Abstract:
To provide a recording control device able to control a data recording so as not to use a defective sector free from a sector test before a shipment thereof, which controls a data recording with respect to a plurality of sectors in a recording region of a recording medium and has: a verification unit writing data to be written to a first sector in the recording medium when receiving a write request to the recording medium, then reading out the data from the first sector, and performing a verification processing comparing the data to be written with the read out data; and a processing unit writing the data to be written to a second sector on condition that the verification unit decides that the comparison result is disagreement, and determining attribute data as a management data.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCES TO RERATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]     The present invention contains subject matter related to Japanese Patent Application JP 2004-180831 filed in the Japanese Patent Office on Jun. 18, 2004, the entire contents of which being incorporated herein by reference.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     1. Field of the Invention  
         [0003]     The present invention relates to a recording control device with a recoding medium in which a recoding region is divided into a plurality of sectors, a recording control method, a program and a recoding system.  
         [0004]     2. Description of the Related Art  
         [0005]     A hard disk drive (HDD) divides a recoding region of a magnetic disk into a plurality of sectors and records data on each of the sectors as a unit.  
         [0006]     A sector may become a defective recoding in producing the HDD, so that the sector is tested in order not to make a defective sector use after a shipment.  
         [0007]     The above test is performed by using a test apparatus, and the entire sector in the recording region of the magnetic disk is tested with its quality, namely defective or non-defective.  
         [0008]     Further, the HDD stores a read out error frequency of a sector to be read out when reading out data after the shipment. If the error frequency exceeds a predetermined reference, the sector may be recorded as a defective sector and the defective sector may not be used.  
         [0009]     On the other hand, when recording data, the HDD selects a sector which is not recorded as the defective sector and writes data to the sector.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0010]     However, the above HDD performs the test to the sector of the magnetic disk before the shipment, so that the test apparatus has been demanded.  
         [0011]     Further, the entire sector of the magnetic disk is tested before a shipment, so that a long time has been demanded for producing.  
         [0012]     Due to this, a cost reduction of the HDD has been restricted.  
         [0013]     Other recording systems in which a recording region of a recording medium is divided into a plurality of sectors and controlled so as not to use a defective sector have a similar disadvantage.  
         [0014]     The present invention is to provide a recording control device able to control a data recording with respect to a plurality of sectors determined at a recording region of a recording medium so as not to use a defective sector free from a sector test before the shipment, a recording control method, a program and a recording system for the same.  
         [0015]     According to an embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a recording control device controlling a data recording with respect to a plurality of sectors in a recording region of a recording medium, the recording control device including a verification means for writing data to be written to a first sector in the recording medium when receiving a write request to the recording medium, then reading out the data from the first sector, and performing a verification process comparing the data to be written with the read out data, and a processing means for writing the data to be written to a second sector other than the first sector on condition that the verification means decides that the comparison result is disagreement, and setting attribute data indicating that the first sector is a defective sector to a management data.  
         [0016]     According to an embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a recording control method controlling a data recording with respect to a plurality of sectors in a recording region of a recording medium, the recording control method including a first step of writing data to be written to a first sector in the recording medium when receiving a recording request to the recording medium, then reading out the data from the first sector; a second step of comparing the data written to the first sector in the first step with the data read out in the first step; and a third step of writing the data to be written to a second sector other than the first sector on condition that the comparison result is disagreement in the second step, and setting attribute data indicating that the first sector is a defective sector to a management data.  
         [0017]     According to an embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a program to be executed by a computer with a control of a data recording with respect to a plurality of sectors in a recording region of a recording medium, the program including a first routine for writing data to be written to a first sector in the recording medium when receiving a recording request to the recording medium, then reading out the data from the first sector; a second routine for comparing the data written to the first sector in the first routine with the data read out in the first routine; and a third routine for writing the data to be written to a second sector other then the first sector on condition that the comparison result is disagreement in the second routine, and setting attribute data indicating that the first sector is a defective sector to a management data.  
