Optical recording medium and recording and reproducing apparatus of the same

• US 5,386,410 A
• Filed: 07/30/1993
• Issued: 01/31/1995
• Est. Priority Date: 06/12/1990
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Olympus Optical Corporation Limited (Olympus Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Olympus Optical Corporation Limited (Olympus Corporation)
• Inventors: Adachi, Yutaka, Nagasaki, Tatsuo
• Primary Examiner(s): Psitos, Aristotells
• Assistant Examiner(s): HINDI, NABIL Z
• Application Number:
  US08/100,064
• Time in Patent Office: 550 Days
• Field of Search: 369/44.11, 369/44.23, 369/44.34, 369/44.37, 369/44.41, 369/44.42, 369/109, 369/110, 369/111, 369/112, 369/124, 369/48, 369/122, 369/275.3, 369/275.4
• US Class Current: 369/275.4
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 20/10 Digital recording or reproducing
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 7/0904 Dithered tracking systems
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 7/127 Lasers; Multiple laser arrays lasers per se H01S
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 7/131 Arrangement of detectors in a multiple array
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 7/14 specially adapted to record on, or to reproduce from, more than one track simultaneously
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 7/24085 Pits

Abstract

A recording and reproducing apparatus of an optical recording medium has a plurality of light sources. A plurality of light beams are radiated by a laser diode array to a track of the optical recording medium, and each of the plurality of light beams reflected by the track is detected by a photodiode and converted into an electrical signal. The laser diode array is arranged such that the beam spots of adjacent ones of the plurality of light beams cross a track direction of the optical recording medium and a track width direction perpendicular to the track direction. The signal detected by the photodiode is converted into an electrical signal and recorded in a frame memory as data corresponding to the signal. The digital data stored in the frame memory is read out by a two-dimensional decoder.

Claims

1. An optical recording medium comprising:

a plurality of writing tracks;

a plurality of guide tracks respectively formed between two of said plurality of writing tracks; and

a plurality of pits formed in each of said plurality of writing tracks;

said plurality of writing tracks having data written therein, said data being represented by distance between each of said plurality of pits and one of said plurality of guide tracks adjacent to the writing track in which said plurality of pits are formed.

2. The optical recording medium according to claim 1, wherein:

said data represented by said distance, written in said plurality of writing tracks, is further represented by a distance between adjacent pits when viewed in at least one of a track length direction and a track width direction which is perpendicular to said track length direction; and

said data represented by said distance, written in said plurality of writing tracks, has a principal pit dimension in at least one of said track length direction and said track width direction.

3. The optical recording medium according to claim 1, wherein said data represented by said distance, written in said plurality of writing tracks, is further represented by a pit depth.