CN101325080B - Optical recording medium, recording/reproducing apparatus, and recording/reproducing method - Google Patents

Abstract

An optical recording medium, a recording/reproducing device, and a recording/reproducing method are provided. An information recording medium on which, when a spare area for replacing a defective block created in a predetermined area of the information recording medium is expanded or reallocated, blocks in the expanded or reallocated spare area The defect state information of is changed and written on the information recording medium. By managing defect state information of blocks in the enlarged or reallocated spare area, unnecessary operations of the drive system are eliminated, thus improving the efficiency of the drive system.

Description

Optical recording medium, recording/reproducing device, and recording/reproducing method

This application is a divisional application of a patent application with a filing date of January 31, 2005, an application number of 200510005021.3, and a patent application titled "Optical Recording Medium, Recording/Reproducing Device, and Recording/Reproducing Method".

technical field

The present invention relates to an optical recording medium, a recording and/or reproducing apparatus and a recording and/or reproducing method.

Background technique

In order to manage defects on recordable discs that work according to the Digital Versatile Disc (DVD) standard, the slip replacement method is used when a defect occurs when the disc is initialized, and the position of the defective sector replaced by the slip replacement is recorded in the disc's defect No logical sector number is assigned to it in the primary defect list (PDL) of the management area. Also, in the linear replacement method, when a disc is used, a defect is replaced with a normal block in the spare area in units of error correction code blocks of an area in which an error occurs when a defect occurs, and in the secondary defect list (SDL) Record the location of the defective block.

Such a spare area can be allocated when the disc is initialized, and additional spare areas can be allocated when the disc is used.

Defect management is performed to improve the reliability of reproduction of user data recorded on a disc. That is, when a defect occurs or it is determined that there is a high possibility of a defect occurring when recording or reproducing a disc, the defect is replaced with a spare area to improve the reliability of reproduction.

The defect list items used in the linear replacement method are typically divided into status information, physical addresses of defective blocks, and physical addresses of replacement blocks.

The status information includes status information of a defective block with a replacement block and status information of a defective block without a replacement block.

The physical address of the defective block is limited to the address of the user data area within the disc so that it can be easily checked in the reproduction process. That is, the host can find the data recorded in the user data area using the file system recorded on the disc, and based on this, the host can reproduce the user data recorded on the disc. When the host tries to find a file system recorded on a disc or tries to reproduce user data, it sends a request to reproduce data to the drive system using a logical address. Thereafter, the drive system reproduces the data in the physical address corresponding to the logical address and sends it to the host. Here, if the defective block exists in the physical address corresponding to the logical address, the drive system reproduces the replacement block as a replacement for the defective block from the entry in the defect list. Therefore, when defect management is used to improve reproduction reliability of user data recorded in the user data area, the physical address of the defective block of the defect list entry may be limited to the address of the user data area of the disc.

Therefore, it is not advisable that defect list entries in blocks within an enlarged or reallocated spare area be left untouched without any processing. This is because, if the defect list entry on the block within the reallocated or enlarged spare area is left as if there is no change, the defect list entry gets the address of the spare area and does not get the address of the user data area.

Also, in a medium in which defects are managed by indicating whether each block in the spare area can be used as a replacement for a defect list entry, the defect list entry in the spare area that is further enlarged or reallocated is left unchanged. Down is not advisable. Also, leaving the defect list entries when the drive system reads the defect list causes confusion, thus reducing the performance of the drive system.

Contents of the invention

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an optical recording medium on which information on a defect state of a block can be managed in a reallocated or enlarged spare area for replacing a defective block in the medium, a recording and/or or reproducing device, and a recording and/or reproducing method.

According to an aspect of the present invention, a method of managing defects on an information storage medium includes: generating a second defect list entry when a block corresponding to the first defect list entry exists in an enlarged or newly allocated spare area, wherein , the first defect list entry includes status information indicating that the block is a defective block without a replacement block and first information indicating the location of the block, and the second defect list entry includes status information indicating that the block is an unavailable replacement block information and a second information indicating the location of the block.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a method of managing defects on an information storage medium includes: generating a second defect list entry when a block corresponding to the first defect list entry exists in an enlarged or newly allocated spare area, Wherein, the first defect list entry includes status information indicating that the block is a possible defective block and first information indicating the location of the block, and the second defect list item includes status information indicating that the block is an unavailable replacement block and Second information indicating the location of the block.

Additional aspects and/or advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows, and in part will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention.

Description of drawings

These and/or other aspects and advantages of the present invention will be more readily understood by describing embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

1 is a block diagram showing the structure of a recording and/or reproducing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention;

2 is a structural diagram of a single recording layer disc according to an embodiment of the present invention;

3 is a structural diagram of a dual recording layer disc according to an embodiment of the present invention;

4 is a structural diagram of a data format of a defect list according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 5 is a structural diagram of the data format of the defect list item shown in Fig. 4;

FIG. 6 is a reference diagram showing status information of a defect list item shown in FIG. 5;

7 is a reference diagram showing usage directions of a user data area and a spare area in a single recording layer disc according to an embodiment of the present invention;

8 is a reference diagram showing usage directions of a user data area and a spare area in a dual recording layer disc according to an embodiment of the present invention;

9A and 9B are reference diagrams showing a method of processing defect list entries of blocks in a reallocated spare area according to an embodiment of the present invention;

10A and 10B are reference diagrams showing a method of processing defect list entries of blocks in an enlarged spare area according to an embodiment of the present invention;

11A and 11B are reference diagrams showing a method of changing a defect list entry of a block in a reallocated or enlarged spare area according to an embodiment of the present invention;

12A is a diagram of a state of data of a defect list header just before enlarging or allocating a spare area according to an embodiment of the present invention;

12B is a diagram of a state of data of a defect list header just after enlarging or allocating a spare area according to an embodiment of the present invention;

13A to 13C are flowcharts showing a method of defect management according to an embodiment of the present invention;

