HK1116589B

HK1116589B - Optical recording medium and recording/reproducing method

Info

Publication number: HK1116589B
Application number: HK08102966.8A
Authority: HK
Inventors: 黄盛; 高祯完
Original assignee: 三星电子株式会社
Priority date: 2004-05-21
Filing date: 2006-03-11
Publication date: 2010-01-15

Description

Optical recording medium and recording/reproducing method

This application is a divisional application of an invention patent application having an application date of 2005, month 5 and 20, application No. 200510071021.3, entitled "optical recording medium, recording/reproducing apparatus and method".

This application claims the priority of korean patent application No. 10-2004-.

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a disc, and more particularly, to an information recording medium, a write-once information recording medium, a rewritable information recording medium, and a recording/reproducing apparatus and method by which data for access control is appropriately managed to secure recording/reproducing compatibility, and a computer-readable recording medium for storing a program for executing the method.

Background

In accordance with the development of optical disc technology and semiconductor technology, standards for optical systems including optical disc drive systems and optical discs must be frequently updated. Fig. 1 is a diagram for explaining a problem relating to standard updating. Typically, the new standard is obtained by adding new functionality to the old standard. The old standard disc 12 is designated to operate in the old drive system 11 and the new standard disc 14 is designated to operate in the new standard drive system 13.

The old standard and the new standard may or may not provide recording/reproducing compatibility. The old standard disc 12 and the new standard disc 14 can be recorded/reproduced in both the old standard drive system 11 and the new standard drive system 13 if recording/reproducing compatibility is guaranteed. For example, when a new standard disk 14 is loaded into the old standard drive system 11, the old standard drive system 11 should operate properly in response to a newly added function in the new standard. Therefore, the standards should be designed by considering the necessity of continuously updating them.

Therefore, it is necessary to define a rule that allows a drive system to execute a function identified by a current standard and a rule that allows the same drive system to execute a new function not identified by the current standard. In the case where a future standard is formulated by adding a new function to the current standard, if the future standard drive system stores information on an operation that the current standard drive system needs to perform for the new function on a disc, the current standard drive system may read the information from the disc suitable for the new function and perform the operation for the new function.

In this regard, a method of enabling a current standard drive system to access control information related to a new standard disc loaded into the current standard drive system is desired. Also, a method of efficiently managing data for access control is desired.

Disclosure of Invention

An aspect of the present invention provides an information recording medium, a write-once information recording medium, a rewritable information recording medium, and a recording/reproducing apparatus and method by which access control data is appropriately managed to ensure compatibility between a disc and a drive system, and a computer-readable recording medium for storing a program to execute the method.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information recording medium including: an access control area in which Access Control Data (ACD) is recorded, the ACD having common information set to allow a recording/reproducing apparatus incapable of identifying a predetermined function of the information recording medium to control access to the information recording medium; and an ACD state information area including state information regarding one of defect and recordability of an ACD block on which ACD is recorded in the access control area.

According to an aspect of the invention, the status information comprises a first defect status which is selectable among and indicative of at least one of: a state in which the ACD block is detected as defective when the ACD is recorded in the ACD block, a state in which the ACD block has invalid ACD, a state in which the ACD block has old and invalid ACDs and an updated ACD has been recorded in another ACD block, a state in which the ACD block is an unrecorded block filled with predetermined data according to completion of the information recording medium, or a combination thereof.

According to an aspect of the invention, the status information includes a second defect status indicating that the ACD block has a valid ACD but is detected as defective when the valid ACD is reproduced from the ACD block.

According to an aspect of the invention, the status information comprises a third defect status which is selectable among and indicative of one of: a state in which the ACD block is detected as defective when ACD is recorded in the ACD block, and a state in which the ACD block has invalid ACD.

According to an aspect of the present invention, the ACD state information area is included in a disc definition structure recorded for disc management in a defect management area included in a lead-in area on the information recording medium.

According to an aspect of the invention, the common information comprises: an ID identifying the function; formatting information indicating whether the information recording medium is formatable; recordable/reproducible information indicating whether or not a spare area on the information recording medium is recordable/reproducible; the recordability/reproducibility information indicating whether the user data area on the information recording medium is recordable/reproducible, and the recordability/reproducibility information indicating whether the defect management area is recordable/reproducible may be excluded from the common information.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a write-once information recording medium including: an access control area in which an ACD is recorded, the ACD having common information set to allow a recording/reproducing apparatus incapable of recognizing a predetermined function of the write-once information recording medium to control access to the write-once information recording medium; and an ACD state information area in which state information regarding one of defect and recordability of the ACD block is recorded, the ACD on the ACD block being recorded in the access control area.

According to an aspect of the invention, the status information comprises: the ACD block is available for recording of ACD in a first state, the ACD block is a defective block in a second state, the ACD block has a valid ACD but is detected as defective when a valid ACD is reproduced from the ACD block in a third state, and the ACD block has a valid ACD in a fourth state.

According to an aspect of the present invention, the access control areas are sequentially used from the inside to the outside in a radial direction of the write-once information recording medium or from the outside to the inside in the radial direction of the write-once information recording medium.

According to an aspect of the present invention, when an ACD block in an access control area is detected as defective or is a verification result of recording while ACD is recorded in the ACD block, ACD may be recorded in a subsequent ACD block in the access control area.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a rewritable recording medium including an access control area in which an ACD is recorded, the ACD having common information set to allow a recording/reproducing apparatus that cannot recognize a predetermined function of the rewritable recording medium to control access to the rewritable recording medium; and an ACD state information area in which state information regarding one of defect and recordability of the ACD block is recorded, the ACD on the ACD block being recorded in the access control area.

According to an aspect of the invention, the status information comprises: a first state indicating that an ACD block is available for recording of ACDs, a second state indicating that the ACD block was detected as defective or that the ACD block has an invalid ACD when an ACD is recorded in the ACD block, a third state indicating that the ACD block has a valid ACD but was detected as defective when a valid ACD is reproduced from the ACD block, and a fourth state indicating that the ACD block has a valid ACD.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a recording/reproducing apparatus comprising: a writing/reading unit for writing data to or reading data from an information recording medium having an access control area in which an ACD is recorded, the ACD having common information set to allow a recording/reproducing apparatus incapable of identifying a predetermined function of the information recording medium to control access to the information recording medium; and a control unit controlling the writing/reading unit to record state information regarding one of defect and recordability of the ACD block in an ACD state information area provided on the information recording medium, the ACD on the ACD block being recorded in the access control area.

According to an aspect of the present invention, when the ACD recorded in the ACD block is updated, the control unit controls the writing/reading unit together with the reference cited therein to change the state information on the ACD block to a defective state indicating that the ACD block has invalid ACD, and records the updated ACD in a subsequent available ACD block in the access control area.

According to an aspect of the present invention, when the ACD recorded in the ACD block is no longer valid, the control unit controls the write/read unit to overwrite the ACD block with a predetermined value and changes the state information on the ACD block to a state indicating that the ACD block is available to allow other ACD to be recorded in the ACD block.

