Recording and reproducing apparatus and method using a buffer memory to ensure continuous output during track jumps caused by either vibration or fast reproduction mode

• US 5,768,236 A
• Filed: 10/11/1995
• Issued: 06/16/1998
• Est. Priority Date: 10/19/1994
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Kihara, Nobuyuki
• Primary Examiner(s): Psitos, Aristotelis M.
• Assistant Examiner(s): HOLDER, REGINA NEAL
• Application Number:
  US08/540,676
• Time in Patent Office: 979 Days
• Field of Search: 369/32, 369/60, 369/13, 360/32, 360/51, 360/69, 360/71, 360/73.01, 386/68, 386/81
• US Class Current: 369/124.14
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 11/10595 Control of operating function
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 15/02 Control of operating function, e.g. switching from recording to reproducing
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 19/02 Control of operating function, e.g. switching from recording to reproducing
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 19/04 Arrangements for preventing, inhibiting, or warning against double recording on the same blank or against other recording or reproducing malfunctions
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 20/10527 Audio or video recording; Data buffering arrangements G11B20/12 - G11B20/18 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 2020/10592 specifically adapted for recording or reproducing multichannel signals
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 2220/2525 Magneto-optical [MO] discs
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/005 Reproducing at a different information rate from the information rate of recording for television signals H04N5/783
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/105 of operating discs
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/3027 used signal is digitally coded

Abstract

A reproducing apparatus for a recording medium such as an optical disk, includes a head, a memory, and a controller. The head is relatively moved with respect to the recording medium so as to read audio data recorded on the recording medium. The memory temporarily stores the audio data read from the recording medium. The controller controls to write the audio data into the memory and to read the audio data stored in the memory. The controller controls to write the audio data into the memory and to read the audio data therefrom in such a manner that a writing speed of the audio data read by the head becomes higher than a reading speed of the audio data stored in the memory. When a highspeed reproducing operation condition is set, the controller intermittently reads the data from a position separated from a preselected address by using the audio data previously stored in the memory, so that a highspeed reproducing operation process is executed. Also, after the highspeed reproducing operation process based on the audio data previously stored in the memory has been complete, the controller relatively transports the head at a high speed with respect to the recording medium, whereby the highspeed reproducing operation process for the audio data , which is read out from the recording medium to be written into the memory is carried out.

Claims

1. A reproducing apparatus for a recording medium, comprising:

reading means relatively moved with respect to a recording medium, for reading audio data recorded on the recording medium;

memory means for temporarily storing therein the audio data read from the recording medium by the reading means;

control means for controlling a writing operation of the audio data into the memory means and a reading operation of the audio data stored in the memory means, wherein the control means controls writing of the audio data into the memory means and reading of the audio data therefrom in such a manner that a writing speed of the audio data read by the reading means becomes higher than a reading speed of the audio data stored in the memory means;

when a highspeed reproducing operation condition is set, the control means causes a highspeed reproducing operation process to be executed with employment of the audio data previously stored in the memory means; and

after the highspeed reproducing operation process based on the audio data previously stored in the memory means has been completed, the control means relatively transports the reading means at a high speed with respect to the recording medium, whereby a highspeed reproducing operation process for the audio data which is read out from the recording medium to be written into the memory means is carried out;

wherein, when the highspeed reproducing operation condition is switched into a normal reproducing operation condition, the control means continuously reads the audio data stored in the memory means at a time instant when the highspeed reproducing operation condition is switched into the normal reproducing operation condition; and

further

wherein after the operation condition has been brought into said normal reproducing operation condition, said control means writes the audio data read from said recording medium into said memory means from a head position of the audio data having an address different from an address of the audio data read from said memory means at the time instant when said highspeed reproducing operation condition is switched into said normal reproducing operation condition.

2. A reproducing apparatus for a recording medium as claimed in claim 1 wherein:

said control means judges whether or not the address of the audio data read from said memory means at the time instant when said highspeed reproducing operation condition is changed into the normal reproducing operation condition is temporally continuous with an address of the audio data separated by a predetermined distance from said audio data read from the memory means at said changing time instant, whereby a head position of the audio data having said different address is determined.

3. A reproducing apparatus for a recording medium as claimed in claim 1 wherein:

said control means compares the address of the audio data read from said memory means at the time instant when said highspeed reproducing operation condition is changed into said normal reproducing operation condition with an address of the audio data separated by a predetermined distance from the audio data read from said memory means at said changing time instant; and

when a comparison result implies that the address of said read audio data is not temporally continuous with the address of said audio data separated by said predetermined distance therefrom, said control means writes the audio data read from said reading means from said separated audio data at a head position.

