RU2161377C2 - Device and method for preparing variable-parameter coded signal before its recording on data medium; sequential-signal device and method; method for reproducing patterns from data medium - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: methods and devices for processing variable-parameter coded signals. SUBSTANCE: video and audio data are entered in disk in the form of blocks of many packs. If video data pack has in its beginning 1 pattern, input pack containing positions of three preceding and three next packs is placed directly in front of video pack. Position of pattern depends on input pack data. Variable-parameter coded signal is divided into sectors each starting with sector heading; multiplexing facility functions to multiplex kind-of-signal marker and variable-parameter coded signal by entering sub-code in sector containing determined part of signal. Variable-parameter coded signal is generated by multiplexing digital input signal at variable multiplexing ratio. EFFECT: enhanced speed of data retrieval due to facilitated access to recorded information. 64 cl, 20 dwg

Description

 The present invention relates to devices and methods for processing Signals Coded with a Variable Parameter (SCR) before recording them with the possibility of high-speed search on the recording medium of such signals. This invention also relates to devices and methods for performing such a high-speed search on a medium with SKPP recorded thereon. And finally, the present invention relates to recording means SKPP.

 In FIG. 1 and 2 are examples of conventional recording and reproducing devices. As seen from the consideration of the block diagram of FIG. 1, the digital signal that you want to record is compressed (compressed) in the encoder 1 and fed to the input of the video buffer 4 as part of the multiplexer 3. Similarly, the digital sound signal (audio signal) to be recorded is compressed and encoded in an audio encoder (encoder) 2 , and then fed to the input of the buffer 5 of the audio signal from the multiplexer 3.

 The output terminals of the signal buffers 4 and 5 are connected to the input terminals E1 and E2 of the switch 6, respectively. The output F of the switch 6 is connected to the input of the header adding circuit 7. From the output of circuit 7, the signals are fed to a digital storage device (memory) 10, which may contain, for example, a magneto-optical disk or a magnetic disk, i.e. "HDD. The control circuit 8 receives system clock signals from the clock generator 9 of the multiplexing system, as a result of which the switch 6, under the control of the circuit 8, connects the output F alternately to the inputs E1 and E2 at predetermined time intervals. Thus, the bytes of the video signal from the output of the video buffer 4 and the bytes of the audio signal from the output of the audio buffer 5 are alternately transmitted, i.e. time division multiplexing of audio and video signals.

 Under the influence of the control circuit 8, the switch 6 and the header 7 adding circuit produce a multiplexed signal having the format set by the ISO 11172 (MPEG) standard. Such a signal contains one or more blocks of information and one ISO_11172_end_code. This code contains 32 bits and, being represented in a hexadecimal notation, has the form 0x0000001B9. Here, the prefix 0x indicates a hexadecimal notation, where "x" is undefined.

 Each information block includes a header that contains Block_Start_code, System Clock Signals (CTC), Multiplexing_Speed Index, and one or more information packets. Block_Start_code consists of 32 bits and has the form 0x0000001B4, where the 0x prefix is also a pointer to a hexadecimal notation. The block has a variable length, which can reach a maximum value of 2048 bytes.

 Each information packet also has a header, which includes the Prefix_Start_Code_Packet_ID, data stream identifier (IPD), the Packet_Length indicator, the Presentation Timestamp (ORP), the Decoding Timestamp (ATS), and the actual information part of the packet where the packed data is located. The Prefix of the Beginning_ Code of the Packet consists of 24 bits and has the form 0x0000001. The Stream_ID is an 8-bit code and indicates the type of packet (see FIG. 4). The Packet_Length pointer (16 bits) indicates the length of the packet following it.

 In the information part of each packet, a part of the digital audio signal (when the stream identifier indicates the presence of such a signal) or a part of the video signal (if there is a corresponding indication of the stream identifier) is recorded. Since each audio stream can have one of 32 different stream identifiers, and each video stream can have one of 16 possible identifiers, up to 32 audio signals and up to 16 different video signals can be multiplexed, respectively.

 The backup stream can be used, for example, for subheading data. Private_flow_1 and private_flow_2 do not have a specific purpose. Fill_flow is used to increase the amount of data.

 The control circuit 8 controls the addition of headers and the grouping of bytes of the read signal using the algorithm shown, for example, in FIG. 5, so that each block holds 2048 bytes in accordance with the format described above.

 As can be seen from the consideration of FIG. 1 and 5, during step S1 of the algorithm, the control circuit 8 instructs the header adding circuit 7 to generate a block header. Then, during step S2, the control circuit 8 waits until the sum of the values of M4 and M5 becomes equal to or greater than the number of bytes of the signal D that one block should hold. In other words, circuit 8 waits until the total number of bytes of the signal accumulated in signal buffers 4 and 5 becomes equal to the number of bytes of the video signal recorded in video buffer 4, and the value M5 in this case represents the number of bytes of the audio signal recorded in audio buffer 5. The value D represents the total number of bytes of signals that one block can accommodate. To simplify the discussion, we will further consider the value D as a constant obtained by subtracting from the maximum number of bytes in the block (2048) the sum of the number of bytes of the block header, the number of bytes of the video packet header and the number of bytes of the audio packet header.

Next, in step S3, the following are calculated: the value P1, which is the number of bytes of the video signal that should be included in the block, and the value P2, which is the number of bytes of the audio signal, also to be placed in the block. To do this, use the following expressions:
P1 = D • M4 / (M4 + M5)
P2 = D - P1
Thus, the values of P1 and P2 are obtained by distributing the total number of bytes of signal 1 contained by the entire block, in accordance with the ratio of the number of bytes M4 and M5 accumulated in the signal buffers 4 and 5.

 In step S4, after the appropriate number of bytes of different types of signals are determined, the control circuit 8 instructs the header adding circuit 7 to generate a video packet header and then feed this header to the input of the digital storage memory 10. Then, in step S5, the control circuit 8 transmits P1 bytes of the video signal from signal buffer 4 to the digital memory 10. In step S6, circuit 8 instructs the adding circuit to generate an audio packet header and also transfers it to digital memory 10. In step S7, control circuit 8 sends P2 bytes of audio from the signal buffer 5 again into the digital memory 10, which records the switched signals received by it from the multiplexing device 3.

 The multiplexed signals thus recorded in the memory 10 are then reproduced and decoded by the reproducing apparatus shown in FIG. 2. The header 22 separation circuit in the separation unit 21 separates the headers of the blocks (information) and packets from the multiplexed signals read from the memory 10. The circuit 22 supplies the headers to the control device 24, and also supplies the multiplexed video and audio signals to the input G of the switch 23. Outputs of this switch 23, H1 and H2 are connected to the inputs of video decoder 25 and audio decoder 26, respectively. The control device 24 in the separation unit alternately connects the input terminal G of the switch 23 to the output terminals H1 and H2 in accordance with the instructions of the stream identifier in the packet header received from the header separation circuit 22. Thus, the signal is multiplexed with time division multiplexing, and then the audio signal and the video signal are supplied to the respective decoders (decoders).

 After the video signal supplied to the multiplexer 3 is compressed in accordance with the MPEG encoding standard, certain restrictions are imposed on random access or search operations. The MPEG-compressed video signal includes internal coding patterns (called I-patterns) and two types of intermediate coding patterns called P-patterns, whose positions are predictable in the forward direction, and B-patterns that are predictable in both directions. Of these three types of patterns, only I-patterns can be compressed independently of other patterns, and therefore it can be said that they have their inherent ability to expand. To decode the video signal of the I-template, only the video signal of the I-template itself is required and the video signals of other templates are not required. However, because of this, the coding efficiency of I-patterns is relatively low. Since P-patterns and B-patterns are formed by decoding the difference signals of previous and / or subsequent patterns, the compression efficiency of such patterns is quite high. However, the decoding of P-patterns and B-patterns requires reference to the video signal of the reference pattern preceding or following the pattern to be decoded, in addition to the video signal of this pattern itself. As a result, two or more I-patterns are usually played every second in order to allow random access while maintaining an acceptable average compaction efficiency.

 In FIG. 6 is a diagram of a digital video signal recorded in the memory 10 and including I-patterns, P-patterns and B-patterns. The digital video signal is divided into several Pattern Groups (GS). Each GS starts with an I-pattern. When a video signal is compressed with a fixed compression coefficient, due to the fact that the I-pattern periodically appears at a predetermined position, its location can be calculated, resulting in access to the I-pattern. If the video signal is compressed with a variable compression coefficient, the location of the I-template is uncertain, which makes it difficult to access.

 When the reproducing apparatus shown in FIG. 1, receives a search command, the main control device (not shown) sends the command to enter the search mode to the control circuit 24, to the video decoder 25 and to the audio decoder 26. In the search mode, the video decoder 25 decodes only I-patterns in the video signal received from the switch 23. On the other hand, the separation unit 21 selects only video signals representing I-patterns and sends them to video decoder 25, which performs its main function, i.e. decodes the received signals.

 In search mode, the control circuit 24 sends to the memory 10 a command to move the disk to the read position (forward or backward). Since the duration of the movement to the read position depends on the search speed, compression ratio (compaction), etc., the duration of the movement increases with increasing search time and compression ratio. After the installation on the read position is completed, the multiplexed signal is read from the memory 10 and supplied to the separation unit 21. The header separation circuit 22 performs this operation, the video decoder 65 decodes the I-pattern that appears first and feeds it to the video output. Audio decoder 66 is interrupted in search mode.

