HK1089547B - Write-once optical disc, and method and apparatus for recording management information on write-once optical disc - Google Patents

Abstract

A writable-once optical recording medium such as a BD-WO, and a method and apparatus for managing the writable-once optical recording medium, are provided. The recording medium includes at least one recording layer having at least one temporary defect management area and at least one final defect management area. The method includes recording temporary defect management information in the temporary defect management area of the recording medium, the temporary defect management information including disc usage management information indicating a recording use status of the recording medium; and transferring, at a transfer stage, the temporary defect management information from the temporary defect management area to the final defect management area of the recording medium.

Description

Write-once optical disc, and method and apparatus for recording management information thereon

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a write-once optical disc and a management information recording method and apparatus, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for efficiently recording disc usage management information on a write-once optical disc.

Background

Optical discs, which are optical recording media and are capable of recording large amounts of data, are widely used. Currently, an innovative high-density digital versatile disc (HD-DVD), such as a Blue-ray disc (Blue-ray disc), is under development, which is capable of recording and storing high-quality video data and high-fidelity audio data for a long time.

The blu-ray disc is a next-generation optical recording solution that is capable of storing a larger amount of data than a conventional DVD. The blu-ray disc applies a laser of blue-violet having a wavelength of 405nm, which is shorter than the wavelength of 650nm of the red laser used for accessing a conventional DVD. Blu-ray discs typically have a thickness of 1.2mm and a diameter of 12 cm. It includes an optical transport layer with a thickness of 0.1mm, enabling blu-ray discs to store larger amounts of data than current DVDs.

Various standards regarding blu-ray discs are in progress. Among the different types of blu-ray discs, a blu-ray disc rewritable (BD-RE) and a blu-ray disc write once (BD-WO) are under development.

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating the structure of a recording area of a general BD-RE. Referring to fig. 1, the BD-RE includes a recording layer divided into a lead-in area, a data area, and a lead-out area. The data area includes a user data area on which user data is recorded, and an inner spare area ISA0 and an outer spare area OSA0, each of which is allocated within an inner track and an outer track of the disc. These spare areas are used as replacement areas for replacing data in defective areas of the user data area according to a linear replacement method.

In the BD-RE, if a defective area is found in the user data area during recording, data in the defective area is transferred and recorded in a spare area according to a linear replacement method. In addition, defect management information for managing a defective area, a position information, and the like associated with the defective area and the corresponding spare area is recorded in defect management areas (DMA1 to DMA4) in the lead-in area and the lead-out area. Also, since data can be repeatedly recorded on and erased from any area of the BD-RE (because the BD-RE is rewritable), the entire BD-RE can be randomly used regardless of a specific recording mode.

In contrast, in the blu-ray disc write-once (BD-WO), data can be recorded on a specific area of the disc only once. As a result, the BD-WO has certain limitations regarding recording modes and randomly using the entire area of the disc due to defect management difficulties.

In addition, in the BD-WO, management of defective areas is one of important issues that need to be addressed, especially for data recording operations. However, since the BD-WO is still in an early development stage, there is no scheme, no disc structure, no apparatus, and no method as to how to manage the defective area of the BD-WO, which is required for the BD-WO to be commercially and operationally viable. Accordingly, a unified specification is required for the BD-WO to meet the aforementioned higher demand. However, any proposed specification related to the current BD-RE cannot be used because it does not address the requirements of the BD-WO.

Disclosure of Invention

Accordingly, the present invention is directed to a write-once optical disc and a management information recording method and apparatus that substantially obviate one or more problems due to limitations and disadvantages of the related art.

An object of the present invention is to provide a write-once optical disc and a management information recording method and apparatus for efficiently recording and managing disc usage management information therein.

Additional advantages, objects, and features of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and in part will become apparent to those having ordinary skill in the art upon examination of the following or may be learned from practice of the invention. The objectives and other advantages of the invention will be realized and attained by the structure particularly pointed out in the written description and claims hereof as well as the appended drawings.

To achieve these objects and other advantages and in accordance with the purpose of the invention, as embodied and broadly described herein, there is provided a method of managing a write-once optical recording medium, the recording medium including at least one recording layer, the method comprising: setting a user area and a non-user area on at least one recording layer of the recording medium; setting at least one temporary defect management area among at least one of a user area and a non-user area, the at least one temporary defect management area being allocated for storing therein temporary defect management information including disc usage management information, the disc usage management information indicating a recorded or unrecorded state of the user area of the recording medium; and at least one final defect management area is set in the non-user area.

