TRACKING ARRANGEMENT FOR A SENSOR OF SIGNALS ON AN INFORMATION TRACK

Abstract: Reflected light from the record in an optical disc player is directed at a string of photo sensitiv diodes (18). Two adjacent diodes (e.g. 18 i , 18 i+l ) of this string of diodes receive light from a selected portion (28) of the track on the disc. The outputs of these two adjacent diodes are summed together to generate the output signal (Vout) for the optical disc player. The outputs of the two diodes are also subtracted from one another to generate a differential signal (V D ) for tracking purposes. The magnitu­ de of this differential signal is a measure of the relative magnitudes of the signals on the two adjacent diodes and therefore is an indication of the position of track laterally of the diodes. When this differential output becomes larger than a preset value, a control logic circuit (26) showing that the two diodes are no longer receiving the reflected light, responds by changing the combination of two adja­ cent diodes in the string which receive the reflected light, and generate the video output signal and the difference signals.

Description: TRACKING ARRANGEMENT FOR A SENSOR OF SIGNALS ON AN INFORMATION TRACK The present invention relates to tracking arrangements for optical or like sensing devices for signals on an information track for example a spiral track on a video disc or a complete memory. In certain optical disc players optical sensing of a spiral track - alternatively circular tracks - on the disc is accomplished by reflecting light off the surface of the disc. and onto a photo-optic sensor. One way of tracking in such an optical recorder is to move the photo-optic sensor radially inward as the disc rotates so the photo-optic sensor scans the entire disc. One problem with such a tracking and sensing system is that because of manufacturing tolerances and other problems the spiraling of the track is not uniform but has eccentricities. These eccentricities cause cross talk in the optically sensed data and also cause the skipping of certain sections of the track while repeating other sections of the track. In the past, many systems have been proposed to permit the photo-optic sensor to track data recorded with the described eccentricities. One such tracking system involves the use of mirrors. As shown in United States Korpol Patent No. 3,931,459, a mirror directs light through a disc into two photo sensitive devices to generate outputs which are summed to generate the output for the video disc player and which are subtracted to generate a tracking control signal for positioning the mirror. In accordance with the present invention, a tracking arrangement comprises an array of sensor devices (18) arranged to be disposed transversely in relation to the track, a first set of alternate devices (18i, 18i+2 ) in the array being capable of connection to a first output (20), and a second series of the intermediate devices (18i¯lr 18i+l) being capable of connection to a second output (22) means (26) responsive to a combination of the outputs to provide a first signal representative of the information on the track, and responsive to a second combination of the output to provide a second signal for controlling which pair of two adjacent devices (18) one from each series are coupled to the first and second outputs. The sensors may be photo-optical sensors fabricated in a string on a monolithic chip. Light from the desired portion of the track is initially focused onto two of the sensing devices in the string. The outputs of those two devices are summed together to produce the video output signal for the optical disc player and are also subtracted from one another to generate a differential output for tracking purposes. This differential output is a comparison of the magnitudes of the electrical outputs of the two devices and therefore is a measure of how much light is reaching each of the diodes, and therefore of the lateral position in relation to the track. When the differential output becomes larger than a preselected magnitude showing that those two devices are no longer receiving the light, a decoder responds by causing the particular adjacent devices which are receiving the light to be switched to the output to generate the video output signal and the difference signals. The devices are conveniently arranged so that the output terminals of each two adjacent devices are on opposite sides of the array. This makes it possible to have a high density of the diodes on the monolithic chip and thereby increase the resolution of photooptic sensor. The decoder may include a switching mechanism which reverses the sensor device connections to the decoder as they switch during tracking. According to a second aspect of the invention, an array of sensor devices on a single chip comprises a common elongate anode conductor (72) and a number of cathode conductors (74a) spaced apart along the length of the anode conductor, each cathode conductor being an elongate strip extending away from the anode conductor, alternate strips extending to opposite sides. The invention may be