Module 7 Operating System Design

Module title Operating System Design

Module NFQ level (only if an NFQ level can be n/a
demonstrated)
Module number/reference BSCH-OSD
Bachelor of Science (Honours) in
Parent programme(s)
Computing Science
Stage of parent programme Stage 1
Semester (semester1/semester2 if applicable) Semester 2
Module credit units (FET/HET/ECTS) ECTS
Module credit number of units 5
List the teaching and learning modes Direct, Blended
Entry requirements (statement of knowledge, skill Learners must have achieved programme
and competence) entry requirements.
Pre-requisite module titles None
Co-requisite module titles None
Is this a capstone module? (Yes or No) No
Qualified to as least a Bachelor of Science
Specification of the qualifications (academic,
(Honours) level in Computer Science or
pedagogical and professional/occupational) and
equivalent and with a Certificate in Training
experience required of staff (staff includes
and Education (30 ECTS at level 9 on the
workplace personnel who are responsible for
NFQ) or equivalent.with a Certificate in
learners such as apprentices, trainees and learners
Training and Education (30 ECTS at level 9
in clinical placements)
on the NFQ) or equivalent.
Maximum number of learners per centre (or 60
instance of the module)
One Academic Semester, 12 weeks
Duration of the module
teaching
Average (over the duration of the module) of the 3
contact hours per week
Module-specific physical resources and support One class room with capacity for 60
required per centre (or instance of the module) learners

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 Analysis of required learning effort
Minimum ratio
Hours
teacher / learner
Effort while in contact with staff
Classroom and demonstrations 1:60 24
Monitoring and small-group teaching 1:25 12
Other (specify)
Independent Learning
Directed e-learning
Independent Learning 54
Other hours (worksheets and assignments) 35
Work-based learning – learning effort
Total Effort 125

Allocation of marks (within the module)

Continuous Supervised Proctored practical Proctored written
Total
assessment project examination examination
Percentage
50% 50% 100%
contribution

Module aims and objectives

This module focuses on the concepts involved in the design of an operating system;
an understanding of its complexity and it’s many requirements. It introduces the
learner to some fundamental algorithms used in operating systems. It introduces the
concept of concurrency in an OS; explores the concept of multiprocessing and
recourse management strategies

Minimum intended module learning outcomes

On successful completion of this module, the learner will be able to:

1. Discuss the function of operating systems at a generic level

2. Describe the major components of an operating system and their functions
3. Explain how the operating system relates to the underlying hardware and the
software that runs on it
4. Discuss security and protection related issues in operating systems
5. Critically analyse memory management, file management, device
management, process, and processor management and present conclusions.

Rationale for inclusion of the module in the programme and its contribution to the
overall MIPLOs
This module aims to introduce learners to Operating systems and provides them with
understanding of major concepts and techniques evolved over time which shaped and
influenced the development of Operating systems of today. Appendix 1 of the

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programme document maps MIPLOs to the modules through which they are
delivered.

Information provided to learners about the module

Learners receive a programme handbook to include module descriptor, module
learning outcomes (MIMLO), class plan, assignment briefs, assessment strategy and
reading materials.

Module content, organisation and structure

Introduction to operating systems
• Introduction: What is an Operating System;
• Types of OS: Batch, Time-Sharing, Personal Computer Systems, Parallel
Systems, Distributed Systems;
• Operating System Structures: System Components, services, system calls,
system programs, system structure.
• System design considerations;
• Introduction to DOS, Linux and another commercial desktop operating
system; emerging and experimental operating systems to be used for
practical work. Specialised environments and purpose-built OSs (e.g.
embedded systems)

Processor management
• Definition of a process; process control block and process image; process
states and life cycle.
• I/O bound jobs and CPU bound jobs
• Turnaround time, waiting time, execution time.
• CPU Scheduling: basic concepts and scheduling criteria.
• Scheduling algorithms: FCFS, Shortest job first, Priority, Shortest remaining,
round robin

Process management
• Threads - overview and benefits; user and kernel threads.
• Processes: Process concept, operations on processes, cooperating processes,
inter-process communication;
• Deadlocks: deadlock characterization, detection, methods for handling
deadlocks, recovery from deadlock, deadlock prevention and avoidance.
• Synchronization: critical section problem, Two task solution, synchronization
in hardware, Semaphores, classical synchronization problems.

