Dynamic information storage or retrieval – Information location or remote operator actuated control – Selective addressing of storage medium
Patent
1997-12-18
2000-01-11
Dinh, Tan
Dynamic information storage or retrieval
Information location or remote operator actuated control
Selective addressing of storage medium
G11B 1722
Patent
active
060143517
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a CD replay device that reads data that are recorded on the surface of a compact disk (CD), and a method for controlling such a device. More particularly, the present invention relates to a CD replay device that can be connected to a portable information processing apparatus, such as a notebook computer, and to a method for controlling such a device. The present invention also relates to a CD replay device that is incorporated in a notebook computer and that can easily play a music CD without interrupting an application that is being executed by a computer and to a method for controlling such a CD replay device.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Compact, light personal computers (also called "portable computers" or "notebook computers") built from designs that take portability considerations into account are in wide use today. Also, as compact auxiliary storage devices have been produced, certain notebook computers are now available that can incorporate a CD-ROM drive (CD replay device) in addition to a hard disk drive (HDD) and a floppy disk drive (FDD). As an example, the ThinkPad 755CD (an IBM Corp. trademark), a notebook computer that is sold by IBM Japan Ltd. incorporates a CD-ROM drive.
FIG. 1 shows an outline illustration of a notebook computer 1. The notebook computer 1 in FIG. 1 is so designed that a lid 5, which has an internally mounted liquid crystal display panel (LCD) 4, is rotatably hinged with a main body 3, almost at the rear edge of the main body 3. In the main body 3, which has a keyboard 2, are a CPU, a main memory, a ROM, peripheral controllers, and a system board on which is a bus by which these components (none of them shown) are connected. A battery pack (not show:n), an HDD (not shown), and a CD-ROM drive 50 are incorporated in the lower space of the main body 3 beneath the keyboard 2. A disk tray for the CD-ROM drive 50 is slideably mounted under the main body 3 to facilitate the exchange of disks. On the front face of the disk tray 51, an ejection (Eject) button 6 is provided to control the ejection of the tray. At its rear, the CD-ROM drive 50 is attachably connected to the bus on the system board (not shown) and can be removed and replaced by another peripheral device, such as an FDD.
The recording on a CD, i.e., a compact disk (hereafter also referred to simply as a "disk"), is performed by forming pits (which have raised and depressed shapes that differ in reflectivity) that correspond to digital data on one face of a disk, which is formed of a transparent resin, and by overlaying an extremely thin metal film of, for example, aluminum and a further hard protective film. The CD-ROM drive (CD replay device) focuses a laser beam on a rotating disk, and employs the changes in the intensity of reflected light to read data. Since a great amount of data can be recorded on a CD at high density, a CD is employed for the recording not only of computer data but also of audio data, image data and various other data.
The physical and logical specifications for a CD were determined by a group of which Sony Corporation and Philips Ltd. were the central figures, and are described in a "Reads Book," a "Yellow Book,". and a "Green Book," to use the common titles.
A CD is so designed that data are recorded spirally from the center of the disk surface to the outside and in the same density. The physical format is classified roughly into three areas: from the center of the disk face, a lead-in area, a program area, and a lead-out area. The lead-in and the lead-out areas are employed for recording attribute information for a disk and various control information concerning, for example, start positions for the individual tracks.
The program area is employed for recording the substantial user data, such as computer data and audio data, and is constituted by a single or a plurality of tracks. A track can be divided into frames that are 24 bytes long. The length of a track is not constant and varies depending on the length of the user data that are
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Iwata Shuichi
Kinoshita Hidenori
Dinh Tan
International Business Machines - Corporation
Lieberstein Eugene
Meller Michael N.
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