According to an aspect of the present invention, when the ACD block in the access control area is detected as defective or is a verification result of a write operation when the ACD is written in the ACD block, the control unit controls the write/read unit to record the ACD in a subsequent ACD block in the access control area.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a recording/reproducing method including: state information regarding one of defect and recordability of an ACD block on which an ACD is recorded in an access control area provided on the information recording medium is recorded in an ACD state information area provided on the information recording medium, the ACD having common information set to allow a recording/reproducing device incapable of identifying a predetermined function of the information recording medium to control access to the information recording medium.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a computer-readable recording medium having stored thereon a program for use by a computer for executing a recording/reproducing method, the method including: state information regarding one of defect and recordability of an ACD block on which an ACD is recorded in an access control area provided on the information recording medium is recorded in an ACD state information area provided on the information recording medium, the ACD having common information set to allow a recording/reproducing device incapable of identifying a predetermined function of the information recording medium to control access to the information recording medium.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a write-once information recording medium including: an access control area in which an ACD is recorded, the ACD having common information set to allow a recording/reproducing apparatus incapable of recognizing a predetermined function of the write-once information recording medium to control access to the write-once information recording medium; and a Temporary Defect Management Area (TDMA) including a Temporary Disc Definition Structure (TDDS) in which state information regarding one of defect and recordability of an ACD block on which ACD is recorded in the access control area, wherein the ACD includes at least one of: ACD _ ID indicating ID of a predetermined function; formatting information indicating whether the write-once information recording medium is formatable; TDMA recordability information indicating whether the TDMA except for the TDDS is recordable; data area recordability/reproducibility information indicating whether the data area is recordable/reproducible; or a combination thereof.

According to an aspect of the present invention, when the TDMA is allocated in the data area, the data area recordability/reproducibility information may not include recordability/reproducibility information indicating whether the TDMA allocated in the data area is recordable/reproducible.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a rewritable information recording medium comprising: an access control area in which an ACD is recorded, the ACD having common information set to allow a recording/reproducing apparatus incapable of identifying a predetermined function of the information recording medium to control access to the information recording medium; and a Defect Management Area (DMA) including a Disc Definition Structure (DDS) in which status information regarding one of defect and recordability of an ACD block on which ACD is recorded in the access control area, wherein the ACD includes at least one of: ACD _ ID indicating ID of a predetermined function; formatting information indicating whether the write-once information recording medium is formatable; DMA recordability information indicating whether the DMA other than the DDS is recordable; and data area recordability/reproducibility information indicating whether the data area is recordable/reproducible.

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.

Drawings

The above and other features and/or advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of embodiments thereof, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

fig. 1 is a diagram for explaining compatibility between discs and drive systems of different standards in the conventional art;

fig. 2 shows a structure of a write-once information recording medium according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 3A shows an example of the structure of the Access Control Area (ACA) shown in fig. 2;

FIG. 3B shows an example of the structure of the ACA shown in FIG. 2;

fig. 4 shows a detailed structure of a Temporary Defect Management Area (TDMA) provided with an area in which Access Control Data (ACD) status information is recorded, according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 illustrates ACD status information according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6A shows a first example of the state of an ACD block in the ACA shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 6B shows an example of ACD state information included in a Temporary Disk Definition Structure (TDDS) according to the state of the ACD block shown in FIG. 6A;

FIG. 7A shows a second example of the state of an ACD block in the ACA shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 7B shows an example of ACD state information included in the TDDS according to the state of the ACD block shown in FIG. 7A;

FIG. 8A shows a third example of the state of an ACD block in the ACA shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 8B shows an example of ACD state information included in the TDDS according to the state of the ACD block shown in FIG. 8A;

fig. 9 shows a structure of a rewritable recording medium according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 10A shows an example of the ACA shown in FIG. 9;

FIG. 10B shows an example of the ACA shown in FIG. 9;

fig. 11 shows a detailed structure of a TDMA equipped with an area in which ACD status information is recorded, according to another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 12A shows an example of the state of an ACD block in the ACA shown in FIG. 9;

FIG. 12B shows an example of ACD state information included in the TDDS according to the state of the ACD block shown in FIG. 12A;

FIG. 13A shows an example of the state of an ACD block in the ACA shown in FIG. 9;

FIG. 13B shows an example of ACD state information included in the TDDS according to the state of the ACD block shown in FIG. 13A;

FIG. 14A shows an example of the state of an ACD block in the ACA shown in FIG. 9;

FIG. 14B shows an example of ACD state information included in the TDDS according to the state of the ACD block shown in FIG. 14A;

fig. 15 is a schematic block diagram of a recording/reproducing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 16 is a flow diagram of a method of recording ACD status information according to an embodiment of the present invention; and

fig. 17 is a flowchart of a method of recording ACD status information when an ACD is updated according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

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

Fig. 2 shows a structure of a write-once information recording medium, i.e., a write-once disc 200 according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to fig. 2, the disc 200 sequentially includes a lead-in area 210, a data area 220, and a lead-out area 230.

The lead-in area 210 includes: a pre-recorded area 211 in which predetermined data is recorded when the disc 200 is manufactured; a test zone 212; an Access Control Area (ACA) 213; defect Management Area (DMA) # 2214; DMA # 1215; and temporary dma (tdma) 216. The pre-recorded area 211 may be used for reading only. The test area 212, the ACA213, the DMA # 2214, the DMA # 1215, and the TDMA216 are areas in which data can be written and rewritten. It is understood that additional and/or fewer DMAs, TDMAs, test areas, pre-recorded areas, and/or ACAs may be used, and that pre-recorded areas may also be used for recording in alternative embodiments of the present invention.

The pre-recorded area 211 stores information about the disc 200 recorded when the disc 200 is manufactured. For example, the pre-recorded area 211 stores a disc ID such as a disc manufacturing number for identifying the disc 200. However, it should be understood that additional read-only information may be recorded in the pre-recorded area 211.

The test area 212 is provided for testing a recording power or the like for optical recording on the disc 200.

The ACA213 is provided for recording information that specifies the operation of the drive system for a new function to be added later. Common information enabling a drive system incapable of recognizing a certain function to access the disc 200 is recorded in the ACA213, an example of which will be described in detail with reference to fig. 3.

The DMA # 1215 and the DMA # 2214 are provided for recording information about a defect occurring in the User Data Area (UDA) 222. When no data can be written on the disc 200 since the disc 200 is finalized, the final temporary defect management information recorded in the TDMA216 is recorded in the DMA as final defect management information.

The TDMA216 is an area in which temporary management information for managing defects occurring during the use of the disc 200 and for managing data recorded on the disc 200 is recorded and updated. The TDMA216 includes a Temporary Disc Definition Structure (TDDS)410, a temporary defect list (TDFL)420, and Recording Management Data (RMD) 430. The TDDS410 includes an area in which state information regarding an Access Control Data (ACD) block included in the ACA213 is recorded. An example of the zone will be described in detail with reference to fig. 4. However, it should be understood that the state information may be recorded in other areas of the disc 200.

The data area 220 includes a spare area # 0221, a UDA222, and a spare area # 1223. UDA222 is provided to record user data. The spare areas # 0221 and # 1223 provide spare blocks that replace defective blocks occurring in the UDA 222. Such a spare area is allocated to the data area 222 during initialization or re-initialization of the disc 200.

The lead-out area 230 includes DMA # 3231 and DMA # 4232. Multiple DMAs are provided for increasing the reliability of the disc 200 by repeatedly recording the same final defect management information in multiple portions of the disc 200. However, it should be understood that additional or fewer numbers of DMAs and other areas may be used and/or recorded in other areas of the disc 200.

Fig. 3A shows a first example of the structure of the ACA shown in fig. 2. Referring to FIG. 3A, the ACA213 includes ACD # 1310, ACD # 2320, and ACD # 3330.

