JPH0935272A - Optical information recording medium, information recording / reproducing apparatus, and information recording method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) Abstract: For an optical information recording medium in which a track is composed of a land portion and a groove portion formed in a spiral shape, the track address is set to the inner circumference of the disc by optical recording such as magneto-optical recording. It is formed with consecutive numbers from to the outer circumference. A light source for recording / reproducing 23 or a recording / reproducing head (optical head 25) having a magnetic head, and a format generator 27 for generating a preformatted signal and outputting the generated preformatted signal in response to a format start instruction. A driver 26 for driving the light source 23 on the basis of the output preformat signal, a position detecting means for detecting the position of the recording / reproducing head in the disk radial direction, and a land portion and a groove portion on the basis of the detected position. A control circuit 28 which obtains each format start track and issues a format start instruction based on the obtained format start track to perform formatting.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a disc-shaped optical information recording medium in which tracks are composed of spirally formed land portions and groove portions, and information is recorded on the optical information recording medium. The present invention relates to an information recording / reproducing apparatus for reproducing and an information recording method thereof.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, various kinds of techniques for optically recording and reproducing information have been known, and when these are roughly classified according to information recording and reproducing systems with respect to a medium,
ROM (playback only) type, WORM (additional write) type, R / W
There are three types of (rewritable) types. Each of these media has a substrate made of a transparent material such as glass or polycarbonate, and is classified according to the difference in the material to be coated or formed on the substrate. That is, if a material such as Al having a high reflectance and a high thermal stability is used on the substrate, RO
When a material that causes an irreversible reaction by heat, such as M type or an organic dye, is used, a WORM type, a thermally or magnetically reversible reaction such as a magnetic material or a phase change material (which can be in a crystalline or amorphous state) It is classified into the R / W type when the material that produces is used.

Optical information recording media are roughly classified into disc type, card type and tape type according to their shapes. Each of these types of optical information recording media has its own characteristics and can be used properly depending on the intended use. Among them, the disc type is the most popular because it excels in high-speed information transfer.

The data recorded on the disc is continuously formed in a predetermined amount in the circumferential direction of the disc and is generally called a track. In the case of a disc type information recording medium,
The data tracks can be formed concentrically or in a spiral shape, but it is advantageous to form the spiral tracks in order to handle a large amount of data in view of the continuity of data transfer.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a disk type optical information recording medium having spirally formed tracks.

In FIG. 3, 100 is a disk and 103
Reference numerals a to 103c are grooves 102a and 102, which are guide grooves spirally formed on the recording surface of the disc 100.
b is a land formed between the grooves 103a to 103c.

In this optical information recording medium, a groove or a space (land) between grooves is used as a data track, and a large amount of data is recorded by reproducing and recording information while advancing an information recording / reproducing light beam along the data track. Can be treated continuously. Recently, a technique called land / groove recording has been developed so that a larger amount of data can be handled. This is to record data on both land and groove,
As a result, the recording capacity can be doubled.

When information is recorded / reproduced on / from both the land / groove as described above, for example, a tracking error signal is generated based on the output of each sensor section of the two-division photodetector (or four-division photodetector). A push-pull method is used in which tracking is performed by means of tracking. In this case, the polarity of the generated tracking error signal is inverted between the land and the groove. For example, as shown in FIG. 4, when the light spot sequentially crosses the land and the groove from the outer circumference of the disc to the inner circumference of the groove 103a to the groove 103c, the tracking error signal rises at the groove 103a and is adjacent to the tracking error signal. The polarity is inverted, such as a falling zero cross at the center of the land 102a and a rising zero cross at the adjacent groove 103b. As described above, the polarities of the tracking error signals are inverted between the lands and the grooves. Therefore, when recording / reproducing information, the polarities of the tracking error signals are switched depending on whether the tracks to be recorded / reproduced are lands or grooves for tracking.

From the above, when information is recorded on the optical information recording medium shown in FIG. 3, for example, after the tracking servo is turned off, the tracking polarity is switched to the land side polarity and the optical head is landed. After moving to 102a, the tracking servo is turned on to record data, and after the tracking servo is turned off, the tracking polarity is switched and the optical head is moved to the groove 10
3b, and after the movement, the tracking servo is turned on to record data, so that information is alternately recorded on the land and the groove by packing from the outer peripheral side (or inner peripheral side) of the disk. In the case of this recording, information is alternately recorded in the land and the groove while the track jump operation is performed, but in order not to impair the continuity of the recording / reproducing operation,
Recording is performed without performing the track jump operation in the order of the land 102a and the land 102b, and when the land portion is full, the polarity is switched to the groove side, and in the order of the groove 103a, the groove 103b. Records can also be made.

[0010]

Normally, a disc-shaped optical recording medium is divided into sectors which divide an information recording area into units of several hundreds to several kilobytes, and information recording / reproduction is performed for each sector. . Each sector has a pre-format section in which pre-format information such as the track position (track address) where the sector exists and the sector position (sector address) is recorded in advance. When recording and reproducing the information, this pre-format section is used. The target sector in the target track is searched based on the track address and the sector address recorded in. The pre-format information such as the track address recorded in this sector is information unique to the location and is not rewritten once it is written. Therefore, it is a rewritable disc (R / W type disc). However, it is usually formed by phase pits (concavo-convex pits).

