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  Information recording and reproducing apparatus, disc apparatus and defect area replacement methodUSPTO Application #: 20070223331Title: Information recording and reproducing apparatus, disc apparatus and defect area replacement method Abstract: An information recording and reproducing apparatus, a disc apparatus and a defect area replacement method are disclosed for accurately detecting a defect area for each small area of a recording area of an information recording medium and replacing the defect area per small area. The information recording and reproducing apparatus for recording and reproducing information in an information recording medium having a plurality of recording areas each of which includes a plurality of small areas includes a verification execution part iteratively executing a verification operation on small areas of a recording area and a small area replacement part replacing a small area determined as a defect area greater than or equal to a predefined number of times during iterative execution of the verification operation by the verification execution part. (end of abstract) Agent: Dickstein Shapiro LLP - Washington, DC, US Inventor: Tsutomu Motohashi USPTO Applicaton #: 20070223331 - Class: 369047140 (USPTO) Related Patent Categories: Dynamic Information Storage Or Retrieval, Control Of Storage Or Retrieval Operation By A Control Signal To Be Recorded Or Reproduced, By Medium Defect Indicative Control Signal The Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20070223331. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention generally relates to an information recording and reproducing apparatus, a disc apparatus and a defect area replacement method, and more particularly to an information recording and reproducing apparatus, such as a hard disk apparatus, a magneto optical disc apparatus, a CD-RW (Compact Disc-Rewritable) disc apparatus, a DVD+RW (Digital Versatile Disc+ReWritable) disc apparatus, DVD-RW (Digital Versatile Disc-ReWritable) disc apparatus and a DVD-RAM (Digital Versatile Disc-Random Access Memory) disc apparatus, that can record and reproduce information in an information recording medium such as a hard disk, a magneto optical disc, a CD-RW disc, a DVD+RW disc, a DVD-RW disc and a DVD-RAM disc, respectively. [0003] 2. Description of the Related Art [0004] Currently, a format commonly available for CD-RW discs is being standardized. The standardized format is called "CD-MRW (Compact Disc-Mount Rainer ReWritable)". In CD-MRW, a CD-RW disc is divided into a plurality of recording areas, which are referred to as "packets", and a spare area is provided to each recording area. In each recording area, an area where information (user data) are written is referred to as a "data area (DA)", and an area where a data area is replaced is referred to as a "spare area (SA)". In general, a data area is formed of 138 packets, and a spare area is formed of 8 packets. [0005] If some trouble is detected for a data area, for example, if the address thereof or data therein cannot be read due to flaws, stains, fingerprints and the like, a spare area is used as a replacement destination area for recording the data again. Such a problematic data area is referred to as a "defect area". Data are always written per packet in a data area and a spare area. Accordingly, if an error is detected for a data area, it is possible to read and write user data at a high speed by replacing of the defect area per packet. In conventional information recording and reproducing apparatuses, if an error occurs in a packet, the packet is written immediately after the error detection, as disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application 11-501760. [0006] In conventional information recording and reproducing apparatuses, however, even if an insignificant defect is detected in a packet, an area corresponding to the whole packet is used, resulting in wasteful use of capacity of the information recording medium. In general, one packet in a CD-MRW disc is composed of 32 small areas (blocks). As a result, when the whole packet is replaced for such an insignificant defect (for example, even if the defect is limited within one block), it is necessary to use spare areas corresponding to 32 blocks. Thus, available spare areas are exhausted instantly. [0007] If a defect area is replaced per block rather than packet, a spare area would be saved. For replacing per block, however, it is necessary to accurately detect a defect per block. If the defect detection accuracy is insufficient, a data portion that could be read at defect detection time cannot be read after the replacement operation. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0008] It is a general object of the present invention to provide an information recording and reproducing apparatus, a disc apparatus and a defect area replacement method in which one or more of the above-mentioned problems are eliminated. [0009] A more specific object of the present invention is to provide an information recording and reproducing apparatus, a disc apparatus and a defect area replacement method that, for an information recording medium having a plurality of recording areas each of which includes a plurality of small areas, can detect a defect per small area with high accuracy and replace the defect per small area. [0010] In order to achieve the above-mentioned objects, there is provided according to one aspect of the present invention an information recording and reproducing apparatus for recording and reproducing information in an information recording medium having a plurality of recording areas each of which includes a plurality of small areas, including: a verification execution part iteratively executing a verification operation on small areas of a recording area; and a small area replacement part replacing a small area determined as a defect area greater than or equal to a predefined number of times during iterative execution of the verification operation by the verification execution part. [0011] In an embodiment of the present invention, the information recording and reproducing apparatus may further include: a rotation adjustment part changing at least one of a rotation speed of the information recording medium and a rotation manner for recording and reproducing information in the information recording medium during iterative execution of the verification operation by the verification execution part. [0012] In an embodiment of the present invention, the information recording and reproducing apparatus may further include: an adjacent small area replacement part replacing a small area determined as a defect area greater than or equal to a predefined number of times during iterative execution of the verification operation by the verification execution part together with a predefined number of small areas adjacent to the small area determined as a defect area. [0013] In an embodiment of the present invention, the information recording and reproducing apparatus may further include: an entire small area replacement part, when the number of small areas determined as defect areas greater than or equal to a predefined number of times during iterative execution of the verification operation by the verification execution part is greater than or equal to a predefined value, replacing all small areas of the recording area. [0014] Additionally, there is provided according to another aspect of the present invention a disc apparatus for allocating a spare area of a disc having at least one user data recording area including a plurality of recording areas each of which includes a plurality small areas and at least one spare area to replace a defect area in the user data recording area, including: a verification execution part iteratively executing a verification operation on small areas of a recording area; a defect detection count part counting how many times an error is detected for each small area of the recording area during iterative execution of the verification operation by the verification execution part; and a spare area allocation part, when the number of error detection times counted for a small area by the defect detection count part is greater than or equal to a predefined value, allocating an available one of the at least one spare area to the small area. [0015] Additionally, there is provided according to another aspect of the present invention a defect area replacement method of allocating a spare area of a disc having at least one user data recording area including a plurality of recording areas each of which includes a plurality small areas and at least one spare area to replace a defect area in the user data recording area, the method including the steps of: iteratively executing a verification operation on small areas of a recording area; counting how many times an error is detected for each small area of the recording area during iterative execution of the verification operation; and allocating, when the number of error detection times counted for a small area is greater than or equal to a predefined value, an available one of the at least one spare area to the small area. [0016] According to one aspect of the present invention, it is possible to accurately detect a defect area for each of a plurality of small areas of each of a plurality of recording areas of an information recording medium and replace the defect area per small area. [0017] Furthermore, a program to implement an embodiment of the present invention and a computer readable recording medium for storing the program are disclosed. [0018] Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [0019] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an exemplary structure of an information recording and reproducing apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention; [0020] FIG. 2 is a diagram to explain an exemplary format of a CD-MRW disc according to one embodiment of the present invention; [0021] FIG. 3 shows an exemplary format of replacement information (entries) in a management area of an information recording medium according to one embodiment of the present invention; Continue reading... Full patent description for Information recording and reproducing apparatus, disc apparatus and defect area replacement method Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims Click on the above for other options relating to this Information recording and reproducing apparatus, disc apparatus and defect area replacement method patent application. ###  How KEYWORD MONITOR works... a FREE service from FreshPatents1. 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