JPH0922331A - Information recording and playback method - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) Abstract: When recording / reproducing large file data over a plurality of logical blocks at one time, the time required to issue a command cannot be ignored, resulting in a decrease in processing speed. SOLUTION: Host computer 1 via SCSI
Based on the command from 2, the specified information is recorded or reproduced on the optical card 1 in logical block address units, the optical card 1 is divided into a plurality of logical partitions, and the sector size used in each partition is specified. Command for specifying the partition to be recorded or reproduced and the host computer 1 via SCSI
In the method of recording / reproducing information transferred from the optical card 1, the optical card 1
Is included in a parameter of an instruction for dividing the logical partition into a plurality of logical partitions, and information for designating the relationship between the increasing direction of the logical block address and the array direction of the physical recording positions is included.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

The present invention relates to a SCSI (Small)
The present invention relates to an information recording / reproducing method for recording or reproducing predetermined information on an information recording medium based on a command from a host computer via a computer system interface).

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art SCSI is an interface SA that connects a small computer manufactured by Sugart Inc. of the United States and its peripheral devices.
It was deliberated by ANSI (American National Standards Institute) X3T9.2 working committee based on SI (Shugart Associates System Interface) and standardized as ANSI X3.131-1986. Currently, it is a peripheral device of a personal computer. Widely used as a standard interface to connect to. Further, recently, work for standardizing the extended version of SCSI-2 has been underway.

In the information recording / reproducing apparatus adopting the SCSI, when accessing the data on the information recording medium, fixed length data continuously arranged on the logical unit (in this case, the information recording / reproducing apparatus). It is designated by a logical block address that is a block. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing the configuration of logical blocks in the hard disk device. In FIG. 9, a data block of cylinder = 0, track = 0, sector = 0 is assigned to a logical block address = 0.
And 1 in the order of sector, track, cylinder
The logical block address is incremented by 1 for each increment. The advantage of using the logical block address is that the initiator (host computer) accesses the data by designating the logical block address of the first data block and the number of processing blocks, so that it is not necessary to consider the physical structure. Therefore, when logical block addressing is used, it is possible to operate with the same software when devices having different numbers of cylinders, tracks, sectors, etc. are connected.

FIG. 10 shows an example of a CDB (Command Descriptor Block) of a write command of group 0. In FIG. 10, the logical unit whose Logical Unit Number is the command is the Logical Block Addres
The s is the Tran
The sfer Length indicates the number of logical blocks in which the command is executed consecutively. For example, in the case of a write command, recording is performed from the logical block address indicated by Logical Block Address of the logical unit indicated by Logical Unit Number to consecutive logical blocks of logical block number indicated by Transfer Length. Reed (Re
The same is true for the ad) command.

On the other hand, conventionally known information recording media include a floppy disk for recording / reproducing by using magnetism, an optical information recording medium for recording / reproducing by using light, and the like. Among them, various types of optical information recording media are known, such as a disc shape, a card shape, and a tape shape. Among such optical information recording media,
A card-shaped optical information recording medium (hereinafter referred to as an optical card) is expected to be in great demand as a compact and lightweight information recording medium having a relatively large capacity which is convenient to carry. Information recording media are erasable and rewritable depending on the characteristics of the media, but optical cards are generally erasable and non-erasable, which is an advantage that rewriting is not possible in the medical field. It is expected to be applied in the following fields.

In these information recording media, auxiliary data for managing data in blocks for storing a large amount of data, so-called directories are used. As a directory, the file name, file length (capacity), creation date and time, attributes, etc.
It is composed of file information such as the head data track (or sector) number, and is written in a part of the recording medium for file management of the data section. The optical cards described above, especially the write-once optical cards that cannot be erased and rewritten, have a large recording capacity even if they are the size of a credit card, and manage a large amount of information. In order to do so, a method of managing information using a directory is needed.

FIG. 11 is a schematic plan view showing an example of a data and directory recording method in an optical card. The optical card 1 has a data recording area 10 and a directory recording area 20. A plurality of data are recorded in the data recording area 10 as 10 ₁ , 10 ₂ , ..., 10 _n . On the other hand, in the directory recording area 20, a plurality of directories for managing a plurality of data are recorded as sectors 20 ₁ , 20 ₂ , ..., 20 _n .
The data is sequentially additionally recorded in the E direction in the unrecorded portion of the data recording area 10, following the already recorded data.
On the other hand, the directory is D in the unrecorded portion of the directory recording area 20 after the already recorded directory.
It is additionally recorded in the direction. A series of data are collectively handled as a file, and a directory is added to each file. Note that, in FIG. 11, as an example, the sector type of 1 sector / track is used for data and the sector of 4 sectors / track is used for the directory, but the present invention is not limited to this.

