OPERATING SYSTEMS

Functional Parts of a Digital Computer

PROCESSOR

Control Unit

Arithmetic &
Logic Unit

Registers

INPUT
MEMORY OUTPUT

FIXED BACKING
STORAGE
Key
Data Flow
Control Flow
REMOVABLE BACKING Program Flow
STORAGE

Major categories of hardware components

Input
System unit
o Mother Board
o Processor – Control Unit, Arithmetic Unit, Registers
o Memory (Primary)
o Fixed Backing Storage (Secondary storage device)
Backing Storage
Output

INPUT DEVICES
Input is any data and instructions entered into the memory of a computer.
Input devices is any hardware component that allows users to enter data and instructions
into a computer
Instructions entered into the computer can be in form of:
i) Programs – Series of instructions that tells a computer what to do how to do it.
ii) Command – an instruction that causes a program to perform a specific action.
Users issue command by typing or pressing keys on keyboard, click a mouse
button, speaking into a microphone or touching an area of a screen.

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iii) User response – an instruction a user issues by replying to a question displayed
by a program.

SYSTEM UNIT
It is a case that contains electronic components of the computer used to process data.
Many electric components and most storage devices are part of the system unit. Other
devices such as keyboards, mouse, microphone, monitor, printer, and scanner are all
connected to the system unit. Parts of the system unit include:
a) Mother Board (System board)
It is the main circuit board of the computer system unit. Many electronic
components are attached to it.
b) Processor (Central Processing Unit)
Interprets and carries out the basic instructions that operate a computer. It impacts
on overall computing power and manages most of a computer’s operations.
Examples of Processor Manufacturers: Intel Corporation (Xeon MP, Itanium,
Pentium, 80486, Celeron). AMD (Opteron, Athlon MP, Duron). Motorola (68040,
68030) Motorola/IBM(Power PC). Transmeta (Efficeon, Crusoe)
Parts of a processor
i) Control Unit (CU)
Component of the processor that directs and co-ordinates most of the
operations in the computer.
It interprets each instruction issued by a program then initiates the
appropriate action to carry out the instruction.
ii) Arithmetic and Logic Unit (ALU)
Performs arithmetic comparison and other operations. Also includes basic
calculations such as addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.
iii) Registers
A processor contains small high speed storage locations called registers
that temporarily hold data and instructions.
Register functions include storing the locations from where an instruction
was fetched, storing an instruction while the CU decodes it, storing data
while the ALU computes it and storing these results of a calculation.
Buses
Address bus – carry device address that identifies a device being communicated
Data Bus – carry data to or from a device
Control Bus – transmit I/O Commands

There are four types of commands that are transmitted:

(a) Control command – activates device and informs it what to do e.g. rewind
(b) Status command – used to test conditions in the interface and peripherals e.g.
checking for errors.
(c) Data output command – interface caused to transfer data into device.
(d) Data input command – interface receives an item of data from device.

System Clock – The processor relies on a small quartz crystal circuit

called system clock to control the timing of all computer operations. Just

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 as your heart beats at a regular rate to keep you body functioning, the
system clock generates regular electronic pulses or ticks that set the
operating pace of components of the system unit. The pace of the system
clock, called clock speed is measured by no of ticks per second (current
personal computer processors have clock speeds in gigahertz. Giga is a
prefix that stands for billions and hertz is one cycle per second; thus one
gigahertz equals one billion ticks of the system clock per second)
c) MEMORY
Consists of electronic components that store instructions waiting to be executed by the
processor, data needed by those instructions and results of processed data (Information).
Memory usually consists of one or more chips on the motherboard. Memory sizes are
given in terms of number of bytes the device has available for storage:
Types of memory
i) Volatile – when power of computer is turned off it loses its contents.
ii) Non – volatile – Doesn’t lose its contents when power is removed from
computer

Volatile
RAM (Random Access Memory) – Main memory which consists of memory chips that
can read from and written to by the processor and other devices. The processor interprets
and executes a program’s instructions while the program is in the RAM. RAM can
accommodate multiple programs simultaneously. Examples of RAM include:
Non – Volatile
ROM (Read Only Memory) - are chips storing permanent data and instructions. Data on
most ROM chips cannot be modified hence the name read only. Manufacturers of ROM
chips often record data and instructions or information on chips (firmware).

Other type of ROMs include PROM and EEPROM.

SECONDARY STORAGE
Storage holds data, instructions and information for future use. A storage medium also
called secondary storage is the physical material on which a computer keeps data,
instructions and information.
Examples include:
i) Floppy Disks (Magnetic Disks)
ii) Hard Disks (Magnetic Disks)
iii) Magnetic Tapes (Magnetic Disks)
iv) Compact Disks (Optical Discs)
v) Digital Versatile Disks (DVD) -(Optical Discs)
vi) PC Cards
vii) Flash Memory
viii) Microfiche
Capacity is the number of bytes (Characters) a storage medium can hold. Terms used by
manufacturers to measure capacity are same as those used for memory.
Typical sizes for devices include

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Floppy Disks – 1.44 Megabytes
Hard Disks – 80 Gigabytes
Flash Memory – 512 MB
Compact Disc – 700 MB
DVD – 4.7 GB
Secondary Storages are used to supplement the Primary storage. Their typical uses
include:
a) Storing the operating system, Application software, user data and information
b) Software back ups
c) Transportation of files

task
Differentiate between primary and secondary storage

Magnetic Disks – use magnetic materials to store items such as data, instructions, and
information on a disk’s surface. Depending on how the magnetic particles are aligned,
they represent either a 0 bit or a 1 bit. Examples are floppy disks, Zip Disks, Hard Disks.

Optical Discs – Is a type of storage media that consists of a flat, round, portable disc
made of metal, plastic, and lacquer that is written and read by a laser. They primarily
store software, data, digital photographs, movies and music. Some optical discs are read
only – meaning users cannot write (save) on media. Others are read/write – allows users
to save on discs. Examples include: CD (Compact Discs), DVD (Digital Versatile Disc)/
(Digital Video Disc).

USB Flash Drives – is a flash memory storage device that plugs in a USB port on a
computer or mobile device. They are convenient for mobile users because they are small
and light weight enough to be transported in a pocket. Experts predict that USB flash
drives will become the mobile user’s primary portable storage device, eventually making
the floppy disk obsolete.

