Optical record carrier, drive unit, data updating method and software version-up method

1. A disc shaped optical record carrier comprising:

first area having a spiral track extending in a first direction from an inner side on the disc; and

a second area having a spiral track extending in a second direction opposite to the first direction, from an outer side on the disc located on the same plane as said first area on the disc,

wherein one of said first and second areas is assigned a recordable area and the other is assigned a read only area.

2. An optical record carrier according to claim 1 , wherein said first area has sequential address numbers provided from the inner side on the disc, while said second area has sequential address numbers provided from the outer side on the disc.

3. An optical record carrier according to claim 1 , further comprising a buffer area provided between said first and second areas and formed by crossing said first and second areas, information being unable to be recorded in and reproduced from said buffer area.

4. An optical record carrier according to claim 1 , further comprising a buffer area provided between said first and second areas and at least twice as wide as the larger track pitch of one of said first and second areas, information being unable to be recorded in and reproduced from said buffer area.

5. An optical record carrier according to claim 1 , wherein the read only area stores that has been data written by rotating said optical record carrier clockwise viewed from an optical head in a drive for driving said optical record carrier.

6. A disc shaped optical record carrier comprising:

first and second areas provided respectively in inner and outer portions on the disc, each of said first and second areas being assigned a record area of a different structure and having a track extending in the same direction; and

a buffer area provided between said first and second areas and formed by crossing said first and second areas, information being unable to be recorded in and reproduced from said buffer area.

7. An optical record carrier according to claim 6 , wherein one of said first and second areas is assigned a recordable area and the other is assigned a read only area.

8. An optical record carrier according to claim 6 , wherein the record area of the different structure is configured as one of a CD-R, a DVD-R, a CD=RW, a DVD-RW, a DVD+RW, a MO, a CD, a CD-ROM, a DVD-ROM, a DVD-RAM, a DVD video, and a DVD Audio.

9. A disc shaped optical record carrier comprising:

a first area having a spiral track extending in a first direction from an inner side on the disc; and

a second area having a spiral track extending in a second direction opposite to the first direction, from an outer side on the disc located on the same plane as said first area on the disc, wherein each of said first and second areas being assigned a record area of a different structure.

10. An optical record carrier according to claim 9 , wherein the record area of the different structure is configured as one of a CD-R, a DVD-R, a CD-RW, a DVD-RW, a DVD+RW, a MO, a CD, a CD-ROM, a DVD-ROM, a DVD-RAM, a DVD video, and a DVD Audio.

11. A drive for driving a disc shaped optical record carrier that comprises a first area having a spiral track extending in a first direction from an inner side on the disc, and a second area having a spiral track extending in a second direction opposite to the first direction, from an outer side on the disc located on the same plane as said first area on the disc, wherein one of said first and second tracks is assigned a recordable area and the other is assigned a read only area.

12. A drive for driving a disc shaped optical record carrier that comprises first and second areas provided respectively in inner and outer portions on the disc, each of said first and second areas being assigned a record area of a different structure and having a track extending in the same direction, and a buffer area provided between said first and second areas and formed by crossing said first and second areas, information being unable to be recorded in and reproduced from said buffer area.

13. A drive according to claim 12 , comprising:

an optical head for recording data in and/or reproducing data from said optical record carrier;

a detecting mechanism for detecting a position of said optical head;

a rotating mechanism for rotating said optical record carrier and driving the same; and

a controller that determines a rotational direction for said optical record carrier by said rotating mechanism, based on positional information of said optical head detected by said detecting mechanism, and directional information representative of a direction in which a spiral track corresponding said optical head located at the position extends.

14. A drive according to claim 13 , wherein said controller obtains the directional information by a tracking action of said optical head.

15. A drive according to claim 13 , wherein said optical head cannot trace tracks beyond the buffer area in tracking said optical record carrier.

16. A drive for driving a disc shaped optical record carrier that comprises a first area having a spiral track extending in a first direction from an inner side on the disc, and a second area having a spiral track extending in a second direction opposite to the first direction, from an outer side on the disc located on the same plane as said first area on the disc, wherein each of said first and second areas being assigned a record area of a different structure.

17. A drive according to claim 16 , wherein said drive comprises:

an optical head for recording data in and/or reproducing data from said optical record carrier;

a detecting mechanism for detecting a position of said optical head;

a rotating mechanism for driving said optical record carrier by rotating said optical record carrier; and

a controller that determines a rotational direction for said optical record carrier by said rotating mechanism, based on positional information of said optical head detected by said detecting mechanism, and directional information representative of a direction in which a spiral track corresponding said optical head located at the position extends.

18. A drive according to claim 17 , wherein said controller obtains the directional information by a tracking action of said optical head.