Ko, Jung-wan (Yongin, KR)
Lee, Kyung-geun (Sungnam, KR)

Plaque It!

11/025936

11/04/2008

01/03/2005

Images are available in PDF form when logged in. To view PDFs, Login  or  Create Account (Free!)

Click for automatic bibliography generation

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (Suwon-si, KR)

369/275.3

369/47.12, 369/53.21, 369/47.13

G11B7/006

369/47.12, 369/53.27, 714/764, 369/53.24, 369/53.21, 369/53.19, 369/44.32, 369/84, 369/47.13, 369/47.24, 369/30.05, 369/30.09, 369/275.3, 369/83, 369/30.04, 369/30.03, 714/755, 369/47.1, 369/30.21, 369/53.2, 369/53.41

4211919	Portable data carrier including a microprocessor	July, 1980	Ugon
4606016	Write protection and data detection using differential detector	August, 1986	Verboom et al.
4805061	Self-positioning write protect mechanism for a cartridge	February, 1989	Champagne et al.
5023854	Disc having a data read-only area and a data recording arm and a recording reproducing system therefor	June, 1991	Satoh et al.
5058096	Disk recording/reproducing apparatus and disk recording/reproducing method	October, 1991	Ando et al.
5072435	Information recording device which adjusts its recording parameters to the record carrier to be recorded	December, 1991	Bakx
5142515	Sector slip with address collision recovery for write once recording media	August, 1992	McFerrin et al.
5233576	Multi-function optical disk drive and media	August, 1993	Curtis et al.
5268889	Display device for a compact disc player and a compact disc	December, 1993	Furukawa et al.
5305296	Method and apparatus for recording information on a recordable optical disc utilizing unrecorded count area to determine available test area	April, 1994	Kono
5315578	Disc recording medium and data recording method	May, 1994	Furukawa
5323380	Information recording disc and system	June, 1994	Oda et al.
5404357	Information writing and reading apparatus	April, 1995	Ito et al.
5418852	Unauthorized use prevention method for optical disks, optical disk having unauthorized use prevention function, and optical disk apparatus	May, 1995	Itami et al.
5420838	Disk recording and reproducing device	May, 1995	Maeda et al.
5467081	Datacarriers with separate storage of read and write-inhibited memory locations	November, 1995	Drews et al.
5471452	Method of editing information signals recorded on recording medium	November, 1995	Kishi
5499233	Optical disk carrier with write-protect mechanism	March, 1996	Childers et al.
5535188	Data security protection for information recorded on a rewritable storage medium using a write-once read-many storage medium	July, 1996	Dang et al.
5587849	Mechanism for securing recorded contents of recording medium cassette	December, 1996	Kori et al.
5617393	Optical disk having an erased-state indicator and optical disk apparatus for reducing frequency of disk erasing operation	April, 1997	Itami et al.
5633841	Optical disc recording/reproducing apparatus having automatic protection of previously recorded data	May, 1997	Yokota et al.
5644444	Read/write protect scheme for a disk cartridge and drive	July, 1997	Braithwaite et al.
5654950	Method for protecting data recorded on a partial read-only memory (ROM) medium from unauthorized copying	August, 1997	Itoh
5684770	User table of contents data recovering method of a recordable optical disc driving apparatus	November, 1997	Kim
5694381	Information data reproducing system, reproducing apparatus, reproducing method, data forming apparatus, and data record medium	December, 1997	Sako
5706260	Apparatus for and method of synchronously recording signals onto a disk medium by a single head	January, 1998	Kishi
5721856	Optical disk write method	February, 1998	Takeuchi
5737290	Recording medium capable of recording a first data-type and a second data-type, playback method and playback device for playing back from the recording medium, and recording device for recording first-type data and second-type data on the recording medium	April, 1998	Ohmori
5757764	Disc cartridge having a write protect operating portion disposed within the cartridge body	May, 1998	Tanaka
5761301	Mark forming apparatus, method of forming laser mark on optical disk, reproducing apparatus, optical disk and method of producing optical disk	June, 1998	Oshima et al.
5793779	Optical disk and method and apparatus for recording and then playing information back from that disk	August, 1998	Yonemitsu et al.	714/764
5805539	Recording medium management method where recording is carried out by data recording units in accordance with management tables	September, 1998	Igarashi et al.
5818807	Optical medium having a test recording area and method for recording test data thereon	October, 1998	Kuroda et al.
5878020	Information recording disk with management areas	March, 1999	Takahashi
5905709	Mass production of multisession discs for playback on audio-only and CD-ROM players	May, 1999	Blaukovitsch
5931294	Storage container for information bearing disc devices	August, 1999	Weingarden et al.
5940854	Unique identifier for optical media	August, 1999	Green, Jr. et al.
5946277	Method and apparatus for recording information files to a recording medium	August, 1999	Kuroda et al.	369/30.05
5966496	Method of and apparatus for recording and reproducing digital information signal including sub-information	October, 1999	Takimoto
5978322	Optical recording medium having a parameter for identifying the format of data and a reproducing device thereof	November, 1999	Sugimoto et al.
5978551	Picture data printing apparatus and print picture data generating apparatus	November, 1999	Koyama
5982886	Unauthorized use preventing method for optical disks, optical disk having unauthorized use prevention function, and optical disk apparatus	November, 1999	Itami et al.
5987126	Device having a digital interface and a network system using such a device and a copy protection method	November, 1999	Okuyama et al.
6021199	Motion picture data encrypting method and computer system and motion picture data encoding/decoding apparatus to which encrypting method is applied	February, 2000	Ishibashi
6034931	Method of recording media data on a storage medium and method and system for accessing the media data recorded on the storage medium	March, 2000	Miwa et al.
6072759	Recording medium with format for preventing unauthorized copying, and reproducing apparatus for same	June, 2000	Maeda et al.
6078727	Optical disc, recording apparatus, and computer-readable recording medium	June, 2000	Saeki et al.
6088507	Multimedia optical disc for storing audio data and sub-picture data in a plurality of channels as well as moving picture data and apparatus and method for reproducing the multimedia optical disc	July, 2000	Yamauchi et al.
6137769	Optical recording medium and method of information recording/reading an optical recording medium	October, 2000	Sawada et al.
6141702	Model and command set for an AV/C-based disc media player recorder	October, 2000	Ludtke et al.
6243340	Information recording apparatus including system control means for producing managing information for managing data recorded on an information recording medium and preventing designated data from being accessed	June, 2001	Ito et al.	369/53.19
6246660	Device for controlling the power of a recording optical beam in an information storage apparatus	June, 2001	Yanagawa
6288989	Information recording method with protection function of previously recorded information	September, 2001	Ro et al.	369/47.13
6289016	Method for eliminating misconcatenation of partial packets in AAL2 and partial packet with channel identifier	September, 2001	Subbiah et al.
6289102	Apparatus and method for preventing unauthorized use of information recorded on an information recording medium	September, 2001	Ueda et al.
6289423	Method and apparatus for providing selective write protect regions in a storage medium	September, 2001	Ozaki et al.
6324026	Readable indelible mark on storage media	November, 2001	Thomas, III
6343180	Apparatus and method for producing reproduction time of an optical disc	January, 2002	Kim
6347145	Method and apparatus of enciphering and deciphering data using keys enciphered and deciphered with other keys	February, 2002	Kato et al.
6370090	METHOD, DEVICE, AND INFORMATION STRUCTURE FOR STORING AUDIO-CENTERED INFORMATION WITH A MULTI-LEVEL TABLE-OF-CONTENTS (TOC) MECHANISM AND DOUBLING OF AREA-TOCS, A DEVICE FOR USE WITH SUCH MECHANISM AND A UNITARY STORAGE MEDIUM HAVING SUCH MECHANISM	April, 2002	Verbakel et al.	369/30.04
6385152	Recording/playback apparatus, recording/playback method, presentation medium and recording medium	May, 2002	Fujinami et al.
6385389	Information recording medium, method for recording information, and method for reproduction information	May, 2002	Maruyama et al.
6385744	Data recording medium, data recording method and data reproducing method	May, 2002	Ando et al.
6392969	DVD-Audio disk, and apparatus and method for recording data on and/or reproducing data from the same	May, 2002	Heo
6396998	DVD recording/reproducing apparatus having a high-speed copying capability	May, 2002	Nozaki et al.
6442128	Recording medium for storing attribute information on basic recording unit and method of identifying data using the attribute information	August, 2002	Lee et al.
6490683	Optical disk having electronic watermark, reproducing apparatus thereof and copy protecting method using the same	December, 2002	Yamada et al.
6633515	Method for storing audio-centered information	October, 2003	Van Nieuwenhoven et al.	369/30.04
6724705	Recording medium for storing write protection information and write protection method thereof	April, 2004	Ko et al.	369/53.21
6813681	Information recording method and apparatus, information reproducing method and apparatus	November, 2004	Kanota et al.	369/47.1
6885623	Recording and reproducing method of information recording medium and information recording and reproducing apparatus	April, 2005	Oishi et al.	369/53.37
6970407	Recording medium for storing write protection information and write protection method thereof	November, 2005	Ko et al.	369/53.21