Assignment 2
Explain the following storage devices
a) Smart Cards
b) Microfilm and Microfiche
c) PC Cards
d) Magnetic Tapes

OUTPUT
Output is data that has been processed into a useful form. A computer generates several
types of output depending on hardware and software being used and the requirements of
the user. These types may include: Text, Graphics, Audio, and Video.
An output device is any type of hardware component that conveys information to one or
more people.
Examples of Output devices include:

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a) Display devices – give output that is visually conveyed sometimes called soft
copy. Examples include:
- Monitor (Display device packaged as a separate device)
- Flat Panels Displays (is a lightweight display device with a shallow depth
and flat screen and that typically uses Liquid Crystal Display-LCD)
b) Printers – is an output device that produces text and graphics on a physical
medium such as paper or transparency film. Printed information, called hard copy,
exists physically and is a more permanent form of output. Examples of types of
printers include:
- Non Impact printers (Ink Jet Printers, Photo Printers, Laser Printers,
Mobile Printers)
- Impact Printers (Dot Matrix, Line Printers)
c) Speakers and Head sets – Produce music speech or other sounds such as beeps.
d) Plotters and Large formats Printers – are sophisticated printers used to produce
high quality drawings such as blue prints, maps and circuit diagrams.
e) Other Output Devices - Fax Machines, Multifunction Peripherals (printer,
scanner, and photocopy) and Data Projectors.

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COMPUTER SOFTWARE
Software is a set of electronic instructions consisting of complex codes (also known as
programs) that make the computer perform tasks. In other words, software tells the
computer what to do. Some programs exist primarily for the computer's use and help the
computer perform and manage its own tasks. Other types of programs exist primarily for
the user and enable the computer to perform tasks, such as creating documents or
drawing pictures. Computer software is divided into two major categories: System and
application software.

SYSTEM SOFTWARE
Consists of the programs that control and maintain the operating of the computer and its
devices. It serves as an important interface between the user, application software and
hardware. Types of system software are:
a) Operating system
b) Utility programs

Operating System – are a set of programs containing instructions that co-ordinate all the
activities among computers hardware resources. Basic function of the operating system
include:
 Memory management
 Process Management
 File Management
 Device Management
 Providing security

Utility Programs – They are included with most operating systems and provide the
following functions:
 Managing files
 Viewing images
 Securing a computer from unauthorized access,
 Uninstalling programs.
 Scanning disks (deletes and corrects physical and logical problems on a hard disk
and searches and removes unnecessary file).
 Disk Defragmenter – reorganizes the file sand unused space on a computer’s hard
disk so that the operating system accesses data more quickly and programs run
faster).
 Diagnostic Utility – Compiles technical information about your computer’s
hardware and certain system software programs and prepares a report outlining
any identified problem.
 Back up utility - allows users to copy or back up selected files or an entire hard
disk to another storage medium.

Examples of operating system

Category Operating System Names
Stand alone DOS, Windows 3.X, Windows 95, Windows NT,
Windows 98, Windows ME, Windows XP, Windows

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 VISTA, Macintosh O/S, UNIX, LINUX
Network Netware, Windows 2000 Server, Windows2003 Server,
UNIX, LINUX, Solaris
Embedded Windows CE, Windows Mobile, Palm O/S, Embedded
LINUX, Symbian O/S.

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Operating System
A program that control the execution of programs and acts as an intermediary between
application and the computer hardware. As an Intermediary, it provides an environment
in which the user can execute programs.
Operating system goals and objective:
 To execute user programs and make solving user problems easier.
 To make the computer system convenient to use.
 To use the computer hardware in an efficient manner (optimal use of
computing resources).
 Ability to evolve; An OS should be constructed in such a way as to permit
the effective development, testing and introduction of a new system
functions with our interfering with service.

Computer System Components

The Hardware and software used in providing applications to users can be viewed in a
layered or hierarchical fashion
There are 4 main components of a Computer System, namely;

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 1. Hardware – provides basic computing resources (CPU, memory, I/O devices).
2. Operating system – controls and coordinates the use of the hardware among the
various application programs for the various users.
3. Applications programs – define the ways in which the system resources are used
to solve the computing problems of the users (compilers, database systems, video
games, business programs).
4. Users –try to solve different problems (people, machines, other computers). The
user view the computer system in terms of set of application.
Classes of operating systems
They can be designed as:
 Proprietary o/s – designed for use by specific computer architecture. e.g. MS
DOS, PC DOS that runs on IBM and compatible computers using the Intel series
of microprocessors.
 Generic o/s – designed for use by a wide variety of computer architectures e.g.
UNIX that runs on both Intel and Motorola Microprocessors
Operating system functions
a) Process Management
Process - fundamental concept in OS
a. Process is a program in execution.
b. Process needs resources - CPU time, memory, files/data and I/O devices.
OS is responsible for the following process management activities.
 Process creation and deletion
 Process suspension and resumption
 Process synchronization and interprocess communication
 Process interactions - deadlock detection, avoidance and correction

b) Main Memory Management

Main Memory is an array of addressable words or bytes that is quickly
accessible.
Main Memory is volatile.

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 OS is responsible for:
 Allocate and deallocate memory to processes.
 Managing multiple processes within memory - keep track of which parts
of memory are used by which processes. Manage the sharing of memory
between processes.
 Determining which processes to load when memory becomes available.

c) File / Secondary storage Management

Since primary storage is expensive and volatile, secondary storage is required
for backup.
Disk is the primary form of secondary storage.
OS performs storage allocation, free-space management and disk scheduling.

d) Input /Output (Device) System management

I/O system in the OS consists of
 Buffer caching and management
 Device driver interface that abstracts device details
 Drivers for specific hardware devices

e) Protection System (Security)

Protection mechanisms control access of programs and processes to user and
system resources.
Protect user from himself, user from other users, system from users.
Protection mechanisms must:
 Distinguish between authorized and unauthorized use.
 Specify access controls to be imposed on use.
 Provide mechanisms for enforcement of access control.
 Security mechanisms provide trust in system and privacy authentication,
certification, encryption etc.
f) File System Management

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 File is a collection of related information defined by creator - represents
programs and data.
OS is responsible for
 File creation and deletion
 Directory creation and deletion
 Supporting primitives for file/directory manipulation.
 Mapping files to disks (secondary storage).
 Backup files on archival media (tapes).