 By sequentially repeating the above search operation, random access to information is provided. Moreover, if, for example, the user gives a search command in the forward direction and at high speed, then video decoder 25 searches for I-patterns by driving a predetermined number of video signal blocks without looking at them, and then decodes and outputs each detected I- template. On the other hand, the memory 10 can also search for I-patterns, but then it only reproduces the video signals of the detected I-patterns and transmits them for decoding by the video decoder 25. A search operation including sequential playback of I-patterns is performed by repeating such operations.

 In FIG. 7 and 8 are block diagrams of other known recording and reproducing devices, respectively. In the device shown in FIG. 7, the digital video signal that you want to record is fed to a video encoder (encoder) 1, and the digital audio signal to an audio encoder 2. The output signals of the encoders 1 and 2 are fed to a multiplexer 3, the output of which is connected to the input of a memory 10 that stores the resulting multiplexed signal.

 This multiplexed signal, read from the memory 10, is fed to the scheme of adding 50 Content Tables (TS), which joins the TS to the beginning of the multiplexed signal. The formation of the vehicle will be described below. From the output of the circuit 50, the signals are fed to the input of the adding circuit 51 of the sector header, the output of which signals are fed to the encoder 52 with the Correction of Coding Errors (ECC). From the output of this encoder, the signals are fed through a modulation circuit 53 to a mechanical disk recorder 54 that writes to the original optical disc 60 a signal whose generation is described above. Based on the original disc, a plurality of such optical discs are produced as shown in FIG. 8 disk 60A, for distribution to various consumers and professionals.

 The input of the memory 33A storing the addresses of the entry points is connected either to the output of the video encoder 1 or to the input point detection circuit 31, and therefore the memory 33A stores information about the entry points from both of these devices. From the output of the memory 33A of the entry points, the signals are fed to the formation circuit of 56 Content Tables, which formats the vehicle. Then, the TCs are supplied to the TC circuit 50, which connects the TC to the beginning of the multiplexed signal, as mentioned above.

 The video signal intended for recording is compressed and encoded by video encoder 1, and then fed to the multiplexer 3. The audio signal is also processed, also fed to the multiplexer 3, which processes the received video and audio encoded signals by time division multiplexing them. Then these signals enter the memory 10, where they are stored. This procedure is repeated until all necessary signals are stored in memory 10.

 The output of the video encoder 1 is connected to the input of the memory 33A of the entry points. When video encoder 1 is capable of generating a signal for generating an entry point, it does this when forming an I-shiblon. This entry point formation signal is transmitted to the entry point memory 33A, which stores it whenever a video encoder generates an I-pattern.

 The output of the video encoder 1 is also connected to the input of the detection circuit 31 of the video input point. When the video encoder is not capable of generating an entry point signal or when the digital video signal to be recorded is already encoded, such a signal is generated by the input video point detection circuit 31 whenever an I-pattern is generated, or this circuit 31 detects an entry point in the video signal that it receives from the video encoder 1, and on the basis of this generates a signal of formation of an entry point. Whenever the input point detection circuit 31 detects it, data thereof is transmitted to the entry point memory 33A and stored there.

 After the video and audio signals are encoded and subjected to multiplexing, they are recorded in the memory 10. At the same time, data on the entry points necessary for the formation of the vehicle are stored in the memory 33A of the entry points. After this, the procedure for joining the vehicle begins.

 First, the necessary entry points are transmitted to the memory 33A to the circuit 56 of the formation of the vehicle. Then, a user or a controller (not shown) selects (selects) the necessary information. Entry points transmitted to the forming circuit 56 have the format shown in FIG. 9. In this example, vehicles have location data for N entry points. Each entry point is indicated by a sector address consisting of 4 bytes.

 Returning to FIG. 7, it can be seen that the TCs generated by the circuit 56 are transmitted to the TC circuit 50 and then to the sector header addition circuit where they are placed before the multiplexed signal stored in the memory 10, which is then transmitted from the memory 10 through the circuit 50 joining the vehicle in the scheme 51 adding the header of the sector.

 As shown in FIG. 10, each sector holds 2048 bytes in addition to a sector header consisting of 16 bytes. The sector header includes the sector number. The sector header adding circuit 51 divides the multiplexed signal from the vehicle adding circuit 50 into blocks of 2048 bytes long, and also adds a 16 byte sector header including the sector number. From the output of the circuit 51, the signals are fed to the ECC encoder 52.

 The ECC encoder 52 adds the proper amount of data required for parity to the signal coming from the circuit 51, and then sends the resulting signal to the modulation circuit 53. From the modulation circuit 53, the signal is supplied to a mechanical recording device 54, which records the modulated signal to the original optical disc 60.

 In the reproducing apparatus shown in FIG. 8, the signal recorded on the optical disk 60A is reproduced by the sensor 61. From the output of the sensor 61, the signal is supplied to a demodulator 62, which demodulates the signal coming from the sensor 61, and then supplies the demodulated signal to the Coding Error Correction Circuit 63 (ECC circuit 63). This circuit detects and corrects errors in the demodulated signal, and then sends the processed signal to the demultiplexer 64.

 The video signal from the output of the demultiplexer 64 is supplied to the video decoder 65, the audio signal from the same demultiplexer 64 is supplied to the audio decoder 66. These decoders 65 and 66 each individually decompress the compressed signals and output uncompressed signals.

 In response to a user command (not shown) to reproduce the signal recorded on the disc, the controller 67 sends a command to the video and audio decoders 65 and 66, and also requests access to the drive device through a drive control circuit 69. The drive control circuit 69 drives the sensor 61 through a servo servo circuit 70 upon a command from the controller 67, as a result of which the recording on the disc is played.

 The vehicle, placed before the start of the signal recorded on the disc, is separated by a demultiplexer 64, fed to the controller 67 and then stored in the memory 68 of the vehicle. If necessary, the vehicle is read from this memory 68 and used by the controller 67.

 The following describes the operation of the known disc reproducing apparatus of FIG. 8. After installing the optical disk 60A, the controller 67 issues a read command of the first sector to the drive control device 69, which drives the sensor 61 through the servo circuit 70, which begins to read from the disk 60A from the initial position.

 The sensor 61 illuminates the optical disk 60A with a laser beam and reads the recorded signal using the beam reflected from the disk. From the sensor 61, the signal is supplied to the demodulator 62. The demodulated signal is then fed to the ECC circuit 63, where errors are detected and corrected. The resulting multiplexed signal is supplied from the output of the circuit 63 to the demultiplexer 64.

 In the first sector of the disk, vehicles are recorded, which are demultiplexed by the circuit 64 and fed to the controller 67, which then stores them in the memory 68 and displays them on the display (not shown) of the user.

 In response to the user instruction to reproduce the selected row of the Content Table, the controller 67 instructs the drive control circuit 69 to start the operation. Through the servo circuit 70, the control device 69 moves the sensor 61 to the position of reading and playing back a user-defined table row. In addition, at the same time, the control circuit 69 also commands the video and audio decoders 65 and 66 to prepare them for receiving signals reproduced from the disc.

 Simultaneously with reading the TC, the sensor 61 illuminates the optical disk with a laser beam and reproduces the recorded signal using the light beam reflected from the disk. From the sensor 61, the signal is removed to the demodulator 62. The demodulated signal is supplied to the error correction and correction circuit 63. After that, the multiplexed signal is supplied to the demultiplexer 64.

 The demultiplexed signals from the output of the circuit 64 are fed to video and audio decoders 65 and 66, respectively. The video and audio signals that have been compressed are now expanded in the video and audio decoders 65 and 66, forming a digital uncompressed video signal and a digital uncompressed audio signal.

 When a multiplexed video signal is compressed in accordance with the MPEG encoding standard, this imposes certain restrictions on random access and search operations. In particular, as mentioned above, an MPEG-compressed video signal includes internal coding patterns (I-chiblon) and two types of intermediate coding patterns: P patterns predicted by forward position and B patterns predicted by position in both directions - forward and backward. Of these three types of patterns, only I-patterns are encoded independently of patterns of other kinds. When decoding I-patterns, only the video signal of these patterns themselves is required and the participation of other types of pattern signals is not required, i.e. I-patterns can be decoded independently. However, the compaction coefficient of the I-patterns is relatively low. In the case of P-patterns and B-patterns, which are formed by decoding the difference of the signals of the previous and / or subsequent patterns, the compression coefficient of such patterns is quite high. The decoding of P-patterns and B-patterns requires the video signal of the reference pattern preceding the pattern to be decoded or following it in addition to the video signal of the decoded pattern itself. As a result, two or more I-patterns are usually played every second to allow random access to information while maintaining a sufficient average compression ratio.

 A digital video signal containing I-patterns, P-patterns and B-patterns and recorded on the optical disc 60A is divided into several Pattern Groups (GS), as mentioned above with reference to FIG. 6. Each group begins with an I-pattern. When a video signal is compressed with a fixed compression coefficient, since the I-pattern periodically appears at a predetermined position, its location can be determined by computation and can be accessed. However, when the video signal is compressed with a variable coefficient, the location of the I-patterns becomes uncertain, which makes it difficult to access them.