In the above-mentioned optical information recording medium in which tracks are formed by spirally formed land portions and groove portions as shown in FIG. 3, the track address is used, for example, on the outer peripheral side or the inner peripheral side of the disc. By performing the formatting such as the formation from the land to the groove and the continuous number, it becomes easy to manage the recording and reproduction of the information on the disc. However, when the preformat information is formed by the phase pits as described above, there are the following problems.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a state in which preformat information is formed by phase pits (concave and convex pits) in the optical information recording medium shown in FIG.
Uneven pits 106 on both 3a and land 102a
a and 106b are formed. Groove 1 like this
Uneven pits 106 on both 03a and lands 102a
When a and 106b are formed, when the information such as the track address is reproduced by utilizing the interference of the reflected light from the concave and convex pits, crosstalk due to the phase pits occurs between the groove 103a and the land 102a, and the reproduction is not performed. It may not be done correctly. Furthermore, the uneven pits 106a,
If the address information of 106b is different, the tracking servo for causing the recording / reproducing spot to follow the track may be adversely affected.

If the preformat information is recorded using a method similar to the method of recording user data, for example, optical recording such as magneto-optical recording, instead of recording the preformat information by phase pits, crosstalk may occur. Since the influence and the adverse effect on the tracking servo will not occur, it is effective to use this method as a method for solving the above problem. However, in the optical information recording medium shown in FIG. 3, track addresses are formed by numbers consecutive from the outer circumference side or the inner circumference side of the disc to the lands and grooves by using optical recording such as magneto-optical recording as described above. There is no information recording / reproducing device capable of formatting, and the development of this device has been a problem.

An object of the present invention is to provide a track address to an inner circumference of a disk by optical recording such as magneto-optical recording on an optical information recording medium having a track formed by a land portion and a groove portion formed in a spiral shape. It is an object of the present invention to provide an information recording / reproducing apparatus and an information recording method capable of forming consecutive numbers from the outer circumference to the outer circumference.

[0015]

The information recording / reproducing apparatus of the present invention is for recording / reproducing information on / from a disc-shaped optical information recording medium having tracks formed by spirally formed land portions and groove portions. In the information recording / reproducing apparatus for performing, pre-format signal generating means for respectively generating a pre-format signal for formatting the land portion and the groove portion, and outputting the generated pre-format signal according to a format start instruction, A recording / reproducing head for recording information on the recording surface of the optical information recording medium based on the pre-format signal output from the pre-format signal generating means, and a position of the recording / reproducing head in the disc radial direction are set. Based on the position detecting means for detecting and the position detected by the position detecting means Control means for obtaining the respective format start tracks in the land portion and the groove portion and for instructing the pre-format signal generation means to perform the format start instruction based on the obtained format start tracks. It is characterized by

The above information recording / reproducing apparatus further comprises a reproducing system for obtaining a reproduction signal based on the output of the recording / reproducing head, and the control means detects one of the land portion and the groove portion by the position detecting means. Formatting is performed on the basis of the format start track obtained based on the determined position, and on the other hand, the format start track is obtained on the basis of the reproduction signal related to the format obtained by the reproduction system, and the format is started based on this. May be performed. In this case, a phase synchronizing means for synchronizing the phase of the reproduced signal obtained in the reproducing system and the preformatted signal outputted from the preformatted signal generating means may be further provided. Further, the position information of the format start track in the land portion and the groove portion is recorded in a predetermined portion of the optical information recording medium,
The control means may obtain the format start track in the land portion and the groove portion based on the reproduction signal relating to the position information of the predetermined portion obtained from the reproduction system, and perform the formatting based on this, or may be p.

Further, the FG circuit for generating the FG signal which is the basis of the rotation speed control of the disk rotation, and the phase of the FG signal generated by the FG circuit and the preformatted signal output from the preformatted signal generating means. It may further have a phase synchronization means for achieving synchronization.

The optical information recording medium of the present invention is a disc-shaped optical information recording medium in which a track is composed of a land portion and a groove portion formed in a spiral shape.
Preformat information is recorded on each track of the land part and the groove part by optical recording, and track addresses are continuous from the inner circumference to the outer circumference of the disc.

In this case, the optical recording may be magneto-optical recording.

Further, the track address in the land portion and the track address in the groove portion may be the same.

Further, the optical information recording medium of the present invention is an optical information recording medium used in the above-mentioned information recording / reproducing apparatus, and the position information of the format start track in the land portion and the groove portion is recorded in a predetermined portion. It is characterized by being.

The information recording method of the present invention is an information recording method performed on a disc-shaped optical information recording medium in which a track is composed of a land portion and a groove portion formed in a spiral shape. Part, a first step of recording pre-format information using a predetermined track as a format start track, a second step of reproducing the pre-format information recorded in the first step, and the second step. The third step of obtaining the format start track of the groove portion based on the result reproduced in step 4, and the fourth step of recording the pre-format information for the groove based on the format start track obtained in the third step. And a step.

The information recording method of the present invention is an information recording method performed on a disc-shaped optical information recording medium in which tracks are composed of spirally formed land portions and groove portions. Regarding the land part,
A first step of recording pre-format information using a predetermined track as a format start track, and a second step of reproducing the pre-format information recorded in the first step based on a reference clock of a predetermined frequency. , A third step for obtaining a format start track of the groove portion based on the result reproduced in the second step, and the predetermined for the groove based on the format start track obtained in the third step. And a fourth step of recording pre-format information based on a reference clock having a frequency of.

[0024]

In the information recording / reproducing apparatus of the present invention configured as described above, the preformat information is formed by, for example, the optical modulation system or the magnetic field modulation system, and the phase pits (concavo-convex pits) are not formed. There is no influence of crosstalk and no adverse effect on the tracking servo.
Further, according to the present invention, when the land portion and the groove portion are formatted, the respective format start tracks can be aligned. For example, the land and groove on the innermost circumference can be used as the format start track. Therefore, if formatting is performed under certain conditions based on these format start tracks, even if the land portion and the groove portion are separately formatted in consideration of the continuity and high speed of the recording / reproducing operation, the track address is set. The discs can be formed with consecutive numbers from the inner circumference to the outer circumference.

