OPTICAL DISK DUPLICATING APPARATUS AND DUPLICATED OPTICAL DISK

Abstract: An optical disk duplicating apparatus comprises reproducing means (3) for reproducing user's data recorded on a first optical disk (4), adding means (2) for adding sector data identification information (l0, 25) indica­ tive of the state of using sectors (Sl - S6) in redording tracks on the first optical disk (4) to the reproduced user's data, recording means (7) for recording the user's data on a second optical disk, and transfer means (l, 5, 8) for transferring the user's data and the sector data identification information (l0, 25) to the recording means (7). The optical disk duplicating apparatus determines whether each of the sectors (Sl - S6) in the first optical disk (4) has data properly recorded therein, a defective sector identifier portion, a defective data field portion, or no signal recorded therein, by using the sector data identification information (l0, 25) and controls a signal supplied to the recording means (7), thereby producing duplicated sectors (Sl - S6) in a manner such that the sectors (Sl - S6) in the first optical disk (4) correspond respectively to the sectors (Sl - S6) in the second optical disk on the sector-to-­ sector basis. With this optical disk duplicating apparatus, it is possible to produce a duplicate optical disk which has sector ID portions and data field portions formed in the shape of irregular pits throughout the whole disk surface and thereby makes it possible to achieve stable following and retrieval of recording tracks.

Description: The present invention relates to an optical disk duplicating apparatus for duplicating a second optical disk by reproducing the data recorded on a first optical disk having a sector composition, and also relates to the duplicated optical disk. DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART Fig. 7 shows a block diagram of a prior art optical disk duplicating apparatus. In Fig. 7, reference numeral 50 designates a magnetic tape which stores user's data, 5l a magnetic tape drive, 52 a host CPU such as a minicomputer, 53 a magnetic disk drive having a great capacity, 54 a disk formatter, and 55 a disk recording section. In the prior art optical disk duplicating apparatus having a structure such as mentioned above, the data to be recorded on an optical disk is supplied from the magnetic tape 50. The magnetic tape 50 having user's data recorded thereon is placed on and driven by the magnetic tape drive 5l, and all the user's data are copied on the magnetic disk drive 53. The host CPU 52 reads the user's data from every sector, or sector by sector, in recording tracks on the magnetic disk in the magnetic disk drive 53, and transfers the user's data to the data formatter 54. The disk formatter 54 performs the generation of identifier signals for the sectors, the production of error correction marks for the user's data, and the digital modulation, and the disk formatter 54 supplies the output formatted data to the disk recording section 55 to record the formatted data on an optical disk mounted on the disk recording section 55. However, in the arrangement such as described above, since it is required to input the data signal to be written continuously with no interruption in synchronism with the operation of the disk recording section 55, it has been necessary to provide the magnetic disk drive 53 having a capacity equal to that of the optical disk or more. This has caused a problem because a very expensive magnetic drive is needed in view of the recording capacity of the optical disk which can be as great as several hundred MB. The present invention therefore seeks to provide an optical disk duplicating apparatus which does not require a magnetic tape and a magnetic disk drive. The present invention is defined by the appended Claims. Embodiments of the invention will now be described with reference to Figs. 1-6 of the accompanying Drawings, in which Drawings: Fig. 1 is a block diagram of an optical disk duplicating apparatus of an embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 2A is an explanatory diagram for explaining an example of data read into the host CPU l from the controller A 2 in Fig. l. Fig. 2B is a block diagram for explaining the controller A 2 in Fig. l. Fig. 3 is a detailed block diagram showing the controller B 6 in Fig. l. Fig. 4 is an explanatory diagram for explaining an example of recorded sectors of an optical disk according to the embodiment shown in Fig. l. Fig. 5 is a diagram showing a composition of a data field portion in the present invention. Fig. 6 is an explanatory diagram for explaining an example of recorded sectors in accordance with the composition shown in Fig. 5. Fig. 7 is a block diagram of a prior art optical disk duplicating apparatus. DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Fig. l is a block diagram showing an optical disk duplicating apparatus of an embodiment of the present invention. In Fig. l, reference