HK1085302A

HK1085302A - Disc with temporary defect management area, and disc defect management method and apparatus therefor

Info

Publication number: HK1085302A
Application number: HK06105217.0A
Authority: HK
Inventors: 黄盛; 高祯完; 李垧根
Original assignee: 三星电子株式会社
Priority date: 2003-01-13
Filing date: 2004-01-08
Publication date: 2006-08-18

Description

Disc having temporary defect management area and disc defect management method and apparatus thereof

Technical Field

The present invention relates to disc defect management, and more particularly, to a disc having a Temporary Defect Management Area (TDMA), and a disc defect management method and apparatus thereof.

Background

Disc defect management is a process of rewriting data stored in a user data area of a disc, in which a defect exists, to a new portion of a data area of the disc, thereby compensating for data loss otherwise caused by the defect. Generally, disc defect management is performed using a linear replacement method or a slipping replacement method. In the linear replacement method, a user data area in which a defect exists is replaced with a spare data area having no defects. In the slipping replacement method, a user data area having a defect is slipped and a next user data area having no defect is used. However, the linear replacement and slipping replacement methods are applicable only to a disc such as a DVD-RAW/RW on which data can be repeatedly recorded and recording can be performed using a random access method. In other words, it is difficult to apply the linear replacement and slipping replacement methods to a write-once disc on which recording is allowed only once.

In general, the presence of a defect in a disc is detected by recording data on the disc and confirming whether the data has been correctly recorded on the disc. However, once data is recorded on a write-once disc, it is impossible to overwrite new data and manage defects therein.

After the development of CD-R and DVD-R, a high-density write-once disc having a recording capacity of several tens of GB is introduced. This type of disc can be used as a backup disc since it is inexpensive and allows random access for fast read operations. However, disc defect management is not available for write once discs. Accordingly, during a backup operation, when a defective area (i.e., an area in which a defect exists) is detected, the backup operation may be interrupted. Typically, backup operations are performed when the system is not frequently used (e.g., during the nighttime when a system administrator is not operating the system). In this case, since a defective area of the write-once disc is detected, it is likely that the backup operation will be interrupted.

Disclosure of Invention

An aspect of the present invention provides a write-once disc, a disc defect management method and apparatus applicable to the write-once disc.

An aspect of the present invention also provides a disc in which disc defect management can be performed even when a disc defect is detected during a recording operation, thus allowing the recording operation to be performed without interruption, and a disc defect management method and apparatus therefor.

An aspect of the present invention also provides a disc in which defect information can be efficiently recorded, and a disc defect management method and apparatus thereof.

Additional aspects and/or advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a write-once disc having at least one recording layer, the disc including: a temporary defect management area in which temporary defect information regarding defects detected only during a corresponding recording operation and temporary defect management information for managing the temporary defect information are recorded; and a defect management area in which temporary defect information and temporary defect management information recorded in the temporary defect management area are recorded as defect information and defect management information, respectively.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a write-once disc including: a temporary defect management area in which temporary defect information regarding defects detected only during a corresponding recording operation and temporary defect management information for managing the temporary defect information are recorded; a temporary finalized defect management area in which temporary finalized defect information including at least a portion of the temporary defect information recorded in the temporary defect management area and temporary finalized defect management information for managing the temporary finalized defect information are recorded; and a defect management area in which, when temporary defect information and temporary defect management information are recorded as a pair of information in the temporary defect management area during disc finalization, all of the recorded temporary defect information and temporary defect management information are recorded as defect information and defect management information, respectively.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of managing disc defects, including: recording information regarding only a defect detected in data recorded in a data area of a disc during a recording operation having a mark i, where i is an integer, as ith temporary defect information in a temporary defect management area of the disc; recording management information for managing the ith temporary defect information as ith temporary defect management information in the temporary defect management area; repeating the recording of the ith temporary defect information and the recording of the ith temporary defect management information at least once while adding 1 to the flags given to the corresponding recording operation, temporary defect information, and temporary defect management information; and reading and writing all the recorded temporary defect management information and temporary defect information in the defect management area.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of managing disc defects, including: recording temporary management information as ith temporary management information in the temporary defect management area in units of a predetermined number of blocks, the temporary management information including temporary defect information and temporary defect management information on data recorded in the data area of the disc according to a recording operation having an i mark, where i is an integer; repeating recording the temporary management information at least once while adding 1 to a flag i given to the corresponding recording operation and temporary management information; recording temporary finalized defect management information in a temporary finalized defect management area whenever the ith temporary management information is recorded k times, where k is an integer greater than or equal to 2, the temporary finalized defect management information being obtained based on all recorded temporary management information; repeating the recording of the ith temporary management information, and repeating the recording and the recording of the temporary finalized defect management information at least once; and reading all the recorded temporary defect management information and temporary defect information and recording the temporary defect management information and temporary defect information in the defect management area.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a recording and reproducing apparatus including: a recording/reading unit recording and/or reading data on and/or from the disc; and a controller controlling the recording/reading unit to record information regarding a defect detected from data recorded in a data area of the disc in a recording operation unit as temporary defect information in a temporary defect management area, and to record management information for managing the temporary defect information in the temporary defect management area.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a recording and/or reproducing apparatus including: a recording/reading unit recording and/or reading data on and/or from the disc; and a controller controlling the recording/reading unit to record information regarding a defect detected from recorded data recorded in a data area of the disc according to the first recording operation as first temporary defect information in the temporary defect management area; recording defect management information for managing the first temporary defect information as first temporary defect management information in the temporary defect management area; recording data in the data area while adding 1 to a flag i given to a corresponding recording operation, temporary defect information, and temporary defect management information; and reading all the recorded temporary defect information and temporary defect management information in the defect management area during disc finalization.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a recording and/or reproducing apparatus including: a recording/reading unit recording and/or reading data on and/or from the disc; and a controller controlling the recording/reading unit to record the temporary defect management information in the temporary defect management area in units of a predetermined number of blocks; and recording temporary finalized defect management information, which is obtained based on all temporary defect management information recorded in the temporary defect management information, in the temporary finalized defect management area whenever the temporary defect management information is recorded k times, the management information including temporary defect information and temporary defect management information on data recorded in a data area of the disc according to a recording operation.

Drawings

These and other aspects and/or advantages of the invention will become more apparent and more readily appreciated from the following detailed description of the embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of which:

fig. 1 is a block diagram of a recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 2A and 2B illustrate a structure of a disc according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 3A illustrates a data structure of a disc according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 3B illustrates a data structure of a disc having the Defect Management Area (DMA) and the temporary DMA (tdma) shown in fig. 3A;

fig. 4A to 4C illustrate a data structure of a TDMA according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 5A and 5B illustrate data structures of temporary defect management information TDDS # i and a copy thereof, respectively, according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 6 illustrates a data structure of temporary defect information TDFL # i according to another embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 7 illustrates a diagram explaining recording of data in a user data area a and a spare area B according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 8A and 8B illustrate data structures of temporary defect information TDFL #0 and TDFL #1 as shown in fig. 7;

fig. 9 illustrates a data structure of information regarding defect # i;

fig. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a disc defect management method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 11 is a flowchart illustrating a disc defect management method according to another embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 12A illustrates a data structure of a disc according to another embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 12B illustrates a data structure of a disc having the DMA, the TDMA, and the temporary finalization DMA (tfdma) shown in fig. 12A;

fig. 13 is a reference diagram illustrating a relationship between TDMA and TFDMA according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 14A and 14B illustrate data structures of a TFDMA according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 15 is a flowchart illustrating a disc defect management method according to another embodiment of the present invention; and

fig. 16 is a flowchart illustrating a disc defect management method according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

Reference will now be made in detail to the embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to the like elements throughout. Hereinafter, the embodiments are described to explain the present invention by referring to the figures.

Fig. 1 is a block diagram of a recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The recording and/or reproducing apparatus includes: a recording/reading unit 1, a controller 2 and a memory 3. The recording/reading unit 1 records data on a disc 100, the disc 100 being an information storage medium according to an embodiment of the present invention. The recording/reading unit 1 also reads back data from the disc 100 to verify the accuracy of the recorded data. The controller 2 performs disc defect management according to an embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the controller 2 uses a verify-after-write method in which data is recorded on the disc 100 in predetermined data units, and the accuracy of the recorded data is verified to detect whether an area of the disc 100 has a defect. In other words, the controller 2 records user data on the disc 100 in units of recording operations, and verifies the recorded user data to detect an area of the disc 100 in which a defect exists. Thereafter, the controller 2 creates information indicating the location of the area having the defect, and stores the created information in the memory 3. When the amount of stored information reaches a predetermined degree, the controller 2 records the stored information as temporary defect information on the disc 100. Although described in terms of a recording device, it is to be understood that the device of FIG. 1 also reproduces data in accordance with another aspect of the present invention.