Further, in the present invention, one of the land portion and the groove portion is caused to be formatted based on the format start track obtained based on the position detected by the position detecting means, and the other is In an apparatus and method for obtaining a format start track on the basis of a reproduction signal relating to the format obtained by the reproduction system and performing formatting based on this, for example, the land portion is set to the position detected by the position detection means. When the format is started based on the format start track obtained based on the above, the format start track of the groove part is obtained based on the pre-format information recorded in the land part, and thus the seek operation of the optical head is performed. Regardless of accuracy, it surely becomes the land format start track The contact tracks can be formatted starting track groove.

In the case of synchronizing the phase of the reproduced signal and the pre-formatted signal, for example, when the land portion is first formatted, the pre-formatted signal generated when the groove portion is formatted. Since the phase is synchronized with the reproduction signal obtained by reproducing the preformat information recorded in the land,
The positions of the sectors in the track in the circumferential direction can be aligned.

Further, in the case where the optical information recording medium in which the position information of the format start track in the land portion and the groove portion is recorded in the predetermined portion is used,
Since the format start track in the land part and the groove part can be obtained by accessing the predetermined part, the predetermined adjacent track, for example, the land and the groove of the innermost circumference can be surely written regardless of the accuracy of the seek operation of the optical head. It can be used as the format start track of the land portion and the groove portion, respectively.

FG which is the basis of the rotation speed control of the disk rotation
In the case of synchronizing the phase of the signal and the pre-formatted signal, since the formatting in the land portion and the groove portion is performed based on the pre-formatted signal synchronized with the FG signal, the circumference of each sector in the track is The positions of the directions can be aligned.

[0029]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the schematic arrangement of an information recording / reproducing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 is the optical information recording medium shown in FIG. Here, in order to record data on both the land and the groove, the width of the groove, which is the track guide groove, is about ½ of the groove pitch, that is, the width of the groove and the land are almost the same (almost 1: 1). Is configured to be.

Reference numeral 21 denotes an objective lens, which is arranged so as to face the recording surface of the disc 1, and the light emitted from the objective lens 21 is always focused on the recording surface of the disc 1 by a focus servo circuit and a focus actuator (not shown). Its position is controlled so that it is focused. An optical system 22 includes a light source 23 for recording / reproducing information and a sensor 24 for converting pickup light into an electric signal. In this optical system 22, the light emitted from the light source 23 is focused on the recording surface of the disk 1 into a light spot having a predetermined diameter via the objective lens 21, and the reflected light is again reflected by the objective lens 21.
The light is focused on the sensor via and converted into an electric signal. The objective lens 21 and the optical system 22 constitute an optical head 25.

An AT error signal generating circuit 34 generates a tracking error signal based on the electric signal output from the sensor 24 of the optical system 22. The optical system 22
Corresponds to a tracking method such as a known push-pull method, and the generation of the tracking error signal in the AT error signal generation circuit 34 is generated corresponding to the tracking method in the optical system 22. For example,
In the case of the push-pull method, a tracking error signal is generated based on the output of each sensor unit of the 2-division photo detector (or 4-division photo detector).

Reference numeral 35 denotes a polarity switcher for switching the polarity of the tracking error signal generated by the AT error signal generating circuit 34. This polarity switch 35
Are controlled by a control circuit 28 described later.

Reference numeral 36 is a phase compensator, which is the polarity switching device 3 described above.
Phase compensation is performed on the tracking error signal whose polarity has been switched in 4 in order to stabilize the servo. The output of the phase compensator 36 is one input of the adder circuit 38 via the switch 37. The control of the switch of the switch 37 is performed by the control circuit 28.

The adder circuit 38 has one input terminal connected to the output line of the phase compensator 36 via the switch 37, and the other input terminal connected to the output line of the control circuit 28, the output of which is an actuator. It is an input for the driver 39. Actuator driver 39
Converts the signal input from the adder circuit 38 into a current signal and drives the actuator 40 that moves the objective lens 21.

Reference numeral 27 is a format generator, which is a circuit for generating a preformat signal based on preformat information such as a track address and a sector address written in advance in a ROM or the like. In the format generator 27, when the control circuit 28 gives an instruction to start the format process, the generated preformat signal is output.

Reference numeral 26 denotes a driver for the light source 23, which drives the light source 23 based on the preformat signal output from the format generator 27.

Reference numeral 29 is a reproducing system for demodulating and reproducing the signal photoelectrically converted by the sensor 24. The signal demodulated by this reproducing system is inputted to the control circuit 28.

The control circuit 28 normally has a C
It includes a PU and controls ON / OFF of the tracking servo, controls the movement of the objective lens 21 to the target track, and switches the polarity of the tracking error signal in the polarity switch 35. When controlling the tracking servo on / off, it is performed by controlling the on / off of the switch 37. When controlling the movement of the objective lens 21 to the target track, the objective is set on the target track with the switch 37 turned off. This is performed by generating an acceleration pulse for moving the lens 21 and outputting this to the adder 38. When the polarity is switched by the polarity switch 35, the polarity of the tracking error signal is determined by determining whether the track is a groove or a land based on the position of the information track to be actually recorded / reproduced. Switch over. Furthermore, this control circuit 2
Reference numeral 8 denotes a control of the movement of the optical head 25 at the time of formatting, an instruction to start a format process, and a preformat signal recorded based on the demodulated signal from the reproducing system 29 is recorded as the information recorded in the ROM. Check whether it was done.

In the above information recording / reproducing apparatus, the optical head 25 is constructed so as to be able to detect the position in the disk radial direction. FIG. 2 shows the configuration.