 In particular, when the command to perform the search operation is received on the disk playback device shown in FIG. 8, the controller 67 sends a command to enter the search mode to the device 69 for managing the drive (drive), video decoder 65 and audio decoder 66. In search mode, video decoder 65 decodes only I-patterns in the incoming video signal. On the other hand, the demultiplexer 64 selects only the video signals with I-patterns and feeds them to the video decoder 65, which decodes these signals.

 In search mode, the control device 69 instructs the servo circuit 70 to move the disk to the read position (forward or backward). The duration of such a move depends on the search speed, compression ratio, etc. Therefore, usually the installation time increases with increasing search speed, as well as with an increase in the compaction coefficient. After completing the installation of the reading position, the signal from the sensor 61 is supplied to the demultiplexer 64 through the demodulator 62 and the ECC circuit 63. The transmitted demultiplexer 64 sends the video signal to the I-pattern that appears first and then to the video output. The operation of the audio decoder 66 is suspended in the search mode.

 In the same manner as described above, the search operation using sequential reproductions of I-patterns is performed due to repeated random access operations. So, for example, upon receipt of a user command that prescribes a high-speed forward search, video decoder 25 searches for an I-pattern by running a predetermined number of frames of the video signal it receives, decodes and outputs each detected I-pattern. On the other hand, in response to a command from the controller 67, the control device 69 drives the servo circuit 70 to search for the I-pattern, with only the I-pattern video signals being transmitted to the video decoder 65. Thus, the search procedure including sequential playback of the I-pattern, carried out by repeating the described operations.

 In this regard, the time required to decode the I-pattern when performing a search can be calculated. If we consider the memory 10 as a disk data drive operating in the operational memory (RAM) mode, then this time will consist of the time parameters listed below.

Head installation time: M (depends on the mechanical design)
Servo mechanism working time: N (depends on the servo circuit)
Waiting time for a turn (disk): about 300 milliseconds when counting along the outer circumference of a CD
Data reading time: about 150 milliseconds per I-pattern. Since we are talking about the operation of searching for adjacent (neighboring) I-patterns, we can assume that from the above parameters, the installation time of the heads M and the working time of the servomechanism N will be very small compared to the waiting time during disk rotation (rotation), and therefore can be neglected. Because of this, it is usually believed that the time of various transformations in the template can be about 450 milliseconds (maximum).

 The maximum waiting time is calculated relative to the largest circumference (diameter 116 mm) of the compact disc and a linear rotation speed of 1.2 m / s.

 The time for reading data is calculated as follows.

 Subject to compliance with MPEG standards, the amount of data allocated to the I-template, P-template and B-template is different based on the conditions for efficient compaction. For example, 150 Kbit is allocated for the I-template, where compression is performed only inside the template, 75 Kbit is reserved for P-templates, since they are also considered quite important elements, and 5-Kbit is allocated for B-templates, since they can be interpolated in both directions . In particular, a GS, which consists of 15 patterns, has a total volume of 500 Kb, since it includes one I-pattern, four P-patterns and ten B-patterns, while a data volume of 1 Mbit takes one second in time, which coincides with the speed of disk RAM. In this case, reading one I-template takes 150/1000 = 150 ms. In all the above calculations, it was believed that the templates replace each other after a maximum of 450 ms.

 In known devices, due to the fact that the position of the I-template (i.e., the access point) is unknown, in the search process one has to expect the appearance of the access point after the read position has shifted by some distance. Therefore, the time cycle of the search operation can be quite large, which limits the speed of the search.

In addition, in known devices due to the fact that the rotation time of the disk and the reading time of the I-pattern data are very long, the period of various transformations in the patterns during the search process is very long. Therefore, since only two or more patterns are processed in one second during the search, the performance of this operation is quite low.
The present invention was created taking into account the above-described disadvantages of the known technical solutions and allows you to quickly find the access point, which increases the speed of the search.

 Another objective of the present invention is to expedite transformations in patterns during a search.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention should primarily be considered as a device for preparing for recording onto a medium a signal encoded with a variable encoding parameter using a variable compression coefficient and partial use of a signal of a predetermined form. Such a device contains an electronic circuit that generates a flag signal indicating that part of the main encoded signal (SKPP), which has a predetermined form (deterministic part). The device also contains an electronic circuit, which, according to the flag signal, produces a marker of the type of signal. And finally, the present device comprises an electronic circuit that multiplexes a signal type marker with a signal encoded with a variable compression coefficient to form a multiplexed signal. The signal type marker is located in the multiplexed signal adjacent to that part of the signal that has a predetermined form (deterministic part).

 In cases where the multiplexed signal is divided into blocks consisting of many packets, the signal marker is included in the input packet, which is placed immediately before the packet, which includes part of the signal of a predetermined form. In the same cases when the multiplexed signal is divided into sectors, each of which includes a sector header, a signal type marker is introduced into the header of that sector, which includes the deterministic part of the signal.

 Each signal marker may contain location information on the information carrier of an additional marker of the signal type and the deterministic part of the signal accompanying it. Each signal marker may also contain information about the location on the medium of a plurality of additional signal type markers, successively preceding and following with respect to this signal type marker.

 If the digital input signal is a video signal containing a plurality of patterns, compressed either in intra-pattern mode or in inter-pattern mode, a signal type marker is generated when compaction is performed in intra-pattern mode.

 The present invention also developed a method for preparing a signal encoded with a variable parameter for recording on a storage medium, which is generated by compressing an input digital signal with a variable compression coefficient and using a part of the signal having a predetermined form (i.e., a deterministic part of the signal). According to this method, a flag signal is generated indicating the determinate part of the signal encoded with a variable parameter. In response to the flag signal, a signal type marker is also generated and, finally, this signal type marker is multiplexed with a variable-encoded signal to form a multiplexed signal in which the signal type marker is placed adjacent to the deterministic part of the signal.

 In those cases when the multiplexed signal is divided into blocks consisting of many packets, the signal marker is included in the input (first) packet and during the multiplexing operation it is placed (packet) immediately before the packet containing the deterministic part of the signal. In cases where the multiplexed signal is divided into sectors, each of which contains a sector header, during the multiplexing operation, the signal marker is placed as a subcode in the header of the sector in which the deterministic part of the signal is contained.

 Each signal marker may contain location information on the medium of an additional marker of the signal type and the deterministic part of the signal accompanying it. Signal markers can also be generated that contain information about the location of a plurality of signal type markers successively preceding and following a given signal type marker.

 When the input digital signal is a video signal containing a plurality of patterns compressed either in intra-pattern mode or in inter-pattern mode, the operation of generating a signal marker is performed if the pattern is compressed in intra-pattern mode.

 In addition, the present invention also includes an apparatus for sequentially reproducing portions of a multiplexed signal recorded on a storage medium for performing a high speed search. The multiplexed signal includes a signal encoded with a variable parameter, and markers of the form of a signal identifying the deterministic parts of the signal in such a signal encoded with a variable parameter. Such a device comprises a system for reproducing a portion of a multiplexed signal from a read position on a storage medium. An electronic circuit is provided that performs demultiplexing of a signal encoded with a variable parameter and a signal type marker from a part of the multiplexed signal. There is also an electronic control circuit that changes the reading position under the influence of a signal type marker.

 The signal type marker may contain information indicating the location on the medium of the additional signal type marker, and then the control circuit changes the read position in response to the effect of such information about the position of the signal type marker. The control circuit may also include an electronic circuit for extracting location information from the signal type marker and changing the old read position to a new position indicated by such position information. Further, the playback system reproduces the multiplexed signal, including an additional marker of the form of the signal, from a new reading position.

 The deterministic part of the signal can be an expandable part of a signal encoded with a variable parameter, and this expandable part of such a signal can immediately follow each marker of the signal type in the multiplexed signal. At each reading position, that part of the multiplexed signal that is reproduced by the reproduction system includes a signal type marker and an expandable part of the signal encoded with a variable parameter. The device may also further comprise an electronic circuit for expanding the expandable portion of the encoded signal extracted by the demultiplexer from the multiplexed signal, as well as for presenting the expanded portion as an output signal.

 The present invention also provides a method for sequentially reproducing portions of a multiplexed signal recorded on a medium for performing a high speed search. The multiplexed signal includes a signal encoded with a variable parameter and a signal type marker identifying the signal parts predetermined and included in the encoded signal. In the method developed according to the present invention, the following operations are repeated: a part of the multiplexed signal is reproduced from the read position on the storage medium; a signal encoded with a variable parameter and a signal type marker are demultiplexed from the reproduced part of the multiplexed signal and the read position changes in response to the influence of the signal type marker.

 The signal type marker may contain information indicating the position on the medium of an additional signal type marker; in this case, the reading position changes under the influence of such information. The location information can be extracted from the signal type marker, and then the read position will change, taking a new position indicated by this information. After that, the multiplexed signal, including an additional marker of the type of signal, will be reproduced from a new reading position.

 That part of the signal, which has a predetermined form, can have its inherent ability to expand (while being part of the signal encoded with a variable parameter), and it can immediately follow each marker of the signal type in the multiplexed signal. The part of the multiplexed signal reproduced from any reading position includes a signal type marker and an expandable part of the signal encoded with a variable parameter. This expandable part of the encoded signal is extracted from the reproduced part of the multiplexed signal by the demultiplexer and can be represented as an output signal.

