for the recording pulse generator 111 shown in
<Specific Structure of Clock Delay Section>
A selecting section 602 is connected to a part of or all the outputs of each inverter element 601 and selects and outputs any one of the outputs of the inverter elements 601 in response to a selection signal 519. The selecting section 602 is required for each of the kinds of clocks having different delay amounts. In the case where the selecting section 602 is provided in the recording pulse generator 111 shown in
The selection signal 519 comprises plural kinds of setting signals, that is, a selection signal 519a corresponding to the first pulse leading edge position set SFP, a selection signal 519b corresponding to the first pulse trailing edge position set EFP, a selection signal 519c for determining a multi-pulse leading edge position, and furthermore, a reference position having each edge variable range of the recording pulse, a selection signal 519d corresponding to the multi-pulse width set MPW, a selection signal 519e corresponding to the last pulse leading position set SLP, a selection signal 519f corresponding to the last pulse trailing edge position set ELP, and a selection signal 519g corresponding to the cooling pulse trailing edge position set ECP.
As described above, the clock delay section 502 can easily be constituted by combining the inverter element 601 for sequentially delaying an input clock and the selecting section 602 for selecting the output of each inverter element. Moreover, the minimum adjusting step of the recording pulse which is the resolution of a recording compensation amount is equivalent to a delay time passing about two inverter elements.
In contrast with the buffer element shown in
As described above, the recording pulse generator 111 having the internal structure shown in
For example, in the case where six edge positions are to be independently controlled as in the recording pulse shown in
It is assumed that the variable range of each edge position of the recording pulses 206a, 206b and 206c shown in
In the Table 1, Tw represents the time length of one channel bit, and particularly, a time length of one cycle of the pulse reference clock 301 in the present embodiment. The variable ranges of the first pulse rising position SFP and the first pulse falling position EFP are defined as relative position for the rising edge of the modulated data (NRZI format) 208. The last pulse rising position SLP, the last pulse falling position ELP and the cooling pulse rising position ECP are defined as relative positions for the falling edge of the modulated data 208. In this decision, it is assumed that there is no skew between the modulated data 208 and the pulse reference clock 301, that is, both edges of the rising edge of the pulse reference clock 301 and the modulated data 208 are in phase.
As in the decision of the Table 1, when the variable range of each pulse edge greatly exceeds 1Tw, the delay length of each delay portion greatly exceeds 1Tw with such a structure as to individually delay and then synthesize the pulses shown in
<Pulse Edge Control by Delay Clock>
In
The reason why the timing control of the first pulse leading edge reference axis window signal 1802 is carried out in a unit of 0.5 Tw is to keep a latch timing margin by a flip-flop or the like when performing the latch in response to the first pulse leading edge clock 1801 in an actual electric circuit. In the case where it is supposed that the first pulse leading edge reference axis window signal 1802 is latched at the rising edge of the first pulse leading edge clock 1801, it is necessary to cause a set-up time and a hold time to have a timing margin.
As shown in
In other words, the variable range of the first pulse leading edge clock 1801 is set to ±0.25 Tw for each reference axis, that is, the rising edge or falling edge of the pulse reference clock 301. Consequently, both the set-up time and the hold time of the flip-flop can be kept to have a value of 0.25 Tw or more. The value of 0.25 Tw or more is one of many examples. It is sufficient that the variable range of the clock rising edge may be determined within the range in which the margin of the latch timing can fully be kept and there is no clearance on the boundary with a variable range for an adjacent reference axis (a region where the rising edge of the first pulse leading edge clock 1801 is not provided). For example, the above-mentioned conditions can also be satisfied within a range of 0.1 Tw in a negative direction and 0.4 Tw in a positive direction for each reference axis.