The optical head 25 is provided with a scale 30 used as a scale in the disk radial direction and a position detector 31 for detecting the position of the optical head 25 on the scale 30. This position detector 3
Reference numeral 1 is composed of a linear encoder or the like, and its output is input to the control circuit 28. With such a configuration, the control circuit 28
When the land and groove formatting process is started, the position of the optical head 25 in the disk radial direction can be obtained from the output of the position detector 31, which allows the optical head 25 to move to a predetermined position. Has become.

In the information recording / reproducing apparatus of the present embodiment configured as described above, the preformat information such as the track address and the sector address is recorded by the same method as the user data recording method. For example, the preformat information is recorded by a recording method in which a magnetic material is used for the information recording film and the difference in the magnetization direction is recorded. Therefore, only the track guide groove is formed on the disc substrate, and in the same process as recording user data in the final process of disc production or the first process when the user uses the disc, Preformat information is recorded over the entire surface of the disc.

Next, the operation of the information recording / reproducing apparatus during the formatting process will be described. In the following description, the formatting process for the optical information recording medium shown in FIG. 3 will be described.

For the optical information recording medium shown in FIG.
If information is alternately recorded on the land and the groove while the track jump operation and the polarity are switched, the continuity of the recording operation is significantly impaired. Therefore, here, the land 102a is followed by the land 102b. The pre-format information is recorded without performing the track jump operation in order, and when the recording of the land portion is completed, the polarity is switched to the groove side, and the groove 103a, the groove 10
The preformat information is recorded in the order of 3b ... Specifically, the preformat information is recorded as follows.

The control circuit 28 starts with the switch 3
7 is turned off, and the optical head 25 is moved to the innermost track based on the output of the position detector 31. When the optical head 25 is moved to the innermost track, subsequently, the polarity of the polarity switch 35 is set to the land side, the switch 37 is turned on, and the format generator 27 is instructed to start the format process for the land. Then, tracking is performed, the optical head 25 is fixed to the track of the land portion, the land portion is formatted from the innermost circumference to the outermost circumference, and the track address is given. here,
From the innermost circumference, an odd numbered address such as "1, 3, 5 ..." Or an even numbered address such as "2, 4, 6 ..."

When the land portion has been formatted, the control circuit 28 turns off the switch 37 again.
The optical head 25 is moved to the innermost track based on the output of the position detector 31. When the optical head 25 is moved to the innermost track, the polarity of the polarity switch 35 is set to the groove side and the switch 37 is turned on.
The format generator 27 is instructed to start formatting the groove. Then, tracking is performed, the optical head 25 is fixed to the track of the groove portion, the groove portion is formatted from the innermost circumference to the outermost circumference, and the track address is given. In this case, if the track address of the land is odd, it is even, and if it is even, it is odd so that the tracks are consecutive addresses from the innermost circumference, such as "1, 2, 3, 4 ...". The address is attached to. As a result, as shown in FIG.
The track addresses of a, 2b, and 2c are "n +
2 "," n "," n-2 ", and the grooves 3a, 3
The track addresses of b, 3c and 3d are “n +
3 "," n + 1 "," n-1 "," n-3 ".

As described above, the upper recording / reproducing apparatus of this embodiment uses the same method as the method of recording the user data, and tracks with the numbers consecutive from the inner circumference side (or the outer circumference side) of the disc to the lands and grooves. Formatting such as forming an address can be performed, which facilitates management of information.

In the above-mentioned formatting, the formatting is performed so that the land and groove track addresses are continuous from the inner circumference side of the disc. You may. That is, as shown in FIG. 7, the land 2a, the groove 3a, and the land 2
b and the groove 3b, and the land 2c and the groove 3c have track addresses of "n + 1", "n", and "n-1", respectively.
You may make it become.

Further, in the above description, the position detector 31 of the optical head 25 is explained as a linear encoder, but
The role of the position detector for the purpose of the present invention is to move the optical head 25 to the format start position. Therefore, it is not necessary to detect the position over the entire radial position of the disk by using a scale. It does not matter even if the structure is such that only the format start position is detected using the interrupter. Further, without using a special detector, the movable range may be mechanically limited in the moving mechanism of the optical head 25, and the movable limit position may be the format start position.

<Embodiment 2> In the formatting of Embodiment 1 described above, when the formatting of the land portion is completed,
The control circuit 28 moves the optical head 25 to the innermost track on the basis of the output of the position detector 31, and switches the polarity switch 35 to the groove side to move the optical head to the groove near the innermost track. 25 is fixed. For this reason, if the precision of the seek operation is low, the format start track in the land portion and the format start track in the groove may not be aligned. Here, the movement of the optical head 25 to the innermost groove is recorded in the land portion as a method for surely aligning the format start track in the land portion and the format start track in the groove regardless of the accuracy of the seek operation. An example in which it is performed based on the preformat information will be described. FIG. 8 shows the procedure of land and groove formatting in this case.
Since the configuration of the device is the same as the configuration of the device shown in FIG. 1, the description of the configuration is omitted here, and only the formatting procedure will be described.

First, the control circuit 28 moves the optical head 25 to a track near the innermost circumference based on the output of the position detector 31, and sets the polarity switch 35 to the polarity on the land side to perform tracking. 25 is fixed to the track of the land portion (step S101), and the land portion is formatted (step S102). When the land portion is formatted, it is determined whether the formatting end position is the outermost circumference based on the output of the position detector 31 (step S103). If it is not the outermost circumference, the process returns to step S102.