Memory management
• Memory management: fixed, dynamic and reloadable partitions memory
management systems. Contiguous memory allocation, paging and
segmentation. Memory fragmentation.
• Virtual memory: demand paging, page wrapping, allocation of frames,
thrashing.

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 • Contiguous Memory Allocation
• Page strategies: FIFO, Most recently used, least recently used. Optimal page
replacement
• Security aspect of memory management

File management
• File Systems: File concept, access methods, Directory structure, protection,
file system structure, allocation methods, free space management, Directory
implementation, efficiency and performance.
• Fixed and variable record files, contiguous files. Sequential, Direct and
indexed access files.

Device management
• Dedicated and shared devices.
• Sequential and Direct storage media devices. Inter record gap, Inter-block
gap, Platers, cylinders, tracks and sectors.
• Fragmentation, Addressing on a disk.
• Calculating capacity and speed.
• Blocking and buffering.
• Seek, search and transfer times.
• Seek policies and seek strategies, and their comparison

Protection and security

• Protection and security considerations; goals and domain of protection; the
security problem; threats, threats monitoring, and addressing

Module teaching and learning (including formative assessment) strategy

The module is taught as a combination of lectures and lab sessions. The lecture
sessions discuss and explain to learners the theoretical underpinnings of how an
operating system works. The tutorial lab sessions give learners an opportunity to
interact the concepts on a more practical level.

Assessment is divided into three elements. First there are a number of tutorials that
assess the learner’s competency in specific topics on a weekly basis. There is a mid-
semester class test. Finally, there is an end of semester exam that tests the learners
understanding of the theoretical material.

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Timetabling, learner effort and credit
The module is timetabled as one 2-hour lectures and one 1-hour labs per week.

The number of 5 ECTS credits assigned to this module is our assessment of the amount
of learner effort required. Continuous assessment spreads the learner effort across
the content.

There are 36 contact hours made up of 12 lectures delivered over 12 weeks with
classes taking place in a classroom. There are also 12 lab sessions delivered over 12
weeks taking place in a fully equipped computer lab. The learner will need 49 hours
of independent effort to further develop the skills and knowledge gained through the
contact hours. An additional 40 hours are set aside for learners to work on worksheets
and assignments that must be completed for the module.

The team believes that 125 hours of learner effort are required by learners to achieve
the MIMLOs and justify the award of 5 ECTS credits at this stage of the programme.

Work-based learning and practice-placement

There is no work based learning or practice placement involved in the module.

E-learning
The college VLE is used to disseminate notes, advice, and online resources to support
the learners. The learners are also given access to Lynda.com as a resource for
reference.

Module physical resource requirements

Requirements are for a classroom for 60 learners equipped with a projector, and a
space to allow the facilitation of group work through movable furniture.

Reading lists and other information resources

Recommended Text
Stallings, W. (2018) Operating Systems: Internals and Design Principles. New Jersey:
Pearson.

Secondary reading
Tanenbaum, A. S. and Bos, H. (2015) Modern Operating Systems. Boston: Pearson.
Silberschatz, A., Galvin, P. B. and Gagne, G. (2010) Operating System Concepts with
Java. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons.
Holcombe, J. and Holcombe, C. (2017) Survey of Operating Systems. New York:
McGraw-Hill Education.

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Sobell, M. G. and Helmke, M. (2018) A Practical Guide to Linux Commands, Editors,
and Shell Programming. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall

Specifications for module staffing requirements

For each instance of the module, one lecturer qualified to at least Bachelor of Science
(Honours) in Computer Science or equivalent, and with a Certificate in Training and
Education (30 ECTS at level 9 on the NFQ) or equivalent.with a Certificate in Training
and Education (30 ECTS at level 9 on the NFQ) or equivalent.. Industry experience
would be a benefit but is not a requirement.

Learners also benefit from the support of the programme Director, programme
administrator, learner representative and the Student Union and Counselling Service.