14 is a flowchart showing a method of defect management in a record-once storage medium according to an embodiment of the present invention;

15A and 15B are reference diagrams for describing a method of processing defect list entries of blocks in a reallocated spare area according to an embodiment of the present invention;

16A and 16B are reference diagrams for describing a method of processing defect list entries of blocks in an enlarged spare area according to an embodiment of the present invention;

17A and 17B are reference diagrams for describing changing a defect list entry of a block in a reallocated or enlarged spare area according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 18 is a diagram illustrating a state of data of a defect list header just after enlarging or allocating a spare area according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 19 is a flowchart showing a method of defect management according to an embodiment of the present invention;

20A and 20B are reference diagrams for describing a method of processing defect list entries of blocks in a reallocated spare area according to an embodiment of the present invention;

21 is a flowchart showing a method for defect management of a recordable optical recording medium according to an embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 22 is a diagram of an exemplary method of processing defect list entries for improving driver performance according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed ways

Now, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail, examples of which are shown in the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout. The embodiments are described below in order to explain the present invention by referring to the figures.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the structure of a recording and/or reproducing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1 , a recording and/or reproducing device includes a reading and/or writing unit 2 and a control unit 1 .

The reading and/or writing unit 2 includes a pickup device, and writes data on a disc 4 which is an optical recording medium according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The control unit 1 controls reading data from and writing data on the disk 4 according to a predetermined file system. In particular, when there is not enough space for writing a replacement block that replaces a defect occurring in a spare area (predetermined area of the disc 4) allocated when the disc 4 is initialized, the control unit 1 allocates a new spare area or expands the current spare area and Manages the defect status of blocks in the reallocated spare area or enlarged spare area.

The control unit 1 includes a system controller 10 , a host interface (I/F) 20 , a digital signal processor (DSP) 30 , a radio frequency amplifier (RF AMP) 40 and a servo system 50 .

In order to write data on the disc 4, the host I/F 20 receives a predetermined write command from the host 3, and sends the predetermined write command to the system controller 10. The system controller 10 controls the DSP 30 and the servo system 50 so as to execute a write command received from the host I/F 20. The DSP 30 adds additional data such as parity data for correcting errors of data to be written and received from the host I/F 20, performs error correction code (ECC) encoding, and generates an ECC block as an error correction block, and Thereafter the ECC block is modulated into a predetermined form. The RF AMP 40 converts the data output from the DSP 30 into an RF signal. The read and/or write unit 2 with pickup means records the RF signal received from the RFAMP 40 onto the disc 4. The servo system 50 receives commands required for servo control from the system controller 10 , and the servo system 50 controls the pickup device of the read and/or write unit 2 .

In particular, the system controller 10 includes a defect manager 11 for managing the defect status of blocks of the enlarged or reallocated spare area.

The defect manager 11 changes defect status information of blocks in the enlarged or reallocated spare area.

If the defect status information of a block in the enlarged or reallocated spare area indicates a defective block with a replacement block, the defect manager 11 generates status information including a replacement block indicating that the defective block and the replacement block are usable or unusable The defect list item.

For example, the defect manager 11 controls the read and/or write unit 2 to record defect status information indicating that the defective block and the replacement block are unusable replacement blocks. In other words, the defect list entry is generated including defect state information indicating that the defective block and the replacement block are unusable replacement blocks, and the defect list entry is recorded in a predetermined area of the disc 4 (i.e., a defect management area (DMA)) superior. In addition, in this case, the defect manager 11 may control the read and/or write unit 2 to record a defect list item including status information of a replacement block indicating that the replacement block is unusable, and the record includes The defect list entry for the status information of the replacement block.

Also, the defect manager 11 checks the blocks in the enlarged or reallocated spare area, and if the defect state information of the block indicates a defective block without a replacement block, the defect manager 11 controls the read and/or write unit 2 so that the defect state Information is recorded as a defect list item including status information of a replacement block indicating whether the replacement block is usable or unusable.

For example, when the defect state information of the blocks in the expanded or redistributed spare area indicates that there is no replacement block for the defective block, the defect manager 11 controls the reading and/or writing unit 2 to record the defect that indicates that the replacement block is not available. Defect list item for status information.

Also, the defect manager 11 checks the blocks in the enlarged or reallocated spare area, and if the defect status information of the block indicates a possible defective block, the defect manager 11 controls the read and/or write unit 2 so that the defect status information is Recorded as a defect list entry that includes status information indicating whether a replacement block is available or unavailable.

For example, when the defect state information of a block in the enlarged or redistributed spare area indicates a possible defective block, the defect manager 11 confirms whether there is a defect about the block, and controls the read and/or write unit 2 records to include indication replacement Defect list entry for block unavailable defect state information. If there is no defect, the defect manager 11 controls recording of a defect list entry including defect status information indicating that a replacement block is available.

The validation refers to checking whether the block is defective. For example, the confirmation method includes "verify after writing".

Moreover, when the defect status information of blocks in the expanded or redistributed spare area indicates a possible defective block, the defect manager 11 can control the read and/or write unit 2 to record the indicated replacement according to the user's or drive manufacturer's selection. Defect status information available for the block.

In addition, when the defect status information of the blocks in the enlarged or reallocated spare area is not recorded, the defect manager 11 controls the read and/or write unit 2 to record a defect list item including defect status information indicating that a replacement block is available.

In particular, if the disk 4 is a write-once disk, when a block in the enlarged or reallocated spare area is used, the defect manager 11 controls to check the defect list entry including the defect state information indicating that the replacement block is not available. record of. This is because the block cannot be rewritten even if there is a defect in the recorded block.

Moreover, when the disk 4 is a write-once disk, and the block in the enlarged or redistributed spare area has not been used and the defect status information of the block has not been recorded, the defect manager 11 controls to include instructions to replace the block A record of the defect list item for which defect status information is available. Although data cannot be recorded again on a write-once disc, the disc may have defect list entries including defect status information according to predetermined rules. Thus, replacement blocks that are available and do not have defect list entries when not yet in use may be indicated.