         [0018]     According to an embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a recording system having a recording device and a recording control device, wherein the recording device includes a recording medium having a recording region divided into a plurality of sectors, and a head accessing a determined sector of the recording medium and performing a writing operation or a read out operation with respect to the sector, and the recording control device includes a verification means for outputting data to be written to the recording device when receiving a write request to the recording medium, writing the data to a first sector in the recording medium then controlling the recording device so as to read out the data from the first sector, and performing a verification processing comparing the data to be written with the read out data, and a processing means for controlling the recording device so as to write the data to be written to a second sector other than the first sector on condition that the verification means decides that the comparison result is disagreement, and setting attribute data indicating that the first sector is a defective sector to a management data.  
         [0019]     According to an embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a recording control device controlling a data recording with respect to a plurality of sectors in a recording region of a recording medium, the recording control device including a verification circuit writing data to be written to a first sector in the recording medium when receiving a write request to the recording medium, then reading out the data from the first sector, and performing a verification process comparing the data to be written with the read out data, and a processing circuit writing the data to be written to a second sector other than the first sector on condition that the verification circuit decides that the comparison result is disagreement, and setting attribute data indicating that the first sector is a defective sector to a management data.  
         [0020]     According to a recording control device, a recording control method, a program and a recording system of embodiments of the present invention, it is able to control the data recording with respect to a plurality of sectors in a recording region of a recording medium so as not to use a defective sector free from a sector test before the shipment. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0021]     These features of embodiments of the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:  
         [0022]      FIG. 1  is a view of the entire configuration of an audio system according to a first embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0023]      FIG. 2  is a view for illustrating a sector management data (SMD) shown in  FIG. 1 ;  
         [0024]      FIG. 3  is a view for illustrating an operation module of a central processing unit (CPU) shown in  FIG. 1 ;  
         [0025]      FIG. 4  is a flow chart for illustrating an example of an operation when a processing unit writes audio data with respect to a HDA shown in  FIG. 1 ;  
         [0026]      FIG. 5  is a following flow chart of  FIG. 4  for illustrating an example of an operation when a processing unit writes audio data with respect to a HDA shown in  FIG. 1 ; and  
         [0027]      FIG. 6  is a view of the entire configuration of an audio system according to a second embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0028]     Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be explained with reference to the drawings.  
       First Embodiment  
       [0029]     A first embodiment will be explained with reference to FIGS.  1  to  5 .  
         [0030]      FIG. 1  is a view of the entire configuration of an audio system according to the first embodiment of the present invention  
         [0031]     As shown in  FIG. 1 , the audio system  1  has a hard disk assembly (HDA)  1  and a processing unit  30 , for example.  
         [0032]     The audio system  1  is a portable type, and is set to a system for recording audio data and reproducing the same.  
         [0033]     In the audio system  1 , the processing unit  30  performs a write operation to a sector of a magnetic disk  12  after a shipment and verifies a defective or non-defective of the sector, namely quality of the sector. Therefore, the magnetic disk  12  does not have to be tested with the quality of the sector in producing the HDA  10 .  
         [0034]     Next, the HDA  10  and the processing unit  30  shown in  FIG. 1  will be explained.  
         [0035]     (HDA  10 )  
         [0036]     As shown in  FIG. 1 , the HDA  10  has the magnetic disk  12 , a spindle motor  14 , a voice coil motor (VCM)  16 , a head  17 , a processing circuit  18 , an interface  20  and a memory  21 , for example.  
         [0037]     The HDA  10  has a closed structure in order to prevent an inflow of fine particles from the outside.  
         [0038]     The magnetic disk  12  has a recording region divided into a plurality of sectors concentrically and circularly.  
         [0039]     The spindle motor  14  rotates the magnetic disk  12 .  
         [0040]     The VCM  16  makes a current flow from a driver  40  of the processing unit  30  to a coil to move the head  17  in a radial direction of the magnetic disk  12  by an electromagnetic induction. Due to this, the head  17  is moved to an access position on the magnetic disk  12 .  