According to another aspect of the present invention, the recording operation is an operation unit determined according to the user's intention or a recording work to be performed. According to this embodiment, the recording operation refers to a process in which the disc 100 is loaded into the recording apparatus, data is recorded on the disc 100, and the disc 100 is taken out from the recording apparatus. During a recording operation, data is recorded and verified at least once. Typically, data is recorded and verified several times. Defect information obtained using the verify-after-write method is temporarily stored in the memory 3 as temporary defect information.

The controller 2 expects the recording operation to be terminated when the user presses an eject button (not shown) of the recording and/or reproducing apparatus to remove the disc 100 after recording data or the recording operation is otherwise designated as completed. The controller 2 reads defect information from the memory 3, provides the defect information to the recording/reading unit 1, and controls the recording/reading unit 1 to record the defect information on the disc 100. In the illustrated example, defect information is recorded as temporary defect information on the disc 100 in units of recording operations. Recording defect information in a recording operation unit is understood to record information regarding defects detected during only the corresponding recording operation unit. However, it should be understood that other definitions of recording operations may be used.

When the recording of data is completed (i.e., additional data will not be recorded on the disc 100), the disc 100 needs to be finalized. The controller 2 controls the recording/reading unit 1 to rewrite the recorded temporary defect information and the recorded temporary defect management information stored in the disc 100 as defect management information into a Defect Management Area (DMA) of the disc 100.

Fig. 2A and 2B illustrate a structure of the disc 100 of fig. 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 2A shows the single record layer disc 100 having the record layer L0 in detail. The disc 100 includes: a lead-in area, a data area, and a lead-out area. The lead-in area is located in an inner part of the disc 100 and the lead-out area is located in an outer part of the disc 100. The data area is located between the lead-in area and the lead-out area and is divided into a user data area and a spare area.

The user data area is an area where user data is recorded. The spare area is a replacement area of the user data area having the defect, and is used to compensate for a loss in the recording area caused by the defect. It is preferable that the spare area occupies 5% of the entire data capacity of the disc 100, in case a defect is generated within the disc 100, so that a relatively large amount of data can be recorded on the disc 100. However, it should be understood that other quantities may be used as spare areas.

Fig. 2B shows a dual record layer disc 100 having two record layers L0 and L1. A lead-in area, a data area, and an outer area are sequentially formed from an inner portion of the first recording layer L0 to an outer portion thereof. In addition, an outer area, a data area, and a lead-out area are sequentially formed from an outer portion of the second recording layer L1 to an inner portion thereof. Unlike the single record layer disc 100 of fig. 2A, the lead-out area is located in an inner portion of the disc 100 of fig. 2B. That is, the disc 100 of fig. 2B has an inverse track path (OTP) in which data is recorded starting from the lead-in area of the first recording layer L0 toward the outer area thereof and continuing from the outer area of the second recording layer L1 to the lead-out area thereof. A spare area is allocated to each of the recording layers L0 and L1.

In this embodiment, the spare areas are located between the lead-in area and the user data area and between the user data area and the outer area. However, a portion of the user data area may be used as another spare area, if necessary. That is, more than one spare area may exist between the lead-in area and the lead-out area. However, the position of the spare area is not limited to this arrangement.

For disc defect management, the disc 100 according to an aspect of the present invention includes a Temporary Defect Management Area (TDMA) or a TDMA and a temporary finalization dma (tfdma). Hereinafter, disc defect management using a TDMA according to an embodiment of the present invention shown in fig. 3A and disc defect management using both a TDMA and a TFDMA according to another embodiment of the present invention shown in fig. 12A will be described.

Fig. 3A illustrates a data structure of the disc 100 of fig. 2 and 2B according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to fig. 3A, if the disc 100 is the single record layer disc of fig. 2A, a Defect Management Area (DMA) and a temporary DMA (tdma) are formed in a lead-in area. Alternatively, the DMA may be included in both the lead-in area and the lead-out area, or the TDMA may also be included in the lead-out area. That is, the DMA and the TDMA may be located in at least one of the lead-in area and the lead-out area. If the disc 100 is a dual record layer disc as shown in fig. 2B, the DMA and the TDMA are located in a lead-in area and a lead-out area, respectively, located in an inner portion of the disc 100. The DMA may also be included in a lead-out area and an outer area located at an outer portion of the disc 100. Therefore, according to an aspect of the present invention, the DMA and the TDMA are located in at least one of the lead-in area, the lead-out area, and the outer area.

Generally, information on managing disc defects in the disc 100 is recorded in the DMA. Such information specifies or includes the structure of the disc 100 for disc defect management, whether disc defect management is performed, defect information, the location of the defect information, and the location and size of the spare area. In this embodiment, since the disc 100 is a write-once disc, new data is recorded after previously recorded data when the above information is changed.

Generally, when the disc 100 is loaded into a recording and/or reading apparatus as shown in fig. 1, the apparatus reads data from a lead-in area and a lead-out area of the disc 100 to determine how to manage the disc 100 and record the data on the disc 100 or read the data from the disc 100. However, if the amount of data recorded in the lead-in area and/or the lead-out area increases, it takes a long time to prepare to record or reproduce the data after the disc 100 is loaded. To solve this problem, an aspect of the present invention uses temporary defect management information and temporary defect information to be recorded in the TDMA. The TDMA is allocated to a lead-in area and/or a lead-out area of the disc 100 and is separated from the DMA. That is, only last recorded defect information and defect management information required for performing disc defect management are recorded in the DMA, thereby reducing the amount of information required for a recording/reproducing operation by the recording/reading unit 1.

In the illustrated embodiment, since disc defect management is performed using a linear replacement method, the temporary defect information includes information indicating the position of an area of the disc 100 having a defect and information indicating the position of an area of the disc 100 that is a replacement for the area having the defect. Preferably, although not necessarily, the temporary defect information further includes information indicating whether the defect is generated in a single defect block or in a physically continuous defect block. The temporary defect management information is used to manage the temporary defect information and includes information indicating the location of the temporary defect information recorded on the disc 100. Detailed data structures of the temporary defect information and the temporary defect management information will be explained later. It should be understood that the temporary defect information may include other information and other methods of defect management may be used.

In the illustrated embodiment, the temporary defect information and the temporary defect management information are recorded each time the recording operation ends. In the TDMA, information regarding a defect generated in data recorded during a recording operation #0 and information regarding replacement thereof are recorded as temporary defect information #0, and information regarding a defect generated in data recorded during a recording operation #1 and information regarding replacement thereof are recorded as temporary defect information # 1. Further, management information for managing the temporary defect information #0, #1 is recorded in the TDMA as temporary defect management information #0, #1, which specifies the recording positions of the temporary defect information #0, # 1. When additional data cannot be recorded in the data area or a user does not wish to record additional data therein (i.e., disc finalization is required), temporary defect information and temporary defect management information recorded in the TDMA are rewritten into the DMA.

The temporary defect information and the temporary defect management information are rewritten in the DMA for the following reason. When additional data is not to be recorded on the disc 100 (i.e., the disc 100 needs to be finalized), only the last recorded temporary defect management information and temporary defect information, which have been updated several times, are recorded again in the DMA. Accordingly, the recording/reading unit 1 can quickly read the defect management information from the disc 100 only by reading the last recorded defect management information, thereby achieving quick initialization of the disc 100. In addition, recording the temporary defect information and the temporary defect management information in the DMA increases the reliability of information.

In this embodiment, defect information contained in the previously recorded temporary defect information #0, #1, and # i-1 is not included in the temporary defect information # i. That is, only information regarding defects detected during a corresponding recording operation # i is included in the temporary defect information # i. For example, the temporary defect information #0 specifies a defect detected during the recording operation #0, and the temporary defect information #1 specifies a defect detected only during the recording operation # 1. Therefore, the recording area of the TDMA can be effectively used. In other words, a recording area of a lead-in area (or a lead-out area or an outer area) including the TDMA is smaller than a data area in which user data is recorded. However, if information regarding a defect detected whenever a recording operation is performed is recorded to include all information regarding defects detected during a previous recording operation, data may not yet be recorded in the TDMA until the data area is filled with data. Therefore, in this embodiment, the temporary defect information includes information regarding only defects detected during the relevant recording operation. In contrast, during disc finalization, all defect information included in the temporary defect information #0, #1, #2, # i is read and written to the DMA.

