Data transfer apparatus, information recording and reproducing apparatus, and data transfer method

An information recording and reproducing apparatus that is connected to a host apparatus, the information recording and reproducing apparatus comprising:

• a data transfer unit that performs burst transfer to and from the host apparatus;
• a modulation unit that modulates data received by the data transfer unit from the host apparatus and converts the modulated data to signals to be written to an optical disk;
• an optical pickup that records data on the optical disk using the signals to be written and reads reproduced signals from the optical disk;
• and
• a demodulation unit that demodulates the reproduced signals output from the optical pickup,
• wherein the data transfer unit includes:
• a buffer memory that temporarily stores data sent from the host apparatus, and
• a control unit that controls data transfer to and from the host apparatus, and
• when an amount of free space in the buffer memory is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold value, the control unit sends a stop request to stop the data transfer to the host apparatus.

A data transfer method for performing burst transfer, the data transfer method comprising:

• temporarily storing data sent from a sending apparatus in a buffer memory;
• and
• controlling data transfer to and from the sending apparatus,
• wherein, when an amount of free space in the buffer memory is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold value, a stop request is sent to stop the data transfer to the sending apparatus.