Digital audio tape record/play-back system for recording/playing back character data together with digital audio data

• US 4,833,549 A
• Filed: 12/28/1987
• Issued: 05/23/1989
• Est. Priority Date: 01/07/1987
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Casio Computer Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Casio Computer Company Limited
• Inventors: Yoshimoto, Itsuro, Otsuki, Kuniyoshi
• Primary Examiner(s): PSITOS, ARISTOTELIS
• Application Number:
  US07/138,912
• Time in Patent Office: 512 Days
• Field of Search: 360/18, 360/19.1, 360/32, 360/33.1
• US Class Current: 386/246
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 2220/90 Tape-like record carriers
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 2220/913 Digital audio tape [DAT] format
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/032 on tapes G11B27/036, G11B27/038 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/036 Insert-editing
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/107 of operating tapes
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/22 Means responsive to presence or absence of recorded information signals
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/3063 Subcodes
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/34 Indicating arrangements indicating means incorporated in magazine or cassette G11B23/046 and G11B23/0875; indicating measured values in general G01D
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/9208 involving the use of subcodes

Abstract

In this invention, pack data of a character mode including a character code is generated by a sub-code processor. The pack data is continuously recorded on a magnetic tape for a plurality of frames by rotary heads. When the pack data of the character mode is played back by the rotary heads, a controller detects the character code included in this pack data and supplies the detected code to a display to display corresponding characters.

Claims

1. An apparatus for recording character data together with digital audio data on a magnetic tape by using a rotary head, comprising:

rotating drum provided with said rotary head for performing recording on said magnetic tape, said magnetic tape being wound around said rotating drum within a predetermined angular range, said rotary head recording oblique tracks, each of which has a PCM audio recording area and sub-code recording areas;

analog to digital conversion means for receiving an analog audio signal and sampling the analog audio signal at a predetermined frequency to convert it into digital audio data;

signal processing means, connected to said analog to digital conversion means, for adding an error correction code to the digital audio data to generate PCM audio data complying with an R-DAT (Rotary head type-Digital Audio Tape recorder) format;

key input means having character keys for inputting characters, at least one key for instructing character recording on said magnetic tape, and keys for designating a travel state of said magnetic tape;

mechanism drive means, connected to said key input means, for driving said magnetic tape and said rotating drum in response to operation of said key input means;

sub-code processing means for generating sub-code bock data having a sub-code ID and pack data corresponding to the R-DAT format;

frame composing means connected to said signal processing means and said sub-code processing means, for composing the PCM audio data at a timing corresponding to said PCM audio recording area and the sub-code block data at a timing corresponding to said sub-code recording area to output the composed data as track format data corresponding to the R-DAT format;

recording means, connected to said rotary head and said frame composing means, for modulating the track format data and outputting a recording signal to said rotary head;

control means, connected to said key input means, said sub-code processing means, and said mechanism drive means, for controlling said mechanism drive means so that said magnetic tape and said rotary drum are set in a corresponding drive state upon operation of the travel condition setting keys of said key input means, character code data corresponding to characters which are input by the character keys is output to said sub-code processing means upon operation of the character recording instruction key of said key input means to cause said sub-code processing means to generate pack data of a character mode, and the generated pack data is continuously recorded in the sub-code recording area of said magnetic tape for a plurality of frames.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the pack data of the character mode generated by said sub-code processing means includes pack data serving as a search code and pack data serving as a text code, the pack data as the search code has only one type including identical character data and is continuously recorded in the sub-code recording area of said magnetic tape for a plurality of frames, the pack data as the text code has a plurality of types including different character data, and each of the plurality of pack data is recorded in the sub-code recording area of said magnetic tape for a plurality of frames.

3. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the number of character data included in the pack data as the search code is equal to that of the character data included in each of the plurality of pack data as the text code.

4. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the plurality of pack data as the text code include the character code data and address data, and the address data in the plurality of pack data have serial numbers.

5. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the pack data of the character mode includes data for distinguishing between the search code and the text code.

6. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the pack data of the character mode includes character code data and data indicating a code standard of the character code data.

7. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the pack data of the character mode includes data indicating the character mode.

8. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when the pack data of the character mode is to be recorded, said control means performs a control operation such that only the sub-code recording area of said magnetic tape is set in a recording state.

9. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said control means sets first predetermined number of input characters of a character string input by the character keys of said key input means for a search code, and the entire character string for a text code, and outputs character code data corresponding to the characters set for the search code and character code data corresponding to the character string set for the text code to said sub-code processing means;

said sub-code processing means generates one type of pack data of a character mode including the input character code data for the search code, and generates a plurality of types of pack data of a character mode including the input character code data for the text code under the control of said control means; and

said control means performs a control operation such that the pack data as the search code is continuously recorded in the sub-code recording area of said magnetic tape for a plurality of frames, and each of the plurality of types of pack data as the text code is continuously recorded therein for a plurality of frames.

