Information memory

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD [Detailed description of the invention]

【0001】

[Technical field to which the invention belongs]

The present invention relates to an information storage device having a replacement processing function for performing replacement processing on a rewritable information storage medium such as an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, or a hard disk, and in particular, the replacement processing is performed on a plurality of sectors. The present invention relates to an information storage device that realizes a replacement processing method that enables improvement in performance by shortening the processing time at the time of reading when the data is read.

【0002】

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, an information storage device having a replacement processing function has been known. For example, in the replacement processing of a defective sector, a replacement area provided behind the user area as a replacement sector and corresponding to the user area to which the defective sector belongs. They are used in order from the first sector (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 4-172662). Here, a set of a user area and an alternating area is referred to as a group. As described above, in the conventional information storage device, the replacement processing is performed from the first sector in the order of the defective sectors generated in the corresponding user area.

【0003】

FIG. 7 is a functional block diagram showing an example of the main configuration of the information storage device having the shift processing function. In the figure, 1 is the CPU, 2 is the I / F (interface) device with the host device, 3 is the buffer control unit, 4 is the buffer memory, 5 is the read / write control unit, 6 is ROM, 7 is RAM, and 8 is. Indicates an information storage medium.

【0004】

First, at the time of writing, a route such as I / F device 2 buffer control unit 3 buffer memory 4 buffer control unit 3 read / write control unit 5 information storage medium 8 from the higher-level device (not shown) to the higher-level device. The data is sent and written to the information storage medium 8. At the time of reading, data is sent in the order of information storage medium 8 read / write control unit 5 buffer control unit 3 buffer memory 4 buffer control unit 3 I / F device 2 with the host device. Given to the device.

【0005】

Then, in the information storage device provided with the replacement processing function, a user area and a replacement area are provided in the recording area on the information storage medium 8, and when the user area is written, a certain user sector is a defective sector. , The data that was planned to be written to the defective sector is written to the first sector of the free replacement sector in the replacement area. Further, a method is also used in which one or more groups are allocated in the recording area, and the user area and the alternating area are arranged adjacent to each other for each group.

【0006】

In this case, for example, when writing a certain contiguous sector group, a certain sector (referred to as sector 1) in the sector group has already been replaced as a defective sector, and the previous sector is in the same group. If there are some other sectors that have undergone replacement processing after the sector 1 replacement processing, the sector immediately before or after sector 1 is newly detected as a defective sector (referred to as sector 2). , The alternate sectors corresponding to the two defective sectors (sectors 1 and 2) will be located apart. This state will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 8 below.

【0007】

FIG. 8 is a diagram conceptually showing an example of the relationship between the group provided in the recording area on the information storage medium 8 and the user area and the replacement area in the group in the information storage device shown in FIG. 7. In the figure, U0 to Un indicate user sectors, and S0 to S11 indicate alternate sectors.

【0008】

As shown in FIG. 8, the user sectors U0 to Un and the alternating sectors S0 to S11 are arranged adjacent to each other in the user area and the alternating area as one group. Further, the correspondence between the defective sector and the alternate sector is stored in the work memory of the CPU 1 of the information storage device shown in FIG. 7, that is, in the RAM 7, and in the DMA area on the information storage medium 8. This state is shown in FIGS. 9 and 10 below.

【0009】

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of area allocation of a rewritable information storage medium. In the figure, 8 indicates an information storage medium.

【0010】

As shown in FIG. 9, the user area and the replacement area are divided into groups, and the corresponding user area and the replacement area are adjacent to each other on the information storage medium 8. The DMA areas provided at both ends are the same as in the conventional case, but the alternation management table 9 as shown in FIG. 10 below is provided.

【0011】

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a replacement management table provided in the DMA area of the information storage medium 8 shown in FIG. In the figure, 9 indicates a shift management table.

【0012】

In the DMA area shown in FIG. 9, a replacement management table 9 as shown in FIG. 10 is provided, and the defective address and the information of the replacement address are stored as a pair of data. At the time of initialization, the information storage device reads the data of the alternation management table 9 as shown in FIG. 10 from the DMA area on the information storage medium 8 having the area as shown in FIG. 9, and the work memory. It is stored in RAM7. By such an operation, the CPU 1 can recognize the correspondence between the defective sector and the alternate sector on the set information storage medium 8.