The ACA213 is an area in which common information for accessing the disc regardless of an existing or new standard is recorded. In other words, the ACA213 stores a common information table commonly applied to all functions used under the existing standard and the new standard. The ACD constitutes a common information table about each function. For example, ACD # 1310 constitutes a common information table about "function 1", ACD # 2320 constitutes a common information table about "function 2", and ACD # 3330 constitutes a common information table about "function 3". Function 1 is recognizable by the drive system, and functions 2 and 3 are not recognizable by the drive system. The ACD may also include special information that only a drive system identifying a function corresponding to the ACD may be identified, but is not required in all aspects of the invention.

ACD # 1310 includes common information 311 and special information 312. The common information 311 includes: ACD _ ID 313, (i.e., an ID that identifies the ACD); formatable information 314 indicating whether the disc can be formatted; spare area recordability/reproducibility information 315 indicating whether the spare area is recordable or reproducible only; and UDA recordability/reproducibility information 316 indicating whether the UDA is recordable or only reproducible.

The drive system may determine whether ACD # 1310 is for an identifiable function based on ACD _ ID 313. In other words, if the drive system knows ACD _ ID 313, ACD # 1310 is determined to be about an identifiable function. Otherwise, ACD # 1310 is determined to pertain to a non-recognizable function.

In addition, even if the drive system does not know the ACD _ ID 313, the drive system can perform at least a minimum appropriate operation with respect to the non-recognizable function based on the fields included in the common information table.

ACD # 2320 also includes public information 321 and special information 322. The common information 321 includes an ACD _ ID 323 and a common information table containing formatting information 324, spare area recordability/reproducibility information 325, and UDA recordability/reproducibility information 326.

It is preferable, but not necessary, that the ACAs 213 are sequentially used radially from the inner side to the outer side of the disc 200 or radially from the outer side to the inner side of the disc 200. In addition, when a defect is detected while data is written in an ACD block in the ACA213 or as a result of verify-after-write, data is recorded in a subsequent ACD block.

Meanwhile, the common information of the ACD may further include recordability/reproducibility information regarding an area on the disc 200 other than the spare area and the UDA 222. However, it is preferable, but not necessary, that the common information does not include recordability/reproducibility information about the TDMA 216. Status information on the ACD block in the ACA213 in which the ACD is recorded in the TDMA 216. Therefore, if the state information of the ACD is set to prevent writing to the TDMA, the state information on the ACD block cannot be recorded or updated.

In other words, since the state information regarding the ACD block in the ACA213 is recorded in the TDDS410 included in the TDMA216, the recordability/reproducibility information regarding the TDMA216 should not be defined in the ACD. If the recordability/reproducibility information regarding the TDMA216 is defined and set to prevent writing into the TDMA216, when a new ACD block is added to the ACA213 or an existing ACD block is changed in the ACA213, the changed ACD state information cannot be recorded in the TDMA 216. In this case, the true state of each of the ACD blocks included in the ACA213 cannot be known, which makes it difficult to obtain a valid ACD.

Meanwhile, the TDMA216 may be wholly or partially included in the spare area 221 according to the use of the write-once information recording medium. In this case, the spare area recordability/reproducibility information should not include information regarding the TDMA216, because it is preferable that the common information of the ACD does not include the TDMA216 recordability/reproducibility information.

Fig. 3B shows another example of the structure of the ACA213 shown in fig. 2. The second example shown in fig. 3B is similar to the example shown in fig. 3A except that the common information 311 includes TDMA recordability information 317 and data area recordability/reproducibility information 318 and the common information 321 includes TDMA recordability information 327 and data area recordability/reproducibility information 328.

In particular, in contrast to the example shown in fig. 3A, the TDMA recordability information 317, 327 shown in fig. 3B is included in the common information 311, 312. However, the TDMA recordability information 317, 327 does not include information regarding the TDDS in the TDMA216, so as to always enable the ACD status information to be recorded in the TDDS even when the TDMA recordability information 317, 327 is set to prevent writing into the TDMA 216.

Meanwhile, although not shown in fig. 2, the TDMA216 may also be allocated in a data area, such as the UDA 222. In this embodiment, the TDDS410 in which the state information of the ACD is recorded may be included in the TDMA216 allocated in the data area. In this case, even when writing/reading to/from the data area is prohibited, the TDDS included in the data area should be recordable/reproducible.

In other words, the TDMA recordability information 317, 327 is information regarding recordability of all portions of the TDMA216 except the TDDS410, and the data area recordability/reproducibility information 318, 328 is information regarding recordability/reproducibility of all portions of the data area except the TDDS410 or the TDMA 216. That is, the TDDS410 should always be recordable on a write-once embodiment of the information recording medium.

Fig. 4 shows a detailed structure of the TDMA216 equipped with an area in which ACD status information is recorded according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to fig. 4, the TDMA216 includes a TDDS410, a TDFL 420, and an RMD 430.

The TDFL 420 is an area for temporary defect management in which information regarding defects occurring in the UDA222 (e.g., addresses of defective blocks and addresses of blocks replacing the defective blocks) is recorded. The RMD 430 is an area for recording management. The RMD 430 is managed according to a recording mode. When the recording medium is used in the continuous recording mode, the RMD 430 is managed according to the sequential recording information. When the recording medium is used in the random recording mode, the RMD 430 is managed according to a Space Bitmap (SBM). The TDDS410 for temporary disc management is an area in which disc management information is recorded. In particular, according to an embodiment of the present invention, ACD state information 411 is recorded in the TDDS 410.

ACD status information 411 includes the status of each ACD block in ACA 213. Referring to fig. 4, two bits are allocated for status information regarding a single ACD block. Therefore, in order to record status information on 64 blocks defined in the ACA213, 64 × 2 ═ 128 bits are assigned to the ACD status information 411. Thus, 16 bytes B0, ·, B14, B15 are allocated for status information about each ACD block in the ACA 213. However, it should be understood that this number of blocks and/or bits may vary.

Fig. 5 shows an example of ACD block status information 411 included in ACD status information 411. Referring to fig. 5, the state of each ACD block is expressed as 2 bits, i.e., "00", "01", "10", and "11", indicating one of the four states.

In the example shown, the bit "00" indicates that the ACD block is available to record ACDs. Bit "01" indicates that the ACD block is defective. More specifically, bit "01" indicates one of the following states: a state in which an ACD block is detected as defective while the ACD is recorded in an ACD block in the ACA, a state in which the ACD block has an invalid ACD, an ACD block has old and invalid ACDs and has recorded an updated ACD having the same ACD ID as the old and invalid ACDs in another ACD block according to a request for the updated ACD, and a state in which the ACD block is an unrecorded block filled with specific data according to completion of the write-once disc. Bit "10" indicates that the ACD block has a valid ACD, but is detected as defective when the ACD is rendered from the ACA. Bit "11" indicates that the ACD block has a valid ACD. However, it should be understood that the bit patterns may be otherwise allocated.

When an ACD update is requested during the use of the disc, a bit recorded in the TDDS to indicate the state of the ACD block with the old ACD is changed to "01" to indicate that the ACD block has an invalid ACD, and an updated ACD having the same ACD ID as the old ACD is recorded in a subsequent available ACD block in the ACAs 213.

An example of recording the ACD block status information 411 will be described in detail below with reference to fig. 6A to 8B. Fig. 6A shows an example of the state of the ACD block in the ACA213 shown in fig. 2. Referring to FIG. 6A, ACA

213 includes 64 blocks and includes two ACD blocks #1 and #2 with valid ACDs and another 62 blocks that do not have data recorded therein and are available for recording.