In order to reproduce data from the disc 4, the host I/F 20 receives a reproduction command from the host 3. The system controller 10 performs initialization required for data reproduction. The reading and/or writing unit 2 emits a laser beam onto the disc 4 and outputs an optical signal obtained by receiving the laser beam reflected from the disc 4 . The RF AMP 40 converts the optical signal output from the read and/or write unit 2 into an RF signal, and supplies modulated data obtained from the RF signal when supplying the servo signal to the servo system 50 for control obtained from the RF signal. to DSP 30. The DSP 30 demodulates the modulated data, and outputs data obtained by performing ECC error correction. Meanwhile, the servo system 50 receives servo signals from the RF AMP 40 and commands for servo control from the system controller 10, and performs servo control on the pickup. The host I/F 20 sends data received from the DSP 30 to the host 3.

The structure of an optical recording medium according to an embodiment of the present invention will now be described.

FIG. 2 is a structural diagram of a single recording layer disc according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 2, the disc includes a lead-in area on the inner circumference, a lead-out area on the outer circumference, and a data area therebetween in the radial direction of the disc.

The lead-in area includes DMA#2, a recording or writing condition test area, and DMA#1. The data area includes a spare area #1, a user data area, and a spare area #2. The lead-out area includes DMA#3 and DMA#4.

The DMA is an area where defect management information is recorded in a rewritable information storage medium. The DMA is located on the inner or outer area of the disc 4 .

When initializing the data area, the user of the drive manufacturer can decide the size and whether to allocate a spare area to write a replacement block to replace the defective block when a defect has occurred in a predetermined area of the user data area of the disc 4. Alternatively, the spare area may be reallocated or enlarged when the disk 4 is used.

The defect management information recorded on the DMA is composed of a defect list for defect information and a disc definition structure (DDS) having information on the structure of the data area.

A defect list includes a defect list header and defect list items. The format of the defect list is described in more detail later with reference to FIG. 4 .

The recording condition test area is used to determine the optimum recording power by testing various recording powers according to the write strategy and variables according to the write strategy.

FIG. 3 is a structural diagram of a dual recording layer disc according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 3, one recording layer L0 includes a lead-in area #0, a data area, and a lead-out area #0, and another recording layer L1 includes a lead-in area #1, a data area, and a lead-out area #1.

The lead-in area #0 of the L0 layer includes DMA #2, a recording or writing condition test area, and DMA #1. The data area of the L0 layer includes a spare area #1, a user data area, and a spare area #2. The lead-out area #0 of the L0 layer includes DMA #3 and DMA #4.

The lead-in area #1 of the L1 layer includes DMA #2, a recording or writing condition test area, and DMA #1. The data area of the L1 layer includes a spare area #4, a user data area, and a spare area #3. The lead-out area #1 of the L1 layer includes DMA #3 and DMA #4.

FIG. 4 is a structural diagram of a data format of a defect list 400 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 4 , a defect list 400 includes a defect list header 410 and a defect list item 420 .

The defect list header 410 contains quantity information for defect management of blocks. The defect list header 410 includes information about the number of defective blocks with replacement blocks 412, the number of defective blocks without replacement blocks 413, the number of available spare blocks 414, the number of unavailable spare blocks 415, and possible defective blocks. Information on quantity 416.

The number of defective blocks with replacement blocks 412 represents the number of defect list entries having defect status information indicating that the defective block has been replaced by a replacement block within the spare area.

The number of defective blocks without replacement blocks 413 represents the number of defect list entries having defect state information indicating defective blocks without replacement blocks within the spared area.

The number of available spare blocks 414 represents the number of defect list entries having defect state information indicating blocks that can be used as replacements among blocks that are not replaced within the spare area.

The number of unusable spare blocks 415 represents the number of defect list entries having defect state information indicating a block that cannot be used as a replacement among blocks that are not replaced within the spare area.

The number of potentially defective blocks 416 represents the number of defect list entries having defect status information for blocks indicating possible but unacknowledged defects among blocks within the user data area.

Defect list entry 420 is a collection of defect list entries with defect state information about a block. The defect list item 420 includes a defect list item #1 421, a defect list item #2 422, . . . , and a defect list item #N 423.

FIG. 5 is a structural diagram of a data format of a defect list item shown in FIG. 4 .

Referring to FIG. 5, the defect list item #i 500 includes status information 510, a physical address 520 of a defective block, and a physical address 530 of a replacement block.

Status information 510 is the defect state information of the defective block, physical address of the defective block 520 is the physical address of the defective block in the user data area, and physical address of the replacement block 530 is the physical address of the replacement block in the spare area.

FIG. 6 is a reference diagram showing status information of the defect list item #i 500 shown in FIG. 5.

Referring to FIG. 6, state information 510 includes five states, "1", "2", "3", "4", and "5".

Status information "1" indicates the status of a defective block with a replacement block. In this case, the physical address of the defective block indicates the physical address of the defective block within the user data area. The physical address of the replacement block is the physical address at which the replacement block replacing the defective block is recorded in the spare area.

Status information "2" indicates the status of a defective block having no replacement block. In this case, the physical address of the defective block indicates the physical address of the replacement block within the user data.

The status information "3" indicates the status of available blocks of the spare area. This is to indicate the status of blocks existing in the spare area. In this case, the physical address of the replacement block indicates the physical address of an available block among non-replaced blocks of the spare area.

The state information "4" indicates the state of an unusable block of the spare area. This is to indicate the status of blocks existing in the spare area. In this case, the physical address of the replacement block indicates the physical address of an unusable block among the non-replaced blocks of the spare area.

Status information "5" indicates the status of a possible defective block. In this case, the physical address of the block with a possible but unacknowledged defect is indicated.