In the case of a high density disc having a recording capacity of several tens of GB, it is desirable that one cluster is allocated to an area in which temporary defect management information # i is recorded, and four to eight clusters are allocated to an area in which temporary defect information # i is recorded. This is because, although the amount of the temporary defect information # i is only a few KB, it is preferable to update the information by recording new information in units of clusters when the minimum physical unit of recording is a cluster. The total amount of defects allowed in the disc is preferably 5% of the disc recording capacity. For example, considering that information on a defect is 8 bytes long and the size of a cluster is 64KB long, about four to eight clusters are required to record the temporary defect information # i.

The verify-after-write method may also be performed on the temporary defect information # i and the temporary defect management information # i. When a defect is detected, information recorded in an area of the disc having the defect may be recorded in a spare area using linear replacement or in an area adjacent to the TDMA using slipping replacement.

Fig. 3B illustrates a data structure of a disc having the TDMA and DMA shown in fig. 3A. Referring to fig. 3B, two DMAs, i.e., DMA #1 and DMA #2, are formed to increase the robustness of defect management information and defect information. TDMA indicates a temporary defect management area; testing an area indicating a recording condition in which data is measured; the drive & disc information is an area in which information about a drive used during a recording and/or reproducing operation and disc information are recorded; the buffer 1, the buffer 2, and the buffer 3 are buffers indicating boundaries of the respective areas.

Fig. 4A illustrates a data structure of temporary management information TDMA according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to fig. 4A, corresponding temporary defect information and temporary defect management information are recorded as a pair of information in the TDMA. More specifically, the temporary management information TDMA #0 and TDMA #1 are sequentially recorded from the start of the TDMA. A pair of corresponding temporary defect management TDDS #0 and temporary defect information TDFL #0 is included twice in the temporary management information TDMA # 0. A pair of corresponding temporary defect management TDDS #1 and temporary defect information TDFL #1 is included twice in the temporary management information TDMA # 1. The reason for recording the same information twice is to increase the reliability and robustness of the information. The temporary defect management information TDDS #0, #1 specifies the positions of the corresponding temporary defect information TDFL #0, #1, respectively. Each temporary defect management information also specifies the location of temporary defect information recorded immediately before its corresponding temporary defect information. For example, the temporary management information TDMA #1 sequentially includes a pair of temporary defect information TDFL #1 and temporary defect management information TDDS #1, and copies of the temporary defect information TDFL #1 and temporary defect management information TDDS # 1. The temporary defect management information TDDS #1 contains position information regarding the temporary defect information TDFL #1 and a copy of the temporary defect information TDFL #0 recorded immediately before the temporary defect information TDFL # 1. The copy of the temporary defect management information TDDS #1 contains position information on its corresponding copy of the temporary defect information TDFL #1 and position information on the temporary defect information TDFL # 1. As described above, if the temporary defect management information also specifies the location of temporary defect information recorded just before the corresponding temporary defect information, all recorded temporary defect information can be read more quickly than if the temporary defect information is recorded cumulatively. The number of recording the temporary defect management information TDDS #0, #1 and the temporary defect information TDFL #0, #1 is not limited.

Fig. 4B illustrates a data structure of a TDMA according to another embodiment of the present invention. In comparison with the TDMA of fig. 4A, corresponding temporary defect information and temporary defect management information are recorded as a pair of information in the TDMA of fig. 4B, but the order of recording the information is different. More specifically, the temporary management information #0, #1 are sequentially managed from the end of the TDMA. A pair of corresponding temporary defect management TDDS #0 and temporary defect information TDFL #0 is recorded twice in the temporary management information TDMA # 0. A pair of corresponding temporary defect management TDDS #1 and temporary defect information TDFL #1 is recorded twice in the temporary management information TDMA #1, thereby increasing reliability and robustness of information. The temporary defect management information TDDS #0, #1 specifies the positions of their corresponding temporary defect information TDFL #0, #1, respectively. Each temporary defect management information also specifies the location of temporary defect information recorded immediately before its corresponding temporary defect information. For example, the temporary management information TDMA #1 sequentially includes a pair of temporary defect information TDFL #1 and temporary defect management information TDDS #1, and copies of the temporary defect information TDFL #1 and temporary defect management information TDDS # 1. In addition, the temporary defect management information TDDS #1 contains position information regarding the temporary defect information TDFL #1 and a copy of the temporary defect information TDFL #0 recorded immediately before the temporary defect information TDFL # 1. The copy of the temporary defect management information TDDS #1 contains position information on its corresponding copy of the temporary defect information TDFL #1 and position information on the temporary defect management information TDFL # 1.

Fig. 4C illustrates a data structure of a TDMA according to another embodiment of the present invention. In comparison with the TDMAs shown in fig. 4A and 4B, corresponding temporary defect information and temporary defect management information are recorded twice in the TDMA of fig. 4C as a pair of information, the pair of information being recorded at different positions. More specifically, the TDMA of fig. 4C is divided into two parts, and the temporary management information TDMA # i and its copy are recorded in different parts. However, the TDMA may be divided into more than two parts, and the temporary management information TDMA # i may be recorded more than twice.

As shown in fig. 4A to 4C, when temporary defect information and temporary defect management information constituting temporary management information TDMA # i are recorded in the TDMA, the information is recorded as a pair of information in units of a predetermined number of blocks. For example, the temporary defect information TDFL #1 and the temporary defect management information TDDS #1 constituting the temporary management information TDMA #1 are recorded together in a block. In addition, a copy of the temporary defect information TDFL #1 is recorded in a block together with a copy of the temporary defect management information TDDS # 1.

Also, corresponding temporary defect information and temporary defect management information are recorded as a pair of information in a predetermined number of blocks, so that the sizes of areas in which pairs of temporary defect information and temporary defect management information are recorded are equal to each other.

Fig. 5A illustrates a data structure of the temporary defect management information TDDS # i. Referring to fig. 5A, the temporary defect management information TDDS # i includes: an identifier of the temporary defect management information TDDS # i, a pointer to a recording location of a copy of the temporary defect information TDFL # i-1 recorded just before the corresponding temporary defect information TDFL # i, and a pointer to a recording location of the temporary defect information TDFL # i.

Fig. 5B shows a data structure of a copy of the temporary defect management information TDDS # i. Referring to fig. 5B, the copy of the temporary defect management information TDDS # i contains: an identifier of the copy of the temporary defect management information TDDS # i, a pointer to a recording position of the temporary defect information TDFL # i recorded in the temporary defect management information TDDS # i, and a pointer to a recording position of the copy of the temporary defect information TDFL # i.

Fig. 6 shows a data structure of the temporary defect information TDFL # i. Referring to fig. 6, the temporary defect information TDFL # i includes: an identifier of the temporary defect information TDFL # i, and information about a defect detected during the corresponding recording operation # i. That is, information regarding defects detected during the previous recording operations #0, #1, and # i-1 is not included in the temporary defect information TDFL # i. Here, the information on the defect indicates a location of the defect and its replacement, and indicates whether the defect is generated in a single defect block or a continuous defect block.

Fig. 7 is a reference diagram illustrating in detail the recording of data in the user data area a and the spare area B according to an embodiment of the present invention. According to an aspect of the present invention, data may be processed in units of sectors or clusters. A sector represents the smallest unit of data that can be in the file system or application of a computer. A cluster denotes a minimum unit of data that can be physically recorded on a disc at once. Typically, one or more sectors constitute a cluster.

There are two types of sectors: physical sectors and logical sectors. A physical sector is an area on a disc in which a sector of data is recorded. The address for detecting a physical sector is called a Physical Sector Number (PSN). A logical sector is a unit by which data can be managed in a file system or an application. The address for detecting a logical sector is called a Logical Sector Number (LSN). The disc recording/reading apparatus as shown in fig. 1 detects a recording position of data on the disc 100 using the PSN. In a computer or an application program regarding data, all data is managed in units of LSNs, and the position of the data is detected using the LSNs. The LSN and the PSN are mapped by the controller 2 of the recording/reading apparatus based on whether the disc 100 contains a defect and an initial recording position of data.