EP0406021	January, 1991			Disk recording and reproducing device
EP0921526	June, 1999			Disc cartridge having sensor hole to be opened/closed and apparatus and method for driving the same
JP57053802	March, 1982			PROCESSOR OF DIGITAL SIGNAL
JP5753802	March, 1982
JP6285357	April, 1987
JP62298058	December, 1987
JP2301072	December, 1990
JP0335476	February, 1991
JP0371470	March, 1991
JP3203815	September, 1991			LIQUID CRYSTAL DISPLAY DEVICE
JP03278374	December, 1991
JP3278374	December, 1991			CHAIR TYPE INFANT HOLDING DEVICE
JP3286448	December, 1991			BONDING TOOL FOR THERMAL PRESSURE BONDING
JP03286448	December, 1991			RECORDING/REPRODUCING DEVICE
JP4116713	April, 1992
JP4168630	June, 1992
JP4178968	June, 1992
JP5109176	April, 1993
JP5151707	June, 1993
JP5198095	August, 1993
JP5260433	October, 1993
JP5266575	October, 1993
JP0612788	January, 1994
JP0620403	January, 1994
JP6111475	April, 1994
JP06197306	July, 1994			RECORDING/REPRODUCING DEVICE AND REPRODUCING DEVICE
JP6259887	September, 1994
JP6267240	September, 1994
JP6268518	September, 1994
JP07006567	January, 1995			DISK RECORDING/REPRODUCING DEVICE
JP0076567	January, 1995
JP0721697	January, 1995
JP7169187	July, 1995
JP7192385	July, 1995
JP0831080	February, 1996
JP8153331	June, 1996
JP8153342	June, 1996
JP8336668	December, 1996
JP0935454	February, 1997
JP0950373	February, 1997
JP09120626	May, 1997			DISK-RECORDING/REPRODUCING APPARATUS AND DISC RECORDING MEDIUM
JP9120626	May, 1997
JP9128301	May, 1997
JP09305969	November, 1997			DEVICE FOR PREVENTING ERRONEOUS ERASE OF OPTICAL DISK APPARATUS
JP1079174	March, 1998
JP1092149	April, 1998
JP10106146	April, 1998			RECORDING AND REPRODUCING METHOD OF DISK AND REPRODUCING DEVICE
JP10106147	April, 1998			RECORDING METHOD OF COPYRIGHT MANAGEMENT INFORMATION OF DISK, WRITING METHOD AND DISK
JP63237259	October, 1998
JP11283358	October, 1999			RE-WRITABLE OPTICAL DISK AND DEVICE FOR RECORDING DATA ON THE SAME
WO/1996/028820	September, 1996			READ/WRITE PROTECT SCHEME FOR A DISK CARTRIDGE AND DRIVE
WO/1997/013365	April, 1997			METHOD AND DEVICE FOR RECORDING AND REPRODUCING INTERLEAVED BIT STREAM ON AND FROM MEDIUM
WO/1997/035309	September, 1997			METHOD FOR SUBSTITUTING DEFECTIVE RECORDING OF DISCOID RECORDING MEDIUM AND DISCOID RECORDING MEDIUM RECORDING AND REPRODUCING DEVICE
WO/1997/049238	December, 1997			CONDITIONAL ACCESS SYSTEM FOR LOCAL STORAGE DEVICE
WO/1998/002881	January, 1998			APPARATUS HAVING DIGITAL INTERFACE, NETWORK SYSTEM EMPLOYING THE APPARATUS AND COPY PROTECTION METHOD
WO/1998/024027	June, 1998			WEB CACHE MEMORY DEVICE AND CLIENT APPARATUS UTILIZING THE SAME

