CPSC 457

CPSC 457
Introduction, History, Basic concepts

Fall 2017

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Outline

● attempt to define OS
● brief history of OSes
● Chapter 1 of the book

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Defining an OS

● no 'precise' definition
● it is a layer of software that provides application programs with a better, simpler, cleaner, model
of the computer (hardware)
● it manages all resources
● it is the software that runs all the time (in kernel mode)
● all other applications need it in order to run
● we will look at an OS from two different perspectives:
○ as an extended machine
○ as a resource manager

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OS - an extended machine

● abstraction/generalization is the key to managing

Applications
complexity
● step 1: define and implement the abstractions ugly
interface
○ eg. files - working with files is easier than dealing
with raw disk space Operating system
● step 2: use the abstractions to write applications / solve
nice
problems
interface
○ e.g. file editor, image viewer
● mask the ugly hardware and provide nice interfaces Hardware

● many OS concepts are abstractions

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OS - a resource manager

● resource allocator
○ multiplex resources
■ multiplex in time
● eg. 3 programs trying to print to the same printer (spooling)
● eg. 2 programs trying to run at the same time (scheduling)
■ multiplex in space
● eg. 2 programs allocating memory
○ manage conflicts among multiple programs or users
● control program
○ controls execution of programs (eg. interrupts)
○ prevent errors and improper use (eg. traps)

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History of OSes

● When was the first OS invented?

○ 1930s
○ 1950s
○ 1970s
○ 1990s

● Which of the following OSs first appeared in the 70s?

○ Linux
○ Unix
○ Apple OSs
○ MS Windows

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History of operating systems

● OSes often developed by

● When was the first OS invented?
customers instead of HW
○ 1930s manufacturers
● IBM developed first OS in the
○ 1950s 60's
○ 1970s
○ 1990s

● Which of the following OSs first appeared in the 70s?

○ Linux
○ Unix (late 60's)
○ Apple OSs (Apple DOS)
○ MS Windows

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History of operating systems

• The 1st generation (1945 - 1955): Vacuum Tubes and no OS

• programs either hard-wired or on punch cards

• programs in machine language
• complicated wiring
• no OS (no need)
• only basic numerical calculations
• designers = builders = programmers
• one user/application at one time

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History of operating systems

● The 2nd generation (1955 - 1965): Transistors and Batch Systems

○ mainframe computers
○ FORTRAN programs on punch cards
○ OS: FMS (Fortran Monitor System) and IBSYS (IBM’s OS)
○ important concepts: batch systems

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Batch systems

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Batch systems

Structure of a typical FMS job

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History of operating systems

● The 3rd generation (1965 - 1980): ICs and Multiprogramming

○ Uses ICs (Integrated Circuits)
○ OS’s: IBM OS/360, CTSS (by MIT), MULTICS (today’s client-server model), UNIX (one-user
version of MULTICS), Linux (90's)
○ Important concepts:
■ multiprogramming: a different job in each memory partition, CPU execute other jobs
while waiting for the I/O of some jobs
■ spooling (Simultaneous Peripheral Operation On Line): read jobs from cards to disk,
load jobs from disk automatically, no more tapes
■ timesharing: interactive service for multiple users and work on big batch jobs in the
background

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Multiprogramming

Single Program Multiprogramming

OS OS

CPU Programs CPU Programs

A A B
C D

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Running single program at a time

program 1 run I/O run I/O run

program 2 run I/O run I/O run

program 3 run I/O run

CPU: p1 idle p1 idle p1 p2 idle p2 idle p2 p3 idle p3

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Multiprogramming

program 1 run wait run wait run run

program 2 wait run wait run wait

program 3 wait run wait run wait run wait

CPU: p1 p2 p3 p1 p3 p2 p3 p1 p1

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Spooling
● a way of dealing with slow devices / peripherals
● eg. printing:

fast

slow

spooler

fast

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History of operating systems

● The 4th generation (1980 - present): personal computers

○ cheap mass-produced computers → user friendly shells on top of OS
○ Windows, Mac OS, GNOME, KDE

● The 5th generation (1990 - present): mobile computers

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History of operating systems

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Online resources

● Computer History Museum

○ http://www.youtube.com/user/ComputerHistory
○ http://www.computerhistory.org
○ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qundvme1Tik

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Summary
● Define OS
○ An extended machine
○ A resource manager

● OS history
○ Batch systems
○ Multiprogramming
○ Spooling
○ Time sharing

● References:
○ 1.1 - 1.2, 1.4 (Modern Operating Systems)
○ 1.1 (Operating System Concepts)
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Example question

● Which one of the following concepts introduced the interactive service for multiple users?

○ Batch system

○ Multiprogramming

○ Spooling

○ Timesharing

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System calls

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Operating system

● provides services to applications, eg.

○ access to hardware through abstractions
○ resource management
● OS services are accessible through system calls (aka kernel calls)
○ usually accessible via traps (software interrupts)

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Kernel vs. user mode
User 1 User 2 User 3
(Human) (Computer) (Device) ... User n

Compiler Assembler Text Editor ... Database

Application Programs: Web browser, Media players User mode - no access to

hardware, limited
instruction set
OS Kernel:
Linux, Windows, Mac OS Kernel mode - full
access to hardware, full
Hardware: instruction set
CPU, memory,
I/O devices
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System calls
● when an application wants to access a service / resource of the system:
○ the application must make an appropriate system call - call a routine provided by the OS
○ usually done through a mechanism called trap
■ trap is a special CPU instruction
■ switches from user mode to kernel mode
■ invokes a pre-defined trap handler, registered by kernel
○ inside trap handler:
■ OS saves application state
■ OS does the requested operation, usually involving some hardware
■ OS switches back to user mode and restores application state
○ the application resumes
● from app's perspective, making a system call is just like calling any other routine
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System calls

● system calls provide an interface to the services made available by OS

○ think of it as an API provided by the OS
○ the interface for system calls varies from OS to OS, although the underlying concepts tend to
be similar
○ OS often executes 1000s of system calls per second

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Questions?

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