Fig. 6B shows an example of ACD state information 411 included in the TDDS410 according to the state of the ACD block shown in fig. 6A. Referring to fig. 6B, the TDDS410 includes a size area having 16 bytes to store ACD state information 411 containing state information regarding 64 blocks included in the ACA213 shown in fig. 6A. To indicate that ACD blocks #1 and #2 have valid ACDs, bit "11" is recorded as state information in locations b127 and b126, and bit "11" is recorded as state information in locations b125 and b 124. To indicate that the other 62 blocks are not used and are available for ACD recording, "0" is recorded in each of the positions b123 to b0, so that status information on each of the 62 blocks is expressed by bit "00".

Fig. 7A and 7B show changes in the ACD state information 411 recorded in the TDDS410 according to the updated ACD and the occurrence of a defective block. Fig. 7A shows an example of the state of the ACD block in the ACA213 shown in fig. 2. In the case where an update of the ACD recorded in the ACD block #1 is requested as shown in fig. 6A, if a defect is detected while the updated ACD is recorded in a subsequent available block (i.e., ACD block #3), the updated ACD is recorded in the ACD block #4 in response to the update request or if a defect is detected through verification after recording the updated ACD. As a result, ACD block #1 has invalid ACDs, ACD block #3 is defective, and ACD block #4 is valid ACDs. The other 60 blocks in the ACA213 are left unrecorded and available.

Fig. 7B shows an example of ACD state information 411 included in the TDDS410 according to the state of the ACD block shown in fig. 7A. Referring to fig. 7B, since the ACD recorded in the ACD block #1 in the ACA213 is no longer valid due to the update of the ACD, bits at positions B127 and B126 in the TDDS410 are changed to "01". Since there is no change in ACD block #2, state information regarding ACD block #2 is retained. Because ACD block #3 has been detected as defective during writing or as a result of verify-after-write, the bits at positions b123 and b122 are changed to "01". Due to the update, a valid ACD has been recorded in ACD block #4, so the bits at positions b121 and b120 are changed to "11".

Fig. 8A and 8B show changes in the ACD state information 411 recorded in the TDDS410 according to an error occurring when an ACD block is reproduced. Fig. 8A shows an example of the state of the ACD block in the ACA213 shown in fig. 2. A write-once information recording medium having the state of the ACA213 shown in fig. 7A may be loaded into a drive system, and errors occurring when valid ACDs in ACD blocks #2 and 4 respectively recorded in the ACA213 are reproduced based on ACD state information 411 included in the TDDS410 shown in fig. 7B cannot be corrected during reproduction. Since fig. 8A shows a state of blocks until an error occurs when the ACD recorded in the ACD block #2 is reproduced, the state of the ACA213 shown in fig. 8A is the same as the state of the ACA213 shown in fig. 7A.

Fig. 8B shows an example of ACD state information 411 included in the TDDS410 according to the state of the ACD block shown in fig. 8A. Referring to fig. 8B, in order to indicate that the ACD recorded in the ACD block #2 of the ACA213 on the disc is still valid even when it cannot be reproduced, bits at positions B125 and B124 corresponding to the ACD block #2 of the TDDS410 are changed to '10', so that the valid ACD recorded in the ACD block #2 can be reproduced by a drive system having higher performance than the current drive system, which cannot reproduce the valid ACD recorded in the ACD block # 2. If the drive system with higher performance is able to reproduce the valid ACD recorded in the ACD block #2, the valid ACD may be moved to another normal block. In this case, when the disc is loaded into another subsequent drive system, the valid ACD moved from the ACD block #2 to the normal block is reproduced from the normal block instead of the ACD block #2, thus providing convenient use of the disc.

In particular, since the final TDDS is recorded as a DDS in a DMA on the write-once disc during the completion of saving the final state of the disc, by comparing ACD state information included in the DDS with the actual state of the ACA, a change in the recording state of the disc due to an illegal change or increase of data in the ACA213 on the disc can be detected. Because after the completion of the disc, it is possible that the ACD state information in the TDDS410 reflects the final state of the ACA213 and is copied to the DDS included in the DMA on the disc.

Fig. 9 shows a structure of a rewritable recording medium (i.e., a rewritable disc) 900 according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to fig. 9, the rewritable disc 900 sequentially includes a lead-in area 910, a data area 920, and a lead-out area 930. The lead-in area 910 includes: a pre-recorded area 911 in which predetermined data is recorded when the disc 900 is manufactured; a test zone 912; ACA 913; DMA # 2914; and DMA # 1915. The data area 920 includes a UDA 922 in which user data is recorded; and a spare area # 0921 and a spare area # 1923 allocated for data recorded in the UDA 922 for defective block recording. The lead-out area 930 includes DMA # 3931 and DMA # 4932.

Since data can be rewritten on the rewritable disc 900, the rewritable disc 900 shown in fig. 9 has substantially the same structure as the write-once disc 200 shown in fig. 2, except that the rewritable disc 900 has only a DMA for defect management and no TDMA for temporary defect management. A DDS for defect management and disc management and a DFL for defect information are recorded in the DMA of the rewritable disc 900. For example, DMA # 1915 includes DDS 1110 and DFL 1120.

Fig. 10A shows a first example of the ACA 913 shown in fig. 9. Referring to FIG. 10A, ACA 913 includes ACD # 11010, ACD # 21020, and ACD # 31030. ACD # 11010 includes common information 1011 and special information 1012. The public information 1011 includes: ACD _ ID 1013, i.e., an ID that identifies the ACD; formatable information 1014 indicating whether the disc can be formatted; spare area recordability/reproducibility information 1015 indicating whether the spare area is recordable or reproducible only; and UDA recordability/reproducibility information 1016 indicating whether the UDA is recordable or only reproducible.

ACD # 21020 also includes public information 1021 and special information 1022. The public information 1021 includes: ACD _ ID 1023; and a common information table including the formatable information 1024, the spare area recordability/reproducibility information 1025, and the UDA recordability/reproducibility information 1016.

Fig. 10B shows an example of the ACA 913 shown in fig. 9. The second example shown in fig. 10B is the same as the first example shown in fig. 10A except that the common information 1011 includes DMA recordability information 1017 and data area recordability/reproducibility information 1018, and the common information 1021 shown in fig. 10B includes DMA recordability information 1027 and data area recordability/reproducibility information 1028.

In particular, unlike the example shown in fig. 10A, the DMA recordability information 1017, 1027 is included in the common information 1011, 1021 in the second example. However, the DMA recordability information 1017, 1027 does not include information regarding the DDS in the DMA, thereby enabling ACD status information to be recorded in the DDS even if the DMA recordability information 1017, 1027 is set to prevent writing to the DMA. That is, the DDS should always be recordable on a rewritable recording medium.

Although not required in all aspects, the structure of the ACA in the above-described embodiments is the same for write-once information recording media and rewritable recording media. When an ACD block is detected as defective during writing to the ACA or as a result of a verify-after-write of a bit, the ACD is recorded in a subsequently available block in the ACA. During re-initialization of the disc, the drive system empties the ACD by recording a predetermined value, e.g., "00 h" or "FFh", in the entire space in an existing ACD block in which the ACD has been recorded on the disc. In addition, in the initialization or re-initialization, the drive system records ACD of functions known with respect to the drive system in the ACA, and fills the remaining space of the unrecorded ACA with a predetermined value, for example, "00 h" or "FFh".

