Apparatus and method for providing uninterrupted continuous play during a change of sides of a dual-sided optical disk

Abstract

An apparatus and method for providing continuous uninterrupted playback of a dual sided optical disk during side-to-side changing of the optical disk. The point at which a dual-sided optical disk will be switched between sides is determined. At some point prior to the switching of sides of the disk, a portion of the data at the end of the first side of the disk is transferred to a memory. During the switching of the disk to the second side, the stored data is read out from the memory to provide uninterrupted continuous playback of the optical disk.

1 - 44 . (canceled)  
   
   
       45 . A method comprising: 
 storing a portion of entertainment data read from a first non-volatile storage location, wherein the portion of entertainment data is stored in a memory;    playing first entertainment data read from the first non-volatile storage location in substantially real-time; and    playing second entertainment data read from a second non-volatile storage location in substantially real-time, wherein the portion of entertainment data stored in the memory is played during a transition time between playing the first and second entertainment data read from the first and second non-volatile storage locations.    
   
   
       46 . The method of  claim 45  wherein the entertainment data stored in the first non-volatile storage location and the entertainment data stored in the second non-volatile storage location comprises a single set of data that is split between the first and second storage locations.  
   
   
       47 . The method of  claim 45  wherein the entertainment data stored in the first non-volatile storage location and the entertainment data stored in the second non-volatile storage location comprises two separate sets of data that are related, but not split, between the first and second storage locations.  
   
   
       48 . The method of  claim 45  wherein the portion of entertainment data read from the first non-volatile storage location, the first entertainment data, and the second entertainment data comprise audio data.  
   
   
       49 . The method of  claim 45  wherein the portion of entertainment data read from the first non-volatile storage location, the first entertainment data, and the second entertainment data comprise visual data.  
   
   
       50 . The method of  claim 45  wherein the portion of entertainment data read from the first non-volatile storage location, the first entertainment data, and the second entertainment data comprise audiovisual data.  
   
   
       51 . The method of  claim 45  wherein the first non-volatile storage location is at a first side of a dual sided optical disk and the second non-volatile storage location is at a second side of the optical disk.  
   
   
       52 . The method of  claim 51  wherein storing a portion of entertainment data in a memory comprises storing a portion of entertainment data corresponding to data located at an end of the first side of the optical disk.  
   
   
       53 . The method of  claim 45  wherein playing the first entertainment data occurs before the transition time and before playing the second entertainment data.  
   
   
       54 . The method of  claim 45  wherein playing the first entertainment data, playing the portion of the entertainment data stored in the memory during the transition time, and playing the second entertainment data occurs consecutively and without interruption.  
   
   
       55 . The method of  claim 45  wherein storing a portion of entertainment data in a memory comprises storing a portion of entertainment data having a size approximately equal to the transition time.  
   
   
       56 . A method of playing entertainment data in substantially real-time, the method comprising: 
 storing a portion of entertainment data in a memory, wherein the stored portion of entertainment data is obtained from a first storage location; and    playing the stored portion of entertainment data during a transition time between playing the entertainment data from the first storage location and playing the entertainment data from a second storage location.    
   
   
       57 . The method of  claim 56  wherein the first storage location is on a first side of a dual sided optical disk and the second storage location in on a second side of the optical disk, and wherein: 
 storing a portion of entertainment data in a memory comprises obtaining the stored portion of entertainment data from the first side of the optical disk; and    playing the stored portion during a transition time comprises playing the stored portion during the period of time required for an optical disk reader to switch from playing entertainment data from the first storage location on the first side of the optical disk to playing entertainment data from the second storage location on the second side of the optical disk.    
   
   
       58 . The method of  claim 56  wherein storing a portion of entertainment data in a memory comprises storing a portion of entertainment data having a size corresponding to the amount of time required to access and begin playing the entertainment data form the second storage location after playing the entertainment data from the first storage location.  
   
   
       59 . A method of playing entertainment data residing in a first location and a second location in substantially real-time, the method comprising: 
 storing a portion of the entertainment data from the first location that is at least equal to the amount of time required to transition from playing the entertainment data from the first location to playing the entertainment data from the second location;    playing the entertainment data from the first location except for the stored portion of entertainment data; and    playing the stored portion of entertainment data prior to playing the entertainment data from the second location.    
   
   
       60 . The method of  claim 59  wherein the first location comprises a first non-volatile storage location and the second location comprises a second non-volatile storage location.  
   
   
       61 . The method of  claim 60  wherein the first non-volatile storage location comprises a first side of an optical disk and the second non-volatile storage location comprises a second side of the optical disk.  
   
   
       62 . The method of  claim 59  wherein the entertainment data comprises audio data.  
   
   
       63 . The method of  claim 59  wherein the entertainment data comprises visual data.  
   
   
       64 . The method of  claim 59  wherein the entertainment data comprises audio-visual data.  
   
   
       65 . The method of  claim 59  wherein playing the entertainment data from the first location, playing the stored portion of entertainment data, and playing second entertainment data from the second location occurs consecutively and without interruption.  
   
   
       66 . The method of  claim 59  wherein storing a portion of the entertainment data from the first location comprises retrieving the entertainment data from a first side of an optical disk and storing entertainment data having a size approximately equal to a transition time between playing entertainment data from the first location and playing entertainment data from the second location.