10. The apparatus according to claim 9, wherein PCM audio data for a plurality of programs are recorded on said magnetic tape, and a sub-code ID including a start ID is recorded in the sub-code recording area of a starting portion of each program for a plurality of frames;

and

said control means performs a control operation such that the pack data as the search code and the pack data as the text code are recorded in the sub-code recording area of said magnetic tape in which the start ID has been recorded.

11. The apparatus according to claim 10, wherein said control means performs a control operation such that the pack data as the text code is recorded in the sub-code recording area of said magnetic tape for a plurality of frames and the pack data as the search code is successively recorded for a plurality of frames on which sub-code ID including a start ID is recorded.

12. An apparatus for playing back character data together with digital audio data on a magnetic tape using a rotary head, comprising:

a rotating drum provided with said rotary head for playing back a signal recorded on said magnetic tape, said magnetic tape being wound around said rotating drum within a predetermined angular range, said magnetic tape having tracks, each of which are including a PCM audio recording area for recording PCM audio data and sub-code recording areas for recording sub-code block data, the PCM audio data being data corresponding to an R-DAT format and including an error correction code and the digital audio data, the sub-code block data being data corresponding to the R-DAT format and including a sub-code ID and pack data, the pack data including pack data of a character mode, the pack data of the character mode being recorded in the sub-code recording area of said magnetic tape for a plurality of frames;

key input means having a play-back key;

mechanism drive means, connected to said key input means, for driving said magnetic tape and said rotating drum in response to operation of said key input means;

frame decomposing means, connected to said rotary head, for decomposing and outputting the PCM audio data at a timing corresponding to said PCM audio recording area and the sub-code block data at a timing corresponding to the sub-code recording area from a play-back signal played back by said rotary head;

signal processing means, connected to said frame decomposing means, for receiving the PCM audio data from said frame decomposing means and performing error correction processing to output digital audio data;

digital to analog conversion means, connected to said signal processing means, for converting the digital audio data output from said signal processing means to an analog audio signal;

sub-code processing means, connected to said frame decomposing means, for receiving the sub-code block data from said frame decomposing means and storing the sub-code ID and the pack data included in the sub-code block data; and

control means, connected to said key input means, said mechanism drive means, and said sub-code processing means, for controlling said mechanism drive means in response to operation of said play-back key of said key input means, so that said magnetic tape and said rotating drum are set in a corresponding drive state, storage of the pack data of the character mode in said sub-code processing means is detected and the character code data in the pack data of the character mode is supplied to a display device to cause said display device to display characters corresponding to the character code data.

13. The apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the pack data of the character mode includes pack data serving as a search code and pack data serving as a text code, the pack data as the search code has only one type including identical character data and is continuously recorded in the sub-code recording area of said magnetic tape for a plurality of frames, the pack data as the text code has a plurality of types including different character data, and each of the plurality of pack data is recorded in the sub-code recording area of said magnetic tape for a plurality of frames;

said key input means further has a high-speed travel key; and

said control means performs a control operation such that said rotary head and said rotating drum are set in a rated-speed play-back state in response to operation of said play-back key of said key input means and in a high-speed play-back state upon operation of said high-speed travel key, and receives the pack data as the text code in the rated-speed play-back mode and the pack data as the search code in the high-speed playback mode to supply the character code data included in these pack data to said display device so as to cause said display device to display the characters corresponding to the character code data.

14. The apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the plurality of pack data as the text code include the character code data and address data, and the address data in the plurality of pack data have serial numbers, and

said control means sorts the character code data included in the pack data as the text code in the order indicated by the address data, and sends the data to said display device to cause said display device to display the characters corresponding to the character code data.

15. The apparatus according to claim 12, wherein PCM audio data for a plurality of programs are recorded on said magnetic tape, and the pack data of the character mode, having identical contents are continuously recorded in the sub-code recording areas of each program for a plurality of frames,

said key input means has a search key for selecting a desired program;

and

said control means controls said mechanism drive means to be in the high-speed play-back state in response to operation of said search key of said key input means, and compares the character code data included in the pack data of the character mode with characters input by the character keys of said key input means so as to play back a program, in which the pack data of the character mode including the character code data which coincides with the input characters is recorded in the sub-code recording area.

16. The apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the pack data of the character mode includes character code data corresponding to a plurality of characters;

and

when the number of characters input by said character keys of said key input means is smaller than the number of characters indicated by the character code data included in the pack data of the character mode, said control means compares the input characters with the character code data corresponding in number thereto, so as to play back a program, in which the pack mode of the character mode for which a coincidence is detected is recorded in the sub-code recording area.

17. The apparatus according to claim 16, wherein said control means sets a high-speed play-back mode after a play-back operation of a selected program is completed, thus continuing the program selection operation.