Operating System Definitions

 Resource Allocator – OS manages and allocates resources (hardware &
software-CPU, memory & file storage space, I/O devices etc) to specific
programs and users. Incase of conflicting requests for resources, OS decides
which requests are allocated resources to ensure fair & efficient computer usage.
 Control Program – OS controls the execution of user programs to prevent errors
& improper use of the computer. Also concerned with operation and control of
I/O devices.
 Kernel – OS is the one program running at all times on the computer-usually
called the kernel (with all else being application programs).

Types of Operating System

A particular o/s may incorporate one or more of these capabilities:
a) Single User processing – only one user at a time to access a computer e.g. DOS
b) Multi-user processing – allows two or more users to access a computer at the same
time. Actual no of users depends on the hardware and o/s design e.g. UNIX
c) Single Tasking – allows one program to execute at a time and that program must
finish executing before the nest program can begin e.g. DOS.

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d) Context Switching – allows several programs to reside in the memory but only one
to be active at a time. Active program is in the foreground and others in the
background.
e) Multitasking / Multiprogramming – allows single CPU to execute what appears to
be more than one program at a time. The CPU switches its attention between 2 or
more programs in main memory as it receives requests for processing from one
program and the other. It happens so quickly that the programs appear to execute
simultaneously / executing concurrently.
f) Multiprocessing / Parallel processing – allows the simultaneous or parallel
execution of programs by a computer that has 2 or more CPU’s
g) Multithreading – support several simultaneous functions with the same application.
h) Inter-processing / Dynamic linking – allows any change made in one application to
be automatically reflected in any related linked applications e.g. a link between word
processing and financial applications (linked together).
i) Time sharing – allows multiple users to access a single computer found on a large
computer o/s where many users need access at the same time.
j) Virtual storage – o/s with the capability of virtual storage called virtual memory,
allows you to use a secondary storage device as an extension of main memory.
k) Real Time Processing – allows a computer to control or to monitor the task
performances of other machines and people by responding to input data in a specified
amount of time. To control processes immediate response is usually necessary.

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OPERATING SYSTEM DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION

Design and Implementation of OS is not “solvable”, but some approaches have proven
successful. Internal structure of different Operating Systems can vary widely. The design
starts by defining goals and specifications and this is affected by choice of hardware and
type of system.
In guiding the design operating systems the user and system goals are taken into
consideration.
 User goals –operating system should be convenient to use, easy to learn, reliable,
safe, and fast.
 System Goals – operating systems should be easy to design, implement, and
maintain, as well as flexible, reliable, error- free, and efficient
Important principles to separate during design are:
 Policy: What will be done? (decide what will be done)
 Mechanism: How to do it? (determine how to do something)
The separation of policy from mechanism is a very important principle since it allows
maximum flexibility if policy decisions are to be changed later.

Types of structures
a) Simple Structure / Monolithic systems
It has also been subtitled “The Big Mess” i.e. no structure where the o/s is viewed as a
collection of procedures which can call each other. There is no information hiding
(procedures can view each other) and basically suggests a basic structure for the o/s
which includes:
 Main Program – invokes service procedure
 A set of service procedures – which carry system calls.
 A set of utility procedures that help the service
procedures
Example of MS DOS
MS-DOS –written to provide the most functionality in the
least space. It is not divided into modules. Although MS-
DOS has some structure, its interfaces and levels of

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functionality are not well separated (no information hiding).

b) Layered Approach
The operating system is divided into a number of layers (levels), each built on top of
lower layers. The bottom layer (layer 0), is the hardware; the highest (layer N) is the user
interface. With modularity, layers are selected such that each uses functions (operations)
and services of only lower-level layers.

Examples of layers developed by

Dijkstra (1968) in Netherlands
Layer Function
(5) Operator
(4) User Programs
(3) Input / Output
Management
(2) Operations / Process
communication
(1) Memory and Device
Management
(0) Process allocation and
multiprogramming

Example is UNIX which had a simple layered structure consisting of:

 Systems programs
 The kernel
i) Consists of everything below the system-call interface and above the
physical hardware
ii) Provides the file system, CPU scheduling, memory management, and
other operating-system functions; a large number of functions for one
level
c) Modules
Most modern operating systems implement kernel modules. It uses object-oriented
approach.
Each core component is separate and each talks to the others over known interfaces. Each
is loadable as needed within the kernel. Overall it is similar to layers but with more
flexible
Solaris Modular approach

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e) Virtual Machines
A virtual machine takes the layered approach to its logical conclusion. It treats hardware
and the operating system kernel as though they were all hardware. A virtual machine
provides an interface identical to the underlying bare hardware. The operating system
creates the illusion of multiple processes, each executing on its own processor with its
own (virtual) memory.
The resources of the physical computer are shared to create the virtual machines. CPU
scheduling can create the appearance that users have their own processor. Spooling and a
file system can provide virtual card readers and virtual line printers. A normal user time-
sharing terminal serves as the virtual machine operator’s console

g) Client-Server Model / Microkernel System Structure

(client process sends a request to server process).

Machine 1 Machine 2
lient File Server
Kernel Kernel
NETWORK

Message from client to server

The kernel handles communication between clients and servers. The server processes run
as user mode processes and no in kernel mode, they do not have direct access to the
hardware (hard for hardware to crash). It has also been adapted to distributed systems.

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PROCESS MANAGEMENT
A process can be thought as a program in execution. It needs certain resources including
CPU time memory, file and I/O devices to accomplish its task.

The o/s is responsible for the following activities in connection with process
management:
 Creation and deletion of both user and system processes
 Suspension and resumption of processes
 Provision of mechanism for process synchronization
 Provision of mechanism for process communication
 Provision for mechanism for deadlock handling.

Process Model
A process is more than a program. It includes current activity temporary data containing
global value. A program is a passive entity e.g. contents of a file stored on disk where as
a process is an entity.
Process state
As a process executes, it changes state. The state of a process is defined in part by the
current activity of that process. It states may be:
i) New – process is being created
ii) Ready – waiting to be assigned to a processor
iii) Waiting – process waiting for some event to occur.
iv) Running – Instructions are being executed
v) Terminated – finished execution.