Fig. 11 shows a detailed structure of a DMA # 1915 equipped with an area in which ACD status information 1111 is recorded, according to another embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 11, DMA # 1915 includes a DDS 1110 and a DFL 1120. The DFL 1120 is an area for defect management in which information regarding defects occurring in the UDA222 (e.g., addresses of defective blocks and addresses of blocks replacing the defective blocks) is recorded. The DDS 1110 is an area for disc management in which disc management information is recorded. In particular, according to an embodiment of the present invention, ACD status information 1111 is recorded in the DDS 1110.

The ACD status information 1111 contains the status of each ACD block in the ACA 913. Referring to fig. 11, two bits are allocated for status information regarding a single ACD block. Therefore, in order to record status information on 64 blocks defined in the ACA, 64 × 2 ═ 128 bits are allocated to the ACD status information 1111. Thus, 16 bytes B0, ·, B14, B15 are allocated for status information about each ACD block in the ACA.

The state of the ACD block on the rewritable recording medium may be expressed in 4 classes as shown in fig. 5. However, the details of the four categories are different. As shown in fig. 5, the state of each ACD block on the rewritable recording medium is expressed as 2 bits, i.e., "00", "01", "10", or "11", indicating one of the four states. Bit "00" indicates that the ACD block is available to record ACDs. Bit "01" indicates that the ACD block is defective. More specifically, the bit "01" indicates that an ACD block is detected as defective while ACD is recorded in the ACA or that the ACD block is a defective block with invalid ACD. Bit "10" indicates that the ACD block has a valid ACD, but is detected as defective when the ACD is rendered from the ACA. Bit "11" indicates that the ACD block has a valid ACD.

When a rewritable disc is used, when ACD on an ACD block among the ACAs recorded on the disc is no longer valid, the ACD block is overwritten with a predetermined value (e.g., "00 h" or "FFh"), and the state information (i.e., bits indicating the state of the ACD block) is changed to "00" indicating that the ACD block is valid. Here, the ACD block is overwritten with "00 h" or "FFh" to prevent invalid ACD from being reproduced from the ACD block when the state information of the ACD block cannot be read. In other words, in order to more reliably prevent invalid ACD from being reproduced, the ACD block having invalid ACD is overwritten with a predetermined value such as "00 h" or "FFh".

During use of the rewritable disc, when an update of the ACD recorded in the ACD block is requested, the status information of the ACD block with the old ACD is changed to "01" in the DDS on the rewritable disc to indicate that the ACD block has an invalid ACD, and the updated ACD is recorded in a subsequent available block in the ACA on the rewritable disc.

Hereinafter, an example of recording status information regarding ACD blocks will be described in detail with reference to fig. 12A to 14B. Fig. 12A shows an example of the state of the ACD block in the ACA 913 shown in fig. 9. Referring to fig. 12A, the ACA 913 includes 64 blocks including two ACD blocks #1 and #2 having valid ACDs, and other 62 blocks having no data recorded therein and available for recording.

Fig. 12B shows an example of ACD status information 1111 included in the DDS 1110 according to the status of the ACD block shown in fig. 12A. Referring to fig. 12B, the DDS 1110 includes a size area having 16 bytes to store ACD status information 1111 containing status information about 64 blocks included in the ACA 913 shown in fig. 12A. To indicate that ACD blocks #1 and #2 have valid ACDs, bit "11" is recorded as state information in locations b127 and b126, and bit "11" is recorded as state information in locations b125 and b 124. To indicate that the other 62 blocks are not used and are available for ACD recording, "0" is recorded in each of the positions b123 to b0, so that status information on each of the 62 blocks is expressed by bit "00".

Fig. 13A and 13B show changes in ACD status information 1111 recorded in the DDS 1110 according to the updated ACD and the occurrence of a defective block. Fig. 13A shows an example of the state of the ACD block in the ACA 913 shown in fig. 12. Referring to fig. 13A, since the ACD recorded in the ACD block #1 is no longer needed, the ACD block #1 in the ACA 913 shown in fig. 12A is overwritten with "00 h". In addition, a defect is detected as defective or as a result of verify-after-write while the ACD regarding the new function is written to the ACD block #3 in response to a request, and thus the ACD regarding the new function is recorded into a subsequent block, i.e., the ACD block # 4. In other words, in the ACA 913, the ACD block is filled with "00 h", the ACD block #2 has valid ACD, the ACD block #3 is a defective block, and the ACD block #4 has valid ACD, and the remaining 60 blocks are unrecorded and available.

Fig. 13B shows an example of ACD status information 1111 included in the DDS 1110 according to the status of the ACD block shown in fig. 13A. Referring to fig. 13B, since the ACD block #1 in the ACA 913 has been overwritten with "00 h", bits indicating status information on the ACD block #1 at positions B127 and B126 in the DDS 1110 are changed to "00" to allow the ACD block #1 to be used. Since ACD block #2 is not changed, bit "11" indicating status information regarding ACD block #2 is reserved. The ACD block #3 has been detected as defective during recording or as a result of verify-after-write, and bits indicating status information about the ACD block #3 at positions b123 and b122 in the DDS 1110 are changed to "01". Since ACD block #4 has a valid ACD for the new function, the bit indicating the status information for ACD block #4 at positions b121 and b120 is changed to "11".

Fig. 14A and 14B show changes in ACD status information 1111 recorded in the DDS 1110 according to an error occurring when an ACD block is reproduced. Fig. 14A shows an example of the state of the ACD block in the ACA 913 shown in fig. 9. A rewritable recording medium having the state of the ACA 913 shown in fig. 13A may be loaded into the drive system, and an error occurring when valid ACDs in ACD blocks #2 and 4 respectively recorded in the ACA 913 are reproduced based on ACD state information 1111 included in the DDS 1110 shown in fig. 13B cannot be corrected during reproduction. Since fig. 14A shows a state of blocks until an error occurs when the ACD recorded in the ACD block #2 is reproduced, the state of the ACA 913 shown in fig. 14A is the same as the state of the ACA 913 shown in fig. 13A.

Fig. 14B shows an example of ACD status information 1111 included in the DDS 1110 according to the status of the ACD block shown in fig. 14A. Referring to fig. 14B, in order to indicate that the ACD recorded in the ACD block #2 of the ACA 913 on the disc is still valid even when it cannot be reproduced, bits at positions B125 and B124 corresponding to the ACD block #2 of the DDS 1110 are changed to "10", so that the valid ACD recorded in the ACD block #2 can be reproduced by a drive system having higher performance than the current drive system, which cannot reproduce the valid ACD recorded in the ACD block # 2. If the drive system with higher performance is able to reproduce the valid ACD recorded in the ACD block #2, the valid ACD may be moved to another normal block. In this case, when the disc is loaded into another subsequent drive system, the valid ACD moved from the ACD block #2 to the normal block is reproduced from the normal block instead of the ACD block #2, thus providing convenient use of the disc.

Fig. 15 is a schematic block diagram of a recording/reproducing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to fig. 15, the recording/reproducing apparatus includes a writing/reading unit 2 and a control unit 1.

The writing/reading unit 2 includes a pickup, and writes data on a disc 100, which is an optical recording medium of the present invention, and reads data from the disc 100. Here, the disc 100 may be a write-once information recording medium, i.e., the disc 200, or a rewritable recording medium, i.e., the disc 900.