         [0041]     The head  17  is adjoined and placed to the recording region on the magnetic disk  12 , and performs a write operation of an audio signal with respect to the sector and a read out operation of the audio signal from the sector.  
         [0042]     The processing circuit  18  amplifies the audio signal read out from the magnetic disk  12  by the head  17 , and outputs it via the interface  20  to the processing unit  30 .  
         [0043]     Further, the processing circuit  18  outputs the audio signal to be written input from the processing unit  30  to the head  17 .  
         [0044]     The memory  21  is used with an electrically erasable programmable read only memory (EEPROM). Note that, the memory  21  may be a flash memory.  
         [0045]     The memory  21  is written with a sector management data SMD by the processing unit  30 .  
         [0046]     Note that, the sector management data SMD may be stored on a region which is the outside of a management region on the magnetic disk  12 , namely on a SMART region where a vendor records hiddenly. If recording the sector management data SMD on the magnetic disk  12 , for example, the sector management data SMD is read out from the magnetic disk  12  to a synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM)  38  in starting the audio system  1 , and applied by an access of the CPU  66  to the SDRAM  38 .  
         [0047]      FIG. 2  is a view for illustrating the sector management data SMD.  
         [0048]     As shown in  FIG. 2 , the sector management data SMD indicates attribute data of each of the sectors in the recording region of the magnetic disk  12 .  
         [0049]     The attribute data indicates that the sector is some of a recordable non-defective sector NS, a defective sector DS of a defective-recording and an unverified sector UVS.  
         [0050]     In the present embodiment, that whether each of sector is either of the non-defective sector NS and the defective sector DS is verified when writing the audio data to the sector in the processing unit  30  after the shipment of the audio system  1 .  
         [0051]     (Processing Unit  30 )  
         [0052]     As shown in  FIG. 1 , the processing unit  30  has a HDA interface  31 , a liquid crystal display  32 , a power source circuit  34 , a flash memory  36 , the SDRAM  38 , a driver  40 , a liquid crystal driver  52 , an interface  54 , a universal serial bus (USB) interface  56 , a codec  58 , a conversion circuit  60 , a hard disk controller (HDC)  62 , a direct memory access controller (DMAC)  64  and the CPU  66 , for example.  
         [0053]     In the present embodiment, the liquid crystal driver  52 , the interface  54 , the USB interface  65 , the codec  58 , the conversion circuit  60 , the HDC  62 , the DMAC  64  and the CPU  66  are integrally formed by a semiconductor integrated circuit  59 .  
         [0054]     The HDA interface  31  is connected to the interface  20  of the HDA  10 , and inputs and outputs data to the HDA  10 .  
         [0055]     The liquid crystal display  32  displays an image to a screen in accordance with a control from the liquid crystal driver  52 . The screen is an operation screen for example.  
         [0056]     The power source circuit  34  provides the respective components of the processing unit  30  with a drive electrical power.  
         [0057]     The flash memory  36  stores a program PRG which determines a processing of the CPU  66 . The program PRG is a firm ware F/W.  
         [0058]     The SDRAM  38  stores data concerning a processing of the processing unit  30 .  
         [0059]     The driver  40  outputs a control signal to the spindle motor  14  and the VCM  16  of the HDA  10  according to a control from the HDC  62 .  
         [0060]     The liquid crystal driver  52  controls a display of the liquid crystal display  32  on the basis of a control signal from the CPU  66 .  
         [0061]     The interface  54  and the USB interface  56  input and output data to the outside of the processing unit  30 .  
         [0062]     The codec  58  decodes the audio data read out from the HDA  10 , and encodes the audio data to be written in the HDA  10 .  
         [0063]     The conversion circuit  60  performs a filter processing (an equalizer processing) and an A/D conversion of the audio signal read out from the HDA  10 , and outputs the audio data obtained by the processing to the HDC  62 . Namely, the conversion circuit  60  has a function of so-called a “read channel”.  