 The present invention also developed a method for reproducing patterns from a storage medium in an accelerated search mode. Each template is stored on the media in the form of a video signal, compressed either in the intra-pattern compression mode or in the inter-pattern compression mode. The video signal of the template, compressed in the intra-pattern compression mode, is called the I-template. The video signal of the template, compressed in the intersystem compression mode with the possibility of predicting its position only in the forward direction, is called a P-template. The video signal of the template, compressed in the intersystem compression mode with the ability to predict its position in both directions - forward and backward, is called a B-template. In the method according to the present invention, the following three operations are repeated: a reading position is set on the information medium; The I-pattern is immediately reproduced from this reading position, the I-pattern and at least one P-pattern and one B-pattern are expanded to form an uncompressed output signal.

 Finally, the present invention provides a recording procedure in which there is provided an information medium and a multiplexed signal that is recorded on this medium. Such a signal includes a signal encoded with a variable parameter, the individual parts of which are deterministic, and a signal type marker located adjacent to each deterministic signal part. The signal type marker is used to identify the deterministic part of the signal.

 The signal type marker may contain location information on the medium of the additional signal type marker or the location of a plurality of adjacent signal type markers.

 A brief description of the figures.

 FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the structure of one of the known devices for recording multiplexed compressed audio and compressed video.

 FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the structure of one of the known devices for reproducing multiplexed compressed audio and compressed video.

 FIG. 3 is a multiplexed signal format used in the devices shown in FIG. 1 and 2.

 FIG. 4 is a part of the package shown in FIG. 3, - flow identifiers.

 FIG. 5 is a flowchart partially illustrating the operation of the device shown in FIG. 1.

 FIG. 6 is a portion of the compressed video signal recorded on a digital memory medium used in the devices shown in FIG. 1 and 2.

 FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing the structure of another known device in which a multiplexed signal is recorded on an optical disc.

 FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing the structure of yet another known device in which a multiplexed signal is reproduced from an optical disk.

 FIG. 9 is a structure of a content table (TC) related to the devices of FIG. 7 and 8.

 FIG. 10 is a signal sector structure related to the known devices shown in FIG. 7 and 8.

 FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing a structure of a recording apparatus in one embodiment of the present invention.

 FIG. 12 is a block diagram showing a structure of a reproducing apparatus in one embodiment of the present invention.

 FIG. 13 is a data block format on a digital memory disk in the devices shown in FIG. 11 and 12 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

 FIG. 14 is an input packet format of the block shown in FIG. thirteen.

 FIG. 15 is a flowchart partially illustrating the operation of the device of FIG. 11 according to the present invention.

 FIG. 16 is a block diagram showing the structure of another recording apparatus implementing the present invention.

 FIG. 17 is a block diagram of another reproducing apparatus implementing the present invention.

 FIG. 18 is a sector structure on a disk of the devices shown in FIG. 16 and 17.

 FIG. 19 is a subcode structure on a disk of the devices shown in FIG. 16 and 17.

 FIG. 20 is a bit stream illustrating a data decoding method according to the present invention.

 The best embodiment of the present invention.

 In FIG. 11 and 12 are block diagrams explaining structures of recording and reproducing devices in the first embodiment of the present invention.

 Blocks and nodes corresponding to the component parts of the devices according to the block diagrams of FIG. 1 and 2 are further denoted by the same notation.

 In the device of FIG. 11, the output terminal of the video encoder 1 is connected to the input of the detection circuit 31 of the video input point, whose output is connected to the input of the video signal buffer 4. The input packet generating circuit 32 receives the control signal from the control circuit 8 as an input, and outputs input packets to the input output from its output E3 of the switch 6. The control circuit 8 receives clock pulses from the generation circuit of 9 clock (synchronizing) pulses of the multiplexing system and causes the switch 6 to connect the output terminal F in series and at predetermined times time to the input terminals E1, E2 and E3. Due to this, the video signals from the buffer 4, the audio signals from the buffer 5 and the input packets from the circuit 32 for generating such packets are sequentially input and then multiplexed to the input of the header adding circuit 7.

 Under the influence of the control circuit 8, the header adding circuit 7 attaches the video packet header to the video signal read from the video signal buffer 4, and the audio packet header to the audio signal read from the audio signal buffer 5.

 The control circuit 8 also takes as an input signal the formation of an input point, which is generated under the influence of an I-pattern coming from a video encoder 1 or from a video input detection circuit 31, under the influence of which a circuit 8 causes the input packet formation circuit 32 to insert input packets onto preset positions in the video signal. If video encoder 1 is capable of generating an input point generating signal, the input operation is provided normally. If the video encoder 1 does not provide a signal for generating an input point, or when the video signal intended for recording is already encoded, then the signal for generating an input point is generated by the input point detection circuit 31 when generating an I-pattern or when this circuit 31 detects an input point in the video signal, which it receives from the video encoder 1. The memory 33, where the input points are stored, there is a memory device into which the control circuit 8 can write data and read them from this memory; This memory stores data on the positions of all detected input points. The structure of the rest of this device is similar to the device in FIG. 1.

 In the embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 11, the multiplexed signal includes at least one data block and ISO_11172_end_code. Each block has the format shown in FIG. 3. The block begins with the Block_Heading, which consists of the Block_Start_Code, System Clock Pulses (STI) and MUX_Rate (Multiplexing Parameter - PM). The Block_Heading is followed by a video packet consisting of the Video_Higher_Packet Header, followed by a part of the video signal that does not contain an I-template. The video packet is followed by the input packet, followed by another video packet, consisting of the Video_Title_Higher and the part of the video signal that includes the I-template. Thus, the input packet is placed immediately before the header of the video packet that contains the I-template, i.e. at the entry point. The video packet is also followed by an audio packet consisting of an Audio_Packet Header followed by a portion of the audio signal.

 The input packet has the format shown in FIG. 14. This format corresponds to the private_stream_2 packet format defined by the MPEG standard. The input packet begins with the Prefix_Start_Start_Packet_ followed by the packet_ID (an identifier that has the form 0xBF in the hexadecimal notation) and a packet length indicator. This arrangement of elements is similar to that shown in FIG. 3 for the packet header.

 In the input packet according to the present embodiment, the element ++++ _ id follows the packet length indicator. This element indicates that the private_flow_2 package has the format inherent to the group with the identifier ++++. The ++++ _ id element is followed by the ++++ _ packet_type element, which identifies this type of package among private packages of various types that belong to the identified group, and for the input package has the form 0xFF. Then follows the element current_N_data streams_and the element current_N_ video_streams, indicating the number of data stream, number of video streams and number of audio streams multiplexed immediately before the current input point.

 The element current_N_audio_packages is followed by the elements input_package-3, input_package -2, input_package -1, input_package + 1, input_package + 2, input_package +3. Such a chain indicates the relative distances between the current input point, three previous input points and three subsequent points, expressed in the number of sectors on the digital memory drive 10. On the other hand, the positions of the previous and subsequent input points can be indicated using absolute position indicators on the memory drive ten.

 The following describes the operation of the device depicted in FIG. 11. The control circuit 8 receives a signal for generating an input point from the video encoder 1 or from the input point detection circuit 31 and then enters the input packet immediately before the input point (see Fig. 13). More specifically, upon receipt of the input point generating signal, the control circuit 8 causes the circuit 32 to form an input packet. In addition, circuit 8 instructs switch 6 to switch input terminal E3 so that the input packet can be multiplexed with video and audio signals coming from the buffers of these signals 4 and 5, respectively, and then be fed to the header adding circuit 7.

 As shown in Fig. 14, the distances between the current input point of the input packet and the three previous and three subsequent input points are written as: input_package-3, input_package-2, input_package-1, input_package +1, input_package + 2, input_package + 3, respectively. Since the data on the positions of the three previous input points are stored in the memory 33 of the input packet, this information can be recorded in the memory 10. The data on the positions of the three subsequent input points are not available when the current input packet is recorded in the memory 10. Therefore, the control circuit 8 stores data about the positions of all input points in the memory 33, and then, after all the necessary signals are recorded in the digital memory 10, it reads from the memory 33 the data of the three previous and three subsequent points and transfers them also to the memory 10, which enters this data into each input packet recorded th in this memory. On the other hand, data on the distances between the current input point and three previous and three subsequent input points can be calculated based on the position data of the input points and can be entered into the input packet.

 Since video encoder 1 and audio encoder 2 encode video and audio signals, respectively, with a variable parameter (coefficient), control circuit 8 ensures that each data block contains 2048 bytes. To this end, control circuit 8 controls the addition of a header, the reading of signals from buffers 4 and 5, and the input of an input packet, using an algorithm such as, for example, that shown in FIG. fifteen.

 Here, similar to the algorithm shown in FIG. 5, M4 is the number of bytes of the video signal accumulated in the buffer of the video signal 4, and M5 is the number of bytes of the audio signal accumulated in the buffer of the audio signal 5. Further, the value D is the total number of bytes of the signal in one block. For simplicity, we assume that the value D is a constant obtained by subtracting the number of bytes in the block header, the number of bytes in the video packet header, and the number of bytes in the audio packet header from the standard number of bytes in the block (2048). The value of P2 is obtained by subtracting the number of bytes in the input packet and the number of bytes in the header of the video packet from the value D.

