Patent ID: 7701831

Claim:
An information recording apparatus comprising: a recording device for recording record information onto an information recording medium comprising: a first recording layer and a second recording layer in each of which the record information can be recorded, wherein the first recording layer includes a lead-in area, a first data area and a first middle area from an inner circumferential side to an outer circumferential side in this order and the second recording layer includes a lead-out area, a second data area and a second middle area from the inner circumferential side to the outer circumferential side in this order; and a first controlling device for controlling said recording device (i) to record the record information over the first and the second data areas by a unit of each of a plurality of block areas, each of which includes a first partial recording area of said first recording layer and a second partial recording area of said second recording layer located in a position facing the first partial recording area, in recording area between the lead-in area and the lead-out area, (ii) to set an interlayer buffer area adjacent to an end of the first partial recording area of at least one of the plurality of block areas by recording buffer data for buffering a change operation of changing a recording layer which is a recording target, when the recording layer is changed from said first recording layer to said second recording layer, (iii) to set a second interlayer buffer area adjacent to an end of the second partial recording area of at least one of the plurality of block areas by recording buffer data, when the recording layer is changed from said first recording layer to said second recording layer, (iv) to set a border-in area adjacent to a head of the first partial recording area of at least one of the plurality of block areas by recording management information data for managing the record information which is recorded into the at least one of the plurality of block areas, and (v) to set a border-out area adjacent to a head of the second partial recording area of at least one of the plurality of block areas by recording the management information.