Module Assessment Strategy

The assignments constitute the overall grade achieved, and are based on each
individual learner’s work. The continuous assessments provide for ongoing feedback
to the learner and relates to the module curriculum.

No. Description MIMLOs Weighting

1 Tutorials: aims at enhancing the
1-5 25%
understanding of module material covered.
3 A mid-term test. 1-5 25%
4 Written exam that tests the theoretical
1-5 50%
aspects of the module

All repeat work is capped at 40%.

Sample assessment materials

Note: All assignment briefs are subject to change in order to maintain current content.

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 Tutorial 1 – Introduction

Answer the following questions:

Q1) What are the differences between Interactive and Real time systems?

Q2) What is the difference between main memory and auxiliary memory?

Q3) Explain each of the following:

a) Multi-user operating system
b) Multiprocessing operating system
c) Multitasking operating system
d) Multithreading operating system
e) Distributed processing

Q4) What is a thread?

Q5) Describe micro computers and mini computers and outline the differences
between them.

Q6) Explain the functions of Bounds, address and instruction registers.

Q7) With the aid of a diagram, describe the mechanism through which a user
process transitions from user mode to kernel mode. What is this mechanism
called?

Q8) Explain how to join two blocks in dynamic partitioning memory management
system. Suggest a table of free partitions and show how to combine two
partitions located in memory when deallocating memory in. give addresses
and sizes of partitions.

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 Tutorial 2 – Memory & Process Management

1. Describe how internal fragmentation and external fragmentation can happen in

Dynamic contiguous memory allocation systems.

2. A program requests pages in the following order:

dcbadcedcbae
Construct a page trace analysis indicating page faults with an asterisk (*) using
Least Recently Used (LRU) where:
(i) Memory is divided into 3 page frames;
(ii) Memory is divided into 4 page frames.

3. Computers use paged memory.

(i) Briefly explain what is meant by paged memory.
(ii) Give two advantages of paged memory.

4. Explain the following terms:

(i) Thrashing;
(ii) Most recently used page.
(iii) The working set of pages in demand paging
(iv) Memory deallocation in dynamic partitioning memory.
(v) Page modified bit.

5. With reference to the 5 state ““process state diagram”.

i. Draw and label the 5 state “process state diagram”.
ii. Briefly describe all transitions within the diagram.

6. Discuss how the following pairs of scheduling criteria conflict in certain settings.
• CPU utilization and response time
• Average turnaround time and maximum waiting time
• I/O device utilization and CPU utilization

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 Tutorial 3 – Deadlocks

(1) Describe in detail how deadlocks can be avoided in a system.

(2) Suppose the current system resource allocation is described by the following
table. A request is received by job 1 for 2 resources. Determine whether or not
the request should be served in order to avoid a deadlock. Explain how the
decision was reached.
Job No. Devices Allocated Maximum Required Remaining Needs
1 0 4 4
2 3 5 2
3 4 8 4
Total number of devices allocated: 7
Total number of devices in system: 10
(3 ) Explain the deadlock detection algorithm using Directed resource graphs.
Implement the algorithm on the Directed resource graph below and determine
the deadlocked processes if any.

R1 R3 R5 R7

P1 P2 P3 P4
R4
R2 R6 R8

(4) Name and explain one method in which synchronisation can be achieved
between processes.

(5) Describe the operation of Semaphores.

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 Tutorial 4 – Device & File management

Q1) Explain the differences between: access time and seek time.

Q2) A system has a disk with 200 tracks. The following I/O disk requests were
received and are to be serviced:
98, 183, 37, 122, 14, 124, 65, 67.

The read and write head is located at track 53.

Which of the following schedule algorithms gives best performance?
FCFS, Shortest Seek Time First (SSTF), Scan, C-Scan, C-Look.
Draw a diagram showing the head movement across the tracks for each
algorithm.

Q3 ) What are the advantages and disadvantages of a large block size for disk
storage systems?

Q4 ) What is the difference between a dedicated device, a shared device and a

virtual device? Give an example of each device.

Q5 ) Write four responsibilities of file manger?