Diagram of process state

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INTER-PROCESS COMMUNICATION
O/s must provide inter-process communication facility (IPC) which provides a
mechanism to allow processes to communicate and to synchronize their actions to
prevent Race conditions (a condition where several processes access and manipulate the
same data concurrently and the outcome of the execution depends on the particular order
in which the access takes place).

To guard against this mechanisms are necessary to ensure that only one process at a time
can be manipulating the date. Some of this mechanisms / techniques include:

Critical Section Problem

It is a segment of code in which a process may be changing common variables, updating
a table, writing a file etc. Each process has its critical section while the other portion is
referred to as Reminder section.

The important feature of the system is that when one has process is executing in its
critical section no other process is to be allowed to execute its critical section. Each
process must request permission to enter its critical section.
A solution to critical section problem must satisfy the following:
i) Mutual Exclusion – If one process is executing its critical section then no other
process can be executing in their critical section.
ii) Progress – If no process is executing in its critical section and there exists some
processes that wish to enter critical sections then those processes that are not
executing in their remainder section can be allowed.
iii) Bounded Waiting – There must exist a bound on the number of times that other
processes are allowed to enter their critical sections after a process has made a
request to enter its critical section and before that request is granted (Prevents Bus
waiting).
Busy waiting occurs when one process is being executed in its critical section and
process 2 tests to confirm if process 1 is through. It is only acceptable technique
when the anticipated waits are brief; otherwise it could waste CPU cycles.

Techniques used to handle Critical section problem

1. Semaphores
The fundamental principle is this: 2 or more processes can operate by means of simple
signals, such that a process can be forced to stop at a specified place until it has received
a special signal.
Any complex coordinative requirement can be satisfied by the appropriate structure of
signals.
For signaling special variables called semaphores are used: To transmit a signal via
semaphores, a process executes the primitive wait P(s); if the corresponding signal V(s)
has not yet been transmitted the process is suspended until transmission takes place.

To achieve the desired effect we can view the semaphore as a variable that has an integer
value upon which 3 operations are defined
a) A semaphore may be initialized to a non negative value

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 b) The wait operation decrements these semaphore value. If the value becomes
negative the process executing the wait is blocked.
c) The signal operation increments the semaphore value. If the value is not positive
then a process is blocked by await operation is unblocked
A binary semaphore accepts only 2 values 0 or 1. For both semaphore and binary
semaphore a queue is used to hold processes waiting on the semaphore.
A strong semaphore has a mechanism of removing processes from a queue e.g. FIFO
policy.
A weak semaphore doesn’t specify the order in which processes are removed from the
queue.
Example of implementation:
wait (S);
Critical Section
signal (S);

2. Message passing
Provides a means for co-operating processes to communicate when they are not using
shared memory environment. Processes generally send and receive messages by using
system calls such as: send (receiverprocess; message) or Receive (senderprocess;
message).

A blocking send must wait for receiver to receive the message. A non blocking send
enables the sender to continue with other processing even if the receiver has not yet
received the message. This requires buffering mechanisms to hold messages until the
receiver receives it.
Message passing can be flawless on some computers but in a distributed system it can be
flawed or even lost, thus acknowledgement protocols are used.

One complication in distributed systems with send / receive message passing is in naming
processes unambiguously so that send and receive calls references the proper process.
Process creation and destruction can be coordinated through some centralized naming
mechanisms but this can introduce considerable transmission overhead as individual
machines request permission to use new names.

3. Monitors
It is a high synchronization construct characterized by a set of programmer defined
operations. It is made of declarations of variables and bodies of procedures or functions
that implement operations of a given type. It cannot be used directly by the various
processes; ensures that only one process at a time can be active within a monitor.
Schematic view of a monitor

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Processes desiring to enter the monitor when it is already in use must wait. This waiting
is automatically managed by the monitor. Data inside the monitor is accessible only to
the process inside it. There is no way for processes outside the monitor to access monitor
data. This is called information hiding.

Event Counters
Introduced to enable process synchronization without use of mutual exclusion. . It keeps
track of no of occurrences of events of a particular class of related events. It is an integer
counter that does not decrease. Some operations will allow processes to reference event
counts e.g. Advance (event Count), Read (event count) and await (event count value).
Advance (E) –signals the occurrence of an event of the class of events represented by E
by incrementing event count E by 1.
Read (E) – obtains value of E; because Advance (E) operations may be occurring during
Read (E) it is only guaranteed that the value will be at least as great as E was before the
read started.
Await (E) – blocks the process until the value of E becomes at least V; this avoids the
need for busy waiting.
Other techniques used include:
Using Peterson’s algorithm, Dekker’s algorithm and Bakery’s Algorithm

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PROCESS SCHEDULING
It is the process of switching the CPU among processes; it makes the computer more
productive and is the basis of multiprogrammed o/s. Normally several processes are kept
in memory and when one process has to wait, the o/s takes the CPU away from that
process and gives the CPU to another process.
Modules of the o/s involved include
 CPU Scheduler
 CPU dispatcher
CPU Scheduler – selects a process from the ready queue that is to be executed.
Scheduling decisions may take place under the following four conditions:
a) When process switches from running state to waiting state (e.g. I/O request or
invocation of wait for the termination of one of the child processes).
b) When a process switches from running state to the ready state (e.g. when an
interrupt occurs)
c) When a process switches from the waiting state to the ready state (e.g.
completion of I/O)
d) When a process terminates.

Scheduling scheme can either be:

(i) Non pre-emptive – process keeps CPU until when it release it (conditions 1
and 4)
(ii) Pre-emptive – CPU can be taken from a process when it is midst of updating
or processing data by another process (conditions 2 and 3)
CPU dispatcher – a module that gives control of CPU to the process selected by
scheduler. Functions include:
(i) Switching context
(ii) Switching to user mode
(iii) Jumping to proper location in the user program to restart that program.

Scheduling Algorithms
1. First Come First Served (FCFS) / First In First Out (FIFO) Scheduling
Process that request CPU first is allocated the CPU first. Code for FCFS is simple to
write and understand. Average waiting time under FCFS is often quite long. FCFS is
non-preemptive discipline (once a process has the CPU it runs to completion).