Japanese Office Action for Japanese Divisional Patent Application No. 2001-349428 dated Jul. 13, 2004 (related to the present application).
Japanese Office Action for Japanese Divisional Patent Application No. 2001-349426 dated Jul. 13, 2004 (related to the present application).
Japanese Office Action for Japanese Divisional Patent Application No. 2000-319954 dated Jul. 13, 2004 (related to the present application).
Japanese Office Action for Japanese App. No. 2000-319954.
Japanese Office Action for Japanese App. 11-167491.
Technical Disclosure Bulletin “Method for Write-Protecting a Program Disk,” vol. 30, No. 10, Mar. 1998.
Patent Abstracts of Japan—JP 8-315361; Nov. 29, 1996.
Patent Abstracts of Japan—JP 11-045545; Feb. 16, 1999.
Patent Abstract of Japan—JP 09-231018; Sep. 5, 1997.
JIS 120 mm DVD—DVD-RAM, JIS X 6243, Jan. 10, 2000.
English language Japanese Office Action for Japanese Divisional Patent Application No. 2000-319954, dated Jan. 6, 2004 (related to the present application).
U.S. Appl. No. 09/333,520, filed Jun. 15, 1999, Jung-wan Ko, et al., Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
U.S. Appl. No. 09/610,695, filed Jul. 5, 2000, Jung-wan Ko, et al., Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
U.S. Appl. No. 10/020,074, filed Dec. 19, 2001, Jung-wan Ko, et al., Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
U.S. Appl. No. 10/020,980, filed Dec. 19, 2001, Jung-wan Ko, et al., Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
U.S. Appl. No. 09/610,381, filed Jul. 5, 2000, Jung-wan Ko, et al., Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
U.S. Appl. No. 10/819,265, filed Apr. 7, 2004, Jung-wan Ko, et al., Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
U.S. Appl. No. 10/107,147, filed Mar. 28, 2002, Jung-wan Ko, et al., Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
U.S. Appl. No. 10/779,767, filed Feb. 18, 2004, Jung-wan Ko, et al., Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
U.S. Appl. No. 10/020,945, filed Dec. 19, 2001, Jung-wan Ko, et al., Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
U.S. Appl. No. 11/025,971, filed Jan. 3, 2005, Jung-Wan Ko, et al., Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
U.S. Appl. No. 11/025,939, filed Jan. 3, 2005, Jung-Wan Ko, et al. Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
U.S. Appl. No. 11/025,938, filed Jan. 3, 2005, Jung-Wan Ko, et al., Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
Office Action issued in Japanese Patent Application No. 2004-136482 on Jun. 6, 2006.
Office Action issued in Korean Patent Application No. 1999-4679 on Nov. 15, 2005.
U.S. Appl. No. 11/280,283, filed Nov. 17, 2005, Jung-Wan Ko et al., Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
Office Action issued by Japanese Patent Office in Japanese Patent Application No. 2005-66213 on May 27, 2008.

Nguyen, Hoa T.

Chu, Kin

Stein, McEwen & Bui, LLP

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 10/020,945, filed Dec. 19, 2001, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,970,407, which is a divisional of application Ser. No. 09/333,520, filed Jun. 15, 1999, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,724,705, and claims the benefit of Korean Application No. 98-22390, filed Jun. 15, 1998; Korean Application No. 98-23917, filed Jun. 24, 1998; Korean Application No. 98-39727, filed Sep. 24, 1998; Korean Application No. 98-54190, filed Dec. 10, 1998; and Korean Application No. 99-4679, filed Feb. 10, 1999, in the Korean Patent Office, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.

What is claimed is:

1. A recordable and/or rewritable recording medium to record data comprising: a Lead-in area; a Lead-out area; and an entire user data area, wherein the recording medium stores write protection information to protect the data recorded on the recording medium from unwanted overwriting or erasing, along with at least one duplicate write protection information, in the recording medium, and wherein the write protection information comprises write protection state data of one or more preset areas of the recording medium, and wherein the write protection information is stored in at least one defect management area of the Lead-in area and/or at least one defect management area of the Lead-out area.

2. The recording medium of claim 1, wherein a determination of a write protection state or a non-write protection state of the recording medium is based on the duplicate write protection information being read without error.

3. The recording medium of claim 1, wherein a determination of a write protection state or a non-write protection state of the recording medium is based on a plurality of the at least one duplicate write protection information being read without error and having a matching write protection state data.

4. The recording medium of claim 1, wherein the write protection information and the at least one duplicate write protection information are stored in the Lead-in area.

5. The recording medium of claim 4, wherein the Lead-in area comprises a disc identification zone having the at least one duplicate write protection information stored therein.

6. The recording medium of claim 5, wherein the write protection information is stored in four locations in the disc identification zone, each of the four locations being a separate ECC block.

7. The recording medium of claim 1, wherein the write protection information is duplicated three times.

8. The recording medium of claim 1, wherein the recording medium is a bare disc not contained in a case of a cartridge.

9. The recording medium of claim 1, wherein the recording medium is a recordable and/or reproducible recording medium satisfying a DVD (Digital Versatile Disc) specification.

10. The recording medium of claim 9, wherein the recording medium is a recordable and/or reproducible recording medium satisfying a DVD-RAM, DVD-RW or DVD-R specification.

11. The recording medium of claim 9, wherein the recording medium is a recordable and/or reproducible recording medium satisfying a DVD-RW or DVD-R specification.

12. The recording medium of claim 1, wherein the write protection information is redundantly stored in recording management data fields (RMD fields) of the recording management area (RMA area).

13. A recordable and/or rewritable recording medium to record data, comprising: a Lead-in area; a Lead-out area; an entire data recordable area; and a recording information area, wherein the recording medium stores write protection information to protect the data recorded on the recording medium from unwanted overwriting or erasing, along with at least one duplicate write protection information, in the recording information area, and wherein the write protection information comprises write protection state data of one or more preset areas of the recording medium, and wherein the recording information area comprises a recording management area (an RMA area) having the write protection information duplicated therein.