According to one aspect of the present invention, a method of managing a writable-once optical recording medium, the recording medium including at least one recording layer having at least one temporary defect management area and at least one final defect management area, the method comprising: recording temporary defect management information in at least one temporary defect management area of the recording medium, the temporary defect management information including disc usage management information indicating a recording usage state of the recording medium; and transferring the temporary defect management information from at least one temporary defect management area to at least one final defect management area of the recording medium.

According to an aspect of the present invention, an apparatus for managing a writable-once optical recording medium, the recording medium including at least one recording layer, the apparatus comprising a combination of components configured to: setting a user area and a non-user area in at least one recording layer of a recording medium; setting at least one temporary defect management area among at least one of a user area and a non-user area, the at least one temporary defect management area being allocated to store therein temporary defect management information including disc usage management information indicating a recorded or unrecorded state of the user area of the recording medium; and at least one final defect management area is set in the non-user area.

According to an aspect of the present invention, an apparatus for managing a writable-once optical recording medium, the recording medium including at least one recording layer, the at least one recording layer having at least one temporary defect management area and at least one final defect management area, the apparatus comprising in combination: recording temporary defect management information in at least one temporary defect management area of the recording medium, the temporary defect management information including disc usage management information indicating a recording usage state of the recording medium; and transferring the temporary defect management information from at least one temporary defect management area to at least one final defect management area of the recording medium.

According to one aspect of the present invention, a write-once optical recording medium includes: at least one recording layer having a user area and a non-user area; at least one temporary defect management area provided in at least one of a user area and a non-user area of the recording medium to store therein temporary defect management information including disc usage management information indicating a recorded or unrecorded state of the user area of the recording medium; and at least one final defect management area disposed in the non-user area.

According to one aspect of the present invention, a write-once optical recording medium includes: at least one recording layer having at least one temporary defect management area and at least one final defect management area, wherein temporary defect management information is recorded in the at least one temporary defect management area of the recording medium, the temporary defect management information including disc usage management information indicating a recording usage status of the recording medium, and wherein the temporary defect management information is transferred from the at least one temporary defect management area to the at least one final defect management area of the recording medium.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description of the present invention are exemplary and explanatory and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed.

Drawings

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will be more fully understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a structure of a conventional single layer BD-RE;

fig. 2 is a block diagram of an optical recording/reproducing apparatus according to the present invention;

fig. 3 illustrates a structure of a write-once optical disc, e.g., a single layer BD-WO, according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 4 illustrates examples of a DDS structure of a rewritable disc, a TDDS structure of a BD-WO, and a disc management information recording method of the BD-WO according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 5 illustrates a structure of a write-once optical disc, e.g., a dual-layer BD-WO, according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 6A and 6B show the structure of a cluster (cluster) in the DMA of a dual-layered BD-RE, for illustrating other aspects of the present invention;

fig. 7 illustrates a structure of a DMA and a TDMA of a dual layer BD-WO and a method of transferring data from the TDMA to the DMA according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 8 illustrates a structure of a DMA and a TDMA of a dual layer BD-WO and a method of transferring data from the TDMA to the DMA according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 9 illustrates a structure of a DMA and a TDMA of a dual layer BD-WO and a method of transferring data from the TDMA to the DMA according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 10 illustrates a structure of a DMA and a TDMA of a dual layer BD-WO and a method of transferring data from the TDMA to the DMA according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 11 illustrates a structure of a DMA and a TDMA of a dual layer BD-WO and a method of transferring data from the TDMA to the DMA according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 12 illustrates a structure of a write-once optical disc, e.g., a single layer BD-WO, according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

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

Fig. 2 is an example of a block diagram of an optical disc recording/reproducing device 20 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The optical disc recording/reproducing device 20 includes: an optical pickup 22 for writing data to the optical recording medium 21 or reading data from the optical recording medium 21; a servo 23 for controlling the pickup 22 so as to maintain a distance between an objective lens of the pickup 22 and the recording medium 21, and for tracking a corresponding track on the recording medium 21; a data processor 24 for processing and supplying input data to the pickup 22 for writing, and for processing data read from the recording medium 21; an interface 25 for exchanging data and/or commands with any external host 30; a memory or storage 27 for storing therein information and data including required defect management data (e.g., temporary defect management information, etc.) relating to the recording medium 21; and a microprocessor or controller 26 for controlling the operations and components of the recording/reproducing device 20. Data written to the recording medium 21 or data read from the recording medium 21 may also be stored in the memory 27 if necessary. All components of the recording/reproducing device 20 are operatively coupled (coupled). The recording medium 21 is a write-once type recording medium such as a BD-WO.

All of the methods and structures discussed herein in accordance with the present invention can be implemented using the recording/reproducing device 20 of fig. 2, or any other suitable device/system. For example, the microcomputer 26 of the apparatus 20 may be used to control the configuration of the disc structure and control the recording of defect management data on the recording medium, and the transfer of the defect management data from a temporary area (e.g., TDMA) to a permanent or final area (e.g., DMA) on the recording medium 21. TDMA and DMA will be discussed in more detail later.