4. A method for reproducing a recording medium in which audio data is recorded together with address data on a recording medium;

the audio data read from the recording medium by reading means is once stored into a memory means;

the audio data stored in the memory means is read; and

the audio data is written into the memory means or read from the memory means in such a manner that a writing speed of the audio data read out from the recording medium is higher than a reading speed of the audio data stored in the memory means;

comprising the steps of;

when a highspeed reproducing operation condition is set, executing a highspeed reproducing operation process with employment of the audio data previously stored in the memory means;

transporting the recording medium at a high speed with respect to the reading means and writing the audio data read by the reading means into the memory means continuously to the audio data previously stored in the memory means;

after the highspeed reproducing operation process for the audio data previously stored in the memory means is accomplished, transporting the recording medium at a high speed with respect to the reading means, whereby a highspeed reproducing operation process for the audio data which has been read from the recording medium and written into the memory means is carried out;

continuously reading the audio data stored in the memory means at a time instant when the highspeed reproducing operation condition is switched into the normal reproducing operation condition;

when said highspeed reproducing operation condition is switched into a normal reproducing operation condition, continuously reading the audio data stored in said memory means at a time instant when said highspeed reproducing operation condition is switched into the normal reproducing operation condition; and

after the operation condition has been brought into said normal reproducing operation condition, of writing the audio data read from said recording medium into said memory means from a head position of the audio data having an address different from an address of the audio data read from said memory means at the time instant when said highspeed reproducing operation condition is switched into said normal reproducing operation condition.

5. A reproducing method as claimed in claim 4 further comprising the step of judging whether or not the address of the audio data read from said memory means at the time instant when said highspeed reproducing operation condition is changed into the normal reproducing operation condition is temporally continuous with an address of the audio data separated by a predetermined distance from said audio data read from the memory means at said changing time instant to thereby determine a head position of the audio data having said different address.

6. A reproducing apparatus for reproducing audio data from a recording medium, comprising:

reproducing means for reproducing the audio data from the recording medium;

memory means for temporarily storing therein the audio data supplied from the reproducing means;

searching operation means for indicating a searching operation to the reproducing means;

searching control means for controlling the reproducing means so as to perform a reproducing and moving operation alternately in accordance with operation of the searching operation means;

detecting means for detecting a joint point between stored temporally continuous audio data and intermittent audio data in accordance with continuity of addresses;

memory control means for controlling a writing operation of the audio data into the memory means and a reading operation of the audio data stored in the memory means, wherein the memory control means controls a write-pointer to write the audio data into the memory means and a read-pointer to continuously read the audio data from the memory means at a normal reproducing mode; and

when the searching operation means is operated by a user, the memory control means controls the write-pointer intermittently, and at a moment of a shift to the normal reproducing mode from the searching operation mode, the memory control means controls the read-pointer to access the joint point between the stored temporally continuous audio data and the intermittent audio data.

7. A reproducing apparatus for a recording medium as claimed in claim 6 wherein:

when said searching operation means is operated by the user, said memory control means reads a preselected amount of said audio data stored in said memory means therefrom in a discontinuous manner.

8. A reproducing apparatus for a recording medium as claimed in claim 7 wherein:

when said searching operation means is operated by the user, said reproducing means moves with respect to the recording medium in such a manner that said audio data is read from the recording medium, whose data amount is larger than such a data amount of the audio data when said audio data stored in said memory means is read out therefrom.

9. A reproducing apparatus for a recording medium as claimed in claim 8 wherein:

when said searching operation means is operated by the user said reproducing means moves at a high speed with respect to the recording medium from such an address which is temporally continuous with the audio data previously stored in said memory means and is temporally located at a down stream side, whereby the audio data read from the recording medium is written into said memory means.

10. A reproducing apparatus for a recording medium as claimed in claim 6 wherein:

when said normal reproducing mode is selected by the user, the memory control means continuously reads the audio data stored in said memory means at a time instant when said searching operation mode is switched into the normal reproducing mode.

11. A reproducing method for reproducing audio data from a recording medium, comprising the steps of:

reproducing the audio data from the recording medium with a reproducing apparatus;

temporarily storing in a memory the reproduced audio data;

selecting a high speed searching operation of the reproducing apparatus;

controlling the reproducing apparatus so as to perform a reproducing and moving operation alternately in accordance with operation of the highspeed searching operation;

detecting in the memory a joint point between stored temporally continuous audio data and intermittent audio data in accordance with continuity of addresses;

controlling a writing operation of the audio data into the memory and a reading operation of the audio data stored in the memory with a write-pointer to write the audio data into the memory apparatus and a read-pointer to continuously read the audio data from the memory apparatus at a normal reproducing mode; and

when the highspeed searching operation is selected by a user, controlling the write-pointer intermittently, and at a moment of a shift to the normal reproducing mode from the highspeed searching operation mode, controlling the read-pointer to access the joint point between the stored temporally continuous audio data and the intermittent audio data.

12. A reproducing method as claimed in claim 11 further comprising the step of reading in a discontinuous manner a preselected amount of the audio data stored in the memory when said highspeed searching operation condition is set.

13. A reproducing method as claimed in claim 12 further comprising the step of transporting the reproducing apparatus with respect to the recording medium, when the highspeed searching operation is set, in such a manner that the audio data is read from the recording medium, whose data amount is larger than such a data amount of the audio data when the audio data stored in the memory is read out therefrom.

14. A reproducing method as claimed in claim 13 wherein, when the highspeed searching operation is set, further comprising the step of transporting the reproducing apparatus at a high speed with respect to the recording medium from such an address which is continuous to the audio data previously stored in the memory and is temporally located at a down stream side to thereby write the audio data read from the recording medium into the memory.

15. A reproducing method as claimed in claim 11 wherein:

when said highspeed searching operation condition is switched into a normal searching operation condition, continuously reading the audio data stored in said memory means at a time instant when said highspeed searching operation condition is switched into the normal searching operation condition.