By the determination of the variable range described above, the variable range of the first pulse leading edge clock 1801 is set for the four kinds of timings (A) to (D) of the first pulse leading edge reference axis window signal 1802 is shown in
Moreover, while the cycle of the pulse reference clock 301 is Tw, that is, a one-channel bit length, it may be a Tw/n cycle (n is a natural number). In the examples shown in
However, an increase in the value of n means a rise in the frequency of the pulse reference clock 301. Since the high-speed operation is correspondingly requires, the consumed power of the circuit is increased. Moreover, the setting of n to a very great value is not practical in respect of the stability of the operation of the circuit. It is necessary to select the most efficient value of n in consideration of the scale of the circuit and the clock frequency.
As described above, by using the delay control of the clock and the timing control of the reference axis window signal for performing the latch with the delayed clock at the same time, it is possible to perform positional control within a wide range of the frequency of the clock or more and to carry out formalization as described below.
With the one-channel bit cycle of the recording data represented by Tw, the delay control of pulse can be carried out within a time range of d×Tw/2n by using a delay-controlled clock signal and a timing-controlled window signal. The delay-controlled clock signal is obtained by delaying a clock signal with Tw/n cycle (n is a natural number) within at least Tw/4n. The reference axis window signal is generated to have a pulse-shaped signal with at least Tw/n time width, and a start position controlled to have (d+1) kinds of timings (d is a natural number) continuing in a time unit of Tw/2n.
<Recording Pulse Generating Section for Pulse Edge Control by Delay Clock>
A pulse timing generator 1901 generates and outputs a first pulse leading edge reference axis window signal 1911a, a first pulse trailing edge reference axis window signal 1912a, a multi-pulse reference axis window signal 1913a, a last pulse leading edge reference axis window signal 1914a, a last pulse trailing edge/cooling pulse leading edge reference axis window signal 1915a and a cooling pulse trailing edge reference axis window signal 1916a on receipt of modulated data 208 supplied from another block.
An example of the internal structure of the pulse timing generator 1901 and a process of generating each reference timing signal as an output will be described with reference to
More specifically, the first first pulse leading edge timing signal 2306a is an H (“H” represents the high level of a digital signal) pulse having a 1Tw width which rises at a position before the rising edge of the modulated data 208 by 1Tw. Moreover, the first first pulse trailing edge timing signal 2307a is an H pulse having a 1Tw width which rises in the same position as the rising edge of the modulated data 208. Furthermore, the first last pulse leading edge timing signal 2308a is an H pulse having a 1Tw width which rises at a position before the falling edge of the modulated data 208 by 3Tw. Besides, the first last pulse trailing edge timing signal 2309a is an H pulse having a 1Tw width which rises at the position before the falling edge of the modulated data 208 by 3Tw. In addition, the first cooling pulse trailing edge timing signal 2310a is an H pulse having a 1Tw width which rises in a position on this side of the falling edge of the modulated data 208 by 2Tw.
The first first pulse leading edge timing signal 2306a is further delayed by 0.5 Tw by each of three D flip-flops 2303a, 2303b and 2303c, and is changed into second, third and fourth first pulse leading edge timing signals 2306b, 2306c and 2306d, respectively. Furthermore, an SFP reference axis selecting section 2304a selects four kinds of inputs, that is, first to fourth first pulse leading edge timing signals 2306a to 2306d according to an SFP reference axis selection signal 2311a, and outputs them as a first pulse leading edge reference axis window signal 1911a.
The first first pulse trailing edge timing signal 2307a is further delayed by 0.5 Tw for each of three D flip-flops 2303d, 2303e and 2303f, and is changed into second, third and fourth first pulse trailing edge timing signals 2307b, 2307c and 2307d, respectively. Furthermore, an EFP reference axis selecting section 2304b selects three kinds of inputs, that is, second to fourth first pulse trailing edge timing signals 2307b to 2307d according to an EFP reference axis selection signal 2311b, and outputs them as a first pulse trailing edge reference axis window signal 1912a.