By thus recording the data and the directory from the opposite directions of the track arrangement direction,
The recording capacity can be effectively utilized. That is, there is no general relationship between the number of tracks used to record data and the number of tracks used to record a directory. For example, when recording a large file, it is considered that the number of tracks used for data recording is large and the number of tracks used for directory recording is small. Conversely, when recording a large number of small data, the directory recording is used. It is possible that more trucks will be used for.

Therefore, n (for example, 500 tracks from track 0 to track 499) are previously recorded for directory recording.
M) for data recording (for example, tracks 500 to
(2000 tracks up to 2499 tracks) and their respective recording areas are allocated and used from the same direction in the track arrangement direction, when one area becomes full, even if the other area has a vacancy, the optical card Will not be able to record any more information and will not be able to utilize the recording capacity effectively. On the other hand, if the data and the directory are recorded from the opposite directions of the track arrangement direction as shown in FIG. 11, optical recording is performed until there is no unrecorded area between the two areas, that is, until there is no physically recorded area. The recording area of the card can be used, and the recording capacity can be effectively used.

Since optical cards are generally incapable of erasing and rewriting, the data capacity of one track of directory information, which is usually several tens of bytes, is 512 bytes or 1, for example.
If recorded on an optical card of 024 bytes, the remaining part of one track is wasted and the data capacity cannot be used effectively. Therefore, some optical cards can record a plurality of sectors on one track. However, in the SCSI system, when recording and reproducing using the above-mentioned logical block address, the logical blocks are treated as the same size (capacity), so that the data capacity per sector is the same as in the above optical card. Sectors with different (sector size) could not be used together.

Therefore, the applicant of the present application has disclosed an information recording / reproducing system which solves this problem in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-27915. That is, in an information recording / reproducing system in which predetermined information is recorded / reproduced on / from an information recording medium based on a command from a host computer via SCSI, the information recording medium is divided into a plurality of logical partitions, and It is an information recording / reproducing system characterized in that a command for instructing a sector size to be used and a command for instructing a partition to be recorded / reproduced are transferred from the host computer via the SCSI. By using this information recording / reproducing system, a plurality of sector types having different logical block sizes can be mixed on the same information recording medium in the SCSI system.

[0012]

Now, according to the above-mentioned conventional information recording / reproducing system, two partitions are set on one optical card, and data is read from above one partition as shown in FIG. Consider a case in which directories are recorded from the lower side of the other partition, respectively, in the opposite directions of the track arrangement direction. Since the partition set by this information recording / reproducing system is a logical one, it is possible to reset it later if necessary. Therefore, if the size of each partition is changed by resetting the partition size according to the usage condition of the optical card, information will be written to the optical card until there are no unrecorded tracks between the data and the directory. Can be recorded.
However, recording the data and the directory in the opposite directions of the track arrangement direction causes the following problems.

As shown in the example of the hard disk in FIG. 9, in a random access information recording / reproducing apparatus such as a hard disk, an optical disk, an optical card, a physical structure such as a sector or a track, that is, a physical address and a logical address. Regarding the relationship with the block address, the logical block address = 0 at the beginning or end of the information recording unit, and the logical block address is increased each time the smallest recording unit (generally a sector) is increased (or decreased) by one. When the smallest recording unit reaches the maximum value (or the smallest value), the next recording unit (normal track) is increased (or decreased) and the logical block address is increased (or decreased) according to the smallest recording unit. It is generally said to increase. Therefore, in an optical card consisting of a plurality of tracks including one or more sectors, if viewed largely (ignoring the relationship between the sector and the logical block address in the same track), the track number The increasing direction of the logical block address corresponds to the increasing direction or the decreasing direction. Therefore, when the data and the directory are recorded from the opposite directions of the track arrangement direction, one recording direction of the data and the directory coincides with the increasing direction of the logical block address,
The other will not match.

By the way, as described above, the SCSI read command and write command are executed by the Logica in the CDB.
From the logical block address indicated by l Block Address
It is configured such that the processing for the number of consecutive logical blocks indicated by Transfer Length can be issued by one command. However, at this time, it is general that consecutive logical block addresses are taken in the direction of increasing addresses, and when recording or reproducing consecutive logical blocks in the direction of decreasing logical block addresses, write / write of the number of logical blocks is performed. It is necessary to issue a read command.
Therefore, for example, if the data recording direction matches the logical block address increasing direction, one write / write operation is performed.
Data can be recorded / reproduced over a plurality of logical blocks by a read command.