Example
Processes arrive at time o, with length of the CPU-burst time given in milliseconds.
Process Burst Time
(Time of CPU
use)
P1 24
P2 3
P3 3

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If processes arrive in order P1, P2, P3; Using a Gantt chart.
P1 P2 P3
0 24 27 30

Average waiting Time = (0 + 24 +27) / 3 = 17 ms

If processes arrive in order P2, P3, P1

P2 P3 P1
0 3 6 30

Average waiting Time = (0 + 3 + 6) / 3 = 3 ms

Thus Average waiting time under FCFS policy is generally not minimal and may vary
substantially if processes CPU-Burst times vary greatly. FCFS algorithm is particularly
troublesome for time sharing systems.

Process Burst Time

P1 24
P2 3
P3 3
Suppose that the processes arrive in the order: P1 , P2 , P3
The Gantt Chart for the schedule is:

P1 P2 P3

0 24 27 30

Waiting time for P1 = 0; P2 = 24; P3 = 27

Average waiting time: (0 + 24 + 27)/3 = 17

2. Shortest Job First (SJF) Scheduling

When the CPU is available it is assigned to the process that has the smallest next CPU
burst. If 2 processes have the same length next CPU Burst, FCFS scheduling is used to
break the tie. It reduces Average waiting time as compared to FCFS.
• Two schemes:
– Nonpreemptive – once CPU given to the process it cannot be preempted
until completes its CPU burst.
– preemptive – if a new process arrives with CPU burst length less than
remaining time of current executing process, preempt. This scheme is

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 know as the
Shortest-Remaining-Time-First (SRTF).
• SJF is optimal – gives minimum average waiting time for a given set of processes.

Example (Same arrival time)

Process Burst Time

(ms)
P1 6
P2 8
P3 7
P4 3

Gantt chart for SJF:

P4 P1 P3 P2
0 3 9 16 24
Average waiting Time = (0 + 3 + 16 + 9) / 4 = 7 ms
Example of Non-Preemptive SJF
Process Arrival Time Burst Time
P1 0.0 7
P2 2.0 4
P3 4.0 1
P4 5.0 4
• SJF (non-preemptive)

P1 P3 P2 P4

0 3 7 8 1 16
• Average waiting time = (0 + 6 + 3 + 7)/4 – 4 2
Example of Preemptive SJF
Process Arrival Time Burst Time
P1 0.0 7
P2 2.0 4
P3 4.0 1
P4 5.0 4
• SJF (preemptive)

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 P1 P2 P3 P2 P4 P1

0 2 4 5 7 11 16

Real difficulty of SJF is knowing the next CPU request and this information is not
usually available. NB: SJF is non-preemptive in nature.

3. Shortest Remaining Time (SRT) Scheduling

It is the preemptive counterpart of SJF and is useful in time sharing. Currently executing
process is preempted when a process with a short CPU burst is ready in a queue.
Example
Process Arrival Time Burst Time
(ms)
P1 0 8
P2 1 4
P3 2 9
P4 3 5

Gantt chart
P1 P2 P4 P1 P3
0 1 5 10 17 26

Process Waiting Time

P1 0 + (10 – 1) = 9
P2 (1 – 1) = 0
P3 17 – 2 = 15
P4 5 – 3 =2
Average waiting time = (9 + 0 + 15 + 2) / 4 = 6.5 ms

P1 is started at time 0 since it’s the only process in the queue. P2 arrives at time 1. The
remaining time for P1 (7ms) is larger than time for process P2 (4ms) so P1 is preempted
and P2is scheduled. Average waiting time is less as compared to non preemptive SJF.
SRT has higher overhead than SJF since it must keep track of elapsed service time of the
running job and must handle occasional preemptions.

4. Round Robin (RR) Scheduling

Similar to FCFS scheduling but processes are given a limited amount of CPU time called
a time slice or a quantum which is generally from 10 to 100ms. If the process has a CPU
burst of less than 1time Quantum, the process itself will release the CPU voluntarily. The
processes ready queue is treated as a circular queue and CPU scheduler goes around the

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queue, allocating the CPU to each process for a time of up to 1 time quantum. Using
processes in example above and Time Quantum of 4 ms.

Gantt chart:

P1 P2 P3 P4 P1 P3 P4 P3
0 4 8 12 16 20 24 25 26

Average waiting time = (9 + 0 + 15 + 2) / 4 = 6.5 ms

Process Waiting Time
P1 0 + (16 – 4) = 12
P2 4–1=3
P3 (8 – 2) + (20 – 12) + (25 – 24) = 15
P4 (12 – 3) + (24 – 16) = 17

Example of RR with Time Quantum = 20

Process Burst Time
P1 53
P2 17
P3 68
P4 24
• The Gantt chart is:

P1 P2 P3 P4 P1 P3 P4 P1 P3 P3

0 20 37 57 77 97 117 121 134 154 162

• Typically, higher average turnaround than SJF, but better response.

RR is effective in time sharing environments. The pre-emptive overheads are kept low by
efficient context switching mechanisms and providing adequate memory for the
processes to reside in main storage.
Selfish Round ROBIN is a variant introduced by Klein Rock i.e. as processes enter the
system they first reside in a holding queue until their priorities reach the levels of
processes in an active queue.

5. Priority Scheduling
SJF is a special case of general priority scheduling algorithms. A priority is associated
with each process and CPU is allocated to the process with highest priority. Equal
priority processes are scheduled in FCFS order. Priorities are generally some fixed range
of numbers e.g. 0 – 7 or 0 – 4095. Some system use low numbers to represent low
priority; others use low numbers for high priority.

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6. Multi-level Queue Scheduling
Used in a situation in which processes are easily classified into different groups e.g.
foreground (interactive) processes and background (batch) processes. Ready queue is
divided into these groups.
Processes are permanently assigned to one queue generally based on some property of the
process such as memory size, process priority or process type. Each queue has its own
scheduling algorithm e.g. foreground -> RR, Background ->FCFS. In addition there must
be scheduling between the queues which is commonly implemented as a fixed priority
scheduling e.g. fore ground queue may have priority over back ground queue.