【0013】

Then, when the replacement process occurs during the execution of the write command from the host device to the information storage medium 8, the newly generated pair of data of the defective sector and the replacement sector is stored in the DMA area shown in FIG. It works so that it is added to the shift management table 9 and the table in RAM7. Next, a specific example of the case where the replacement process occurs during the execution of the write instruction will be described. Here, the case where defective sectors are sequentially generated will be described.

【0014】

FIG. 11 is a diagram conceptually showing an example of the relationship between a group provided in a recording area on an information storage medium, a user area in the group, and an alternation area in a conventional information storage device. In the figure, U0 to Un indicate user sectors, S0 to S11 indicate alternate sectors, x marks indicate defective sectors, and marks indicate alternate sectors.

【0015】

FIG. 11 shows a case where the user sector U14 is a defective sector and the data is stored in the alternate sector S0. After FIG. 11, it is further assumed that a write operation is performed on the information storage medium, and a new replacement process is executed at that time.

【0016】

In a conventional magneto-optical disk, even if a plurality of defective sectors are adjacent to each other on the storage medium, there are cases where the alternate sectors corresponding to each are not adjacent to each other in the same context. The operation in this case is shown in the flow.

【0017】

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing the main processing flow at the time of writing and at the time of reading when the alternation processing as shown in FIG. 11 occurs, and (1) is a diagram showing at the time of writing and (2) is a diagram showing the time of reading. Is. In the figure, # 1 to # 6 indicate steps.

【0018】

First, at the time of writing, as shown in FIG. 12 (1), data is written to the user sectors U0 to U13 in step # 1. Proceeding to step # 2, since the user sector U14 is a defective sector, replacement processing is performed and the data is written to the replacement sector S0. In step # 3, write data to user sectors U15 to U17 and end the write operation.

【0019】

By such an operation, as shown in FIG. 11 above, the data is written to the user sectors U0 to U17, and the data of the defective sector U14 is recorded in the alternate sector S0. When reading the user sectors U0 to U17 in FIG. 11, as shown in FIG. 12 (2), the user sectors U0 to U13 are read in step # 4.

【0020】

In the next step # 5, the alternate sector S0 is read, and in step # 6, the user sectors U15 to U17 are read to end the flow of FIG. 12 (2). In FIG. 11 above, one defective sector U14 is generated, and the replacement sector S0 is replaced. After that, for example, it is assumed that data is written to the user sectors U18 to Un, and the replacement sectors S1 to S3 are newly replaced during that time.

【0021】

FIG. 13 is a diagram conceptually showing an example of a case where a new replacement process is performed on the information storage medium shown in FIG. The reference numerals in the figure are the same as in FIG. 11, where the Δ mark indicates a new replacement sector, the broken line × mark indicates a new defective sector, and the broken line mark indicates the corresponding replacement sector.

【0022】

In this state, as shown in FIG. 13, the alternating sectors S0 marked with and S1 to S3 marked with Δ are subjected to the replacement process. In this state, for example, the user sectors U0 to U17 are written, the user sector U13 marked with a broken line × is newly detected as a defective sector, and the alternate sector S4 marked with a broken line is newly detected. It is assumed that the replacement process has been performed.

【0023】

That is, in the user area, the adjacent user sectors U13 and U14 are defective sectors, and the alternate sectors corresponding to each user sector are S4 and S0. In this way, if the alternate sectors S4 and S0 corresponding to the adjacent user sectors U13 and U14 are separated from each other, it is necessary to read them in that order at the time of reading. At the time of writing / reading the user sectors U0 to U17 in FIG. 13, the following flow is executed.

【0024】

FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing the flow of the main processing at the time of writing when the replacement processing as shown in FIG. 13 occurs. The reference numerals in the figure are the same as in FIG. 12, and # 11 indicates the added step.

【0025】

This FIG. 14 corresponds to FIG. 12 (1) above, and at the time of the previous write, the user sector U14 is a defective sector and is replaced with the alternate sector S0. After that, when the data is written from the user sectors U0 to U13, an error occurs in the user sector U13. In the flow of FIG. 14, similarly to FIG. 12 (1), if the user sectors U0 to U13 are written in step # 1, an error occurs in the user sector U13.

【0026】

Therefore, in step # 11, the data in the user sector U13 is newly written to the replacement sector S4 (replacement processing). In the next step # 2, the data in the user sector U14 is written to the alternate sector S0. Proceed to step # 3, write data to user sectors U15 to U17, and end the flow of FIG.

