Simultaneous recording and reproduction apparatus and simultaneous multi-channel reproduction apparatus

• US 7,095,688 B2
• Filed: 09/02/2003
• Issued: 08/22/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 10/06/1998
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Hideki Fukuda, Keiichi Kawashima, Masaaki Kondo, Tetsuro Suzuki, Yoshinari Takemura, Yuji Takagi
• Original Assignee: Hideki Fukuda, Keiichi Kawashima, Masaaki Kondo, Tetsuro Suzuki, Yoshinari Takemura, Yuji Takagi
• Inventors: Kondo, Masaaki, Takagi, Yuji, Fukuda, Hideki, Kondo, Satoshi, Kawashima, Keiichi, Takemura, Yoshinari
• Primary Examiner(s): Huber, Paul W.
• Application Number:
  US10/652,203
• Publication Number:
  US 20040037187A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,085 Days
• Field of Search: 369/32.01, 369/33.01, 369/47.16, 369/47.23, 369/47.24, 369/47.29, 369/47.3, 369/47.31, 369/47.32, 369/47.33, 369/47.34, 369/47.55, 369/53.37
• US Class Current: 369/47.33
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 20/10527 Audio or video recording; Data buffering arrangements G11B20/12 - G11B20/18 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 20/1258 where blocks are arranged within multiple radial zones, e.g. Zone Bit Recording or Constant Density Recording discs, MCAV discs, MCLV discs
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 2020/10537 Audio or video recording
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 2020/10685 input interface, i.e. the way data enter the buffer, e.g. by informing the sender that the buffer is busy
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 2020/10703 processing rate of the buffer, e.g. by accelerating the data output
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 2020/10759 content data
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 2020/10805 involving specific measures to prevent a buffer overflow
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 2020/10962 wherein both recording and playback take place simultaneously
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 2020/1245 CLV zone, in which a constant linear velocity is used
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 2220/2575 DVD-RAMs

Abstract

When recording and reproduction are performed at the same time, if a system controller detects that an amount of data accumulated in a buffer memory exceeds a predetermined value, the system controller stops data reading from an optical disk temporarily and records data accumulated in the buffer memory continuously to the optical disk. Then, an image is prevented from becoming abnormal when a reproduction position catches up to a recording position. Further, a system controller monitors a zone in an optical disk, to which recording is performed and controls a motor at an appropriate revolution number for the recording to the zone. Further, reproduction is performed by maintaining the revolution number. Then, even if the recording position and the reproduction position belong to different zones in a recording medium, a transition time from recording to reproduction is prevented from becoming long.

Claims

1. A simultaneous recording and reproduction apparatus comprising:

an encoder operable to encode first input signals to provide a first data stream;

a first buffer memory operable to accumulate the first data stream encoded by said encoder;

a data recorder operable to record the first data stream read from said first buffer memory to a recording medium;

a data reproducer operable to reproduce the first data stream, which has been recorded previously to the recording medium, as a second data stream;

a second buffer memory operable to accumulate the second data stream read from said data reproducer;

a decoder operable to read the second data stream from said second buffer memory and decode the second data stream to provide second signals; and

a system controller operable to set a coding rate for the first signals in said encoder,

wherein said system controller is also operable to control said data recorder and said data reproducer to perform recording and reproduction alternately in time, and

wherein when a simultaneous recording and reproduction mode is set whereby recording of the first signals and reproduction of the second signals are performed alternately in time, said system controller sets the coding rate of said encoder to a value smaller than that in a normal recording mode whereby only the first signals are recorded.

2. The simultaneous recording and reproduction apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said system controller sets the coding rate in said encoder in the simultaneous recording and reproduction mode to be equal to or smaller than a half of that in the normal recording mode.

3. The simultaneous recording and reproduction apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a head operable to perform the recording and the reproduction for the recording medium.

4. The simultaneous recording and reproduction apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first and second data streams are code data of visual or audio signals.

5. The simultaneous recording and reproduction apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the recording medium is an optical disk.