 In the algorithm of FIG. 15, in step S11, the control circuit 8 first instructs the header adding circuit 7 to generate a block header. Then, in step S12, circuit 8 waits until the sum of the values of M4 and M5 becomes equal to or greater than the number of signal bytes included in one block. In other words, the control circuit 8 waits until the total number of bytes of the signals accumulated in the signal buffers 5 and 4 becomes equal to the number of bytes placed in one block.

 In step S13, the value P1, which is the number of bytes of the video signal placed in the block, and the value of P2, which is the number of bytes of the audio signal placed in the block, are calculated by the formulas below. P1 and P2 are values obtained by distributing the total number of bytes of D signals placed in one block, in accordance with the ratio of the number of bytes of different signals M4 and M5 accumulated in the corresponding signal buffers 4 and 5.

P1 = D • M4 / (M4 + M5)
P2 = D - P1
In step S14, the control circuit 8 determines whether or not the video input point is included in the first P1 bytes of the M4 bytes of the video signal. If the video input point is not present in the video signal to be placed in the block, then in step S15, the control circuit 8 instructs the title adding circuit 7 to generate a video packet header. Then, in step S16 P1, the bytes of the video signal are sent from the video buffer 4 to the memory 10. Similarly, in step S17, the control circuit 8 instructs the title addition circuit 7 to generate an audio header, and in step S18 P2, the bytes of the audio signal are transferred from the audio signal buffer 5 to the memory 10.

 If the input point of the video is not present in the video signal placed in the block, the processing procedure described above is repeated. Such processing is similar to that described above with reference to FIG. 5.

If it is determined in step S14 that the video input point is present in the video signal to be placed in the block, then the control circuit 8 first stores the position of the current block in the input point memory 33, and the algorithm branches to step S19. Here, according to the equations below, the number of bytes of the video signal P1 'and the number of bytes of the audio signal P2', which should be placed in the block, are calculated:
P1 '= D2M4 (M4 + M5)
P2 '= D2 - P1
The reason that the calculations are performed in step S19 after similar calculations were performed in step S13 is because the number of bytes of the signal to be placed in the block has decreased due to the input packet being included in the block. P1 'and P2' are the values obtained by distributing the total number of bytes of the signal D2 accommodated by the block, taking into account the ratio of the number of bytes of the different signals M4 and M6 accumulated in the signal buffers 4 and 5.

 In step S20, the header adding circuit 7 generates a video packet header and sends it to the memory 10. Then, in step S21, the control circuit 8 transfers the video signal from the buffer 4 to the memory 10 to the position immediately before the video input point. In step S22, the generating circuit 32 generates an input packet and sends it to the memory 10. However, the relative position information included in the input packet is not recorded in the memory 10 in this step.

 In step S23, the header adding circuit 7 generates the header of the second video packet and sends it to the memory 10. In step S24, the remaining bytes of the video signal are sent to the memory 10. Then, the algorithm branches to steps S17 and S18, where the header of the audio packet and P2 'bytes of the audio signal are sent from the audio buffer 5 in the memory 10. Next, the memory 10 records the resulting multiplexed signal.

 The algorithm shown in FIG. 15 is repeated, and when all the necessary signals are recorded, the relative position information is recorded in the input packets already recorded in the memory 10. The control circuit 8 reads the position of each input packet from the input point storage memory 33 and records the positions of the three previous input packets and three subsequent packets to be recorded in each input packet recorded in the memory 10.

 The following describes the operation of the signal reproducing apparatus recorded by the apparatus shown in FIG. 11, with reference to FIG. 12. The header separation circuit 22 in the separation block 21 separates the block (data) headers, packet headers and input packets from the signal read from the memory 10 and feeds them to the control circuit 24. The rest of the time-division multiplexed signal is fed to the input terminal G of the switch 23. The output terminals H1 and H2 of the switch 23 are connected to the input terminals of the video decoder 25 and the audio decoder 26, respectively.

 The control circuit 24 sends each input point that it receives from the header separation circuit 22 to the input point storage memory 41, where the points are stored. Since the current read position is supplied to the control circuit 24 from the drive 10, the circuit 24 can store the position of the input point and its contents, observing their respective ratio.

 The circuit 24 controlling the separation unit instructs the switch 23 to connect the output terminal G alternately with the output terminals H1 and H2 in accordance with the flow identifier in the packet header coming from the header separation circuit 22. This ensures the demultiplexing of the time-division multiplexed signal coming from the header separation circuit 22 and the supply of the video signal to video decoder 25, and the audio signal to audio decoder 26.

 The operation of the multiplexed signal reproducing apparatus shown in FIG. 12, in search mode. In response to the search command, the main control device (not shown) issues commands to enter the search mode to the control circuit 24, video decoder 25 and audio decoder 26. The control circuit 24 reads the current read position from the digital memory 10 and extracts those input points from the memory 41 that are located near the current reading position. Data on the input points contained in the input packets reproduced in the playback mode, is constantly stored in the memory 41 storing input points. On the other hand, information about the input points in all input packets recorded in the digital memory 10, or data about these points contained in a predetermined number of input packets, can be read and stored in the memory 41 at predetermined time intervals, for example, when the device turns on for the first time when the memory drive 10 is installed or in response to a playback command.

 When the control circuit 24 determines the position of the input point, it sends a search command to the digital memory 10 instructing to move the read position at high speed to the position of the input point. After the movement is completed, the memory 10 starts playback at the input point and transmits the reproduced signal to the separation unit 21. As already described above with reference to FIG. 13, the input packet is located directly in front of the I-pattern video signal. Therefore, if the video signal following the input packet is separated by the header separation circuit 22 and supplied to the video decoder 25, then the first pattern of this video signal will be an I-pattern. Video decoder 25 immediately decodes the I-pattern and provides it as an output signal. The audio decoder 26 in the search mode is muted.

 Since the positions of the three previous input points and the three subsequent input points are recorded in each input packet, the control circuit 24 uses the position information of the next input packet recorded in this packet to move to a new read position for the next input packet to be reproduced. Repeating this procedure, quickly reproduce the sequence of I-patterns.

 At a sufficiently high search speed, the control circuit 24 transfers the read position to a more distant entry point, and at a low search speed to a closer entry point. Since there are positions of three input points in the record both in the forward and reverse directions, it is possible to choose three or more search speeds depending on the combinations of the selected input points.

 In FIG. 16 and 17 are block diagrams showing structures of yet another embodiment of a multiplexed signal recording and reproducing apparatus according to the present invention. Elements and components of these devices, corresponding to the components of the known devices shown in FIG. 7 and 8 have the same notation.

 In the recording apparatus shown in FIG. 16, input points stored in the memory 33A are forwarded to the vehicle generating circuit 56 and to the subcode generating circuit 80. From the output of circuit 80, the signal is supplied to encoder 81 with cyclic redundancy control. From the output of this encoder 81, the signal is supplied to the circuit 82 for adding a synchronizing subcode template, from the output of which the signal is transmitted to the subcode buffer 83. The subcode adding circuit 84 multiplexes the signal received from the sector header attachment circuit 51 with the data received from the subcode buffer 83 and sends the multiplexed signal to the ECC of the encoder 52. Otherwise, the structure of this device is similar to the structure of the known device shown in FIG. 7.

 The following describes the operation of the recording device, a block diagram of which is shown in FIG. 16. The video and audio signals to be recorded are compressed and multiplexed, the resulting multiplexed signal is recorded in the memory 10, and the input points of the video signal are recorded in the memory 33A in the same way as when performing the corresponding operations in a known recording device also having a memory 33A for storing input points, and then the input points are sent to the input of the vehicle generation circuit 56. After the formation of the TS is completed, they are connected to the beginning of the multiplexed signal by the circuit 50 in the same manner as in the corresponding operations of the known recording device shown in FIG. 7.

 A recording device constructed in accordance with the present invention and shown in FIG. 16 are different from the known device shown in FIG. 7, in that the input points of the memory 33A therein are additionally supplied to the subcode generating circuit 80. In the present embodiment, the subcode has the format shown in FIG. 19. The beginning of the subcode is a synchronization pattern (2 bytes), which serves to provide identification of the beginning of the subcode even when reading starts from an arbitrarily selected sector. Behind the synchronization template is the element ++++ _ subcode_type, which indicates the type of subcode inherent in the group identified by ++++ characters. This element ++++ _ subcode view, which has the form 0xFF in hexadecimal notation, indicates that this subcode is part of the input point data. The following are the elements of the current_N_data streams, current_Q_N_ video streams and current_ N_ audio streams, which indicate the numbers of data streams, numbers of video streams and numbers of audio streams multiplexed in the sector where the subcode is included.

 After the element current_N_audio_streams there are sequentially located elements input_point_-3, input_point_-2, input_point_-1, input_point_ +1, input_point_ +2, and input_point_ + 3. These elements indicate the positions of the three previous and three subsequent input points, expressed as the distances between the sector at which the current input point appears on the disc 60 and the sectors that will be recorded by the mechanical recording device 54 in subsequent operations. On the other hand, the positions of the input points can be expressed as absolute sector addresses on the disk 60.