The first last pulse leading edge timing signal 2308a is further delayed by 0.5 Tw for each of two D flip-flops 2303g and 2303h, and is changed into second and third last pulse leading edge timing signals 2308b and 2308c, respectively. Furthermore, an SLP reference axis selecting section 2304c selects three kinds of inputs, that is, first to third last pulse leading edge timing signals 2308a to 2308c according to an SLP reference axis selection signal 2311c, and outputs them as a last pulse leading edge reference axis window signal 1913a.
The first last pulse trailing edge timing signal 2309a is further delayed by 0.5 Tw for each of four D flip-flops 2303i, 2303j, 2303k and 2303l, and is changed into second, third, fourth and fifth last pulse trailing edge timing signals 2309b, 2309c, 2309d and 2309e, respectively. Furthermore, an ELP reference axis selecting section 2304d selects four kinds of inputs, that is, second to fifth last pulse trailing edge timing signals 2309b to 2309e according to an ELP reference axis selection signal 2311d, and outputs them as a last pulse trailing edge reference axis window signal 1914a.
The first cooling pulse trailing edge timing signal 2310a is further delayed by 0.5 Tw for each of seven D flip-flops 2303m, 2303n, 2303o, 2303p, 2303q, 2303r and 2303s, and is changed into second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth seventh and eighth cooling pulse trailing edge timing signals 2310b, 2310c, 2310d, 2310e, 2310f, 2310g and 2310h, respectively. Furthermore, an ECP reference axis selecting section 2304e selects seven kinds of inputs, that is, second to eighth cooling pulse trailing edge timing signals 2310b to 231h according to an ECP reference axis selection signal 2311e, and outputs them as a cooling pulse trailing edge reference axis window signal 1915a.
In the present embodiment, the timings of the third first pulse leading edge timing signal 2306c and the first first pulse trailing edge timing signal 2307a are exactly identical. Accordingly, the output 2307a of the pulse generator 2301 and the D flip-flop are omitted and a Q output 2306d of the D flip-flop 2303c is connected to the D input of the flip-flop 2303e, thereby substituting the third and fourth first pulse leading edge timing signals 2306c and 2306d for the first and second first pulse trailing edge timing signals 2307a and 2307b, respectively. Consequently, the same functions can be satisfied and the number of the circuits can be reduced.
In the present embodiment, moreover, the timings of the first last pulse leading edge timing signal 2308a and the first last pulse trailing edge timing signal 2309e are exactly identical, and the timings of the fifth last pulse trailing edge timing signal 2309e and the third cooling pulse trailing edge timing signal 2310c are exactly identical. Accordingly, the outputs 2309a and 2310a of the pulse generator 2301 and the D flip-flops 2303l, 2303j, 2303m and 2303n are omitted. Furthermore, a Q output 2308c of the D flip-flop 2303h may be connected to the D input of the flip-flop 2303k and a Q output 2309e of the D flip-flop 2303l may be connected to the D input of the D flip-flop 2303o.
Consequently, by substituting the first, second and third last pulse leading edge timing signals 2308a, 2308b and 2308c and the fifth last pulse trailing edge timing signal 2309e for the first, second and third last pulse trailing edge timing signals 2309a, 2309b and 2309c and the third cooling pulse trailing edge timing signal 2310a respectively, the same functions can be satisfied and the number of the circuits can be reduced.
Moreover, any circuit structure capable of satisfying the same functions other than the above-mentioned circuit structures may be used. It is sufficient that a reference axis window signal may be generated in a timing corresponding to the number of the reference axes related to each pulse edge position control.