When the format end position is determined to be the outermost circumference in step S103, the optical head 25 is moved to the vicinity of the innermost circumference (step S104).
Based on the output of the reproduction system 29, the preformat information recorded on the land is reproduced (step S105), and it is determined whether the track address is the land indicating the innermost circumference (step S106). Here, when it is determined that the track address is not the land indicating the innermost circumference, the optical head 25 is further track-jumped to the inner circumference side (step S107), and the process returns to the previous step S105 to find the innermost track address. When it is determined that the land indicates the circumference, the following steps S108 to S110 are performed.

When it is determined in step S106 that the track address is the land showing the innermost circumference, the control circuit 28 sets the polarity switch 35 to the polarity on the groove side, and the optical head 25 is adjacent to the land. The track is jumped to the groove (step S108), and the groove portion is formatted (step S10).
9). When formatting is performed on the groove part,
Whether the format end position is the outermost circumference is judged based on the output of the position detector 31 (step S110),
If it is not the outermost circumference, the process returns to step S109, and if it is the outermost circumference, the process ends.

<Third Embodiment> In the above-described first and second embodiments, the optical head 25 detected by the position detector 31 is used.
However, instead of this, the track start position information is formed at the innermost peripheral position of the disc (the outermost peripheral position depending on the rotation of the disc) by, for example, a phase pit, It is also possible to obtain the format start track by detecting the start position information. The formatting when the track start position information is formed at the innermost position of the disc will be briefly described below. Since the configuration of the device is the same as the configuration of the device shown in FIG. 1 described above, the description of the configuration is omitted here.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a state in which track start position information 6 is provided on the land at the innermost peripheral position of the optical information recording medium shown in FIG. In this optical information recording medium,
The track start position information 6 is formed of phase pits (uneven pits).

When this optical information recording medium is used,
The control circuit 28 first sets the polarity switch 35 to the land side polarity, searches for a track in which the track start position information 6 is recorded based on the output (demodulation signal) of the reproduction system 29, and the track start position information 6 is Access the recorded land. Then, the land is used as a format start track, and the format generator 27 is instructed to start formatting the land.

When the land format is completed, the control circuit 28 again searches for the track in which the track start position information 6 is recorded based on the output (demodulated signal) of the reproducing system 29, and the track start position information 6 is recorded. Access the land. Then, the optical head 25 is track-jumped to the groove adjacent to the land in which the track start position information 6 is recorded, and the polarity switch 35 is set to the polarity on the groove side. Specifies the start of formatting for the groove.

By performing the formatting as described above, the track address can be formed from the outer circumference side (or the inner circumference side) of the disk by using the consecutive numbers of the lands and the grooves without using the position detector 31 or the like. .

In the above description, the track start position information 6 is recorded on the innermost land, but the present invention is not limited to this, and it may be recorded on the innermost groove instead of the land. It may be recorded on the outermost land or groove depending on the rotation direction of the disc. Further, the track start position information 6 may be recorded on a pair of adjacent land and groove on the innermost circumference or the outermost circumference. In this case, the track start position information 6 is searched for prior to the land and groove formats, and the land and the groove in which the track start position information 6 is recorded are used as the format start tracks to perform the format related to the land and the groove.

The recording of the track start position information 6 is
It suffices that the format start track can be specified, and in addition to the phase pits (concave and convex pits), the shape of the guide groove may be partially changed.

Further, the phase pits (concavo-convex pits) and the like formed as the above-mentioned track start position information 6 are intended only to obtain position information for finding the start track, and are the innermost circumference or the maximum. Since it is provided on one track on the outer periphery (two tracks when provided on both the land and the groove) and is not provided on the entire disc, the influence of crosstalk and the adverse influence on the tracking servo do not pose a problem. It should be noted that it is conceivable that the influence of crosstalk may occur in the track adjacent to the track provided with the phase pits. In this case,
For example, the area adjacent to the portion where the phase pit is provided may not be used.

<Embodiment 4> In the above-described Embodiments 1 to 3, information recording capable of performing formatting such as forming track addresses with numbers consecutive from the outer peripheral side (or inner peripheral side) of the disc to the land and groove is performed. Although the reproducing apparatus has been described, it is desirable that the positions of the sectors in the track be aligned in the circumferential direction in order to facilitate track management. Here, an apparatus will be described in which the information recording / reproducing apparatus shown in FIG. 1 is provided with means for aligning the circumferential positions of the sectors of each track.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing an example of an information recording / reproducing apparatus equipped with means for aligning the circumferential positions of the sectors of each track. In the figure, the same components as those shown in FIG. 1 are designated by the same reference numerals.

In FIG. 10, reference numeral 32 is a spindle motor for rotating the disk, and 33 is an FG for generating an FG signal which is the basis of the rotation speed control of the spindle motor 32.
(Frequenncy generator) circuit. This FG circuit 3
The FG signal generated in 3 is input to the format generator 27 in order to record the preformat information in synchronization with the rotation of the spindle motor 32. The format generator 27 includes a PLL (phase-
A locked loop) is provided, and the phase of the FG signal from the FG circuit and the pre-formatted signal which is the output signal are synchronized by this PLL. That is, the PLL
A reference clock whose phase is synchronized with the FG signal input at is generated, and the format generator 27 operates based on the generated reference clock.

In the information recording / reproducing apparatus configured as described above, when the disc is set and rotated, the FG circuit 3
The rotation speed is controlled based on the FG signal generated in 3 and the FG signal that is the basis of the rotation speed control is input to the format generator 27, and the phase is synchronized with the FG signal by the PLL. A reference clock is generated.

When the control circuit 28 issues a format start instruction regarding the land, the format generator 27 operates based on the reference clock generated by the PLL and outputs a preformat signal in phase with the FG signal. . When the preformat signal is output, the driver 26 drives the light source 23 (see FIG. 1) according to the preformat signal, and the preformat information is recorded by this. Similarly, when there is a format start instruction from the control circuit 28, the driver 26 drives the light source 23 (see FIG. 1) according to the preformat signal whose phase is synchronized with the FG signal, and the preformat is thereby performed. Information is recorded.

