Optical storage device capable of recording a set of sound tracks on a compact disc

• US 6,587,404 B1
• Filed: 08/17/2000
• Issued: 07/01/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 07/09/1997
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Advanced Audio Devices LLC
• Original Assignee: Advanced Audio Devices LLC
• Inventors: Kelley, Michael J., Keller, Peter J., Lahr, John M., Buntinas, Rimas M.
• Primary Examiner(s): DINH, TAN X
• Application Number:
  US09/641,200
• Time in Patent Office: 1,048 Days
• Field of Search: 369/30, 369/33, 369/34, 369/36, 369/37, 369/38, 369/39, 369/178.01, 369/30.06, 369/30.04, 369/30.07, 369/30.28, 369/30.32, 369/30.27, 369/30.05, 369/33.01, 369/34.01, 369/30.19
• US Class Current: 369/30.06
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 17/22 from random access magazine of disc records
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 17/225 wherein the disks are transferred from a fixed magazine to a fixed playing unit using a moving carriage
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 17/228 Control systems for magazines G11B17/225 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 20/10 Digital recording or reproducing
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 2020/10546 specifically adapted for audio data
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 2220/213 Read-only discs
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 2220/216 Rewritable discs
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 2220/218 Write-once discs
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 2220/2545 CDs
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 2220/2562 DVDs [digital versatile discs]; Digital video discs; MMCDs; HDCDs
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 2220/41 Flat as opposed to hierarchical combination, e.g. library of tapes or discs, CD changer, or groups of record carriers that together store one title
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 2220/90 Tape-like record carriers
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/002 Programmed access in sequence to a plurality of record carriers or indexed parts, e.g. tracks, thereof, e.g. for editing; transfer of record carriers from magazine G11B15/68, G11B17/10; G11B17/22
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/034 on discs G11B27/036, G11B27/038 take precedence
• 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: G11B 27/36 Monitoring, i.e. supervising the progress of recording or reproducing for digital recording G11B20/00 and s.gr.; for monitoring, testing or measuring of TV recorders of the type covered by H04N5/76 and subgroups, see H04N17/06
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 33/10 Indicating arrangements; Warning arrangements G11B15/04, G11B19/04, G11B27/34, G11B27/36 take precedence

Abstract

Disclosed is a compact disc recording device that includes a housing, sound receiving means for receiving audio signals, a compact disc recorder for recording onto a compact disc, and data storage structure in the housing for storing audio signals. The compact disc recording device is configured such that a music library of sound tracks is storable in the data storage structure, and the compact disc recording device includes means for selecting a set of sound tracks from the music library to be recorded onto a compact disc by the compact disc recorder. The housing includes a display which identifies at least one sound track of the music library.

Claims

1. A compact disc recording device comprising:

a housing;

an audio data receiver arranged to receive audio data from outside the housing;

a compact disc recorder located at least partially within the housing for recording onto a compact disc; and

data storage memory in the housing for storing audio data received from outside the housing, said compact disc recording device configured such that a music library of sound tracks is storable in digital form in the data storage memory as a result of audio data being received through the audio data receiver, said compact disc recording device including a user interface comprising a display located at least partially within the housing, said display device providing a display which is viewable from outside the housing, and a plurality of manually operable function controllers on the housing, said compact disc recording device configured such that said music library is organizable into a master song list and at least one group of sound tracks wherein each group comprises at least one sound track from the master song list, wherein said compact disc recording device is configured such that indicia of said master song list and indicia of at least one group of sound tracks are displayable on said display, wherein said compact disc recording device is configured such that said plurality of manually operable function controllers is useable to select a group of sound tracks stored in the data storage memory and operate the compact disc recording device to record audio data related to the group of sound tracks onto a compact disc using said compact disc recorder.

2. A compact disc recording device as recited in claim 1, wherein said compact disc recording device is configured to selectively implement an AutoPilot function wherein the compact disc recording device receives audio data through the audio data receiver and automatically closes a sound track and begins recording another sound track whenever a low enough level is detected for a sufficiently long period of time.

3. A compact disc recording device as recited in claim 2, wherein the compact disc recording device is configured such that parameters of said AutoPilot function are settable by a user.

4. A compact disc recording device as recited in claim 1, wherein the compact disc recording device is configured to selectively apply a noise reduction function to at least one sound track stored in said data storage memory.

5. A compact disc recording device as recited in claim 4, wherein the compact disc recording device is configured such that parameters of said noise reduction function are settable by a user.