 In the following description, we will assume that the effective capacity of one sector is 2048 bytes, and an additional 16 bytes are required for the sector header, as shown in FIG. 18. The sector heading includes the sector number. The sector header adding circuit 51 divides the multiplexed signal which is supplied to it from the vehicle connection circuit 50 into blocks of 2048 bytes each and adds sector headers that are not used in the known device, and in this device according to the present invention are used to represent the subcode .

 Sector positions, in which three previous and three subsequent input points are included, are read from the memory 33A and fed to the subcode generating circuit 80. This circuit 80 generates the subcode shown in FIG. 19 using data on input points from the memory 33A, as well as information from the controller and from the user (not shown). The subcode is supplied to an encoder 81, which calculates the Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC) code, adds this CRC code to the end of the subcode and provides the resulting signal to the attaching circuit 82 of the synchronization subcode pattern. Circuit 82 attaches the synchronization pattern to the beginning of the subcode received from the DSP 81 encoder, and sends the resulting subcode to buffer 83.

 The multiplexed signal read from the memory 10 is transmitted via the vehicle connection circuit 50 to the sector header adding circuit 51, which divides the multiplexed signal into blocks of 2048 bytes each and adds a sector header of 16 bytes in size. Scheme 51 also writes the sector number to the sector header. From the output of the circuit 51, the signal is supplied to the subcode adding circuit 84, which reads 8 bytes of the subcode from the subcode buffer 83 and writes these bytes to the sector header at the positions provided for this. Since the entire subcode consists of 32 bytes, and in each sector 8 bytes are allocated for it, the subcode is distributed across four sectors.

 The output signal of the subcode adding circuit 84 is supplied through an ECC encoder 52 and a modulator 53 to a mechanical recording device 54, which records the resulting modulated signal on the original optical disc 60.

 As can be seen from FIG. 19, the positions of the three previous and three subsequent input points are recorded in the memory cells input_point_-3, input_point_ -2, input_point_-1, input_point_ + 1, input_point_ + 2 and input_point_ + 3 as part of the subcode.

 Below is a description of a disc reproducing apparatus recorded by the apparatus of FIG. 16, with reference to FIG. 17. The signal after demodulation by its circuit 62 is supplied to the error correction circuit (ECC) 63, as well as to the subcode allocation circuit 90. The output signal of the circuit 90 is supplied to the circuit 91 of the CRC subcode, which detects errors. A subcode in which no errors are detected is entered into the buffer of subcode 92 before it is read by the controller 67.

 Part of the controller is a circuit 93 for storing input points received from the subcode buffer 92, which is ready to receive a search command from the user. Otherwise, the structure of this device is similar to that shown in FIG. 8.

 The operation of the reproducing apparatus according to FIG. 17. After installing the optical disk 60A in the present device, the controller issues a read command of the first sector to the drive control circuit 69, which through the servo circuit 70 sets the read sensor 61 to the position of the first sector on the disk 60A and starts playback from the beginning of the first sector.

 The sensor 61 illuminates the surface of the optical disk 60A with a laser beam and reproduces a signal recorded on the disk using a beam reflected from the disk. The signal from the sensor 61 is fed to a demodulator 62, from the output of which a demodulated signal is supplied to the ECC 63 circuit, which detects and corrects errors. The resulting error-free signal is supplied to the demultiplexer 64.

 The vehicle, which is recorded in the first sector of the disk 60A, is separated by a demultiplexer circuit 64 and fed to the controller 67, which stores the vehicle in the storage 68 intended for this purpose, from where it is then displayed on the display (not shown) by the user.

 After receiving a playback command from a user (not shown), the controller 67 instructs the drive control circuit 69 to start the operation. The control circuit 69 through the servo circuit 70 actuates the sensor 61, which starts playback from a position on the disk 60 specified by the user. At the same time, the drive control circuit 69 issues a command to the video decoder 65 and to the audio decoder 66 to prepare for decoding the input signal.

 After reading the TC, the sensor 61 illuminates the surface of the optical disk 60A with a laser beam and reproduces the signal recorded on the disk using the light reflected from the disk.

 The output signal of the sensor 61 is supplied to the demodulator 62, from the output of which the demodulated signal is fed to the ECC circuit 63, which detects and corrects errors. The resulting error-free signal is supplied to the demultiplexer circuit 64.

 The video signal separated by the demultiplexer 64 is supplied to the video decoder 65, and a similarly separated audio signal to the audio decoder 66. The video and audio signals that have been compressed are now expanded by video decoder 65 and audio decoder 66, respectively, to form a decompressed digital video signal and a decompressed digital audio signal, respectively.

 From the output of the demodulator 62, the signal is also supplied to the subcode allocation circuit 90. The subcode allocation circuitry 90 extracts portions of the subcode from sector headers. In the present example, 8 subcode bytes are extracted from each sector header. In this subcode, extracted from several sectors, a synchronizing subcode pattern is detected, and the subcode is fed to the CRC circuit 91, starting with its first elements. This circuit 91, based on the subcode itself and the CTC data contained therein, determines whether there are errors in the subcode. In the absence of errors, the subcode is transmitted to the subcode buffer 92.

 The controller 67 reads the input points from the subcode buffer 92 and sends them to the input points storage 93. Since the drive control circuit transmits the current read position to the controller 67, this controller can provide storage of the positions of the input points and their contents in compliance with the proper relationship and relationship between them.

 The operation of the multiplexed signal reproducing apparatus shown in FIG. 17, in search mode. After receiving a search command from a user (not shown), controller 67 instructs video decoder 65 and audio decoder 66 to enter search mode. In addition, the controller 67 reads the current read position from the output of the drive control circuit 69, and also reads the position of the input points near the current read position from the memory 93, where the input points are stored.

 After the controller has determined the position of the desired input point, it sends a search command to the drive control circuit 69, which acts on the next servo circuit 70, causing it to move the sensor 61 at high speed to the position of the input point selected by the controller.

 After the movement is completed, the sensor 61 starts playback from the selected input point and sends the reproduced signal to the demodulator 62, from the output of which the demodulated signal through the ECC circuit 63 and the demultiplexer 64 is transmitted to the video decoder 65; the same part of the signal that contains the subcode is separated from the demodulated signal by the subcode allocation circuit 90 and sent to the subcode 92 buffer through the CRC circuit 91. The resulting subcode signal is supplied to the controller 67 for further use.

 Since the sensor 61 starts playback from the input point, the first pattern of the video signal supplied to the decoder 65 will be an I-pattern. Video decoder 65 immediately decodes it and outputs it to the video output. The audio decoder in search mode is muted.

 Since the positions of the three previous and three subsequent input points relative to the current sensor position are recorded in a subcode reproduced from the current position, the controller 67 uses the reproduced position information to move the sensor to the next input point and repeats such sensor movements to the next input point and playback I -templates from the disk at these points. The result is fast reproduction of the sequence of I-patterns.

 The controller 67 sets the movement of the sensor 61 to more distant input points when the search speed is high enough, while at a low search speed, the movement of the sensor to closer input points is set. Since three input points are stored in the memory for both forward and reverse directions, three or more search speed values can be achieved by selecting various combinations of input points.

 The following describes another method for decoding data according to the present invention. An apparatus for decoding a multiplexed signal used to implement the present embodiment of the method is shown in FIG. 12. After receiving the command to perform the search operation, the main control device (not shown) issues a command to the control device 24, video decoder 25 and audio decoder 26 to switch to search mode (the audio decoder in the search mode operates in muted mode).

 In search mode, the control device 24 instructs the digital memory 10 to move the position of reading data from the disk forward or backward. Since the duration of the movement of the reading position depends on the search speed, coding intensity, etc., usually this duration increases with increasing coding intensity. When the read position is moved to a predetermined position, data from the output of the memory 10 is fed to the input of the separation unit 21. The header separation circuit 22 separates the video data and feeds it to the video decoder 25.

If it is assumed that the structure of patterns in one group of patterns (GS) has the form
BBIBBPBBPBBPBBP,
then for decoding in the bitstream, the order is changed to
IBBPBBPBBPBBPBB,
as shown in FIG. 20. This is consistent with the procedure for allocating the number of bits for individual patterns described above when considering known technical solutions.

 In an embodiment of the present invention, video decoder 25 reads the first I-pattern, then two B-patterns, one P-pattern and two more B-patterns, decodes them and outputs them. Since it is possible to decode I-, B-, B- and P-patterns, excluding the first two B-patterns, then four incoming patterns can be output in one access operation.

 When the position of the I-template is known due to the information contained in the subcode or in a private package, the search for the I-template is performed on the basis of such information with the digital memory 10, and six consecutive templates are read in the same manner as described above.

 In the embodiment of the present invention that has just been discussed above, the time required to complete the search operation can be calculated. If we consider the memory 10 as a disk data drive operating in the RAM mode (RAM), then this time will consist of the time parameters listed below.

Head installation time: M (depends on the mechanical design)
Servo processing time: N (depends on the servo circuit)
Disc rotation waiting time: about 300 milliseconds when counting around the outer circumference of a CD
Data Read Time: 245 milliseconds or so to read 6 patterns
Since we are talking about the operation of searching for neighboring I-patterns, we can assume that of the above parameters, the installation time of the heads M and the processing time of the servo mechanism N will be very small compared to the waiting time during disk rotation (rotation), and therefore they can be neglected. As a result of this, it is usually believed that the time of various manipulations with the template is about 545 milliseconds maximum. Reading six I-, B-, B-, P-, B- and B-patterns takes time (150 + 75 + (4 • 5) / 100 = 245 milliseconds.