As described above, since the lands and grooves are formatted on the basis of the preformatted signal whose phase is synchronized with the FG signal which is the basis of the rotation speed control of the spindle motor 32, the lands and grooves are formatted. It is possible to align the positions of the respective sectors in the circumferential direction.

<Fifth Embodiment> In the fourth embodiment described above, the phases of the FG signal and the preformat signal, which are the basis of the rotation speed control of the spindle motor 32, are synchronized, but the following method is used. Thus, the circumferential positions of the land and groove sectors can be aligned.

When the preformat information recorded in the land is reproduced based on the output of the reproduction system 29 in step S105 described in the second embodiment, the P
A reference clock is generated by using LL, and signal reproduction is performed in synchronization with the reference clock. Therefore,
When the groove portion is formatted in synchronization with the reference clock generated by the PLL at the time of this signal reproduction,
Also in the information recording / reproducing apparatus shown in (1), the positions of the land and groove sectors in the circumferential direction can be aligned.

The PLL used in this embodiment is included in the reproducing system 29 or the format generator 27 shown in FIG. 1, and is used as a reference clock for reproducing the address of the land portion and formatting the groove portion. To generate. This PLL has a configuration in which the frequency band can be set relatively high in order to synchronize the phase with the reproduced signal when reproducing the address of the land portion, and the frequency band can be set low when formatting the groove portion. Has become. In this embodiment, this PLL is used to perform formatting in the procedure as shown in FIG. Since the configuration of the device is the same as the configuration of the device shown in FIG. 1, the description of the configuration is omitted here, and only the formatting procedure will be described.

First, the control circuit 28 sets the polarity switch 35 to the land side polarity and moves the optical head 25 to the innermost groove based on the output of the position detector 31 (step S201). Formatting is performed (step S202). When the land portion is formatted, it is determined whether or not the formatting end position is the outermost circumference based on the output of the position detector 31 (step S203), and if it is not the outermost circumference, the process returns to step S202.

If the format end position is determined to be the outermost circumference in step S203, then the optical head 25 is moved to the vicinity of the innermost circumference (step S204).
With the frequency band of the PLL set high, the playback system 29
The pre-format information recorded on the land is reproduced based on the output of (step S205). When reproduction is performed, it is subsequently determined whether or not the track address is a land indicating the innermost circumference (step S206). If it is determined that the track address is not the land indicating the innermost circumference, the optical head 25 is further jumped to the inner circumference side (step S207) and the previous step S20.
Returning to step 5, when it is determined that the track address is the land indicating the innermost circumference, the PLL is locked in the state at the time of reproduction and the frequency band is set low (step S
208), the following steps S208 to S210 are performed.
The PLL frequency band is set to a value such that the clock does not fall off even if the clock is moved to the adjacent groove.

When the PLL is locked in the reproducing state and the frequency band is set low so that the clock does not come off even if the frequency band moves to the adjacent groove, the control circuit 28 sets the polarity switch 35 to the polarity on the groove side. , Optical head 25
Track jump to the groove adjacent to the land (step S209), and the groove part is formatted (step S210). When the groove portion is formatted, it is determined whether or not the format end position is the outermost circumference based on the output of the position detector 31 (step S211), and if it is not the outermost circumference, the process returns to step S210 and the outermost circumference is detected. If so, the process ends.

By using the method as described above, the positions of the land and groove sectors in the circumferential direction can be aligned without using the special signal generator of the fourth embodiment.

In the first to fifth embodiments described above, the case of so-called optical modulation recording in which the intensity of the light source is modulated according to the recorded information is shown, but a magneto-optical disk can also be used, and in this case. A recording method is used in which the intensity of the light source is not modulated according to information, but the external magnetic field is modulated by a magnetic head. That is, if the external magnetic field is modulated by using the pre-format signal output from the format generator 27 shown in FIG. 1 and the intensity of the light source 23 is set to be large enough for information recording, the same effect as that of the above-described device can be obtained. Obtainable.

Further, in recent years, as a technique for increasing the capacity, a magneto-optical disk using a magnetic material is disclosed in JP-A-6-124500, JP-A-3-93058 and JP-A-4-255946. With respect to the above, a super-resolution technique has been proposed that realizes a recording density higher than the optical resolution of the reproduction light. In the information recording / reproducing apparatus of the present invention, it is also possible to form preformatted information by magnetic recording using a magneto-optical disk, and therefore it is also possible to form preformatted information by using this super-resolution technique. The super-resolution techniques disclosed in these publications will be briefly described below.

(1) Super-resolution technique disclosed in JP-A-6-124500. FIG. 12 is a diagram for explaining the super-resolution technique disclosed in JP-A-6-124500. (A) is a diagram schematically showing a cross section of a magneto-optical disc in a state where a recording surface is irradiated with reproduction light, and (b) is a schematic diagram showing a disc recording surface in the state shown in (a). FIG. 6C is a diagram showing the temperature distribution at the track center corresponding to the state shown in FIG.