6. The simultaneous recording and reproduction apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said system controller is operable to update management data of data recorded in the recording medium between the recording and the reproduction.

7. The simultaneous recording and reproduction apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said system controller inhibits alternating the recording and the reproduction when a recording position of said data recorder is separated from a reproduction position of said data reproducer by more than a predetermined distance.

8. A simultaneous recording and reproduction apparatus comprising:

an encoder operable to encode first input signals to provide a first data stream;

a first buffer memory operable to accumulate the first data stream encoded by said encoder;

a data recorder operable to record the first data stream read from said first buffer memory to a recording medium;

a data reproducer operable to reproduce the first data stream, which has been recorded previously to the recording medium, as a second data stream;

a second buffer memory operable to accumulate the second data stream read from said data reproducer;

a decoder operable to read the second data stream from said second buffer memory and decode the second data stream to provide second signals; and

a system controller operable to set a coding rate for the first signals in said encoder,

wherein said system controller is also operable to control said data recorder and said data reproducer to perform recording and reproduction alternately in time, and

wherein when a simultaneous recording and reproduction mode is set whereby recording of the first signals and reproduction of the second signals are performed alternately in time, said system controller sets the coding rate in said encoder so that a sum of a recording rate and a reproduction rate in a predetermined period is smaller than a predetermined bit rate.

9. The simultaneous recording and reproduction apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the encoding by said encoder is variable bit rate encoding.

10. The simultaneous recording and reproduction apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the first and second signals are visual or audio signals.

11. The simultaneous recording and reproduction apparatus according to claim 8, further comprising a head operable to perform the recording and the reproduction for the recording medium.

12. The simultaneous recording and reproduction apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the first and second data streams are obtained by encoding visual or audio signals.

13. The simultaneous recording and reproduction apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the recording medium is an optical disk.

14. The simultaneous recording and reproduction apparatus according to claim 8, wherein said system controller is operable to update management data of data recorded in the recording medium between the recording and the reproduction.

15. The simultaneous recording and reproduction apparatus according to claim 8, wherein said system controller inhibits alternating the recording and the reproduction when a recording position of said data recorder is separated from a reproduction position of said data reproducer by more than a predetermined distance.

16. A simultaneous recording and reproduction apparatus comprising:

an encoder operable to encode first input signals to provide a first data stream;

a first buffer memory operable to accumulate the first data stream encoded by said encoder;

a data recorder operable to record the first data stream read from said first buffer memory to a recording medium;

a data reproducer operable to reproduce the first data stream, which has been recorded previously to the recording medium, as a second data stream;

a second buffer memory operable to accumulate the second data stream read from said data reproducer;

a decoder operable to read the second data stream from said second buffer memory and decode the second data stream to provide second signals; and

a system controller operable to set a coding rate for the first signals in said encoder,

wherein said system controller is also operable to control said data recorder and said data reproducer to perform recording and reproduction alternately in time, and

wherein said encoder performs encoding at a variable bit rate and decreases a bit rate for encoding when said first buffer memory is going to overflow.

17. The simultaneous recording and reproduction apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the first and second signals are visual or audio signals.

18. The simultaneous recording and reproduction apparatus according to claim 16, further comprising a head operable to perform the recording and the reproduction for the recording medium.

19. The simultaneous recording and reproduction apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the first and second data streams are obtained by encoding visual or audio signals.

20. The simultaneous recording and reproduction apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the recording medium is an optical disk.

21. The simultaneous recording and reproduction apparatus according to claim 16, wherein said system controller is operable to update management data of data recorded in the recording medium between the recording and the reproduction.

22. The simultaneous recording and reproduction apparatus according to claim 16, wherein said system controller controls said data recorder and said data reproducer to preform the recording and the reproduction alternately at a predetermined time rate.

23. The simultaneous recording and reproduction apparatus according to claim 22, wherein the predetermined time rate is a time determined by a length of a sector, and ECC block or a plurality of ECC blocks.