Exercises
1. Consider the following set of processes, with the length of CPU burst time given in
milliseconds.
Process Burst Time Priority
P1 10 3
P2 1 1
P3 2 3
P4 1 4
P5 5 2

The processes are assumed to have arrived in the order P1, P2, P3, P4, and P5 all at time
0.
Draw for Gantt charts illustrating the execution of these processes using FCFS, SJF,
Priority (1 is lowest priority) and RR (quantum = 1ms) scheduling. Calculate average
waiting time for each algorithm.

2. Assume that we have the workload shown. All 5 processes arrive at time 0 in order
given with the length f burst time given in ms.
Process Burst Time
P1 10
P2 29
P3 3
P4 7
P5 12
Consider FCFS, SJF and RR (quantum = 10ms) scheduling algorithms for this set of
processes, which algorithm would give the minimum average waiting time.

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DEADLOCKS
Occurs when several processes compete for a finite number of resources i.e. a process is
waiting for a particular event that will not occur. The event here may be resource
acquisition and release.

R1
Held by Requests

P2
P2

R2 Held by
Requests

This system is deadlocked because each process holds a resource being requested by the
other process and neither process is willing to release the resource it holds. (Leads to
deadly embrace).

1. Deadlock in spooling systems

A spooling system is used to improve system throughput by disassociating, a program
from the slow operating speeds of devices such as printers e.g. lines of text are sent to a
disk before printing starts. If disk space is small and jobs are man a dead lock may occur.

Deadlocks Characterization
Four necessary conditions for deadlock to exist:
1. Mutual Exclusion condition – a process claims exclusive control of resources they
require.
2. Wait for Condition (Hold and Wait) –Processes hold resources already allocated to
them while waiting for additional resources.
3. No preemption condition – resources cannot be removed from the processes holding
them until the resources are used to completion.
4. Circular wait condition – A circular chain of processes exists in which each process
holds one or more resources that are requested by the next process in the chain

MAJOR AREAS OF DEADLOCK RESEARCH IN COMPUTER SCIENCE

a) Deadlock Detection
b) Deadlock Recovery
c) Deadlock Prevention
DEADLOCK DETECTION
This is the process of actually determining that a deadlock exists and of identifying the
processes involved in the deadlock. (i.e. determine if a circular wait exists).
DEADLOCK RECOVERY
Once a deadlock as been detected several alternatives exist:

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a) Ostrich Algorithm (Bury head in the sand and assume things would just work
out).
b) Informing the operator who will deal with it manually
c) Let the system recover automatically

There are 2 options for breaking a deadlock:

1. Process termination – killing some processes

Methods available include:
a) Abort all deadlocked processes – has a great expense
b) Abort one process at a time until the deadlock cycle is eliminated.
A scheduling algorithm may be necessary to identify the process to abort.
2. Resource Preemption
Preempts some resources from processes and give these resources to other processes until
the deadlock cycle is broken. Issues to be addressed include:-
 Selecting a victim i.e. a resource to preempt.
 Roll Back – a process that is preempted a resource needs to be rolled back to
some safe state and restarted from that state once the deadlock is over.
 Starvation – guarantee that resources will not always be preempted from some
process.

DEADLOCK PREVENTION
Aims at getting rid of conditions that cause deadlock. Methods used include:
a) Denying Mutual exclusion – should only be allowed or non-shareable
resources. For shareable resources e.g. read only files the processes’
attempting to open it should be granted simultaneous access. Thus for
shareable we do not allow mutual exclusion.
b) Denying Hold and wait (wait for condition) – To deny this we must
guarantee that whenever a process requests a resource it does not hold any
other resources.
c) Denying “No preemption”
If a process that is holding some resource requests another resource that cannot be
immediately allocated to it (i.e. it must wait) then all resources currently being held
are preempted. The process will be started only when it can regain its old resources as
well as the new ones that it is requesting.

d) Denying Circular wait

All resources are uniquely numbered and processes must request resources in linear
ascending order. It has been implemented in many o/s but has some difficulties i.e.
- Addition of new resources required rewriting of existing program so as to give the
unique numbers.

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MEMORY MANAGEMENT
It is necessary in order to improve both utilization of the CU and the speed of computer’s
response to its users.
Memory allocation techniques
1. Paging
Main memory (physical memory) is broken into fixed blocks called frames. The
processes (logical memory) are also broken into blocks of same size called pages. When
a process is executed its pages are loaded into any available memory frames from the
backing storage. Allocation of frames to process’s are

2. Segmentation
Processes are divided into variable sized segments determined by sizes of process’s
program, sub-routines, data structures e.t.c A segment is a logical grouping of
information such as a routine, an array or data area that are determined by programmer.
Each has a name and a length.

3. Partitioned Allocation
Ensures the main memory accommodates both o/s and the various user processes i.e.
memory is divided into 2 partitions one for resident o/s and one for user processes. It
protects o/s code and data from changes (accidental or malicious) by user processes.
The o/s takes into account the memory requirements of each process and amount of
available memory space in determining which processes are allocated memory.

4. Overlays
Used when process size is larger than amount of memory allocated (keeps in memory
only those instructions and data that are needed at any given time)

5. Swapping
User programs do not remain in main memory until completion. In some systems one job
occupies the main storage once. That job runs then when it can no longer continue it
relinquishes both storage and CPU to the next job.

VIRTUAL MEMORY
It is a technique where a part of secondary storage is addressed as main memory. It
allows execution of processes that may not be completely in memory i.e. programs can be
larger than memory. Virtual memory techniques:

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DEVICE MANAGEMENT (INPUT/OUTPUT MANAGEMENT)
Device management encompasses the management of I/O devices such as printers,
keyboard, mouse, disk drives, tape drives, modems etc. The devices normally transfer
and receive alphanumeric characters in ASCII which use 7 bits to code 128 characters i.e.
A-Z, a-z, 0-9 and 32 special printable characters such as %, *.
Major differences between I/O devices
a) Manner of operation – some are electromechanical (printer), other
electromagnetic (disk) while others are electronic (RAM).
b) Data transfer rates
c) Data representation – data codes mats
d) Units of transfer – some may use bytes, others blocks.
e) Error conditions - Nature of errors are varied.
The major objective of I/O management is to resolve these differences by supervising and
synchronizing all input and output transfers.
Basic functions of I/O management
1. Keeping track of the status of all devices, which require special mechanisms.
2. Deciding policy to determine who gets a device for how long and when. There are 3
basic techniques for implementing this policies:
(ii) Dedicated – a device is assigned to a single process.
(iii) Shared – A device is shared by many processes.
(iv) Virtual – A technique whereby one physical device is simulated on another
physical device (RAM on hard disk).
3. Allocation – it physically assigns the device to a process.
4. De-allocation of resources for processes.