【0027】

By the above operation, as shown in FIG. 13, the alternate processed data is written on the buffer memory. Next, the flow when reading the data in the buffer memory of FIG. 13 is shown.

【0028】

FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing the main processing flow at the time of reading when the alternation processing as shown in FIG. 13 occurs, and the diagram showing the reading order of the data in the buffer memory. (2) is the data in the buffer memory. The symbols in the figure are the same as in FIG. 12, and # 12 and # 13 indicate the steps changed / added this time.

【0029】

The flow in Fig. 15 (1) corresponds to the flow in Fig. 12 (2) above. In step # 12, read the data in user sectors U0 to U12. In the next step # 13, read the data in the alternate sector S4 (the alternate sector in the user sector U13).

【0030】

In step # 5, read the data of the alternate sector S0 (the alternate sector of the user sector U14). Then, in step # 6, the user sectors U15 to U17 are read to end the flow of FIG. 15 (1).

【0031】

The order of the data read by the flow in Figure 15 (1) is shown in Figure 15 (2). As described above, when the alternate sectors S0 and S4 exist, it is necessary to read one sector for each alternate sector as many times as the number of alternate sectors. As a result, processing time is long and performance is degraded.

【0032】

When consecutive sectors are arranged at distant positions in this way, in the read operation performed after the end of the write operation, two sectors (sectors 1 and 2) that have been alternately processed in the read of the continuous sector group having a high frequency are used. ), One sector read is performed twice, which leads to a decrease in performance.

【0033】

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention]

In the conventional information storage device having a replacement processing function, as described above, there are a plurality of consecutive defective sectors, and the order relation of these defective sectors and the order relation of the replacement sectors corresponding to each defective sector If they do not match, in the read including those defective sectors, one sector read is performed for the alternate sector as many times as the maximum number of alternate sectors, which causes a decrease in performance. was there. An object of the present invention is to prevent a decrease in performance due to such a shift process.

【0034】

[Means for solving problems]

According to the invention of claim 1, in an information storage device provided with a replacement processing function that performs replacement processing when a defective sector occurs when the information storage medium is written, the contents of the replacement table are confirmed at the time of initialization, and a plurality of consecutive replacements are checked. Where there are defective sectors and the order relationship of the defective sectors and the order relationship of the alternate sectors corresponding to each defective sector do not match, the order relationship of the alternate sectors is rearranged so as to match the order relationship of the defective sectors. ing.

【0035】

In the invention of claim 2, the information storage device of claim 1 is configured to rearrange alternating sectors after command processing during command execution.

【0036】

In the invention of claim 3, the information storage device of claim 2 is configured to sort when a replacement process occurs during execution of a write command or other command from a higher-level device.

【0037】

In the invention of claim 4, the information storage device of claim 1 is configured to perform sorting during initialization.

【0038】

In the invention of claim 5, when the alternate sector is rearranged in the information storage device of claim 2 or 4, the existing alternate sector is read, and when a read error occurs, the group in which the error occurs. The operation of rearranging the alternating sectors is stopped, the alternating sectors in the alternating area are left as they are, and the other groups are rearranged.

【0039】

In the invention of claim 6, in the information storage device of claim 2 or 4, when rearranging the alternate sectors in a certain group, an unused alternate sector for which a table is not registered in the moving alternate sectors is used. If there is, the sector is determined to be a defective sector, and the sector is reordered while avoiding the sector.

【0040】

In the invention of claim 7, in the information storage device of claim 2 or 4, if the alternate sector is rearranged and a sector containing dummy data exists, the sector is determined to be a defective sector and the sector is determined. It is configured to avoid and sort.

【0041】

The invention of claim 8 is a new defect to be replaced when a new replacement process is generated by a write command or other command after the rearrangement is performed in the information storage device of claim 2 or 4. If the sector immediately before or after the sector is a defective sector and has already been replaced, the context of the existing defective sector and the new defective sector and the context of the replacement sector corresponding to each defective sector are the same. As described above, the existing replacement sector and the new replacement sector are recorded.

【0042】

The invention of claim 9 rearranges the processing of rearranging the alternating sectors so that the order relations of the continuous defective sectors and the corresponding alternating sectors match in the information storage device of the second or fourth aspect. It is configured to be executed by the command to execute.

【0043】

In the information storage device of the present invention, one sector read occurs at the time of reading, and the cause of the deterioration in performance is that the order relation of a plurality of consecutive defective sectors and the order relation of the alternate sectors corresponding to each defective sector match. Focusing on the fact that this is not the case, the performance degradation associated with the replacement process is avoided by matching the order of the replacement sectors with the order relation of the defective sectors.