7 is a reference diagram showing usage directions of a user data area and a spare area in a single recording layer disc according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 7, if the usage direction of the user data area is from the lead-in area to the lead-out area in the data area and only the spare area #1 is initially allocated, then as shown in FIG. 7, the spare area #2 can be relocated in the data area The allocation is close to the lead-out area, and if the spare area #2 has been initially allocated, the spare area #2 can be enlarged in the opposite direction of the usage direction of the user data area. Also, by considering the usage direction of the user data area and the spare area, a new spare area can be allocated or the spare area can be expanded more easily.

8 is a reference diagram showing usage directions of a user data area and a spare area in a dual recording layer disc according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 8, if the usage direction of the user data area is from lead-in area #0 to lead-in area #1 via lead-out area #0 and lead-out area #1 in the data area and only spare areas #1, 2 and 3 are initially allocated, Then, as shown in FIG. 8, the spare area #4 can be reallocated in the data zone close to the lead-out area #1, and if the spare area #4 has been initially allocated, the spare area #4 can be in the direction of use of the user data zone. is expanded in the opposite direction. Also, by considering the usage direction of the user data area and the spare area, a new spare area can be allocated or the spare area can be expanded more easily.

9A and 9B are reference diagrams describing a method of processing defect list entries of blocks within a reallocated spare area according to an embodiment of the present invention.

9A is a diagram showing the state of data blocks in a single-layer disk in which only spare area #1 is allocated and used at initialization, and FIG. 9B is a diagram showing the state of data blocks allocated therein when the disk is used. A diagram of status information of processing included in the spare area #2 in the disc of the spare area #2.

Referring to FIG. 9A, only the spare area #1 is initially allocated in the data area, and thus the data area includes the spare area #1 and the user data area.

Blocks ①, ③ and ④ are recorded at the end of the user data area. Block ① is a defective block, and a replacement block ② that will replace the defective block is recorded in spare area #1. Block ③ is a defective block, but there is no replacement block for the defective block in spare area #1. Block ④ is a possible defective block.

When using the disc in the current state, if the spare area #2 is allocated at the end of the user data area including the area in which blocks ①, ③ and ④ are reallocated, the current state becomes as shown in FIG. 9B.

Referring to FIG. 9B, spare area #2 is allocated at the end of the data area, and thus the data area includes spare area #1, a user data area, and spare area #2.

In this case, regarding the block ① having the replacement block, a defect list entry is recorded indicating that the defective block ① and the replacement block ② are unusable blocks of the spare area. That is, a defect list entry of a defective block having a replacement block is converted into two defect list entries indicating unusable blocks of the spare area.

The need for registration of defect list entries indicating that the defective block ① and replacement block ② are unusable blocks of the spare area is as follows. As described above with reference to FIG. 7, in the single-layer disc, the use direction of the spare area #2 is set to the opposite direction of the use direction of the user data area to expand the spare area #2. That is, the spare area #2 is used in the direction from the outer circumference to the inner circumference of the disc. Therefore, when the defective block with the replacement block is inside the extended spare area #2, the replacement block replacing the defective block is not actually a defective block. However, considering the usage direction of the spare area #2, the replacement block should not be used. In addition, the defective block within the enlarged spare area #2 already has a defect, and thus the defective block should not be used as a replacement block. If the defective block is not registered as a defect list entry indicating that the defective block is an unusable block of the spare area, the drive system will use the defective block for the replacement block in the future. However, since the defective block has a defect in advance, the reliability of the data of the defective block is not guaranteed. In addition, even if data is confirmed after data is written in a defective block, there is a high possibility that the defective block may develop a defect again because the defective block already has a defect. Therefore, if a defective block is determined to have a defect, the defective block will be replaced by the next block of the spare area based on the usage order of the spare area. In this process, a lot of time is wasted in replacing defective blocks, and results in a decrease in the efficiency of the drive system. Therefore, by registering the defective block in the enlarged spare area #2 indicating that the defective block is an unusable block of the spare area, unnecessary operations of the drive system are reduced while maintaining the efficiency of the drive system.

Also, regarding the block ③ not having a replacement block, a defect list entry indicating that the defective block ③ is an unusable block of the spare area is recorded thereon. In this case, the defect list entry is changed to that of the spare area.

With respect to the block ④ having a possible defect, confirmation of the block ④ located in the actual physical address may be performed, or a defect list entry according to a predetermined plan without confirmation may be recorded thereon. More specifically, in the case of confirming a possible defective block and registering a defect list item according to the confirmation result, when there is no defect in the block after the confirmation of the block, it indicates that the block is a defect of an available block of the spare area A list entry is registered thereon, and if there is a defect in the block, a defect list entry indicating that the block is an unusable block of the spare area is registered thereon. In the case where a defect list entry is not registered according to confirmation of a predetermined planned block, a defect list entry indicating that the block is a usable or unusable block of the spare area according to a predetermined rule (i.e., the choice of the drive manufacturer or the user) be registered.

10A and 10B are reference diagrams describing a method of processing defect list entries of blocks within an enlarged spare area according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10A is a diagram showing a state of data blocks in a single-layer disk in which spare areas #1 and #2 are allocated and used at initialization, and FIG. 10B is a diagram showing the state of spare area #2 when the disk is in use. A diagram of the status information of the processing of the blocks included in the enlarged spare area #2 when they need to be enlarged.

Referring to FIG. 10A, initially, the data area includes a spare area #1, a user data area, and a spare area #2. Blocks ⑤, ⑦ and ⑧ are located at the end of the user data area. Block ⑤ is a defective block, and a replacement block ⑥ is located in spare area #2 to replace the defective block. Block ⑦ is also a defective block and has a defect therein, but a replacement block that replaces the defective block does not exist in spare area #1 or spare area #2. Block ⑧ is a possible defective block.

In this case, if the spare area #2 is extended to the user data area where blocks ⑤, ⑦, and ⑧ are located when the disc is used, the current state becomes as shown in FIG. 10B.

