Optical disk magazine and optical disk recording/reproducing system

Abstract

The present invention balances functions of an optical recording medium conflicting format-wise, such as effective placement of recording capacity and emphasis on random access performance. An optical disk in an optical disk format for random access which records management information and an optical disk for sequential recording are both stored in an optical disk magazine for storing multiple slim optical disks in the same magazine case.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an optical disk magazine according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of an example of a slim optical disk in a recording and reproducing format having good random access performance.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an embodiment of an optical disk magazine system according to the present invention.

Claims

1. An optical disk magazine comprising, an optical disk for recording management data with a recording/reproducing format suitable for random access, andanother optical disk for recording substance data with another recording/reproducing format suitable for great data unit of the substance data.

2. An optical disk recording/reproducing system comprising, an optical disk for recording management data with a recording/reproducing format suitable for random access,another optical disk for recording substance data with another recording/reproducing format suitable for great data unit of the substance data,a management data recording/reproducing device for recording the management data onto the optical disk and reproducing the management data from the optical disk, anda substance data recording/reproducing device for recording the substance data onto the another optical disk and reproducing the substance data from the another optical disk in accordance with the management data.

3. The optical disk magazine according to claim 1, wherein the recording/reproducing format of the optical disk includes physical format aligned along a radial direction of the optical disk.

4. The optical disk magazine according to claim 1, wherein the another disk is capable of being driven at a constant linear velocity to record the substance data onto the another optical disk.

5. An optical disk magazine usable in a reproducing device, comprising, a first optical disk for recording therein an information,a second optical disk for recording therein a management data for identifying the information on the first optical disk and indicating an address of the information on the first optical disk, the first and second optical disks being discrete with respect to each other, anda magazine case for containing therein the first and second optical disks stacked in a thickness direction of each of the first and second optical disks so that the first and second optical disks aligned in the thickness direction by the magazine case are capable of being mounted onto the reproducing device all at once and being taken out of the reproducing device all at once.

6. The optical disk magazine according to claim 5, wherein the management data is capable of being recorded in the first optical disk as well as the second optical disk.

7. The optical disk magazine according to claim 6, wherein the management data is obtainable from the second optical disk before accessing the management data recorded on the first optical disk.

8. The optical disk magazine according to claim 5, wherein the second optical disk has a recording area for recording thereon the management data, and an address of the recording area on the second optical disk is defined by a radial alignment position of the recording area on the second optical disk.

9. The optical disk magazine according to claim 5, wherein the second optical disk includes an ordering information for ordering the reproducing device to drive rotationally the second optical disk at a constant angular velocity to restrain a rotational velocity of the second optical disk from being changed in accordance with a variation of reproducing head radial position at which the management data is read out from the second optical disk by a reproducing head of the reproducing device.

10. The optical disk magazine according to claim 5, wherein the management data includes an ordering data for ordering the reproducing device to drive rotationally the first optical disk at a constant linear velocity to increase a rotational velocity of the first optical disk in accordance with a decrease of a distance between a rotational axis of the first optical axis and a reproducing head radial position at which the information is read out from the first optical disk by a reproducing head of the reproducing device.

11. The optical disk magazine according to claim 5, wherein the magazine comprises a plurality of the first optical disks discrete with respect to each other, and the second optical disk is capable of recording therein the management data for identifying the information on each of the first optical disks and indicating the address of the information on each of the first optical disks.

12. The optical disk magazine according to claim 5, wherein the first optical disk includes a plurality of files of the information, and the management data for identifying each of the files on the first optical disk and indicating the address of each of the files on the first optical disk are capable of being recorded in the second optical disk so that the management data for identifying each of the files on the first optical disk and indicating the address of each of the files on the first optical disk are obtainable from the second optical disk before accessing all of the files on the first optical disk.

13. An optical disk recording/reproducing system comprising, a first optical disk for recording therein an information,a second optical disk for recording therein a management data for identifying the information on the first optical disk and indicating an address of the information on the first optical disk, the first and second optical disks being discrete with respect to each other,a recording/reproducing device for recording the information into the first optical disk and reproducing the information from the first optical disk, and recording the management data into the second optical disk and reproducing the management data from the second optical disk, anda magazine case for containing therein the first and second optical disks stacked in a thickness direction of each of the first and second optical disks so that the first and second optical disks aligned in the thickness direction by the magazine case are capable of being mounted onto the reproducing device all at once and being taken out of the reproducing device all at once.