Disclosure of Invention
The present invention provides a method suitable for recording drive data on an information storage medium having a new structure, and more particularly, to an information storage medium in which drive-related data is recorded in a drive zone having a plurality of physical clusters or ECC blocks, and new drive data is recorded in a physical cluster or ECC block directly following a recently recorded physical cluster or ECC block, and a method of recording data in the information storage medium.
Additional aspects and/or advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention.
According to an aspect of the present invention, an information storage medium includes a drive zone for recording disc drive data to be recorded in a plurality of physical clusters or ECC blocks, wherein newer drive data is recorded in a second physical cluster or ECC block adjacent to a first physical cluster or ECC block containing most recently recorded drive data recorded before recording of the newer drive data.
According to an aspect of the present invention, the previous drive data is also recorded in the second physical cluster or ECC block each time new drive data is to be recorded.
According to another aspect of the present invention, the same drive data is recorded in a set of physical clusters or ECC blocks that are consecutively grouped in order of the layout of the physical clusters.
According to another aspect of the present invention, valid drive data and copy drive data are recorded in two consecutive reliable and valid physical clusters or ECC blocks, respectively.
According to another aspect of the present invention, the address of the physical cluster or ECC block is recorded in an area for recording information related to defect management, an area for recording information related to recording, or an area for recording disc-related information.
According to an aspect of the present invention, a method of recording drive data on an information storage medium includes: recording first drive data in one of a plurality of physical clusters or ECC blocks including a drive zone; and subsequently recording the new drive data in another physical cluster or ECC block directly adjacent to a physical cluster or ECC block containing the most recently recorded drive data.
Detailed Description
Reference will now be made in detail to the embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to the like elements throughout. Hereinafter, the embodiments are described to explain the present invention by referring to the figures.
Fig. 1 shows an example of a physical structure of a lead-in area covering an area within a predetermined radius from a center hole of a disc 1000. The lead-in area includes a reproduction-only area 100 in which data is pre-recorded and a recordable area 110. The reproduction-only area 100 stores control data related to the disc 1000. The recordable area 110 includes: a Defect Management Area (DMA)1 for processing and managing defects generated in the disc; a control data area 2; an Optimum Power Control (OPC) test area 3; and a buffer area 5.
According to an aspect of the present invention, the recordable zone 110 further includes a drive zone 10 in which drive data is recorded. As shown in fig. 2A, the drive zone 10 includes a plurality of physical clusters or ECC blocks 10-0 through 10-n. Each of the physical clusters or ECC blocks 10-0 through 10-n includes a plurality of sectors or data frames. The drive zone 10 having such a structure stores drive data such as information on the manufacturer of the drive used, the serial number of the drive, and the like.
In the information storage medium according to the present invention, new drive data is stored in a physical cluster or ECC block directly adjacent to a physical cluster or ECC block in which previous data has been recorded. The drive zone 10 may also be placed in an area of the disc 1000 other than the user data area. For example, the drive zone 10 may be disposed in a lead-in area or a lead-out area of the disc 1000.
As shown in fig. 1, a lead-in area (or lead-out area) of an information storage medium includes a reproduction-only area 100 and a recordable area 110. The reproduction-only area 100 stores basic information about the disc in the form of pits or a high frequency groove wobble. The reproduction-only area 100 stores the size, version number, and recording conditions of the disc. The recordable area 110 includes a DMA1, a control data area 2, an OPC test area 3, a drive area, and a buffer area 5. The drive zone 10 stores drive-related information in the recordable zone 110.
Referring to fig. 2A, a drive zone 10 in an information storage medium according to an embodiment of the present invention includes (n +1) physical clusters or ECC blocks including zeroth through nth physical clusters or ECC blocks 10-0 through 10-n. According to an aspect of the invention, each physical cluster or each ECC block 10-0 to 10-n comprises a plurality of sectors or frames. For convenience, only physical clusters are described.
The zeroth drive data 15-0 that is used first is recorded in the zeroth physical cluster 10-0. After recording the zeroth drive data, any remaining unrecorded area is padded with dummy data (dummy data). Next, if data is recorded or reproduced by a new drive (i.e., a first drive), first drive data 15-1 regarding the new drive is recorded in a first physical cluster 10-1 following the zeroth physical cluster 10-0. First drive data 15-1 is recorded in the first physical cluster 10-1. The zeroth drive data 15-0 recorded in the zeroth physical cluster 10-0 is copied and also recorded in the first physical cluster 10-1.