numeral l designates a host CPU for controlling the apparatus as a whole, 2 a controller A for controlling the reproduction of a first optical disk, 3 an optical disk drive for the first optical disk, 4 the first optical disk having data recorded by a user, 5 a memory for absorbing a variation in a data transfer speed between the first optical disk drive 3 and a disk recording section 7, 5a and 5b respectively designate RAM l and RAM 2 which constitute the memory 5 with a double buffer structure, 6 a controller B for generating a write data signal l03 for recording the data on a second optical disk, 7 the disk recording section for the second optical disk, and 8 an ID signal generating section for generating a sector identifier (ID) signal l04. Further, l00 designates data which are supplied from the controller A 2 and which have the sector data identification information included therein, l0l an input data to the memory 5 from the host CPU l, l02 an output data from the memory 5, l03 a write data signal from the controller B 6, l04 the sector ID signal including the track address information and the sector address information, l05 a control status signal for the controller B 6, l06 a RAM changeover control signal for the memory 5, l07 a control status signal for the disk recording section 7, l08 a control status signal for the ID signal generating section 8, and l09 a control status signal for the memory 5. Further, ll0 designates a clock signal for synchronizing the sector ID signal l04 with the rotation of the disk in the disk recording section 7. Fig. 2A illustrates an embodiment of the present invention showing the format of the data l00 containing the sector data identification information which is read into the host CPU l from the controller A 2, wherein reference numeral 9 designates user's data and l0 designates the sector data identification information. Fig. 2B is a block diagram showing the structure of a sector data identification information producing section 2′ comprised in the controller A 2. In Fig. 2B, reference numeral 27 designates a demodulating circuit for demodulating a reproduced signal from the optical disk drive 3, 28 a marking signal detecting circuit for detecting a marking signal contained in the reproduced signal, and 29 an envelope detecting circuit for detecting an envelope of the reproduced signal. Further, 30 designates an error detection and correction circuit for performing the error detection and correction processing with respect to the demodulated reproduced signal thereby to produce the user's data 9. Reference numeral 3l designates a flag producing circuit which inputs the output signals from the error detection and correction circuit 30, marking signal detecting circuit 28, and envelope detecting circuit 29 and produces the sector data identification information l0 including a recording sector flag, marking sector flag and unrecorded sector flag. Fig. 3 is a block diagram showing a concrete embodiment of the controller B 6 in Fig. l. In Fig. 3, reference numeral ll designates a buffer memory for temporarily storing the output data l02 from the memory 5, l2 an error detection and correction section for adding an error correction mark to the user's data 9, l3 a sector buffer for performing the signal transfer speed adjustment between the error detection and correction section l2 and the disk recording section 7, l4 a digital modulation section for performing the digital modulation including RLLC (run length limited code) modulation and the like on the user's data and the error correction mark, l5 a selector for selecting one signal from among a digital modulation signal ll2, a marking signal ll3 and a non-modulation signal ll4 as indicated by a signal selection signal lll, l6 a signal combining section for combining a selector output signal ll5 with the sector ID signal l04, l7 a microcomputer (CPU) for performing the system control of the operation of the controller B 6, l8 an ID signal reproducing section for reproducing the sector ID signal l04 and outputting an address signal ll7, l9 a sector address comparing section for making a comparison and detecting a coincidence between a desired address signal ll6 from the CPU l7 and the address signal ll7, and, upon detection of a coincidence therebetween, outputting a sector coincidence output ll9 thereby to actuate the digital modulation section l4 and the marking signal generating section 20. When actuated by the sector coincidence output ll9, the marking signal generating section 20 generates the marking signal ll3. Further, ll8 designates a sector data identification signal read out from the buffer memory ll. The operation of the optical disk duplicating apparatus of the embodiment of the present invention shown in Fig. l having the structure such as described above will be explained hereinafter. (l) The host CPU l actuates the disk recording section 7 by the control status signal l07 and also actuates the ID signal generating