Referring to FIG. 10B, the data area includes a spare area #1, a user data area and a spare area #2.

In this case, regarding the defective block ⑤ having the replacement block, a defect list item indicating that the defective block ⑤ is an unusable block of the spare area and a defect list item indicating that the replacement block ⑥ is an unusable block of the spare area are registered . That is, a defect list entry of a defective block having a replacement block is converted into two defect list entries indicating unusable blocks of the spare area.

Regarding block ⑦ having no replacement block, a defect list entry indicating that the defective block ⑦ is an unusable block of the spare area is registered. In this case, a defect list entry is changed to a defect list entry of the spare area.

A possibly defective block ⑧ can be checked if there is a defective block in the block ⑧ at the actual physical address. Alternatively, defect listings may be registered according to a predetermined schedule without confirmation. More specifically, in the case of checking a possible defective block ⑧ and registering a defect list item according to the result of this confirmation, when there is no defect in the block ⑧ after checking the block ⑧, it indicates that the block ⑧ is an available block of the spare area A defect list entry of is registered, and if there is a defect in block ⑧, a defect list entry of an unusable block indicating that block ⑧ is a spare area is registered. In case there is no defect list entry registered according to a predetermined plan to verify block 8, a defect list entry indicating that block 8 is a usable or unusable block of a spare area according to a predetermined rule (i.e., a drive manufacturer's or user's choice) can be registered.

So far, the description has referred to single recording layer discs, but the same method applies to dual recording layer discs.

11A and 11B are reference diagrams showing a method of changing a defect list entry of a block within a reallocated or enlarged spare area according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIGS. 11A and 11B , states of changes of defect list items in the situations described in FIGS. 9A to 10B are shown. The defect entry before expanding or allocating a block shown in FIG. 11A is a defect entry indicating state information of a block before expanding or reallocating a spare area shown in FIG. 9A or 10A. The defect list item after expanding or allocating a block shown in FIG. 11B is a defect list item indicating state information of a block after expanding or reallocating a spare area shown in FIG. 9B or 10B .

As described with reference to FIG. 6, status information "1" indicates the status of a defective block with a replacement block; status information "2" indicates a status of a defective block without a replacement block; status information "3" indicates a status of a possible defective block ; status information "4" indicates the status of available blocks of the spare area; and status information "5" indicates the status of unusable defective blocks.

For the defect list entry of the block ① before expanding or allocating the spare area, its status information is "1", the physical address of the defective block is "0010000h", and the physical address of the replacement block is "0100000h". After the spare area is enlarged or reallocated with respect to block ①, two defect list entries are registered as shown in FIG. 11B. That is, the two defect list entries are the defect list entry having the state information on the defective block ① as "4" and the physical address of the replacement block is "0010110h", and the defect list entry having the state information on the replacement block as "5" and the The defect list entry whose physical address of the block is "0100000h" is replaced.

The defect list item of the block ③ before expanding or allocating the spare area has status information "2", the physical address of the defective block is "0010100h", and since there is no replacement block, there is no physical address of the replacement block. After the spare area is expanded or reallocated with respect to block ③, a defect list entry with status information "5" and a physical address of a replacement block as "0010100h" are registered as shown in FIG. 11B.

The defect list entry of the block ④ before expanding or allocating the spare area has status information "3", the physical address of the defective block is "0010110h", and since there is no replacement block, there is no physical address of the replacement block. After the spare area is expanded or reallocated with respect to block ④, a defect list entry with status information "4" and a physical address of a replacement block as "0010110h" are registered as shown in FIG. 11B. Thus, various methods of registering defect list entries of possible defective blocks are described above.

All blocks within the enlarged or reallocated spare area are one of defective blocks with replacement blocks, available blocks of the spare area, and/or unusable spare blocks. Therefore, the number of blocks of the entire spare area satisfies the following equation.

The number of blocks in the entire spare area = the number of available blocks in the spare area

+Number of unusable blocks in the spare area

+ Number of defective blocks with replacement blocks...(1)

In other words, for each of the blocks in the spare area, the physical address of the replacement block is the physical address of the block in the spare area, and only the defect list entries with status information "1", "4" or "5" are possible. Of course, in the case of a replacement block, the physical address of the replacement block in the defect list entry of the replacement block needs to be the physical address of the block in the user data area.

FIG. 12A is a diagram of a state of data of a defect list header 120 just before enlarging or allocating a spare area according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 12B is a diagram of a state of data of a defect list header 120 just after enlarging or allocating a spare area according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 12A, a defect list header 120 includes a defect list identifier 121 and a spare area in which no more replacement blocks are left because they are all used for replacement. Therefore, the number 124 of available spare blocks is "0". Also, the number 125 of unusable spare blocks is also "0" because the blocks in the spare area meet the requirement. The number 122 of defective blocks with replacement blocks is "N-M-1", the number 123 of defective blocks without replacement blocks is "M", and the number 126 of possible defective blocks is "1".

Therefore, the sum of N-M-1+M+0+0+1=N defect list entries exists. Also, the total number of blocks in the spare area is "the number of defective blocks with replacement blocks 122"+"the number of usable spare blocks 124"+"the number of unusable spare blocks 125"=N-M-1+0+0= N-M-1.

In this state, it is assumed that the spare area with S blocks is enlarged or reallocated because there is no block of the spare area for replacement. Also, assume that there are a defective block with a replacement block, a defective block without a replacement block, and a possible defective block in the enlarged or reallocated spare area as shown in FIG. 11A. Thereafter, just after the spare area is enlarged or allocated, the spare area is changed to a defect list entry as shown in 11B, and the content of the defect list header 120 is changed as shown in FIG. 12B. That is, the number 122 of defective blocks with replacement blocks is changed from "N-M-1" to "N-M-2", and the number 123 of defective blocks without replacement blocks is changed from "M" to "M-1", available The number of spare blocks 124 was changed from "0" to S-2, the number of unusable spare blocks 125 was changed from "0" to "3", and the number of possible defective blocks 126 was changed from "1" is "0".