A defect management information recording method of a write-once optical disc, such as a BD-WO, according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. For convenience of discussion, a write-once blu-ray disc (BD-WO) will be taken as an example. Here, two types of BD-WO-a single layer BD-WO and a dual layer BD-WO-are discussed. The BD-WO single layer has a single recording layer, and the BD-WO dual layer has two recording layers.

Fig. 3 illustrates a structure of a writable-once optical recording medium, such as a single-layer BD-WO, according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to fig. 3, the BD-WO includes: a lead-in area, a data area, and a lead-out area allocated on a single recording layer. The lead-in area and the lead-out area each include a plurality of defect management areas (DMA1 and DMA 2; DMA 3 and DMA4) in which DMA information for defect management is stored. The DMAs 1-4 each have a fixed capacity, e.g., 32 clusters. Generally, the same information is written in each of the DMAs 1-4 in consideration of the importance of defect management, so that if one of the DMAs is defective, a different DMA can be accessed to obtain defect management information.

It should be noted that in a general BD-RE, since data can be repeatedly recorded on or erased from the DMA (although the capacity of the DMA is limited), a large capacity of the DMA is not required. However, in the BD-WO according to the present invention, since data cannot be repeatedly recorded on or erased from the DMA, a large capacity of the DMA is required for defect management.

Still referring to fig. 3, the lead-in area further includes a temporary defect management area (TDMA 1) for temporarily storing defect management information therein. The data area includes: an inner spare area ISA0, a user data area, and an outer spare area OSA 0. According to the linear replacement, part or all of the ISA0 and OSA0 are used as replacement areas for defective areas in the user data area. The outer spare area OSA0 includes a temporary defect management area (TDMA 2). The defect management information temporarily stored in the TDMA1 and/or the TDMA2 is also referred to herein as TDMA information.

In one embodiment, the TDMA1 allocated to the lead-in area has a fixed capacity, and the TDMA2 allocated to the outer spare area OSA0 has a variable capacity depending on the capacity of the spare area. For example, if the OSA0 has a capacity of N × 256 clusters, where N > 0(N ═ integer), then the TDMA2 has a capacity of P clusters, where P ═ N × 256/4.

In one example, the same information may be written in each of the TDMAs 1 and 2. In another example, the TDMAs 1 and 2 may be sequentially used to sequentially record the TDMA information. In any case, during a replacement write operation in which data of a defective area is written onto a spare area, TDMA information is generated (e.g., under the control of the microcomputer 26) and written onto the TDMAs 1 and/or 2. The TDMA is also updated periodically or as needed. When the BD-WO is ready to be completed (e.g., the data writing operation in the user data area is completed, the TDMA is full, or an end command is received from the user, etc.), then the TDMA information (latest version) temporarily written in the TDMA is transferred and written onto one or each of the TDMAs 1-4.

The TDMA information written in each of the TDMAs 1 and 2 includes temporary defect list (TDFL) information and Temporary Disc Definition Structure (TDDS) information. In one embodiment, the TDFL information includes one or more TDFLs (TDFL #1 TDFL # n). Each TDFL includes one or more defect entries (defect entries) that identify defects and corresponding replacement areas on the disc. Each defect entry includes location information regarding a defective area of the user data area and a corresponding replacement area. For example, if a defective area is found in the user's data area during a data recording operation on the BD-WO, data written or to be written in the defective area is written in a portion (replacement area) of a spare area (e.g., ISA0 or OSA0) in a linear replacement mode. Then, information on the defective area and the replacement area and their relationship is input as a defect entry into the TDFL. For example, the information may include a first physical sector number of a defective area on the disc, a first physical sector number of a replacement area (spare area) corresponding to the defective area, and any other data related to a defect of defect management.

In one embodiment, the TDDS information written in each of the TDMAs 1 and 2 includes one or more TDDSs (TDDS #1 TDDS # n). Each TDDS has a fixed capacity (e.g., one cluster) and includes location information related to the TDFL, so that the location of any TDFL can be quickly identified by accessing the TDDS. This location information can be written in a portion of sector 0 of a cluster and may include one or more physical sector numbers each indicating the location of the TDFL written on the BD-WO, and any other information related to the TDFL information. Here, one cluster has 32 sectors, each sector having 2048 bytes.

Each TDDS also includes recording mode information. The recording mode information identifies a recording mode of the BD-WO and can be written in a portion of sector 0 of one cluster. The location information related to the TDFL and the recording mode information discussed above are also referred to herein as a TDDS part. Here, the TDDS part occupies the entire sector 0 (or any other designated location area).