Referring to fig. 7, a user data area a and a spare area B include PSNs sequentially allocated to a plurality of sectors (not shown). Typically, each LSN corresponds to at least one PSN. However, since the LSNs are allocated to the non-defective area including the replacement area recorded in the spare area B, when the disc 100 has a defective area, the correspondence between the PSNs and the LSNs is not maintained even if the size of the physical sector is the same as the size of the logical sector.

In the user data area a, user data is recorded in a continuous recording mode or a random recording mode. In the continuous recording mode, user data is sequentially and continuously recorded. In the random recording mode, user data is randomly recorded. In the user data area a, sections 1001 to 1007 denote predetermined units of data in which the verify-after-write method is performed. The recording apparatus records user data in the section 1001, returns to the start of the section 1001, and checks whether the user data is correctly recorded or there is a defect in the section 1001. If a defect is detected in a portion of section 1001, that portion is designated as defect # 1. The user data recorded in defect #1 is also recorded on a portion of the spare area B. Here, the portion of the spare area B in which the data recorded in defect #1 is rewritten is referred to as replacement # 1. Next, the recording apparatus records user data in the section 1002, returns to the start of the section 1002, and checks whether the data is correctly recorded or there is a defect in the section 1002. If a defect is detected in a portion of the section 1002, the portion is designated as defect # 2. Also, replacement #2 corresponding to defect #2 is formed in the spare area B. Further, defect #3 and replacement #3 are specified in the section 1003 and the spare area B of the user data area a, respectively. In the section 1004, no defect is generated, and a defective area is not specified.

After the data recording and verification for the section 1004, when the recording operation #0 is expected to end (i.e., when the user presses an eject button of the recording apparatus or the recording of user data allocated to the recording operation is completed), the recording apparatus records information regarding the defects #1, #2, and #3 generated in the sections 1001 through 1004 in the TDMA as temporary defect information TDFL # 0. In addition, management information for managing the temporary defect information TDFL #0 is recorded in the TDMA as temporary defect management information TDDS # 0.

As explained for sections 1001 to 1004, when the recording operation #1 is started, data is recorded in sections 1005 to 1007, and defect #4 and defect #5 and replacement #4 and #5 are formed in the user data area a and the spare area B, respectively. If the second recording operation is expected to end, the recording apparatus records information regarding defects #4 and #5 as temporary defect information TDFL #1 and records the information contained in the defect information TDFL #1 again. Thereafter, temporary management information for managing the temporary defect information TDFL #1 is recorded in the TDMA as temporary defect management information TDDS # 1.

Fig. 8A and 8B illustrate the data structure of the recorded temporary defect information TDFL #0 and #1 as explained with reference to fig. 7. Fig. 9 illustrates a data structure of information regarding a recorded defect # i as explained with reference to fig. 7. Referring to fig. 8A and 8B, the temporary defect information TDFL #0 describes a defect detected during a recording operation # 0. That is, the temporary defect information TDFL #0 contains information regarding defects #1, #2, and # 3. The information regarding defect #1 indicates the location of an area in which defect #1 exists and the location of an area in which replacement #1 is recorded. The information regarding defect #2 indicates the location of an area in which defect #2 exists and the location of an area in which replacement #2 is recorded. The information regarding defect #3 indicates the location of an area in which defect #3 exists and the location of an area in which replacement #3 is recorded.

The temporary defect information TDFL #1 describes a defect detected only during the recording operation # 1. That is, the temporary defect information TDFL #1 contains information regarding defects #4 and # 5. According to an aspect of the present invention, the temporary defect information describes defects detected only during a corresponding recording operation. For disc finalization, all temporary defect information recorded in the TDMA must be read and written to the DMA. Accordingly, as previously mentioned with reference to fig. 4A, 4B, 5A, and 5B, the temporary defect management information contains information on the location of the corresponding temporary defect information and information on the location of the temporary defect information recorded right before the corresponding temporary defect information. Therefore, all the recorded temporary defect information can be read more quickly than if all the recorded temporary defect information were recorded cumulatively.

Fig. 9 illustrates a data structure of information regarding defect # i according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to fig. 9, the information regarding defect # i describes a pointer for defect # i and a corresponding pointer for replacement # i. Further, although not necessary in all aspects, the information regarding the defect # i may further include state information indicating whether the defect # i is generated in a continuous defect block or a single defect block. It is optional that the state information is included in the information regarding the defect # i. The state information also indicates whether a pointer of the defect # i points to a start of the continuous defect block or to an end of the continuous defect block, and whether a pointer of the replacement # i points to a start of a replacement block replacing the defect # i or to an end of the replacement block, if the defect # i is generated in the continuous defect block. When the state information indicates that the pointer for defect # i is the start of the consecutive defect block and the pointer for replacement # i is the start of the replacement block, the pointer for defect # i represents the starting physical sector number of the consecutive defect block and the pointer for replacement # i represents the starting physical sector number of replacement # i. In contrast, when the state information indicates that the pointer for defect # i is the end of the continuous defect block and the pointer for replacement # i is the end of the replacement block, the pointer for defect # i indicates the end physical sector number of the continuous defect block and the pointer for replacement # i indicates the end physical sector number of replacement # i. Even if information regarding a defect is not recorded in units of blocks, the definition of at least two consecutive defective blocks in which a defect exists using state information enables efficient recording of information and saves recording space. Here, the block represents a logical recording unit of data.

The pointer to defect # i specifies the start and/or end point of defect # i. The pointer to defect # i may include the starting PSN of defect # i. The pointer of replacement # i specifies the start and/or end points of replacement # i. The pointer of replacement # i may also include the starting PSN of replacement # i.

Hereinafter, embodiments of a disc defect management method according to an aspect of the present invention using the recording unit 1 of fig. 1 and the disc 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention illustrated in fig. 3A will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Fig. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a disc defect management method according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to fig. 10, the recording apparatus of fig. 1 records information regarding data recorded according to a first recording operation as first temporary defect information in a TDMA of the disc 100 (operation 1001). This process is used to manage disc defects. The recording apparatus records temporary management information for managing the first temporary defect information as first temporary defect management information in the TDMA (operation 1002). It is checked whether finalization of the disc 100 is required (operation 1003). If it is determined in operation 1003 that the finalization of the disc 100 is not required, operations 1001 and 1002 are repeated while adding 1(1004) to the flags given to each recording operation, temporary defect information, and temporary defect management information. However, if it is determined in operation 1003 that disc finalization is required, all recorded temporary defect management information and temporary defect information are read and recorded in the DMA (operation 1005). That is, the recorded temporary defect management information and temporary defect information are recorded in the DMA as final defect management information and final defect information, respectively. The final defect information and the final defect management information may be repeatedly recorded to increase reliability of data detection. Further, the verify-after-write method may be performed on the final defect management information and the final defect information. If a defect is detected from this information, the area of the disc 100 having the defect and the following area containing data may be considered unusable (i.e., the area is designated as a defective area), and the final defect management information and the final defect information may be recorded again after the defective area.

Fig. 11 is a flowchart illustrating a disc defect management method according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to fig. 11, the recording apparatus of fig. 1 records user data in a data area of a disc 100 in units of data to facilitate a verify-after-write method (operation 1101). The data recorded in operation 1101 is verified to detect an area of the disc 100 having a defect (operation 1102). The controller 2 of fig. 1 designates an area having the defect as a defective area, controls the recording/reading unit 1 to rewrite data recorded in the defective area to a spare area to create a replacement area, and creates pointer information designating the positions of the defective area and the replacement area (operation 1103). The pointer information is recorded as first temporary defect information in the memory 3 of fig. 1 (operation 1104). The first temporary defect information may further include state information describing whether a defect is generated in a single defect block or a continuous defect block. It is checked whether the current recording operation is expected to end (operation 1105). If it is determined in operation 1105 that the recording operation is not expected to end, operations 1101 through 1104 are repeated until the recording operation ends.