On the other hand, however, since the recording direction of the directory is opposite to the increasing direction of the logical block address, in order to read all the directories on the optical card, the read command is issued several times for the recorded directories. If the number of recorded directories is large, the time required to issue the command cannot be ignored and the processing speed decreases. Conversely, if the recording direction of the directory matches the increasing direction of the address of the logical block, all the directories on the optical card can be read by one read command, but the recording direction of the data is Since this is the reverse of the address increasing direction, when recording / reproducing data over a plurality of logical blocks, it is necessary to issue a write / read command several times for recording the logical blocks. Therefore, when recording / reproducing large file data over a plurality of logical blocks at one time, the time required to issue the command cannot be ignored and the processing speed becomes a problem. That is, when the conventional information recording / reproducing system is applied to an optical card in which data and a directory are recorded from the opposite directions of the track arrangement direction, there is a problem that the processing speed is reduced.

In view of the above conventional problems, the present invention can record / reproduce a plurality of logical blocks by only issuing a write / read command once, and recording / reproduction can be performed without lowering the processing speed. The present invention aims to provide a new information recording / reproducing method.

[0017]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an SCS.
Based on a command from the host computer via I, predetermined information is recorded or reproduced on an information recording medium in logical block address units, and the information recording medium is divided into a plurality of logical partitions. In an information recording / reproducing method of transferring an instruction to specify a sector size to be used and an instruction to specify a partition to be recorded or reproduced from the host computer via the SCSI, the information recording medium is divided into a plurality of logical areas. This is achieved by an information recording / reproducing method, characterized in that the parameter of the instruction for dividing into different partitions includes information for specifying the relationship between the increasing direction of the logical block address and the arrangement direction of the physical recording positions. .

Another object of the present invention is an information recording / reproducing method for recording or reproducing predetermined information in logical block address units on an information recording medium based on a command from a host computer via SCSI. Is divided into multiple logical partitions, and the instruction to specify the sector size to be used in each partition, the instruction to specify the partition to be recorded or played back, and the first logical block to be recorded or played back. The address, the number of consecutive logical blocks, and the recording / reproducing command for designating the increasing / decreasing direction of the logical block address
This is achieved by an information recording / reproducing method characterized by transferring from the host computer via CSI.

[0019]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. First, FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of an optical card used in the information recording / reproducing method of the present invention. In FIG. 5, a plurality of tracking tracks 2 are provided in parallel on an optical card 1, and a data track 3 for recording information between the tracking tracks 2.
Are provided respectively. At both ends of the data track 3, a physical track number 4 indicating the physical position of the data track 3 is pre-formatted in advance. Also, on the data track 3, four sectors 3 are provided per track.
1, 32, 33, 34 are arranged. The physical track number 4 is number 0 on the lower end side of the optical card 1 and increases as it goes to the upper end side, and is 2499 at the uppermost end. The physical sector number is the sector 0 at the leftmost sector of the card, and the sector number increases toward the right side. The sectors on the optical card 1 correspond to SCSI logical blocks. As described above, the optical card is generally capable of supporting a plurality of sector types having different sector sizes, and the number of sectors arranged on one track is not limited to four as shown in FIG.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the structure of the CDB of an instruction (partition command) that specifies the sector size to be used in each partition by dividing the information recording medium in this embodiment into a plurality of logical partitions. is there.
The Operation Code of byte 0 indicates the code number of the command, and in this configuration example, C3H (H indicates hexadecimal number) is given as the vendor unique command of group 6. Logical Unit Number from bits 7 to 5 of byte 1
Is given as the logical unit number of the target device. Byte 3 and byte 4 are given the length of the parameter shown in FIG. The length of this parameter depends on the number of partitions. Bit 4 of byte 1
To 0, byte 2, and byte 5 are all set to 0.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration example of parameters (partition parameters) transferred from a host computer by a partition command. In the configuration example of FIG. 1, not only the sector size used in the partition but also whether or not to record with ECC (error correction code), and the increasing direction of the logical block address of the partition coincides with the increasing direction of the track number. It is configured to be able to specify whether or not to allow it.

In the configuration example of FIG. 1, Number of byte 0
of Partition indicates the number of partitions to be divided. This byte is specified only once in this parameter. The Partition Number in byte 1 indicates the partition number.
In this configuration example, the numbers must start from 0 and be continuous. The partition 0 is a partition that uses the track with the smallest track number (in the example of FIG. 5, the partition at the bottom of the optical card). First Physical Track Address of byte 2 and byte 3,
Indicates the first physical track number of the partition, 1
It must be the last physical track number of the previous partition + 1. Number of Phys in bytes 4 and 5
ical Track indicates the number of physical tracks belonging to the partition. For the Sector Type of byte 6, specify the sector type number shown in Table 1 with ASCII code (30H to 37H).