The control unit 1 controls the write/read unit 2 to write data onto the disc 100 and to read data from the disc 100 according to a predetermined file system. More specifically, the control unit 1 allocates ACD state information in the DMA included in the lead-in area on the disc 100 to manage the state of each of the ACD blocks of the ACD recorded thereon in the ACA included in the lead-in area, and also performs control to record and manage state information on each ACD block in the ACD state information area. The control unit 1 includes a system controller 10, a host interface (I/F)20, a Digital Signal Processor (DSP)30, a Radio Frequency (RF) Amplifier (AMP)40, and a servo 50.

During recording, the host I/F20 receives a predetermined write command from the host 3 and transmits the command to the system controller 10. The system controller 10 controls the DSP 30 and the servo 50 to execute a write command received from the host I/F20. The DSP 30 adds additional data, such as parity, to data received from the host I/F20 to be written, performs Error Correction Coding (ECC) to generate an ECC block for error correction, and modulates the ECC block in a predetermined pattern. The RF AMP 40 converts data output from the DSP 30 into an RF signal. The writing/reading unit 2 including a pickup writes the RF signal received from the RF AMP 40 onto the disc 100. The servo 50 receives a servo control command from the system controller 10 and performs servo control on the pickup included in the write/read unit 2.

During reproduction, the host I/F20 receives a read command from the host 3. The system controller 10 performs initialization required for reproduction. The writing/reading unit 2 irradiates a laser beam onto the disc 100 and outputs an optical signal obtained from the laser beam reflected from the disc 100. The RF AMP 40 converts an optical signal received from the write/read unit 2 into an RF signal, supplies modulated data obtained from the RF signal to the DSP 30, and supplies a servo signal obtained from the RF signal to the servo 50. The DSP 30 demodulates the modulated data and outputs data obtained by performing ECC on the demodulated data. Meanwhile, the servo 50 receives a servo signal from the RF AMP 40 and a servo control command from the system controller 10, and performs servo control on the pickup. The host I/F20 sends data from the DSP 30 to the host 3. The system controller 10 reads disc management information or defect information from the disc 100 and controls the servo 50 to read data from a position where the data has been recorded on the disc 100 without defects. According to an aspect of the present invention, the recording/reproducing apparatus shown in fig. 15 may be implemented by a separate recording apparatus and a separate reproducing apparatus or a separate recording and reproducing apparatus, and may be implemented by a stand-alone apparatus or as a part of a computer system.

Hereinafter, the operation of the recording/reproducing apparatus shown in fig. 15 recording and updating ACD state information will be described in detail with reference to fig. 16 and 17. Fig. 16 is a flowchart of a method of recording ACD status information according to an embodiment of the present invention. In operation 1601, during initialization or re-initialization of the write-once disc 200, the system controller 10 performs control to record a predetermined function on an ACD block included in the ACA213 in the lead-in area 210 of the disc 200. In operation 1602, the system controller 10 detects whether there is a defect in the ACD block during writing of the ACD or through verify-after-write. If there is a defect in the ACD block, the system controller 10 performs control to re-record the ACD in an available block subsequent to the ACD block in step 1603. In operation 1604, the system controller 10 performs a control operation to record a bit "01" in the TDDS410 as state information on the ACD block having the defect. In operation 1605, the system controller 10 performs a control operation to record a bit "11" in the TDDS410 as state information on a subsequent ACD block in which the ACD is re-recorded. In operation 1607, the system controller 10 performs a control operation to record bits "00" in the TDDS410 as state information regarding each ACD block on which ACD is not recorded in the ACA 213.

If it is detected in operation 1602 that there is no defect in the ACD block, the system controller 10 performs a control operation to record a bit "11" in the TDDS410 as state information on the ACD block in operation 1606, and performs operation 1607.

Although it has been described with reference to fig. 16 that operations of recording the ACD and recording state information regarding the recording of the ACD are performed during initialization and re-initialization of the disc, these operations are not limited to initialization and re-initialization, but may be performed to update the ACD or record a new ACD even during use of the disc. In addition, the method illustrated in fig. 16 has been applied to a rewritable recording medium in the same manner, except that status information regarding ACD blocks is generally recorded in a DDS instead of a TDDS according to an aspect of the present invention.

Fig. 17 is a flowchart of a method of recording ACD status information when an ACD is updated according to an embodiment of the present invention. In operation 1701, the system controller 10 receives a command to update a specific ACD on an ACD block among the ACDs recorded on the write-once disc. Thereafter, the system controller 10 performs a control operation to change the state information on the ACD block to bit "01" in the TDDS on the disc to indicate that the ACD block does not have a valid ACD in operation 1702.

In operation 1703, the system controller 10 performs a control operation to record an updated ACD having the same ID as the specific ACD on a subsequent available block in the ACA on the disc. In operation 1704, the system controller 10 performs a control operation to record a bit "11" in the TDDS as state information on a subsequent block on which the updated ACD has been recorded.

Although not required in all aspects, aspects of the invention can also be embodied as computer readable code on one or more computer readable recording media. The computer readable recording medium is any data storage device that can store data which can be thereafter read by a computer system. Examples of the computer readable recording medium include read-only memory (ROM), random-access memory (RAM), CD-ROMs, magnetic tapes, floppy disks, optical data storage devices, and carrier waves (such as data transmission through the internet). The computer readable recording medium can also be propagated over a network coupled computer systems so that the computer readable code is stored and executed in a distributed fashion. Also, functional programs, codes, and code segments for accomplishing the present invention can be easily constructed by those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains.

According to the present invention, common information on disc access control, which is recognizable by all standards of a drive system, is recorded on a disc, so that even a drive system that cannot recognize the function of the disc can operate properly based on the common information, thus providing compatibility between the disc and the drive system. In addition, common information can be efficiently managed.

While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the following claims. The examples should be construed as merely illustrative and not restrictive. Therefore, the scope of the invention is defined not by the detailed description of the invention but by the appended claims and equivalents thereof, and all differences within the scope will be construed as being included in the present invention.

Claims

1. A method of allocating an area on an information recording medium, the method comprising:

allocating an access control area including access control data included in an access control data block, the access control data having common information for respective predetermined functions recognized by an appropriate type of recording and/or reproducing apparatus, and the common information being set to allow an inappropriate type of recording/reproducing apparatus that cannot recognize the predetermined functions of the information recording medium to control access to the information recording medium; and

an access control data status information area including status information selectable between the defect and the recordability of the corresponding access control data block and indicating one of the defect and the recordability of the corresponding access control data block is allocated, so that the recording and/or reproducing apparatus determines the availability of the access control data block corresponding to the status information.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the status information comprises a first defect status, the first defect status being selectable from and indicative of at least one of: a state in which the access control data block is detected to be defective while the access control data is recorded in the access control data block, a state in which the access control data block has invalid access control data, a state in which the access control data block has old and invalid access control data and updated access control data has been recorded in another access control data block, and a state in which the access control data block is an unrecorded block filled with predetermined data according to completion of the information recording medium.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the state information includes a second defective state indicating to the recording and/or reproducing apparatus that the access control data block has valid access control data but is detected to be defective when valid access control data is reproduced from the access control data block.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the status information includes a third defective status, the third defective status being selectable from and indicative of one of: a state in which the access control data block is detected as defective when the access control data is recorded in the access control data block, and a state in which the access control data block has invalid access control data.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the information recording medium further includes a lead-in area including a defect management area having a disc definition structure, wherein the access control data state information area is included in the disc definition structure, and the disc definition structure is recorded for disc management in the defect management area included in the lead-in area.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the public information includes:

an ID identifying a predetermined function corresponding to the common information;

formatable information that distinguishes and indicates whether the information recording medium is formatable or non-formatable;

recordable/reproducible information which distinguishes and indicates whether a spare area on the information recording medium is recordable/reproducible or whether the spare area is non-recordable/reproducible; and

distinguishes and indicates recordability/reproducibility information whether at least a portion of the user data area on the information recording medium is recordable/reproducible or whether the portion of the user data area is non-recordable/reproducible, and

the common information does not include recordability/reproducibility information indicating whether the defect management area is recordable/reproducible.

