Optical disk, and information recording/reproduction apparatus

Claim 2

An optical disk comprising a recording plane having a spiral first track and a spiral second track, information being to be recorded into and/or reproduced from said first and second tracks, wherein said first track is formed into a groove-like shape, said second track is formed between adjacent said first tracks and into a land-like shape, and said first and second tracks record at least an address signal among informations in different modulation methods.

Claim 3

An optical disk comprising a recording plane having a spiral first track and a spiral second track, information being to be recorded into and/or reproduced from said first and second tracks, wherein said first track is formed into a groove-like shape, said second track is formed between adjacent said first tracks and into a land-like shape, and said first and second tracks record an address signal in the same modulation method, the address signal of said first track being opposite in polarity to the address signal of said second track.

Claim 4

An optical disk comprising a recording plane having a spiral first track and a spiral second track, information being to be recorded into and/or reproduced from said first and second tracks, wherein said first track is formed into a groove-like shape, said second track is formed between adjacent said first tracks and into a land-like shape, and said first and second tracks record an address signal for identifying respective track in such a manner that address signals of adjacent ones of said first and second tracks do not overlap with each other in a radial direction.

Claim 5

An optical disk comprising a recording plane having a spiral first track and a spiral second track, information being to be recorded into and/or reproduced from said first and second tracks, wherein said first track is formed into a groove-like shape, said second track is formed between adjacent said first tracks and into a land-like shape, and said first and second tracks record an address signal, the address signal of said first track being opposite in polarity to the address signal of said second track, in such a manner that address signals of adjacent ones of said first and second tracks do not overlap with each other in a radial direction.

Claim 6

An optical disk according to one of claims 1 to 5, wherein said first track has a depth of /(8 N ¯ n) where is a wavelength of a laser beam, and n is a refractive index of a substrate of said disk.

Claim 7

An optical disk according to one of claims 1 to 5, wherein said first and second tracks are divided into sectors each of which constitutes a unit of recording or reproducing information, a track address and a sector address is recorded in the address signal, and information is recorded into and/or reproduced from said sectors in a unit of the sector.

Claim 8

An optical disk according to one of claims 2 to 5 or to claim 7, wherein the address signals of said first and second tracks record a track identification signal for identifying the respective track, address information, and an error detection signal.

Claim 9

An optical disk according to one of claims 3 to 5 or to claim 7, wherein the address signals of said first and second tracks are constituted by a mark position recording method, the address signal of said first track is recorded in such a manner that a modulated channel bit "1" corresponds to a level of the land and a channel bit "0" corresponds to a level of the groove, and the address signal of said second track is recorded in such a manner that a modulated channel bit "1" corresponds to a level of the groove and a channel bit "0" corresponds to a level of the land.

Claim 10

An optical disk comprising a recording plane having a spiral first track and a spiral second track, information being to be recorded into and/or reproduced from said first and second tracks, wherein said first track is formed into a groove-like shape, said second track is formed between adjacent said first tracks and into a land-like shape, and a VFO signal for clock synchronization of an address signal for recording address information is recorded in such a manner that the VFO signals of adjacent ones of said first and second tracks are shifted in phase from each other by one-half of a wavelength of said VFO signal.

Claim 11

An optical information recording/reproduction apparatus by which information is recorded on and/or reproduced from an optical disk, said optical disk comprising: a spiral first track formed into a groove-like shape; and a spiral second track formed into a land-like shape, these first and second tracks being formed on the same recording plane, and said apparatus comprising: an optical head which irradiates said tracks with a light beam to record and/or reproduce a signal; track designation means for selecting one of said first and second tracks, in order to record and /or reproduce informations ; focus means for focusing the light beam of said optical head on a track; tracking means for causing said track to be tracked, and for selectively tracking said first and second tracks; track search means for moving said optical head in order to search a track; signal generation means for amplifying a signal reproduced by said optical head; address reproduction means for reading out address signals of said first and second tracks; data recording/reproduction control means for selecting one of said first and second tracks in accordance with an output of said address reproduction means on the basis of an output of said track designation means, and for actuating an operation of recording or reproducing information on the track or the sector; and information recording/reproduction means for conducting the operation of recording or reproducing information on the track or the sector of the recording plane, in accordance with an output of said data recording/reproduction control means, thereby to record informations into and/or reproduce from said first and second tracks.

Claim 12

An information recording/reproduction apparatus according to claim 11, wherein said track designation means switches the tracking for said first and second tracks of the optical head by inverting a polarity of a tracking error signal.

Claim 13

An information recording/reproduction apparatus according to claim 11, wherein said address reproduction means compares the output of said track designation means with a track identification signal of said address reproduction means, and for outputting only a reproduction address signal which corresponds to a track coinciding with the output of said track designation means.

