CN1961356A - Method and device for overwriting data on a recording medium and the recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

In an embodiment of the method of overwriting a recording medium, if data to be written on the recording medium is to be written on a recorded portion of a user data area of the recording medium, an unrecorded portion of the recording medium is selected as a replacement portion for recording the data, and the data is recorded in the replacement portion.

Description

Method and device for overwriting data on a recording medium and the recording medium

technical field

The present invention relates to recording media and methods and devices associated therewith.

Background technique

A new type of high-density optical disc, such as a Blu-ray rewritable disc (BD-RE), is under development, which can record and store high-definition audio and video data for a long period of time. As shown in FIG. 1, a BD-RE has a lead-in area, a data area, and a lead-out area. An internal spare area (ISA) and an external spare area (OSA) are allocated at the front end and rear end of the data area, respectively. The recording unit of BD-RE is a cluster. Referring to FIG. 1, the presence or absence of a defective area in a data area can be detected during data recording. When a defective area is detected, a replacement recording operation is performed. For example, data intended to be recorded in a defective area is recorded into a spare area such as an internal spare area (ISA). Then, location information of the detected defective area and the replacement recorded spare area is recorded and stored as management information in a defect list (DFL) of a disc management area (DMA) located in the lead-in area.

In this data read operation, the data recorded in the spare area is read and reproduced by accessing the DFL, not the data in the defective area; thereby preventing data recording/reproducing errors from occurring.

Write-once-recordable Blu-ray Disc (BD-WO) is also in development. Unlike rewritable discs, data can only be recorded once in the entire area of a write-once disc; and data cannot be physically overwritten in a write-once disc. However, situations may arise where it is necessary to edit or partially modify recorded data. For example, virtual overwriting of data would be desirable for host and user convenience.

invention disclosure

In one embodiment of the method for overwriting a recording medium, if the data to be written on the recording medium is to be written on the recorded portion of the user data area of the recording medium, the unrecorded portion of the recording medium is selected as the A replacement portion of the data is recorded, and data is recorded in the replacement portion. For example, an unrecorded portion of the user data area of the recording medium may be selected as a replacement portion. In one embodiment, the user data area is divided into a plurality of recording areas, and an unrecorded portion of a recording area is selected as a replacement portion. In one embodiment, the selecting step selects an unrecorded portion as a replacement portion in the recorded area containing the recorded portion. In another embodiment, an unrecorded portion of a recorded area different from the recorded area containing the recorded portion is selected. In yet another embodiment, a spare area separate from the user data area is selected.

In another embodiment, management information recorded in the management area of the recording medium is accessed to determine whether data to be written on the recording medium is to be written on a recorded portion of the user data area of the recording medium.

In yet another embodiment, an entry is recorded in the management area of the recording medium to indicate the location of the recorded portion and the location of the replacement portion.

In one embodiment of the method of reading data from a user data area of a recording medium, access is made to management information in a management area of the recording medium. The management information includes at least one entry indicating a first recorded portion of the user data area and a second recorded portion of the user data area. The second recorded portion includes data for overwriting data in the first recorded portion. When an instruction to read data from the first recorded portion is received, data from the second recorded portion is read.

Embodiments of the invention also include devices configured to perform the methods of the invention.

In addition, one embodiment of the present invention is directed to a recording medium having a data structure for managing overwriting of data on the recording medium. In this embodiment, the recording medium includes a management area for storing at least one entry. This entry indicates a recorded portion of the user data area of the recording medium to be overwritten with data, and indicates a replacement portion of the user data area where data for overwriting is stored.

In another embodiment, the management area stores at least one entry indicating a first recorded portion of the user data area and a second recorded portion of the user data area. Here, the second recorded portion includes data for overwriting data in the first recorded portion.

Brief description of the drawings

The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this application, illustrate embodiments of the invention and together with the description serve to explain the principle of the invention. In the attached picture:

Figure 1 shows the structure of a general rewritable optical disc and a method for managing defects;

FIG. 2 shows a logical overwriting method for a writable optical disc according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 shows an example of performing logical overwriting on an open sequential recording range (SRR) in a writable optical disc according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 shows an example of logical overwriting on a closed SRR in a write-once optical disc according to an embodiment of the present invention;

5 shows a next write address (NWA) selection method in the logical overwriting process of sequential recording mode (SRM) of a writable optical disc according to an embodiment of the present invention;

6 shows a sequential recording range information (SRRI) structure used in a sequential recording mode according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 shows a logical overwriting method used in a random recording mode (RRM) according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 shows a block diagram of an optical recording and reproducing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

Reference will now be made in detail to example embodiments of the invention, which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers will be used throughout the drawings to refer to the same or like parts.