With reference to the example of the specific structure shown in
For example, in the case where six edge positions are to be suitably controlled as in the present embodiment, four kinds of pulse delay sections are required even if the delay elements on the leading and trailing edges are shared with the structure shown in
In order to support the variable range of the Table 1, moreover, the delay length of each pulse delay section shown in
<Fluctuation Compensation for Delay Amount in Delay Section>
The detailed description has been given to the example of the internal structure of the recording pulse generator 111 for generating the recording pulses 206a, 206b and 206c from the modulated data 208 which is the feature of the present invention and the internal operation thereof. Next, description will be given to a method for holding each of the edge positions of the recording pulses 206a, 206b and 206c in proper positions even if a delay amount in a delay section which is one of the devices of the internal structure of the recording pulse generator 111 fluctuates due to an external factor such as a change in a temperature, a change in a supply voltage or the like, thereby keeping the high quality of a recording signal in any situation, and an example of a specific structure thereof, which is another feature of the present invention. The object can be achieved by the following structure and method.
First of all, detailed description will be given to the influence caused by a change in a temperature and a change in a supply voltage when a clock delay section or a pulse delay section is constituted by using delay elements. Then, description will be given to a specific structure and method for compensating for the influence.
<Fluctuation in Delay Amount by Change in Temperature and Change in Supply Voltage>
A selection signal value ±N is defined as a selection signal value having a relative delay amount of about ±0.5 Tw for a delay clock corresponding to a selection signal value of 0. Tw represents one cycle of the clock 510, that is, the cycle of one channel bit. N always has a constant value as long as the delay amount of the inverter element 601 for each tap is not changed. In an actual device, however, the delay amount of the inverter element 601 for each tap fluctuates by a change in a temperature and a change in a supply voltage. Therefore, the value of N is not constant.
a–8c are graphs showing a relationship between the selection signal value of the clock delay section 502 which is indicated as an axis of abscissa and the delay time between an input and an output of the clock delay section 502 which is indicated as an axis of ordinate.
In general, a delay time between the input and the output of the inverter element is relatively shortened when an environmental temperature at which the device is put is dropped, while the delay time is relatively prolonged when the environmental temperature is raised. Generally, the delay time between the input and the output of the inverter element is relatively prolonged if a lower supply voltage is applied to the device. As shown in
As described above, the relative delay amount fluctuates for each selection signal value due to the change in the temperature and the change in the supply voltage. As a result, there is a problem in that the predetermined edge position of a recording pulse is shift from an optimum value for a recording operation of high quality. In order to solve this problem, it is proposed that a delay amount measuring section for measuring a delay difference between two signals having two kinds of delay amounts is provided and a set value related to recording compensation is updated based on the result of the measurement of the delay amount obtained from the delay amount measuring section.
<Delay Amount Measuring Section>
Signals to be input as the first input 1001 and the second input 1002 depend on the internal structure of the recording pulse generator 111. In the structure of
In
On the other hand, in the structure of
Although another output of the clock delay section 502 may be the input of the delay amount measuring section 113 also in
The fist input 1001 may be set to any of the inputs of each delay section and the output of the delay section which is selected as the input may be set to the second input 1002. In
Moreover, while the delay measuring clock 1003 can perform measurement with less resolution at a higher frequency, the magnitude of the frequency has a limit. In consideration of the stability of the operation of a circuit and the consumed power, it is not preferable that the frequency is very high. It is desirable that the delay amount measuring section 113 is constituted such that the delay difference between the first input 1001 and the second input 1002 can detect a set value of 1 Tw by using a clock signal having one-channel bit cycle (Tw) input as the delay measuring clock 1003 to the recording pulse generator 111.
More specifically, any output of the clock delay section 502 is input as the first input and another output of the clock delay section 502 is input as the second input. A first window generator 1101 generates a first window signal 1110 on receipt of the first input, and a second window generator 1102 generates a second window signal 1111 on receipt of the second input. The two window signals are ORed by an OR device 1104 and are changed into a measuring window signal 1113. A count section 1105 counts a section having the H level of the measuring window signal 1113 for the period of a measuring cycle signal 1112 determined by a count cycle determining section 1103. The first output of the clock delay section which is the same as the first input is used for the delay measuring clock. A result obtained by the counting of the counter 1105 for one cycle of the measuring cycle signal 1112 is supplied as a count output 1114 to the D input of a D flip-flop 1106. The measuring cycle signal 1112 is connected to the clock input of the D flip-flop 1106. By this structure, the result of the counting for each measuring cycle is output as the result of the measurement of the delay amount.
