Chapter 8: Deadlocks

System Model
Deadlock Characterization
Methods for Handling Deadlocks
Deadlock Prevention
Deadlock Avoidance
Deadlock Detection
Recovery from Deadlock
Combined Approach to Deadlock Handling

Operating System Concepts

8.1

Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne 2002

The Deadlock Problem

A set of blocked processes each holding a resource and

waiting to acquire a resource held by another process in the

set.
Example
System has 2 tape drives.
P1 and P2 each hold one tape drive and each needs another one.

Example
semaphores A and B, initialized to 1

P0

P1

wait (A); wait(B)

wait (B); wait(A)

Operating System Concepts

8.2

Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne 2002

Bridge Crossing Example

Traffic only in one direction.

Each section of a bridge can be viewed as a resource.
If a deadlock occurs, it can be resolved if one car backs

up (preempt resources and rollback).

Several cars may have to be backed up if a deadlock
occurs.
Starvation is possible.

Operating System Concepts

8.3

Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne 2002

System Model
Resource types R1, R2, . . ., Rm
CPU cycles, memory space, I/O devices
Each resource type Ri has Wi instances.
Each process utilizes a resource as follows:
request
use
release

Operating System Concepts

8.4

Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne 2002

Deadlock Characterization
Deadlock can arise if four conditions hold simultaneously.
Mutual exclusion: only one process at a time can use a

resource.
Hold and wait: a process holding at least one resource
is waiting to acquire additional resources held by other
processes.
No preemption: a resource can be released only
voluntarily by the process holding it, after that process has
completed its task.
Circular wait: there exists a set {P0, P1, , P0} of waiting
processes such that P0 is waiting for a resource that is
held by P1,
P1 is waiting for a resource that is held by P2, ,
Pn1 is waiting for a resource that is held by Pn,
and P0 is waiting for a resource that is held by P0.
Operating System Concepts

8.5

Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne 2002

Resource-Allocation Graph

A set of vertices V and a set of edges E.

V is partitioned into two types:
P = {P1, P2, , Pn}, the set consisting of all the processes in
the system.
R = {R1, R2, , Rm}, the set consisting of all resource types

in the system.

request edge directed edge P1 Rj

assignment edge directed edge Rj Pi

Operating System Concepts

8.6

Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne 2002

Resource-Allocation Graph (Cont.)

Process

Resource Type with 4 instances

Pi requests instance of Rj
Pi
Rj

Pi is holding an instance of Rj
Pi
Rj
Operating System Concepts

8.7

Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne 2002

Example of a Resource Allocation Graph

Operating System Concepts

8.8

Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne 2002

Resource Allocation Graph With A Deadlock

Operating System Concepts

8.9

Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne 2002

Resource Allocation Graph With A Cycle But No Deadlock

Operating System Concepts

8.10

Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne 2002

Basic Facts
If graph contains no cycles no deadlock.
If graph contains a cycle
if only one instance per resource type, then deadlock.
if several instances per resource type, possibility of deadlock .

Operating System Concepts

8.11

Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne 2002

Methods for Handling Deadlocks

Ensure that the system will never enter a deadlock

state.

Allow the system to enter a deadlock state and then

recover.

Ignore the problem and pretend that deadlocks never

occur in the system; used by most operating systems,

including UNIX.

Operating System Concepts

8.12

Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne 2002

Deadlock Prevention
Restrain the ways request can be made.
Mutual Exclusion not required for sharable resources;

must hold for nonsharable resources.

Hold and Wait must guarantee that whenever a

process requests a resource, it does not hold any other

resources.
Require process to request and be allocated all its resources

before it begins execution, or allow process to request

resources only when the process has none.
Low resource utilization; starvation possible.

Operating System Concepts

8.13

Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne 2002

Deadlock Prevention (Cont.)

No Preemption
If a process that is holding some resources requests another
resource that cannot be immediately allocated to it, then all
resources currently being held are released.
Preempted resources are added to the list of resources for
which the process is waiting.
Process will be restarted only when it can regain its old
resources, as well as the new ones that it is requesting.
Circular Wait impose a total ordering of all resource

types, and require that each process requests resources

in an increasing order of enumeration.

Operating System Concepts

8.14

Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne 2002

Deadlock Avoidance
Requires that the system has some additional a priori information
available.
Simplest and most useful model requires that each

process declare the maximum number of resources of

each type that it may need.

The deadlock-avoidance algorithm dynamically examines

the resource-allocation state to ensure that there can

never be a circular-wait condition.

Resource-allocation state is defined by the number of

available and allocated resources, and the maximum

demands of the processes.