 According to the present embodiment, processing of 8 or so patterns is performed in one second. Therefore, the waiting time psychologically affecting the user can be reduced.

 It should be noted that although in the description of this embodiment of the invention, six patterns starting with an I-pattern were considered as data read during the search, the same effect can be obtained by reading two or more patterns including an I-pattern. You can also choose the appropriate algorithm, where a given amount of data is read into the video code buffer.

 Although specific illustrative embodiments of the invention have been used in the above detailed description of the present invention, it should be clearly understood that the present invention is not limited to these examples and various modifications of this invention may be made without departing from the claimed scope of claims set forth in the appended claims of the present invention.

Claims (64)

 1. A device for preparing for recording on an information carrier a signal encoded with a variable parameter generated by compressing an input digital signal with a variable compression coefficient and including a deterministic part of the signal, comprising means for generating a flag signal indicating the deterministic part in the signal encoded with a variable parameter, means for generating a marker of the type of signal in response to a flag signal, characterized in that it contains means for multiplexing the marker in yes signal encoded with a variable parameter signal to form a multiplexed signal, the signal type marker is located adjacent to the deterministic part of the signal for indicating a deterministic part in the multiplexed signal.  2. The device according to claim 1, characterized in that the means for multiplexing is configured to multiplex a signal type marker with a signal encoded with a variable parameter so that the signal type marker is located directly in front of the deterministic part of the signal in the multiplexed signal.  3. The device according to claim 2, characterized in that the digital input signal is a digital video signal including a plurality of patterns, compressed either in intra-pattern mode or in inter-pattern mode, and the means for generating a flag signal receives a signal encoded with a variable parameter and generates a signal flag, when the signal encoded with a variable parameter includes a part that is formed as a result of pattern compaction in intra-pattern mode.  4. The device according to claim 2, characterized in that it further comprises means for recording a multiplexed signal on a recording medium, and means for generating a signal type marker is used to generate a signal type marker, including information indicating the location on the recording medium of an additional signal type marker, moreover, an additional signal type marker is located in the multiplexed signal in the immediate vicinity of this signal type marker.  5. The device according to claim 2, characterized in that it further comprises means for recording the multiplexed signal on the recording medium, and means for generating a signal type marker is used to generate a signal type marker, including information indicating the location on the recording medium of a plurality of additional signal type markers sequentially located on both sides of this marker type of signal in the multiplexed signal.  6. The device according to claim 1, characterized in that the input uncompressed video signal contains many patterns, and the means for generating a flag signal comprises means for compressing the uncompressed digital video signal using a variable compression coefficient to form a signal encoded with a variable parameter, and the sealing means generates a signal flag, when the signal encoded with a variable parameter includes the part resulting from compaction of the template in the intra-pattern mode grafting.  7. The device according to claim 1, characterized in that the means for generating a signal type marker is used to form a packet of a given type, similar to a signal type marker.  8. The device according to claim 7, characterized in that the multiplexing means multiplexes the packet with the signal encoded with a variable parameter so that the packet is located directly in front of the deterministic part of the multiplexed signal.  9. The device according to claim 8, characterized in that the variable-encoded signal comprises a plurality of deterministic signal parts, and the multiplexed signal includes a packet preceding each such deterministic signal part, the device further comprising means for recording the multiplexed signal on the information medium, memory means for storing location data of each packet on the storage medium, and recording means further used for recording location data, with read from the storage medium into each packet recorded on the storage medium, the location data being recorded after recording the multiplexed signal.  10. The device according to claim 9, characterized in that when recording a multiplexed signal with a recording means, it records in each packet data on the location of a given number of packets preceding this packet in the multiplexed signal.  11. The device according to claim 8, characterized in that the means for generating a signal type marker comprises means for accumulating a predetermined volume of a signal encoded with a variable parameter, a control means sensitive to a flag signal that generates a control signal when a predetermined amount of a signal encoded with a variable parameter , accumulated in the accumulating means, includes a deterministic part of a given type, and means for generating a marker of the type of signal generates a packet of a given type in response to the control system cash.  12. The device according to claim 2, characterized in that the means for generating a signal type marker is used to generate a subcode such as a signal type marker.  13. The device according to p. 12, characterized in that the signal encoded with a variable parameter is divided into sectors, each of which begins with a sector header, and the multiplexing means multiplexes a signal type marker and a signal encoded with a variable parameter by entering a subcode in the header of that sector, which contains the deterministic part of the signal.  14. The device according to p. 13, characterized in that the subcode is distributed over the headers of many subsequent sectors containing the deterministic part of the signal.  15. The device according to p. 13, characterized in that it further comprises means for recording a multiplexed signal on an information carrier, and means for generating a signal type marker generates a subcode including data indicating the location on the information medium of an additional signal type marker, an additional type marker The signal is located in the multiplexed signal in the immediate vicinity of this signal type marker.  16. A method of preparing for recording on a storage medium information of a signal encoded with a variable parameter, generated by compression with a variable compression coefficient of the input digital signal and containing a deterministic part of a given type, including the operation of generating a flag signal indicating the location of the deterministic part in the signal encoded with a variable parameter, operation generating a signal type marker in response to a flag signal, characterized in that it comprises a mark multiplexing operation a kind of signal to be coded with a variable parameter signal to form a multiplexed signal, the signal type of marker is positioned adjacent to the deterministic part of the signal to indicate it as a part of the multiplexed signal.  17. The method according to clause 16, characterized in that when performing the multiplexing operation, the signal type marker is multiplexed with the signal encoded with a variable parameter, placing the signal type marker directly in front of the deterministic part of the signal.  18. The method according to 17, characterized in that a digital video signal including a plurality of patterns is used as a digital input signal, each of which is compressed either in the intra-template or in the inter-template mode, and when performing the operation of generating a flag signal, an encoded with a variable parameter is received signal, and a flag signal is generated that identifies that part of the signal that is formed as a result of pattern compaction in intra-pattern mode as part of a signal encoded with a variable parameter.  19. The method according to 17, characterized in that it further includes the operation of writing a multiplexed signal to the storage medium, and when performing the operation of generating a marker as a signal, data is entered into this marker indicating the location on the information carrier of an additional marker of the signal type, with an additional marker in a multiplexed signal in the immediate vicinity of the main marker of the signal type.  20. The method according to 17, characterized in that it further includes the step of writing the multiplexed signal to the storage medium, when performing the operation of generating a signal type marker, data is entered into the marker indicating the location on the information medium of a plurality of additional signal type markers sequentially located near the main markers of the signal type in the multiplexed signal.  21. The method according to clause 16, characterized in that it further includes the step of receiving an uncompressed digital video signal containing a plurality of patterns, and the means for generating a flag signal comprises means for compressing with a variable compression coefficient of the digital video signal to form a signal encoded with a variable parameter, this means for signal compression produces a flag signal when the signal encoded with a variable parameter includes a part of it resulting from the compression of ablation in interspersed mode of compaction.  22. The method according to clause 16, characterized in that when performing the operation of generating a marker of the form of the signal form a packet of a given type.  23. The method according to p. 22, characterized in that when performing the multiplexing operation, a packet is formed with a signal encoded with a variable parameter, the packet being placed directly in front of the deterministic part of the signal.  24. The method according to claim 23, wherein the variable-encoded signal comprises a plurality of deterministic parts, and when the packet multiplexing operation is performed on a signal encoded with a variable parameter, packets are placed in front of each deterministic signal part, the method further comprising recording operations a multiplexed signal on the storage medium, storing location data on the medium as part of each packet, and additionally recording location data read from dstva memory, on the recording medium after recording the multiplexed signal.  25. The method according to paragraph 24, wherein when performing the write operation on the information carrier of the multiplexed signal in each packet, the location data of a given number of packets preceding the packet in the multiplexed signal is recorded, and when additional recording is performed, the location data is recorded in each packet the specified number of packets following the packet in the multiplexed signal.  26. The method according to item 23, wherein when performing the operation of forming a marker of the type of signal accumulate a predetermined amount of a signal encoded with a variable parameter, generate a control signal in response to a flag signal when a signal accumulated accumulating in a predetermined amount of a signal encoded with a variable parameter means, the deterministic part of the signal is turned on, and when performing the operation of generating a marker of the signal type, a packet of a given type is formed in response to the control signal.  27. The method according to 17, characterized in that when performing the operation of generating a marker of the signal type, a subcode is generated as such a marker.  28. The method according to 17, characterized in that the signal encoded with a variable parameter is divided into sectors, each of which begins with a sector header, and when performing the multiplexing operation, a signal type marker is multiplexed with a signal encoded with a variable encoding parameter by entering a subcode into header of the sector containing the deterministic part of the signal.  29. The method according to p. 28, characterized in that when performing the multiplexing operation, the subcode is distributed over the headers of a plurality of subsequent sectors containing the deterministic part of the signal.  30. The method according to p. 28, characterized in that the signal encoded with a variable encoding parameter includes a lot of deterministic parts, and the method further includes the operation of recording the multiplexed signal on the information carrier, and when performing the operation of generating a marker of the type of signal, a subcode comprising information indicating the location on the information carrier of an additional marker of the form of the signal, which is located near the main marker in the multiplexed signal.  