Although
Furthermore, description will be given to the specific operation of the device. It is possible to search a set value with which a delay amount of 1Tw between two delay signals is obtained by the delay amount measuring section 113 while changing the delay setting of the delay section provided in the recording pulse generator 111 by the recording pulse position correction section 112.
<Calibration of Setting of Recording Compensation Amount>
Next, description will be given to how to specifically set a recording compensation amount by using the set value thus searched.
As described in the prior art, there has been proposed, as a recording compensating method in an optical disc recorder, a method for determining a predetermined edge position of a recording pulse by at least one of a self mark length, a last space length and a next space length or their combination and defining a recording compensation amount by a time for the reference position of the determined edge position. Based on this method, the recording compensation amount related to the predetermined pulse edge position is defined by a time table comprising the number of the combination of each mark/space. The operation of replacing defined time table with the above-mentioned set value table and updating the set value table such that the defined time table is executed even if a temperature or a supply voltage fluctuates is defined “the calibration of a recording compensation table”. The time table has been disclosed in detail in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/352,211 and the contents thereof will be incorporated as a part of this specification by reference.
<Calibration of Recording Compensation Table>
More specifically, the first input and the second input which correspond to the number of delay taps selected are input to the delay amount measuring section 113 and the result of the measurement of the delay amount is read by the system controller 110. Then, the system controller 110 decides whether a current delay amount is about 1Tw based on the read result of the measurement of the delay amount (Step 3). When it is decided that the delay amount is less than 1Tw, the set value N is incremented to (N+1) (Step 4) and the routine returns to the Step 2. When it is decided that the delay amount is about 1Tw, the time table is converted into the set value table by using the value of the selection signal N (Step 5).
More specifically,
The value of the set value table is given by a proportional equation in which N is a constant. Therefore, when the value of N is increased by a fluctuation in a temperature, a supply voltage or the like, the absolute value of the set value is also increased. An increase in the value of N means that a delay amount for one step of the set value is smaller than a standard amount. In this case, when the absolute value of the set value is increased, a difference in a delay tap number between a set value of 0 (reference position) and a set value for determining a predetermined edge position is also increased. In other words, when the delay amount for one step of the set value is smaller than the standard amount, the number of taps is increased. Therefore, the delay amount of the predetermined edge position from the reference position is kept constant.
To the contrary, when the value of N is reduced, the absolute value of the set value is also reduced and the difference of the tap number between the predetermined edge position and the reference position (a set value of 0) is also reduced. In other words, when the delay amount for one step of the set value is larger than the standard amount, the number of taps is reduced. Consequently, the delay amount of the predetermined edge position from the reference position is kept constant.
Accordingly, by converting the set value based on the value of N and using the converted value to correct the predetermined edge position of a recording pulse in the method shown in
While each time information indicative of the predetermined edge position of the recording pulse is individually determined by the combination of a self mark length and a last space length in the time table shown in
While the method for calibrating the recording compensation table shown in
Moreover, a delay selection signal is not a discrete value but is a voltage which changes in analog for the clock delay section using the voltage-controlled delay element shown in
<Variation Correction of Components of Delay Section>
Even if the delay amount of the delay section is changed by the fluctuation in a temperature, a supply voltage or the like, the recording compensation amount could be kept constant by the above-mentioned method. By using this method, great effects can be obtained when the delay amount of the whole delay section is changed. However, there is a problem in that it is hard to obtain great effects for a variation in individual devices constituting the delay section.