         [0064]     Further, the conversion circuit  60  performs a D/A conversion of the audio data to be written input from the HDC  62  to generate an audio signal, and outputs it to the HDA  10 .  
         [0065]     The HDC  62  controls collectively accesses to the HDA  10  according to a control from the CPU  66 .  
         [0066]     The CPU  66  controls collectively operations of the processing unit  30 .  
         [0067]     The CPU  66  performs a control and a processing, for example a write operation and a read out operation in explanation blow, according to the program PRG which is read out from the flash memory  36 .  
         [0068]     The CPU  66  executes the program PRG to realize a verification function module  2 , a sector management function module  4  and a decision function module  6  shown in  FIG. 3 , for example.  
         [0069]     The CPU  66  may include a plurality of circuits.  
         [0070]     A processing of the CPU  66  will be explained with reference to the following example of an operation of the processing unit  30 .  
         [0071]     Next, an example of the operation of the processing unit  30  will be explained.  
         [0072]     (Example of Write Operation)  
         [0073]     An example of an operation in which the processing unit  30  writes the audio data to the HDA  10  will be explained.  
         [0074]      FIGS. 4 and 5  are flow charts for illustrating the example of the operation in which the processing unit  30  writes the audio data to the HDA  10 .  
         [0075]     In  FIGS. 4 and 5 , steps ST 8  to ST 12  are executed by the verification function module  2  shown in  FIG. 3 .  
         [0076]     Further, steps ST 7 , ST 13  and ST 14  are executed by the sector management function module  4  shown in  FIG. 3 .  
         [0077]     Furthermore, steps ST 1  to ST 6  are executed by the decision function module  6  shown in  FIG. 3 .  
         [0078]     Step ST 1 :  
         [0079]     The CPU  66  decides whether a recording request of the audio data is input.  
         [0080]     The recording request is input to the CPU  66  in accordance with an operation of a not shown operation unit from a user.  
         [0081]     Step ST 2 :  
         [0082]     The CPU  66  selects a sector to be written in a plurality of sectors in the recording region of the magnetic disk  12 .  
         [0083]     At that time, the CPU  66  selects the sector according to the predetermined algorithm.  
         [0084]     Step ST 3 :  
         [0085]     The CPU  66  reads out the sector management data SMD shown in  FIG. 2  via the HDA interface  31  from the memory  21  of the HDA  10 .  
         [0086]     Step ST 4 :  
         [0087]     The CPU  66  obtains the attribute data corresponding to an identification data ID of the sector selected in step ST 2  from the sector management data SMD read out in step ST 3 .  
         [0088]     Then, the CPU  66  decides whether the obtained attribute data indicates either of the defective sector DS and the non-defective sector NS. If deciding it, the routine proceeds to step ST 5 . If not, the routine proceeds to step ST 8  shown in  FIG. 5 .  
         [0089]     Step ST 5 :  
         [0090]     The CPU  66  decides whether the attribute data obtained in step ST 4  indicates the defective sector DS. If deciding it, the routine proceeds to step ST 6 . If not, the routine proceeds to step ST 7 .  
         [0091]     Step ST 6 :  
         [0092]     The CPU  66  selects a sector other than the sector selected in step ST 2  as a write sector, and then returns to step ST 3 .  
         [0093]     Step ST 7 :  
         [0094]     The CPU  66  writes the audio data to be written to the sector selected in step ST 2 .  
         [0095]     Concretely, the CPU  66  controls the HDC  62  so as to write the audio data encoded by the codec  58  to the sector.  
         [0096]     The HDC  62  outputs the encoded audio data to the conversion circuit  60  on the basis of the control from the CPU  66 .  
         [0097]     Further, the HDC  62  controls the VCM  16  via the driver  40  so as to place the head  17  in the selected sector on the magnetic disk  12 .  
         [0098]     The conversion circuit  60  performs the D/A conversion to the audio data input from the HDC  62  to generate the audio signal, and output the generated signal to the processing circuit  18  of the HDA  10 . The processing circuit  18  writes the audio signal via the head  17  to the selected sector of the magnetic disk  12 .  