section 8 by the control status signal l08. (2) The host CPU l instructs the controller A 2 to read the data obtained from the optical disk 4. (3) The controller A 2 sends a seek command to the optical disk drive 3, and the optical disk drive 3 retrieves a desired track. (4) The controller A 2 reads a predetermined number of sectors from the desired track and transfers them to the host CPU l. Here, the controller A 2 adds to the read user's data 9 the sector data identification information l0 obtained by the circuit 2′ shown in Fig. 2B, and sends the resultant data to the host CPU l as the data l00 containing the sector data identification information shown in Fig. 2A. The production of the sector data identification information in the controller A 2 can be achieved easily in the following manner. (a) The production of the data recording sector flag for indicating the normally recorded user's data. By using the error correction mark added to the user's data, it is decided whether the reproduced data are the correctly recorded user's data. (b) The production of the marking sector flag indicating the record of the marking signal for showing the cases where: 1 ○ there is a defect in the ID portion containing the information with respect to a track address, a sector address, etc. for the sector; 2 ○ an error is detected in the recorded data through the read verification check. Depending on the length of an envelope of the reproduced signal and on the presence or absence of the marking signal, with respect to the cases of the aforementioned cases 1 ○ and 2 ○, there are produced a marking sector flag (l) (when an envelope corresponding to the data and the marking signal is detected) and a marking sector flag (2) (when an envelope corresponding only to the marking signal is detected). (c) The production of an unrecorded sector flag indicating that the data is not recorded. A decision is made in accordance with an envelope of the reproduced signal. (5) The host CPU l transfers the data read in the process (4) to the memory 5 as the input data l0l. The data is written into either RAM l or RAM 2 whichever connected to the host CPU l. (6) The host CPU l actuates the controller B 6 by the control status signal l05. (7) While ascertaining by the control status signal l09 that the connection of the input data line l0l with the RAM l or RAM 2 in the memory 5 has been changed over properly, the host CPU l repeats the above-described processes (4) and (5) until the last track of the optical disk. (8) The controller B 6 actuated by the control status signal l05 controls the changeover of the input/output connection of RAM l and RAM 2 so that the input data line l0l leading to the memory 5 is connected to RAM l or RAM 2 and simultaneously RAM 2 or RAM l is connected to the output data line l02, respectively, by the RAM changeover control signal l06. (9) A shown in Fig. 3, the controller B 6 receives the data l00 containing the sector data identification information so as to be taken into the buffer memory ll via the data output line l02 from the memory 5. On the other hand, the CPU l7 reads the sector data identification signal ll8 sent from the memory 5 through the buffer memory ll and analyzes the sector data identification information l0 shown in Fig. 2A. (a) When the sector data identification information l0 contains the data recording sector flag, the CPU l7 in Fig. 3 outputs the signal selection signal lll thereby to cause the selector l5 to select the digital modulation signal ll2 from the digital modulation section l4. The error detection and correction section l2 adds the error correction mark produced therein to the user's data from the buffer memory ll and supplies the resultant data to the selector buffer l3 so that the resultant data are written into the selector buffer l3. The CPU l7 sets the desired address signal ll6 for the sector, in which the data are to be recorded, in the sector address comparing section l9 where the desired address signal ll6 is compared with the address signal ll7 obtained by demodulating the sector ID signal l04 in the ID signal reproducing section l8. When the demodulated sector ID signal l04 coincides with the desired address signal ll6, the digital modulation section l4 is actuated by the sector coincidence output ll9 from the sector address comparing section l9. As a result, the digital modulation section l4 performs digital modulation in synchronism with the rotation of the optical disk in the disk recording section 7 in Fig. l. The digital modulation signal ll2 is selected by the selector l5, and the selected digital modulation signal ll2 is applied to the signal combining section l6. The signal combining section l6 adds the sector ID signal l04 to the digital modulation signal ll2 and outputs the resultant signal to the disk recording section 7 in Fig. l as the write data signal l03. (b) When the sector data identification information l0 contains the marking sector flag, the CPU l7 outputs