6. A compact disc recording device as recited in claim 1, wherein the compact disc recording device is configured to implement compression algorithms to smooth at least one sound track stored in the data storage memory.

7. A compact disc recording device as recited in claim 1, wherein the compact disc recording device is configured to convert at least one Pulse Code Modulation (PCM) audio sound track stored in said data storage memory into a compressed audio file.

8. A compact disc recording device as recited in claim 1, wherein the compact disc recording device is configured to record at least one sound track into said data storage memory in the form of a compressed audio file.

9. A compact disc recording device as recited in claim 7, wherein the compact disc recording device is configured to provide selection from various densities of mp3 files.

10. A compact disc recording device as recited in claim 1, wherein the compact disc recording device is configured to write at least one compressed audio file to the compact disc.

11. A compact disc recording device as recited in claim 1, further comprising audio output structure on the housing, wherein the compact disc recording device is configured to playback multiple format groups of sound tracks comprised of Pulse Code Modulation (PCM) audio and compressed audio files from the data storage memory.

12. A compact disc recording device as recited in claim 1, further comprising audio output structure on the housing, wherein the compact disc recording device is configured to play compact discs containing sound tracks comprising at least one of Red Book audio, uncompressed audio and compressed audio file format.

13. A compact disc recording device as recited in claim 1, wherein the compact disc recording device is configured to determine whether a sound track includes a copy protection bit.

14. A compact disc recording device as recited in claim 13, wherein the compact disc recording device is configured to set a copyright bit if a copy protection bit is detected, and is configured to require that the compact disc comprise a Consumer Audio compact disc.

15. A compact disc recording device as recited in claim 1, wherein said compact disc recording device is configured to close a sound track being recorded and being recording another sound track each time a single manually operable function controller is operated.

16. A compact disc recording device as recited in claim 1, wherein the compact disc recording device is configured to rebuild a file stored in said data storage memory.

17. A compact disc recording device as recited in claim 16, wherein the compact disc recording device is configured to restore stored margins for sound tracks stored in said data storage memory after said compact disc recording device has rebuilt the file.

18. A compact disc recording device as recited in claim 1, wherein the compact disc recording device is configured such that at least one of the tempo and pitch of a sound track in said data storage memory is editable by a user.

19. A compact disc recording device as recited in claim 1, further comprising audio output structure on the housing, wherein the compact disc recording device is configured to enable random play of sound tracks.

20. A compact disc recording device as recited in claim 1, wherein the compact disc recording device employs a 32 bit file allocation table.

21. A compact disc recording device as recited in claim 1, wherein the compact disc recording device is configured to enable pausing of recording audio data into the data storage memory.

22. A compact disc recording device as recited in claim 1, wherein the compact disc recording device is configured to enable changing the sound tracks included in a group of sound tracks stored in said data storage memory while the compact disc recorder is recording onto at least one of the compact disc and the data storage memory.

23. A compact disc recording device as recited in claim 1, wherein the compact disc recording device is configured to enable recording of a sound track in said data storage memory while the compact disc recorder is recording a group of sound tracks onto the compact disc.

24. A compact disc recording device as recited in claim 1, wherein the compact disc recording device is configured to enable editing of a sound track stored in said data storage memory while the compact disc recorder is recording onto at least one of the compact disc and the data storage memory.

25. A compact disc recording device as recited in claim 1, further comprising audio output structure on the housing, wherein the compact disc recording device is configured to selectively continuously play at least one sound track.

26. A compact disc recording device as recited in claim 1, wherein the compact disc recording device is configured to enable placement of a mark in a sound track stored in said data storage memory and at least one of auditioning and visually verifying where in the sound track said mark is located.

27. A compact disc recording device as recited in claim 1, wherein the compact disc recording device is configured to play a sound track from a compact disc and simultaneously record the sound track to the data storage structure.

28. A compact disc recording device as recited in claim 1, wherein the compact disc recording device is configured to determine whether a sound track on a compact disc includes a copy protection bit, is configured to allow the sound track to be recorded digitally bit-for-bit from the compact disc to the data storage memory if a copy protection bit is detected, is configured to set a copyright bit if a copy protection bit is detected, and is configured to require that a Consumer Audio compact disc be used to record any sound track that contains a copy protection bit.

29. A compact disc recording device as recited in claim 1, further comprising at least one balanced input jack.

30. A compact disc recording device as recited in claim 1, wherein the compact disc recording device is configured such that a 24-bit word, 96 KHz sampling rate recording is recordable into said data storage memory.

