Operating System Fundamentals

Lecture 2 : System Structures

I. Computer System Structure
II. Operating System Structure
I. Computer System Structure
Outline

◼ Computer System Operation

◼ I/O Structure
◼ Storage Structure
◼ Hardware Protection
Computer System Operation

System Bus
Computer System Operation (cont’d)
◼ CPU and device controllers are connected through
common busses or system bus (data, address, and
control).
◼ CPU and device controllers can execute
concurrently.
◼ Each device controller is responsible of a particular
device type.
◼ Each device controller has a local buffer (memory).
◼ Memory controller synchronizes access to memory.
Computer System Operation (cont’d)

◼ CPU moves data from/to main memory

to/from local buffers

◼ Device controller informs CPU that it has

finished its operation by causing an interrupt.
Interrupts
◼ Interrupts transfers control to the interrupt service
routine (ISR) generally, through the interrupt vector,
which contains the addresses of all the service
routines.
◼ Interrupt architecture must save the address of the
interrupted instruction and the state of the CPU.
◼ Incoming interrupts are disabled while another
interrupt is being processed to prevent a lost interrupt.
◼ A trap is a software-generated interrupt caused either
by an error or a user request.
◼ An operating system is interrupt driven.
Classes of Interrupts
◼ Program
❑ arithmetic overflow
❑ division by zero
❑ execute illegal instruction
❑ reference outside user’s memory space
◼ Timer
◼ I/O
◼ Hardware failure
Interrupt Handler

◼ A program that determines nature of the

interrupt and performs whatever actions are
needed.

◼ Control is transferred to this program.

◼ Generally part of the operating system.

Interrupt Cycle
Interrupt Cycle

◼ Processor checks for interrupts.

◼ If no interrupts fetch the next instruction for

the current program.

◼ If an interrupt is pending, suspend execution

of the current program, and execute the
interrupt handler.
Multiple Interrupts

◼ Disable interrupts
while an interrupt is
being processed
❑ Processor ignores any
new interrupt request
signals
Multiple Interrupts
Sequential Order
◼ Disable interrupts so processor can complete
task.
◼ Interrupts remain pending until the processor
enables interrupts.
◼ After interrupt handler routine completes, the
processor checks for additional interrupts.
Multiple Interrupts
Priorities
◼ Higher priority interrupts cause lower-priority
interrupts to wait.
◼ Causes a lower-priority interrupt handler to
be interrupted.
◼ Example when input arrives from
communication line, it needs to be absorbed
quickly to make room for more input.
Example

◼ CPU is running a program

◼ An interrupt occurs (User hits a key)
◼ OS saves CPU state
◼ CPU transfers control to ISR
◼ ISR completes
◼ OS restores CPU state
◼ Processing of original program continues
I/O System Structure

◼ Controllers:
❑ Is in charge of a specific type of device
❑ Moves data between device and local buffer
❑ A controller may have more than one device
❑ Buffer size varies
Two I/O Methods
◼ Synchronous I/O:
❑ Process request I/O operation
❑ I/O operation is started
❑ I/O Operation is complete
❑ Control is returned to the user process
◼ Asynchronous I/O:
❑ Process Request I/O operation
❑ I/O operation is started
❑ Control is returned immediately to the user
process
❑ I/O continues while system operations occur
Types of I/O
Direct Memory Access (DMA)

◼ Used for high-speed I/O devices are able to

transmit information at speed close to
memory speeds.
◼ Device controller transfers blocks of data
from buffer storage directly to main memory
without CPU intervention.
◼ The H/W responsible for operating the I/O in
DMA mode is called a DMA channel.
Storage Structure

◼ Main memory
❑ Only large storage media that the CPU can
access directly.
◼ Secondary storage
❑ Extension of main memory that provides large
nonvolatile storage capacity.
Storage-Device Hierarchy

◼ Storage systems organized in

hierarchy.
❑ Speed
❑ Cost
❑ Volatility
❑ Capacity
❑ Reliability
❑ Portability
Random Access Memory (RAM)
◼ Array of memory words
◼ Each byte has an address
◼ Memory Address:
❑ Physical
❑ Logical
◼ CPU Instructions:
❑ Load: moves a word from main memory to CPU
register
❑ Store: move a word from CPU register to main
memory
 Magnetic Hard Drives
• Hard disks are divided into
− Tracks
− Sectors
− Clusters
− Cylinders

