Source: {"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"}

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a tape cassette comprised of a tape-shaped recording medium housed in a cassette, and to a recording and/or reproducing apparatus for recording and/or reproducing data for the tape-shaped recording medium.
2. Description of the Related Art
As a tape recording and/or reproducing apparatus, capable of recording and/or reproducing digital data for a tape-shaped recording medium, there is known a so-called tape streamer drive. This tape streamer drive can have a voluminous recording density of the order of, for example, tens to hundreds of gigabyte, depending on the tape length of the tape cassette, as a recording medium, and is widely used for backing the data recorded on a hard disc, for example, of a main body unit of the computer. It is also conveniently used for storage of picture data of large data size.
As the above-mentioned tape streamer drive, there is proposed such a one configured for recording and/or reproducing data for a tape cassette for an 8 mm VTR as a recording medium, in accordance with a helical scan system employing a rotary head.
As the above-mentioned tape streamer drive, exploiting such a tape cassette for an 8 mm VTR, the small computer system interface (SCSI), for example, is used as an input/output interface of recording and/or reproducing data.
During recording, data furnished from, for example, a host computer, is inputted via the SCSI interface. This input data is transmitted in terms of preset groups of data of a fixed length as a unit. The input data is compressed, if need be, in accordance with a preset system, and transiently stored in a buffer memory. The data stored in the buffer memory is supplied to a recording and/or reproducing system in terms of a preset length, known as a groove, as a unit, so as to be recorded by a rotary head on a magnetic tape.
During reproduction, data of a magnetic tape is read out by a rotary head so as to be transiently stored in the buffer memory. The data from the buffer memory is expanded., if previously compressed for recording, and is transmitted via SCSI interface to a host computer.
The data recording area on the magnetic tape forms numbered partitions in which it is possible to reproduce or record data.
In a data storage system, comprised of the above-described tape streamer drive and a tape cassette, the numbers affixed to the partitions are used to supervise the partitions on the magnetic tape for performing proper recording and/or reproducing operations for the magnetic tape of the tape cassette. For example, for performing recording and/or reproduction, the tape streamer device moves to the partition carrying the desired number, by prediction from the current prevailing partition number.
For recording the recording data on a data recording area carrying plural partitions on the magnetic tape as described above, the numbers affixed to these partitions are in the falling order beginning from the leading end of tape (BOT) to the trailing end of tea (EOT) of the tape-shaped recording medium, as shown in FIG. 1. If, for example, there are formed eight partitions, the partition numbers are P7, P6, P5, P4, P3, P2, P1, P0 from the BOT of the tape-shaped recording medium. The suffixes of the partition numbers, that is n of Pn, stand for the partition numbers.
The reason the partition numbers are in the falling order is to enable the total number of the partitions formed on the tape-shaped recording medium to be inferred from the partition number of the leading end of the tape-shaped recording medium. For example, from the partition number affixed to the leading end partition, herein xe2x80x9c7xe2x80x9d, it can be inferred that a sum total of 8 partitions are formed on the tape-shaped recording medium shown in FIG. 1.
There are occasions wherein, if the partitions are formed in this manner in succession, the operator desires to add a new partition. In such case, a new partition can be added by splitting a pre-existing partition.
The routine practice in adding a partition is to split the partition P0 of the EOT of the tape-shaped recording medium. This adds the new partition P8 at back of the partition P0, with the number affixed to the partition P8 being xe2x80x9c8xe2x80x9d. However, this produces disruption in the partition numbers affixed to the partitions.
If, when the partition P8 is added to the trailing end of the partition P0, and the current prevailing position is the partition P3, the operator desires to move to the partition P8, the operator moves to the BOT of the tape-shaped recording medium, reliance being had on the relation 3 less than 8, on the assumption that the numbers affixed to the partitions are on the falling order.
If the tape streamer device is moved based on this assumption, it is not possible to find out the partition P8 provided at the trailing end where the new partition has been added. That is, for efficient movement of the tape streamer device to the targeted partition P8, there is required means for grasping the current disposition of the partitions without regard to the current positions.
There occurs a similar situation in case of partition deletion. For example, if the operator moves in search of the partition P0 unawares of the fact that the partition P0 has been deleted, there is no such partition and the tape comes to a close contrary to the intention of the operator. In order to avoid this from occurring, means need to be provided which permits the fact of previous deletion of the partition without regard to the current partition position.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a tape cassette and a tape recording and/or reproducing apparatus in which the current arraying states of the partitions formed on the tape-shaped recording medium can be grasped even if partitions are deleted or added incidentally.
A tape cassette according to the present invention includes a tape-shaped recording medium having at least two numbered partitions in each of which recording data is recorded, and storage means for storing the ancillary information concerning each of the partitions. The storage means is provided separately from the tape-shaped recording medium, and holds on memory the arraying information specifying the arraying state of the partitions on the tape-shaped recording medium.
The tape cassette can thus store the arraying information indicating the partitions in the tape-shaped recording medium.
A tape recording and/or reproducing apparatus according to the present invention includes partition rewriting means for rewriting partitions on the tape-shaped recording medium, partition rewriting means for rewriting the partitions on the tape-shaped recording medium, writing means for storing the arraying information specifying the arraying of the partitions in the storage means, recording and/or reproducing means for recording and/or reproducing the recording data for the partitions, and controlling means for controlling the recording and/or reproducing means based on the arraying information to record and/or reproduce data.
Thus, the tape recording and/or reproducing apparatus controls the recording and/or reproducing means by the controlling means based on the arraying information of the partitioned tape cassette in the tape-shaped recording medium written by the partition arraying information writing means in the tape cassette storage means.