Abstract: An apparatus for reading out information from an information carrier includes a reading unit for reading out user information and access information from the information carrier. The user information are stored in a first region of the information carrier and the access information are stored in a second region of the information carrier. The apparatus further includes an access controller for providing access to the user information in dependence on the access information. The access information are stored in a first portion of the second region, and the dummy information are stored in a second portion of the second region according to a similar format as used for storing the access information.

Abstract: An apparatus for reading out information from an information carrier includes a reading unit for reading out user information and access information from the information carrier. The user information are stored in a first region of the information carrier and the access information are stored in a second region of the information carrier. The apparatus further includes an access controller for providing access to the user information in dependence on the access information. The access information are stored in a first portion of the second region, and the dummy information are stored in a second portion of the second region according to a similar format as used for storing the access information.

Abstract: An apparatus for accessing an information carrier for holding user information includes access information for accessing the user information, the access information being stored in a pre-determined first region on the information carrier. The information carrier further includes at least one further region different from the first region, the further region comprising dummy information.

Abstract: A data storage and replay device uses measurements of the evolution of performance of the storage medium (typically a flash memory circuit) to predict an error rate of retrieval from a region of the storage medium. The prediction is used as a basis for dynamically selecting an ECC for encoding the data prior to storage of the data. The ECC is selected from a plurality of available ECC's so that a fastest encodable ECC is selected that is predicted to produce no more than a predetermined post-decoding error rate given the information. On decoding the data, which is typically audio or video data, is decoded and replayed at a predetermined speed. In another embodiment, the data stored using a plurality of ECC's together and an ECC is selected dynamically for decoding, so that an output data rate can be maximized or power consumption on replay can be minimized.

Abstract: A data storage and replay device uses measurements of the evolution of performance of the storage medium (typically a flash memory circuit) to predict an error rate of retrieval from a region of the storage medium. The prediction is used as a basis for dynamically selecting an ECC for encoding the data prior to storage of the data. The ECC is selected from a plurality of available ECC's so that a fastest encodable ECC is selected that is predicted to produce no more than a predetermined post-decoding error rate given said information. In this way the speed of transmission of data to the device can be maximized while keeping the error rate below an acceptable level in the predicted future after decoding. On decoding the data, which is typically audio or video data, is decoded and replayed at a predetermined speed.