【0044】

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Next, an embodiment of the information storage device of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. This embodiment corresponds to the inventions of claims 1 to 9, but the invention of claim 1 is a basic invention. The information storage device of the present invention also has the same basic hardware configuration and operation as the conventional information storage device shown in FIG. 7, but the CPU 1 is a flowchart shown in FIGS. 2 to 6 below. It is characterized in that it is controlled according to the above.

【0045】

In the information storage device shown in FIG. 7, ROM 6 and RAM 7 are shown, but they are not required when they are built in the CPU 1. If the I / F (interface) control with the host device and the buffer control (data management) function are provided, even if the I / F device 2 with the host device and the buffer control unit 3 are integrated. Alternatively, the I / F device 2 with the host device, the buffer control unit 3, and the read / write control unit 5 may be integrated.

【0046】

As already described, in the present invention, by matching the order relation of defective sectors with the order relation of corresponding alternating sectors, continuous (adjacent) defective sectors such as defective sectors U13 and U14 are formed. If it exists, the number of reads can be reduced by that amount when reading the alternate sector. For example, in the information storage medium shown in FIG. 13 above, the order of the alternating sectors is rearranged as shown in FIG. 1 below (invention of claim 1).

【0047】

FIG. 1 is a diagram conceptually showing an example of a state in which the alternating sectors of the information storage medium shown in FIG. 13 are rearranged in the information storage device of the present invention. The reference numerals in the figure are the same as those in FIG.

【0048】

Also in FIG. 1, the case where the alternate sector of the user sector U14 is S0 and the alternate sector of the user sector U13 is S4, the defective sector U14 marked with x is first replaced, and then the broken sector x is marked. It is assumed that the attached defective sector U13 has been replaced. The alternating sectors S1 to S3 correspond to the user sectors U18 to Un, which are in the latest order. When such a replacement process is completed, the replacement sectors S0 and S4 are rearranged so as to match the order of the user sectors.

【0049】

In this case, the order of the user sectors and the order of the corresponding alternate sectors are different between the alternate sector S4 (the alternate sector corresponding to the user sector U13) and the alternate sector S0 (the alternate sector corresponding to the user sector U14). ). Therefore, as shown in FIG. 1, the order of the alternating sectors is changed to S4, S0, S1 to S3, S5 (only S4 comes first) . In this way, check the contents of the alternation table, and if there are multiple consecutive alternate sectors, make sure that the order of each alternate sector matches the order relationship of the defective sector (order relationship of the corresponding user sector). In addition, the alternating sectors are rearranged. The above processing is shown in the flow.

【0050】

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a main processing flow at the time of rearranging the alternating sectors in the information storage device of the present invention. In the figure, # 21 to # 23 indicate steps.

【0051】

FIG. 2 shows the process of rearranging as shown in FIG. 1 when the replacement process as shown in FIG. 13 is performed. In step # 21, the data of the alternating sectors S0 to S4 on the alternating table shown in FIG. 13 is read. In the next step # 22, the data of the alternate sector S4 of FIG. 13 is written to the location of the alternate sector S0 (S4 of FIG. 1).

【0052】

In step # 23, the data of the alternate sectors S0 to S3 of FIG. 13 is written to the locations of the alternate sectors S1 to S4 (S0 to S3 of FIG. 1). If such an operation is performed every time the write operation in which the alternation process is performed ends, the order of the alternate sectors and the order of the defective sectors (the order of the corresponding user sectors) always match on the alternation table. Can be stored in this state. Next, the flow when reading the data in the buffer memory of FIG. 1 is shown.

【0053】

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the main processing flow at the time of reading when the alternation processing as shown in FIG. 1 occurs, and the diagram showing the reading order of the data in the buffer memory. (2) is the data in the buffer memory. The reference numerals in the figure are the same as those in FIG. 12, and # 24 to # 26 indicate steps.

【0054】

The flow in Fig. 3 (1) corresponds to the flow in Fig. 12 (2) above. In step # 24, read the data in user sectors U0 to U12. In the next step # 25, read the data of alternate sectors S4 and S0 (replacement destination sectors of user sectors U13 and U14).