If it is determined in operation 1105 that the recording operation may end (i.e., when the recording of the user data is completed according to the user input or according to the first recording operation), the controller 2 controls the recording/reading unit 1 to read the first temporary defect information from the memory 3 and record the first temporary defect information as first temporary defect information TDFL #0 in the TDMA (operation 1106). Management information for managing the first temporary defect information TDFL #0 is recorded twice in the TDMA as first temporary defect management information TDDS #0, which first temporary defect management information TDDS #0 is recorded right after the first temporary defect information TDFL #0 (operation 1107). It should be understood that the number of times the temporary defect management information and the temporary defect information are recorded is not limited. It is checked whether disc finalization is required (operation 1108). If it is determined in operation 1108 that disc finalization is not required, operations 1101 through 1107 are repeated. Every time operations 1101 through 1107 are repeated, 1 is added to the marks to the recording operation, the temporary defect information, and the temporary defect management information (operation 1109). However, the temporary defect information TDFL #1 specifies only information regarding defects detected during the recording operation # 1. That is, the temporary defect information TDFL #1 does not contain information regarding defects detected during the previous recording operation # 0. Further, the temporary defect management information TDDS #1 describes the position of the corresponding temporary defect information TDFL #1 and the position of the temporary defect information TDFL #0 recorded just before the temporary defect information TDFL # 1.

If it is determined in operation 1108 that disc finalization is required, all of the recorded temporary defect information TDFL #0, #1, # i-1 and temporary defect management information TDDS #0, # 1., # i-1 are recorded in the DMA as final defect information DFL and final defect management information DDS, respectively (operation 1110). The final defect information DFL and the final defect management information DDS may be repeatedly recorded several times to increase the reliability of data detection. Similarly, the verify-after-write method may be performed on the final defect information and the defect management information. If a defect is detected in this information, an area of the disc having the defect and a subsequent area containing data may be considered unusable (i.e., the area is designated as a defective area), and final defect management information and defect information may be recorded again after the defective area.

Fig. 12A illustrates a data structure of the disc 100 of fig. 2 according to another embodiment of the present invention. Referring to fig. 12A, if the disc 100 is a single record layer disc as shown in fig. 2A, a Defect Management Area (DMA), a Temporary Defect Management Area (TDMA), a Temporary Finalized Defect Management Area (TFDMA) are formed in a lead-in area of the disc 100. Further, the DMA may also be formed in the lead-out area. Alternatively, the lead-out area may include TDMA and TFDMA. That is, DMA, TDMA, and TFDMA may exist in at least one of the lead-in area and the lead-out area. If the disc 100 is a dual record layer disc as shown in fig. 2B, the DMA, the TDMA, and the TFDMA are present in a lead-in area and a lead-out area, respectively, located in an inner portion of the disc 100. The DMA may also be included in a lead-out area and an outer area located at an outer portion of the disc 100. Therefore, the DMA and the TDMA exist in at least one of the lead-in area, the lead-out area, and the outer area.

According to this embodiment and similar to the embodiment explained in fig. 3A, temporary defect management information and temporary defect information (together constituting temporary management information) are recorded in the TDMA. The TDMA is allocated to a lead-in area and/or a lead-out area separate from the DMA. If the temporary defect information is recorded more than a predetermined number of times, all the recorded temporary defect information is read from the TDMA and recorded in the TFDMA. Even before the disc is finalized, if defect information is required, for example, for reproducing user data recorded in the data area of the disc 100, it may take a considerable time to read all recorded temporary defect information from an independent area. Therefore, even before the disc is finalized, the recorded temporary defect information is read from an independent area and recorded in the same area, thereby reducing the amount of time it takes to read the defect information.

During disc finalization, all recorded temporary defect information and temporary defect management information are recorded in the DMA as final information. In this embodiment, since disc defect management is performed using the linear replacement method, the temporary defect information includes information indicating the position of an area of the disc 100 having a defect and information indicating the position of an area of the disc 100 that is a replacement for the area having the defect. The temporary defect management information is used to manage the temporary defect information and includes information regarding the location of the temporary defect information recorded on the disc 100.

In this embodiment, the temporary defect information and the temporary defect management information are recorded each time when the recording operation ends. In the TDMA, information regarding a defect generated in data recorded during the recording operation #1 and information regarding a replacement area are recorded as temporary defect information TDFL # 1. Information regarding a defect generated in the data recorded during the recording operation #2 and information regarding a replacement area are recorded as temporary defect information TDFL # 2. Further, management information for managing the temporary defect information TDFL #1, #2 is recorded in the TDMA as temporary defect management information TDDS #1, # 2. According to an aspect of the invention, the management information specifies the location of the temporary defect information TDFL #1, # 2. In this embodiment, defect information contained in the previously recorded temporary defect information TDFL #1, #2, and # i-1 is not included in the temporary defect information TDFL # i. That is, only information regarding defects detected from the recording area during the corresponding recording operation # i is included in the temporary defect information TDFL # i. Accordingly, the amount of information regarding defects can be minimized, thus enabling efficient use of the recording area of the TDMA. In other words, a recording area of a lead-in area (or a lead-out area or an outer area) including the TDMA is smaller than a data area in which user data is recorded. However, if information on a defect detected whenever a recording operation is performed is recorded to include all information on defects detected during a previous recording operation, data may not be recorded in the TDMA until the data area is filled with data. Therefore, in this embodiment, only defect information for use in relation to a recording operation is recorded as temporary defect information.

When the number of times of recording the temporary defect information reaches a predetermined number k, all the recorded temporary defect information is written in the TFDMA. If necessary, all recorded temporary defect information is recorded as temporary finalized defect management information in the TFDMA even before disc finalization, thereby speeding up data recording.

When additional data cannot be or will no longer be recorded in the data area (i.e., disc finalization is required), defect information recorded in the temporary defect information area and defect management information recorded in the TDMA are recorded in the DMA. For disc finalization, all information regarding defects contained in the recorded temporary defect information #1, #2, # i must be read and written to the DMA. Therefore, the temporary finalized defect management information last recorded in the TFDMA is first read. Then, other temporary defect information is read from the TDMA. Therefore, desired information can be obtained more quickly than if TFDMA were not present.

Meanwhile, the verify-after-write method may be performed on the temporary defect information TDFL # i and the temporary defect management information TDDS # i, respectively. When a defect is detected, information recorded in an area of the disc having the defect may be recorded in a spare area using a linear replacement method or recorded in an area adjacent to the TDMA using a slipping replacement method.

Fig. 12B illustrates a data structure of a disc having the TDMA, DMA, and TFDMA shown in fig. 12A. Referring to fig. 12B, two DMAs, i.e., DMA #1 and DMA #2, are formed to increase the robustness of defect management information and defect information. However, it should be understood that a single DMA may be used and more than two DMAs may be used. The TDMA indicates a temporary defect management area, the TFDMA indicates a temporary finalized defect management area, the test indicates an area in which a recording condition of data is measured, the drive and disc information is an area in which information on a drive used during a recording and/or reproducing operation, disc information, and information on disc finalization are recorded, and the buffer 1, the buffer 2, and the buffer 3 indicate boundaries of the respective areas.

Fig. 13 is a reference diagram illustrating a relationship between TDMA and TFDMA according to an aspect of the present invention. Referring to fig. 13, when recording temporary defect information and temporary defect management information as temporary management information is recorded a predetermined number of times (i.e., k), all recorded temporary management information is collected and recorded as temporary finalized defect management information in a TFDMA. For example, when temporary defect management information is recorded k times in the TDMA (i.e., temporary management information TDMA #1, # 2., # k is recorded), all temporary management information TDMA #1, # 2., # k is collected and recorded as temporary finalized defect management information TFDMA #1 in the TFDMA. Thereafter, when the temporary management information is recorded k times again (i.e., the temporary management information TDMAs # k +1, # k +2, #2k are recorded), all the temporary management information TDMAs # k +1, # k +2, #2k are collected and recorded as temporary finalized defect management information TFDMA #2 in the TFDMA.

The temporary finalized defect management information TFDMA #1 includes all temporary defect information included in the temporary management information TDMAs #1, #2, # kxn and also includes information on the recording position of the next temporary management information TDMA # kxn + 1. Therefore, even before disc finalization, the recording/reading unit 1 reads all temporary defect information included in the last recorded temporary finalized defect management information stored in the TFDMA from the last recorded temporary finalized defect management information, and reads all temporary defect information from the next temporary management information stored in the TDMA based on information regarding the location of the next temporary finalized defect management information. Therefore, the defect information can be obtained more quickly than if the temporary finalized defect management information is not recorded.

The data structure of the TDMA according to the embodiment of the present invention shown in fig. 12A may also be implemented as shown in fig. 4A to 4C. The data structure of the temporary defect management information TDDS # i may be as shown in fig. 5A. The data structure of the copy of the temporary defect management information TDDS # i may be as shown in fig. 5B. The data structure of the temporary defect information TDFL # i may be as shown in fig. 6.

