Chapter 4: Threads
Operating System Concepts – 8th Edition Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne ©2009
Chapter 4: Threads
Overview
Multithreading Models
Thread Libraries
Operating System Examples
Windows XP Threads
Linux Threads
Operating System Concepts – 8th Edition 4.2 Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne ©2009
Objectives
To introduce the notion of a thread — a fundamental unit of CPU
utilization that forms the basis of multithreaded computer systems
To discuss the APIs for the Pthreads, Win32, and Java thread libraries
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Single and Multithreaded Processes
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Benefits
Responsiveness
Multithreading an interactive application may allow a program to
continue running even if part of it is blocked or is performing a lengthy
operation
Resource Sharing
Processes can only share resources through techniques such as shared
memory and message passing.
The benefit of sharing code and data is that it allows an application to
have several different threads of activity within the same address space.
Economy
Allocating memory and resources for process creation is costly.
Because threads share the resources of the process to which they
belong, it is more economical to create and context-switch threads.
Scalability
In a multiprocessor architecture, threads may be running in parallel on
different processing cores. A single-threaded process can run on only
one processor, regardless how many are available.
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Multicore Programming
Multicore systems putting pressure on programmers, challenges
include:
Dividing activities
Balance
Data splitting
Data dependency
Testing and debugging
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Multithreaded Server Architecture
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Concurrent Execution on a
Single-core System
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Parallel Execution on a
Multicore System
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User Threads
Thread management done by user-level threads library
Three primary thread libraries:
POSIX Pthreads
Win32 threads
Java threads
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Kernel Threads
Supported by the Kernel
Examples
Windows XP/2000
Solaris
Linux
Tru64 UNIX
Mac OS X
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Multithreading Models
Many-to-One
One-to-One
Many-to-Many
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Many-to-One
Many user-level threads mapped to single kernel thread
Examples:
Solaris Green Threads
GNU Portable Threads
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Many-to-One Model
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One-to-One
Each user-level thread maps to kernel thread
Examples
Windows NT/XP/2000
Linux
Solaris 9 and later
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One-to-one Model
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Many-to-Many Model
Allows many user level threads to be mapped to many kernel threads
Allows the operating system to create a sufficient number of kernel
threads
Solaris prior to version 9
Windows NT/2000 with the ThreadFiber package
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Many-to-Many Model
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Two-level Model
Similar to M:M, except that it allows a user thread to be bound to
kernel thread
Examples
IRIX
HP-UX
Tru64 UNIX
Solaris 8 and earlier
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Two-level Model
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Thread Libraries
Thread library provides programmer with API for creating and
managing threads
Two primary ways of implementing
Library entirely in user space
Kernel-level library supported by the OS
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Pthreads
May be provided either as user-level or kernel-level
A POSIX standard (IEEE 1003.1c) API for thread creation and
synchronization
API specifies behavior of the thread library, implementation is up to
development of the library
Common in UNIX operating systems (Solaris, Linux, Mac OS X)
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Java Threads
Java threads are managed by the JVM
Typically implemented using the threads model provided by
underlying OS
Java threads may be created by:
Extending Thread class
Implementing the Runnable interface
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Operating System Examples
Windows XP Threads
Linux Thread
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Windows XP Threads
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Linux Threads
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Windows XP Threads
Implements the one-to-one mapping, kernel-level
Each thread contains
A thread id
Register set
Separate user and kernel stacks
Private data storage area
The register set, stacks, and private storage area are known as the
context of the threads
The primary data structures of a thread include:
ETHREAD (executive thread block)
KTHREAD (kernel thread block)
TEB (thread environment block)
Operating System Concepts – 8th Edition 4.27 Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne ©2009
Linux Threads
Linux refers to them as tasks rather than threads
Thread creation is done through clone() system call
clone() allows a child task to share the address space of the parent
task (process)
Operating System Concepts – 8th Edition 4.28 Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne ©2009
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Operating Systems
Operating System Concepts – 8th Edition 4.29 Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne ©2009