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Magnetic Hard Drives
Magnetic Hard Drives(cont’d)
◼ Reading and writing data:
❑ Obstacles on a hard-disk system can damage the
surface and read/write head.
Operating System Structure
Outline
◼ System Components
◼ Operating-System Services
◼ System Calls
◼ System Programs
◼ System Structure
◼ Virtual Machines
◼ System Design and Implementation
Common System Components
◼ Process Management
◼ Main Memory Management
◼ Secondary-Storage Management
◼ I/O System Management
◼ File Management
◼ Protection System
◼ Networking
◼ Command-Interpreter System
Process Management
◼ A process is a program in execution. A process needs
certain resources, including CPU time, memory, files,
and I/O devices, to accomplish its task.
◼ The operating system should be responsible for the
following activities in connection with process
management.
❑ Process creation and deletion.
❑ Process suspension and resumption.
❑ Provision of mechanisms for:
◼ Process synchronization

◼ Process communication
Main-Memory Management
◼ Memory is a large array of words or bytes, each with
its own address. It is a repository of quickly
accessible data shared by the CPU and I/O devices.
◼ Main memory is a volatile storage device. It loses its
contents in the case of system failure.
◼ The operating system is responsible for the following
activities in connections with memory management:
❑ Keep track of which parts of memory are currently being
used by whom.
❑ Decide which processes to load when memory space
becomes available.
❑ Allocate and de-allocate memory space as needed.
Secondary-Storage Management
◼ Since main memory (primary memory) is volatile and
too small to accommodate all data and programs
permanently, the computer system must provide a
secondary storage to back up main memory.
◼ Most modern computer systems use disks as the
principle on-line storage medium, for both programs
and data.
◼ The operating system should be responsible for the
following activities in connection with disk
management:
❑ Free space management

❑ Storage allocation

❑ Disk scheduling
I/O System Management
◼ The I/O system consists of:
❑ A buffer-caching system
❑ A general device-driver interface
❑ Drivers for specific hardware devices

◼ OS hide particularities of I/O devices

❑ Device drivers
❑ Input: retrieve block of data
❑ Output: hardware instructions for controller
 File Management
◼ A file is a collection of related information defined by its
creator.
◼ Commonly, files represent programs (both source and
object forms) and data.
◼ The operating system should be responsible for the
following activities in connections with file management:
❑ File creation and deletion.

❑ Directory creation and deletion.

❑ Support of primitives for manipulating files and directories.

❑ File backup on stable (nonvolatile) storage media.

Protection System
◼ Protection refers to a mechanism for
controlling access by programs, processes,
or users to both system and user resources.
◼ The protection mechanism must:
❑ distinguish between authorized and unauthorized
usage.
❑ specify the controls to be imposed.
❑ provide a means of enforcement.
Command-Interpreter System (1)
◼ Many commands are given to the operating
system by control statements which deal with:
❑ process creation and management
❑ I/O handling
❑ secondary-storage management
❑ main-memory management
❑ file-system access
❑ protection
❑ networking
Command-Interpreter System (2)

◼ The program that reads and interprets control

statements is called variously:
❑ control-card interpreter
❑ command-line interpreter
❑ shell (in UNIX)
◼ Its function is to get and execute the next
command statement.
System Calls
◼ System calls provide the interface between a
running program and the operating system.
❑ Generally available as assembly-language instructions.
❑ Languages defined to replace assembly language for
systems programming allow system calls to be made
directly (e.g., C. Bliss, PL/360)
◼ Three general methods are used to pass
parameters between a running program and the
operating system.
❑ Pass parameters in registers.
❑ Store the parameters in a table in memory, and the table
address is passed as a parameter in a register.
❑ Push (store) the parameters onto the stack by the program,
and pop off the stack by operating system.
System Programs

◼ System programs provide a convenient environment

for program development and execution. They can
be divided into:
❑ File manipulation
❑ Status information
❑ File modification
❑ Programming language support
❑ Program loading and execution
❑ Communications
❑ Application programs
◼ Most users’ view of the operation system is defined
by system programs, not the actual system calls.
System Structure – Simple Approach(1)
◼ MS-DOS – written to
provide the most
functionality in the least
space
❑ not divided into modules
❑ Although MS-DOS has
some structure, its
interfaces and levels of
functionality are not well
separated.
System Structure – Simple
Approach(2)
◼ UNIX – limited by hardware functionality, the
original UNIX operating system had limited
structuring. The UNIX OS consists of two
separable parts:
❑ Systems programs
❑ The kernel
◼ Consists of everything below the system-call interface
and above the physical hardware
◼ Provides the file system, CPU scheduling, memory
management, and other operating-system functions; a
large number of functions for one level.
UNIX System Structure
System Structure – 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.
Layered Structure of the OS

◼ A layered design was first used in the

operating system with the following six layers:
❑ layer 5: user programs
❑ layer 4: buffering for input and output
❑ layer 3: operator-console device driver
❑ layer 2: memory management
❑ layer 1: CPU scheduling
❑ layer 0: hardware