Operating System Concepts

8.15

Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne 2002

Safe State
When a process requests an available resource, system

must decide if immediate allocation leaves the system in a

safe state.

System is in safe state if there exists a safe sequence of all

processes.

Sequence <P1, P2, , Pn> is safe if for each Pi, the

resources that Pi can still request can be satisfied by

currently available resources + resources held by all the Pj,
with j<I.
If Pi resource needs are not immediately available, then Pi can wait

until all Pj have finished.

When Pj is finished, Pi can obtain needed resources, execute, return
allocated resources, and terminate.
When Pi terminates, Pi+1 can obtain its needed resources, and so on.
Operating System Concepts

8.16

Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne 2002

Basic Facts
If a system is in safe state no deadlocks.
If a system is in unsafe state possibility of deadlock.
Avoidance ensure that a system will never enter an

unsafe state.

Operating System Concepts

8.17

Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne 2002

Safe, Unsafe , Deadlock State

Operating System Concepts

8.18

Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne 2002

Resource-Allocation Graph Algorithm

Claim edge Pi Rj indicated that process Pi may request

resource Rj; represented by a dashed line.

Claim edge converts to request edge when a process

requests a resource.

When a resource is released by a process, assignment

edge reconverts to a claim edge.

Resources must be claimed a priori in the system.

Operating System Concepts

8.19

Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne 2002

Resource-Allocation Graph For Deadlock Avoidance

Operating System Concepts

8.20

Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne 2002

Unsafe State In Resource-Allocation Graph

Operating System Concepts

8.21

Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne 2002

Bankers Algorithm
Multiple instances.
Each process must a priori claim maximum use.
When a process requests a resource it may

have to wait.

When a process gets all its resources it must

return them in a finite amount of time.

Operating System Concepts

8.22

Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne 2002

Data Structures for the Bankers Algorithm

Let n = number of processes, and
m = number of resources types.
Available: Vector of length m. If available [j] = k, there are

k instances of resource type Rj available.

Max: n x m matrix. If Max [i,j] = k, then process Pi may

request at most k instances of resource type Rj.

Allocation: n x m matrix. If Allocation[i,j] = k then Pi is

currently allocated k instances of Rj.

Need: n x m matrix. If Need[i,j] = k, then Pi may need k

more instances of Rj to complete its task.

Need [i,j] =

Operating System Concepts

Max[i,j]
8.23

Allocation [i,j].
Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne 2002

Safety Algorithm
1. Let Work and Finish be vectors of length m and n,
respectively. Initialize:
Work = Available
Finish [i] = false for i - 1,3, , n.

2. Find an i such that both:

(a) Finish [i] = false

(b) Needi Work
If no such i exists, go to step 4.

3. Work = Work + Allocationi

Finish[i] = true
go to step 2.
4. If Finish [i] == true for all i, then the system is in a safe state.

Operating System Concepts

8.24

Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne 2002

Resource-Request Algorithm for Process Pi

Request = request vector for process Pi. If Requesti [j] = k then
process Pi wants k instances of resource type Rj.
1. If Requesti Needi go to step 2. Otherwise, raise error
condition, since process has exceeded its maximum claim.
2. If Requesti Available, go to step 3. Otherwise Pi must
wait, since resources are not available.
3. Pretend to allocate requested resources to Pi by modifying the
state as follows:
Available = Available - Requesti;
Allocationi = Allocationi + Requesti;
Needi = Needi Requesti;;
If safe the resources are allocated to Pi.
If unsafe Pi must wait, and the old resource-allocation
state is restored
Operating System Concepts

8.25

Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne 2002

Example of Bankers Algorithm

5 processes P0 through P4;

3 resource types A (10 instances),

B (5instances, and C (7 instances).
Snapshot at time T0:
Allocation
Max
ABC ABCABC
P0
010 753
P1

200 322

P2

302 902

P3

211 222

P4

002 433

Operating System Concepts

Available
332

8.26

Need
ABC

P0 7 4 3
P1 1 2 2
P2 6 0 0
P3 0 1 1
P4 4 3 1

Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne 2002

Example (Cont.)
The content of the matrix. Need is defined to be Max

Allocation.

P0

Need
ABC
743

P1

122

P2

600

P3

011

P4

431

The system is in a safe state since the sequence < P1, P3, P4,

P2, P0> satisfies safety criteria.

Operating System Concepts

8.27

Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne 2002

Example P1 Request (1,0,2) (Cont.)

Check that Request Available (that is, (1,0,2) (3,3,2) true.