         [0099]     Step ST 8 :  
         [0100]     Step ST 8  is the same as step ST 7 .  
         [0101]     Step ST 9 :  
         [0102]     The CPU  66  reads out the audio data from the selected sector, namely the written sector in step ST 8 .  
         [0103]     Concretely, the CPU  66  controls the HDC  62 . Consequently the audio signal is read out from the sector by the head  17 , amplified by the processing circuit  18 , and output to the conversion circuit  60 .  
         [0104]     The conversion circuit  60  performs the A/D conversion of the input audio signal to generate the audio data, and outputs it to the HDC  62 .  
         [0105]     Then, the HDC  62  outputs the generated audio data to the codec  58 , and the codec  58  decodes the audio data.  
         [0106]     Step ST 10 :  
         [0107]     The CPU  66  compares the audio data written in step ST 8  which is not encoded and the audio data decoded in step ST 9 .  
         [0108]     Step ST 11 :  
         [0109]     If the CPU  66  decides that the both are corresponded in the above comparison in step ST 10 , the routine proceeds to step ST 12 . If it decides that the both are not, the routine proceeds to step ST 13 .  
         [0110]     Step ST 12 :  
         [0111]     The CPU  66  sets the attribute data indicating the non-defective sector corresponding to the selected sector to the sector management data SMD shown in  FIG. 2 .  
         [0112]     Step ST 13 :  
         [0113]     The CPU  66  sets the attribute data indicating the defective sector corresponding to the selected sector to the sector management data SMD shown in  FIG. 2 .  
         [0114]     Step ST 14 :  
         [0115]     The CPU  66  selects a sector other than the sector selected in step ST 2  as a write sector, and then returns to step ST 3  shown in  FIG. 4 .  
         [0116]     (Read Out Operation)  
         [0117]     The CPU  66  receives a read out (reproduction) request in accordance with an operation from a user, and then outputs the designed request of the sector according to the read out request to the driver  40 .  
         [0118]     The driver  40  controls the VCM  16  of the HDA  10  to make the head  17  move to a position in the sector according to the read out request.  
         [0119]     Then, the head  17  reads out the audio signal from the sector, and then the processing circuit  18  amplifies the audio signal and outputs it to the conversion circuit  60 .  
         [0120]     The conversion circuit  60  performs the A/D conversion of the audio signal to generate the audio data, and outputs it to the HDC  62 .  
         [0121]     The HDC  62  performs an error collection code (ECC) processing to the audio data input from the conversion circuit  60 , and outputs the result to the codec  58 .  
         [0122]     The codec  58  decodes the audio data input from the HDC  62 , and outputs the result to the CPU  66 .  
         [0123]     The CPU  66  performs a voice output processing of the audio data input from the codec  58 .  
         [0124]     Due to this, a voice corresponding to the decoded audio data is output by a not shown speaker.  
         [0125]     The CPU  66  performs the read out operation again if an error occurs in reading out the sector according to the read out request by the head  17 . Further, the CPU  66  sets the attribute data of the sector in the sector management data SMD shown in  FIG. 2  to the defective sector if the error frequency in reading exceeds the predetermined reference.  
         [0126]     As mentioned by using  FIGS. 4 and 5 , when the processing unit  30  performs the write operation to the sector of the magnetic disk  12  after a shipment of the audio system  1 , the audio system  1  verifies a quality of the sector. Therefore, the magnetic disk  12  does not have to be tested with the quality of the sector in producing the HDA  10 .  
         [0127]     Due to this, the test apparatus for testing the quality of the sector becomes unnecessary and test time before the shipment of the audio system  1  can be reduced. Therefore, the audio system  1  can be produced in low cost.  
         [0128]     Further, according to the audio system  1 , the sector management data SMD is written to a memory  21  of the HDA  10 , so that the other processing unit could utilize the sector management SMD if the HDA  10  is connected to the other processing unit.  
