Multi-Valued Scrambling and Descrambling of Digital Data on Optical Disks and Other Storage Media

• US 20100211803A1
• Filed: 04/12/2010
• Published: 08/19/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 01/25/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ternarylogic LLC
• Original Assignee: Ternarylogic LLC
• Inventors: Lablans, Peter
• Granted Patent: US 8,225,147 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 713/193
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 20/00086 Circuits for prevention of unauthorised reproduction or copying, e.g. piracy indicating unauthorised use of record carriers in general G11B23/28; scrambling for television signal recording H04N5/913; network architectures or network protocols for network security H04L63/00; cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for secret or secure communication H04L9/00
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 20/0021 involving encryption or decryption of contents recorded on or reproduced from a record carrier
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 2220/2537 Optical discs

Abstract

Method and apparatus for writing scrambled multi-value data to a physical media and for reading scrambled multi-value data from a physical media, are disclosed. The physical media can be an optical disk. The scrambling can be performed by a multi-valued LFSR scrambler and the descrambling can be performed by a multi-valued LFSR descrambler. Further, the multi-valued data that is scrambled can include synchronization data and/or user data. Error correction coding can be used during the writing process and processing to correct for errors can be used during the reading process. Also, methods and apparatus for synchronizing multi-valued data written to and read from physical media are disclosed. Multi-value correlation methods and apparatus are also disclosed.

Claims

1. An apparatus for determining a synchronization point in a first sequence of n-state symbols with n≧

2, comprising;

a receiver for receiving the first sequence of n-state symbols, wherein an n-state symbol is represented by a signal;

a self-synchronizing descrambler for descrambling the first sequence of n-state symbols containing a second sequence of n-state synchronization symbols that determines the synchronization point, wherein;

the second sequence can be created by using a Linear Feedback Shift Register (LFSR) that, related to the first sequence, is only applied to n-state synchronization symbols; and

the self-synchronizing descrambler includes an implementation of the LFSR.

2. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein n≧

2.

3. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the synchronization point is located after a last n-state symbol in a sequence containing the descrambled second sequence of n-state synchronization symbols.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the second sequence of n-state synchronization symbols can be generated by an autonomous n-state sequence generator that is not a scrambler and that applies the LFSR.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the LFSR implements at least one n-state logic function with a first and a second input and an output wherein the output does not have state 0 when both the first and second input have state 0.

6. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein information related to the descrambler is included in the first sequence of n-state symbols.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first sequence of n-state symbols is read from a data storage medium.

8. An apparatus for determining a synchronization point in a plurality of n-state symbols with n≧

2, comprising;

a data storage medium enabled to store the plurality of n-state symbols with n≧

2 containing a sequence of n-state synchronization symbols for determining the synchronization point, an n-state symbol being represented by a signal, wherein the sequence of n-state synchronization symbols can be generated by applying a Linear Feedback Shift Register (LFSR) that, related to the plurality of n-state symbols, is only applied to n-state synchronization symbols;

a reader to read the sequence of n-state synchronization symbols from the data storage medium; and

a self-synchronizing descrambler to descramble the sequence of read n-state synchronization symbols.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein n≧

2.

10. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the descrambler applies the Linear Feedback Shift Register (LFSR).

11. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the data storage medium is an optical disk.

12. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the data storage medium is a memory.

13. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the data storage medium is a magnetic disk.

14. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the LFSR implements at least one n-state logic function with a first and a second input and an output wherein the output does not have state 0 when both the first and second input have state 0.

15. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the synchronization point is located after a last n-state symbol in the sequence of n-state synchronization symbols.

16. A data storage medium containing a plurality of n-state symbols with n≧

2, comprising;

a sequence of n-state synchronization symbols that can be generated by applying an n-state Linear Feedback Shift Register (LFSR) that, related to the plurality of n-state symbols, is only applied to n-state synchronization symbols; and

wherein;

each n-state symbol on the data storage medium is determined by a physical property at a location of the data storage medium that generates a signal when being read; and

the sequence of n-state synchronization symbols when descrambled by a self-synchronizing descrambler using an LFSR corresponding to the n-state LFSR determines a synchronization point on the data storage medium.

17. The data storage medium of claim 16, wherein n≧

2.

18. The data storage medium of claim 16, wherein the data storage medium is an optical disk.

19. The data storage medium of claim 16, wherein the data storage medium is a magnetic disk.

20. The data storage medium of claim 16, wherein the data storage medium is a memory.