FIG. 2 shows a logical overwriting method for a write-once high-density optical disc according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the figure, a write-once high-density optical disc includes a lead-in area, a data area and a lead-out area. The data area includes an inner spare area (ISA), an outer spare area (OSA), and a user data area. The lead-in area is used as an area for recording various management information for recording/reproducing data on/from the optical disc. The lead-in area may be provided with a Temporary Disc Management Area (TDMA), which is an area for recording defect management information and recording management information of the optical disc. Separate additional TDMAs are also allocated in the spare area for defects that may frequently occur during use of the disc and for updating recording management information.

In the write-once optical disc having the above structure, data recording can be classified into two types: a sequential recording mode (SRM) type and a random recording mode (RRM) type. In the SRM type, for the convenience of recording data on an optical disc, a user data area in which actual user data is recorded is divided into a plurality of consecutive recording areas for recording data. Each of the divided consecutive recording areas is called a sequential recording range (SRR). Recording of data in the SRR is performed on the next recordable (or writable) non-recorded cluster. The address of the next recordable non-recorded cluster in the SRR is called the next writable address (NWA). More specifically, in SRR, the unrecorded area immediately after the recorded area becomes NWA, and recording of data starts from NWA. Therefore, when sequential recording of data is performed starting from NWA, NWA can be dynamically increased according to the recording of data.

In the above-mentioned SRM type, a command to write (or overwrite) data in the recorded area or a portion within the SRR (SRR#n) can be given (or made) by the user or the host. In this case, due to the characteristics of the write-once optical disc, physical writing of data can only be performed once, so writing (or recording) of data on the recorded area is not feasible. In other words, overwriting of data cannot be physically performed. According to embodiments of the present invention, in the SRM type of recordable high-density optical disc, when an overwrite command requesting to overwrite data on the recorded area is given (or made), the data to be written on the recorded portion It is recorded from the NWA of the same SRR, from the NWA of another SRR, or is recorded in the spare area. This is called Logical Overwrite (LOW).

For example, as shown in FIG. 2, when a write (or record) command of data B in a recorded data A area in the SRR (SRR#n) is sent, the data B to be recorded in the data A area is either It is recorded in the next writable area of the SRR including the data A area, that is, NWA, or in a spare area such as OSA. When data is recorded in NWA of the SRR including the data A area, the next writable area from the SRR (SRR#n) becomes NWA'. After the replacement recording of data is performed, as described above, the location of the area to overwrite data (i.e., data A area) and the replacement recording area (i.e., data B area of the user data area or data B area of the spare area) Information is recorded in TDMA as LOW entries. LOW entries are mainly divided into two types: reallocation defect (RAD) type and continuous reallocation defect (CRD) type.

A LOW entry of type RAD includes information on logical overwriting performed in a single cluster. Each entry includes the first physical sector number (PSN) of the first cluster of the area on which logical overwriting is performed and the first physical sector number (PSN) of the first cluster of the area on which logical overwriting is performed for replacement recording. On the other hand, the LOW entry of the CRD type includes information on logical overwriting performed in a plurality of consecutive clusters and thus uses two entries. More specifically, one of the two entries includes the first PSN of the first cluster on which the logical overwriting was performed and the first PSN of the first cluster of the replacement record on which the logical overwriting was performed. Another entry includes the first PSN of the last cluster on which logical overwriting was performed and the first PSN of the last cluster of the replacement record on which logical overwriting was performed.

Therefore, when the optical disc logically overwritten as described above is reproduced in the later process, the optical disc drive refers to the entry information recorded in the TDMA and identifies the information of the logical overwriting area and the replacement recording area, thereby being able to reproduce the replacement recording area. The data B area is recorded instead of the data A area. In the SRM type, it is preferable to perform replacement recording of logical overwriting in the NWA of the user data area rather than the spare area. More specifically, in a recordable optical disc, as a defect management method, the spare area is also used to replace a recording defect area. Therefore, when the spare area is used for replacement recording of logical overwriting, there is a spare area of which a sufficient range must be secured in advance during initialization of the optical disc, and the use of this spare area is unclear. Therefore, in order to avoid these problems, it is preferable to perform replacement recording of logical overwriting in the NWA of the user data area. When logical overwriting is performed in the user data area using the SRM type, logical overwriting can be performed at the time of SRR open and SRR closed.