the signal selection signal lll thereby to cause the selector l5 to select the marking signal ll3. The CPU l7 sets the desired address signal ll6 for the sector, in which the marking signal ll3 is to be recorded, in the sector address comparing section l9 where the desired address signal ll6 is compared with the address signal ll7 obtained by demodulating the sector ID signal l04 in the ID signal reproducing section l8. When the demodulated sector ID signal l04 coincides with the desired address signal ll6, the marking signal generating section 20 is actuated by the sector coincidence output ll9 from the sector address comparing section l9. As a result, the marking signal generating section 20 generates the marking signal ll3 in synchronism with the rotation of the optical disk in the disk recording section 7. The marking signal ll3 is selected in the selector l5, and the selected marking signal ll3 is applied to the signal combining section l6. The signal combining section l6 adds the sector ID signal l04 to the marking signal ll3 and outputs the resultant signal to the disk recording section 7 as the write data signal l03. (c) When the sector data identification information l0 contains the unrecorded sector flag, the CPU l7 outputs the signal selection signal lll thereby to cause the selector l5 to select the non-modulation signal ll4. The CPU l7 sets the desired address signal ll6 for the sector, in which the non-modulation signal ll4 is to be recorded, in the sector address comparing section l9 where the desired address signal ll6 is compared with the address signal ll7 obtained by demodulating the sector ID signal l04 in the ID signal reproducing section l8. When the demodulated sector ID signal l04 coincides with the desired address signal ll6, the sector coincidence output ll9 is outputted. However, in this case, since the selector l5 has selected and outputted the non-modulation signal ll4, only the sector ID signal l04 is outputted from the signal combining section l6 as the write data signal l03 and it is applied to the disk recording section 7. The non-modulation signal ll4 performs recording of a guide groove having a predetermined depth on the optical disk. The operation described above is carried out until the memory 5 becomes empty, and, as soon as it becomes empty, the RAM l and RAM 2 in the memory 5 are changed over from one to the other. (l0) When the host CPU l completes all the reading operations from the optical disk 4, the host CPU l outputs the control status signals l05, l07 and l08 thereby to cause the respective operations of the controller B 6, disk recording section 7, and ID signal generating section 8 to be stopped. The rotational speed of the optical disk in the disk recording section 7 is set to be lower than that of the disk in the optical disk drive 3 in view of the transfer speed of the data from the controller A 2 through the host CPU l to the memory 5. Further, the RAM l and RAM 2 in the memory 5 have a sufficient capacity to allow sufficient time for the recovery processing for any defect occurring in the optical disk 4 and any error occurring in the optical disk 4 and any error occurring in the optical disk drive 3. For example, the capacity to the RAM l and RAM 2 is determined to assure time allowance for making repeated tests of the recovery processing for a seek error, read error of ID (identifier) of a sector, data ECC (error correction code) error, etc. Fig. 4 is a diagram illustrating examples of sectors recorded on the optical disk in the embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 4 (a) shows sectors recorded on the optical disk by a user, and Fig. 4 (b) shows a record form of sectors recorded on the second optical disk in the disk recording section 7. In Fig. 4, reference numeral 2l designates a data field signal in a data field portion, 22 a marking signal, and ID represents a sector identifier portion. In sectors Sl, S2 and S4, user's data A, B and C are recorded respectively. In a sector S3 shown in Fig. 4 (a), the marking signal 22 is recorded to overlap the data field signal 2l as a result of the decision made by the read verification check that the data portion is defective. In a sector S5, only the marking signal 22 is recorded in an unrecorded data field portion as a result of a read error which has occurred when reading the sector ID portion. A sector S6 is an unrecorded sector where no signal has been recorded. As described in EP-A-0 149 755 entitled "Optical Information Recording and Reproducing Apparatus", the marking signal 22 is formed by the repeated recording of a pulse train whose length is sufficiently longer than record pits of the data. The marking signal 22 indicates that the associated sector is defective. The marking signal 22 can be detected easily and precisely through the envelope detection. The controller A 2 produces the data recording sector flag for each of the sectors Sl, S2 and S4; the marking sector flag for each of the