Therefore, the sum of N-M-2+M-1+S-2+3+0=N+S-2 defect list entries exists. Also, "the number of blocks of the entire spare area" is "N-M-1" before expanding or allocating the spare area and is "S" after expanding or allocating the spare area. Therefore, "the number of blocks of all spare areas"=N-M-1+S, and "the number of defective blocks with replacement blocks 122"+"the number of usable spare blocks 124"+"the number of unusable spare blocks 125 "=N-M-2+S-2+3=N-M-1+S. Therefore, Equation 1 is satisfied.

13A to 13C are flowcharts showing a method of defect management in an optical recording medium according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 13A, first, a spare area is reallocated to a predetermined area of a disc or an existing spare area is expanded (operation 131). That is, when all the spare areas existing in the disc are used up or there is no more space left in the spare area, a new spare area is allocated or the spare area is enlarged.

Thereafter, the defect status of the blocks existing in the reallocated or enlarged spare area is checked (operation 132). That is, by managing the defect status of blocks in the reallocated or enlarged spare area, blocks within the spare area that have a defect or have a high probability of occurrence of a defect are not reused.

It is checked whether a block in the reallocated or enlarged spare area is a defective block (operation 133).

If the block is not a defective block, the next operation step is performed, and if the block is a defective block, it is checked whether the defective block has a replacement block (operation 134).

If the confirmation result indicates that the defective block has a replacement block, defect status information indicating that the defective block and the replacement block cannot be used is recorded on the disc (operation 135). In other words, a defect list item including defect status information indicating an unusable block of a spare area for each of the replacement blocks and the replacement block is recorded in the defect list.

If the confirmation result indicates that the defective block has no replacement block, defect status information indicating that the defective block cannot be used is recorded on the disc (operation 136). As described earlier, defect status information including unusable blocks indicating spare areas for defective blocks is recorded in the defect list.

Next, referring to FIG. 13B, in operation 137, it is checked whether a block in the reallocated or enlarged spare area has a possibility of defect.

If it is determined that the block has no possibility of being defective, operation step □ is performed.

When the block has a possibility of being defective, it is determined whether to check the block at the actual physical address (operation 138). In other words, it is determined whether to check the potentially defective blocks according to the rules.

When a rule that does not require inspection of possible defective blocks is set, defect status information indicating replacement blocks that may or may not be used according to a drive manufacturer's or user's selection is written on the disc (operation 143).

When setting the rule of registering the defect state information according to the confirmation result of the potentially defective block, the potentially defective block in the actual physical address is checked (operation 139).

After determining whether a defect is found according to the confirmation result (operation 140), if it is determined that there is a defect, a defect list item including defect state information indicating an unusable replacement block is written on the disc (operation 141).

If it is determined that no defect is found according to the confirmation result, a defect list entry including defect state information indicating an available replacement block is written on the disc (operation 142).

Next, referring to FIG. 13C , the method moves to operation 144 .

It is checked whether the blocks in the enlarged or reallocated spare area have defect status information (ie, whether the blocks in the enlarged or reallocated spare area have defect list entries). If the block does not have a defect list entry, a defect list entry including defect status information indicating an available replacement block is written on the disc (operation 144).

FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing a method of defect management in a record-once storage medium according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 14, it is determined whether a block in the enlarged or reallocated spare area has been used (operation 151).

If the confirmation result indicates that the block has been used, a defect list entry including defect status information indicating an unusable replacement block is written on the disc (operation 152).

If the confirmation result indicates that the block has not been used, a defect list entry including defect status information indicating an available replacement block is written on the disc (operation 153).

A method of processing a defect list item according to another embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 15 to 19 .

15A and 15B are reference diagrams describing a method of processing defect list entries of blocks within a reallocated spare area according to another embodiment of the present invention.

15A is a diagram showing a state of data blocks in a single recording layer disc in which only spare area #1 is allocated and used at initialization, and FIG. A diagram of status information of processing of blocks included in the spare area #2 in the disc of #2.

FIG. 15A is the same as FIG. 9A, and FIG. 15B is similar to FIG. 9B except for the replacement block ② located in spare area #1.

Referring to FIG. 15B, a defect list item indicating that block ① in spare area #2 is an unusable block of the spare area and a defect list item indicating that block ③ in spare area #2 is an unusable block of the spare area are registered separately , and a defect list entry indicating that block ② in spare area #1 is an available block of the spare area is registered. That is, blocks ① and ③ are indicated as unusable blocks because they are defective blocks having defects, but block ② is indicated as an available block because it does not have defects.

In this embodiment, after the spare area #2 is reallocated, the replacement block ② in the spare area #1 is registered as a defect list item indicating that it is an unusable block of the spare area in consideration of the usage direction of the spare area . However, in this embodiment, even if the order of the blocks does not match the usage direction of the spare area, the replacement block ② can be registered as a defect list item indicating that it is an available block of the spare area, so that There is no defect so the disk is used for free blocks without wasting any space in the spare area.

16A and 16B are reference diagrams for describing a method of processing defect list entries of blocks within an enlarged spare area according to another embodiment of the present invention.

16A is a diagram showing the state of data blocks in a single recording layer disc in which spare areas #1 and #2 are allocated and used at the time of initialization, and FIG. 2 A diagram of the processed status information of the blocks included in the enlarged spare area #2 when they need to be enlarged.

Fig. 16A is the same as Fig. 10A, and Fig. 16B is similar to Fig. 10B except that block ⑥ is replaced.

Referring to FIG. 16B, a defect list item indicating that block ⑤ in spare area #2 is an unusable block of the spare area and a defect list item indicating that block ⑦ in spare area #2 is an unusable block of the spare area are registered separately , and a defect list entry indicating that block ⑥ in spare area #2 before being enlarged is an available block of the spare area is registered. That is, blocks ⑤ and ⑦ are indicated as unusable blocks because they have defects, but block ⑥ is indicated as an available block because they do not have defects.