FIG. 3 shows an example of logical overwriting on an open SRR in a write-once optical disc according to an embodiment of the present invention. In SRM, an open SRR refers to a non-recorded SRR or an SRR that still has some recordable areas (ie, unrecorded parts). Open SRR has NWA. The closed SRR means that no recordable area remains or exists in the SRR, or refers to an SRR that is changed to a closed state because a request from a user or a host is no longer allowed even if an unrecorded area or part exists. Therefore, there is no NWA for closed SRRs. Referring to FIG. 3 , when an overwrite command for the recorded area of an open SRR is received, replacement recording can be performed in any open SRR. In other words, when an open SRR (SRR#n) command to overwrite data B on the recorded data A area is received, the data B to be recorded on the data A area or from the SRR including the data A area Replacement records are made from the NWA of , or from the NWA of any other open SRR.

FIG. 4 shows an example of logical overwriting on a closed SRR in a write-once optical disc according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 4, when the write command given (or made) by the host is an overwrite command to the recorded area in the closed SRR, replacement recording is performed in the open SRR since the closed SRR does not include NWA. Here, when data is overwritten on the recorded area of the closed SRR, replacement recording can also be performed in the spare area. More specifically, replacement recording is performed from NWA of Open SRR or in a spare area such as OSA. For closed SRR, replacement recording can be performed specifically in the spare area, not in the user data area.

As described above, logical overwriting in a write-once high-density optical disc in SRM is performed at the NWA. In one embodiment, up to 16 SRRs may be allocated, and accordingly include up to 16 NWAs. The method for selecting an NWA according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to FIG. 5 .

FIG. 5 illustrates an NWA selection method during logical overwriting in a sequential recording mode of a writable optical disc according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 5, a plurality of sequential recording ranges (SRRs) may be allocated in a user data area of a writable high density optical disc. Additionally, a maximum of 16 SRRs can be allocated in this embodiment. Each open SRR includes an NWA indicating the next writable area.

According to this embodiment, for a plurality of NWAs that may exist, when a write command requests overwriting data on an already recorded area, replacement recording is performed in the open SRR containing the data to be overwritten. More specifically, when an NWA exists within the SRR (SRR#n) to which the data overwrite command has been given (or made), replacement recording is performed at the NWA of the open SRR (SRR#n). If the SRR for which the overwrite command has been given (or made) is not available, for example, if an open SRR has been changed (or changed) to a closed SRR, replacement recording is performed at the NWA of the adjacent SRR.

Therefore, when the SRR (SRR#n) to be overwritten is a closed SRR, the previous open SRR (SRR#n-1) or the next open SRR (SRR#n) of the SRR (SRR#n) +1) to perform replacement records. In addition, the SRR area may also be unusable due to unrecorded partial discomfort and insufficient replacement recording. In other words, the remaining recordable area of the SRR (SRR#n) or the adjacent SRR (SRR#n+1 or SRR#n−1) may not be sufficient, so that replacement recording cannot be performed at one time.

In one embodiment of the present invention, when the remaining recordable area of the SRR or the adjacent SRR is not enough to perform replacement recording, the replacement is performed in the SRR closest to SRR#n with sufficient recordable (or writable) area Record. When data replacement recording is performed as described above, the continuity of the replacement recording area can be ensured. In addition, waste of a reallocation defect (RAD) entry or a continuous reallocation defect (CRD) entry recording the addresses of the overwrite area and the replacement recording area can be prevented.

Meanwhile, in another embodiment of the present invention, when the remaining recordable area of the SRR or the adjacent SRR is not enough to perform replacement recording, the replacement recording can be performed in the insufficient area and the next adjacent open The replacement recording of the remaining data continues in the SRR. When using the method described above, there may be multiple RAD or CRD entries to indicate logically overwritten replacement record information. In addition, in yet another embodiment of the present invention, the replacement recording of logical overwriting is performed sequentially from the first open SRR. More specifically, regardless of which SRR the logical overwrite is associated with, replacement recording is performed starting from the first open SRR.