carried into practice in various ways, and one embodiment will be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings; in which FIGURE 1 is a schematic diagram of the video disc player; FIGURE 2 is a circuit diagram of control logic shown in block form in FIGURE 1; FIGURE 3 is a circuit diagram of the gate decoding circuit shown in block form in FIGURE 2; and FIGURE 4 is a plan view of a part of the photooptic sensor chip used in FIGURE 1. Referring to FIGURE 1 , a disc 10 with a spiralling track 12 of digitally encoded information on it is illuminated by a light source 14. Light reflected off the encoded information in the track provided is more intense than that reflected off the guard bands between the turns of the track. This reflected light passes through a magnifying lens 16 and is focused on an array of diodes 18. There are 128 diodes in two sets of sixty four. The diodes of the array are arranged in a string. Electrical connections to adjacent diodes in the string are made to two different output lines 20 and 22 on opposite sides of the string. The diodes 18 are each coupled to one of the lines 20 or 22 through an enhancement mode field effect transistor (FET) 24. At any one time only two of the FET's are biased conductive to electrically connect one diode 18. to line 20 and another diode 18i+l to line 22. These two diodes are adjacent to each other and have their outputs summed by the logic circuitry 26 to generate the video output signal V Out. The logic circuitry 26 not only provides the output signal for the video player but it also generates selection signals on decode lines 27 for the gates of the devices 24 that connect the two diodes 18. and 18. to the lines 20 and 22. To this I i+l end the logic circuitry 26 generates an up or high level signal on two and only two decode lines 27 thereby biasing two FET's 24 on and provides down voltages on all the other decode lines 27 to maintain all the other FET's. 24 biased off. The selection of the two diodes 18 is made on the basis of which two diodes in the array are in position to optically sense the desired portion of the spiralling track. To understand this, let us assume that the two diodes 18i and 18i+l are optically centered over the Nth revolution of the track and electrically connected to the lines 20 and 22 respectively. The diodes 18. and 18i+l would then be operating at point 30 of their output curves. When operating at this point, neither diode 18. or 18i+l is sensitive to light from adjacent tracks N-l or N+1. If the spiral of the track were true, movement of the sensor across the record by mechanical devices alone would be sufficient to maintain the diodes 18i and 18i+l in registration with the track as it spirals inwardly. However, since the position where the light from track N hits the diodes array 18 changes considerably due to record eccentricities, it is possible that either diode 18i and 18i+l will start reading adjacent tracks N-l or N+1. For instance, if the light reflected from revolution N were to move to the other side of diode 18. light reflected from revolution N+1 would fall within the operating spectrum of diode 18i+l. However, the position which reflected light from track N hits the sensor can be allowed to vary considerably without changing either of the diodes 18i or 18i+l which supply the two components of the output signal. In fact, the point at which light from the center track N hits the array of diodes can change from the center of diode 18. to the center of diode 18i+l without picking up light from adjacent tracks N-l and N+1 with diode 18. or 18. Larger drifts than this can result I 1+1 in picking up data from adjacent tracks and for this reason the diodes producing the two components of the output signal are changed with such larger drifts. The difference voltage VD, between the two output voltages Vi and Vi+l corresponding to the currents from the diodes 18i and 18i+l is used to determine when changes in diodes are to be made. At point 30 on their operating curves the diodes 18i and 18i+l produce outputs which are identical so that the difference voltage VD is equal to zero. However, let us assume that the light from track N drifts because of some eccentricity of the disc. The one diode would produce a larger output signal than the other diode. The present invention makes use of this increase in the difference voltage to switch the exciting voltage on the gate of the devices 24 coupling the diodes 18 to the lines 20 and 22. The diodes 18 are spaced so that the operating spectra of the diodes are each as wide as the track or the guard band between the trackabTherefore, the voltage difference VD will increase until either diode 18i or 18ill is optically centered over the track. VD max can then therefore be used to change the combination of diodes 18 used to produce the output signal. Referring to Figure 2, we can see how this is done. For a moment let us again assume that the circuit is operating with diodes 18i and 18i+l supplying the signals generating the output signal V Out. The output of 18i is produced on lines 20, fed through device 34,and gain