Patent ID: 7099240

Claim:
An apparatus for recording and reproducing information on and from a recording medium having first and second areas and a management area, the management area storing management information representing addresses in the first and second areas, the apparatus comprising: a first buffer memory for receiving a first information signal at a first transfer rate, for temporarily storing the first information signal, and for outputting the first information signal at a predetermined constant transfer rate higher than the first transfer rate; a second buffer memory for receiving a second information signal at a second transfer rate lower than the predetermined constant transfer rate, for temporarily storing the second information signal, and for outputting the second information signal at the predetermined constant transfer rate; a head for receiving the first and second information signals from the first and second buffer memories and recording the first and second information signals on the first and second areas of the recording medium respectively on a time sharing basis and at the predetermined constant transfer rate while moving between the first and second areas of the recording medium; means for controlling the head to reproduce the management information from the management area of the recording medium before the head records the first and second information signals; means for deriving the addresses from the reproduced management information; means for searching for unoccupied regions in the first and second areas of the recording medium in response to the derived addresses; and means for deciding whether or not the first and second information signals can be recorded on the unoccupied regions while recording continuities related to the first and second information signals are maintained.