In this embodiment, after the spare area #2 is expanded, the replacement block ⑥ is registered as a defect list item indicating that it is an unusable block of the spare area in consideration of the usage direction of the spare area. However, in the present embodiment, the replacement block ② may also be registered as a defect list entry indicating that it is an available block of the spare area. Therefore, even if the block does not coincide with the use direction of the spare area, the disk can be used without wasting any space of the spare area by using blocks that are usable because there are no defects in them.

17A and 17B are reference diagrams for describing changing a list item of a block within a reallocated or enlarged spare area according to another embodiment of the present invention.

17A and 17B show states of change of defect list items in the cases described in FIGS. 15A to 16B. The defect entry before expanding or reallocating the spare area shown in FIG. 17A is a defect entry indicating state information of the block before expanding or reallocating the spare area shown in FIG. 15A or 16A. The defect entry after expanding or reallocating a block shown in FIG. 17B is a defect entry indicating state information of a block after expanding or reallocating a spare area shown in FIG. 15B or 16B.

17A and 17B are similar to those shown in FIGS. 11A and 11B according to the embodiment of the present invention except for the replacement block ②, and it can be seen that the state information of the replacement block ② changes according to the embodiment of the present invention.

An aspect of this embodiment is to make a replacement block of a spare area an available block in a reallocated or enlarged spare area. Referring to FIG. 17B, the status information of the replacement block ② is registered as "4". That is, status information indicating that the replacement block ② is a usable block is contained in the defect list item of the replacement block ②.

FIG. 18 is a diagram of a state of data of a defect list header just after enlarging or reallocating a spare area according to another embodiment of the present invention. That is, the update of the defect list header 120 after enlargement or reallocation of the spare area is shown in FIG. 18 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to Figure 18 similar to Figure 12, it can be seen that only the number 124 of available spare blocks shown in Figure 12B and the number 125 of unavailable spare blocks are different from the number 124 and unavailable spare blocks shown in Figure 18B. The number of spare blocks used is 125. That is, in this embodiment, a block that cannot use the replacement block ② is indicated, but in this embodiment, a block that can use the replacement block ② is indicated. Therefore, only the parts involved in this change are changed. More specifically, the number 124 of available spare blocks is increased by one compared with the number 124 of available spare blocks of FIG. The number of spare blocks of 125 is reduced by one and thus "2" is registered.

FIG. 19 is a flowchart showing a defect management method according to another embodiment of the present invention. Compared with FIG. 13A , only the part of processing a replacement block that replaces a defective block in a reallocated or enlarged spare area is different.

Referring to FIG. 19, first, a spare area is reallocated to a predetermined area of a disc or an existing spare area is expanded (operation 191). That is, when all the spare areas existing in the disc are used up or there is no more space left in the spare area, a new spare area is allocated or the spare area is enlarged.

Thereafter, the defect status of the blocks existing in the reallocated or enlarged spare area is checked (operation 192). That is, by managing the defect status of blocks in the reallocated or enlarged spare area, blocks within the spare area that have a defect or a high possibility of occurrence of a defect are not reused.

Thereafter, it is checked whether a block within the reallocated or enlarged spare area is a defective block (operation 193).

If the block is not a defective block, the next operation step is performed, and if the block is a defective block, it is checked whether the defective block has a replacement block (operation 194).

If the confirmation result indicates that the defective block does not have a replacement block, defect status information indicating that the defective block is an unusable replacement block is recorded on the disc (operation 196). In other words, a defect list item including defect state information indicating an unusable block for a spare area of the defective block is recorded in the defect list.

If the confirmation result indicates that the defective block has a replacement block, defect status information indicating that the replacement block is an available replacement block is recorded on the disc (operation 195). Thereafter, defect status information indicating that the defective block is an unusable replacement block is recorded on the disc (operation 196).

In the embodiment of the present invention, a defective block or a replacement block in the reallocated or enlarged spare area is determined. However, if the blocks satisfy Equation 1, the decision on usable or unusable blocks of the spare area may be changed according to the rules of the drive system or different manufacturers. Another embodiment according to the invention takes this into account.

That is, in order to satisfy Equation 1, when the defect list needs to be updated due to expanding the spare area or allocating a limited spare area while using the disc, regarding defective blocks in the expanded or reallocated spare area while using the disc and replacement A block, a defect list entry indicating that the defective block or replacement block is an available block for replacement or a defect list entry indicating that the defective block or replacement block is an unavailable block for replacement is registered.

That is, when the physical address of a defective block having a replacement block is located within the enlarged or reallocated spare area, a defect list entry indicating that the defective block is an available or unavailable block for replacement is registered. Also, a defect list entry indicating that the defective block is a usable or unusable block for replacement is registered.

When the physical address of a defective block having no replacement block is located within the enlarged or reallocated spare area, a defect list entry indicating that the defective block is a usable or unusable block for replacement is registered.

When the physical address of a possibly defective block is located within the enlarged or reallocated spare area, a defect list entry indicating that the defective block is a usable or unusable block for replacement is registered.

20A and 20B are reference diagrams for describing a method of processing defect list entries of blocks within a reallocated spare area according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 20A is a diagram showing the state of data blocks in a single recording layer disc in which only spare area #1 is allocated and used at initialization. FIG. 20B is a diagram showing processed status information of blocks included in spare area #2 in a disc having spare area #2 allocated therein when the disc is used.

Fig. 20A is the same as Fig. 15A.

Referring to FIG. 20B, according to a predetermined rule, in order to make all blocks, that is, block ② in spare area #1 and blocks ①, ③ and ④ in spare area #2 available or unavailable, all blocks are registered as indicating that they are spare areas Defect list entries for available or unavailable blocks.