14. The recording medium of claim 13, wherein a determination of a write protection state or a non-write protection state of the recording medium is based on the at least one duplicate write protection information being read without error.

15. The recording medium of claim 13, wherein a determination of a write protection state or a non-write protection state of the recording medium is based on a plurality of the at least one duplicate write protection information being read without error and having a matching write protection state data.

16. The recording medium of claim 13, wherein the recording medium is a bare disc not contained in a case of a cartridge.

17. The recording medium of claim 13, wherein the write protection information is stored in four locations.

18. The recording medium of claim 13, wherein the recording medium is a recordable and/or reproducible recording medium satisfying a DVD (Digital Versatile Disc) specification.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to optical recording and/or reproduction for recording digital data on a disc and/or reproducing the data therefrom, and more particularly, to a write protection method for protecting data recorded by a user on a write-once or rewritable medium from unwanted overwriting or erasing, and a recording medium for storing the write protection information.

2. Description of the Related Art

A DVD-R (Digital Versatile Disc-Recordable) standard and a WORM (Write Once Read Many) standard are standards for a write-once disc, and a DVD-RAM (Digital Versatile Disc Random Access Memory) standard and a DVD-RW (Digital Versatile Disc-Rewritable) standard are standards for a rewritable disc.

According to the DVD-RAM standards published in July of 1997, DVD Specifications for Rewritable Disc, Part 1 Physical Specifications Version 1.0, a DVD-RAM adopts a cartridge containing a disc, and discs from Type 2 and Type 3 cartridges can be used, after removal from the cartridge, as bare discs.

Three types of cartridges for a DVD-RAM are defined as follows. In the Type 1 cartridge, a single sided disc or double sided disc is installed in the cartridge and the installed disc can not be taken out of the case. In the Type 2 cartridge, a single sided disc is installed and the installed disc can be taken out of the case. However, when the disc is taken out of the case once, a sensor hole capable of sensing the removal of the disc is permanently changed into an open state, so that the sensor hole cannot be changed into a closed state again. Thus, it can be determined whether or not the disc has been taken out of the case. Also, in the Type 3 cartridge, a sensor hole capable of determining whether or not a disc has been taken out of the case is open in response to the disc being taken out of the case, so the disc can be taken out of or put into the case without restrictions.

Also, in each of Types 1 through 3, the cartridge has a write-inhibit hole (alternatively called “recognition switch for write protection”) and according to the standard at page PH-69, writing is possible when the write-inhibit hole is closed and is impossible when the write-inhibit hole is open. That is, when a user intends to protect data written by the user from unwanted overwriting or erasing, the corresponding write-inhibit hole in a closed state is changed into an open state, such that a recording apparatus cannot record to the disc of the corresponding cartridge.

However, in the instance of using the Type 2 or Type 3 cartridge, a bare disc can be used without the case as described above. This is so the disc can be used in a thin recording/reproducing apparatus such as a laptop computer which cannot adopt a cartridge. However, the above specifications do not define any write-protect means other than the write-inhibit hole attached to the case of the cartridge.

For example, when a user, after removing a disc installed in a case that protects from writing, inserts the disc into to a thin recording/reproducing apparatus that cannot accept a cartridge, the write protection by the write-inhibit hole is no longer effective.

Also, there are many DVD related specifications such as a DVD-ROM specification (DVD specification for Read Only Memory), and a DVD-R specification (DVD specification for Recordable Disc). Also, many specifications for rewritable DVD, which are not established yet, can be considered, e.g., a DVD specification for a rewritable and readable disc, which is very similar to the DVD-R specification, and a DVD specification for a disc with enhanced density. Such a series of specifications with the prefix of DVD are called the “DVD family.”

Also, a computer operating system adopts various attributes, e.g., read-only and write protection, which is capable of preventing an arbitrary change in written data using attributes of a file that stores the data. However, when a disc is managed at a level lower than that of a file system for managing the file, for example, when the recording and reproduction are directly performed, not via the file system, when the disc is initialized, where the entire file system may not be referred, or in the case that attributes of each file cannot be considered, such a method is not a perfect protection method. A method of protecting data of a bare DVD-RAM from unwanted overwriting or erasing has not yet been introduced.

In the case of a DVD-RAM, a disc can be used in a bare state as well as with the case on. However, in the instance of a DVD-R or a DVD-RW, a disc in a case cannot be used, so that the need to protect the bare disc from unwanted overwriting or erasing has increased. However, when a bare disc taken out of a case is used, it is not possible to utilize the write-inhibit hole, so the write protection must be provided on the disc itself.

In the DVD-R specification, a 3.95 GB specification (Version 1.0) and a 4.7 GB specification (final draft, Version 1.9) do not mention a write protection method for a bare disc. Meanwhile, DVD-RW specifications are being prepared based on the DVD-R specification, and particularly, Version 1.9 defines the use of a bare disc without a case. However, if a future specification defines the use of a disc in a case (for example, extension of application), there will be no write protection method to be applied to a bare disc since the conventional write protection method, which has been applied to a DVD-RAM using the write-inhibit hole, is used.

Further, if the DVD-RW specification allows the use of a case, writing can be prevented using a write-inhibit hole as in the DVD-RAM. However, if a user forgets to change the write-inhibit hole into a write-inhibit position, unwanted erasing or overwriting of data can occur.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to provide a recording medium in which write protection information is stored on a disc contained in a case.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a recording medium in which write protection information capable of protecting a bare disc from unwanted overwriting or erasing is stored on the disc, when the bare disc has been taken out of a case.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a write protection method for a recording and/or reproducing apparatus, capable of protecting information written on a recordable and/or rewritable medium from being undesirably overwritten or erased.

To achieve the first and second objects of the present invention, there is provided a recordable and/or rewritable recording medium which may be contained in a case of a cartridge or may be in a bare state, wherein the recording medium stores write protection information capable of protecting the data recorded on the recording medium from unwanted overwriting or erasing.