【0055】

Then, in step # 26, the user sectors U15 to U17 are read to end the flow of FIG. 3 (1). The order of the data read by the flow in Figure 3 (1) is shown in Figure 3 (2). As described above, when the alternate sectors S0 and S4 exist, the arrangement order is rearranged so as to match the order relation corresponding to each defective sector U13 and U14, so that the two sectors for the alternate sector are sorted. Read is possible (continuous read of alternate sectors S4 and S0).

【0056】

Therefore, unlike the conventional case (when sorting is not performed), it is not necessary to read one sector as many times as the number of alternate sectors, the processing time is shortened by that amount, and the performance is improved. In the above embodiment, two defective sectors (U13, U14) are continuous, but the same applies to the case where three or more defective sectors (for example, U13 to U15) are continuous, and each defective sector is also used. If the alternate sectors corresponding to are rearranged in the same order as each defective sector, when reading the place where those defective sectors exist, it is possible to read for a plurality of alternate sectors only once (above). However, the invention of claim 1).

【0057】

Second embodiment Here, regarding the rearrangement operation of the alternate sectors, other operations (for example, command processing from a higher-level device) cannot be performed during such a rearrangement operation. Therefore, in the information storage device of the present invention, when a command is executed from the higher-level device, the alternating sector is rearranged (incidentally) in association with the execution of the command, so that the higher-level device can perform the sorting operation. The situation in which the command cannot be executed is prevented (invention of claim 2).

【0058】

In this case, for example, if sorting is performed by a command that does not access the information storage medium (such as a command that only reads the status of internal processing), the processing of the command that originally ends in a short time takes a very long time. There will be cases where it will end up. Therefore, basically, when the processing takes a long time and the alternation processing is generated by the write command that operates the alternation area, the alternation sector is rearranged (invention of claim 3).

【0059】

The alternating sectors are rearranged by performing the write command (with alternation processing) processing as usual and after the processing is completed. In this way, the extension of the sorting time is relatively short compared to the command execution time, so that the other commands can execute the same processing time as before.

【0060】

Further, when a command is executed from a higher-level device, instead of performing a rearrangement operation of alternating sectors accompanying the execution of the command (invention of claim 2), command processing from the higher-level device cannot be performed during initialization. It is also possible to perform a rearrangement operation of alternating sectors (invention of claim 4). In this case, the command processing time after initialization can be the same as the conventional time. Moreover, when the information storage medium is a removable medium, since many information storage media are handled by one information storage device, there are inevitably many cases of rearrangement, which is particularly effective.

【0061】

Third Embodiment For example, with respect to the information storage medium shown in FIG. 13 above (conventional example), when the order of the alternating sectors is rearranged as shown in FIG. 1 (invention of claim 2 or 4), the alternation of FIG. 13 is performed. If a read error occurs in the alternate sector S2 in the reads of sectors S0 to S4, the read of the alternate sector S2 must be retried, which takes extra time. Therefore, when rearranging the order of the alternating sectors, the group in which the read error occurs is not rearranged (the order relation of the alternating sectors is left as it is), and the group with other consecutive defective sectors is arranged. Substitution (invention of claim 5).

【0062】

If there is a replacement sector that is not registered in the replacement table in the middle of the replacement area, for example, if the replacement sector S3 is not registered (not used) in the replacement sectors S0 to S4 in FIG. , This replacement sector S3 is supposed to be replaced to the next replacement sector S4 because a replacement process occurred during the execution of the write command and an error occurred when trying to switch to the replacement sector S3. (Not registered in the table because there is no corresponding defective sector). In such cases, the alternate sector S3 is defective and should not be used (invention of claim 6). This relationship will be described with reference to FIG.

【0063】

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the main processing flow at the time of rearranging the alternate sectors when there is an unused alternate sector in the middle of the alternate area, and a diagram showing the read order of the data in the buffer memory. , (1) is the flowchart, and (2) is the data in the buffer memory. The reference numerals in the figure are the same as those in FIG. 13, and # 31 to # 35 indicate steps.

【0064】

As shown in FIG. 4 (1), in step # 31, the data of the alternate sectors S0 to S2 of FIG. 13 is read. In the next step # 32, the data of the alternate sector S4 shown in FIG. 13 is read. In step # 33, the data of the alternate sector S4 of FIG. 13 is written to the alternate sector S4 of FIG. In step # 34, the data of the alternate sectors S0 and S1 of FIG. 13 is written to the alternate sectors S0 and S1 of FIG.