sectors S3 and S5; and the unrecorded sector flag for the sector S6, respectively, as the sector data identification information. The controller B 6 analyzes the sector data identification information and controls the recording on the second optical disk in the form shown in Fig. 4 (b) so that each of the sectors Sl to S6 corresponds respectively to each of the sectors Sl to S6 shown in Fig. 4 (a). In the sector S3, only the marking signal 22 is recorded without recording the data field signal 2l, so that the form of the sector S3 in Fig. 4 (b) differs from that of the sector S3 in Fig. 4 (a). The sector S3 in Fig. 4 (b) takes the form similar to that of the sector S5 wherein the marking signal 22 is recorded on the unrecorded data field portion. With respect to the unrecorded sector, in the process of cutting a master disk for producing a replica disk, the irradiation of a laser beam of a predetermined intensity is effected in order to form a guide groove in the optical disk. While, in a preformatted optical disk in which the sector ID signal has been recorded thereon beforehand, an unrecorded sector is skipped without recording any signal on the data field portion thereof. Fig. 5 shows a composition or an arrangement of the format of the data field signal 2l in the data field portion of an optical disk according to another embodiment of the present invention. In Fig. 5, reference numeral 23 designates a synchronization pattern for reproducing a clock signal, 24 the user's data, 25 the data identification information, and 26 an error correction detection mark provided for the user's data 24 and the data identification information 25. Fig. 6 shows examples of sectors recorded on an optical disk in accordance with the embodiment shown in Fig. 5. Fig. 6 (a) shows sectors recorded by a user in the same way as Fig. 4 (a). Fig. 6 (b) shows sectors of an optical disk duplicated by using the data field signal 2l shown in Fig. 5. Fig. 6 (c) shows an example of the content of the data identification information 25 in the data field signal 2l shown in Fig. 5. In sectors Sl, S2 and S4 shown in Fig. 6, there are recorded user's data A, B and C, respectively. In a sector S3 shown in Fig. 6, the marking signal 22 is recorded to overlap the data field signal 2l as a result of the decision made by the read verification check that the data portion is defective. In a sector S5, only the marking signal 22 is recorded in an unrecorded data field portion as a result of a read error which has occurred when reading the sector ID portion. A sector S6 is an unrecorded sector where no signal has been recorded. The controller A 2 produces the data recording sector flag for each of the sectors Sl, S2 and S4; the marking sector flag (l) indicating the marking on the data field signal 2l for the sector S3; the marking sector flag (2) indicating the marking in an unrecorded sector for the sector 5; and the unrecorded sector flag for the sector S6, respectively, as the sector data identification information. The controller B 6 analyzes the sector data identification information and controls the recording on the second optical disk in the form shown in Fig. 6 (b) so that each of the sectors Sl to S6 corresponds respectively to each of the sectors Sl to S6 shown in Fig. 6 (a). In the recording in the sectors Sl, S2 and S4 shown in Fig. 6 (b), user's data read from each of the sectors Sl, S2 and S4 shown in Fig. 6 (a) by the data recording sector flag are respectively set into the user's data 24 in the data field signal 2l for the sectors Sl, S2 and S4 shown in Fig. 6 (b), and further the mark "OO" for indicating that the user's data have been recorded therein is set into the data identification information 25 in the data field signal 2l for each of the sectors Sl, S2 and S4 shown in Fig. 6 (b). In the recording in the sector S3 shown in Fig. 6 (b), in accordance with the marking sector flag (l), dummy data selected from the table of random numbers, for example, are set into the user's data 24 in the data field signal 2l for the sector S3 shown in Fig. 6 (b), and further the mark "EO" for indicating that the marking has been made in the data field signal 2l is set into the data identification information 25 in the data field signal 2l for the sector S3 shown in Fig. 6 (b). In the recording in the sector S5 shown in Fig. 6 (b), since it is indicated by the marking sector flag (2) that there is no recording in the data field signal 2l, in the same way as the sector S3, dummy data such as random numbers, etc. are set into the user's data 24 in the data field signal 2l for the sector S5 shown in Fig. 6 (b), and further the mark "EF" for indicating that the marking has been made in the unrecorded sector is set into the data identification information 25 in the data field signal 2l for the sector S5 shown in Fig. 6 (b). In the recording in the unrecorded sector S6 shown in Fig. 6 (b), in accordance with the unrecorded sector flag, in the same way as the sectors