31. A compact disc recording device as recited in claim 1, wherein the compact disc recording device is configured to enable selection from various sampling rates.

32. A compact disc recording device as recited in claim 1, wherein the compact disc recording device is configured to convert between various sampling rates.

33. A compact disc recording device as recited in claim 1, wherein the compact disc recording device is configured to enable exportation of data files onto the compact disc.

34. A compact disc recording device as recited in claim 1, wherein the compact disc recording device is configured to analyze at least one sound track and locate a loudest portion thereof.

35. A compact disc recording device as recited in claim 1, wherein the compact disc recording device is configured to selectively add a copyright bit to a sound track.

36. A compact disc recording device as recited in claim 1, wherein the data storage structure comprises a plug-in slot for at least one of an external and removable hard drive.

37. A compact disc recording device as recited in claim 1, wherein said compact disc recording device is configured to display available time remaining for a group of sound tracks such that the group of sound tracks will fit onto at least one of the recording capacity of a blank recordable compact disc and the recording capacity available in the data storage memory.

38. A compact disc recording device as recited in claim 1, wherein said compact disc recording device is configured to display resettable peak indicators on the display.

39. A compact disc recording device as recited in claim 6, wherein the compact disc recording device is configured such that parameters of said compression algorithms are settable by a user.

40. A compact disc recording device as recited in claim 8, wherein the compact disc recording device is configured to provide selection from various densities of mp3 files.

41. A compact disc recording device as recited in claim 8, wherein the compact disc recording device is configured to write mp3 files to the compact disc.

42. A compact disc recording device as recited in claim 1, wherein the compact disc recording device is configured to enable changing the indicia of a sound track stored in said data storage memory while the compact disc recorder is recording onto at least one of the compact disc and the data storage memory.

43. A compact disc recording device as recited in claim 1, wherein the compact disc recording device is configured to enable changing the indicia of a group of sound tracks stored in said data storage memory while the compact disc recorder is recording onto at least one of the compact disc and the data storage memory.

44. A compact disc recording device as recited in claim 1, wherein the compact disc recording device is configured to enable play back of a sound track stored in said data storage memory while the compact disc recorder is recording onto at least one of the compact disc and the data storage memory.

45. A compact disc recording device as recited in claim 1, wherein the compact disc recording device is configured to enable play back of a group of sound tracks stored in said data storage memory while the compact disc recorder is recording onto at least one of the compact disc and the data storage memory.

50. A compact disc recording device as recited in claim 1, wherein the data storage memory comprises a plug-in slot.

51. A compact disc recording device as recited in claim 1, further comprising audio output structure on the housing, wherein the compact disc recording device is configured to selectively continuously play at least one compressed audio file.

52. A compact disc recording device as recited in claim 1, wherein the data storage memory comprises a plug-in slot configured to receive a solid state memory device.

46. A compact disc recording device comprising:

a housing;

sound receiving means on the housing for receiving audio data;

a compact disc recorder located at least partially within the housing for recording onto a compact disc; and

a data storage memory in the housing for storing audio data, said compact disc recording device configured such that a music library of sound tracks is storable in the data storage memory, said compact disc recording device including at least one manually operable function controller capable of being operated to select a group of sound tracks from the music library to be recorded onto the compact disc by the compact disc recorder, said compact disc recording device including a display device located at least partially within the housing, said display device providing a display which is viewable from outside the housing which identifies at least one sound track of the music library, wherein the compact disc recording device is configured to selectively implement an AutoPilot function wherein the compact disc recording device receives the audio data through the sound receiving means and automatically closes a sound track and begins recording another sound track whenever a low enough sound level is detected for a sufficiently long period of time.

47. A compact disc recording device as recited in claim 46, wherein the compact disc recording device is configured such that parameters of said AutoPilot function are settable by a user.

48. A compact disc recording device comprising:

a housing;

sound receiving means on the housing for receiving audio data;

a compact disc recorder located at least partially within the housing for recording onto a compact disc, wherein the compact disc recording device is configured to selectively implement an AutoPilot function wherein the compact disc recording device receives the audio data through the sound receiving means and automatically closes a sound track begins recording another sound track whenever a low enough sound level is detected for a sufficiently long period of time.

49. A compact disc recording device as recited in claim 48, wherein the compact disc recording device is configured such that parameters of said AutoPilot function are settable by a user.