[0023]

[Table 1] Dir (direction) of bit 7 of byte 7 specifies whether to increase the logical block address of the partition in the same direction as the track number.
In the case of "0", the increasing direction of the logical block address and the increasing direction of the track number are the same, and in the case of "1", they are opposite.
Byte 7 and ECC mode of bit 6 to bit 0 specify whether or not to record with ECC. “0” indicates recording without ECC, and “1” indicates recording with ECC.

In the above description, bytes 1 to 7 are designated by the number of partitions to be divided, and bytes 8 onward are designated by information corresponding to bytes 1 to 7 for the next partition. In the specification of the above parameters, it is necessary to specify that one partition always has one or more physical tracks. Further, it is not allowed to specify that there is a physical track that does not belong to any partition or that one physical track belongs to a plurality of partitions.

For example, the optical card 1 is divided into two partitions, partition 1 is used for data recording with sector type 1, partition 0 is used with sector type 6 for directory recording, and is used with ECC. As shown in Fig. 11, data is sent from the top of the optical card,
If you want to make the directory from the bottom of the optical card, the values are as shown in Table 2, and the partition parameters are 02H, 00H, 00H, 00H, 01H, F4.
H, 36H, 01H, 01H, 01H, F4H, 07
H, D0H, 30H, 81H.

[0026]

[Table 2] FIG. 3 specifies a partition used for recording and reproduction in this embodiment (SAP: Select Active Partition
) Is a diagram showing a configuration example of a CDB of an instruction. Byte 0 O
The peration Code indicates the code number of the command, and in this configuration example, it is C as a vendor unique command for group 6.
5H is given. Byte 1 bits 7 to 5 Lo
The logical unit number of the target device is given as the gical Unit Number. Byte 4 is given the number of the partition (active partition) used for recording and reproduction. Bits 4 to 0 of byte 1,
Byte 2, byte 3, and byte 5 are all set to 0.

FIG. 4 shows S related to the information recording / reproducing method of the present invention.
It is a block diagram showing an example of composition of a CSI system. In FIG. 4, 5 is a SCSI controller. SCS
The I controller 5 is a SCSI protocol circuit (S that performs sequence control of SCSI signals based on the SCSI standard).
PC) 6, MP which is a control device for controlling the SCSI controller 5 according to a program stored in the ROM 7.
It is composed of U8 and a RAM 9 used as a buffer memory and the like. An information recording / reproducing apparatus 10 is connected to the SCSI controller 5, and an optical card 1 (not shown) is inserted in the information recording / reproducing apparatus 10.

Until the partition command is given from the host computer 12, the SCSI controller 5 has the optical card 1 inserted in the information recording / reproducing apparatus 10 in which the entire surface of the card is one partition and the sector type is type 1. Then, the logical block address is increased in the same direction as the track number is increased, and it is interpreted that the recording is performed with ECC, and the command such as recording and reproducing is executed to the optical card 1. In this case, the logical block address specified in the CDB of the recording / reproducing command (the Write command and the Read command in the SCSI command) is 0 at the data track at the bottom end of the card, and the address is increased as the data track at the top end is reached. The number increases.

Next, the case where the partition command is given will be described. Now, it is assumed that the SCSI controller 5 is selected by the host computer 12. At this time, due to selection, SPC
An interrupt 11 is issued from 6 to the MPU 8. MP
U8 controls SPC6 to shift the phase of the SCSI bus to the command phase and receive the command. now,
It is assumed that the received command is a C3H partition command. In this case, the MPU 8 controls the SPC 6 to shift to the data out phase to receive the parameters shown in FIG. 2 and store the information of each partition on the RAM 9. The parameters received at this time are as described in the above example. After the transfer of this parameter is completed, the processing for the partition command is completed through the status phase and the message in phase.

As a result, the SCSI controller 5
Optical card 1 inserted in the information recording / reproducing apparatus 10
Are divided into two partitions specified by the parameters, and each partition is also recorded in the sector type specified by the parameters and ECC mode, and the logical block address increases in the direction specified by the parameters. Interpret that the direction is set.
However, since the partition to be used is not specified yet, the partition used for recording and reproducing is interpreted as partition 0, and the command for recording and reproducing to the optical card 1 is executed.

