Chapter TWO

Process Description and Control

Operating Systems:
Internals and Design Principles, 6/E
William Stallings
 Roadmap
– How are processes represented and
controlled by the OS.
– Process states which characterize the
behaviour of processes.
– Data structures used to manage processes.
– Ways in which the OS uses these data
structures to control process execution.
 Concepts
• From earlier chapters we saw:
– Computer platforms consists of a collection of
hardware resources

– Computer applications are developed to

perform some task

– It is inefficient for applications to be written

directly for a given hardware platform
 Concepts cont…
– OS provides an interface for applications to
use

– OS provides a representation of resources

that can be requested and accessed by
application
 What is a “process”?
• A program in execution
• An instance of a program running on a
computer
• The entity that can be assigned to and
executed on a processor
• A unit of activity characterized by the
execution of a sequence of instructions, a
current state, and an associated set of
system instructions
 Process Control Block
• Contains the process
elements
• Created and manage by
the operating system
• Allows support for
multiple processes
Trace from Processors
point of view

Timeout
I/O
 Roadmap
– How are processes represented and
controlled by the OS.
– Process states which characterize the
behaviour of processes.
– Data structures used to manage processes.
– Ways in which the OS uses these data
structures to control process execution.
 Process Birth and Death
Creation Termination
New batch job Normal Completion
Interactive Login Memory unavailable
Created by OS to Protection error
provide a service
Spawned by existing Operator or OS
process Intervention

See tables 3.1 and 3.2 for more

 Five-State
Process Model
One Suspend State
Two Suspend States
 Reason for Process
Suspension
Reason Comment
Swapping The OS needs to release sufficient main memory to
bring in a process that is ready to execute.
Other OS Reason OS suspects process of causing a problem.
Interactive User e.g. debugging or in connection with the use of a
Request resource.
Timing A process may be executed periodically (e.g., an
accounting or system monitoring process) and may
be suspended while waiting for the next time.
Parent Process A parent process may wish to suspend execution of
Request a descendent to examine or modify the suspended
process, or to coordinate the activity of various
descendants.

Table 3.3 Reasons for Process Suspension

 Roadmap
– How are processes represented and
controlled by the OS.
– Process states which characterize the
behaviour of processes.
– Data structures used to manage processes.
– Ways in which the OS uses these data
structures to control process execution.
 Processes
and Resources
 Operating System
Control Structures
• For the OS is to manage processes and
resources, it must have information about
the current status of each process and
resource.
• Tables are constructed for each entity the
operating system manages
OS Control Tables
 Process Identification
• Each process is assigned a unique
numeric identifier.
• Many of the other tables controlled by the
OS may use process identifiers to cross-
reference process tables
 Processor State
Information
• This consists of the contents of processor
registers.
– User-visible registers
– Control and status registers
– Stack pointers
• Program status word (PSW)
– contains status information
– Example: the EFLAGS register on Pentium
processors
 Pentium II
EFLAGS Register

Also see Table 3.6

 Process Control
Information
• This is the additional information needed
by the OS to control and coordinate the
various active processes.
– See table 3.5 for scope of information
 Structure of Process
Images in Virtual Memory
 Role of the
Process Control Block
• The most important data structure in an
OS
– It defines the state of the OS
• Process Control Block requires protection
– A faulty routine could cause damage to the
block destroying the OS’s ability to manage
the process
– Any design change to the block could affect
many modules of the OS
 Roadmap
– How are processes represented and
controlled by the OS.
– Process states which characterize the
behaviour of processes.
– Data structures used to manage processes.
– Ways in which the OS uses these data
structures to control process execution.
 Modes of Execution
• Most processors support at least two
modes of execution
• User mode
– Less-privileged mode
– User programs typically execute in this mode
• System mode
– More-privileged mode
– Kernel of the operating system
 Process Creation
• Once the OS decides to create a new
process it:
– Assigns a unique process identifier
– Allocates space for the process
– Initializes process control block
– Sets up appropriate linkages
– Creates or expand other data structures
 Switching Processes
• Several design issues are raised regarding
process switching
– What events trigger a process switch?
– We must distinguish between mode switching
and process switching.
– What must the OS do to the various data
structures under its control to achieve a
process switch?
 When to switch processes
A process switch may occur any time that the OS has gained control from the
currently running process. Possible events giving OS control are:

Mechanism Cause Use

Interrupt External to the execution of Reaction to an asynchronous
the current instruction external event

Trap Associated with the execution Handling of an error or an

of the current instruction exception condition
Supervisor call Explicit request Call to an operating system
function

Table 3.8 Mechanisms for Interrupting the Execution of a Process

 Countermeasures:
Authentication
• Two Stages:
– Identification
– Verification
• Four Factors:
– Something the individual knows
– Something the individual possesses
– Something the individual is (static biometrics)
– Something the individual does (dynamic
biometrics)