The variation in the delay between the devices means a variation for a delay amount present between devices such as the inverter element 601 in the structure of the clock delay section 502 shown in
In the case where the delay section shown in
In the case where the delay time has a variation, thus, a variation is finally caused in the edge position of the recording pulse by the method described by using
Description will be given to a method for minimizing the error of the edge position of the recording pulse even if there is a variation in individual devices constituting the delay section.
First of all, the delay section is divided into a plurality of regions. As shown in
For each divided region (group), a delay time is separately measured. The measurement of the delay time is carried out by using the delay amount measuring section shown in
When the delay time for each divided region is completely measured, a selection signal value corresponding to the edge position of a predetermined recording pulse can be obtained based on the result of the measurement.
As shown in
S(+)=t÷a(+) . . . t≧0
S(−)=t÷a(−) . . . t<0
S (+) and S (−) represent selection signal values in positive and negative regions, respectively. T represents a predetermined edge position as a relative time for a reference axis a (+) and a (−) represent the gradient of the graph in the positive and negative regions, that is, a delay amount for one step. The gradient of a (−) is calculated by dividing the result of the measurement of the delay time between the points A and B by a step number of 32. In more general, the gradient of a (−) is obtained by dividing a delay time TA-B between the points A and B by a step number NA-B between the points A and B. Moreover, the gradient of a (+) is obtained by dividing a delay time TB-C between the points B and C by a step number NB-C between the points B and C.
Thus, the clock delay section is divided into two portions, a delay time is measured for each divided region, and the gradient of the graph is obtained based on the result of the measurement. As shown in
By more increasing the number of divisions of the delay section, the setting error can be more reduced. For example, the case where the delay section is divided into eight portions will be described with reference to
In an example shown in
When a delay time for each region obtained by 8-division is completely measured, a selection signal value corresponding to the edge position of a predetermined recording pulse can be obtained based on the result of the measurement. In this case, approximation can be obtained by an 8-point polygonal line, and therefore an interpolating process having higher precision can be carried out as compared with the case of the 2-division.
As described above, the delay section is divided, a delay time for each divided region is measured and the edge position of a recording pulse is controlled by the result of the measurement. Consequently, the timing of the recording pulse can be generated with higher precision when the delay section has a variation as compared with the case where the delay section is not divided.
When the number of the division of the delay section is increased, a finer interpolating process can be carried out. Therefore, the precision of the recording pulse can be further enhanced. When the number of the division is too large, a time required for the measurement of the delay time is prolonged or the interpolating process becomes complicated. Consequently, the load of the controller is increased. Moreover, when the number of the divisions is increased, a delay time to be measured becomes shortened, and therefore a high-speed delay amount measuring section is required. In the above-mentioned respects, the number of the divisions may preferably be set to a proper value.
While the method for determining portions to be divided for each predetermined step number has been employed in the present embodiment, it is not always required. The gradient of the graph may be obtained by detecting the number of steps with which a delay amount is a predetermined time.
In order to perform polygonal line interpolating approximation, in this case, a clock signal having a smaller cycle than a half of the total delay time of the delay section may be prepared to detect a region which is almost coincident with the cycle of the clock signal. By changing the selection signal value to find a selection signal value with which the delay amount is coincident with the cycle of the clock, it is possible to detect a region where at least two delay amounts are predetermined times. The gradient of the graph is obtained as a delay time of one step by dividing the cycle of the clock by a difference between the selection signal values on both edges.
In order to increase the number of the divisions, it may be preferable to use a clock signal having a sufficiently short cycle for the total delay time of the delay section. Consequently, even if the delay section has a variation, the precision of a recording pulse can be more enhanced.