On the other hand, when the SAP command (C5H) is given, byte 4 in the CDB specifies the active partition. Now, assume that partition 1 is designated as the active partition. Based on the partition information stored in the RAM 9, the MPU 8 subsequently interprets the recording / playback command as for the partition 1 and executes the recording / playback command until the next SAP command is given. That is, the data transfer phase (data in phase, data
The number of bytes to be transferred in the (out phase), the sector type specified by the parameter of the partition command,
It is determined based on the ECC mode, and it is interpreted that the increasing direction of the logical block address is set in the direction designated by the parameter, and the necessary operation parameter inside the SCSI controller is set.

The SCSI controller 5 sends the logical block address specified by the write / read command to the partition (SAP
It is converted into a physical track number and a sector number according to the value of dir in the parameter for the partition 0 before receiving the command and the partition specified by the SAP command after receiving the SAP command) Recording of information on the inserted optical card 1,
Perform playback. The physical track number and sector number are 0.
The physical track number increases from the bottom edge of the optical card, the sector number increases from the right edge of the optical card to the left, and the logical block address in the same track is the same as the sector number increasing direction. . (1) When dir = 0 Tr # = Tf + int (LBA / M) ... (1) Sct # = MOD (LBA / M) (2) (2) When dir = 1 Tr # = ( Tf + N-1) -int (LBA / M) ... (3) Sct # = MOD (LBA / M) ... (4) where Tr #: physical track number, Sct #: sector number, Tf: First physical track number of partition, N: number of physical tracks in the partition, M:
Number of sectors per track for that sector type, L
BA: logical block address, int (): a function for obtaining an integer part in parentheses, and MOD (): a function for obtaining a remainder of calculation in parentheses.

When partitioning is performed as shown in Table 2, partition 0 starts from the data track whose physical track number is 0, and the sector type is type 6 and 1
Since 2 sectors / track and dir = 0, Tf =
0 and M = 12. Therefore, logical block address = 0
Is Tr # = 0 + int (0/12) = 0 Sct # = MOD (0/12) = 0, and the physical track number is 0 (the uppermost track of the optical card) sector 0 (the leftmost sector of the card). )
Corresponding to

Similarly, for the sector of logical block address = 100, Tr # = 0 + int (100/12) = 8 Sct # = MOD (100/12) = 4. Therefore, the sector of sector number 4 of the data track of physical track number 8 is obtained.

On the other hand, partition 1 starts from a data track whose physical track number is 500 (1F4H),
The number of tracks is 2000 and the sector type is type 1.
Since 1 sector / track and dir = 1, Tf
= 500 and M = 1. Therefore, logical block address = 0 is Tr # = (500 + 2000-1) -int (0/1)
= 2499 Sct # = MOD (0/1) = 0, which corresponds to the sector whose physical track number is 2499 (the uppermost track of the optical card). In this case, since there is only one sector in one track, the sector number is always 0.

Similarly, the sector of logical block address = 100 is Tr # = (500 + 2000-1) -int (100 /
1) = 2399 Sct # = MOD (100/1) = 0, and the sector has a physical track number of 2399.

The partition command of this embodiment is only a logical one, and no physical recording such as partition boundaries is made on the optical card. Therefore, it is possible to change the partition information once set by using the partition command again. That is, two of 500 and 2000 as used in the above example.
When the number of unused tracks in the data partition 1 decreases and the directory partition 0 has a free space while being divided into two partitions and used, for example, 300 partitions 0 and 2 partitions 1 are used.
It can be newly redefined and used by using a partition command to use 200 lines. In this way, the recording capacity of the optical card can be effectively used until there is no unrecorded track between the data and the directory.

In the partition parameter shown in the embodiment, the partition range is defined by the first physical track number and the number of physical tracks included in the partition. It may be defined by the last physical track number. Also, with the partition parameters shown in the example,
The uppermost bit of the byte indicating the presence / absence of ECC is used to specify whether the increasing direction of the logical block address of the partition matches the increasing direction of the track number. Other bytes may be used for the designation. Further, it goes without saying that the number of user bytes per sector of the sector type used in the embodiment and the number of sectors per track are merely examples.

Next, another embodiment of the present invention will be described. First, it is assumed that the optical card of FIG. 5 is used also in this embodiment. In addition, the information recording medium in the present embodiment is divided into a plurality of logical partitions, and the CDB configuration example of the command (partition command) for designating the sector size used in each partition is also as shown in FIG. is there. That is, in FIG. 2, the operation of byte 0
Code indicates a code number of a command, and in this configuration example, C3H (H indicates a hexadecimal number) is given as a vendor unique command of group 6. As the Logical Unit Number of bits 7 to 5 of byte 1, the logical unit number of the target device is given. Byte 3 and byte 4 are given the length of the parameter shown in FIG. The length of this parameter depends on the number of partitions. Byte 1, bits 4 to 0, byte 2,
Byte 5 is set to all 0s.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a configuration example of parameters (partition parameters) transferred from the host computer by the partition command. FIG.
In the above configuration example, not only the sector size used in the partition but also whether or not to record with an ECC (error correction code) can be specified.

