Information recording device, information recording method, and program

(Amended) An information recording method for recording information on an information recording medium including a user area for recording user data and a defect substitute area including a substitute area usable instead of a defect area in the user area, the information recording method comprising the steps of:

• updating a defect list having a defect address registered therein which represents a position of the defect area in the user area;
• and
• recording information on the information recording medium based on the updated defect list,
• wherein:
• the defect list is a secondary defect list including the defect address representing a position of the defect area detected when recording information on the information recording medium and a substitute address representing a position of the substitute area for substituting for the defect area, and
• the step of updating the defect list includes the steps of:
• determining whether or not an area designated by the defect address registered in the defect list is a defect area,
• when the area designated by the defect address is determined not to be a defect area, deleting the defect address, registered in the defect list, from the defect list, and
• when the area designated by the defect address is determined to be a defect area, updating the defect list such that the substitute address is not assigned to the defect address.

(Amended) A program for causing an information recording apparatus to execute initialization processing of initializing an information recording medium including a user area for recording user data and a defect substitute area including a substitute area usable instead of a defect area in the user area, wherein the initialization processing includes the step of:

• updating a defect list having a defect address registered therein which represents a position of the defect area in the user area;
• and
• wherein:
• the defect list is a secondary defect list including the defect address representing a position of the defect area detected when recording information on the information recording medium and a substitute address representing a position of the substitute area for substituting for the defect area, and
• the step of updating the defect list includes the steps of:
• determining whether or not an area designated by the defect address registered in the defect list is a defect area,
• when the area designated by the defect address is determined not to be a defect area, deleting the defect address, registered in the defect list, from the defect list, and
• when the area designated by the defect address is determined to be a defect area, updating the defect list such that the substitute address is not assigned to the defect address.

(Amended) An information recording apparatus for recording information on an information recording medium including a user area for recording user data and a defect substitute area including a substitute area usable instead of a defect area in the user area, a size of the defect substitute area being variably settable, the information recording apparatus comprising:

• a defect list update section for updating a defect list having a defect address registered therein which represents a position of the defect area in the user area;
• and
• a recording section for recording information on the information recording medium based on the updated defect list,
• wherein:
• the defect list update section determines whether or not at least a part of the defect substitute area is to substitute for the user area, based on a comparison result of the size of the defect substitute area and a size of a defect substitute area designated by an initialization request,
• when it is determined that at least the part of the defect substitute area is to substitute for the user area, the defect list update section substitutes the user area for at least the part of the defect substitute area so as to expand the size of the user area, and examines whether or not the part of the defect substitute area which is to substitute for the user area includes a defect area, and
• the defect list update section registers a defect address, representing a position of the defect area detected by the examination, in the defect list.

(Amended) An information recording method for recording information on an information recording medium including a user area for recording user data and a defect substitute area including a substitute area usable instead of a defect area in the user area, a size of the defect substitute area being variably settable, the information recording method comprising the steps of:

• updating a defect list having a defect address registered therein which represents a position of the defect area in the user area;
• and
• recording information on the information recording medium based on the updated defect list,
• wherein the step of updating the defect list includes the steps of:
• determining whether or not at least a part of the defect substitute area is to substitute for the user area, based on a comparison result of the size of the defect substitute area and a size of a defect substitute area designated by an initialization request,
• when it is determined that at least the part of the defect substitute area is to substitute for the user area, substituting the user area for at least the part of the defect substitute area so as to expand the size of the user area, and examining whether or not the part of the defect substitute area which is to substitute for the user area includes a defect area, and
• registering the defect address, representing a position of the defect area detected by the examination, in the defect list.

(Amended) A program for causing an information recording apparatus to execute initialization processing of initializing an information recording medium including a user area for recording user data and a defect substitute area including a substitute area usable instead of a defect area in the user area, a size of the defect substitute area being variably settable, wherein the initialization processing includes the step of:

• updating a defect list having a defect address registered therein which represents a position of the defect area in the user area;
• and
• the step of updating the defect list includes the steps of:
• determining whether or not at least a part of the defect substitute area is to substitute for the user area, based on a comparison result of the size of the defect substitute area and a size of a defect substitute area designated by an initialization request,
• when it is determined that at least the part of the defect substitute area is to substitute for the user area, substituting the user area for at least the part of the defect substitute area so as to expand the size of the user area, and examining whether or not the part of the defect substitute area which is to substitute for the user area includes a defect area, and
• registering the defect address, representing a position of the defect area detected by the examination, in the defect list.