In FIG. 12, the magneto-optical disk is a substrate 5 made of glass or polycarbonate.
And an interference layer 54, a reproducing layer 51 which is a first magnetic layer, a memory layer 52 which is a second magnetic layer, and a protective layer 55, which are sequentially stacked on this. The interference layer 54 is for enhancing the Kerr effect, and the protective layer 55 is for protecting the magnetic layers of the reproducing layer 51 and the memory layer 52.
The arrows in the reproducing layer 51 and the memory layer 52 indicate the directions of the iron group element sublattice magnetization in the layers. The memory layer 52 is a layer having a large perpendicular magnetic anisotropy formed of, for example, TbFeCo or DyFeCo, and recorded information is stored in the memory layer 52.
A magnetic domain is formed and held depending on whether the magnetization of is upward or downward with respect to the film surface. The reproduction layer 51 is made of a material having a small saturation magnetization Ms and a small perpendicular magnetic anisotropy, and has a composition in which the rare earth element sublattice magnetization is dominant. Although the reproducing layer 51 is an in-plane magnetized film at room temperature, the saturation magnetization Ms gradually develops as the temperature rises, and a material that becomes a perpendicular magnetized film at the temperature Tth is used.

When the information reproducing light is irradiated from the substrate 5 side to the magneto-optical disk having the above-mentioned structure, the temperature gradient at the center of the data track becomes as shown in FIG. 12 (c). As seen from the above, an isotherm of the temperature Tth exists in the spot as shown in FIG. Then, in the portion below the temperature Tth, the reproducing layer 51 does not contribute to the Kerr effect because it becomes an in-plane magnetized film (the front mask 6
4 is formed), the recording magnetic domain held in the memory layer 52 is masked and becomes invisible.

On the other hand, in the portion above the temperature Tth, the reproduction layer 51
Is a perpendicular magnetization film, and the direction of the iron group element sublattice magnetization is the same as that of the recorded information due to exchange coupling from the memory layer 52. As a result, the recording magnetic domain of the memory layer 52 is transferred only to the portion of the aperture 63 that is smaller than the size of the spot 61, and super resolution is realized.

(2) JP-A-3-93058 and JP-A-4
-Resolution technology disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 255946/1993, FIG.
FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining the super-resolution technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 55946, in which (a) is a diagram schematically showing a cross section of a magneto-optical disk in which a recording surface is irradiated with reproducing light; ) Is (a)
A diagram schematically showing the disc recording surface in the state shown in FIG.
(C) is a diagram showing a temperature distribution at the track center corresponding to the state shown in (b).

In FIG. 13, the magneto-optical disk is the magneto-optical disk shown in FIG. 12 except that an intermediate layer 53 which is a third magnetic layer is provided between the reproducing layer 51 and the memory layer 52. It has the same structure as.

Initializing magnetic field (arrow a) prior to information reproduction
After the magnetic domain information of the memory layer 52 is masked by aligning the magnetization direction of the reproducing layer 51 in one direction by the above, the light spot 61 is irradiated, and the reproducing layer 51 is irradiated in the low temperature region of the temperature distribution of the medium generated at that time. The initialization state is maintained (formation of the front mask 64), and the reproducing layer 51 is forcibly oriented in the direction of the reproducing magnetic field (arrow b) in the high temperature region of the intermediate layer 53 above the Cucumber temperature Tc2 (formation of the rear mask 65). , The magnetic domain information of the memory layer 52 is transferred only in the medium temperature region to reduce the effective size of the reproducing spot, thereby making it possible to reproduce the recording mark 62 below the light diffraction limit and improve the linear density. I am trying to

In these known super-resolution techniques, since the front mask 64 extends in the direction of the adjacent track in the low temperature region, it is attempted to improve the track density as well as the linear recording density.

In the information recording / reproducing apparatus of the present embodiment, by using the above-mentioned super-resolution technique together, the pre-format information can be recorded with fine marks to increase the recording density of the entire disc, and further track density can be improved. It is possible to improve. This makes it possible to provide a disc having a large recording capacity.

[0087]

Since the present invention is configured as described above, it has the following effects.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the preformatted information is formed by, for example, the optical modulation method or the magnetic field modulation method, so that the stable address without the influence of the crosstalk or the tracking servo is generated. There is an effect that information can be recorded.

Furthermore, when the land portion and the groove portion are separately formatted, the track addresses can be formed by consecutive numbers from the inner circumference to the outer circumference of the disc, so that management of information recording / reproduction is performed. Has the effect that it becomes easier.

In addition to the effects described above, the track adjacent to the format start track of the land portion can be reliably formed in the groove regardless of the accuracy of the seek operation of the optical head. Since the format start track can be used, there is an effect that a highly reliable information recording / reproducing apparatus can be provided.

According to the third and fifth aspects of the present invention, in addition to the above respective effects, the positions of the sectors in the track in the circumferential direction can be aligned, so that the recording / reproducing of the information can be more managed. It has the effect of making it easier.

In the medium according to any one of claims 6 to 8, since the track pitch is not limited to a size in consideration of phase pit crosstalk between tracks, the recording capacity is improved by improving the track density. There is an effect that it is possible to increase. In addition, since track addresses can be formed at the land portion and the groove portion with consecutive numbers from the inner circumference to the outer circumference of the disc, there is an effect that management of information recording / reproduction becomes easy.

In the medium according to the ninth aspect, there is an effect that the track adjacent to the format start track of the land portion can be surely set as the groove format start track regardless of the accuracy of the seek operation of the optical head. is there.

According to the tenth and eleventh methods, a recording / reproducing operation is performed on a disc-shaped optical information recording medium in which tracks are composed of spirally formed land portions and groove portions. In the case where the land portion and the groove portion are separately formatted in consideration of continuity and high speed, there is an effect that the track address can be formed with consecutive numbers from the inner circumference to the outer circumference of the disc. Of these, the method according to claim 11 is effective in that the positions of the sectors in the track in the circumferential direction can be aligned.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of an information recording / reproducing apparatus of an embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a diagram showing an example of a mechanism for detecting the position of the optical head 25 shown in FIG. 1 in the disk radial direction.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a disc-type optical information recording medium in which spiral tracks are formed.