In the configuration example of FIG. 6, Number of byte 0
of Partition indicates the number of partitions to be divided. This byte is specified only once in this parameter. The Partition Number in byte 1 indicates the partition number.
In this configuration example, the numbers must start from 0 and be continuous. Partition 0 is a partition that uses the track with the smallest track number (the partition at the bottom of the optical card in the example of FIG. 5). The First Physical Track Address of byte 2 and byte 3 indicates the start physical track number of the partition, and must be the last physical track number of the preceding partition + 1. Byte 4 and Byte 5 Number of Physical Tr
ack indicates the number of physical tracks belonging to the partition. For the Sector Type of byte 6, specify the sector type number shown in Table 1 above with an ASCII code (30H to 37H). Byte 7 ECC Mode specifies whether or not to record with ECC. "0" records without ECC, "1"
Shows recording with ECC. In addition, in the above, bytes 1 to 7 are designated by the number of partitions to be divided, and from byte 8 onward, information corresponding to bytes 1 to 7 for the next partition is designated. In the specification of the above parameters, it is necessary to specify that one partition always has one or more physical tracks. Further, it is not allowed to specify that there is a physical track that does not belong to any partition or that one physical track belongs to a plurality of partitions. For example, if the optical card 1 is divided into two partitions, and the partition 1 is sector type 1 for data recording, and the partition 0 is sector type 6 for directory recording and both are used with ECC, the respective values are shown in Table 3. And the partition
The parameters are 02H, 00H, 00H, 00H, 01
H, F4H, 36H, 01H, 01H, 01H, F4
H, 07H, D0H, 30H, 01H.

[0042]

[Table 3] In addition, a partition used for recording and reproduction in this embodiment is designated (SAP: Select Active Partition
) The configuration example of the CDB of the instruction is also as shown in FIG. That is, in FIG. 3, the operation code of byte 0 indicates the code number of the command, and in this configuration example, the group 6
C5H is given as a vendor unique command. Logical Unit Numbe from bytes 7 to 5 of byte 1
The logical unit number of the target device is given as r. Byte 4 is given the number of the partition (active partition) used for recording and reproduction. Bits 4 to 0 of byte 1, byte 2, byte 3, and byte 5 are all set to 0.

SCS relating to the information recording / reproducing method of the present embodiment
The configuration example of the I system is also as shown in FIG. That is,
In FIG. 4, 5 is a SCSI controller,
It is composed of a SCSI protocol circuit (SPC) 6 that controls the sequence of SCSI signals based on the SI standard, an MPU 8 that is a control device that controls the SCSI controller 5 according to a program stored in the ROM 7, and a RAM 9 that is used as a buffer memory. ing. An information recording / reproducing device 10 is connected to the SCSI controller 5,
An optical card 1 (not shown) is inserted in the information recording / reproducing apparatus 10.

In this embodiment, the SCSI controller 5 operates until the partition command is given from the host computer 12 to the information recording / reproducing apparatus 10.
The optical card 1 inserted inside has one partition on the entire surface, the sector type is type 1, and the EC type
Interpretation is made such that recording is performed with C, and commands such as recording and reproducing for the optical card 1 are executed. In this case, record,
The logical block address specified in the CDB of the playback command (Write and Read commands in the SCSI command) is 0 for the data track at the bottom of the optical card.
And the address number increases as the data track goes to the upper end.

Next, the case where the partition command is given will be described. Now, it is assumed that the SCSI controller 5 is selected by the host computer 12. At this time, due to selection, SPC
An interrupt 11 is issued from 6 to the MPU 8. MP
U8 controls SPC6 to shift the phase of the SCSI bus to the command phase and receive the command. now,
It is assumed that the received command is a C3H partition command. In this case, the MPU 8 controls the SPC 6 to shift to the data out phase to receive the parameters shown in FIG. 2 and store the information of each partition on the RAM 9. The parameters received at this time are as described in the above example. After the transfer of this parameter is completed, the processing for the partition command is completed through the status phase and the message in phase.

As described above, in the SCSI controller 5, the optical card 1 inserted in the information recording / reproducing apparatus 10 is divided into two partitions designated by the parameters, and each partition is similarly designated by the parameters. It is understood that recording is performed in the sector type and ECC mode. However, since the partition to be used is not specified yet, it is interpreted that the partition used for recording and reproducing is partition 0, and the command for recording and reproducing to the optical card 1 is executed.

