Patent Application
20050030866
The present application claims priority from Japanese patent application JP2003-206641 filed on Aug. 8, 2003, the content of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical disk and a read/write device that uses it, and more particularly to an optical disk drive that has storage means installed inside or outside the drive.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, various systems using optical disk media, which are easy to mass-produce and highly reliable, are marketed. For example, typical products are a digital video disk (hereinafter abbreviated DVD-Video) that is an optical disk for videos such as movies and DVD-ROM that is used with computers for recording application software, game software, and various data. Rewritable optical recording media using optical disks, such as DVD-RAM, DVD±RW, and DVD±R, are also used for recording the backup of personal information and for DVD recorders that are substitutions for VTRs.
To read data from or write data to those optical disk media, the optical disk medium must be mounted on a reader, the optical disk must be rotated until a predetermined rotation speed for reading/writing is reached, and the optical head must be positioned at a predetermined write or read position. Therefore, it takes a long time before the write or read operation is started because the control operation must be performed to rotate a disk until a predetermined rotation speed is reached and the seek/focus/tracking operation must be performed to move the optical head to a predetermined position. Thus, even to simply read recorded contents, for example, information such as disk management information and catalog information on still image or moving image thumbnails, titles, and comment displays, from an optical disk or even to simply write such contents to an optical disk, the control operations described above must be performed before reading or writing them, requiring a long time.
Rewritable optical recording media using optical disks, such as DVD-RAM and DVD±RW, are available for writing backup of personal information to a DVD recorder or a DVD drive for a PC. However, for those optical disks used only for recording, it is also required to rotate the optical disk and, after performing a predetermined control operation, to read the catalog information from the optical disk to check the information written by the user on the optical disk. Therefore, to identify the written contents, the user must either write detailed recorded contents on the label or wait until the optical disk is rotated and a series of disk processing operations are performed so that the information stored on the optical disk can be read. The user thus finds it cumbersome to do so.
In addition, the optical disk media for optical recording described above, though almost similar in shape, have different recording capacities and recording modes. Thus, when using those media, the user must consider their uses and types. In addition, it is impractical to purchase the drives, one for each of those media, from the viewpoint of cost and installation space. To solve this problem, a drive is available that can perform the read/write operation for optical disk media of different read/write types in the same drive. This situation further makes it difficult for the user to efficiently manage optical disk recording media that are of different types and that contain different contents. Furthermore, the user who has a plurality of such optical disks finds it very cumbersome to memorize or put down the titles, the user management information, and the catalog information stored on the optical disks. If the contents of an optical disk are changed, it is almost impossible to identify what is stored on the optical disk. If it is required to insert an optical disk into the optical disk drive and perform a series of operations to check the contents, the disk drive becomes very difficult to use. Therefore, the efficient management of disk information on such a drive is vital.
An example of prior art methods for separately managing information used for information management and content confirmation from the main information is to install a semiconductor memory on an inner part of an optical disk. Laid-open publications related to this example are the following three.
However, because a semiconductor memory is installed on an optical disk in advance and data is supplied to it, the cost is increased. In addition, installing a semiconductor memory on a commercially-available optical disk is difficult because it causes a disk balancing problem.
Both read-only optical disks such as DVD-Video, DVD-Audio, and DVD-ROM and writable optical disks such as DVD-RAM, DVD±RW, and DVD±R are media to or from which information is written or read in a non-contact manner using an optical head that uses a laser beam. Therefore, subsequent to replacing an optical disk being loaded with an optical disk, the type of the replaced optical disk is first determined and then the replaced optical disk is rotated, followed by performance of a focusing operation that is required after loading the replaced disk in order to perform a servo learning processing for a precise tracking servo operation. After completing such operations, information can be read from the replaced optical disk.
After that, for a writable optical disk, learning processing for the write system is performed for writing information using an optimum power and, after this processing is terminated, information can be stored on the optical disk.
Next, the management information is read from various locations on the optical disk, the drive becomes ready, and the drive waits for an instruction from the host.