Claim 14

An optical information recording/reproduction apparatus by which information is recorded onto and/or reproduced from an optical disk comprising first and second tracks which are formed on the same recording plane, said optical disk comprising: a spare area in which a defective sector is to be alternatively recorded; a defect list area in which a defect list including a set of said defective sector and an alternate sector is to be recorded; and an information record area in which information is to be recorded, said apparatus comprising: an optical head which irradiates said tracks with a light beam to record and/or reproduce a signal; track designation means for selecting one of said first and second tracks; focus means for focusing the light beam of said optical head on said track; tracking means for tracking said first or second track; track search means for searching a target track; address reproduction means for reading out an address signal of said track; read/write gate generation means for selecting one of said first and second tracks in accordance with outputs of said track designation means and said address reproduction means, and for actuating an operation of recording or reproducing information on a target sector; data recording/reproduction means for conducting recording and/or reproduction of data on the target sector in accordance with an output of said read/write gate generation means; record verify and alternation means for verifying data which are recorded by said data recording/reproduction means, and for alternating a detected defective sector in said spare area; defect list storage means for storing as a defect list a defective sector address and an alternate address which are results of the alternation operation of said record verify and alternation means; and apparatus control means for outputting control commands to said means, for monitoring states of said means, and for controlling operations of recording, reproducing, and verifying information on said optical disk.

Claim 15

An information recording/reproduction apparatus according to claim 14, wherein said record verify and alternation means collectively alternates the defective sectors on said first and second tracks, and manages a recording and/or reproduction of a defective sector on the basis of contents of said defect list storage means.

Claim 16

An information recording/reproduction apparatus according to claim 14, wherein said defect list storage means comprises first storage means for storing contents of the defect list area of said first track, and second storage means for storing contents of the defect list area of said second track, and said record verify and alternation means manages a recording and/or reproduction of a defective sector of said first and second tracks on the basis of contents of said first and second defect list storage means.

Claim 17

An information recording/reproduction apparatus according to claim 14, 15 or 16, wherein said record verify and alternation means alternatively records a defective sector of said first track into a first defect spare area of said first track, and a defective sector of said second track into a second defect spare area of said second track.

Claim 18

An information recording/reproduction apparatus according to claim 14, wherein in a process of initializing said optical disk, said track search means accesses a disk management area , and said data recording/reproduction means records volume identification information into said disk management area , said information indicating whether said first and second tracks are to be addressed as two or more volumes, or as one volume.

Claim 19

An information recording/reproduction method by which information is recorded onto and/or reproduced from an optical disk comprising first and second tracks which are formed on the same recording plane, wherein information is recorded and/or reproduced while alternately switching said first and second tracks at each rotation of said optical disk as a like of a sequence of said first track (or second track), said second track (or first track), said first track (or second track), .... .

Claim 20

An information recording/reproduction method by which information is recorded onto and/or reproduced from an optical disk comprising first and second tracks which are formed on the same recording plane, wherein information is recorded and/or reproduced while conducting an addressing in an addressing sequence of said first and second tracks in which an end address of said first track (or second track) is connected to an initial address of said second track (or first track).

Claim 21

An information recording/reproduction method according to claim 19 or 20, wherein said first track is a track in which information is recorded into a groove, said second track is a track in which information is recorded onto a land sandwiched by said first track, and the switching of said first and second tracks is conducted by inverting a polarity of a tracking error signal.

Claim 22

An information recording/reproduction method by which information is recorded onto and/or reproduced from an optical disk comprising a first track in which information is recorded into and/or reproduced from a groove, and a second track in which information is recorded onto and/or reproduced from a land sandwiched by said first track, said first and second tracks being formed on the same recording plane, wherein one defect list area in which a defect list including a defective sector address of a defective sector and an alternate sector address is to be recorded is formed in one of said first and second tracks, and, when a defective sector is detected in said first or second track, a defect-alternation process is conducted while additionally recording said defect list into said defect list area.

Claim 23

An information recording/reproduction method by which information is recorded onto and/or reproduced from an optical disk while conducting a defect-alternation process on said optical disk, said optical disk comprising: a first track in which information is recorded into and/or reproduced from a groove; and a second track in which information is recorded onto and/or reproduced from a land sandwiched by said first track, said first and second tracks being formed on the same recording plane, wherein one defect list area in which a defect list including; a defective sector address of a defective sector of said first or second track in which a defect is detected and is alternated; and an alternate sector address is to be recorded , is formed in one of said first and second tracks, a spare area which is to be used for an alternate sector is formed in both of said first and second tracks, and a defective sector of said first or second track is alternated in the respective spare area, and said defect list is recorded into said defect list area, thereby conducting the defect alternation process.

Claim 24

An information recording/reproduction method by which information is recorded onto and/or reproduced from an optical disk , said optical disk comprising: a first track in which information is recorded into and/or reproduced from a groove; and a second track in which information is recorded onto and/or reproduced from a land sandwiched by said first track, said first and second tracks being formed on the same recording plane, wherein first and second defect list areas and first and second spare areas are respectively formed in said first and second tracks , in each of said first and second defect list areas , a defect list including; a defective sector address of a defective sector of said first or second tracks in which a defect is detected and is alternated; and an alternate sector address , is to be recorded , and said first and second spare areas are to be used for an alternate sector, a defective sector of said first track is subjected an alternation process by said first defect list area and said first spare area, and a defective sector of said second track is subjected an alternation process by said second defect list area and said second spare area.