To achieve the third object of the present invention, there is provided a write protection method for an optical disc recording and/or reproducing apparatus, wherein data recorded on a recordable or reproducible recording medium including a Lead-in area, a Lead-out area and a user data area is protected from unwanted overwriting or erasing, the method comprising the steps of: (a) checking write-protection information stored on the recording medium; and (b) prohibiting writing of data on the recording medium according to the write protection information.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above objects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent by describing in detail preferred embodiments thereof with reference to the attached drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a cartridge for a DVD-RAM (Digital Versatile Disc Random Access Memory), having a write-inhibit hole;

FIG. 2 shows the structure of a general DVD-RAM;

FIGS. 3A and 3B show the data structure of a defect management area (DMA) of a general DVD-RAM;

FIGS. 4A and 4B show examples of the data structure of the DMA of a DVD-RAM, for storing write protection information, according to an aspect of the present invention;

FIGS. 5A and 5B show further examples of the data structure of the DMA of a DVD-RAM, for storing write protection information, according to an aspect of the present invention;

FIGS. 6A and 6B are flowcharts illustrating a write protection method according to a first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a method of updating write protection information according to the present invention;

FIG. 8 shows the structure of a disc identification zone for storing the write protection information according to the present invention;

FIG. 9 shows the data structure of the write protection information stored in the disc identification zone of FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 shows the structure of a disc satisfying general DVD-R and DVD-RW specifications;

FIG. 11 shows the structure of a Lead-in area shown in FIG. 10;

FIG. 12 shows the structure of a control data zone shown in FIG. 11;

FIG. 13 shows the contents of an RMD (Recording Management data) field of an RMA (Recording Management Area) according to the DVD-R and DVD-RW specifications;

FIG. 14 shows the contents of the conventional RMD field 0 shown in FIG. 13;

FIG. 15 shows the contents of the RMD field 0 for storing the write protection information according to the present invention; and

FIG. 16 is a flowchart illustrating a write protection method according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring to FIG. 1, where the write-inhibit hole of a cartridge according to the DVD-RAM specification is shown, reference numeral 1 represents a write-inhibit hole and a reference numeral 2 represents a sensor hole used to determine whether a disc has been taken out of a case. According to the DVD specifications for rewritable Disc/Part I Physical Specifications Version 1.9, the sensor holes A1, A2 and A3 should be on side B of the case, and corresponding sensor holes B1, B2 and B3 should be on side A of the case. When A1 is closed, the disk has never been removed from the case. When A1 is open, the disk has been removed from the case at least once. When A2 is closed, it represents the active side, and when A2 is open, it represents the non-active side. A3 is reserved.

In FIG. 1, a closed write-inhibit hole 1 indicates that writing is allowed, and an open write-inhibit hole 1 indicates that writing is prohibited. Thus, when the write-inhibit hole 1 is opened, in the corresponding DVD-RAM recording/reproducing apparatus, writing of data to a disc is prohibited even if a write command is input from the outside, so that information written on the disc can be protected from unwanted overwriting.

FIG. 2 shows the structure of a disc according to the DVD-RAM specification. The disc comprises three parts, i.e., a Lead-in area, a user data area and a Lead-out area, according to the aspect of function. Also, the disc can be classified into a rewritable area, an unwritable area and a mirror area distinct from the rewritable area and the unwritable area. In particular, the Lead-in area contains a read-only zone in the innermost part, which is an unwritable embossed data zone having pits, and a rewritable data zone following the read only zone, in which both recording and playback are possible. Meanwhile, the Lead-out area and the user data area are only formed of the rewritable data zone. The read-only zone of the Lead-in area contains information about physical specifications of the disc. The rewritable data zone of each of the Lead-in area and the Lead-out area contain two defect management areas DMA 1, DMA 2 or DMA 3 and DMA 4 in which information about disc defects is written, a disc test zone for use by a disc manufacturer in checking the status of the disc, a drive test zone for testing recording and reproduction operations in a recording/reproducing apparatus, a guard track zone for connecting each zone, and a disc identification zone.

In the DVD-RAM specification version 1.0, the purpose for the disc identification zone and the content thereof are not yet clearly described.

FIGS. 3A and 3B show the data structure in each defect management area (DMA) described at pages PH-155 through PH-158 of the DVD-RAM specification, and in particular, they show the data structure of a disc certification flag and a group certification flag respectively, in a disc definition structure (DDS) area of the DMA.

A total of four defect management areas DMA 1, DMA 2, DMA 3 and DMA 4 are present in the Lead-in area and the Lead-out area of a disc, wherein DMA 1 and DMA 2 exist in the Lead-in area and DMA 3 and DMA 4 exist in the Lead-out area, and identical information relating to disc defects and initialization of the disc is stored in each area. Writing such identical information in different areas, i.e., in two areas DMA 1 and DMA 2 of the Lead-in area and in two areas DMA 3 and DMA 4 in the Lead-out area, is done to prevent the problem of data becoming unusable due to disc defects.

In the byte position 3, i.e., BP3, of the disc definition structure (DDS), a disc certification flag as shown in FIG. 3A is present, and the disc certification flag comprises “In Process” information indicating the initialization state of the disc, a “User certification” flag indicating whether the disc is certified by a user, and a “Disc manufacturer certification” flag indicating whether the corresponding disc is certified by a disc manufacturer, and flag information written in the byte position BP3 is information about the entire disc.

Also, in the byte positions 16 to 39, BP16˜BP39, each byte has a group certification flag as shown in FIG. 3B in an identical configuration. The byte position BP16˜BP39 have initialization information about 24 recordable areas, i.e., a group, defined in the DVD-RAM specification version 1.0. That is, each group certification flag has “In Process” information indicating the initialization state of the corresponding group and a “User certification” flag indicating whether the disc is certified by a user. Here, the group refers to specific recordable areas of the disc.

FIGS. 4A and 4B are examples of the data structures of a disc certification flag and a group certification flag of the disc definition structure (DDS) area of the defect management area (DMA) that stores write protection information according to the present invention. In the data structure of the disc certification flag shown in FIG. 4A, “Disc write protection” information is stored in bits b4 and b3 of a reserved disc certification flag “Reserved”, in contrast to the data structure of the disc certification flag shown in FIG. 3A, and is defined as follows.

