Dynamic information storage or retrieval – Condition indicating – monitoring – or testing – Including radiation storage or retrieval
Reexamination Certificate
1999-01-11
2001-05-08
Huber, Paul W. (Department: 2651)
Dynamic information storage or retrieval
Condition indicating, monitoring, or testing
Including radiation storage or retrieval
C369S032010
Reexamination Certificate
active
06229777
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus to record and control information in an information recording medium having a shape like a disc and, more particularly, to an optical recording medium such as a magneto-optical recording medium for a disc camcorder or the like.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
A computer system serving as a host apparatus of a disc information recording/reproducing apparatus with a disc used as a recording medium thereof is known. With a method to record and control information in a disc employed in such a computer system, in order to record new information into a recording area on the disc in which information has already been recorded, the existing information is deleted to secure an area for recording the new information. That. is, the conventional method to record and control information does not embrace a concept to overwrite new information on existing information. In an operation to record new information, the information recording/reproducing apparatus moves a recording/reproducing head to an empty area on the disc with no information recorded therein to record the new information thereon even if the head is already on an area with information already recorded therein as long as no operation is carried out to delete the recorded information. When new information is recorded on a portion of an area with information already recorded therein, an empty area for recording the new information is created by, first of all, reading out the recorded information by a computer. Then, part of the information read out by the computer is deleted in an edit operation before recording the information including the new information again. As an alternative, the new information is recorded in a new area. Since there is no concept to overwrite new information on existing information, in order to rewrite a part of the recorded information, first of all, the recorded information is read out by the computer. Then, the part of the recorded information is replaced by the new information before again recording the information including the new information.
In addition, in the conventional method to record and control information whereby information is recorded and deleted repeatedly, empty areas available for recording new information are scattered throughout the disc. In an operation to record information onto such a disc, information is recorded into a plurality of empty areas in case the information can not be accommodated only in one empty area. As a result, the information recording/reproducing apparatus has to move the recording/reproducing head to target empty areas a number of times, lowering the recording speed. Such movement of the recording/reproducing head is needed not only during a recording operation but also during a reproducing operation as well. Thus, much like the recording speed, the reproducing speed is lowered too. Moreover, when receiving of scene information in playback of recorded information, the problem of intermittent head movement is disruptive and uncomfortable for the viewer.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide a recording medium in the shape of a disc, an information recording/reproducing apparatus and method using the disc recording medium which enables new information to be overwritten into an area on the disc recording medium with information already recorded therein to implement addition of new information and replacement of, part of the recorded information with new information so that the new information is continuously recorded along a track without carrying out. operations to delete, edit and relocate the information already recorded on the disc recording medium.
It is another object of the present invention to record and reproduce information to and from the disc recording medium without moving the recording/reproducing head mounted on the information recording/reproducing apparatus over a long distance and at a high speed in a seek operation.
According to one aspect of the present invention, 'there is provided an information recording and control method and apparatus for controlling information recorded on a disc recording medium whereby:
new information can be overwritten into a recording area on the disc recording medium with information already recorded therein;
information on the overwritten new information is cataloged in control information recorded on the same disc recording medium as the new information;
residual information, that is, part of the recorded information that is not overwritten by the new information, is treated as new information; and
information on the residual information is cataloged in the control information.
In addition, according to another aspect of the present invention, there is also provided an information recording and control method and apparatus whereby newly overwritten information is linked to the residual information, that is, part of the recorded information that is not overwritten by the new information, to form new information and information on the new information is cataloged in control information recorded on the same disc recording medium as the new information.
The information recording and control method and apparatus is adopted in a system employing an information recording/reproducing apparatus using a disc as a recording medium thereof and, in particular, an optical disc.
These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5920535 (1999-07-01), Hisamatsu et al.
patent: 5995471 (1999-11-01), Saoyama et al.
patent: 6052346 (2000-04-01), Arataki et al.
Higuchi Shigemitsu
Ishitobi Tatsuya
Ito Tamotsu
Ono Hiroaki
Antonelli Terry Stout & Kraus LLP
Hitachi , Ltd.
Huber Paul W.
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