Claim 25

An information reproduction method by which information is reproduced from an optical disk comprising first and second tracks which are formed on the same recording plane, wherein, when said first track is to be accessed, a defect list is read out from a first defect list area of said first track, and a defective sector is reproduced in accordance with contents of said defect list by reproducing an alternate sector of a first spare area of said first track, and, when said second track is to be accessed, a defect list is read out from a second defect list area of said second track, and a defective sector is reproduced in accordance with contents of said defect list by reproducing an alternate sector of a second spare area of said second track.

Claim 26

An information reproduction method by which information is reproduced from an optical disk comprising first and second tracks which are formed on the same recording plane, wherein, when said first track is to be accessed, a defect list is read out from a defect list area of said first track, and a defective sector is reproduced in accordance with contents of said defect list by reproducing an alternate sector of a first spare area of said first track, and, when said second track is to be accessed, a defect list is read out from said defect list area of said first track, and a defective sector is reproduced in accordance with contents of said defect list by reproducing an alternate sector of a second spare area of said second track.

Claim 27

An information reproduction method according to claim 25 or 26, wherein said first track is a track in which information is recorded into a groove, said second track is a track in which information is recorded onto a land sandwiched by said first track, and the switching of said first and second tracks is conducted by inverting a polarity of a tracking error signal.

Claim 28

An information reproduction method by which information is reproduced from an optical disk, said optical disk comprising: a first track in which information is recorded into and/or reproduced from a groove; and a second track in which information is recorded onto and/or reproduced from a land sandwiched by said first track, said first and second tracks being formed on the same recording plane, wherein in a process of initializing said optical disk, a defect list area in which a defect list including; a defective sector address of a defective sector in which a defect is detected in an information recording/reproduction and which is alternated; and an alternate sector address ,is to be recorded , is formed in one of said first and second tracks, a spare area is secured in both of said first and second tracks, and defect process method identification information, and address information of said defect list area and said spare areas are recorded into a disk management area, said defect process method identification information indicating that defective sectors of said first and second tracks are collectively subjected a defect process in accordance with said defect list area.

Claim 29

An information reproduction method by which information is reproduced from an optical disk, said optical disk comprising: a first track in which information is recorded into and/or reproduced from a groove; and a second track in which information is recorded onto and/or reproduced from a land sandwiched by said first track, said first and second tracks being formed on the same recording plane, wherein, in a process of initializing said optical disk, first and second defect list areas in each of which a defect list including; a defective sector address of a defective sector in which a defect is detected in an information recording/reproduction and which is alternated; and an alternate sector address is to be recorded , are respectively formed in said first and second tracks, first and second spare areas which are respectively used for alternate sectors of defective sectors of said first and second tracks are secured, and defect process method identification information, and address information of said defect list areas and said spare areas are recorded into a disk management area, said defect process method identification information indicating that a defective sector of said first track is processed in accordance with said first defect list area and said first spare area, and a defective sector of said second track is processed in accordance with said second defect list area and said second spare area, said defect process method identification information also indicating the defect process method.

Claim 30

An information reproduction method by which information is reproduced from an optical disk, said optical disk comprising: a first track in which information is recorded into and/or reproduced from a groove; and a second track in which information is recorded onto and/or reproduced from a land sandwiched by said first track, said first and second tracks being formed on the same recording plane, wherein, in a process of initializing said optical disk, volume identification information is recorded into disk management areas of said first and second tracks, said volume identification information indicating a volume configuration for recording and reproducing data into and from said first and second tracks.

Claim 31

An optical disk which comprises first and second tracks which are formed on the same recording plane, and in which information is recorded into or reproduced from said first and second tracks, wherein each of said first and second tracks comprises an information record area, and a disk management area, said disk management areas comprise a volume management area in which information indicating a volume configuration of information which is recorded into and/or reproduced from said first and second tracks.

Claim 32

An optical disk according to claim 31, wherein said first track is a track in which information is recorded into a groove of a groove-like track, and said second track is a land-like track in which information is recorded onto a land sandwiched by said first track.

Claim 33

An information recording/reproduction apparatus comprising: optical head for recording and/or reproducing a signal onto or from an optical disk comprising first and second tracks which are formed on the same recording plane; track designation means for said first and second tracks; focus means for focusing a light beam on a track; tracking means for tracking said first and second tracks; track search means for searching a target track; address reproduction means for reading out an address signal of a track; read/write gate generation means for actuating recording and/or reproduction of information on a target sector; data recording/reproduction means for recording and/or reproducing data; record verify and alternation means for verifying recorded data, and for alternating a detected defective sector in a spare area; defect list storage means for storing a defect alternate address; and apparatus control means for controlling recording, reproduction and verify operations.