As compared with a method for performing division for each fixed step number, this method has an advantage that delay measurement can be performed in response to a clock signal having a fixed cycle which does not have a very high-speed, and therefore the structure of the delay amount measuring section can be simplified. The method can be implemented by the structure described with reference to
While the above-mentioned method has been described as the example in which the gradients of the divided regions are obtained respectively to perform the polygonal line interpolating approximation, the approximating method is not restricted thereto. The present invention has a main object to individually measure a delay time for each divided region to calculate a delay profile with higher precision based on the result of the measurement. Accordingly, a delay profile calculated from the result of the measurement may be approximated by a curve or may be calculated by using the parameter of a predetermined characteristic function.
<Calibration Start Timing of Recording Compensation Table>
Next, the calibration start timing of the recording compensation table will be described. Since the calibration of the recording compensation table serves to correct the predetermined edge position of the recording pulse, it is impossible to calibrate the recording compensation table while data is being actually recorded on an optical disc. Accordingly, The calibration of the recording compensation table is to be carried out except for a period of data recording operation.
A supply voltage, a temperature or the like which is the cause of a fluctuation in the recording pulse, particularly, the temperature in the device is usually changed from moment to moment. Therefore, it is desirable that the recording compensation table is periodically calibrated in respect of the precision of the recording pulse position. Accordingly, the system controller 110 serving to control recording and reproduction in a spare time during the operation of recording data may activate the recording compensation table calibration operation for the format/encoder/decoder 107, or the format encoder/decoder 107 may independently carry out the activation.
In a drive supporting a verify function, however, it is not always necessary to perform the periodical calibration of the recording compensation table. The “verify function” means the function of reproducing the recorded data once when the data is recorded and verifying that the error rate of the data is equal to or smaller than a predetermined value. In other words, even if the edge position of the recording pulse is shifted, it is not always necessary to calibrate the recording compensation table when it is verified by the verify operation that the recorded data has no error which cannot be corrected. To the contrary, in the case where it is verified that the error rate of the recorded data is equal to or greater than a predetermined value by the verify operation or that a frequency of error is increased, it is decided that there is a possibility that the edge position of a recording pulse might be shifted. At this time, accordingly, the recording compensation table calibration may be activated.
<Process Related to Recording Pulse Correction>
Moreover, the data recording device may include a temperature sensor and/or a voltage measuring section are/is provided to detect a fluctuation in a temperature or a fluctuation in a supply voltage, and calibrates the recording compensation table only when a predetermined change or more is detected. In this case, if the data recording device previously comprises the temperature sensor or the voltage measuring section, the recording compensation table can be calibrated more efficiently without increasing a cost by utilizing the temperature sensor or the voltage measuring section.
<Process of Deciding Whether Recording Pulse Correcting Process Is Executed>
With reference to
<Advantages of The Invention>
As described above, according to the structure of the optical disc recording device in accordance with the embodiment of the present invention, the laser emitting waveform during recording can be controlled by using a recording pulse generated by the recording pulse generator. Furthermore, the predetermined edge position of the recording pulse can be corrected by the recording pulse position correcting section. Moreover, it is possible to measure the delay amount of the delay elements of the recording pulse generator by the delay amount measuring section. In other words, the predetermined edge position of the recording pulse generated by the recording pulse generator can be corrected by the recording pulse position correcting section based on the result of the measurement of the delay amount which is obtained by the delay amount measuring section.
Accordingly, even if the delay amount of the delay section is changed by a fluctuation in a supply voltage, a temperature or the like, the predetermined edge position of the recording pulse can be kept proper. Consequently, the quality of the recording data can be more enhanced than in the optical disc recording device according to the prior art.
According to the optical disc recording method in accordance with the embodiment of the present invention, the edge position of the recording pulse can be corrected for a period in which the data is not recorded and the data can be recorded in a state in which the edge position of the recording pulse has been corrected. Accordingly, the ordinary recording operation is not affected but the predetermined edge position of the recording pulse can be periodically kept proper. Thus, the quality of the record data can be more enhanced than in the optical disc recording device according to the prior art.