S3 and S5, dummy data such as random numbers, etc. are set into the user's data 24 in the data field signal 2l for the sector S6 shown in Fig. 6 (b), and further the mark "FF" indicative of an unrecorded sector is set into the data identification information 25 in the data field signal 2l for the sector S6 shown in Fig. 6 (b). With the structure as described above, the optical disk duplicated in the form shown in Fig. 6 (b) has the sector ID portions and data field portions formed in the shape of irregular pits extending on the whole surface of the optical disk. As a result, the amount of diffraction of light from each of the tracks is made uniform, so that the detection of a tracking error signal can be performed satisfactorily, which makes it possible to follow the track and to retrive therefrom stably throughout the whole surface of the duplicated optical disk. In accordance with the embodiments of the present invention described above, the addition of the sector data identification information to the data read from the optical disk 4 makes it possible to provide not only a sector in the optical disk in which the data have been recorded; but also a marking sector containing a mark for identifying a defective sector, in which the sector ID signal is defective, or in which the number of bit errors in the data detected by the read verification check exceeds a predetermined value, or the like defective sector; and an unrecorded sector having no signal recorded therein, with a corresponding sector ID signal, data modulation signal and marking signal, respectively, in synchronism with the rotation of the disk in the disk recording section 7. Further, in accordance with the embodiments of the present invention described above, since it is possible to read the data directly from a first optical disk and to record in a second optical disk in the disk duplicating apparatus, it is not necessary to use any magnetic disk drive of a great capacity, and, at the same time, it becomes possible to solve the problem that the recording capacity of an optical disk is restricted by the capacity of a magnetic disk drive. Further, in the foregoing description, by replacing the memory 5, controller B 6, ID signal generating section 8, and disk recording section 7 by a second optical disk drive and a controller, it is possible to produce a duplicated optical disk by recording on an optical disk having preformatted sectors on the basis of sector-to-sector correspondence with a first optical disk. As is understood from the foregoing description, in accordance with the present invention, it is possible for a user to record on a second optical disk directly from a first optical disk, which has been recorded beforehand by the user, without using an expensive magnetic tape drive, and therefore it becomes easy to manufacture an optical disk which is to be used exclusively for reproduction, by recording the user's data desired to be duplicated on an optical disk in an optical disk drive owned by the user and then by merely supplying the recorded optical disk to a manufacturer of duplicate optical disks. Besides, the present invention has a great practical effect from an economical point of view in that a magnetic tape drive, a magnetic disk of a great capacity, etc. become unnecessary.

Claims: Optical disk duplicating apparatus comprising: means (3) for retrieving data recorded in a plurality of sectors (S1-S6) on a first optical disk (4), a marking (22) being recorded so as to overlap a data signal (21) in a defective sector (23) on said first disk, recording means (7) for recording the retrieved data on a second optical disk, recording control means (6) for controlling the operation of the recording means (7), and transfer means (1, 5, 8) for transferring the retrieved data to the recording control means (6), characterised in that there is also provided means (2), which respond to the retrieved data, for producing sector data identification information which includes: (a) a data recorded sector flag, which indicates that data is properly recorded in an associated sector (S1, S2, S4), (b) a marking sector flag, which indicates that a marking signal, indicative of said defective sector, is recorded in an associated sector (S3, S5), and (c) an unrecorded sector flag, which indicates that no data is recorded in an associated sector (S6), and that said recording control means (6) responds to the sector data identification information so as to cause said recording means (7) to record data in corresponding sectors (S1-S6) on said second disk, but to record only a marking signal (22) and no data in the corresponding sector of the second disk (S3) when the marking flag is detected by said recording means (6), due to a marking signal representing defectively recorded data on said first disk (4). Apparatus according to Claim 1, wherein said recording control means (6) responds to the data recorded sector flag to cause said recording means (7) to record a