System and method for controlling focus in an optical disc drive

摘要

A system for controlling focus in an optical disc drive for optical media with a premastered area that cannot be overwritten and a user-writeable area that can be overwritten includes instructions for turning focus on and off; and for acquiring focus on the optical media in response to a command to acquire focus. The actuator arm is moved according to a sinusoidal ramp function to prevent exciting resonances in the actuator arm. The amount of push-away force used while moving the actuator arm can be adjusted to avoid overshoot. The integrity of a focus error signal is determined and an attempt to re-acquire focus is made if the focus error signal indicates a bad focus status. The system turns focus off when at least one of the following conditions are met: (1) current state is a ramp focus acquire state and the maximum ramp position was reached; (2) current state is a focus push retry state and best push away value is greater than or equal to a predetermined fraction of a nominal push away value; or (3) a focus problem develops while in a focus active state.