When the optical disc drive performs replacement recording on an adjacent SRR or from the first open SRR, information on the first open SRR can be obtained by referring to sequential recording range information (SRRI) recorded in the TDMA. This will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 6 . FIG. 6 shows an SRRI structure according to one embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 6, the SRRI recorded in the TDMA includes an "SRRI Header" field, an "SRR Entry List" field, and an "SRRI Terminator" field. The "SRRI header" field includes a "SRRI identifier=''SR'" field, a "SRR entry number" field, an "open SRR number" field, and an "open SRR number list" field. Here, an SRR entry number to be described in a later procedure is recorded in the "SRR entry number" field. The open SRR numbers are recorded in the "open SRR number list field", and the open SRR number list is recorded in the "open SRR number list" field. In the "SRR entry list" field, a list of open SRR numbers is recorded. Here, a numbered list of up to 16 allocatable open SRRs is recorded. When the number of the allocated open SRR is less than '16', "0" is recorded in the unused open SRR field. SRR numbers are listed in descending (or descending) order. Therefore, when performing logical overwriting, the optical disc drive refers to the "open SRR number list" field to search and find the SRRs of the replaceable records. More specifically, referring to FIG. 6, when performing logical overwriting in the recorded area of the 9th SRR (SRR#9), the recorded data can be replaced on the 9th SRR, or can be recorded in the adjacent (i.e., nearest ), that is, the replacement recording is performed on the 8th SRR or the 10th SRR, or the replacement recording can be performed from the 1st SRR.

The SRR entry list is recorded in the "SRR entry list" field of the SRRI. Here, the SRR entries are allocated sequentially and recorded starting from "1". Here, 8 bytes are allocated in one SRR entry, in which specific information is recorded. The SRR entry includes a "Start PSN of SRR#n" field, a "Session Start", and a "LRA in SRR#n" field. More specifically, the physical sector number (PSN) of the start location (or area) of SRR#n is allocated in a size of 28 bits and recorded in the "Start PSN of SRR#n" field. The "session start" field size is 1 bit, and the Last Recorded Area (LRA) of SRR#n is recorded in the "LRA in SRR#n" field with a size of 28 bits.

Therefore, the optical disc drive can identify the location information of the recorded area of the corresponding SRR by using the information contained in the SRR entry. The NWA indicating the next writable area can be determined by using the "LRA in SRR #n" field information. That is, by using the physical sector number (PSN) recorded in "LRA in SRR #n", the first sector of the next cluster becomes NWA. If '0' has been recorded in the "LRA in SRR#n" field, this indicates that the data is not recorded in SRR#n. Therefore, the sector recorded in the "Start PSN of SRR#n" field becomes NWA.

As described above, recording of data in a recordable high-density optical disc is broadly classified into an SRM type and an RRM type. In the RRM type, recording of data is performed randomly on all non-recorded clusters. In the RRM type described above, information on the recording status of clusters in the user data area is reflected in a space bit map (SBM). More specifically, the SBM includes a plurality of bits matched one-to-one with the clusters of the user data area to indicate the recording status of the corresponding area. The method for logically overwriting data in the RRM type will be described below with reference to FIG. 7 .

FIG. 7 illustrates a logical overwriting method in an RRM type of recordable optical disc according to one embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 7, in the RRM type, when an overwrite command for overwriting data on a recorded area is sent from the host, data intended to be recorded in the recorded area is replaced and recorded in, for example, a spare area. According to the characteristics of the RRM type, since data is randomly recorded in clusters in the user data area, it may not be efficient to perform replacement recording of logical overwriting in the user data area. Therefore, in the RRM type, logically overwritten data can be replaced and recorded in a spare area such as OSA. Here, the spare area can also be used as a replacement area for the defective area, and the size of the spare area should be sufficiently specified and allocated during the initialization process of the optical disc.

Fig. 8 shows a block diagram of an optical recording and reproducing apparatus according to the present invention. Referring to FIG. 8, the optical recording and/or reproducing apparatus includes: a recording/reproducing device 10 for performing recording/reproducing on an optical disc; and a host or controller 20 (here, recording/reproducing Device 10 is often referred to as an "optical disc drive" and both terms will be used in the description of the present invention).