According to another optical disc recording method in accordance with the embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to decide whether the edge position of the recording pulse is corrected based on the result of the verify operation. Accordingly, the operation for correcting the edge position of the recording pulse is carried out if necessary. Consequently, it is possible to enhance the quality of the record data without increasing the burden of the process of correcting the edge position of the recording pulse.
According to the optical disc recording method in accordance with the embodiment of the present invention, a selection signal value with which the delay amount of the delay section of the recording pulse generator has a predetermined length is obtained, and the time table related to the edge position of the recording pulse is converted into the delay set value table of the recording pulse generator by using the obtained selection signal value. Consequently, the edge position of the recording pulse can be corrected. Accordingly, the predetermined edge position of the recording pulse can be kept proper in a simple structure and procedure. Therefore, the quality of the recording data can be more enhanced and the reliability of the device can be more improved than in the optical disc recording device according to the prior art.
As described in detail in the embodiment of the present invention, moreover, according to the optical disc recording method of the present invention, the predetermined edge position of the recording pulse can be controlled in the timing of the delay clock by generating the delay clock which is adjustably delay-controlled and is used for the modulation of the recording data. By generating a plurality of delay clock outputs, a plurality of edge positions in the recording pulse can be suitably controlled with the clock delay section having only one system. Accordingly, it is possible to reduce the scale of a circuit required for the delay means. Consequently, an optical disc recording device capable of performing the edge control of the recording pulse with high precision can be inexpensively implemented.
Furthermore, by generating a reference axis window signal which is a pulse-shaped signal having at least one cycle of a recording clock synchronous with the rising edge or falling edge of the recording clock and has a start position capable of being variably controlled in a time unit of a ½ cycle of the recording clock, the predetermined edge position of the recording pulse can be controlled in the timings of the delay clock and the reference axis window signal. Such a reference axis window signal is generated by the number of the kinds of the edges of the recording pulse which should be suitably position-controlled, and is used corresponding to the same number of delay clocks. Consequently, it is possible to suitably control the edge positions in portions corresponding to the number of combinations of the delay clock and the reference axis window signal. Accordingly, the edge position of the recording pulse within a wide range can be controlled while reducing the scale of the circuit required for the delay section. Thus, it is possible to implement an optical disc recording device capable of controlling the recording pulse position with high precision within a wide range by using an inexpensive and simple structure.
According to the optical disc recording method of the present invention, moreover, in the case where one recording mark is formed by irradiating a laser beam obtained by controlling a power according to a recording pulse formed by synthesizing at least a first pulse, a multi-pulse chain and a last pulse, at least the leading edge position of the first pulse and the trailing edge position of the last pulse are suitably controlled and the leading edge position of the first pulse and the trailing edge position of the last pulse are defined based on the relative relationship with the rising phase of the multi-pulse chain, the leading edge position of the first pulse and the trailing edge position of the last pulse can be expressed properly.
According to the optical disc recording device of the present invention, moreover, it is possible to carry out the recording compensation with higher precision by performing the variation correction of the devices constituting the delay section.
As described above, the recording pulse position can easily be controlled with high precision within a wide range by using the optical disc recording method or the optical disc recording device according to the present invention. Therefore, the optical disc recording method and the optical disc recording device according to the present invention are very useful in respect of an increase in the recording density of the optical disc.
While the present invention has been described in relation to the specific example, it is apparent to the skilled in the art that various other modifications, changes and applications can be made. Therefore, the present invention is not restricted to the disclosure but is restricted to only appended claims. It is noted that this application is based on applications Nos. 10-306760 and 11-014468 filed in Japan, the contents of which is incorporated herein by reference.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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10-306760 | Oct 1998 | JP | national |
11-014468 | Jan 1999 | JP | national |
This is a Divisional Application of U.S. application Ser. No. 09/427,544, filed Oct. 27, 1999 now U.S. Pat No. 6,721,255.
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20040165505 A1 | Aug 2004 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 09427544 | Oct 1999 | US |
Child | 10787590 | US |