Then, in response to a request from the host, the file management information (for example, UDF) and the catalog information on still image or moving image thumbnails, titles or display of comments are read from the optical disk and, based on the information read, the host displays the information that is stored on the optical disk to the user.
Therefore, after the new optical disk is loaded, it takes at least 10 or more seconds or, in the worst case, several tens of seconds until the information stored on the new optical disk is displayed. Especially, an optical disk which typically has a heavy optical head requires time to move the head to read management information and catalog information that are dispersedly written in various location on the optical disk and, therefore, the larger the contents are recorded, the longer it takes to read the recorded contents.
It is a problem to be solved by the present invention to make it possible to quickly read the disk management information and the catalog information written in the recorded information such as games, application software, music, and movies stored on an optical disk such as DVD-Video, DVD-Audio, and DVD-ROM. It is another problem to be solved by the present invention to provide an optical disk drive that allows the user to easily identify what information has been stored on a rewritable optical recording medium using an optical disk such as DVD-RAM, DVD±RW, and DVD±R for recording the backup of personal information.
To solve the above problems, an optical disk drive according to an aspect of the present invention stores management information or catalog information written on an optical disk, as well as identification information and history information on that optical disk, on storage means other than the optical disk, for example, on large-capacity storage means. When the optical disk is inserted, the history information or the identification information on the optical disk is read. If the history information or the identification information matches the history information or the identification information that was written on the storage means at the same time the management information or the catalog information on the optical disk was written, the information on the optical disk stored on the storage means is read and the management information or the catalog information on the optical disk is sent for immediate display.
When the storage means described above is arranged on a par with the optical disk when viewed from external side such as a host, an external unit such as the host manages the management information or the catalog information stored on the optical disk and the read/write processing of the identification information and the history information on that optical disk. Although the load on the software in the external unit such as the host increases in this case, a change in the hardware can be kept to a minimum because the hardware configuration of the storage means and the optical disk remains unchanged.
Alternatively, the storage means described above is installed within the optical disk drive, and the optical disk drive manages the management information or the catalog information stored on an optical disk and the read/write processing of the identification information and the history information on the optical disk. Although there are some hardware changes in this case because the storage means is installed within the optical disk drive, the optical disk drive can display the management information or the catalog information written on the optical disk more quickly with no consideration for an external unit such as the host.
According to the present invention, when an optical disk is inserted and if the history information or the identification information stored on the optical disk matches the history information or the identification information stored on storage means, the same management information or the catalog information as one stored on the optical disk can be read from the storage means having high accessing speeds for immediate use. With the configuration, various advantages can be obtained, including that information stored on an optical disk can be displayed quickly.
Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description of the embodiments of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to
Next, with reference to
In step 1 (S1) in
In step 2 (S2), control is passed to one of the two according to whether the disk is a writable disk. In step 3 (S3), the optical disk is rotated by the spindle motor 3. In step 4 (S4), a laser beam is output, the focus operation that is required after optical disk replacement is performed, the servo learning processing is performed for the precise tracking servo operation, and focus control and tracking control required for reading optical disk address data and write data stored on the optical disk are performed. In this state, the write data and the address data stored on the optical disk can be read. After that, the write system learning processing, shown in step 5 (S5), is performed for a writable optical disk for writing data using an optimum power. After this processing, data can be recorded on the optical disk.
After that, in step 6 (S6), management information, such as DVD-RAM alternate registration information and link point information used for DVD-R and DVD-RW, which is recorded in various location within the optical disk and required in the optical disk, is read. In step 7 (S7), the optical disk drive executes a ready process in which the optical disk drive notifies to the host that the optical disk drive is ready, going into a wait state for an instruction from the host. After that, in accordance with a request from the host, the optical disk drive reads the file management information (such as UDF) and the catalog information from the optical disk. Based on the information read, the host displays information stored on the optical disk to the user.
Note that, because the optical head of the optical disk drive is particularly heavy, it takes a long time for the drive to move the head for reading the management information and the catalog information from various locations on the optical disk. This means that it takes longer time as the volume of contents written on the optical disk becomes larger. In particular, the processing in step 6 (S6) and step 9 (S9) in the figure, where the head moves frequently, is a time consuming processing.