Similarly, if another new drive, which is a second drive, is used to perform recording, second drive data 15-2, which is data regarding the second drive, is recorded in the second physical cluster 10-2 next to the first physical cluster 10-1 in which the latest data 15-1 has been recorded. The most recently recorded drive data, the second drive data 15-2, is recorded at the head of the second physical cluster 10-2. The first and zeroth drive data 15-1 and 15-0 that have been recorded are copied and recorded successively following the second drive data 15-2.
As described above, every time new drive data is recorded, previously recorded drive data is recorded again, so that the history of the previous drive data is known. The latest drive data is recorded at the head of the physical cluster, and the previously recorded drive data is copied and recorded next to the latest drive data. Therefore, since all drive data can be identified by reproducing only the physical cluster containing the most recently recorded drive data, reproduction of all physical clusters containing previously recorded drive data is not required. Therefore, the used drives can be efficiently managed. However, it should be understood that other arrangements of drive data may be made for managing the drives without departing from the spirit of the invention.
According to an aspect of the present invention, addresses of physical clusters 10-0 to 10-n containing most recently recorded drive data are recorded in an area separate from the drive zone 10. As shown in fig. 2B, addresses of physical clusters or ECC blocks 10-0 to 10-n containing the most recently recorded drive data may be recorded in a predetermined area of the disc 1000. More specifically, the address of an area containing the most recently recorded drive data may be recorded in the DMA1 including data regarding defect management, in an area containing recording-related data (i.e., recording speed, recording pulse, recording power, etc.), or in an area containing disc-related data (i.e., the type, version number, size, number of layers, etc.) of the disc. The area containing recording-related data or disc-related data may be the control data zone 2 of fig. 1.
As shown in fig. 2B, addresses of physical clusters or ECC blocks 10-0 to 10-n containing the most recently recorded drive data are recorded in predetermined bytes of a data frame included in an area containing recording-related data or disc-related data. Each time new drive data is recorded in a predetermined area, the physical address of the area containing the new drive data may be recorded in a byte different from a byte in which the physical address of the area containing the previous drive data has been recorded, or may be rewritten in a byte in which the physical address of the area containing the previous drive data has been recorded.
An information storage medium and a method of recording data thereon according to another embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to fig. 3A and 3B. In the data recording method, if the drive zone 10 in which drive data is recorded has unreliable physical clusters 10-0 to 10-n due to continuous or discontinuous generation of defects in the physical clusters or ECC blocks 10-0 to 10-n, the drive data is recorded in only a reliable and effective one of the physical clusters 10-0 to 10-n in the order of the layout of the physical clusters 10-0 to 10-n. The drive data may be recorded in such a manner that one drive data is recorded in one physical cluster or ECC block in succession in 10-0 to 10-n. In addition, the same drive data may be recorded in a set of consecutive physical clusters or ECC blocks 10-0 to 10-n for increased reliability.
In the case where drive data is damaged and cannot be used, the same data is recorded in at least two physical clusters or ECC blocks 10-0 to 10-n. Referring to fig. 3A, for example, two physical clusters or ECC blocks 10-0 to 10-n are used to record the same drive data. Hereinafter, only the physical cluster is described for simplicity.
For example, the zeroth valid drive data 20-0 is recorded in the zeroth physical cluster 10-0 of the area for recording drive data. The zeroth copy drive data 21-0, which is a copy of the zeroth valid drive data 21-0, is recorded in the first physical cluster 10-1. If new first valid drive data 20-1 is recorded, the new first valid drive data 20-1 is recorded in the second physical cluster 10-2 following the first physical cluster 10-1 containing the most recently recorded copy drive data 21-0 (i.e., the zeroth copy drive data 21-0). Then, the previously recorded drive data (i.e., the zeroth valid drive data 20-0) is recorded in the second physical cluster 10-2. The first copy drive data 20-1, which is the first valid drive data 20-1, is recorded in the third physical cluster 10-3. As described above, valid drive data and copy drive data can be recorded in the above-described manner each time drive data is updated.