amplifier 36 and into the summing amplifier 38 while the output of device 18i+l is put on line 22, passed through conductive device 40, and ampttfier^42-and fed to the other input of the summing amplifier 38 to thereby produce the output signal V Out. The output signals are also differentially summed in differential amplifiers 44 and 46. In differential amplifier 44 the signal coming through amplifier 36 is positive in the summation while in the differential amplifier 46 the signal coming through amplifier 42 is positive in the summation. The differential sum outputs are fed to trigger circuits 48 and 50. The threshold level for these trigger circuits is set at a point equal to or slightly less than the maximum output points 32 in the operating curves of the two diodes 18i and 18ill Therefore, so long as the light is directed between the two diodes 18i and 18i+l, there will be no pulse produced by the trigger circuits 48 or 50 and the outputs on lines 20 and 22 are the signals from diodes 18i and 18i+l respectively. However, now assume that light from the center of the track N drifts to the left so that it is directed at diode 18i or beyond diode Then trigger circuit 48 will produce a pulse. Alternatively, if it is detected at diode 18i+l or beyond diode 18i+l' trigger circuit 50 will produce a pulse. These pulses will be used to generate decode signals that will shift the two up voltages on gate lines i and i+l one line in either direction. The AND gates 52, 54, 56 and 58 and flip flop circuit 60 generate those decode signals. The output of both trigger. circuits 48 and 50 are coupled to the trigger input of flip flop 60. The output of trigger circuit 48 is fed to one terminal of two input AND gates 52 and 54, and the output of trigger circuit 50 is fed to one terminal of AND gates 56 and 58. The other terminal of AND gates 54 and 58 is the Q output of the flip flop 60 and the other input to the AND gates 52 and 56 are the Q output of the flip flop 60. Each time one of the trigger circuits 48 and 50 produces a pulse one and only one of the AND gates 52 to 58 produces a pulse. This pulse disconnects either diode 18i from line 20 or diode 18i+l from line 22 and connects either diode 18i+2 to line 20 or diode 18ill to line 22 resulting in the shift of the conducting diodes one diode position in either direction along the diode string. This will be discussed in more detail with references to Figure 3. The outputs Q and Q also control whether the signal on line 20 is fed to amplifier 36 or 42 and whether the signal on line 22 is fed to amplifier 36 or 42. For instance, let us assume that the flip flop 60 is in its Q state while diodes 18i and 18i+l are conducting and the track position shifts sufficiently to cause trigger circuit 48 to produce a pulse. This pulse will be fed to the trigger terminal of flip flop 60 switching the flip flop from its Q state to its Q state.With the flip flop 60 in the Q state devices 64 and 66 will be rendered conductive and devices 34 and 40 will be rendered non-conductive. The effect of this is to couple diode 18i+l to the amplifier 36 and diode 18i 1 to the amplifier 42. In the decoding circuitry 62, the signals generated by AND gates 52 through 58 control the count on two counters. As shown in FIGURE 3, the output of AND gate 52 is coupled to the increment input to the counter 64 and the output of AND gate 58 is coupled to the decrement input to the counter 64 associated with the lower line 22. The counter 64 is a six bit up/down counter. The production of a pulse by AND gate 52 will increase the count in the counter by one and production of the pulse by AND gate 58 will decrease the count in the counter by one. The true and complements of the three low order bits of counter 64 are generated and fed to the inputs of eight separate 3 to 8 decoders 68. The true and complement of the three high order bits of the counter 64 are fed to the inputs of another 3 to 8 decoder 70. Each of the eight outputs of the decoder 70 is a gating signal for one of the decoders 68 so that with each count of the counter, the decoder 70 selects and activates one and only one of the decoders 68 using the high order digits of counter 64 and then the low order bits of the counter are used to place a positive voltage on one and only one output of the activated decoder 68. Each of the eight outputs from the decoder 68 is connected to control a different one of the devices 24, so that a different one of the 64 diodes 18 is connected to the line 22 with each count. The decode circuitry associated with the upper line 20 is identical to those controlling the connections to the lower line, with the exception that the AND gate 54 drives the increment input and AND gate 56 drives the decrement input to the counter associated with the upper line 20. FIGURE 1 shows how the summed output Vi+ V. does not vary much in amplitude over the range between adjacent peaks 32. FIGURE 4 shows a layout of a diode 18 and its associated connections for the lower half of the sensor. The layout for a diode 18 in the upper half of the sensor is, the mirror image of the layout