• • Disc Write Protection
    • b4, b3=00b: Disc is not write protected
      • 10b: Disc is write protected
        • Entire disc shall not be written to except for drive test zone, and DMA area
      • 11b: Disc is write protected
        • Entire disc shall not be written to
        • These bits shall not be modified to other values
      • Others: Reserved

In the same manner, the data structure of the group certification flag shown in FIG. 4B stores “Group write protection” information in bits b4 and b3 of a reserved group certification flag “Reserved”, in contrast to the data structure of the group certification flag shown in FIG. 3B, and is defined as follows.

• • Group Write Protection
    • b4, b3=00b: Group is not write protected
      • 10b: Group is write protected. User data shall not be written to this block
    • Others: Reserved

The states of the bits b4 and b3 of the disc certification flag, and those of the bit b4 and b3 of the group certification flag are shown in Table 1.

TABLE 1
disc	group
certification flag	certification flag
b4	b3	b4	b3	states
0	0	0	0	No write protection
0	0	1	0< /td>	Given group is write protected
1	0	Don't care	Soft write protected on entire disc
1	1		Hard write protected on entire disc

In the above Table 1, soft write protection means that write protection can be released, that is, that the write protection state can be changed to a rewritable state by setting the corresponding bit b4 to A0″. Also, hard write protection means that write protection is applied to the Lead-out area as well as to the Lead-in area, so that the write protection state can not be restored to the rewritable state.

In the hard write protection for the group, making a part of the disc hard write-protected does not provide advantages to a user in use, rather than in a technical aspect, and particularly, there is a problem of processing in the corresponding group when the entire disc is reinitialized. Thus, it is unfavorable to set the hard write protection for the group.

As shown in the data structure of FIGS. 4A and 4B, the write protection information of the disc is written in the disc definition structure (DDS) of the defect management area (DMA), and identical write protection information is written four times to the same disc, so that robustness of the write protection information on the disc is enhanced.

When a bare disc that is write protected is inserted for use into a case, the write-inhibit hole of which is in a rewritable state, or if a bare disc that is not write protected is inserted into a case, the write-inhibit hole of which is in a write protection state, the write inhibition information stored on the disc cannot match the state of the write-inhibit hole of the case.

In such a case, if either one of the disc or the case is write protected, it is preferable to operate to be suitable for the write protection state. This is because in the user's position it is preferable that the content of data be checked again without overwriting rather than important data being damaged or erased through overwriting.

FIGS. 5A and 5B are further examples of the data structures of the disc certification flag and the group certification flag, respectively, of the disc definition structure (DDS) area of the defect management area (DMA) that stores the write protection information according to the present invention.

In the case where the write protection information is in the disc certification flag shown in FIG. 5A, it is possible that only one bit b4 be used regardless of whether the write protection information is for the hard write protection or for the soft write protection, which is defined as follows.

• • Disc Write Protection
    • b4=0b: Disc is not write protected
      • 1b: Disc is write protected
        • Entire disc shall not be written to except for drive test zone, and
        • DMA area

The group test flag shown in FIG. 5B can store the write protection information using only one bit b4, which is defined as follows.

• • Group Write Protection
    • b4=0b: Disc is not write protected
      • 1b: Disc is write protected
        • User data shall not be written to this block

In this case, preferably bit b4 of the disc certification flag and the bit b4 of the group certification flag are used. However, instead of using the bit b4 of the disc certification flag or group certification flag, any “Reserved” bits can be used.

Also, the bit b4 of the group certification flag, that is, “Group write protection” flag, may not be used. This is effective in a disc in which only a specific group is not write protected, and in this case the bit b4 of the group certification flag is “Reserved” as in the conventional specifications, like as shown in FIG. 3B.

The present invention can be applied to a case without a write-inhibit hole, and information on the disc can be efficiently protected in this case using the write protection information stored on the disc.

FIGS. 6A and 6B are flowcharts illustrating a write-protection method according to a first embodiment of the present invention. First, it is checked whether a disc is installed in a case (step S101), and if the disc is installed in the case, the state of the write-inhibit hole of the case is checked (step S102). That is, when the write-inhibit hole is closed, it means that cartridge is not write protected. When the write-inhibit hole is open, it means that the cartridge is write protected.

If it is determined in step S101 that the disc is not installed in the case, or after the state of the write-inhibit hole is checked in step S102, a write protection flag of the disc is checked (step S103). That is, write protection flags within the disc certification flag and the group certification flag of the DDS in each DMA are checked.

It is determined whether the write protection information of the disc matches the state of the write-inhibit hole of the case (step S104). That is, when write protection information is written on the disc and the write-inhibit hole of the case is open, it is determined whether the write protection flag of the disc certification flag is set to a “write protection” state (step S105). Otherwise, a user is informed of that the write protection information of the disc does not match the state of the write-inhibit hole of the case (step S106).

If the write protection flag of the disc certification flag is set as a write protection state in the step S105, or if one of either the disc or the case indicates the write protection state even though both the write-protection states of the disc and the case do not match in the step S106, it is checked whether the disc is set to a “hard write protection” state (step S107). If the disc is set to the “hard write protection” state, data writing to the entire disc including the Lead-in area and the Lead-out area in addition to the user data area is prohibited (step S108). Otherwise, data writing in the user data area, and except for the drive test zone and the defect management area (DMA), is prohibited (step S109).

If it is determined in the step S105 that the write protection flag of the disc certification flag is not set to the “writing protection” state, it is checked whether the write protection flag of the group certification flag is set to the “write protection” state (step S110). If the write protection flag of the group certification flag is set to a “write protection” state, writing data in the corresponding group is prohibited (step S111). Otherwise, data writing is allowed in the rewritable area (step S112).

The write protection method illustrated in FIGS. 6A and 6B corresponds to the case of using the disc certification flag containing the hard write protection flag shown in FIG. 4A, and the group certification flag shown in FIG. 4B. When the disc certification flag of FIG. 5A and the group certification flag of FIG. 5B are used, the steps S107 and S108 illustrated with reference to FIG. 6A are not performed. When the disc certification flag is set to the “write protection” state in the step S105, writing data in the user data area is prohibited in step S109.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a method of setting a rewritable disc to the write protection state or of changing the write protection state of the disc to a rewritable state. A method of updating the write protection information will now be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 7.