With the drive data recording method according to an embodiment of the present invention, the addresses of physical clusters in which valid drive data and copy drive data are recorded and managed in a predetermined area separate from the drive zone 10. For example, the address of the area containing the most recent valid drive data and the address of the area containing the most recent copy drive data may be recorded in a data frame of the DMA1, a data frame containing the area in which the related data is recorded, or a predetermined byte in a data frame containing the area in which the disc-related data is recorded. Each of the areas containing recording-related data and disc-related data may be the control data zone 2 of fig. 1.
The above description sets forth the case where all of the physical clusters or ECC blocks 10-0 to 10-n of the drive zone 10 are valid. However, a case where some of the physical clusters or ECC blocks 10-0 to 10-n are continuously or discontinuously damaged or have defects may exist. Therefore, the drive data recorded therein is unreliable. In this case, drive data only needs to be recorded in reliable and valid ones of the physical clusters or ECC blocks 10-0 through 10-n.
Fig. 4 schematically shows a drive zone consisting of n +1 physical clusters, where some of the damaged unreliable physical clusters 10-0, 10-1, 10-3, 10-5, 10-6 and 10- (n-1) are represented using hashing. Referring to FIG. 4, the zeroth and first physical clusters 10-0 and 10-1 are damaged, the second physical cluster 10-2 is valid, the third physical cluster 10-3 is damaged, and the fourth physical cluster 10-4 is valid. In this case, valid drive data and corresponding copy drive data are recorded in the second and fourth reliable and valid physical clusters 10-2 and 10-4. In addition, the copy drive data and the valid drive data are recorded in the valid seventh and eighth physical clusters 10-7 and 10-8, respectively. It should be appreciated that the above approach is applicable if no copy drive data is used, as in the embodiment set forth with reference to FIG. 2A.
As described above, drive data is recorded only in reliable physical clusters that are not damaged in the order of the physical cluster layout of the drive zone 10. Preferably, the same drive data is recorded in two consecutive reliable physical clusters. As described in fig. 4, if the zeroth and first physical clusters 10-0 and 10-1 are damaged and are not usable, the second physical cluster 10-2 is reliable, and the third physical cluster 10-3 is also not usable, drive data is recorded in the reliable physical clusters in the order of the layout of the physical clusters. Here, the drive data corresponds to a pair of valid drive data and copy drive data. In fig. 4, "0" indicates that drive data is recorded in two consecutive reliable and effective physical clusters.
As also described above, the recording method is equally applied to the drive zone 10 including ECC blocks instead of physical clusters.
Fig. 5 is a block diagram of a recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to fig. 5, the recording apparatus includes a recording/reading unit 1001, a controller 1002, and a memory 1003. The recording/reading unit 1001 records data on a disc 1000, which is an embodiment of an information storage medium of the present invention, and reads data from the disc 1000. The controller 1002 records and manages drive data according to the present invention as set forth above with respect to fig. 1 through 4.
While not required in all aspects, it should be appreciated that the controller 1002 can be a computer implementing the method using a computer program encoded on a computer readable medium. The computer may be implemented as a chip with firmware or may be a general purpose or special purpose computer programmable to perform the method.
Further, it should be understood that, in order to achieve a recording capacity of dozens of gigabytes, the recording/reading unit 1001 may include a low-wavelength high-numerical-aperture type unit for recording dozens of gigabytes of data on the disc 1000. Examples of such units include, but are not limited to, those using light wavelengths of 405nm and having numerical apertures of 0.85, those compatible with blu-ray discs, and/or those compatible with Advanced Optical Discs (AODs). Other write-once optical discs include CD-R and DVD-R.
Industrial applicability
The present invention provides a new drive data recording method of a new format applied to an information storage medium. The new drive data recording method can be effectively applied not only to recordable information storage media but also to write-once information storage media. In the write-once information storage medium, data is recorded once per physical cluster or ECC block. Accordingly, when new drive data is recorded in a write-once information storage medium, it may not be recorded in a physical cluster or ECC block directly following a physical cluster or ECC block in which the most recent drive data has been recorded. Therefore, the recording method according to the present invention is suitable for write-once recording media. Also, the method can be applied to CD-R, DVD-R, and next generation high definition DVDs such as Blu-ray discs and Advanced Optical Discs (AOD).
In a recordable information storage medium, new drive data is recorded in an area in which the most recent drive data has been recorded. Therefore, even if only an area containing the latest drive data is reproduced, the drive data can be efficiently managed.
Although a few embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, it would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes may be made in this embodiment without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined in the claims and their equivalents.