Patent ID: 7529160

Claim:
A method for simultaneously recording a plurality of pieces of real time data on an information recording medium in accordance with a simultaneous recording model, wherein the simultaneous recording model includes a pickup P for accessing an area on the information recording medium, an encoding module EMi for encoding real time data Di, and a recording buffer WBi for accumulating the encoded real time data Di, the method comprising the steps of: searching for an unassigned area in a volume space in the information recording medium and assigning at least one unassigned area in the volume space as an area Ai in which the real time data Di is to be recorded; executing a recording operation Wi for recording the real time data Di accumulated in the recording buffer WBi in the area Ai; and determining whether the recording buffer WBi is empty or not while the recording operation Wi is being executed; when the recording buffer WBi is determined to be empty, switching the recording operation Wi to another recording operation Wj (i≠j); and when the recording buffer WBi is determined not to be empty, continuing the recording operation Wi; wherein: the plurality of pieces of real time data to be recorded include data to be encoded by a variable rate; each of the at least one area assigned as the area Ai is structured to fulfill a simultaneous recording condition that the recording buffer WBi is made empty by at most one access operation and at most two recording operations; and i is an integer where 1≦i≦n, and n is an integer where n≧2 which represents the number of the plurality of pieces of real time data for simultaneous recording.