In FIG. 7, when a disc or a cartridge is inserted into a recording/reproducing apparatus, the write protection information is checked (step S201). Then, it is determined whether the write protection information has been input by a user (step S202) and when the write protection information is input by the user, it is determined whether information set by the user is for write protection (step S203). If the information set by the user is write protection information, the corresponding write protection flag of the disc is set to the write protection state (step S204).

When the information set by the user is not write protection information in step S203, it is determined whether the information set by the user is write protection release information (step S205). If the information set by the user is the write protection release information, it is determined whether the current disc is in a hard write protection state (step S206). If the current disc is in the hard write protection state, the user is informed that write protection cannot be released (step S207). If it is determined in step S206 that the disc is not in the hard write protection state, the corresponding write protection flag of the disc is set to the rewritable state (step S208).

Also, when the setting of the write protection or the release of the write protection of the disc is completed, that is, the step S204, S207 or S208 is completed, and the disc is installed in a case, it is determined in step S209 whether the state of the write-inhibit hole of the case matches the write protection information stored in the disc. If the state of the write-inhibit hole of the case does not match the state of the disc, the user is informed of such difference (step S210), and then the procedure is completed.

The method of updating the write-protection information, illustrated in FIG. 7, can be performed when a bare disc is inserted or a disc in a case is inserted, and can be performed after the write-protection is controlled using the write protection information as illustrated with reference to FIGS. 6A and 6B.

In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the write protection information of the disc is written in the defect management area of the disc. However, the disc identification zone of FIG. 2 can be used instead of the defect management area of the disc. The disc identification zone is present both in the Lead-in area and the Lead-out area, like the defect management area of the disc. Thus, writing identical information two or more times to the disc identification zones located in the Lead-in area and the Lead-out area can ensure robustness as strong as in the defect management areas of the disc.

Since the disc identification zone is not presently used for a specific purpose, there is an advantage that the disc identification zone does not conflict with the information written in the defect management area of the disc. In particular, information of the defect information area relates to only the DVD-RAM, it is difficult to maintain consistency between discs for optical recording/reproduction. Meanwhile, since the disc identification zone is not restricted to a specific disc, the disc identification zone can maintain consistency with another disc satisfying the similar specifications.

An example of storing the write protection information using the disc identification zone will be described with reference to FIGS. 8 and 9.

As shown in FIG. 8, in the structure of a disc identification zone that stores write protection information for a bare disc, four flags for write protection are concurrently written to the disc identification zone, and two or more normal flags of the four flags are read. If the contents of the read flags matches each other, it is regarded that the write protection is set for the disc.

For example, the four flags are written in only the disc identification zone of the Lead-in area, and disc identification information of 1 block length (=1 byte) is successively written four times in the four blocks from the start of the disc identification zone of the Lead-in area, and all the first bytes of disc identification information contain a write protection flag. The disc identification information of 1 block length is summarized as shown in Table 2.

	TABLE 2
	BP	Contents	Nu mber of bytes
	0	Write protection information	1	byte
	1 to 32767	Reserved	32767	bytes

The write protection flag of the disc identification information corresponds to the most significant bit (MSB) of the first byte as shown in FIG. 9. When the flag (indicated by “WP”) value is 1b (binary), it means that the entire area of the disc is write protected except for the disc identification zone and the drive test zone. Also, when the flag value is 0b, it means that the entire area of disc is rewritable. That is, “WP” of FIG. 9 is defined as follows.

• • WP=1b: Entire area of disc is write protected except for Drive test zone and Disc identification zone.
    • =0b: Entire area of disc is not write inhibited

The reason why only two normal flags are read from the four written write protection flags is as follows. In the case where only one write protection flag is written, an error can be generated in the area in which the corresponding flag is written, so that the area cannot be used. Also, in the case where only reading and not writing is allowed, there is a possibility of abnormal operation such that no information can be written to the disc permanently by erroneously reading the corresponding flag.

Meanwhile, when writing write protection information in a plurality of locations, there is a problem in that the time required for reading the corresponding information gets longer. That is, the time required for a series of processes from the insertion of a disc, including reading various information from the disc and recognizing the information required for the control of the disc by a microcontroller, can be become longer.

However, in the case of updating the write protection information, an operation only for the updating is performed. That is, because information is not read, the writing time in units of several hundreds milliseconds is barely worth consideration. Thus, writing is performed in four locations in consideration of the robustness of information, and error correction capability is taken into account during the recording. That is, if two errors are not generated, or normally corrected flags are read and two of them match each other, the write protection state of the disc is set without reading the remaining flags, thereby increasing the operating speed.

The write protection method suggested above is not limited to only the DVD-RAM, and can be applied to a disc that has specifications physically the same as DVD-R/RW and similar to the DVD specifications, which will now be described.

FIG. 10 shows the structure of a disc according to general DVD-R and DVD-RW specifications. The disc is roughly divided into two parts with respect to functionality, including an R (Recording)-information area and an information area. The R-information area is divided into a PCA (Power Calibration Area) for calibrating power, and an RMA (Recording Management Area) including general information relating to recording, i.e., information about the recording mode of a disc, recording state, optimal power control and border zone, and the information area is divided into a Lead-in area, data recordable area in which data is recordable by a user and a Lead-out area that is not defined yet in the DVD-R and DVD-RW specifications.

Here, as shown in FIG. 11, the Lead-in area comprises an Initial zone (contents: 00h) for which a specific purpose is not defined, a reference code zone (channel bit pattern: 3T-6T-7T) used to control an equalizer for a radio frequency signal in a drive, first and second buffer zones (contents: 00h) and a control data zone containing the contents shown in FIG. 12.

In FIG. 12, physical format information of the control data zone is about types and versions of the specifications, disc size, maximum transmission rate, disc structure (single/dual), recording density and data region allocation, and the disc manufacturing information is unrelated to compatibility.