shown here. A substrate of-XP' type material contains a number of 'N' type diffusions. The diffusion 74 contains an enlarged portion 74 which functions as the cathode a of the diode 18. The other end of the diffusion 74 is the source of the FET 24 coupling the diode to the line 22. The narrow end 76a of a diffusion 76 forms the drain of the FET 24. A metalisation pattern 88 overlying the diffusions 74 and 76 on an insulating layer forms the gate for the device and the coupling to the gate decode logic 68. A second metalisation pattern 80 on the insulating layer forms the line 22. The line 22 is connected to the drain of the FET 24 by a metal connection 86 through the insulating layer. A third metalisation pattern 82 forms a line which overlies and is connected to a diffusion 84 by a metal connection 90 through the insulating layer to form a FET for voltage clamping purposes. A second insulating layer covers all of the chip and it is covered by a second metalisation layer which covers the whole chip except the diodes 18 at 72 to shield the circuitry from light. 72 indicates a window for light to all the diodes 18 and also the position of a diffusion layer constituting a common anode for all the diodes. Above has been described one of the embodiments of the invention. A number of changes can be made in this embodiment. For instance, in the described embodiment the 128 diodes 18 of the sensor are driven by mechanical means to move radially across the face of the discsto be in the region where the light from 14 is being reflected. A longer stationary string of diodes 18 could be used to read the whole disc without movement and avoid the use of a drive mechanism. Also in the discussion it was assumed that the track provided a more intense reflection than the surrounding guide bands. The present invention would work equally as well if the opposite were true.

Claims: CLAIMS 1. A tracking arrangement for a sensor of signals on longitudinal information tracks (N), for example a circular or helical track on a video disc or a computer memory, comprising an array of sensor devices (18) arranged to be disposed transversely in relation to the track, a first set of alternate devices (18i, 18. +2 ) in the array being capable of connection to a first output (20), and a second series of the intermediate devices ) 18i+1# being capable of connection to a second output (22), means (26) responsive to. a combination of the outputs to provide a first signal representative of the information on the track, and responsive to a second combination of the output to provide a second signal for controlling which pair of two adjacent devices (18) one from each series are coupled to the first and second outputs. 2. A tracking arrangement as claimed in any preceding claim including means for moving the sensor device array transversely in relation to the track. 3. A tracking arrangement as claimed in any preceding claim , including summing means (38) and difference means (44,46) for providing the first and second signals from the first and second outputs. 4. A tracking arrangement as claimed in any preceding claim including a source (14) of optical or other radiation for focussing on the track and reflection onto the sensor devices. 5. A tracking arrangement as claimed in any preceding claim, including a controllable switch (24) capable of connecting each sensor device to its output (20 or 22). 6. A tracking arrangement as claimed in any preceding claim , including a decoder arranged in response to the second signal to connect two, adjacent devices only to their respective outputs. 7. A tracking arrangement as claimed in any preceding claim, including a generator (43,50) of a trigger signal in response to the second combination being in excess of a pre-set value. 8. A tracking arrangement as claimed in Claim 7, including a counter (64) of trigger signals, and in which the second signal is derived from the count of the counter 9. An array of sensor devices on a single chip comprising a common elongate anode conductor (72) and a number of cathode conductors (74a) spaced apart along the length of the anode conductor, each cathode conductor being an elongate strip extending away from the anode conductor, alternate strips extending to opposite sides. 10. An array as claimed in Claim 9 including a common window (72) for all the cathode conductors where they are opposite the anode conductor. 11. An array as claimed in Claim 9 or Claim 10 in which the single chip has layers (80) defining two outputs one at each side of the anode conductor, and each cathode conductor extends adjacent one of the output layers. 12. An array as claimed in Claim 11 in which the common chip defines a controllable semi-conductor switching device for connecting each cathode conductor to its output layer. 13. A tracking arrangement as claimed in any of Claims 1-8 in which the array of sensing devices is in accordance with any of Claims 9-12.

Inventors: BASILICO, ALBERT RICHARD, WILFINGER, RAYMOND JOHN
Applicants: DISCOVISION ASSOCIATES
Application year: 1980
Main classification: G11B7
IPC codes: G11B7, G11B21, H01L27