Sony Corporation

Hitachi-lg Data Storage, Inc.

Boehringer Mannheim Gmbh

Roche Diagnostics Gmbh

Hitachi Consumer Electronics Co., Ltd.

Hajime Nishimura

Hiroharu Sakai

Tetsuya Tamura

Takeshi Sasa

Kazuya Suzuki

Shuichi Minamiguchi

Hiroshi Ueda

Kazuhiko Ono

Seiji Inaba

Yoshihiro Fukagawa

Seigo Fukushima

Teruyuki Nagamune

Greg Winter

Paula A Schueler

Kouhei Tsumoto

Izumi Kumagai

Walter C Mahoney

Toshimitsu Kaku

Munehiro Yoshikawa

Tamon Ikeda

Akira Kitayama

Koji Kaniwa

Hiroyuki Ishimaru

Jin Gohshi

An optical disc device comprising: a controller for reading data from an optical disc having a plurality of recording layers, wherein: the controller, in shifting a focus of the laser light from a first layer to a second layer, performs a first change that changes a setting on the high frequency signal to a predetermined value at which the high frequency signal is superimposed to suppress peak power of the drive signal if a light density of the second layer is higher than a light density of the first layer; the controller shifts the focus from the first layer to the second layer; and the controller, after the focus has been shifted, performs a second change that changes the setting on the high frequency signal to a predetermined value at which the high frequency signal is superimposed to increase the peak power of the drive signal.

Optical disc device and control method of optical disc

In an optical disc device, a way of canceling a lens shift due to an electric offset of an output of a tracking actuator driving circuit is desired. A tracking servo control circuit contains a first operation mode for setting an output current of the tracking actuator driving circuit to generally zero and a second operation mode for supplying a predetermined potential to the input. An average potential of a push-pull signal detected in the first operation mode is acquired. An object lens is moved by a predetermined amount in both radial directions by changing a potential supplied in the second mode to acquire correlative relationship between average potential of a push-pull signal relative to a lens movement amount and the supplied potential. An offset amount is acquired from the potential and the correlative relationship to cancel the offset.

Optical disc device and tracking servo control circuit therefor

This invention provides an optical disc drive with more accurate and stable power control for a laser light source. An optical disc drive in an embodiment of this invention includes a monitor photodetector for receiving laser light emitted by a laser light source to monitor the laser light power. The monitor diode is a photodetector for generating an electric signal corresponding to the laser light power. A laser light controller controls drive current to the laser light source based on a result of measurement by the monitor diode. The optical disc drive measures output variations of the monitor diode and controls the gain of the monitor diode based on the result of the measurement. This gain control improves accuracy and stability in laser light control so that stability in recording/reading can be attained.

Optical disc drive and method of controlling laser light power in optical disc drive

Bandwidth is secured for a read signal transmission line by matching the characteristic impedance of the read signal transmission line with the output impedance of a photodetector of an optical pick up, while at the same time securing bandwidth for the photodetector. In an optical disc drive according to an embodiment of the present invention, each line forming a differential transmission line is divided into a plurality of lines of the same quantity, the quantity being two or more, at or near a connection point between a flexible line and the optical pick up.

Optical disc drive

This invention provides accurate control of laser light power in a recording operation to achieve more stable recording operation. An optical disc drive in an embodiment of this invention monitors the power of laser light with a monitor diode and controls the laser light power based on the result of monitoring. The optical disc drive changes data transfer rate (recording frequency) depending on the disc radial position. The optical disc drive controls the gain of the monitor diode across the recording surface depending on the recording frequency. This control improves the accuracy in laser light power control to achieve stable recording operations by precise servo control.

Optical disc drive and method of controlling power of laser light in recording to optical disc

To identify the type of a loaded disc, there is provided an optical disc device, comprising: a light source driven by a drive signal with a high frequency signal superimposed; a detector for detecting return light emitted from the light source; and a controller for controlling the amplitude of the high frequency signal to be superimposed on the drive signal, the optical disc device being configured to read data from an optical disc loaded therein by a signal outputted from the detector, wherein: the controller causes the light source to irradiate the loaded optical disc with light in a condition in which a high frequency signal different from a high frequency signal for data reading is superimposed on the drive signal; and the controller identifies a type of the loaded optical disc based on the return light from the loaded optical disc.

Optical disc device and disc identification method

A composite memory device, a data processing method and a data processing program can efficiently and selectively use a nonvolatile solid-state memory and a recording medium. The composite medium device includes a nonvolatile solid-state memory and a recording medium and is adapted to combine the data area of the recording medium and the data area of the nonvolatile solid-state memory and manage them as totally or partly integrated data area by means of a predetermined file system. The composite memory device is connected to a host appliance by way of an interface section.