Address bus – carry device address that identifies a device being communicated
Data Bus – carry data to or from a device
Control Bus – transmit I/O Commands

There are four types of commands that are transmitted:

(a) Control command – activates device and informs it what to do e.g. rewind
(b) Status command – used to test conditions in the interface and peripherals e.g.
checking for errors.
(c) Data output command – interface caused to transfer data into device.
(d) Data input command – interface receives an item of data from device.

INPUT – OUTPUT PROCESSOR (IOP)

Instead of having each interface communicate with the processor a computer may
incorporate one or more external processors and assign them the task of communicating
directly with all I/O devices.

It takes care of input/ output tasks, relieving the main processor the house keeping chores
involved in I/O transfer. In addition the IOP can perform other processing tasks such as
an arithmetic, logic and code translation.

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TECHNIQUES FOR PERFORMING I/O OPERATIONS (Modes of transfer)
a) Programmed I/O – Occurs as a result of I/O instructions written in the computer
program. Each data transfer is initiated by an instruction in program. Once it has
been initiated the CPU is required to monitor the interface to see when a transfer
can again be made.
Disadvantage: CPU stays in a program loop until the I/O unit indicates that it is
ready for data transfer (time consuming).
b) Interrupt Driven (Interrupt initiated I/O)
Requires interface to issue an interrupt request signal only when the data are
available from the device. In the meantime the CPU can proceed to execute
another program. The interface meanwhile keeps monitoring the device. When
the interface determines that device is ready it generates interrupt request to
computer, then momentarily stops the task it is processing and branches to a
service program to process the I/O transfer then returns to original task later.
c) Direct Memory Access - Is a technique of transfer, which removes CPU from
control of the transfer of data from a fast storage device to a memory. This is
because at times the transfer is limited by speed of CPU. Removing the CPU from
the path and letting the peripheral device manage the memory buses directly
would improve the speed of transfer. The CPU has no control of memory buses
during this operation. A DMA controller takes over the buses to manage the
transfer directly between I/O device and memory.

SOFTWARE CONSIDERATIONS
Computers must have software routines for controlling peripherals and for transfer of
data between the processor and peripherals. I/O routines must issue control commands to
activate the peripheral and to check the device status to determine when it is ready for
data transfer.

DISKS
They include floppy disks, hard disks, disk caches, RAM disks and laser optical disks
(DVD, CD-ROMs).On DVDs and CD ROMs sectors form a long spiral that spins out
from the center of the disk. On floppy disks and hard disks sectors are organized into a no
of concentric circles or tracks. As one moves out from the center of the disk, the tracks
get larger,

Disk Hardware
This refers to the disk drive that accesses information in the disk. The actual details of
disk I/O operation depend on the computer system, the operating system and nature of
I/O channel and disk controller hardware.

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VIRTUAL DEVICES
It is a technique where by one physical device is simulated on another physical device.
They include:
a) Buffers / Buffering
A buffer is an area of primary storage for holding data during I/O transfers e.g. printer
buffer.
b) Spooling
A technique whereby a high speed device is interposed between a running program and a
low speed device involved with the program in input/ output. Instead of writing to a
printer, outputs are written to a disk.

c) Caching
Cache memory is usually a memory that is smaller and faster than memory and that is
interposed between main memory and processor. It reduces average memory access times
by exploiting the principle of locality.

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FILE MANAGEMENT
File system – concerned with managing secondary storage space particularly disk
storage. It consists of two distinct parts:
 A collection of files each storing related data
 A directory structure which organizes and provide information about all the files
in the system.
A file – is a named collection of related information that is recorded on secondary
storage.

File Naming
A file is named for convenience of its human users and a name is usually a string of
characters e.g. “good.c”. When a file is named it becomes independent of the process, the
user and even the system that created it i.e. another user may edit the same file and
specify a different name.

File Types
An o/s should recognize and support different files types so that it can operate and file in
reasonable ways.
Files types can be implemented by including it as part of file name. The name is split into
2 parts – a name and extension usually separated by a period character. The extension
indicates the type of file and type of operations that can be on that file.

File Type Usual extensions

Executable .exe , .com
Source Code .c, .p, .pas, .bas, .vbp, .prg, .java
Text .txt, .rtf, .doc
Graphics .bmp, .gpg, .mtf
Spreadsheet .xls
Archive .zip, .arc.rar (compressed files)

File Attributes
A part fro the name other attributes of files include
 Size – amount of information stored in the file
 Location – Is a pointer to a device and to the location of file on the device
 Protection – Access control to information in file (who can read, write, execute
and so on)
 Time, Date and user identification –This information is kept for creation, last
modification and last use. These data can be useful for protection, security and
usage monitor.
 Volatility – frequency with which additions and deletions are made to a file
 Activity – Refers to the percentage of file’s records accessed during a given
period of time.

File Operations
File can be manipulated by operations such as:
 Open – prepare a file to be referenced

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  Close – prevent further reference to a file until it is reopened
 Create – Build a new file
 Destroy – Remove a file
 Copy – create another version of file with a new name.
 Rename – change name of a file.
 List – Print or display contents.
 Move – change location of file
Individual data items within the file may be manipulated by operations like:
 Read – Input a data tem to a process from a file
 Write – Output a data item from a process to a file
 Update – modify an existing data item in a file
 Insert – Add a new data item to a file
 Delete – Remove a data item to a file
 Truncating – delete some data items but file retains all other attributes

File Structure
Refers to internal organization of the file. File types may indicate structure. Certain files
must conform to a required structure that is understood by the o/s. Some o/s have file
systems that does support multiple structure while others impose (and support) a minimal
number of file structures e.g. MS DOS and UNIX. UNIX considers ach file to be a
sequence of 8-bit bytes. Macintosh o/s supports a minimal no of file structure and it
expects executables to contain 2 parts – a resource fork and a data fork. Resource fork
contains information of importance to user e.g. labels of any buttons displayed by
program.