data modulation signal on said second disk, which data modulation signal is obtained by adding an error correction code to user's data (9, 24) and then modulating the resultant data. Apparatus according to Claim 1 or 2 and further including sector identifier signal generating means (8) for generating a sector identifying signal (104) in synchronism with the rotation of said second optical disk, and wherein said recording control means (6) includes sector identifier signal reproducing means (18) for receiving said sector identifier signal (104) and for providing an address signal (117); modulating means (14) for generating a data modulation signal (112) by adding an error correction code to user's data (9, 24) and then modulating the resultant data, and sector synchronising means (19) for operating said modulating means (14) in synchronism with the address information (117) in the sector identifier signal (104) generated by said sector identifier signal generating means (8), thereby controlling the generation of the data modulation signal (112) in synchronism with the sector identifier signal (104). Apparatus according to Claim 3, wherein said recording control means (6) further includes marking signal generating means (20) for generating the marking signal, said sector synchronising means (19) operating said marking signal generating means (20) in synchronism with said address information (117), whereby the generation of the marking signal (113) is controlled in synchronism with said sector identifier signal (104). Apparatus according to Claim 4, wherein said recording control means (6) further includes selecting means (15) for selecting the data modulation signal (112), or the marking signal (113), or a non-modulation signal (114), in accordance with the sector data identification information (10, 25), and also includes signal combining means (16) for combining an output signal of said selecting means (15) with the sector identifier signal (104), whereby the recording of an output signal of said signal combining means (16) is controlled on said second optical disk. Apparatus according to Claim 1 or 2, further including sector identifier signal generating means (8) for generating a sector identifier signal (104) in synchronism with the rotation of said optical disk, and wherein said recording control means (6) further includes sector identifier signal reproducing means (18) for receiving the sector identifier signal (104) and for providing an address signal (117), marking signal generating means (20) for generating the marking signal, and sector synchronising means (19) for operating said marking signal generating means (20) in synchronism with said address information (117), whereby the generation of the marking signal (113) is controlled in synchronism with the sector identifier signal (104). A duplicate optical disk formed as a second optical disk obtained by duplicating a first optical disk (4) on the basis of sector-to-sector correspondence with said first optical disk (4), which first optical disk (4) comprises sectors (S1, S2, S4) containing data recorded therein, a sector identifier portion defective sector (S5) having a marking signal (22) recorded in an unrecorded data field portion thereof, a data field portion defective sector (S3) having a marking signal (22) recorded to overlap a data signal (21) in a data field portion thereof, and an unrecorded sector (S6) having no signal recorded in a data field portion thereof; wherein said second optical disk comprises sectors (S1, S2, S4) containing the data recorded therein, a sector (S3) having only a marking signal and no data recorded therein, a defective sector (S5) having a marking signal (22) recorded in an unrecorded data field portion thereof, and an unrecorded sector (S6) having no signal recorded in a data field portion thereof. A duplicate optical disk according to Claim 7 wherein each of the sectors in said second optical disk has a data field portion recorded therein, which data field portion contains data (24), data identification information (25), and an error correction detection mark (26) produced with respect to said data (24) and said data identification information (25), whereby said data identification information (25) enables a distinction to be made between a data recorded sector (S1, S2, S4), a marking sector (S3, S5) and an unrecorded sector (S6). A duplicate optical disk according to Claim 8, wherein said first optical disk (4) is constructed to enable a user to record user's data (24) therein. A duplicate optical disk according to Claim 8 or 9, wherein said second optical disk is constructed as an optical disk for exclusive use in reproduction by having a record formed thereon with a structure of irregular pits.

Inventors: FUKUSHIMA, YOSHIHISA, ICHINOSE, MAKOTO, KUROKI, YUZURU, SATOH, ISAO, TAKAGI, YUJI
Applicants: MATSUSHITA ELECTRIC INDUSTRIAL CO., LTD.
Application year: 1987
Main classification: G11B7
IPC codes: G11B20, G11B27, G11B7