Basically, in the optical recording and reproducing apparatus described above, the host computer 20 gives a write or reproduction command for writing to or reproducing from a specific area of the optical disc to the recording/reproducing device 10, and the recording/reproducing device 10 responds to the command from the host computer 20. command to perform recording/reproduction to/from a specific area on the disc. Recording/reproducing apparatus 10 comprises: interface unit 12, is used for carrying out communication such as data and order exchange etc. with host computer 20; Pickup unit 11, is used for writing/reading data directly to/from optical disc; The unit 11 receives the signal and restores the desired signal value, or modulates the signal to be recorded into a signal that can be written on the optical disc; the servo unit 14 is used to control the pickup unit 11 to accurately read the signal from the optical disc, or accurately convert the signal to the optical disc. signals are written on the optical disc; a memory 15 for temporarily storing various information including management information and data;

Process steps of an embodiment of a method of recording data on a recordable optical disc in the optical recording and/or reproducing device will be described below. Once the recordable optical disc is inserted into the optical recording and/or reproducing apparatus, the management information is read from the optical disc and stored in the memory 15 of the recording/reproducing apparatus 10 . Here, if the user needs to write on a specific area of the optical disc, the host 20 supplies information on the required write position to the recording/reproducing apparatus 10 together with a set of data to be written in response to a write command indicating this requirement.

The microcomputer 16 in the recording/reproducing apparatus 10 receives the write command and determines based on the management information stored in the memory 15 whether (i) the area of the optical disc where the host 20 intends to write data is a defective area and/or (ii) whether the area has been deleted. Record. Then, the microcomputer 16 executes on an area that is neither a defective area nor a recorded area according to a write command from the host computer 20 . For example, if the area is in a closed SSR or the start address is smaller than the LRA of the SSR to be written, then it is determined that the area is recorded.

In the case of performing data writing as described above, when overwriting is to be performed according to a user command, data to be recorded (or written) to the overlapping (or overwriting) area is replaced and recorded in another area within the data area , such as a user data area or a spare area, as described above in connection with one of the embodiments of the present invention. Then, the corresponding information including the RAD and CRD entries created in the process is recorded in the TDMA in the lead-in area. For this purpose, the microcomputer 16 provides the location information and data of the area for replacement recording to the servo unit 14 and the data processor 13 according to the command of the host computer, thereby completing recording or replacement recording at a desired position on the optical disc through the pickup unit 11.

A method of reproducing data recorded as described above from an optical disc according to the present invention will be described in detail below. When a write-once optical disc in which data is recorded is inserted into an optical recording and/or reproducing apparatus, management information is read from the optical disc and stored in the memory 15 of the recording/reproducing apparatus 10 for supply to/from the optical disc. Used when recording/reproducing data.

Here, if the user wants to read (or reproduce) data from a specific area of the optical disc, the host 20 provides information on a desired read position to the recording/reproducing apparatus 10 in response to a read command indicating this requirement. The microcomputer 16 in the recording/reproducing apparatus 10 receives the read command, and uses the management information to determine whether the area of the optical disc from which the host 20 wants to read data is an area that has been replaced. If so, the microcomputer 16 determines the location of the replacement area from the management information. However, in the case where replacement recording is not performed, the microcomputer 16 reads (or reproduces) the data of the indicated area and sends the read information to the host computer 20 . If replacement recording (for example, RAD/CRD type) has been performed, the microcomputer 16 reads data from the determined replacement area and sends the read information to the host computer 20 .

As described above, the method and apparatus for overwriting data on a recordable high density optical disc according to the present invention have the following advantages. By providing an efficient method of overwriting data according to a recording mode of a write-once high-density optical disc, it is possible to more efficiently manage and reproduce a write-once high-density optical disc when overwriting data on a recorded area within the optical disc.

Industrial Applicability

Although this invention has been disclosed in terms of a limited number of embodiments, those skilled in the art having the benefit of this disclosure will appreciate many modifications and variations from this invention. For example, although several examples have been described with respect to Blu-ray writable discs, the present invention is not limited to such writable disc standards, write-once recording media or optical discs as recording media. All such modifications and alterations are intended to fall within the spirit and scope of the invention.