Each TDDS further includes disc usage management information, which identifies the state of the recording area of the BD-WO, and can be expressed in one of two forms: track information (Track-Info) and space bitmap information (SBM). This structure of the TDDS will be discussed in more detail later by referring to fig. 4.

The TDMA may be periodically updated to reflect any currently found defective areas and corresponding replacement areas when a data recording operation for writing data to the data area is performed. After each update of the TDMA, a TDFL and a corresponding TDDS, which may include all of the original TDMA information and the most recently generated TDMA information, may be written in the TDMA. In this regard, the latest TDDS and TDFL written in the TDMA of the BD-WO will include the latest TDMA information. Then, when the BD-WO is to be finalized, the latest TDDS and TDFL written on the BD-WO are transferred and written in one or each of the DMAs 1-4 as final and latest updated defect management information.

Fig. 4 illustrates examples of a DDS structure of a rewritable disc, a TDDS structure of a BD-WO, and a disc management information recording method of the BD-WO according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in fig. 4, in the DDS of a general rewritable optical disc, only 60 bytes of information corresponding to a particularly small portion of 1 cluster are used to store therein DDS information. All remaining parts of the DDS are all set to 'zero padding'.

In contrast, in the BD-WO, the entire TDDS area is used to store therein TDDS information. As shown in fig. 3 and 4, a TDDS part (including location information and recording mode information) is written in sector 0, which is the entire cluster allocated as the TDDS, and sectors 1-31 store therein disc usage management information (Track-Info or SBM). In another example, the disc usage management information can be recorded on the first 31 sectors (sectors 0-30) in the TDDS, and any remaining disc usage management information can be recorded on the last 32 th sector (sector 31) in the TDDS together with the TDDS part.

According to the present invention, the recording mode information identifies one of a plurality of recording modes applied in the BD-WO. In this example, a value of "00000000" may be used to represent the sequential recording mode, and a value of "00000001" may be used to represent the random recording mode. Obviously, other examples are possible. The information on the BD-WO according to the present invention can be variously determined according to the method of the technical specification rule as needed.

The disc usage management information varies depending on the use of the disc. In the BD-WO, disc usage management information is required in order to accurately search and detect the start point of an available recording area, and is used to distinguish a recorded area from an unrecorded area on the disc. In this regard, the disc usage management information indicates where the available recording area and the recorded area are located in a data area (e.g., a user data area).

As described above, the disc usage management information may be represented by Track information (Track-Info) or space bitmap information (SBM). The Track-Info is generally used when the BD-WO is recorded in sequential recording mode. The SBM is generally used when the BD-WO is recorded in a random recording mode. These recording modes may be determined according to the recording mode identified by the recording mode information stored in the TDDS.

In the conventional write-once optical disc, the recording state/mode information is represented as 'track information' in the compact disc series and as 'Rzone', 'segment' or 'recording range' in the DVD series. However, in the present invention, the aforementioned various expressions regarding the recording state/mode information are all referred to as 'Track-Info', and the Track-Info is accordingly understood to have these meanings regardless of its expression.

In one embodiment, since the Track on the BD-WO is sequentially used for recording during the sequential recording mode, the Track-Info identifies a start point (position) of a recording area (e.g., user data area) of the BD-WO and an end point (position) of a last recorded portion of the recording area. This information indicates the start of the next available part of the recording area on the BD-WO.

The bitmap information identifies the start points of available recorded portions of the recording area on the BD-WO using bit values such as '0' and '1'. For example, if a specific cluster area of the recording area on the BD-WO has been recorded, it is indicated by assigning '1' to each of the smallest recording units (1 cluster). If there is no data recorded on a cluster area of the recording area, the cluster is assigned a value of '0'. Thus, if the SBM indicates a specific cluster having an assigned value of '1', it indicates that the cluster has been used (i.e., data has been recorded thereon). If the SBM indicates a specific cluster having a value of '0', it indicates that the cluster has not been used (i.e., data has not been recorded thereon). It is apparent that the opposite or some other data may be used to identify the recording/non-recording status of each area unit, such as a cluster of the user data area. Therefore, the SBM makes it possible to indicate the recording use state of the disc even in the random recording mode.

Fig. 12 illustrates a structure of a write-once optical recording medium, such as a single layer BD-WO, according to another embodiment of the present invention. The BD-WO structure in fig. 12 is identical to the BD-WO structure in fig. 3 except for the TDDS part, and includes the location information and recording mode information of the TDFL, which is updated and written after the respective update states, as shown in fig. 12. In this case, disc usage management information (Track-Info or SBM) is stored in sectors 0-30 of one cluster, and the TDDS part is stored in sector 31 of one cluster. The TDDS part occupies the entire sector 31. In another example, the TDDS portion can be stored in the entire sector 0 of a cluster, and the Track-Info or SBM can be stored in sectors 1-31 of a cluster.