7. The method of claim 1, the information recording medium further comprising a defect management area having a disc definition structure used by the recording and/or reproducing apparatus to perform defect management with respect to the information recording medium, wherein the access control data status information area is included in the disc definition structure and is used to determine availability of the access control data recorded in the access control area.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the defect management area includes a temporary defect management area used to perform defect management before finalization of the information recording medium, and the disc definition structure includes a temporary disc definition structure used to perform defect management before finalization of the information recording medium.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the common information comprises recordability/reproducibility information distinguishing and indicating whether a spare area on the information recording medium is recordable/reproducible or non-recordable/reproducible, and does not comprise recordability/reproducibility information indicating whether the temporary defect management area is recordable/reproducible.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein the common information comprises recordability/reproducibility information distinguishing and indicating whether a temporary defect management area having the access control data state information in the temporary disc definition structure is recordable/reproducible or non-recordable/reproducible.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the common information comprises:

an ID identifying a predetermined function corresponding to the common information.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the access control data further includes special information other than the common information, the special information including information recognizable by an appropriate recording and/or reproducing apparatus as a function performed by the appropriate recording and/or reproducing apparatus.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the access control data block includes access control data in which the common information can be stored, and the access control data state information instructs the recording and/or reproducing apparatus to store the common information in the access control data block.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the access control data state information is recorded in an access control data state information block corresponding to each of the access control data blocks and indicates whether the corresponding access control data block of the recording and/or reproducing apparatus is valid.

15. A method of allocating areas on a write-once information recording medium, the method comprising:

allocating at least one write-once layer on which data can be written once and can not be erased;

allocating an access control area on the at least one write-once layer, and the access control area including access control data included in an access control data block, the access control data having common information set to allow a recording/reproducing device, which cannot recognize a predetermined function of the write-once information recording medium, to control access to the write-once information recording medium; and

an access control data state information area on the at least one write-once layer is allocated, and the access control data state information area includes state information selectable between defect and recordability of a corresponding access control data block and indicating one of the defect and the recordability of the corresponding access control data block.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the status information includes a status selectable among and indicating one of: the access control data block may be used for recording of access control data, a second state in which the access control data block is a defective block, a third state in which the access control data block has valid access control data but is detected as defective when the valid access control data is reproduced from the access control data block, and a fourth state in which the access control data block has valid access control data.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the second state comprises a state indicating and selectable from: a state in which the access control data block is detected to be defective while the access control data is recorded in the access control data block, a state in which the access control data block has invalid access control data, a state in which the access control data block has old and invalid access control data and updated access control data has been recorded in another access control data block, and a state in which the access control data block is an unrecorded block filled with predetermined data according to completion of the information recording medium.

18. The method of claim 15, wherein the access control areas are sequentially used from inside to outside in a radial direction of the write-once information recording medium or from outside to inside in the radial direction of the write-once information recording medium.

19. The method of claim 15, wherein the access control data is recorded in a subsequent access control data block in the access control area when the access control data block in the access control area is detected as defective or detected as a verified result after recording while the access control data is recorded in the access control data block.

20. The method of claim 15, wherein the write-once information recording medium further comprises a lead-in area including a temporary defect management area having a temporary disc definition structure, wherein the access control data state information area is included in the temporary disc definition structure, and the temporary disc definition structure is recorded for temporary disc management in the temporary defect management area for temporary defect management.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein:

the access control area includes 64 locations to record up to 64 access control data blocks;

two bits are allocated for status information on each respective access control data block, and

16 bytes are allocated to the temporary disc definition structure to record status information on 64 access control data blocks included in the access control area.

22. A method of allocating areas on a rewritable recording medium, the method comprising:

allocating at least one rewritable layer on which data can be repeatedly written and/or erased;

allocating an access control area of at least one rewritable layer, the access control area including access control data included in an access control data block, the access control data having common information set to allow a recording/reproducing apparatus incapable of identifying a predetermined function of the rewritable recording medium to control access to the rewritable recording medium; and

an access control data state information area of the at least one rewritable layer is allocated, the access control data state information area including state information that is selectable between defect and recordability of a corresponding access control data block and indicates one of the defect and the recordability of the corresponding access control data block.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the status information includes a status selectable among and indicating at least one of: the access control data block may be used for a first state of recording of the access control data, a second state in which the access control data block is detected as defective or the access control data block has invalid access control data when the access control data is recorded in the access control data block, a third state in which the access control data block has valid access control data but is detected as defective when valid access control data is reproduced from the access control data block, and a fourth state in which the access control data block has valid access control data.

24. The method of claim 22, wherein the access control data is recorded in a subsequent access control data block in the access control area when the access control data block in the access control area is detected to be defective or detected as a result of the verify after writing when the access control data is written in the access control data block.

25. The method of claim 23, wherein when the access control data recorded in the access control data block is no longer valid, the access control data block is overwritten with a predetermined value and the state information on the access control data block is changed from a state other than the first state to the first state allowing other access control data to be recorded in the access control data block.

26. The method of claim 22, wherein the access control data state information area is included in a disc definition structure recorded for disc management in a defect management area included in the lead-in area.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein:

16 bytes are allocated to the disc definition structure to record status information on each of the 64 access control data blocks included in the access control area.

28. A recording/reproducing method comprising:

recording status information selectable between a defect and a recordability of an access control data block and indicating one of the defect and the recordability of the access control data block in an access control data status information area provided on the information recording medium, the corresponding access control data on the access control data block being recorded in an access control area provided on the information recording medium, the access control data having common information for a corresponding predetermined function recognized by a proper type of recording and/or reproducing apparatus, and the common information being set to allow a non-proper type of recording/reproducing apparatus, which cannot recognize the predetermined function of the information recording medium, to control access to the information recording medium.

29. The recording/reproducing method according to claim 28, wherein,

the information recording medium is a write-once information recording medium,

the recorded status information includes a defect status indicating that the access control data block is a defective block, and

the defect state is a selectable one of the following states and indicates at least one of the following states: a state in which the access control data block is detected to be defective while the access control data is recorded in the access control data block, a state in which the access control data block has invalid access control data, a state in which the access control data block has old and invalid access control data and updated access control data has been recorded in another access control data block, and a state in which the access control data block is an unrecorded block filled with predetermined data according to completion of the information recording medium.

30. The recording/reproducing method according to claim 28, wherein,

the information recording medium is a write-once information recording medium, and

the status information includes a status that the access control data block has valid access control data but is detected as defective when the valid access control data is reproduced from the access control data block.

31. The recording/reproducing method of claim 28, further comprising, when the access control data recorded in the access control data block is updated, changing the state information on the access control data block to a defective state indicating that the access control data block has invalid access control data, and recording the updated access control data in a subsequent available access control data block in the access control area.

32. The recording/reproducing method of claim 28, wherein:

the information recording medium is a rewritable information recording medium,

the status information includes a defect status indicating that the access control data block is a defective block, and

the defect state is a selectable one of the following states and indicates at least one of the following states: a state in which the access control data block is detected to be defective when the access control data is recorded in the access control data block, a state in which the access control data block has invalid access control data, a state in which the access control data block has valid access control data but is detected to be defective when valid access control data is reproduced from the access control data block.

