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Process Control Block

The process control block (PCB) is a data structure that contains information about a process, including its state, program counter, registers, open files, scheduling information, memory management information, I/O status, and accounting information. The PCB defines the current state of the operating system and is important for process management. It is stored in a protected memory area to prevent unauthorized access to its sensitive process data.

Uploaded by

Hala Gharib
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© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
56 views

Process Control Block

The process control block (PCB) is a data structure that contains information about a process, including its state, program counter, registers, open files, scheduling information, memory management information, I/O status, and accounting information. The PCB defines the current state of the operating system and is important for process management. It is stored in a protected memory area to prevent unauthorized access to its sensitive process data.

Uploaded by

Hala Gharib
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Process Control

Block

Student Id: 444950216

Student Name: Sarah Musaib Abdullah


Aldosari
Process Control Block (PCB)
Process Control Block is a data structure that contains information of the process
related to it. The process control block is also known as a task control block, entry of
the process table, etc.

It is very important for process management as the data structuring for processes is
done in terms of the PCB. It also defines the current state of the operating system.

Structure of the Process Control Block


The process control stores many data items that are needed for efficient process
management. Some of these data items are explained with the help of the given
diagram

The following are the data items:

 Process State
This specifies the process state i.e. new, ready, running, waiting or
terminated.

 Process Number
This shows the number of the particular process.

 Program Counter
This contains the address of the next instruction that needs to be
executed in the process.

 Registers
This specifies the registers that are used by the process. They may include
accumulators, index registers, stack pointers, general purpose registers etc.

 List of Open Files


These are the different files that are associated with the process

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 CPU Scheduling Information
The process priority, pointers to scheduling queues etc. is the CPU scheduling
information that is contained in the PCB. This may also include any other scheduling
parameters.

 Memory Management Information


The memory management information includes the page tables or the segment tables
depending on the memory system used. It also contains the value of the base registers,
limit registers etc.

 I/O Status Information


This information includes the list of I/O devices used by the process, the list of files etc.

 Accounting information
The time limits, account numbers, amount of CPU used, process numbers etc. are all a
part of the PCB accounting information.

Location of the Process Control Block


The process control block is kept in a memory area that is protected from the normal
user access. This is done because it contains important process information. Some of
the operating systems place the PCB at the beginning of the kernel stack for the
process as it is a safe location.

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