FIG. 21 is a flowchart showing a method of defect management of a recordable optical recording medium according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 21, first, a spare area is reallocated to a predetermined area of a disc or an existing spare area is expanded (operation 211). That is, when all the spare areas existing in the disc are used up or there is no more space left in the spare area, a new spare area is allocated or the spare area is enlarged.

Thereafter, the defect status of the blocks existing in the reallocated or enlarged spare area is checked (operation 212). That is, by managing the defect status of blocks in the reallocated or enlarged spare area, blocks within the spare area that have a defect or a high possibility of occurrence of a defect are not reused.

Thereafter, it is checked whether a block within the reallocated or enlarged spare area is a defective block (operation 213).

If the block is a defective block, it is checked whether the defective block has a replacement block (operation 214).

If the confirmation result indicates that the defective block does not have a replacement block, defect status information indicating that the defective block is a usable or unusable replacement block is recorded on the disc according to a predetermined rule (operation 216). In other words, defect list items including defect state information indicating usable or unusable blocks of the spare area are recorded in the defect list according to a predetermined rule.

If the confirmation result indicates that the defective block has a replacement block, defect state information of the block indicating whether the replacement block is usable or unusable is recorded on the disc according to a predetermined rule (operation 215). Thereafter, with respect to the defective block, defect state information indicating that the defective block is a usable or unusable replacement block is recorded on the disc according to a predetermined rule (operation 216).

If it is determined that the block in the reallocated or enlarged spare area is a defective block, then in operation 217, it is determined whether the block has a possibility of being defective.

When it is determined that the block is likely to be defective, defect state information indicating whether the block is usable or a replacement block that is not usable is recorded on the disc according to a predetermined rule (operation 218).

FIG. 22 is a diagram of an exemplary method of processing defect list entries for improving driver performance according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 22, when a defective block with a replacement block and/or a defective block without a replacement block and a possible defective block are in the user data area even after the spare area is expanded or reallocated, the current state is maintained without changing the Defect list item.

Also, since the spare area is expanded or a new spare area is allocated, replacement blocks in the spare area before the spare area is expanded or reallocated cannot exist in the user data area after the spare area is expanded or reallocated.

When a defective block having a replacement block before expanding the spare area or reallocating the spare area is included in the spare area after expanding or reallocating the spare area, it is preferable but not necessary to change the defect list entry to indicate the Defective Blocks is a defect list entry for available replacement blocks.

In the case where the replacement block is included in the spare area after the spare area is expanded or reallocated, when the defective block corresponding to the replacement block is located in the spare area after the spare area is expanded or reallocated, it is preferable but not necessary to register Defect list entry indicating that a replacement block is an available replacement block. This is preferred but not necessary since the replacement block can no longer function as a replacement block for a defective block, and in this way the replacement block is used to replace another defective block.

In the case where a replacement block before expanding or reallocating the spare area is included in the spare area after expanding or reallocating the spare area, when the defective block corresponding to the replacement block is located after the spare area is enlarged or reallocated by the user While in the data area, preferably but not necessarily, the defect list entry for the replacement block remains in the same state as it was before the spare area was enlarged or reallocated. Since the defective block corresponding to the replacement block is located in the user data area after the spare area is enlarged or reallocated, it is preferable but not necessary to maintain the defect list entry in the current state because the replacement block is a valid block to replace the defective block .

When a defective block that does not have a defect list entry for a replacement block before expanding or reallocating a spare area is included in a spare area after expanding or reallocating a spare area, it is preferable but not necessary that the registration indicates the defective block Is a defect list item for unavailable replacement blocks.

When a defective block having a defect-possible defect list entry before expanding the spare area or reallocating the spare area is included in the spare area after expanding or reallocating the spare area, it is preferable but not necessary to register an instruction indicating the A defective block is a defect list entry for a replacement block that is not available.

Heretofore, methods of handling defect list entries in a spare area in an enlarged or reallocated rewritable information storage medium have been described. However, if this method is applied to a write-once information storage medium, all blocks that have been written in the enlarged or reallocated spare area need to be overwritten due to the write-once information storage medium that cannot be overwritten. A defect list entry (status information "5") registered as an unusable block for the spare area.

According to an aspect of the present invention, by managing defect state information of blocks in an enlarged or reallocated spare area, unnecessary operation steps of the drive system can be prevented, and thus the efficiency of the drive system can be improved.

The defect management method can also be embodied as computer readable codes on a computer readable recording medium. The computer readable recording medium is any data storage device that can store data which can be thereafter read by a computer system. Examples of the computer readable recording medium include read only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), CD-ROM, magnetic tapes, floppy disks, optical data storage devices, and carrier waves (such as data transmission through the Internet). The computer readable recording medium can also be distributed over network coupled computer systems so that the computer readable code is stored and executed in a distributed fashion. Also, functional programs, codes, and code segments for accomplishing the method of defect management can be easily interpreted by programmers skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains.

While certain embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that changes may be made to the embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined by the claims and its Equivalents limited. The examples should be considered illustrative rather than limiting. Therefore, the scope of the invention is defined not by the description of the invention but by the appended claims, and all differences within the scope will be construed as being included in the present invention.

Claims (2)

1. A method of managing defects on an information storage medium, comprising: generating a second defect list entry when a block corresponding to the first defect list entry exists in an enlarged or newly allocated spare area, Wherein, the first defect list item includes state information indicating that the block is a defective block without a replacement block and first information indicating the position of the block, and The second defect list entry includes status information indicating that the block is an unusable replacement block and second information indicating a location of the block. 2. A method of managing defects on an information storage medium, comprising: generating a second defect list entry when a block corresponding to the first defect list entry exists in an enlarged or newly allocated spare area, Wherein, the first defect list item includes status information indicating that the block is a possible defective block and first information indicating the location of the block, and The second defect list entry includes status information indicating that the block is an unusable replacement block and second information indicating a location of the block.

Images