【0065】

In step # 35, the data of the alternate sector S2 of FIG. 13 is written to the alternate sector S3 of FIG. 1 while avoiding the alternate sector S3 of FIG. 13 (the alternate sector S2 of FIG. 1). By the above processing, the data is arranged on the buffer memory as shown in Fig. 4 (2). That is, the order relation of the alternate sectors becomes the alternate sectors S4 and S0, which matches the order relation of the corresponding defective sectors U13 and U14, and the defective alternate sector S3 is at the same position as in FIG. Similarly, it is in an unused state (unregistered state).

【0066】

Such a problem is exactly the same not only when there are unused alternate sectors, but also when dummy data is recorded in the alternate sectors (which can be read but should not be used). is there. Here, for example, in the alternate sectors S0 to S4 of FIG. 13, dummy data is recorded in the alternate sectors S3. In this case, the following processing is performed (invention of claim 7).

【0067】

FIG. 5 shows a flowchart showing the main processing flow when rearranging the alternate sectors when dummy data exists in the alternate sectors, and a diagram showing the read order of the data in the buffer memory. (1) is The flowchart, (2), is the data in the buffer memory. The reference numerals in the figure are the same as those in FIG. 13, and # 41 to # 45 indicate steps.

【0068】

As shown in FIG. 5 (1), in step # 41, the data of the alternate sectors S0 to S4 of FIG. 13 is read. In the next step # 42, check the data of alternate sectors S0 to S4. By this check, it is discovered that dummy data is recorded in the alternate sector S3. In step # 43, the data of the alternate sector S4 of FIG. 13 is written to the alternate sector S4 of FIG.

【0069】

In step # 44, the data of the alternate sectors S0 and S1 of FIG. 13 is written to the alternate sectors S0 and S1 of FIG. In step # 45, the data of the alternate sector S2 of FIG. 13 is written to the alternate sector S3 of FIG. 1 while avoiding the alternate sector S3 of FIG. 13 (the alternate sector S2 of FIG. 1). By the above processing, the data is arranged on the buffer memory as shown in FIG. 5 (2).

【0070】

Fourth Embodiment Next, when the order of the replacement sectors is once rearranged (the invention of claim 2 or 4), a new defective sector is generated during the operation by the write command from the host device, and the replacement processing is performed. The processing of is described. In this way, when a new defective sector is generated and a new replacement process is performed while the order relation of the replacement sectors is already rearranged so as to match the order of the defective sectors, in many cases, The order relationship of the alternating sectors does not match the order of the defective sectors.

【0071】

Therefore, when the sector immediately before or after the new defective sector is a defective sector and has already been replaced, the following processing is performed (invention of claim 8). Here, as shown in FIG. 11, when the user sector U14 is a defective sector and the data is stored in the alternate sector S0, the write operation is performed by the subsequent write command, and at that time, the write operation is performed. It is assumed that a new error occurs in the user sector U13 and the replacement process is executed.

【0072】

FIG. 6 shows a flowchart showing the main processing flow at the time of rearranging the alternate sectors when a new defective sector is generated after the alternation sectors are rearranged, and the read order of the data in the buffer memory. In the figure shown, (1) is the flowchart and (2) is the data in the buffer memory. The reference numerals in the figure are the same as those in FIGS. 11 and 13, and # 51 to # 56 indicate steps.

【0073】

In this state, the user data and the data of the alternate sector as shown in FIG. 6 (2) are recorded in the buffer memory. The new write command writes data to user sectors U0 to U13 in step # 51, as shown in Figure 6 (1). It is assumed that a new error occurs in the user sector U13 at the time of this writing. In step # 52, the data to be written to the user sector U14 is written to the alternate sector S0.

【0074】

In the next step # 53, write data to user sectors U15 to U17. In step # 54, read the data of alternate sectors S0 to S4. In step # 55, the data of the user sector U13 is written to the alternate sector S0 of FIG. In step # 56, the data of the alternate sectors S0 to S3 of FIG. 13 is written to the alternate sectors S0 to S3 of FIG.

【0075】

By the above operation, the data of the alternate sector S4 corresponding to the newly generated defective sector user sector U13 is arranged in front of the existing alternate sector S0 (corresponding to the user sector U14) as shown in FIG. To. Therefore, the order relation of the alternating sectors matches the order relation of the corresponding defective sector, and the inconvenience of one sector read is avoided (the performance is not deteriorated).

