Dynamic information storage or retrieval – Condition indicating – monitoring – or testing – Including radiation storage or retrieval
Reexamination Certificate
1999-04-07
2001-03-06
Edun, Muhammad (Department: 2753)
Dynamic information storage or retrieval
Condition indicating, monitoring, or testing
Including radiation storage or retrieval
C369S053130, C369S047360
Reexamination Certificate
active
06198709
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
This invention relates to a signal recording/reproducing device used for recording or reproducing information signals to or from a signal recording medium, and a fault control method for a signal recording medium adapted for controlling a fault in a signal recording area of the signal recording medium to which information signals are recorded.
BACKGROUND ART
Conventionally, in a disk-like signal recording medium, target data are recorded by each sector, and recording and reproduction of data to and from the signal recording medium is carried out by using a signal recording/reproducing device.
For example, control of a fault in the signal recording area such as sectors of the signal recording medium is carried out as follows. When a fault is found in a sector at the stage of formatting the signal recording medium, the address of the sector having the fault is registered, that is, recorded in a predetermined area of the signal recording medium, and it is eliminated from allocation of the logical address.
FIG. 1
shows the steps at the time of inspection and shipment after manufacture of a hard disk, and
FIG. 2
shows the steps at the time of inspection and shipment after manufacture of a floppy disk. As shown in
FIGS. 1 and 2
, fault control as described above is carried out at the inspection step (step S
102
or S
107
) after the step of manufacturing a magnetic disk such as a hard disk or a floppy disk (step S
101
or S
106
).
In the case of the hard disk, for example, it is discriminated whether or not there is a fault in the recording area (step S
103
), as shown in FIG.
1
. If there is no fault, the hard disk is shipped as it is (step S
104
). If there is a fault, the map of the logical address is updated, that is, the fault sector is eliminated from allocation of the logical address so as to prevent data from being recorded into the fault sector (step S
105
), and then the hard disk is shipped (step S
104
).
In the case of the floppy disk, it is discriminated whether or not there is a fault in the recording area (step S
108
). If there is no fault, the floppy disk is shipped (step S
109
). If there is a fault, the floppy disk is not shipped (step S
110
).
Meanwhile, in an optical disc such as a magneto-optical disc, fault control as shown in
FIGS. 3 and 4
is carried out. First, in
FIG. 3
, inspection is carried out (step S
122
) after manufacture (step S
121
). It is then discriminated whether or not there is a fault in the recording area (step S
123
). If there is a fault, the map of the logical address is updated so as to prevent data from being recorded in the fault sector (step S
124
), and then the optical disc is shipped (step S
125
).
Then, as shown in
FIG. 4
, after the optical disc such as the magneto-optical disc is purchased by a user (step S
126
), data are recorded (step S
127
). At this point, the recorded data are reproduced (step S
128
), and it is detected whether or not the recorded data could be reproduced (step S
129
). If the data could not be reproduced, data are rerecorded in a recordable sector (step S
130
), and the map is updated so as to prevent the data from being recorded in the fault sector (step S
131
).
If the recording/reproducing device for recording/reproducing signals to/from the signal recording medium has failed to reproduce data recorded on the signal recording medium, it carries out reproducing operation again after changing the tracking and the parameter of an equalizer which affect the reproducing characteristics.
The signal recording/reproducing device or recording medium driving device adds redundant bits for error correction to the data and then records the data to the signal recording medium, in order to improve the reliability of the data to be recorded.
Meanwhile, even if data reproduction is successfully carried out by re-try operation for data reproduction in the case where reproduction of the data recorded on the signal recording medium has failed, there is no guarantee that next reproduction will be successfully carried out. Rather, if data reproduction is successfully carried out by re-try operation with the parameters changed as described above, it should be assumed that the corresponding sector becomes very difficult to read and that the reliability of reproduction of that sector is lowered. Lowering of the reliability of data reproduction often proceeds with the lapse of time.
Namely, in the conventional signal recording/reproducing device, it is possible to prevent the initial fault detected and registered into the map at the manufacturing step from being used by a fault management method of eliminating the fault from allocation of logical addresses.
In the conventional signal recording/reproducing device, the retry operation is carried out to execute read-out operations again in the case where a data read out has failed. However, it has not been practiced to rewrite the sector which becomes difficult to read out into another signal recording region by e.g., the alternate shift processing, as the need arises.
As described above, conventionally, the reliability of future data recording and reproduction cannot be secured with respect to a portion in which the reliability is lowered during the use or a portion in which lowering of the reliability proceeds with the lapse of time.
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
In view of the foregoing status of the art, it is an object of the present invention to provide a signal recording/reproducing device and a fault control method for a signal recording area which enable prevention of generation of such a state that information signals cannot be reproduced in the future.
A signal recording/reproducing device according to the present invention includes: reproduction means for reproducing information signals recorded on a signal recording medium from each unit recording area; estimate value obtaining means for obtaining an estimate value indicating the difficulty of reproduction with respect to operation for reproducing the information signals from each unit recording area by the reproduction means; accumulation means for accumulating a plurality of estimate values obtained by the estimate value obtaining means until reproduction of the information signals from each unit recording area is correctly carried out; and recording means for recording the information signals recorded in a corresponding unit recording area into another unit recording area when the estimate value accumulated by the accumulation means has become a predetermined value or greater.
A fault control method for a signal recording medium according to the present invention includes the steps of: reproducing information signals recorded on a signal recording medium from each unit recording area by reproduction means; detecting whether or not the information signals could be correctly reproduced by the reproduction means; changing a parameter related to reproducing operation of the reproduction means and repeatedly reproducing the unit recording area, when the information signals could not be correctly reproduced; obtaining an estimate value having a value corresponding to the parameter for each step of repeated reproduction; accumulating the estimate value; and recording the information signals recorded in the unit recording area into another unit recording area of the signal recording medium when the accumulated estimate value has become a predetermined value or greater.
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Edun Muhammad
Limbach & Limbach L.L.P.
Sony Corporation
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