Allocation NeedAvailable
ABC
A B CA B C
P0
010743
P1

3 0 20 2 0

P2

301600

P3

211011

P4

002431

230

Executing safety algorithm shows that sequence <P1, P3, P4, P0, P2>

satisfies safety requirement.

Can request for (3,3,0) by P4 be granted?
Can request for (0,2,0) by P0 be granted?

Operating System Concepts

8.28

Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne 2002

Deadlock Detection
Allow system to enter deadlock state
Detection algorithm
Recovery scheme

Operating System Concepts

8.29

Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne 2002

Single Instance of Each Resource Type

Maintain wait-for graph
Nodes are processes.
Pi Pj if Pi is waiting for Pj.
Periodically invoke an algorithm that searches for a cycle

in the graph.

An algorithm to detect a cycle in a graph requires an

order of n2 operations, where n is the number of vertices

in the graph.

Operating System Concepts

8.30

Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne 2002

Resource-Allocation Graph and Wait-for Graph

Resource-Allocation Graph

Operating System Concepts

8.31

Corresponding wait-for graph

Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne 2002

Several Instances of a Resource Type

Available: A vector of length m indicates the number of

available resources of each type.

Allocation: An n x m matrix defines the number of

resources of each type currently allocated to each

process.

Request: An n x m matrix indicates the current request

of each process. If Request [ij] = k, then process Pi is

requesting k more instances of resource type. Rj.

Operating System Concepts

8.32

Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne 2002

Detection Algorithm
1. Let Work and Finish be vectors of length m and n,
respectively Initialize:
(a) Work = Available
(b) For i = 1,2, , n, if Allocationi 0, then
Finish[i] = false;otherwise, Finish[i] = true.

2. Find an index i such that both:

(a) Finish[i] == false
(b) Requesti Work
If no such i exists, go to step 4.

Operating System Concepts

8.33

Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne 2002

Detection Algorithm (Cont.)

3. Work = Work + Allocationi
Finish[i] = true
go to step 2.
4. If Finish[i] == false, for some i, 1 i n, then the system is in
deadlock state. Moreover, if Finish[i] == false, then Pi is deadlocked.

Algorithm requires an order of O(m x n2) operations to detect

whether the system is in deadlocked state.

Operating System Concepts

8.34

Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne 2002

Example of Detection Algorithm

Five processes P0 through P4; three resource types

A (7 instances), B (2 instances), and C (6 instances).

Snapshot at time T0:
Allocation
Request Available
ABC
ABCABC
P0
010000
000
P1

200202

P2

3 0 30 0 0

P3

211100

P4

002002

Sequence <P0, P2, P3, P1, P4> will result in Finish[i] = true for all

i.

Operating System Concepts

8.35

Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne 2002

Example (Cont.)
P2 requests an additional instance of type C.

Request
ABC
P0

000

P1

201

P2

001

P3

100

P4

002

State of system?
Can reclaim resources held by process P0, but insufficient
resources to fulfill other processes; requests.
Deadlock exists, consisting of processes P1, P2, P3, and P4.

Operating System Concepts

8.36

Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne 2002

Detection-Algorithm Usage
When, and how often, to invoke depends on:
How often a deadlock is likely to occur?
How many processes will need to be rolled back?
one for each disjoint cycle
If detection algorithm is invoked arbitrarily, there may be

many cycles in the resource graph and so we would not

be able to tell which of the many deadlocked processes
caused the deadlock.

Operating System Concepts

8.37

Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne 2002

Recovery from Deadlock: Process Termination

Abort all deadlocked processes.
Abort one process at a time until the deadlock

cycle is eliminated.

In which order should we choose to abort?

Priority of the process.

How long process has computed, and how much

Operating System Concepts

longer to completion.
Resources the process has used.
Resources process needs to complete.
How many processes will need to be terminated.
Is process interactive or batch?

8.38

Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne 2002

Recovery from Deadlock: Resource Preemption

Selecting a victim minimize cost.
Rollback return to some safe state, restart

process for that state.

Starvation same process may always be

picked as victim, include number of rollback in

cost factor.

Operating System Concepts

8.39

Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne 2002

Combined Approach to Deadlock Handling

Combine the three basic approaches
prevention
avoidance
detection

allowing the use of the optimal approach for each of

resources in the system.
Partition resources into hierarchically ordered

classes.

Use most appropriate technique for handling

deadlocks within each class.

Operating System Concepts

8.40

Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne 2002

Traffic Deadlock for Exercise 8.4

Operating System Concepts

8.41

Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne 2002