Learning type signal recording and reproducing apparatus

• US 5,606,538 A
• Filed: 03/12/1996
• Issued: 02/25/1997
• Est. Priority Date: 05/18/1994
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Imagawa, Taro, Maruno, Susumu, Kouda, Toshiyuki
• Primary Examiner(s): Edun, Muhammad N.
• Application Number:
  US08/614,102
• Time in Patent Office: 350 Days
• Field of Search: 369/47, 369/48, 369/49, 369/50, 369/53, 369/54, 369/58, 369/59, 369/60, 369/32, 369/124, 369/44.34, 369/44.36, 369/44.29, 395/22, 395/23, 395/24, 395/11
• US Class Current: 369/47.23
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 20/10 Digital recording or reproducing
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 20/10009 Improvement or modification of read or write signals
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2025/03464 Neural networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 25/03165 using neural networks

Abstract

The signal recording and reproducing apparatus of this invention includes: a signal detector for detecting a teacher signal and an information signal recorded on a recording medium; a converting section for converting the teacher signal and the information signal detected by the signal detector into a reproduction teacher signal and a reproduction information signal, respectively, based on a predetermined conversion rule; and a teacher signal generator for generating a reference teacher signal, wherein the teacher signal is first detected before the detection of the information signal, and the converting means includes a learning type waveform converting section for automatically establishing the predetermined conversion rule based on the reproduction teacher signal and the reference teacher signal.

Claims

1. A signal recording and reproducing apparatus comprising:

signal detecting means for detecting a teacher signal and an information signal recorded on a recording medium;

converting means for converting the teacher signal and the information signal detected by the signal detecting means into a reproduction teacher signal and a reproduction information signal, respectively, based on a predetermined conversion rule; and

teacher signal generating means for generating a reference teacher signal,

wherein the teacher signal is first detected before the detection of the information signal, and the converting means includes a learning type waveform converting section for automatically establishing the predetermined conversion rule based on the reproduction teacher signal and the reference teacher signal.

2. A signal recording and reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the converting means includes memory means for storing the predetermined conversion rule established by the learning type waveform converting section.

3. A signal recording and reproducing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the converting means further includes a series signal extracting section for extracting a variation in a signal value at various points on a transition axis of the detected teacher signal and outputting the extracted variation in the signal value as series signals, and a memory control section for controlling the storage of the predetermined conversion rule in the memory means, and

the learning type waveform converting section automatically establishes the predetermined conversion rule by learning the relationship between the extracted variation in the signal value and the waveform of the reference teacher signal.

4. A signal recording and reproducing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein, when another conversion rule has been stored in the memory means, the conversion rule is loaded by the memory control section, the detected teacher signal is converted into the reproduction teacher signal in accordance with the conversion rule, and the predetermined conversion rule is established based on the reproduction teacher signal and the reference teacher signal.

5. A signal recording and reproducing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the learning type waveform converting section includes a network having a plurality of layers, at least one of the plurality of layers including a plurality of first recognition units each having:

a signal input section for receiving one of the series signals;

a quantizer for receiving and quantizing the one of the series signals from the signal input section;

at least one first path input terminal;

at least one first path output terminal connected to the at least one first path input terminal; and

a path selecting section for selecting a path by changing a degree of a connection between the at least one first path input terminal and the at least one first path output terminal in accordance with the quantized one of the series signals,

a layer immediately before an output layer of the plurality of layers including a plurality of second recognition units each having;

a teacher signal input terminal for receiving the reference teacher signal;

at least one second path input terminal;

at least one second path output terminal connected to the at least one second path input terminal; and

a path learner for changing a strength of a connection between the at least one second path input terminal and one of the at least one second path output terminal specified by the reference teacher signal, and

the learning type waveform converting section further includes an output result judging section for detecting a recognition unit having a largest output value among a plurality of third recognition units included in the output layer of the plurality of layers.