Fig. 14A to 14D illustrate data structures of TFDMA according to an embodiment of the present invention. More specifically, fig. 14A illustrates a data structure of a TFDMA according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to fig. 14A, temporary finalized defect management information TFDMA #1, TFDMA #2, TFDMA # n is sequentially recorded from the start of the TFDMA. In the temporary finalized defect management information TFDMA # n, corresponding temporary finalized defect management information TFDDS # n and temporary finalized defect information TFDFL # n are included twice to increase the reliability and robustness of the information. The temporary finalized defect management information TFDDS # n specifies the location of the corresponding temporary finalized defect information TFDFL # n and the location of the defect information lastly recorded in the temporary finalized defect information TFDFL # n. Let us assume that temporary defect management information is recorded k times and temporary finalized defect management information TFDDS # n is recorded. In this case, the temporary finalized defect management information TFDDS # n describes the position of the next temporary management information TDMA # k × n + 1. The number of times of recording the temporary finalized defect management information TFDDS # n and the temporary finalized defect information TFDFL # n is not limited.

Fig. 14B illustrates a detailed data structure of the TFDMA of fig. 14A. Referring to fig. 14B, temporary finalized defect management information TFDMA #1, # 2., # n is recorded separately every time temporary management information TDMA is recorded k times. Therefore, the temporary finalized defect information TFDFL # n further includes all the recorded temporary defect information TDFL #1, #2, # kxn. The temporary finalized defect management information TFDDS # n includes a pointer to the position of the corresponding temporary finalized defect information TFDFL # n and a pointer to the position of the next temporary management information TDMA # k × n + 1. Here, k represents an integer of 2 or more.

Fig. 14C illustrates a data structure of a TFDMA according to another embodiment of the present invention. The order of recording the temporary finalized defect management information in fig. 14C is different compared to fig. 14A. More specifically, the temporary finalized defect management information TFDMA #1, TFDMA #2, TFDMA # n is recorded sequentially from the end of the TFDMA. In the temporary finalized defect management information TFDMA # n, corresponding temporary finalized defect management information TFDDS # n and temporary finalized defect information TFDFL # n are included twice to increase the reliability and robustness of the information. The temporary finalized defect management information TFDDS # n specifies the location of the corresponding temporary finalized defect information TFDFL # n and the location of the defect information finally included in the temporary finalized defect information TFDFL # n. For example, when the temporary management information TDMA is recorded k times and the temporary finalized defect management information TFDDS # n is recorded, the temporary finalized defect management information TFDDS # n describes the position of the next temporary management information TDMA # k × n + 1. k represents an integer of 2 or more.

The number of times of recording the temporary finalized defect management information TFDDS # n and the temporary finalized defect information TFDFL # n is not limited.

Fig. 14D illustrates a detailed data structure of the TFDMA of fig. 14C. Referring to fig. 14D, the temporary finalized defect management information TFDMA #1, #2, # n is recorded separately every time the temporary management information TDMA is recorded k times. In this case, the temporary finalized defect information TFDFL # n further includes all recorded temporary defect information TDFL #1, # 2., # n. The temporary finalized defect management information TFDDS # n includes a pointer to the position of the corresponding temporary finalized defect information TFDFL # n and a pointer to the position of the next temporary management information TDMA # k × n + 1. Here, k represents an integer of 2 or more.

In this embodiment, a process of recording data in the user data area and the spare area is shown in fig. 7. In addition, the data structures of the temporary defect information TDFL #0, #1 recorded as shown in fig. 7 are shown in fig. 8A and 8B, respectively. The data structure of defect # i is shown in fig. 9.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of disc defect management according to the present invention using the recording apparatus of fig. 1 and the disc 100 of fig. 12A will be described. Fig. 15 is a flowchart illustrating a disc defect management method according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to fig. 15, in the recording apparatus of fig. 1, n is set to 1 (operation 1201). Here, n is a variable indicating the order of recording operations and being an integer equal to or greater than 1. Next, for disc defect management, only information regarding defects in data recorded according to an nth recording operation is recorded as nth temporary defect information in a Temporary Defect Management Area (TDMA) (operation 1201). Next, management information for managing the nth temporary defect information is recorded as nth defect management information in the TDMA (operation 1203). The corresponding temporary defect information and temporary defect management information may be recorded as a pair of information in the TDMA in units of a predetermined number of blocks.

Next, it is checked whether disc finalization is required (operation 1204). If it is determined in operation 1204 that disc finalization is not yet required, it is checked whether n is a multiple of k (operation 1205). If n is not a multiple of k, operations 1202 through 1203 are repeated while increasing n by 1 (operation 1208). When it is determined in operation 1205 that n is a multiple of k, all recorded temporary defect information is recorded as n/k-th temporary finalized defect information in a Temporary Finalized Defect Management Area (TFDMA) (operation 1206). Next, management information for managing the n/k-th temporary finalized defect information and information on the location of the next temporary defect information (and/or temporary defect management information) are recorded as n/k-th temporary finalized defect management information in the TFDMA (operation 1207). Next, operations 1202 through 1203 are repeated while adding n by 1 until n is a multiple of k, before the next disc is completed.

If it is determined in operation 1204 that disc finalization is required, all of the recorded temporary defect management information and temporary defect information are read from the TFDMA and the TDMA and recorded in the DMA (operation 1209). More specifically, all temporary defect information included in the temporary finalized defect management information last recorded in the TFDMA is read. Then, the position of other temporary defect information recorded in the TDMA is detected based on the last recorded temporary defect finalize management information, thereby reading the other temporary defect information. Next, all the recorded temporary defect management information and temporary defect information are recorded in the DMA as final defect management information and defect information, respectively. The final defect management information and the final defect information may be repeatedly recorded to increase the reliability of the information. In addition, a verify-after-write method may be performed on the final defect management information and the final defect information. If a defect is detected, an area of the disc 100 having the defect and an immediately following area containing data may be considered to be unavailable (i.e., the area is designated as a defective area), and final temporary defect management information and temporary defect information may be recorded again after the defective area.

Fig. 16 is a flowchart illustrating a disc defect management method according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to fig. 16, in the recording apparatus of fig. 1, n is set to 1 (operation 1301). The recording apparatus records user data in units of data in a data area of the disc 100 to facilitate the verify-after-write method (operation 1302). Next, the data recorded in operation 1302 is verified to detect an area of the disc 100 having a defect (operation 1303). The controller 2 of fig. 1 designates an area having a defect as a defective area, controls the recording/reading unit 1 to rewrite data recorded in the defective area to a spare area to create a replacement area, and creates pointer information pointing to the positions of the defective area and the replacement area (operation 1304). The pointer information is recorded as temporary defect information in the memory 3 of fig. 1 (operation 1305). The temporary defect information may further include state information describing whether a defect occurs in a single defect block or a continuous defect block. It is checked whether the current recording operation is expected to end (operation 1306). If it is determined in operation 1306 that the recording operation is not expected to end, operations 1302 through 1305 are repeated.

If it is determined in operation 1306 that the recording operation may end (i.e., when the recording of the user data is completed by the user data or according to the first recording operation), the controller 2 controls the recording/reading unit 1 to read the temporary defect information from the memory 3 and record it in the TDMA as temporary defect information TDFL #1 (operation 1307). The temporary defect management information TDDS #1 is recorded just twice after the temporary defect information TFDL #1 as management information for managing the temporary defect information TDFL #1 (operation 1308). The number of times of recording the temporary defect management information and the temporary defect information is not limited. Corresponding temporary defect information and temporary defect management information may be recorded as a pair of information in the TDMA in units of a predetermined number of blocks.

Next, it is checked whether disc finalization is required (operation 1309). If it is determined in operation 1309 that disc finalization is not required, operations 1302 to 1308 are repeated while increasing n by 1 (operation 1313). Whenever operations 1302 through 1308 are repeated, 1 is added to the flags of the temporary defect information, the temporary defect management information, the temporary finalized defect information, and the temporary finalized defect management information (operation 1314). However, the temporary defect information TDFL # i specifies only information about defects detected during the recording operation # i (i.e., it does not contain information about defects detected during the previous recording operations #1, #2, # i-1).