【0076】

In this way, when a new replacement process occurs by the write command after the sorting is performed once, the sector immediately before or after the new defective sector (for example, user sector U13) to be replaced (for example, user sector U14) is used. ) Is a defective sector, and if it has already been replaced, the context of the existing defective sector (user sector U14) and the new defective sector (user sector U13) and the replacement sector corresponding to each defective sector (for example, S0, S4). If the existing alternate sector and the new alternate sector are recorded so that the context of) is the same, the data shown in Fig. 1 can be obtained, and it becomes possible to read consecutive alternate sectors. , Performance is improved.

【0077】

In this way, when a new replacement process is generated by the write command, the higher-level device can issue a command for sorting after that, so that the higher-level device can perform the sorting at a convenient time. (Invention of claim 9). In the processing using such commands, when the information storage medium is a removable medium, one information storage device handles many information storage media, so it is expected that there will be many cases of sorting. Therefore, the effect is particularly large.

【0078】

[Effect of the invention]

In the information storage device of claim 1, when there are a plurality of consecutive defective sectors, the arrangement order of the alternating sectors corresponding to them is rearranged so as to match the order of the defective sectors. Therefore, at the time of reading, it is possible to read the alternate sector corresponding to these defective sectors only once, and the performance is improved.

【0079】

By the way, in the information storage device of claim 1, there may be a case where another operation, for example, a command from a higher-level device cannot be processed while the alternation sector is being rearranged. In the information storage device of claim 2, the order of the alternating sectors is rearranged during the execution of the command from the higher-level device, following the processing. Therefore, in addition to the effect of the information storage device of claim 1, there is no inconvenience that the command is not accepted even during the execution of the command from the host device (for example, a write command).

【0080】

However, in the information storage device of claim 2, if the command for sorting is a command that normally finishes in a short time, the sorting may take longer than usual. Occurs. Therefore, in the information storage device of claim 3, sorting is performed when a replacement process occurs when a write command is executed from a higher-level device. In this way, by sorting by the write command when the alternation processing that takes a long time to execute the command occurs, the command with a short normal execution time (including the write command that does not perform abnormal processing such as alternation processing) The same effect as that of the information storage device of claim 1 can be obtained without degrading the performance.

【0081】

Similar to the information storage device of claim 2, the information storage device of claim 4 is different from the usual one by performing sorting when the command for sorting is a command that normally ends in a short time. It is assumed that it will take time, and for that reason, sorting is performed during initialization. In this way, since the internal processing is originally executed and the command from the higher-level device cannot be executed, the sorting is performed during the initialization processing. Therefore, after the initialization, the performance of the command processing is not deteriorated, and the claim is made. The same effect as the information storage device of 1 can be obtained.

【0082】

Further, in the information storage device according to claim 2 or 4, a process of reading an existing alternate sector is required in accordance with the rearrangement of the alternate sectors, but a case where an abnormality occurs during the process operation. Is also assumed. Therefore, in the information storage device of claim 5, when a read error occurs when reading an existing alternate sector, it is intentionally not rearranged. That is, the alternate sector is rearranged only in the group other than the group in which the read error occurs so as not to forcibly execute the alternation sector rearrangement operation and take an extra time due to an undesired read retry. For the group capable of normal processing, the same effect as that of the information storage device of claim 1 can be obtained.

【0083】

The information storage device according to claim 6 assumes the same case as the information storage device according to claim 2 or 4, but has been used with the first sector in the replacement area due to the rearrangement of the replacement sectors. It corresponds to the case where there is an unused sector (that is, a sector not registered in the shift management table) between the last sector and the sector. In this way, unused sectors existing between the first sector and the last used sector in the alternate area may usually have some problems (defects, etc.), and the alternate sectors are simply rearranged. If this happens, there may be cases where unused sectors are used. Therefore, in the information storage device of claim 6, when the alternate sectors are rearranged in a certain group, the unused sectors existing in the moving alternate sectors are determined to be defective sectors, and the unused sectors are determined. Sort the alternate sectors while avoiding. Therefore, the same effect as that of the information storage device according to claim 1 can be obtained without using a sector that is likely to be a defective sector.

【0084】

Further, the information storage device of claim 7 assumes the same premise as the information storage device of claim 2 or 4, but when the replacement sectors are rearranged, dummy data is generated in the replacement area. We are considering the case where there are defective sectors that are filled. That is, in the information storage device of claim 7, when the alternating sectors are rearranged in a certain group, if there is a sector in which dummy data is embedded in the alternating area, that sector is determined to be a defective sector. The alternate sectors are rearranged while avoiding that sector. Therefore, even if there is a defective sector in which dummy data is embedded in the alternating area, it is possible to avoid erroneously using such a sector, and the same effect as that of the information storage device of claim 1 can be obtained. ..