On the other hand, when the SAP command (C5H) is given, byte 4 in the CDB specifies the active partition. Now, assume that partition 1 is designated as the active partition. Based on the partition information stored in the RAM 9, the MPU 8 subsequently interprets the recording / playback command as for the partition 1 and executes the recording / playback command until the next SAP command is given. That is, the data transfer phase (data in phase, data
The number of bytes to be transferred in the (out phase), the sector type specified by the parameter of the partition command,
Determined based on the ECC mode and set the necessary operating parameters inside the SCSI controller.

The SCSI controller 5 converts the logical block address designated by the write / read command into a physical track number and a sector number as described below, and converts the logical block address into the optical card 1 inserted in the information recording / reproducing apparatus 10. It records and reproduces information. The physical track number and the sector number start from 0, the physical track number increases from the bottom edge of the optical card upward, and the sector number increases from the right edge of the optical card to the left side. Is in the same direction as the sector number increases.

Tr # = Tf + int (LBA / M) Sct # = MOD (LBA / M) where Tr #: physical track number, Sct #: sector number, Tf: head physical track number of the partition, M: sector Type is the number of sectors per track, LBA is a logical block address, int () is a function for obtaining an integer part in parentheses, and MOD () is a function for obtaining a remainder of calculation in parentheses.

When the partition is divided as shown in Table 3, partition 0 starts from the data track whose physical track number is 0, and the sector type is type 6 and 1
Since there are 2 sectors / track, Tf = 0 and M = 12. Therefore, the logical block address = 0 is Tr # = 0 + int (0/12) = 0 Sct # = MOD (0/12) = 0, and the sector of the track with the physical track number 0 (the track at the top of the optical card) It corresponds to 0 (the leftmost sector of the optical card).

Similarly, for the sector of logical block address = 100, Tr # = 0 + int (100/12) = 8 Sct # = MOD (100/12) = 4. Therefore, the sector of sector number 4 of the data track of physical track number 8 is obtained.

On the other hand, the partition 1 starts from the data track whose physical track number is 500 (1F4H),
The number of tracks is 2000 and the sector type is type 1.
Since there are 1 sector / track, Tf = 500, M =
It becomes 1. Therefore, the logical block address = 0 is Tr # = 500 + int (0/1) = 500 Sct # = MOD (0/1) = 0, which corresponds to the sector whose physical track number is 500. In this case, since there is only one sector in one track, the sector number is always 0.

Similarly, the sector of logical block address = 100 is Tr # = 500 + int (100/1) = 600, Sct # = MOD (100/1) = 0, and the sector whose physical track number is 600.

FIGS. 7 and 8 are diagrams showing examples of the CDB structure of the read command and the write command in this embodiment, respectively. For example, in the write command shown in FIG. 8, dir (direction) is added to bit 7 of byte 5 as compared with the CDB structure of the write command used in the conventional recording / reproducing system shown in FIG. There is. dir designates the continuous direction of the number of processing blocks designated by Transfer Length in the CDB.
= 0 means that the logical block address increases, and dir = 1 means that the logical block address decreases. The same applies to the case of the read command shown in FIG. Although the configuration example of the CDB is not shown, the Write and Verify (Write and Verif)
The same applies to other recording / reproducing commands such as y) command and verify command.

When the SCSI controller 5 receives the write command or the read command, the CD
The information recording / reproducing apparatus 10 is controlled so as to record or reproduce from the logical block address specified by the logical block address in B to the continuous logical block specified by Transfer Length. At this time, the information recording / reproducing device 10 is specified by dir. Specify logical blocks that are continuous in the specified direction. For example, Logical Block Address = 0, Transfer Length =
5, when a read command of dir = 0 is received, 5 consecutive logical blocks having logical block addresses 0, 1, 2, 3, 5 are read. On the other hand, Logical Block Ad
When a write / read command with dress = 2499, Transfer Length = 4, and dir = 1 is received, the logical block addresses are 4499, 2498, 2497, and 2496.
Write information to consecutive logical blocks. Therefore, by designating dir, it is possible to record / reproduce a plurality of logical blocks with one recording / reproducing command in either the increasing / decreasing direction of the logical block address.

Also in this embodiment, the partition command is only logical, and no physical recording such as the boundary of the partition is made on the optical card. Therefore, it is possible to change the partition information once set by using the partition command again. That is, as used in the above example, 500 and 2
While dividing into two partitions of 000,
If the number of unused tracks in the data partition 1 decreases and there is a free space in the directory partition 0, use a partition command such that 300 partitions 0 and 2200 partitions 1 are used, for example. It can be newly redefined and used. In this way, the recording capacity of the optical card can be effectively used until there is no unrecorded track between the data and the directory.