In view of such, in the present invention the disk management information, the file management information (for example, UDF), and the catalog information, which are to be processed in step 6 (S6) and step 9 (S9), is written in advance on the hard disk which is fast in accessing time. Further, the identification information on the optical disk on which the information was written and the history information, such as a time at which information written on the optical disk is written on the optical disk, are also written on both the optical disk and the hard disk. When an optical disk having a matching identification number and history information is inserted into the optical disk drive, the optical disk drive reads the disk management information and the catalog information, not from the optical disk that uses the low-access-speed optical head, but from the high-access-speed hard disk and supplies the information on the optical disk to the host. This gives the user the information on the optical disk very speedily, thus increasing the ease of use.
In step 1 (S1) in
In step 2 (S2), control is passed to one of the two according to whether the disk is a writable disk. In step 3 (S3), the optical disk is rotated by the spindle motor 3. In step 4 (S4), a laser beam is output, the focus operation that is required after the insertion of the optical disk is performed, the servo learning processing is performed for the precise tracking servo operation, and focus control and tracking control required for reading optical disk address data and write data stored on the optical disk are performed. In this state, the write data and the address data on the optical disk can be read. Next, in step 10 (S10), the optical disk identification information and/or history information is read from the optical disk described above.
If an optical disk match occurs as a result of the processing of step 11 (S11) in which a check is made if the identification information and the history information stored on the disk match those stored on the hard disk, the optical disk drive reads the disk management information required in the optical disk drive, such as DVD-RAM alternate registration information and link point information used for DVD-R and DVD-RW, from the hard disk. If there is no matching disk, the optical disk drive reads the disk management information written in various locations within the optical disk in step 6 (S6) as in the conventional drive. After that, the optical disk drive executes ready processing in step 7 (S7), notifies to the host that the optical disk drive is ready, and waits for an instruction from the host.
Next, in response to a request from the host to read the management information (for example, UDF) and the catalog information on the files written on the optical disk, the optical disk drive reads the management information (for example, UDF) and the catalog information on the files on the optical disk from the hard disk as described above if the disk identification information and the history information match those stored on the hard disk in step 11 (S11). Based on the information, the host displays information stored on the optical disk to the user. If there is no matching information, the optical disk drive reads the file management information (for example, UDF) and the catalog information written in various locations on the optical disk as shown in step 9 (S9).
If it is found in the method described above that the disk identification information and the history information stored on the disk match those stored on the hard disk, the management information and the catalog information stored on the hard disk which has fast accessing speeds can be used as substitute for the management information and the catalog information stored on the optical disk. This makes it possible to quickly display user-requested information stored on the optical disk. After that, for a writable optical disk, the write system learning processing is performed in step 5 (S5) for writing data using an optimum power and, after this processing is terminated, data can be written on the optical disk.
Because the hard disk is controlled by the system control unit 7 in the optical disk drive in the method described above, the host can control the hard disk and the optical disk drive without distinction therebetween.
Although the system control unit 7 in the optical disk drive is used to make a host request in the above description, the present invention is not limited to this configuration. For example, the determination in step 11 (S11) in
Note that the concept is similar to that of the configuration shown in
Although the information stored on an optical disk is read only after the optical disk is inserted into the optical disk drive in the above description, the present invention is not limited to this configuration. It is also possible that the catalog information on the optical disks registered with the hard disk in advance is displayed to allow the user to select the necessary data and that the intended optical disk is identified from the disk identification number so that the information may be extracted therefrom.
Although the information stored on an optical disk is written on the hard disk in the above description, the present invention is not limited to this configuration. For example, the information may be written in a semiconductor memory such as a flash memory.
It should be further understood by those skilled in the art that although the foregoing description has been made on embodiments of the invention, the invention is not limited thereto and various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention and the scope of the appended claims.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2003-206641 | Aug 2003 | JP | national |