Fig. 5 illustrates a structure of a dual layer BD-WO according to an embodiment of the present invention. The structure of the dual layer BD-WO and the designation of the areas shown in fig. 5 are examples for descriptive convenience and understanding, and do not limit the scope of the present invention.

Referring to fig. 5, the BD-WO includes two recording layers. The first recording layer (layer 0 or L0) includes a lead-in area, a data area 40a, and an Outer Zone area Outer Zone 0. The second recording layer (layer 1 or L1) includes a lead-out area, a data area 40b, and an outer zone area outperzone 1. The lead-in area of the first recording layer (layer 0) includes a temporary defect management area TDMA1 and a plurality of final defect management areas DMA1a and DMA2 a. The lead-out area of the second recording layer (layer 1) includes a temporary defect management area TDMA4 and a plurality of final defect management areas DMA1b and DMA2 b. Additional final defect management areas (e.g., DMAs 3a, 3b, 4a, 4b) are also provided in the Outer Zone0 and/or the Outer Zone 1.

The data area 40a of the first recording layer (layer 0) includes an inner spare area ISA0, a user data area 42a, and an outer spare area OSA 0. The data area 40b of the second recording layer (layer 1) includes an inner spare area ISA1, a user data area 42b, and an outer spare area OSA 1. The outer spare area OSA0 and/or the outer spare area OSA1 include a TDMA (e.g., TDMA2 or TDMA 3). Arrows marked in the respective areas shown in fig. 5 are examples of the data recording direction.

Similar to the BD-WO single layer, the TDMAs 1 and 4 may have fixed capacities, and the TDMAs 2 and 3 in the spare area may have variable capacities depending on the capacity of the spare area. For example, if the OSA0/OSA1 has a capacity of N × 256 clusters, where N > 0(N is an integer), then TDMA2/TDMA

3 has the capacity of P clusters, where P is (N × 256)/4.

The structure and use of DMAs and TDMAs of the BD-WO single layer as described above can be applied to the DMAs and TDMAs of the BD-WO dual layer as well. One difference is that the DMAs 1a-4b in each recording layer of the dual layer BD-WO each have a capacity of 32 clusters, so that the DMA in the first recording layer and the corresponding DMA in the second recording layer constitute one complete DMA. For example, DMAs 1a and 1b constitute one DMA, DMAs 2a and 2b constitute one DMA, DMAs 3a and 3b constitute one DMA, and DMAs 4a and 4b constitute one DMA. In this regard, the same information is recorded in each of the DAM 1a, 2a, 3a, 4a of the first recording layer. Information different from the information recorded in the DMAs 1a, 2a, 3a, 4a is recorded in each of the DMAs 1b, 2b, 3b, 4 b.

When the BD-WO is completed (e.g., the data writing operation in the user data area is completed, the TDMA(s) is filled, or an end command is received from a user, a host, a disc manufacturer, etc.), the TDMA information already stored in the TDMA(s) is written as DMA information to the DMA(s). This process of transferring TDMA information to a DMA will be discussed with reference to the embodiments of fig. 6A-11 describing a dual layer BD-WOs in accordance with the present invention.

Fig. 6A and 6B show a cluster structure of one DMA of a general dual-layer BD-RE (rewritable disc) and are used to explain a further technical solution of the present invention. The method of transferring TDMA information to a BD-WO according to the present invention guarantees a certain interactivity with a rewritable optical disc (BD-RE).

Similar to the DMA structure of the BD-WO, the BD-RE includes a DMA composed of DMA parts (clusters 1-32) from the first recording layer and DMA parts (clusters 33-64) from the second recording layer, which is accessed according to the tracking direction indicated by the arrow, as shown in fig. 6A. As shown in FIG. 6B, the same DDS information is repeatedly recorded in clusters 1-4 of the DMA, and DFL information is repeatedly recorded on clusters 9-64 of the DMA. However, in the BD-RE, the clusters 5 to 8 are not used for defect management at all.

As shown in fig. 7 to 11, the present invention provides a newly defined DMA structure for a dual layer BD-WO based on the DMA structure of the BD-RE in fig. 6A and 6B for ensuring interactivity with a rewritable optical disc (BD-RE). Referring to fig. 7 to 11, in which several embodiments of the present invention will be discussed, when the latest disc management information is completed on the TDMA in the BD-WO, a disc end command is received, the TDMA is filled, etc., it is transferred and recorded on the DMA of the BD-WO. Specifically, the latest TDFL information and TDDS information on the TDMA are transferred to the DMA as DFL information and DDS information, respectively. This transfer process is also referred to herein as a TDMA information transfer process.