If it is determined in operation 1310 that n is a multiple of k, all recorded temporary defect information is recorded as temporary finalized defect information TFDFL #1 even before disc finalization (operation 1311). Next, management information for managing the temporary finalized defect information TFDFL #1 and information regarding the location of the next temporary defect information TDFL (and/or temporary defect management information TDDS) are recorded as temporary finalized defect management information TFDDS #1 (operation 1312). In addition, operations 1311 through 1312 are repeated while increasing the flags given to the temporary finalized defect information TFDFL and the temporary defect management information TDDS by 1 each time n is a multiple of k before disc finalization is required.

If it is determined in operation 1309 that finalization of the disc 100 is required, all of the recorded temporary defect information TDFL and temporary defect management information TDDS are read from the TDMA and TFDMA and recorded in the DMA as final defect information DFL and defect management information DDS, respectively (operation 1315). The final defect information DFL and the final defect management information DDS may be repeatedly recorded several times to increase the reliability of data detection. Similarly, the verify-after-write method may be performed on the final defect information and the defect management information. If a defect is detected in this information, an area of the disc having the defect and an area immediately containing data may be considered unusable (i.e., the area is designated as a defective area), and the final temporary defect management information and temporary defect information may be recorded again after the defective area.

Industrial applicability

As described above, an aspect of the present invention provides a disc defect management method applicable to a write once disc. A write once disc according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a Temporary Defect Management Area (TDMA) in which information regarding defects (i.e., defect information) detected during respective recording operations is recorded. Accordingly, all defect information is read from the TDMA and immediately recorded in a Defect Management Area (DMA) during disc finalization, thereby enabling efficient use of the defect management area of the write-once disc. In particular, the temporary defect management information specifies a location of corresponding temporary defect information and a location of temporary defect information recorded right before the corresponding temporary defect information. Accordingly, reading of all recorded temporary defect information can be accelerated. In the case of a write-once disc, since disc defect management can also be performed while recording user data, a backup operation can be completed without interruption. In addition, since defect information is recorded in the temporary defect information area in units of recording operations, the recording space can be more efficiently used than if defect information is cumulatively recorded for each recording operation. Therefore, disc defect management can be performed on the data area even if the TDMA is not large.

A write once disc according to another embodiment of the present invention includes a TDMA and a Temporary Finalized Defect Management Area (TFDMA). Information regarding defects detected during each recording operation (i.e., defect information) is recorded in the TDMA. When defect information is recorded in the TDMA a predetermined number of times, all recorded defect information is collected and recorded in the TFDMA. In addition, information on the recording position of the next defect information to be recorded in the TDMA is also included in the TFDMA even before disc finalization, thereby enabling fast reading of the defect information. During disc finalization, all temporary defect information recorded in the TDMA and TFDMA is read and immediately recorded in the DMA, thereby enabling efficient use of the DMA.

Although not necessary in all aspects of the invention, it should be understood that the controller 2 may be a computer implementing the method using a computer program encoded on a computer readable medium. The computer may be implemented as a chip with firmware or may be a general or special purpose computer programmable to perform the method. It should also be understood that the method may be used with optical media such as CD-R, DVD-R, Blu-ray, and Advanced Optical Disk (AOD). In addition, it should be understood that the method may be used with rewritable media.

Further, it should be understood that, in order to achieve a recording capacity of several tens of gigabytes, the recording and/or reproducing unit 1 may include a low-wavelength, high-numerical-aperture type unit that can be used to record several tens of gigabytes of data on the disc 100. Examples of such units include, but are not limited to, those using 405nm light wavelengths and having a numerical aperture of 0.85, those compatible with blu-ray discs, and/or those compatible with Advanced Optical Discs (AODs).

While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims and equivalents thereof.

Claims

1. A write-once disc comprising:

at least one recording layer on which data is recorded;

a temporary defect management area having first temporary defect information regarding defects in the recorded data detected only during a corresponding first recording operation that is not a previous recording operation, and first temporary defect management information for managing the first temporary defect information; and

at least one defect management area in which temporary defect information and temporary defect management information recorded in the temporary defect management area are recorded as defect information and defect management information, respectively,

wherein the defect information and defect management information and/or the temporary defect information and temporary defect management information are used by the recording and/or reproducing apparatus to perform defect management on the data recorded on the at least one recording layer.

2. The write once disc of claim 1, wherein the at least one defect management area includes at least two defect management areas.

3. The write once disc of claim 1, wherein the temporary defect information and the temporary defect management information are recorded as a pair of mutually adjacent information in the temporary defect management area.

4. The write once disc of claim 3, wherein the temporary defect information and the temporary defect management information are recorded several times, the temporary defect management information including information regarding a location of the corresponding temporary defect information.

5. The write once disc of claim 3, wherein the temporary defect management information includes information regarding a location of previous temporary defect information recorded in a previous recording operation prior to the first temporary defect information.

6. The write once disc of claim 1, further comprising a defect replacement area in which data recorded to be replacement-recorded is replaced, wherein the temporary defect information includes a pointer to a location of the defect and a pointer to a location for replacement of the defect.

7. The write once disc of claim 6, wherein the temporary defect information further includes status information that specifies and distinguishes whether the defect is generated in a continuous defect block or a single defect block.

8. The write once disc of claim 7, wherein the state information specifies that the defect is generated in a continuous defect block and the pointer for the defect and the pointer for the replacement indicate start positions of the defect and the replacement, respectively.

9. The write once disc of claim 7, wherein the state information specifies that the defect is generated in a continuous defect block and the pointer for the defect and the pointer for the replacement indicate end positions of the defect and the replacement, respectively.

10. A method of managing disc defects, comprising:

recording information regarding only a defect detected in data recorded in a data area of a disc during a recording operation having a mark i, where i is an integer, as ith temporary defect information in a temporary defect management area of the disc;

recording management information for managing the ith temporary defect information as ith temporary defect management information in the temporary defect management area;

repeating the recording of the temporary defect information and the recording of the temporary defect management information at least once while adding 1 to marks given to the recording operation, the temporary defect information, and the temporary defect management information, thereby recording the temporary defect information and the temporary defect management information having only defect information for a corresponding one of the recording operations; and

all recorded temporary defect management information and temporary defect information are read and written in a defect management area of the disc.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the reading and writing is performed after recording data in the data area according to a last recording operation.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the recording the temporary defect information and the recording the temporary defect management information comprises recording the temporary defect information and the temporary defect management information as a pair of mutually adjacent information sequentially from an end of the temporary defect management area.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the recording the temporary defect information and the recording the temporary defect management information comprises recording the temporary defect information and the temporary defect management information several times.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein the recording the temporary defect management information comprises recording information regarding a location of temporary defect information corresponding to the temporary defect management information, and information regarding a location of temporary defect information recorded during another recording operation having at least the i-1 mark.

15. The method of claim 10, wherein the recording the temporary defect information and the recording the temporary defect management information comprises recording the temporary defect information and the temporary defect management information as a pair of mutually adjacent information sequentially from an end of the temporary defect management area.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the recording the temporary defect information and the recording the temporary defect management information comprises recording the temporary defect information and the temporary defect management information several times.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein the recording of the temporary defect management information comprises recording information on a location of temporary defect information corresponding to the temporary defect management information and information on a location of temporary defect information recorded during another recording operation having at least an i-1 mark.

18. The method of claim 10, wherein the recording the temporary defect information comprises:

recording data in predetermined units during an ith recording operation;

verifying the recorded data to detect a defective area of the disc where a defect exists;

recording information on the defective area and information on a replacement area for the defective area as i-th temporary defect information in a memory of the recording apparatus;

repeating the recording data and the verifying recorded data at least once in a predetermined unit; and

when the recording operation is finished, the information stored in the memory is read and the read information is stored as ith temporary defect information in the temporary defect management area.

19. A recording and/or reproducing apparatus comprising:

a recording/reading unit recording and/or reading data on and/or from the disc; and

and a controller controlling the recording/reading unit to record temporary defect information regarding a defect detected from a portion of data recorded in a data area of the disc in a corresponding one of the recording operation units in a temporary defect management area, and to record temporary defect management information for managing the temporary defect information in the temporary defect management area, wherein the temporary defect information does not include information regarding another defect detected during a previous recording operation unit.

20. The recording apparatus of claim 19, wherein the controller controls the recording/reading unit to record the corresponding temporary defect information and temporary defect management information as a pair of mutually adjacent information.

21. The recording apparatus of claim 19, wherein the controller controls the recording/reading unit to record corresponding temporary defect information and temporary defect management information in the temporary defect management area for each recording operation unit, and reads all of the recorded temporary defect information and temporary defect management information and records the read temporary defect information and temporary defect management information in the defect management area during disc finalization.