FIG. 4 is a waveform diagram of a tracking error signal when a light spot sequentially crosses a land and a groove on the optical information recording medium shown in FIG.

5 is a schematic diagram showing a state in which preformat information is formed by phase pits in the optical information recording medium shown in FIG.

6 is a diagram showing an example of track addresses formed on the optical information recording medium shown in FIG.

7 is a diagram showing an example of track addresses formed on the optical information recording medium shown in FIG.

8 is a flowchart showing an example of a procedure of land and groove formatting performed in the information recording / reproducing apparatus shown in FIG.

9 is a diagram showing a state in which track start position information is provided on a land at an innermost peripheral position of the optical information recording medium shown in FIG.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing an example of an information recording / reproducing apparatus including means for aligning circumferential positions of respective sectors of respective tracks.

11 is a flowchart showing an example of a procedure of land and groove formatting performed in the information recording / reproducing apparatus shown in FIG.

FIG. 12 is a diagram for explaining a super-resolution technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-124500, in which (a) is a schematic sectional view of a magneto-optical disk in which a recording surface is irradiated with reproduction light. 6B is a diagram schematically showing the disk recording surface in the state shown in FIG. 7A, and FIG. 7C is a temperature distribution in the track center corresponding to the state shown in FIG. FIG.

FIG. 13: JP-A-3-93058 and JP-A-4-255946
FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the super-resolution technology disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication,
(A) is a diagram schematically showing a cross section of a magneto-optical disc in a state where a recording surface is irradiated with reproduction light, and (b) is a schematic diagram showing a disc recording surface in the state shown in (a). FIG. 6C is a diagram showing the temperature distribution at the track center corresponding to the state shown in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Optical Disc 6 Track Start Position Information 102a, 102b Land 103a, 103b, 103c Groove 21 Objective Lens 22 Optical System 23 Light Source 24 Sensor 25 Optical Head 34 Tracking Error Signal Generation Circuit 35 Polarity Switch 36 Phase Compensator 37 Switch 38 Addition Circuit 39 Actuator driver 40 Actuator 28 Control circuit 29 Playback system 26 Driver 27 Format generator

Claims (11)

[Claims] 1. An information recording / reproducing apparatus for recording / reproducing information on / from a disc-shaped optical information recording medium in which a track is composed of a land portion and a groove portion formed in a spiral shape, and the land portion. And a pre-format signal generating means for respectively generating a pre-format signal for formatting the groove portion and outputting the generated pre-format signal according to a format start instruction, and a pre-format signal output from the pre-format signal generating means. A recording / reproducing head for recording information on the recording surface of the optical information recording medium, position detecting means for detecting the position of the recording / reproducing head in the disk radial direction, and the position detecting means. That in said land and groove parts based on the detected position Control means for obtaining each of these format start tracks and for issuing a format start instruction to the pre-format signal generating means based on the obtained format start tracks to perform formatting. Playback device. 2. The information recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a reproducing system that obtains a reproduced signal based on the output of the recording / reproducing head, and the control means has one of a land portion and a groove portion. , Formatting is performed based on the format start track obtained based on the position detected by the position detecting means, and on the other hand, the format start track is determined based on the reproduction signal related to the format obtained by the reproduction system. An information recording / reproducing apparatus, characterized in that formatting is performed based on the obtained information. 3. The information recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising a phase synchronizing means for synchronizing the phase of the reproduced signal obtained in the reproducing system with the preformatted signal output from the preformatted signal generating means. An information recording / reproducing apparatus having. 4. The information recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the position information of the format start track in the land portion and the groove portion is recorded in a predetermined portion of the optical information recording medium, and the control means reproduces the information. An information recording / reproducing apparatus characterized in that a format start track in a land portion and a groove portion is obtained based on a reproduction signal relating to position information of the predetermined portion obtained from a system, and formatting is performed based on this. 5. The information recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an FG circuit for generating an FG signal which is a source of rotation speed control of disk rotation, an FG signal generated by the FG circuit, and a preformat signal generation. An information recording / reproducing apparatus, further comprising: a phase synchronization unit that synchronizes a phase with a preformat signal output from the unit. 6. A disc-shaped optical information recording medium in which tracks are formed by spirally formed land portions and groove portions, and preformat information is optically recorded on each track of the land portions and groove portions. An optical information recording medium which is recorded by recording and has continuous track addresses from the inner circumference to the outer circumference of the disk. 7. The optical information recording medium according to claim 6, wherein the optical recording is magneto-optical recording. 8. The optical information recording medium according to claim 6, wherein the track address in the land portion and the track address in the groove portion are the same. 9. An optical information recording medium used in the information recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein position information of a format start track in a land portion and a groove portion is recorded in a predetermined portion. And an optical information recording medium. 10. An information recording method performed on a disc-shaped optical information recording medium in which a track is composed of a land portion and a groove portion formed in a spiral shape, wherein a predetermined track is provided for the land portion. The first step of recording the preformat information as a format start track, the second step of reproducing the preformat information recorded in the first step, and the result reproduced in the second step. A third step for obtaining a format start track of the groove portion based on the third step, and a fourth step for recording pre-format information for the groove based on the format start track obtained in the third step. Characteristic information recording method. 11. An information recording method performed on a disc-shaped optical information recording medium in which a track is composed of a land portion and a groove portion formed in a spiral shape, wherein a predetermined track is provided for the land portion. A first step of recording preformat information as a format start track, a second step of reproducing the preformat information recorded in the first step based on a reference clock having a predetermined frequency, The third step of obtaining the format start track of the groove portion based on the result reproduced in the step 2, and the predetermined frequency of the groove for the groove based on the format start track obtained in the third step. A fourth step of recording the pre-formatted information based on the reference clock Information recording method characterized by.