Claims (48)

1. A method for overwriting a recording medium, comprising: determining whether data to be written on the recording medium is to be written on a recorded portion of a user data area of the recording medium; If the determining step determines that the data will be written on a recorded portion of the user data area, selecting an unrecorded portion of the recording medium as a replacement portion for recording the data; and If the determining step determines that the data is to be written on the recorded portion of the user data area, recording the data into the replacement portion. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein said selecting step selects an unrecorded portion of a user data area of said recording medium as said replacement portion. 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the selecting step accesses management information from a management area to determine the unrecorded portion of the user data area. 4. The method according to claim 2, wherein said selecting step determines the start of said replacement part as the start of a cluster in the unrecorded part of said user data area. 5. The method of claim 1, wherein, the user data area is divided into a plurality of recording areas; and The selecting step selects an unrecorded portion of a recording area as the replacement portion. 6. The method of claim 5, wherein each of the plurality of recording areas is for sequentially recording data. 7. The method according to claim 5, wherein said selecting step accesses management information from a management area to determine an unrecorded portion of said recording area. 8. The method of claim 5, wherein, If the recording area including the recorded portion is available for recording, the selecting step selects an unrecorded portion in the recording area including the recorded portion as the replacement portion. 9. The method according to claim 8, wherein the recording area including the recorded portion is available for recording if the recording area including the recorded portion has an open state for recording. 10. The method according to claim 9, wherein said selecting step accesses management information from a management area to determine whether a recording area containing said recorded portion has a status open for recording. 11. The method of claim 10, wherein the management information indicates a status of each recording area, each status indicating whether the associated recording area is open for recording. 12. The method according to claim 9, wherein if the recording area containing the recorded portion has an open state for recording and includes an unrecorded portion large enough to store the data, then the recorded portion is included. The recording area of the recording section can be used for recording. 13. The method according to claim 12, wherein said selecting step accesses management information from a management area to determine whether a recording area containing said recorded portion has a state of being open for recording, and if containing said The recording area of the recording part is open for recording, the management information indicates the last recording address of the recording area, and the selecting step accesses the last recording address to determine whether the recording area containing the recorded part includes a recording area as large as Enough to store the unrecorded portion of the data. 14. The method according to claim 13, wherein if a recording area containing said recorded portion is available for recording, said selecting step determines a next write address to start recording said data as containing said recorded portion. The start of the first cluster following said last recording address of the recording area of the recording section. 15. The method according to claim 12, wherein if the recording area containing the recorded portion is not available for recording, the selecting step selects a recording area different from the recording area containing the recorded portion The undocumented portion of . 16. The method according to claim 8, wherein if the recording area containing the recorded portion is not available for recording, the selecting step selects a recording area different from the recording area containing the recorded portion The undocumented portion of . 17. The method according to claim 16, wherein the recording area including the recorded portion is unavailable for recording if the recording area including the recorded portion has a status of being closed for recording. 18. The method of claim 17, wherein the selected recording area is the recording area closest to the recording area containing the recorded portion. 19. The method according to claim 17, wherein said selecting step accesses management information from a management area to determine whether a recording area containing said recorded portion has a status of being closed for recording. 20. The method of claim 19, wherein the management information indicates a status of each recording area, each status indicating whether the associated recording area is closed for recording. 21. The method of claim 16, wherein if the recording area containing the recorded portion does not include an unrecorded portion large enough to store the data, the recording area containing the recorded portion cannot for records. 22. The method of claim 21, wherein, The management information indicates at least a start sector of each recording area, and for a recording area having a state open for recording, the management information indicates a last recording address of the recording area; and If the recording area including the recorded portion is open for recording, the selecting step determines whether an unrecorded portion of the recording area including the recorded portion is large enough to record the data based on the management information. 23. The method according to claim 5, wherein said selecting step selects an unrecorded portion of a recording area different from a recording area including said recorded portion. 24. A method as claimed in claim 23, characterized in that the selected recording area is the recording area closest to the recording area containing said recorded portion. 25. The method of claim 1, wherein, the recording medium includes a user data area and at least one spare area; and The selecting step selects an unrecorded portion of the spare area as the replacement portion. 26. The method of claim 25, further comprising: Data is recorded in the user data area in a random recording mode. 27. The method according to claim 1, wherein said determining step accesses management information recorded in a management area of said recording medium to determine whether data to be written on said recording medium will be written in on the recorded portion of the user data area of the recording medium. 