22. A recording and/or reproducing apparatus comprising:

a recording/reading unit recording and/or reading data on and/or from the disc;

a controller controlling the recording/reading unit to record information regarding a defect detected from data recorded in a data area of the disc according to a recording operation having an i mark, where i is an integer, as ith temporary defect information in the temporary defect management area; recording defect management information for managing the ith temporary defect information in the temporary defect management area; recording data in the data area while adding 1 to a mark i given to a corresponding recording operation, corresponding temporary defect information, and corresponding temporary defect management information; and recording all of the recorded temporary defect information and temporary defect management information in the defect management area during disc finalization.

23. The recording apparatus of claim 22, wherein the controller controls the recording/reading unit to record data in the data area according to a last recording operation, and to record all of the recorded temporary defect information and temporary defect management information as final defect information and defect management information, respectively, in the defect management area.

24. The recording apparatus of claim 22, wherein the controller controls the recording/reading unit to record the corresponding temporary defect information and temporary defect management information as a pair of information sequentially from a start of the temporary defect management area.

25. The recording apparatus of claim 22, wherein the controller controls the recording/reading unit to record the corresponding temporary defect information and temporary defect management information as a pair of information sequentially from an end of the temporary defect management area.

26. The recording apparatus of claim 24, wherein the controller controls the recording/reading unit to record information regarding a location of the temporary defect information corresponding to the temporary defect management information and information regarding a location of the temporary defect information recorded during another recording operation having at least the i-1 mark.

27. The recording apparatus of claim 22, further comprising a storage unit,

wherein the controller controls the recording/reading unit to record the data in predetermined units according to a predetermined recording operation having the common mark; verifying the recorded data to detect a defective area of the disc where a defect exists; establishing information on a defective area and information on a replacement area for the defective area; recording the created information as temporary defect information in a storage unit; and controlling the recording/reading unit to record the data recorded in the area next to the defective area in predetermined units according to the recording operation, reading the temporary defect information from the storage unit, and recording the read temporary defect information in the temporary defect management area.

28. A write once disc having at least one recording layer, comprising:

a temporary defect management area having temporary defect information regarding a defect recorded in data in the user data area, which is detected only during a corresponding recording operation, and having no information regarding another defect generated during a previous recording operation, and temporary defect management information for managing the temporary defect information;

a temporary finalized defect management area having temporary finalized defect information and temporary finalized defect management information for managing the temporary finalized defect information, said temporary finalized defect information including at least a portion of the temporary defect information recorded in the temporary defect management area; and

at least one defect management area in which all of the recorded temporary defect information and temporary defect management information are recorded as defect information and defect management information, respectively, during disc finalization,

wherein:

temporary defect information and temporary defect management information are recorded as a pair of information in the temporary defect management area, an

The defect information and defect management information and/or the temporary defect information and temporary defect management information are used by the recording and/or reproducing apparatus to perform defect management on the recorded data on the disc.

29. The write-once disc of claim 28, wherein:

the temporary finalized defect management information is recorded every time the temporary defect management information is recorded K times, K being an integer greater than or equal to 2.

30. The write once disc of claim 29, wherein the temporary finalized defect management information is obtained based on all temporary management information recorded when the temporary finalized defect management information is to be recorded.

31. The write once disc of claim 30, wherein the temporary finalized defect management information includes all temporary defect information included in the temporary management information recorded when the temporary finalized defect management information is expected to be recorded.

32. The write once disc of claim 29, wherein the at least one defect management area includes at least two defect management areas.

33. The write once disc of claim 28, wherein the temporary defect information and the temporary defect management information are recorded adjacent to each other in the temporary defect management area.

34. The write once disc of claim 28, wherein the temporary defect information and the temporary defect management information are recorded as a pair of information in the temporary defect management area in units of a predetermined number of blocks.

35. The write once disc of claim 33, wherein the temporary defect information and the temporary defect management information are recorded several times, the temporary defect management information further including information regarding a recording position of the corresponding temporary defect information.

36. The write once disc of claim 33, wherein the temporary defect information includes a pointer to a location of the defect and a pointer to a location of the replacement area for the defect.

37. The write once disc of claim 35, wherein the temporary defect management area is divided into a plurality of parts, and the temporary defect management information and the copy of the temporary defect information are recorded in each of the plurality of parts.

38. A method of managing disc defects, comprising:

recording temporary management information as ith temporary management information in the temporary defect management area in units of a predetermined number of blocks, the temporary management information including temporary defect information and temporary defect management information on data recorded in the data area of the disc according to a recording operation having an i mark, where i is an integer;

repeating the recording of the ith temporary management information at least once while adding 1 to a flag i given to the recording operation and the temporary management information;

recording temporary finalized defect management information in a temporary finalized defect management area whenever the temporary management information is recorded k times, where k is an integer greater than or equal to 2, the temporary finalized defect management information being obtained based on all recorded temporary management information;

repeating recording temporary management information, repeating recording ith temporary management information while adding the mark i at least once, and recording temporary finalization defect management information at least once; and

reading all the recorded temporary defect management information including the temporary management information recorded in the temporary finalized defect management information and the temporary defect information, and recording the temporary defect management information and the temporary defect information in the defect management area.

39. The method of claim 38, wherein reading and recording the temporary defect management information is performed after recording data in the data area according to a last recording operation.

40. The method of claim 38, wherein: recording the temporary defect management information includes recording the temporary defect information and the temporary defect management information as a pair of information adjacent to each other sequentially from a start of the temporary defect management area.

41. The method of claim 40, wherein:

recording the temporary defect management information includes repeatedly recording the temporary defect information and the temporary defect management information,

each temporary defect management information specifies a location of corresponding temporary defect information and a location of temporary defect information recorded during another recording operation having at least an i-1 mark.

42. The method of claim 41, wherein:

the disc includes a plurality of temporary defect management areas,

recording the temporary defect management information includes recording the temporary defect management information and a copy of the temporary defect information in each of the plurality of temporary defect management areas.

43. The method of claim 38, wherein the recording the temporary defect management information comprises recording the temporary defect information and the temporary defect management information as a pair of information adjacent to each other sequentially from an end of the temporary defect management area.

44. The method of claim 43, wherein the recording the temporary defect management information comprises repeatedly recording the temporary defect information and the temporary defect management information.

45. The method of claim 44, wherein:

the disc includes a plurality of temporary defect management areas,

46. The method of claim 44, wherein:

each of the temporary defect management information specifies a location of corresponding temporary defect information and a location of temporary defect information recorded during another recording operation having at least an i-1 mark.

47. The method of claim 38, wherein the recording of the temporary defect management information comprises:

recording data in predetermined units during respective recording operations having the common mark;

recording information on the defective area and information on a replacement area for the defective area as temporary defect information in a memory of the recording apparatus;

repeatedly executing the recorded data, the check recorded data and the storage information once; and

when the recording operation is finished, the temporary defect information is read from the memory, and the temporary defect information and temporary defect management information for managing the temporary defect information are recorded in the temporary defect management area in units of a predetermined number of blocks.

48. A recording apparatus, comprising:

a controller which controls the recording/reading unit to record temporary management information in a temporary defect management area in units of a predetermined number of blocks, wherein the temporary management information includes temporary defect information regarding data recorded in a data area of the disc according to a corresponding recording operation and temporary defect management information for managing the temporary defect information; and recording temporary finalized defect management information obtained based on all the recorded temporary defect management information in the temporary finalized defect management area every time the temporary management information is recorded k times after the k recording operations.

49. The recording apparatus of claim 48, wherein the controller controls the recording/reading unit to record the temporary defect information and the temporary defect management information, which constitute the temporary defect information, as a pair of information to be adjacent to each other.

50. The recording apparatus of claim 48, wherein the controller controls the recording/reading unit to record information regarding a location of the temporary defect information corresponding to the temporary defect management information and information regarding a location of the temporary defect information recorded in a previous recording operation just before a recording operation of the corresponding temporary defect information.

51. The recording apparatus of claim 48, wherein the controller controls the recording/reading unit to record defect information and defect management information, which is obtained based on all of the recorded temporary management information and temporary finalized defect management information, in the defect management area during disc finalization.

52. The recording apparatus of claim 48, wherein:

the disc includes a plurality of temporary defect management areas,

the controller controls the recording/reading unit to record a copy of the temporary management information in each of the plurality of temporary defect management areas.