Composite memory device, data processing method and data processing program

To determine the optimum amplitude of high frequency signal for the loaded disc with a simple configuration to achieve stable playing performance, there is provided an optical disc device comprising: a light source driven by a drive signal with a high frequency signal superimposed; a detector for detecting return light emitted from the light source; and a controller for controlling amplitude of the high frequency signal to be superimposed on the drive signal for the light source; the optical disc device being configured to read data on an optical disc loaded therein by a signal outputted from the detector, wherein the controller determines the amplitude of the high frequency signal to be superimposed on the drive signal based on asymmetry of the signal outputted from the detector.

Optical disc device and playing method of optical disc

There is provided a composite type recording apparatus restricting write operations depending on the type of a connected host apparatus, including a recording medium having a first data region, a non-volatile storage medium having a second data region and an identification information table for integrating and managing the first and second data region, an information selection section for selecting positional information having predetermined identification information from the identification information table according to the type of the host apparatus, a conversion section for converting positional information selected by the information selection section into positional information matching the first data region or positional information matching the second data region, a first write section for writing data supplied from the host apparatus in the first data region according to conversion process of the conversion section and a second write section for writing data supplied from the host apparatus in the second data region.

Composite type recording apparatus, data writing method and data writing program

An optical disc drive for reading or writing information on a multilayer optical disc having three or more recording layers by irradiating the disc with a light beam includes an optical pickup for irradiating the disc with the light beam, a recording state detector for detecting data recording states at a start point of a focus jump, a transit point or transit points on a recording layer or recording layers to be passed through, and an expected landing point of a focal point of the light beam in a focus jump, and a controller for moving the optical pickup to a position where the recording states are the same at all of the start point, the transit point(s) on the recording layer(s) to be passed through, and the expected landing point if the recording states are different among those points, before starting the focus jump.

Optical disc drive and method of controlling the same

Prevention of deletion of data in an unintended recording layer of an optical disc is ensured even when servo deviation occurs while controlling data reproduction. A light source outputs a light beam with light intensity according to a driving current on which a high frequency signal is superimposed. The light beam is collected on a recording layer of an optical disc. As triggered by detection of servo deviation during data reproduction, a light intensity controller adjusts a superimposed amount of the high frequency signal in the driving current to suit to a specific recording layer with the lowest reproduction tolerance in the optical disc and thereby controls the light intensity of the light beam output from the light source.

Optical disc device and data reproduction method for the same

The invention is associated with an information processing apparatus and method, a control program for the information apparatus, and a recording medium recording the control program. As directed by a host apparatus, control data are reproduced by controlling access means, outputting at least file control data to a host apparatus, and at least identification data are held in a predetermined memory; in response to a read directive based on the control data transmitted from the host apparatus, a control unit is sequentially detected in which the desired file associated with the read directive is sequentially recorded on the basis of the identification data held in the predetermined memory; and the access means is controlled on the basis of a result of the detection to sequentially reproduce and output data of files associated with the read directive to the host apparatus.

Information processing apparatus, information processing method, recording medium, control

A data storage apparatus is provided. The data storage apparatus includes: a storage unit managed using a logical block address; a memory; a storage control unit for storing in the storage unit a free area control table transmitted from the host apparatus in which information on a free area in the storage unit is stored; an expanding unit for reading the free area control table in the storage unit and expanding it in the memory; a recording unit for recording data transmitted from the host apparatus into a free area in the storage unit on the basis of the free area control table in the memory; an updating unit for updating the free area control table in the memory after the data recording unit has completed a recording operation; and a transmission unit for transmitting to the host apparatus updated information included in the free area control table which has been updated by the updating unit.

Data storage apparatus and data access method for controlling address information for data writing using a free area control table

There is provided a recording apparatus which includes a recording medium having a data area with an address assigned to each cluster of a predetermined size; an interface for connection to a host apparatus; writing means for writing data in the data area; access order deciding means for dividing the data area of the recording medium into a plurality of areas each having an optional data capacity, and deciding an order of accessing the divided areas from the writing means; timing deciding means for deciding a timing when file information on written data is to be updated; control means for controlling the writing means to access a plurality of divided areas in accordance with the decided access order, search an empty cluster in the accessed area, and write data in the searched empty cluster and file information updating means for updating the file information on already written data.

Recording apparatus

A recording/reproducing apparatus is provided which can write continuously a file of large-capacity at high-speed. A record area of HDD is provided with a disk cache area for temporarily storing data to be written. The disk cache area is defined as a area that is not used by a host apparatus () in an LBA space, and the disk cache area is disposed in an area with a high transfer rate such as an outer circumferential area of a disk (). A file transferred from the host apparatus () is written in the disk cache area, and the file is transferred from the disk cache area to a usual user area during an idle period to release the disk cache area and prepare for next transfer data write.

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Tokyo, Japan

Hajime Nishimura