File Organization
Refers to the manner in which records f a file are arranged on secondary storage.
The most popular schemes are:-
a) Sequential
Records placed in physical order. The next record is the one that physically follows the
previous record. It is used for records in magnetic tape.
b) Direct
Records are directly (randomly) accessed by their physical addresses on a direct Access
by storage device (DASD). The application user places the records on DASD in any
order appropriate for a particular application.
c) Indexed Sequential
Records are arranged in logical sequence according to a key contained in each record.
The system maintains an index containing the physical addresses of certain principal
records. Indexed sequential records may be accessed sequentially in key order or they
may be accessed directly by a search through the system created index. It is usually used
inn disk.

d) Partitioned
It is a file of sequential sub files. Each sequential sub file is called a member. The starting
address of each member is stored in the file directory. Partitioned files are often used to
store program libraries.

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FILE ALLOCATION METHODS
Deals with how to allocate disk space to different files so that the space is utilized
effectively and files can be accessed quickly. Methods used include:
1. Contiguous Allocation
Files are assigned to contiguous areas of secondary storage. A user specifies in advance
the size of area needed to hold a file to be created. If the desired amount of contiguous
space is not available the file cannot be created.
Advantages
ii) Speeds up access since successive logical records are normally physically
adjacent to one another
iii) File directories are relatively straight forward to implement for each file merely
retain the address of start of file and its length.
Disadvantages
i) Difficult to find space for a new file especially if the disk is fragmented into a
number of separate holes (block)
To prevent this, a user can run a repackaging routine (Disk defragmenter)
ii) Another difficulty is determining how much space is needed for a file since if too
little space is allocated the file cannot be extended or cannot grow.
Some o/s use a modified contiguous allocation scheme where a contiguous chunk
of space is allocated initially and then when that amount is not large enough,
another chunk of contiguous space, an extent is added.
2. Non Contiguous Allocation
It is used since files do tend to grow or shrink overtime and because users rarely know in
advance how large a file will be. Techniques used include:
a) Linked Allocation
It solves all problems of contiguous allocation. Each file is a linked list of disk blocks, the
disk blocks may be scattered anywhere on the disk. The directory contains a pointer to
the first and last disk block of the file. Each Block contains a pointer to the next block.
Advantage
 Eliminates external fragmentation
Disadvantages
 It is very effective only for sequential access files i.e. where you have to access all
blocks.
 Space may be wasted for pointers since they take 4 bytes. The solution is to
collect blocks into multiples clusters rather than blocks.
 Not very reliable since loss or damage of pointer would lead to failure
b) Indexed Allocation
It tries to support efficient direct access which is not possible in linked allocation.
Pointers to the blocks are brought together into one location (index block). Each file has
its own index block, which is an array of disk block addresses.
Advantage
 Supports Direct access without suffering from external fragmentation
Disadvantage
 Suffers from wasted space due to pointer overhead of the index block
 The biggest problem is determining how large the index block would be

34
 The mechanisms to deal with this include:-
i) Linked scheme – index block is normally one disk block; to allow
large files we may link together several index blocks.
ii) Multilevel index – use a separate index block to point to the index
blocks which point to the files blocks themselves
iii) Combined scheme – keeps the first say 15 pointers of the index block
in the file’s index block. The first 12 of these pointers point to direct
blocks that contain addresses of blocks that contain data of the file.
The next 3 pointers point to indirect blocks which may contain address
to blocks containing data.

FILE MANAGEMENT TECHNIQUES

File Implementation
It is concerned with issues such as file storage and access on the most common secondary
storage medium the hard disk. It explores ways to allocate disk space, to recovers freed
space, to track the locations of data and to interface other parts of the o/s to the secondary
storage.
Directory implementation
The selection of directory allocation and directory management algorithms has a large
effect on the efficiency, performance and reliability of the file system.
Algorithms used:
a) Linear is the simplest method of implementing a directory. It uses a linear list of
filenames with pointers to the data blocks. It requires a linear search to find a
particular entry.
b) Hash Table – A linear list stores the directory entries but a hash data structure is
used. The hash table takes a value computed from the file name and returns a
pointer to the file name in the linear list.

Free Space Management

To keep track of free disk space the system maintains a free space list which records all
disk blocks that are free (i.e. those not allocated to some file or directory). To create a file
we search the free space list for the required amount of space and allocate that space to
the new file. This space is then removed from the free space list. Techniques used to
manage disk space include:-
a) Bit vector – Free space list is implemented as a bit map or bit vector. Each block
is represented by 1 bit. If the block is free, the bit is 1; if the block is allocated, the
bit 0.
b) Linked List – links together all the free disk blocks, keeping a pointer to the first
free block in a special location on the disk and caching it in memory. This first
block contains a pointer to the next free disk block and so on.
c) Grouping – Is a modification of free list approach and stores the addresses of n
free blocks in the first free block. The first n-1 of these blocks are actually free
blocks and so on. The importance of this implementation is that the addresses of a

35
 large number of free blocks can be found quickly unlike in the standard linked list
approach.
d) Counting – it takes advantage of the fact that generally several contiguous blocks
may be allocated or freed simultaneously, particularly when space is allocated
with contiguous allocation algorithm or through clustering. Thus rather than
keeping a list of n-free disk addresses we can keep the address of the first free
block and the number n of free contiguous blocks that follow the first block.
Although each entry requires more space that would a simple dist address; the
overall list will be shorter as long as the count is generally greater than 1.

Efficiency and Performance

This is essential when it comes to files and directory implementation since disks tends to
be a major bottleneck in system performance i.e. they are the slowest main computer
component. To improve performance disk controllers are provided to include enough
local memory to create on-board cache that may be sufficiently large to store an entire
track at a time.

File Sharing
In a multi user system there is almost a requirement for allowing files to be shared among
a number of users. Two issues arise:-
i) Access rights – should provide a number of options so that the way in which a
particular file is accessed can be controlled. Access rights assigned to a particular
file include: Read, execute, append, update, delete.
ii) Simultaneous access – a discipline is required when access is granted to append or
update a file to more than one user. An approach can allow a user to lock the
entire file when it is to be updated.

36