33. The recording/reproducing method of claim 32, further comprising, when the access control data recorded in the access control data block is no longer valid, overwriting the access control data block with a predetermined value, and changing the state information on the access control data block to a state indicating that the access control data block is available to allow other access control data to be recorded in the access control data block.

34. The recording/reproducing method of claim 28, further comprising, when the access control data block in the access control area is detected as defective or as a result of verification after a recording operation when the access control data is recorded in the access control data block, recording the access control data in a subsequent access control data block in the access control area.

35. The recording/reproducing method of claim 28, wherein the access control area includes 64 locations to record up to 64 access control data blocks, and the method further comprises allocating two bits for the status information on each corresponding access control data block, and allocating 16 bytes to the disc definition structure in the defect management area on the information recording medium to record the status information on each of the 64 access control data blocks included in the access control area.

36. A method of allocating an area on a write-once information recording medium, the method comprising:

allocating an access control area on the at least one write-once layer, and the access control area including access control data having common information for respective predetermined functions recognized by an appropriate type of recording and/or reproducing apparatus, and the common information being set to allow an inappropriate type of recording/reproducing apparatus that cannot recognize the predetermined functions of the write-once information recording medium to control access to the write-once information recording medium; and

a temporary defect management area of the at least one write once layer is allocated, and the temporary defect management area includes a temporary disc definition structure, the TDDS has state information selectable between a defect and a recordability of an access control data block on which access control data is recorded in the access control area and indicating one of the defect and the recordability of the access control data block,

wherein the access control data comprises at least one of: access control data _ ID indicating ID of a predetermined function; formatable information indicating and distinguishing whether the write-once information recording medium is formatable or unformatable; TDMA recordability information indicating and distinguishing whether a TDMA other than the TDDS is recordable or non-recordable; data area recordability/reproducibility information indicating and distinguishing whether the data area is recordable/reproducible or non-recordable/reproducible.

37. The method of claim 36, wherein the data area recordability/reproducibility information does not include recordability/reproducibility information indicating whether the TDMA allocated in the data area is recordable/reproducible when the TDMA is allocated in the data area.

38. A method of allocating areas on a rewritable information recording medium, the method comprising:

allocating at least one rewritable layer on which data can be repeatedly written and erased;

allocating an access control area of at least one rewritable layer, the access control area including access control data having common information for respective predetermined functions recognized by an appropriate type of recording and/or reproducing apparatus, and the common information being set to allow an inappropriate type of recording/reproducing apparatus that cannot recognize the predetermined functions of the information recording medium to control access to the information recording medium; and

a defect management area of the at least one rewritable layer is allocated, and the defect management area includes a disc definition structure, the DDS having state information selectable between defect and recordability of an access control data block on which access control data is recorded in the access control area and indicating one of the defect and the recordability of the access control data block,

wherein the access control data comprises at least one of: an access control data ID indicating an ID of a predetermined function; formatting information indicating and distinguishing whether the rewritable information recording medium is formatable or unformatable; DMA recordability information indicating and distinguishing whether the DMA other than the DDS is recordable or unrecordable; data area recordability/reproducibility information indicating and distinguishing whether the data area is recordable/reproducible or non-recordable/reproducible.

39. A recording/reproducing method comprising:

writing access control data to or reading access control data from an access control area provided on the information recording medium, the access control data having common information for a corresponding predetermined function identified by an appropriate type of recording and/or reproducing apparatus, and the common information being set to allow an inappropriate type of recording/reproducing apparatus that cannot identify the predetermined function of the information recording medium to control access to the information recording medium;

recording status information regarding one of defect and recordability of an access control data block in a temporary disc definition structure included in a temporary defect management area provided on the information recording medium, the access control data being recorded in the access control area on the access control data block,

wherein the access control data comprises at least one of: access control data _ ID indicating ID of a predetermined function; formatable information indicating and distinguishing whether the information recording medium is formatable or unformatable; TDMA recordability information indicating and distinguishing whether a TDMA other than the TDDS is recordable or non-recordable; and data area recordability/reproducibility information indicating and distinguishing whether a data area provided on the information recording medium is recordable/reproducible or non-recordable/reproducible.

40. The recording/reproducing method of claim 39, wherein the data area recordability/reproducibility information does not include recordability/reproducibility information indicating whether the TDMA allocated in the data area is recordable/reproducible when the TDMA is allocated in the data area.

41. A recording/reproducing method comprising:

recording status information regarding one of defect and recordability of an access control data block in a disc definition structure included in a defect management area provided on an information recording medium, access control data being recorded in the access control area on the access control data block,

wherein the access control data comprises at least one of: access control data _ ID indicating ID of a predetermined function; formatable information indicating and distinguishing whether the information recording medium is formatable or unformatable; DMA recordability information indicating and distinguishing whether the DMA other than the DDS is recordable or unrecordable; and data area recordability/reproducibility information indicating and distinguishing whether a data area provided on the information recording medium is recordable/reproducible or non-recordable/reproducible.

42. A method of allocating an area on an information recording medium, the method comprising:

allocating a first area including first access control data included in a first access control data block and second access control data included in a second access control data block, the first access control data having first common information for a first predetermined function and the second access control data having second common information for a second predetermined function; and

allocating a second area including first and second status information, each of the first and second status information being selectable between and indicating one of availability and non-availability of the first and second common information in the first and second access control data blocks,

wherein:

the first and second predetermined functions are recognized by a recording and/or reproducing apparatus of an appropriate type, and

the first and second common information are set to allow an inappropriate type of recording and/or reproducing apparatus that cannot identify the first and/or second predetermined functions of the information recording medium to control access to the information recording medium.

43. The method of claim 42, wherein:

the first state information indicates that the first access control data block is unavailable so that the recording and/or reproducing apparatus does not use the first common information, and

the second state information indicates that the second access control data block is available so that the recording and/or reproducing apparatus uses the second common information.

44. The method of claim 43, wherein the second public information comprises an updated version of the first public information.

45. The method of claim 43, wherein the first status information indicates that the first access control data block is defective.

46. The method of claim 43, wherein the first status information indicates that the first access control data block is no longer in use and is available for overwriting with additional common information.

47. The method of claim 43, wherein the first state information indicates that the first access control data block contains available first common information but cannot be used by the first recording and/or reproducing apparatus, so that the first common information is copied to a third access control data block of the first area using the second recording and/or reproducing apparatus.

48. The method of claim 42, wherein the first and second areas are on at least one rewritable recording layer on which data is recorded and which can be erased and/or overwritten.

49. The method of claim 42, wherein the first and second areas are on at least one write-once recording layer on which data is written and cannot be erased and/or overwritten after writing.

50. A recording/reproducing method comprising:

recording state information selectable between defects and recordability of the first access control data block and the second access control data block of the first area and indicating one of the defects and recordability of the first access control data block and the second access control data block of the first area in a second area provided on the information recording medium, corresponding first access control data and second access control data on the first access control data block and the second access control data block are recorded in a first area provided on the information recording medium, the first access control data and the second access control data have common information for respective first predetermined functions and second predetermined functions recognized by a suitable type of recording and/or reproducing apparatus, and the common information is set to allow an inappropriate type of recording/reproducing device that cannot identify the first predetermined function and the second predetermined function of the information recording medium to control access to the information recording medium.