Q6) With reference to tapes, what is the Inter record gap and what is its function?

Q7) In the case of sequential access contiguous file organisations, describe how
records are accessed from files in both fixed and variable size record.

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 Class Test

OPERATING SYSTEMS DESIGN

This is a 60 minute test

ALL QUESTIONS TO BE ATTEMPTED.

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(1) a) Explain the differences between user mode and kernel mode.
(5 marks)
b) Describe batch processing operating systems and outline its
characteristics.
(5 marks)
(2) Identify and describe five events that would cause a process to lose its
allocation of the processor.
(10 marks)
(3) Describe, with the aid of a diagram, the demand paged memory allocation
scheme.
(10 marks)
(4) A program requests pages in the following order:
ADBBCABDECAE
Construct a page trace analysis indicating page faults with an asterisk (*)
using the Most Recently Used (MRU) policy where 3 page frames were
allocated to the program in main memory.
(15 marks)
(5) Describe the idea of a semaphore including the P & V operations.
(15 marks)

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 GRIFFITH COLLEGE DUBLIN

QUALITY AND QUALIFICATIONS IRELAND

EXAMINATION

SAMPLE PAPER

OPERATING SYSTEMS DESIGN

Lecturer(s):

External Examiner(s):

Date: XXXXXXXX Time: XXXXXXX

THIS PAPER CONSISTS OF FOUR QUESTIONS

THREE QUESTIONS TO BE ATTEMPTED
SECTION A - COMPULSORY
SECTION B - TWO QUESTIONS TO BE ATTEMPTED

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 SECTION A – Compulsory
QUESTION 1
(a) What is a process control block? What information can it hold?
(10 marks)
(b) There are three major methods of organising and storing files: sequential file
organisation, Direct file organisation and indexed file organisation. Discuss the
characteristics of each of the methods. Illustrate how records are sorted in
each method.
(10 marks)
(c) In demand paging, a process requests pages in the following order: a b c d b a
c a b d e a c.
Construct a page trace analysis indicating page faults with an asterisk (*) using
Least Recently Used (LRU) where memory is divided into three page frames.
(10 marks)
(d) In demand paging, explain how the memory manager will know which page
was the most recently used page.
(10 marks)
(e) What is the difference between a track and a cylinder in a hard disk storage
device?
(5 marks)
(f) With reference to tapes, what is the Inter record gap and what is its function?
(5 marks)
Total (50 marks)

SECTION B – Two questions to be attempted

QUESTION 2
(a) Explain what is meant by the Critical Section in process synchronisation
software.
(5 marks)
(b) Using an example, explain how a binary semaphore can be used to control
access to a critical section. Your answer should describe in detail the operations
associated with a semaphore.
(10 marks)

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(c) What values are kept in the bounds register and the relocation register in
memory allocation systems? Explain the purpose of each of these two
registers.
(10 marks)
Total (25 marks)

QUESTION 3
(a) With the aid of a diagram, explain the difference between a Page and a Page
Frame.
(4 marks)
(b) Describe the role of a Page Map Table (PMT) in Demand Paged Virtual Memory
allocation systems. Using a diagram, explain the key information it holds.
(8 marks)
(c) What is non-preemption in resource allocation? Explain how allocating a
resource in a non-preemptive way can lead to deadlock.
(5 marks)
(d) With reference to deadlocks:
(i) List four methods for recovering from a deadlock.
(4 marks)
(ii) Outline four factors that should be considered when selecting a victim
process in order to recover from a deadlock.
(4 marks)
Total (25 marks)

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QUESTION 4
(a) Write five differences between Batch processing and Real Time processing
Systems.
(5 marks)
(b) What advantage and disadvantage does having larger page size have in paged
memory systems?
(5 marks)
(c) What is thrashing and how does it occur, explain how it affects the system.
(5 marks)
(d) Describe round robin process scheduling. What is the parameter associated
with the scheduler? What is the issue in choosing a value for the parameter?
(5 marks)
(e) What are the different objectives or principles which must be considered while
developing or selecting a scheduling algorithm?
(5 marks)
Total (25 marks)

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