         [0129]     Note that, when data is not recorded on the magnetic disk  12 , namely the magnetic disk  12  is new, the audio system  1  has to perform the verification processing whenever the sector is written. However, the audio data is generally compressed, so that a processing time becomes in the permissive range.  
       Second Embodiment  
       [0130]     The above embodiment is illustrated with the case that the audio system  1  is divided into the HDA  10  and the processing unit  30  and inputs and outputs data via the interface  20  and the HDA interface  31  between the HDA  10  and the processing unit  30 .  
         [0131]     In the present embodiment, the HDA  10  and the processing unit  30  are formed integrally.  
         [0132]      FIG. 6  shows a view of a configuration of an audio system  101  according to the present embodiment.  
         [0133]     As shown in  FIG. 6 , the audio system  101  has the magnetic disk  12 , the spindle motor  14 , the VCM  16 , the head  17 , a memory  81 , a processing circuit  82 , a driver circuit  83 , a HDC  84 , a CPU  86 , the liquid crystal display  32 , the power source  34 , the flash memory  36 , the SDRAM  38 , the driver  40 , the liquid crystal driver  52 , the interface  54 , the USB interface  56 , the codec  58 , the DMAC  64 , an ATA interface  80  and a CPU  90 , for example.  
         [0134]     In  FIG. 6 , a component assigned same notation to  FIG. 1  is same as the first embodiment.  
         [0135]     In the audio system  101 , the CPU  90  communicates with the HDC  84  via the interface  80 .  
         [0136]     The CPU  90  controls a processing of the codec  58  and the liquid crystal display  32 , namely the concrete processing accompanying an access with respect to the magnetic disk  12  is controlled by the HDC  84  and the CPU  86 .  
         [0137]     In the present embodiment, the write operation with respect to the magnetic disk  12  illustrated in  FIGS. 4 and 5  is executed by the CPU  86  according to the program PRG 1  stored in the memory  81 .  
         [0138]     Further, the sector management data SMD mentioned in the first embodiment is stored in the memory  81 . Further the memory  81  stores a variation of the magnetic disk  12  or a head  17 , a parameter depending on temperature or other data. The CPU  86  controls an access to the magnetic disk  12  on the basis of these data stored in the memory  81 .  
         [0139]     Note that, the memory  81  is an EEPROM, for example.  
         [0140]     The processing circuit  82  performs a processing corresponding to the processing of the processing circuit  18  and the conversion circuit  60  shown in  FIG. 1 , and the HDC  84  performs a processing corresponding to the HDC  62  shown in  FIG. 1 .  
         [0141]     Similar to the first embodiment illustrated in  FIGS. 4 and 5 , when the CPU  86  performs the write operation to the sector of the magnetic disk  12  after a shipment of the audio system  101 , the audio system  101  verifies the quality of the sector. Therefore, the magnetic disk  12  does not have to be tested with the quality of the sector in producing the audio system  101 .  
         [0142]     Due to this, the test apparatus for testing the quality of the sector becomes unnecessary, further test time before the shipment of the audio system  101  can be reduced. Therefore, the audio system  101  can be produced in low cost.  
         [0143]     The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments.  
         [0144]     The above embodiments are illustrated with the case of recording the audio data on the magnetic disk  12 , additionally the present invention also can be applied in the case of recording video data or other data on the magnetic disk  12 .  
         [0145]     Further, the above embodiments are illustrated with the magnetic disk as a recording medium of the present invention, but if the recording medium has a recording region divided into a plurality of sectors, it may not limited to.  
         [0146]     Furthermore, in the first embodiment, the processing unit  30  writes the sector management data SMD to the memory  21  of the HDA  10 . Additionally, the sector management data SMD may be written to the flash memory  36  in the processing unit  30 .  
         [0147]     The present invention can be applied to a system recording data on a recording medium in which a recording region is divided into a plurality of sectors.  
         [0148]     It should be understood by those skilled in the art that various modifications, combinations, sub-combinations and alterations may occur depending on design requirements and other factors in so far as they are within scope of the appeared claims or the equivalents thereof.