Method and device for interfacing variable-rate sampled digital audio information to a string of uniform-sized blocks, and a unitary medium so produced by a write-interfacing

A device, comprising:

• a unitary storage medium comprising a linear physical mapping space that is partitioned into a string of successive blocks, wherein each block has a same size;
• sampling means for sampling the audio information;
• encoding means for variable-rate encoding the sampled audio information;
• and formatting means for:
• arranging the variable-rate encoded audio information in successive variable-sized audio packets, each audio packet having a size not larger than the same size of each block;
• mapping the successive audio packets onto the successive blocks of the linear physical mapping space, said mapping including distributing the successive audio packets over successive Audio Units of the mapping space such that each Audio Unit includes audio data for replay for a predetermined duration and comprises one or more of said successive audio packets, each block including audio content comprising an integral number of audio packets, said integral number of audio packets including at least one audio packet of one or more of said Audio Units, and
• indicating in a block header at the beginning of each block information about the distribution of the Audio Units and associated audio packets over the string of blocks, said information obviating a need to parse the audio content in order to subsequently access any Audio Unit of the successive Audio Units.

A method comprising:

• sampling the audio information;
• variable-rate encoding the audio information;
• arranging the encoded audio information in successive non-uniform-sized audio units, wherein an audio unit contains audio data for replay for a predetermined duration;
• adding block headers to uniform sized blocks containing information related to the audio units in a block;
• dividing the audio units into successive non-uniform sized audio packets having a size not larger than the size of a block for fitting one or more audio packets into a block;
• distributing the audio packets among the blocks;
• and
• indicating in a block header of each block of multiple blocks the actual content of the block with respect to the presence of the start of an audio unit in the block.

A unitary storage medium, comprising:

• a substrate with information tracks;
• digital audio signals partitioned along a string of uniform-sized blocks stored in the tracks;
• wherein:
• the digital audio information signals represent variable-rate encoded audio information, arranged in successive non-uniform sized audio units, wherein an audio unit contains audio data for replay for a predetermined duration;
• the blocks include block headers containing information related to the audio units in a block;
• the audio units are divided in successive non-uniform sized audio packets having a size not larger than the size of a block for fitting one or more audio packets into a block;
• the audio packets are distributed among the blocks;
• and
• the block header indicates the actual content of each block of multiple blocks with respect to the presence of the start of an audio unit in the block.

A recording device comprising:

• sampling means for sampling audio information;
• encoding means for variable-rate encoding said sampled audio-information;
• formatting means for arranging the encoded audio information in successive non-uniform-sized audio units, wherein an audio unit contains audio data for replay for a predetermined duration;
• and for generating block header information containing information related to the audio units in a block;
• and for dividing the audio units into successive non-uniform sized audio packets having a size not larger than the size of a uniform-sized blocks for fitting one or more audio packets into one block of the blocks;
• and for distributing the audio packets among the blocks;
• the block header including the actual content of the block with respect to the presence of the start of an audio unit in the block;
• and
• writing means for writing the audio units and block header information into the blocks.