28. The method according to claim 27, wherein the user data area is divided into a plurality of recording areas to record data sequentially, and the management information indicates the start sector of each recording area, and indicates each whether each recording area is open for recording, and for each recording area open for recording, indicate the last recording address of the recording area. 29. The method according to claim 28, wherein if the recording area in which the data is to be written is closed to recording, the determining step determines that the data to be written on the recording medium is to be written on the recorded portion of the user data area of said recording medium. 30. The method according to claim 28, wherein if the recording area in which the data is to be written is open for recording, and the start address for recording the data is smaller than the address in which the data is to be written the last recording address of the recording area of the recording medium, the determining step determines that the data to be written on the recording medium is to be written on the recorded portion of the user data area of the recording medium. 31. The method of claim 1, further comprising: An entry indicating the position of the recorded portion and the position of the replacement portion is recorded in a management area of the recording medium. 32. The method of claim 31, wherein the entry indicates at least a first sector of the recorded portion and a first sector of the replacement portion. 33. The method of claim 31 , further comprising: At least one entry is recorded in a management area of the recording medium, the entry for defect management indicating a position of a defective portion of the user data area and a position in the recording medium to replace the defective portion. 34. The method of claim 1, wherein the recording medium is a write-once recording medium. 35. A method of overwriting a recording medium, comprising: accessing management information recorded in the management area of the recording medium, the management information indicating the number of recording areas for sequential recording into which the user data area of the recording medium is divided, indicating the starting point of each recording area A start sector indicating the state of each recording area, and indicating a last recording address for each recording area having a state open for recording; determining whether data to be written on the recording medium is to be written based on the management information on a recorded portion of one of said recording areas; If the determining step determines that the data is to be written on a recorded portion of one of the recording areas, an unrecorded portion of the one of the recording areas is selected based on the management information as the the replacement portion of the data; and The data is recorded in the replacement part. 36. The method according to claim 35, wherein said selecting step selects a recording area containing said recorded portion if a recording area containing said recorded portion is available for recording said data, and if A recording area including said recorded portion is not available for recording said data, and said selecting step selects another recording area available for recording. 37. The method of claim 35, further comprising: The management information is updated after recording the data. 38. The method of claim 35, wherein the recording medium is a write-once recording medium. 39. A method of recording on a recording medium a data structure for managing overwriting of the recording medium, comprising: If the recorded portion of the user data area on the recording medium is to be overwritten with data, an entry is stored in the management area of the recording medium, the entry indicating the recorded portion of the recording medium and A replacement portion for storing the data. 40. The method of claim 39, wherein said entry indicates at least a first sector of said recorded portion and a first sector of said replacement portion. 41. The recording medium of claim 39, wherein the replacement portion begins at the beginning of a cluster. 42. The method of claim 39, wherein the replacement portion is in the user data area. 43. The method of claim 42, wherein, said user data area is divided into a plurality of sequential recording areas for sequential recording; and If a recording area is available for recording, said recorded portion and said replacement portion are in the same sequential recording area. 44. A method of reading data from a user data area of a recording medium, comprising: accessing management information in a management area of the recording medium, the management information including at least one entry indicating a first recorded portion of the user data area and a second recorded portion of the user data area part, the second recorded part includes data for overwriting data in the first recorded part; and When an instruction to read data from the first recorded portion is received, data is read from the second recorded portion. 45. An apparatus for recording data on a recording medium, comprising: a drive configured to record data on the recording medium; and a controller configured to receive an instruction to write data on a user data area of the recording medium, configured to determine whether data to be written on the recording medium is to be written on the recording medium on the recorded portion of the user data area of the user data area, and is configured such that if the controller determines that the data will be written on the recorded portion of the user data area, select an unrecorded portion of the recording medium as the A replacement portion of the data is recorded and configured to control the drive to record the data in the replacement portion. 46. An apparatus for reading from a recording medium, comprising: a drive configured to reproduce data from the recording medium; and a controller configured to access management information in a management area of the recording medium for containing at least one entry indicating a first recorded portion of a user data area and a second recorded portion of said user data area, said second recorded portion comprising data for overwriting data in said first recorded portion, and The controller is configured to control the drive to read data from the second recorded portion when an instruction to read data from the first recorded portion is received. 47. A recording medium having a data structure for managing overwriting of data on the recording medium, the recording medium comprising: a management area for storing at least one entry indicating a recorded portion to be overwritten with data in a user data area of the recording medium and indicating a storage of data for overwriting in the user data area the replacement part of the . 48. A recording medium having a data structure for managing data overwriting on the recording medium, the recording medium comprising: a management area for storing at least one entry indicating a first recorded portion of the user data area and a second recorded portion of the user data area including Writing data of data in said first recorded portion.

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