It is understood that one DMA shown in each of fig. 7 to 10 corresponds to one DMA composed of DMA sections in the first and second recording layers. For example, one DMA (clusters 1-64) shown in each of fig. 7 to 10 is composed of the DMA2a (clusters 1-32) in the first recording layer and the DMA2b (clusters 33-64) in the second recording layer in the BD-WO shown in fig. 5. Similarly, one TDMA shown in each of fig. 7 to 11 corresponds to a TDMA (e.g., TDMA1, 2, 3, or 4) on the BD-WO shown in fig. 5.

Fig. 7 illustrates the structures of a DMA and a TDMA of a dual layer BD-WO and a method of transferring data from the TDMA to the DMA according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to fig. 7, during the TDMA information transfer process, the latest defect management information (the latest TDFL information and the latest TDDS information) in the TDMA is transferred and recorded onto the DMA of the BD-WO. Among the TDDS information, a TDDS part (including TDFL position information and recording mode information) and disc usage management information (track information or SBM) (e.g., as shown in fig. 3 and 4) are transferred to the DMA. In this embodiment, clusters 1-8 of the DMA are designated as DDS sections (sections), while clusters 9-64 of the DMA are designated as DFL sections. All clusters are designated to store management data in the DMA of the BD-WO.

More specifically, the disc usage management information (D0) and the TDDS part (T0) in the first recording layer L0, which can be written to the TDMA independently of the disc usage management information (D1) and the TDDS part (T1) in the second recording layer L1, are transferred and written to the DMA independently and repeatedly. In this embodiment, D0 and T0 of the first recording layer L0 are repeatedly (4 times) recorded in clusters 1 to 4 of the DDS section. In addition, D1 and T1 of the second recording layer L1 were repeatedly (4 times) recorded in clusters 5-8 of the DDS section of the DMA. As a result, the DDS section of the DMA includes the latest TDDS part and the latest disc usage management information of the first and second recording layers written in the following order: d0& T0, D0& T0, D0& T0, D0& T0, D1& T1, D1& T1, D1& T1, D1& T1, wherein D0& T0 or D1& T1 is recorded in one unit capacity, e.g., a one cluster capacity. In this regard, in an embodiment, the T0/T1 written in the DDS section of the DMA may identify the positions of DFLs in the DMA of the BD-WO, without identifying the positions of TDFLs in the TDMA of the BD-WO.

In addition, clusters 9-64(DFL sections) of the DMA are used to store therein DFL information corresponding to or based on the latest TDFL information in the TDMA. In this embodiment, the DFL portion in the DMA may repeatedly write the same DFL information (e.g., up to 7 times). The same information is repeatedly stored in the DDS section or DFL section to ensure that the DMA information is not lost (e.g., due to a defect in the DMA section) and is properly and fully accessed each time needed.

In an embodiment, the latest disc usage management information is recorded in each of the front part of the first DMA of the lead-in area and/or the front/rear parts of the DMAs of the lead-out area (according to whether the disc is a single layer or a multi-layer). This allows fast access to the disc usage management information at the initial loading of the disc. In addition, data preservation and data reliability are ensured by repeatedly recording the same information in different parts of the disc. For example, assuming that clusters 1-32 of the DMA shown in fig. 7 correspond to the DMA2a shown in fig. 5, information recorded in the clusters 1-32 shown in fig. 7 is repeatedly recorded in each of the other DMAs 1a, 3a, and 4a of the first recording layer. Similarly, if it is assumed that the clusters 33-64 of the DMA shown in FIG. 7 correspond to the DMA2b shown in FIG. 5, information recorded in the clusters 33-64 shown in FIG. 7 is repeatedly recorded in each of the other DMAs 1b, 3b and 4b of the second recording layer.

Fig. 8 illustrates the structures of a DMA and a TDMA of a dual layer BD-WO and a method of transferring data from the TDMA to the DMA according to an embodiment of the present invention. This embodiment is the same as the embodiment of fig. 7 except that the latest disc usage management information D0 and the latest TDDS part T0 of the first recording layer L0 are recorded four times in the clusters 1-2 and 5-6 of the DMA, and the latest disc usage management information D1 and the latest TDDS part T1 of the second recording layer L1 are also recorded four times in the clusters 3-4 and 7-8 of the DMA. As a result, the DDS section of the DMA includes the latest TDDS part and the latest disc usage management information of the first and second recording layers written in the following order: d0& T0, D0& T0, D1& T1, D1& T1, D0& T0, D0& T0, D1& T1, D1& T1, wherein D0& T0 or D1& T1 is recorded within a unit capacity, e.g., a cluster capacity. In another modified embodiment, the clusters 5-8 of the DMA are in a reserved state without any repeated recording, so that only the clusters 1-4 (instead of the clusters 5-8) have D0, T0, D1, and T1 recorded thereon.