31. A device for sequentially reproducing portions of a multiplexed signal recorded on a storage medium for performing a high-speed search, the multiplexed signal including a signal encoded with a variable encoding parameter and signal type markers identifying the deterministic parts of a signal encoded with a variable parameter, comprising means for reproducing parts of the multiplexed signal from the read position on the storage medium, characterized in that it contains COROLLARY for demultiplexing the encoded signal with a variable parameter and form part of the marker signal from the multiplexed signal, and control means for changing the read position in response to the type of the marker signal.  32. The device according to p, characterized in that the signal type marker includes location information indicating a location on the information medium additionally of the signal type marker, the control means changes the read position based on the location information contained in the signal type marker.  33. The device according to p, characterized in that the control means includes a means for extracting information about the location of the data from the marker type of the signal, and the control means changes the read position to a new position indicated in the location information, and the reproducing means reproduces the multiplexed signal, including an additional marker of the signal type, from a new reading position.  34. The device according to p. 33, wherein the signal type marker includes location information indicating the position on the information medium of a plurality of additional signal type markers successively preceding and following relative to this marker, while the control means includes means for selecting from information about the location of the position of one of the many additional markers of the signal type, taking into account the required search speed, and the control position changes the reading position to a new position, in accordance with etstvii data about the position extracted sample means.  35. The device according to p. 32, characterized in that it further comprises a memory means for storing location information included in the signal type marker, a tool that operates under the influence of a search command and reads the location information from the memory means, and control means, which changes a read position in accordance with position information read from the memory means.  36. The device according to p, characterized in that the deterministic part of the signal is an expandable part of the signal encoded with a variable parameter, which in the multiplexed signal immediately follows each marker of the signal type, while the part of the multiplexed signal reproduced at each read position includes a marker of the type of signal and the expandable part of the signal encoded with a variable parameter, and the present device further includes means for expanding the expandable part of the signal encoded a variable parameter extracted by the demultiplexer from the reproduced multiplexed signal to output the expanded part as an output signal.  37. The device according to p. 36, characterized in that the control means includes means for extracting location information from the marker of the signal reproduced from the information carrier from the read position, and the control means changes the read position to a new position indicated by the location information from the marker of the type of signal reproduced from the current reading position, the reproducing means reproduces from the new reading position a part of the multiplexed signal, including an additional th type marker signal comprising the location information, and an expandable portion of the signal encoded by the variable parameter, and expanding means provides an output signal at each read position.  38. The device according to p, characterized in that the signal encoded with a variable parameter includes a video signal containing a plurality of patterns, each of which is compressed either in the intra-pattern mode or in the inter-pattern mode, and the signal type marker immediately precedes each pattern, compressed in the intra-pattern mode.  39. The device according to p. 31, characterized in that the marker type of the signal includes in the package of a given type.  40. The device according to § 39, characterized in that in the multiplexed signal the packet of a given form immediately precedes the deterministic part of the signal.  41. The device according to § 39, wherein the signal encoded with a variable parameter includes a video signal containing a plurality of patterns, each of which is compressed in either intra-pattern or inter-pattern mode, and a packet of a given type is an input packet immediately preceding each pattern, compacted in intra-pattern mode.  42. The device according to p. 31, characterized in that the marker type of signal is included in the subcode.  43. The device according to § 42, wherein the multiplexed signal encoded with a variable parameter is divided into many sectors, each of which begins with a sector header, and a subcode is placed in the sector header containing the deterministic part of the signal.  44. The device according to p. 43, characterized in that in the multiplexed signal, the subcode is distributed over the headers of the set of subsequent sectors containing the deterministic part of the signal.  45. The device according to § 42, wherein the signal encoded with a variable parameter includes a video signal containing a plurality of patterns compressed either in intra-pattern or inter-pattern mode, and the subcode is distributed over the headers of many subsequent sectors containing a pattern compressed in intra-pattern mode.  46. A method for sequentially reproducing portions of a multiplexed signal recorded on a storage medium for performing a high-speed search, the multiplexed signal including a variable-encoded signal and signal type markers identifying the deterministic parts of a variable-encoded signal, including reproduction of the multiplexed part a signal from a read position on a storage medium, characterized in that it contains demultiplex operations encoding a signal encoded with a variable parameter and a signal type marker from the portion of the reproduced multiplexed signal, and changing the read position under the influence of the signal type marker.  47. The method according to item 46, wherein the signal type marker includes location information indicating a position on the information medium of an additional signal type marker, and when performing a read position change operation, the position is changed based on the location information contained in the signal type marker .  48. The method according to clause 47, characterized in that when performing the operation of changing the reading position, location information is extracted from the signal type marker, the reading position is changed to a new position based on the extracted information, and when the playback operation is performed from the new position, part of the multiplexed signal is reproduced including an additional marker of a signal type.  49. The method according to p. 48, characterized in that the signal type marker contains location information indicating the position on the information carrier of a plurality of additional signal type markers successively preceding and following the main signal type marker, while during the operation of changing the reading position additionally retrieving from the location information the position data of one of the plurality of additional markers of the signal type taking into account the required search speed, and the reading position is changed to but the position indicated in the extracted data and its location.  50. The method according to clause 47, characterized in that it further includes the operation of entering data into a storage device, storing location information included in the signal type marker in a storage device, reading location information from a storage device by a search command, and changing a read position by a command reading information from a storage device.  51. The method according to clause 47, wherein the expandable part of the signal encoded with a variable parameter follows in the multiplexed signal immediately after each marker of the signal type, during the playback operation, part of the multiplexed signal reproduces that part that includes the signal type marker and the expandable part encoded with a variable parameter signal, and the method further includes expanding the expandable part of the encoded with a variable parameter signal, demultiplex th e from the reproduced portion of the multiplexed signal, and presenting the expanded part of the signal as the output signal.  52. The method according to p. 51, characterized in that when performing the operation of changing the reading position from the signal type marker, location information is extracted, the reading position is changed to a new position, the position of which is indicated by the information contained in the signal type marker, when performing the playback operation with a new reading position reproduce part of the multiplexed signal, including an additional marker of the form of the signal containing additional information about the location, as well as the expandable part of the a signal generated with a variable parameter, and after each repeated change in the read position, an extended part of the signal is represented as an output signal.  53. The method according to p. 51, characterized in that the signal encoded with a variable parameter included in the multiplexed signal includes a video signal containing a plurality of patterns, each of which is compressed either in intra-pattern mode or in inter-pattern mode, and a signal type marker is placed immediately before each template compressed in intra mode.  54. The method according to item 46, wherein the multiplexed signal marker type of signal includes a packet of a given type.  55. The method according to item 54, wherein in the multiplexed signal a packet of a given type is placed directly in front of the deterministic part of the signal.  56. The method according to p. 54, characterized in that the signal encoded with a variable parameter included in the multiplexed signal includes a video signal containing a plurality of patterns, each of which is compressed in either intra-pattern or inter-pattern mode, and a packet of a given type, which is an input the package is placed immediately before each template compressed in intra-pattern mode.  57. The method according to item 46, wherein the multiplexed signal marker type of signal is included in the subcode.  58. The method according to clause 57, wherein the variable-encoded signal included in the multiplexed signal is divided into many sectors, each of which begins with the sector header, and the subcode is placed in the sector header, which includes the deterministic part of the signal.  59. The method according to p, characterized in that in the multiplexed signal, the subcode is distributed over the headers of many subsequent sectors containing the deterministic part of the signal.  60. The method according to p. 57, characterized in that the signal encoded with a variable parameter included in the multiplexed signal includes a video signal containing a plurality of patterns, each of which is compressed in either intra-pattern or inter-pattern mode, and the subcode is distributed over the headers of the set subsequent sectors containing the template, compacted in intra-mode.  61. A method of reproducing templates from a storage medium in an accelerated search mode, when each template is stored on a medium in the form of a video signal compressed either in intra-template mode or in inter-template mode, wherein the video signal of the template compressed in inter-template mode is designated as I-template, video signal a template compressed in intra-pattern mode with a prediction of location only in the forward direction is designated as a P-pattern, and a video signal of a template compressed in intra pattern with a prediction of location Both forward and backward directions denote a B-pattern, characterized in that it includes the operations of moving to a new reading position on the storage medium, immediately reproducing the I-pattern from the reading position, reproducing at least one B-pattern and one A B-pattern immediately following the I-pattern and an extension of the I-pattern and at least one of the B-pattern and P-pattern to form an uncompressed output signal.  62. The method according to p, characterized in that when performing the expansion operation, the B-template immediately following the I-template is subjected to expansion.  63. The method according to p, characterized in that in addition to the playback operation of at least one of the B-template and the P-template, further includes the operation of switching to a new read position on the storage medium, and immediate playback of the I-template from a new read position .  64. The method according to p, characterized in that the multiplexed signal recorded on the information carrier includes a signal type marker immediately preceding each I-pattern, and in the operation of immediate reproduction of the I-pattern from the read position, the signal type marker is additionally reproduced from the medium information, and the method further includes the operation of extracting location information from the reproduced marker type of signal indicating the position of the adjacent I-pattern, and the transition to a new reading position with the volume of information extracted from the marker of the signal type. Priority on points:
12/04/92 according to claims 1, 16, 31, 46;
12/18/92 according to paragraph 61.

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