The partition shown in this embodiment
The parameter defines the range of the partition by the first physical track number and the number of physical tracks included in the partition, but this may be defined by the first physical track number and the last physical track number. In addition, in the embodiment, the bits that specify the continuous direction of the number of processing blocks are stipulated by the manufacturer in the SCSI standard (Vendor Specifi).
Although it is set to the bit position in the CDB of the command shown in c), other positions may be used functionally. However,
In order to meet the SCSI standard, it is desirable to use the locations allowed by the manufacturer's regulations. Furthermore, it goes without saying that the number of user bytes per sector of the sector type used in the embodiments and the number of sectors per track are merely examples.

[0058]

As described above, according to the present invention, the logical block address increasing direction and the physical recording position arranging direction are included in the parameter of the command for dividing the information recording medium into a plurality of logical partitions. By including the information designating the relationship with the SCSI, it is possible to mix a plurality of sector types with different logical block sizes on the same information recording medium.
It is possible in the system without any inconsistency, and since the relationship between the increasing direction of the logical block address of each partition and the arrangement direction of the physical recording position can be specified, the data and directory can be changed from the opposite direction of the track arrangement direction. Even when applied to an optical card for recording, it is possible to record / reproduce a plurality of logical blocks by issuing a normal write / read command prescribed by SCSI once.
Recording / reproduction can be performed at high speed without lowering the processing speed.

Further, the information recording medium is divided into a plurality of logical partitions, a command for designating a sector size to be used in each partition, a command for designating a partition as a recording / reproducing target, and a recording / reproducing process. Similarly, the same information recording medium can be obtained by transferring the recording / reproducing command designating the leading logical block address, the number of consecutive logical blocks, and the increasing / decreasing direction of the logical block address from the host computer via SCSI. It is possible to mix a plurality of sector types having different logical block sizes in a SCSI system without any conflict. Furthermore,
Since the continuous direction of blocks for recording / reproducing can be specified by the recording / reproducing command, even when applied to an optical card in which data and directories are recorded in the directions opposite to each other, the write / read command is also applied. Is issued once, the plurality of logical blocks can be recorded / reproduced in the SCSI system without contradiction, and the processing speed does not decrease.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a parameter transferred from a host computer by an instruction (partition command) that divides an information recording medium in an embodiment of the present invention into a plurality of logical partitions and specifies a sector size used in each partition. It is a figure showing the example of composition of (partition parameter).

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a CDB of a partition command.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a CDB of an instruction that specifies a partition used for recording and reproduction according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a SCSI system according to the information recording / reproducing method of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of an optical card used in the information recording / reproducing method of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a configuration example of parameters (partition parameters) transferred from a host computer by a partition command in another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a CDB of a read command according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a CDB of a write command in another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a configuration of logical blocks in a hard disk device.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the structure of a conventional write command CDB.

FIG. 11 is a schematic plan view for explaining a method of recording data and a directory on the optical card.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Optical Card 2 Tracking Track 3 Data Track 4 Physical Track Number 5 SCSI Controller 6 SCSI Protocol Circuit (SPC) 7 ROM 8 MPU 9 RAM 10 Information Recording / Reproducing Device 12 Host Computer

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. Information is recorded or reproduced on an information recording medium in logical block address units based on a command from a host computer via SCSI, and the information recording medium is divided into a plurality of logical partitions. In the information recording / reproducing method, an instruction to specify a sector size to be used in each partition and an instruction to specify a partition to be recorded or reproduced are transferred from the host computer via the SCSI,
A parameter of an instruction for dividing the information recording medium into a plurality of logical partitions includes information for designating a relationship between an increasing direction of a logical block address and an array direction of physical recording positions. Information recording / playback method. 2. The information recording / reproducing method according to claim 1, wherein whether or not an error correction code is added at the time of recording is specified in each partition. 3. An information recording / reproducing method for recording or reproducing predetermined information on an information recording medium in logical block address units based on a command from a host computer via SCSI. Divide into partitions and specify the sector size to be used in each partition, the command to specify the partition to be recorded or played, the start logical block address to be recorded or played, and the sequence of logical blocks. An information recording / reproducing method characterized in that a recording / reproducing command designating an increase / decrease direction of a number and a logical block address is transferred from the host computer via the SCSI. 4. The information recording / reproducing method according to claim 3, wherein whether or not an error correction code is added at the time of recording is specified in each partition.