Fig. 9 illustrates the structures of a DMA and a TDMA of a dual layer BD-WO and a method of transferring data from the TDMA to the DMA according to an embodiment of the present invention. This embodiment is the same as the embodiment in fig. 7 except that each of (D0& T0) and (D1& T1) of the first and second recording layers L0 and L1 is alternately and repeatedly recorded in a unit such as one cluster in the DDS section of the DMA.

Specifically, as shown in fig. 9, the latest D0 and T0 of the first recording layer L0 are recorded in each of the clusters 1, 3, 5, and 7 of the DMA, and the latest D1 and T1 of the second recording layer L1 are recorded in each of the clusters 2, 4, 6, and 8 of the DMA. As a result, the DDS section of the DMA includes the latest TDDS part and the latest disc usage management information of the first and second recording layers written in the following order: d0& T0, D1& T1, D0& T0, D1& T1, D0& T0, D1& T1, D0& T0, D1& T1, wherein D0& T0 or D1& T1 is recorded within a unit capacity, e.g., a cluster capacity. In another modified embodiment, the clusters 5-8 of the DMA are in a reserved state without any repeated recording, so that only the clusters 1-4 (instead of the clusters 5-8) have D0, T0, D1, and T1 recorded thereon.

Fig. 10 illustrates a structure of a DMA and a TDMA of a dual layer BD-WO and a method of transferring data from the TDMA to the DMA according to an embodiment of the present invention. This example is the same as the example of fig. 7 except that the latest D0& T0 and D1& T1 are recorded in the DDS section of the DMA in this order. The same information is recorded in the subsequent area in the reverse order or the subsequent area is reserved.

In particular, in this example, as shown in fig. 10, the latest D0 and T0 of the first recording layer L0 are recorded in each of the clusters 1, 4, 5, and 8 of the DMA, and the latest D1 and T1 of the second recording layer L1 are recorded in each of the clusters 2, 3, 6, and 7 of the DMA. As a result, the DDS section of the DMA includes the latest TDDS part and the latest disc usage management information of the first and second recording layers written in the following order: d0& T0, D1& T1, D1& T1, D0& T0, D0& T0, D1& T1, D1& T1, D0& T0, wherein D0& T0 or D1& T1 are recorded within one unit capacity, such as one cluster capacity. In another variable embodiment, the clusters 5-8 of the DMA are in a reserved state without any duplicate recording, so that only the clusters 1-4 (instead of the clusters 5-8) have the D0, T0, D1 and T1 recorded thereon in the order of D0& T0, D1& T1, D1& T1 and D0& T0.

The above sequences D0& T0, D1& T1, D1& T1, and D0& T0 prevent all or most of disc usage management information of one recording layer from being simultaneously damaged or difficult to read due to substantial shaping of the recording area of the disc in the rotation of cycles and disc defects such as scratch marks generated in a linear direction in one or more cycles.

In the embodiment as in fig. 7-10, if Track information (Track-info) is used as disc usage management information of the BD-WO, the first and second disc usage management information D0 and D1 of the first and second recording layers will be the same. As a result, the same latest disc usage management information is recorded in the DMAs of the first and second recording layers.

Fig. 11 illustrates the structures of a DMA and a TDMA of a dual layer BD-WO and a method of transferring data from the TDMA to the DMA according to an embodiment of the present invention. This embodiment is the same as the embodiment in fig. 7 except that the latest D0 and T0 of the first recording layer L0 are repeatedly (e.g., four times) recorded in the clusters 1-4 of the DMA, and the latest D1 and T1 of the second recording layer L1 are repeatedly (e.g., four times) recorded in the clusters 33-36 of the DMA. Here, clusters 1 to 32 of the DMA are located on the first recording layer L0 (e.g., DMA2a of fig. 5), and clusters 33 to 64 of the DMA are located on the second recording layer L1 (e.g., DMA2b of fig. 5). As a result, the disc usage management information of the first recording layer and the disc usage management information of the second recording layer are distinguished by being recorded in different recording layers. In addition, clusters 5-8 and 37-40 are reserved and clusters 9-32 and 41-64 are used to store therein DFL information as described above.

Although specific numbers and sequences of repetitions of records D0& T0 and D1& T1 are identified in connection with the embodiments of FIGS. 7-11, the invention is not so limited and includes any other numbers of repetitions and/or different sequences

Industrial applicability

According to the present invention, in the case of a single-layer BD-WO, the latest T0 and D0 of the first single recording layer are repeatedly recorded in the DDS section of the DMA. Similarly, the latest TDFL information is repeatedly recorded in the DFL section of the DMA as needed.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made in the present invention. Thus, it is intended that the present invention cover the modifications and variations of this invention provided they come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.