6. A signal recording and reproducing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the series signal extracting section includes:

a current signal extracting section for extracting a signal value at a predetermined point on the transition axis of the teacher signal; and

a variation extracting section for calculating the difference between the signal value at the predetermined point extracted by the current signal extracting section and a signal value of the teacher signal at a point before the predetermine point.

7. A signal recording and reproducing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the degree of the connection between the adjacent layers is changed by changing a strength of a connection between a unit included in one of the adjacent layers and a unit included in the other layer.

8. A signal recording and reproducing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the network of a plurality of layers has first, second, third, and fourth layers arranged in this order, the first layer receives the detected teacher signal, the fourth layer outputs the reproduction teacher signal, and the reference teacher signal is supplied to a unit included in the third layer, whereby the strength of the connection between the unit included in the third layer and a unit included in the fourth layer is changed.

9. A signal recording and reproducing apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the strength of the connection between the unit included in the third layer and the unit included in the fourth layer is changed so that the reproduction teacher signal and the reference teacher signal are substantially the same.

10. A signal recording and reproducing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the degree of the connection between the at least one second path input terminal and the at least one second path output terminal in the plurality of second recognition units of the learning type waveform converting section is stored in the memory means as the predetermined conversion rule.

11. A signal recording and reproducing apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the series signal extracting section generates further series signals by extracting a variation in a signal value at various points on a transition axis of the detected information signal,

when the information signal is detected, the memory control section of the learning type waveform converting section loads the predetermined conversion rule stored in the memory means, and in each of the plurality of first recognition units, the signal input section receives one of the further series signals, the quantizer quantizes the one of the further series signals, and the path setting section changes the connection between the at least one first path input terminal and the at least one first path output terminal in accordance with the quantized one of the further series signal, while in each of the plurality of second recognition units, the at least one second path input terminal and the at least one second path output terminal are connected in a degree indicated by the predetermined conversion rule,

whereby the information signal is converted into the reproduction information signal in accordance with the predetermined rule.

12. A signal recording and reproducing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the series signal extracting section includes:

a current signal extracting section for extracting a signal value at a predetermined point on the transition axis of the teacher signal; and

a variation extracting section for calculating the difference between the signal value at the predetermined point extracted by the current signal extracting section and a signal value of the teacher signal at a point before the predetermined point.

13. A signal recording and reproducing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein, when another conversion rule has been stored in the memory means, the learning type waveform converting section converts the detected teacher signal into the reproduction teacher signal in accordance with the conversion rule stored in the memory means, and establishes the predetermined conversion rule based on the reproduction teacher signal and the reference teacher signal.

14. A signal recording and reproducing apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the converting means further includes comparing means for comparing the reproduction teacher signal and the reference teacher signal, and the memory means stores the predetermined conversion rule when the reproduction teacher signal and the reference teacher signal are substantially the same.

15. A signal recording and reproducing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the converting means further includes comparing means for comparing the reproduction teacher signal and the reference teacher signal, and the memory means stores the predetermined conversion rule when the reproduction teacher signal and the reference teacher signal are substantially the same.

16. A signal recording and reproducing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the learning type converting section includes a network made of a plurality of layers each having a plurality of units, and the predetermined conversion rule is established by changing a degree of a connection between adjacent layers among the plurality of layers by a learning operation performed by use of the reproduction teacher signal and the reference teacher signal.

17. A signal recording and reproducing apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the predetermined conversion rule is stored in the memory means as the degree of the connection between the adjacent layers.

18. A signal recording and reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the learning type waveform converting section includes a network made of a plurality of layers each having a plurality of units, and the predetermined conversion rule is established by changing a strength of a connection between adjacent layers among the plurality of layers by a learning operation performed by use of the reproduction teacher signal and the reference teacher signal.

19. A signal recording and reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, when data is to be recorded on the recording medium, the reference teacher signal generated by the teacher signal generating means is first recorded before the recording of the data.