FIG. 13 shows the content of an RMD (Recording Management Data) field of the RMA according to the DVD-R and DVD-RW specifications. The RMA comprises an RMA Lead-in area including a system reserved field (contents: 00h) and a unique ID field, and RMD fields. As shown in FIG. 13, one RMD block consists of 16 sectors (15 RMD fields), in which the first sector is allocated as a linking-loss area, general information of the disc is stored in RMD field 0, Optimum Power Control (OPC) related information is stored in RMD field 1, user specific data (contents: 00h) is stored in RMD field 2, and border zone information is stored in RMD field 3. Also, in the case of a DVD-R disc according to the specifications of version 1.9, Rzone (Recording Zone) information including recording items is stored in RMD field 4 through RMD field 12 whenever the recording is performed, and RMD field 13 and RMD field 14 are reserved. Five identical copies of the RMD block are made.

In the case of a rewritable and erasable DVD-RW disc the specifications of which are not yet defined, Rzone information is stored in RMD field 4, and RMD field 5 through RMD field 12 are allocated to store defect management & certification related information taking reliability, certification before the disc is used and management of defect in use into consideration. Also, RMD field 13 and RMD field 14 are reserved.

FIG. 14 shows the contents of the general information of a disc stored in the RMD field 0 of FIG. 13. In FIG. 14, byte positions BP0 and BP1 store information about RMD format (recorded only with 0001h), byte position BP2 stores information about the disc status, and byte position BP3 is reserved. The byte positions BP4 through BP21 store unique disc identifier information that stores the recording date and time of the data as ASCII code. Pre-pit information is copied over the byte positions BP22 through BP85, and the remaining byte positions BP86 through BP2047 are reserved. Here, in the DVD-R disc, the disc status information stored in the byte position BP2 is defined as follows.

• • (BP2) Disc Status
  • 00b: Indicates that disc is empty
  • 01b: Indicates that disc is in Disc-at-once recording mode
  • 02b: Indicates that disc is in incremental recording mode
  • 03b: Indicates that disc is finalized where incremental recording is used
  • Others: Reserved

FIG. 15 is an example of a table showing the state where the write protection information is stored on the disc adopting the DVD-R and DVD-RW specifications according to the present invention using the general information of a disc stored in RMD field 0 of FIG. 13.

That is, by defining the following using the reserved byte position BP3 of RMD field 0, information that the current disc is write protected can be transmitted to a drive.

• • (BP3) Disc Write Protection Flag
  • 00b: Indicates that disc is not write protected
  • 01b: Indicates that disc is write protected (hard)
  • 02b: Indicates that disc is write protected (soft)
    • Entire disc shall not be written to except for PCA, etc.

In the write protection information according to the present invention, 00b indicates that the disc is not write protected, 01b indicates that the entire disc is write protected (hard write protection), and 02b indicates that the entire disc except for a part of the disc (e.g., the PCA) is write protected (soft write protection). In the present embodiment, the write-protection information indicates that the entire disc is write protected or is not write protected. However, the RMD field of FIG. 13 is written connected to the previous data whenever new data is written, so that the write-protection can be set for only the written data corresponding to the RMD.

For example, even though write protection information is stored in the byte position BP3 of RMD field 0, the write protection information on a bare disc can be written using the Lead-in area and the Lead-out area shown in FIG. 10 in addition to the RMD area. Also, the byte position BP2 of RMD field 0 stores the disc status information, so that write protection information can be stored in the byte position BP2 of RMD field 0.

Since the write protection information cannot be updated in the once-writable DVD-R, in consideration of the consistency with the DVD family, write protection information can be indicated through finalization that means the writing on the defined Lead-in area and Lead-out area. “Finalization” means the completion of writing in the Lead-in area and the Lead-out area as well as in the user data area, of a once-writable DVD-R disc. That is, that the finalization has been performed (completed) indicates the DVD-R is write-protected. Otherwise, it means that there is no write protection.

Also, as in the defect management area DMA 1, DMA 2, DMA 3 and DMA 4 of the DVD-RAM, the same content is recorded multiple times to cope with errors, thereby ensuring robustness. In the DVD-R/RW, such robustness is ensured by grouping RMDs of the RMA and providing the RMDs belonging to one group with the same content.

A disc must include format information informing whether the current disc is a DVD-R or a DVD-RW, such that a DVD-R disc and a DVD-RW disc is compatible in the same drive. As shown in FIG. 15, the RMD format can be defined using the byte positions BP0 and BP1 of RMD field 0 as follows.

• • (BP 0,1) RMD Format
  • 0001h for R
  • 0002h for RW
  • 0003h for R/RW compatible mode

FIG. 16 is a flowchart illustrating a write protection method according to a second embodiment of the present invention, in consideration of application extension to a DVD-RW contained in a case.

First, it is determined whether a disc is installed in a case (step S301). If the disc is installed in the case, the state of a write-inhibit hole of the case is checked (step 302). That is, if the write-inhibit hole is closed, it means that cartridge is not write protected, and if the write-inhibit hole is open, it means that the cartridge is write protected.

When the disc is not installed in the case in step S301, or when the state of the write-inhibit hole is checked in step S302, the write-protection flag of the disc is checked (step S303). That is, a write protection flag within RMD field 0 is checked.

Then, it is determined whether the write protection information of the disc matches the state of the write-inhibit hole of the case (step S304). That is, when the write protection information is written on the disc and the write-inhibit hole of the case is opened, it is determined that the write protection flag is in a “write protection” state (step S305). Otherwise, the user is informed that the write protection information of the disc does not match the state of the write-inhibit hole of the case (step S306).

If the write protection flag of the disc is set to the “write protection” state in step S305, or after the step 306, that is, if either the disc or the case is in a “write protection” state even though the write protection information of the disc does not match the state of the write-inhibit hole of the case, it is determined whether the disc is set to the “hard write protection” state (step S307). If the disc is in the “hard write protection” state, the entire disc including the user data area is write-prohibited (step S308). Otherwise, only the user data area is write protected (step S309). Also, in the step S305 if the write protection flag is not in the “write protection” state, the disc is not write-protected (step S310).

In a recordable and/or rewritable medium according to the present invention, e.g., a disc satisfying the DVD specifications, e.g., DVD-RAM, DVD-R and DVD-RW, data of a bare disc that is not contained in a case can be efficiently protected. Also, when either the case or the disc is in the write protection state, the writing of data is prohibited and the user is allowed to check the state of a disc or a cartridge. As a result, the data recorded on the disc can be protected efficiently from unwanted overwriting or erasing.