Claims (16)

1. A management method of a write-once optical recording medium, the recording medium including at least one recording layer having a user area and a non-user area, the method comprising:

setting at least one temporary defect management area in at least one of the user area and the non-user area to store therein disc usage management information indicating whether each recording unit of the user area is in a recordable state or a non-recordable state; and

at least one final defect management area is provided in the non-user area to store the latest disc usage management information.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the recording medium includes a plurality of recording layers, and the latest disc usage management information of each recording layer is independently recorded in its entirety in at least one final defect management area of the recording layer.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the recording medium includes a plurality of recording layers, and the latest disc usage management information of each recording layer is independently and correspondingly recorded in a final defect management area of the corresponding recording layer.

4. A method of managing a writable-once optical recording medium, the recording medium including at least one recording layer having a user area composed of recording units, the at least one recording layer having at least one temporary defect management area and at least one final defect management area, the method comprising:

(a) recording disc usage management information in at least one temporary defect management area of the recording medium, the disc usage management information indicating whether each recording unit of the user area is in a recordable state or a non-recordable state; and

(b) when the recording medium is to end recording, the latest disc usage management information is recorded from at least one temporary defect management area to at least one final defect management area of the recording medium.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the recording medium includes a plurality of recording layers, and in the (b) recording step, the latest disc usage management information of the respective recording layers is independently recorded all in a final defect management area of at least one of the recording layers.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the latest disc usage management information includes first disc usage management information (D0) of a first recording layer of the recording medium and second disc usage management information (D1) of a second recording layer of the recording medium, such that in the (b) recording step, the first and second disc usage management information are in the following order: the first disc usage management information, the second disc usage management information, and the second disc usage management information are sequentially recorded in a final defect management area of the at least one recording layer.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the latest disc usage management information includes first disc usage management information (D0) of a first recording layer of the recording medium and second disc usage management information (D1) of a second recording layer of the recording medium, such that in the (b) recording step, the first and second disc usage management information are in the following order: the first disc usage management information, the second disc usage management information, the first disc usage management information, the second disc usage management information, and the second disc usage management information are sequentially recorded in a final defect management area of the at least one recording layer.

8. The method of claim 5, wherein the latest disc usage management information includes first disc usage management information (D0) of a first recording layer of the recording medium and second disc usage management information (D1) of a second recording layer of the recording medium, such that in the (b) recording step, the first and second disc usage management information are in the following order: first disc usage management information, second disc usage management information, first disc usage management information, and second disc usage management information are sequentially recorded in a final defect management area of at least one recording layer.

9. The method of claim 5, wherein the disc usage management information includes first disc usage management information (D0) of a first recording layer of the recording medium and second disc usage management information (D1) of a second recording layer of the recording medium, such that in the (b) recording step, the first and second disc usage management information are in the following order: the first disc usage management information, the second disc usage management information, and the first disc usage management information are sequentially recorded in a final defect management area of the at least one recording layer.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein a certain number of fields in the at least one final defect management area are reserved for other use after recording the first and second disc usage management information.

11. The method of claim 4, wherein the recording medium includes a plurality of recording layers, and the latest disc usage management information of each recording layer is independently and correspondingly recorded in a final defect management area of the corresponding recording layer.

12. The method of claim 4, wherein the user area is divided into a plurality of tracks, and the disc usage management information indicates track position information identifying an end point of a last recorded track on the recording medium.

13. The method of claim 4, wherein the disc usage management information represents a space bitmap.

14. The method of claim 4, wherein the recording medium ends recording if a data recording operation in a user area of the recording medium is completed, if the at least one temporary defect management area is full, or if an end command is received.

15. A management apparatus of a write-once optical recording medium including at least one recording layer having a user area composed of recording units and a non-user area, the apparatus comprising:

means for setting at least one temporary defect management area in at least one of a user area and a non-user area, the at least one temporary defect management area being allocated to store therein disc usage management information indicating whether each recording unit of the user area is in a recordable state or a non-recordable state; and

means for setting at least one final defect management area for storing latest disc usage management information in the non-user area.

16. A management apparatus of a writable-once optical recording medium, the recording medium including at least one recording layer having a user area composed of recording units, the at least one recording layer having at least one temporary defect management area and at least one final defect management area, the apparatus comprising:

means for recording disc usage management information in at least one temporary defect management area of the recording medium, the disc usage management information indicating whether each recording unit of the user area is in a recordable state or a non-recordable state; and

and means for recording the latest disc usage management information from at least one temporary defect management area to at least one final defect management area of the recording medium when the recording medium is to end recording.