Information playback apparatus, in-line circuit, and method for implementing in-line circuit on information playback apparatus

1. An in-line circuit incorporated in an information playback apparatus, the in-line circuit canceling a difference between a DC offset of an RF signal that is reproduced from an address area of a track formed on an information storage medium, and a DC offset of an RF signal that is reproduced from a data area of the track, said in-line circuit comprising:

a high-pass filter to which the RF signals reproduced from the information storage medium are input;

a multi-bit AD converter which receives the output of the high-pass filter and has an output of at least 2 bits; and

a lag lead filter to which the output of the AD converter is input,

wherein said lag lead filter has a frequency characteristic of gain which changes from a lower-frequency-side flat characteristic to a primary integral characteristic at a first corner frequency, and changes from the primary integral characteristic to a higher-frequency-side flat characteristic at a second corner frequency,

wherein said first corner frequency is a frequency at which a group delay characteristic of the signal after recovery of low-frequency components does not affect data reproduction, and

wherein said second corner frequency is a frequency which is approximately equal to a cut-off frequency at which the frequency characteristic of the gain of the high-pass filter changes from the primary differential characteristic to the flat characteristic.

2. An in-line circuit incorporated in an information playback apparatus, the in-line circuit canceling a difference between a DC offset of an RF signal that is reproduced from an address area of a track formed on an information storage medium, and a DC offset of an RF signal that is reproduced from a data area of the track, said in-line circuit comprising:

a high-pass filter to which the RF signals reproduced from the information storage medium are input;

a multi-bit AD converter which receives the output of the high-pass filter and has an output of at least 2 bits; and

a lag lead filter to which the output of the AD converter is input,

wherein the absolute value of inclination of a frequency characteristic of gain in a primary differential characteristic of the high-pass filter is approximately equal to the absolute value of inclination of a frequency characteristic of gain in a primary integral characteristic of the lag lead filter.

3. An in-line circuit incorporated in an information playback apparatus, the in-line circuit canceling a difference between a DC offset of an RF signal that is reproduced from an address area of a track formed on an information storage medium, and a DC offset of an RF signal that is reproduced from a data area of the track, said in-line circuit comprising:

a high-pass filter to which the RF signals reproduced from the information storage medium are input;

a multi-bit AD converter which receives the output of the high-pass filter and has an output of at least 2 bits; and

a lag lead filter to which the output of the AD converter is input,

wherein the time constant of the high-pass filter is set such that a frequency component of the RF signal at a first corner frequency, which is a frequency at which the frequency characteristic of gain of the lag lead filter changes from a lower-frequency-side flat characteristic to a primary integral characteristic, has an amplitude equal to or larger than 1 LSB (Least Significant Bit) of the AD converter.

4. An in-line circuit incorporated in an information playback apparatus, the in-line circuit canceling a difference between a DC offset of an RF signal that is reproduced from an address area of a track formed on an information storage medium, and a DC offset of an RF signal that is reproduced from a data area of the track, said in-line circuit comprising:

a high-pass filter to which the RF signals reproduced from the information storage medium are input;

a multi-bit AD converter which receives the output of the high-pass filter and has an output of at least 2 bits; and

a lag lead filter to which the output of the AD converter is input,

wherein said information storage medium is a DVD-RAM disc, and

wherein a sampling frequency of said AD converter is set at 2fmax or higher, and the fmax is represented as follows:

f max=(1/ T )×( N/ 6)

wherein T is equal to 1/29 Mbps (29 Mbps: the channel bit rate of the DVD-RAM), and N means how many times the playback speed of the DVD-RAM is higher than the normal playback speed (N: positive number not less than “1”).

5. A method for implementing an in-line circuit for canceling a difference between a DC offset of an RF signal that is reproduced from an address area of a track formed on an information storage medium, and a DC offset of an RF signal that is reproduced from a data area of the track, said method comprising:

setting a cut-off frequency at which a frequency characteristic of a high-pass filter that filters the RF signal as an analog signal changes from a primary differential characteristic to a flat characteristic, to a frequency higher than a target cut-off frequency of the in-line circuit;

approximately canceling the primary differential characteristic of the high-pass filter with a primary integral characteristic in a frequency characteristic of a lag lead filter that filters the signal outputted from the high-pass filter and then converted into a digital signal by an AD converter, and setting a cut-off frequency in a total characteristic of the high-pass filter and the lag lead filter to a frequency approximately equal to the target cut-off frequency, thereby reducing the time constant of the high-pass filter, and making the high-pass filter mountable in an integrated circuit.

6. A method for implementing an in-line circuit for canceling a difference between a DC offset of an RF signal that is reproduced from an address area of a track formed on an information storage medium, and a DC offset of an RF signal that is reproduced from a data area of the track, said method comprising:

setting a cut-off frequency at which a frequency characteristic of a high-pass filter that filters the RF signal as an analog signal changes from a primary differential characteristic to a flat characteristic, to a frequency higher than a target cut-off frequency of the in-line circuit;

setting a first corner frequency at which a frequency characteristic of a lag lead filter that filters the signal outputted from the high-pass filter and then converted into a digital signal by an AD converter changes from a lower-frequency-side flat characteristic to a primary integral characteristic, to a frequency approximately equal to the target cut-off frequency;

setting a second corner frequency at which the frequency characteristic of the lag lead filter changes from the primary integral characteristic to a higher-frequency-side flat characteristic, to a frequency approximately equal to the cut-off frequency of the high-pass filter;

making the value of inclination of gain decrease due to the primary integral characteristic of the lag lead filter approximately equal to the value of inclination of gain increase due to the primary differential characteristic of the high-pass filter, thereby setting the frequency characteristic of the in-line circuit so that the primary integral characteristic and the primary differential characteristic approximately cancel each other;

setting a sampling frequency of the AD converter to 2 fmax or higher, said fmax being represented as follows:

f max=(1/ T )×( N/ 6)

wherein T is equal to 1/29 Mbps (29 Mbps: the channel bit rate of the DVD-RAM), and N means how many times the playback speed of the DVD-RAM is higher than the normal playback speed (N: positive number not less than “1”); and

setting a time constant of the high-pass filter so that the frequency components of the RF signal at the first corner frequency have an amplitude equal to or larger than 1 LSB (Least Significant Bit) of the AD converter, thereby reducing the time constant of the high-pass filter, and making the high-pass filter mountable in an integrated circuit.