【0085】

The information storage device of claim 8 is assumed to have the same case as the information storage device of claim 2 or 4, but a new replacement process occurs after the replacement sectors are rearranged. It corresponds to the case. That is, when a replacement process occurs during the execution of processing by a new write command after sorting the replacement sectors, the newly generated replacement sector is the last used sector in the group to which the replacement sector belongs. It will be placed next to the alternate sector of. In this case, sorting is not performed until the next initialization is executed. Therefore, in the information storage device of claim 8, when a new replacement process is generated by a write command after rearranging the replacement sectors, the sector immediately before or after the new defective sector to be replaced is the defective sector. If it has already been replaced, the existing defective sector and the new defective sector are rearranged so that the context is the same. Therefore, even if consecutive defective sectors occur after sorting once, when reading to a sector group including the continuous defective sectors, the alternate sector corresponding to those defective sectors is always read once. It is possible to do this, and performance can be improved.

【0086】

The information storage device of claim 9 assumes the same case as the information storage device of claim 8 above, and is premised on the information storage device of claim 2 or claim 4. However, it is characterized in that the alternating sectors are rearranged by a command for rearranging from a higher-level device. Therefore, the alternating sectors can be rearranged at a convenient time of the host device (for example, when the information storage device is not used for a certain period of time), so that the performance of other command processing is not deteriorated. The same effect as that of the information storage device of claim 1 can be obtained. Further, even if consecutive defective sectors occur after sorting once, it is possible to periodically issue a command for sorting from a higher-level device. In this case as well, the information storage of claim 1 is performed. The same effect as the device can be obtained.

[Simple explanation of drawings]

[Figure 1]

In the information storage device of the present invention, it is a figure conceptually showing an example of the state in which the alternating sector is rearranged about the information storage medium shown in FIG.

[Figure 2]

It is a flowchart which shows the main processing flow at the time of rearranging the alternating sector in the information storage device of this invention.

[Fig. 3]

It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the main processing at the time of reading, and the figure which shows the reading order of the data in a buffer memory about the case where the alternation processing as shown in FIG. 1 occurs.

[Fig. 4]

It is a figure which shows the flow chart which shows the main processing flow at the time of rearranging the alternate sector, and the read order of the data in a buffer memory about the case where an unused alternate sector exists in the middle of the alternation area.

[Fig. 5]

It is a flowchart which shows the main processing flow at the time of rearranging the alternate sector, and the figure which shows the read order of the data in a buffer memory about the case where dummy data exists in the alternate sector.

[Fig. 6]

It is a flowchart which shows the main processing flow at the time of rearranging the alternate sector, and the figure which shows the read order of the data in a buffer memory, when a new defective sector occurs after the alternation sector is rearranged. ..

[Fig. 7]

It is a functional block diagram which shows an example of the main part structure of the information storage device which has a shift processing function.

[Fig. 8]

In the information storage device shown in FIG. 7, it is a diagram conceptually showing an example of the relationship between a group provided in a recording area on an information storage medium 8 and a user area and a replacement area in the group.

[Fig. 9]

It is a figure which shows an example of the area allocation about the information storage medium which can be rewritten.

[Fig. 10]

It is a figure which shows an example of the alternation management table provided in the DMA area of the information storage medium 8 shown in FIG.

[Fig. 11]

It is a figure which conceptually shows an example of the relationship between a group provided in a recording area on an information storage medium, a user area in a group, and an alternating area in a conventional information storage device.

[Fig. 12]

It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the main processing at the time of writing and the time of reading about the case where the alternation processing as shown in FIG. 11 occurs.

[Fig. 13]

It is a figure which conceptually shows an example of the case where a new replacement process is performed in the information storage medium shown in FIG.

[Fig. 14]

It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the main processing at the time of writing about the case where the alternation processing as shown in FIG. 13 occurs.

[Fig. 15]

It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the main processing at the time of reading, and the figure which shows the reading order of the data in a buffer memory about the case where the alternation processing as shown in FIG. 13 occurs.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 CPU 2 I / F (interface) device with higher-level device 3 Buffer control unit 4 buffer memory 5 Read / write control unit 6 ROM 7 RAM 8 Information storage medium 9 Shift management table