AALIM MOHAMMED SALEGH COLLEGE OF

ENGINEERING
UNIT II
Deadlocks

PREPARED BY
BAKIYALAKSHMI.S
ASST.PROFESSOR/IT
 Deadlocks Concepts
System Model
Deadlock Characterization
Methods for Handling Deadlocks
Deadlock Prevention
Deadlock Avoidance
Deadlock Detection
Recovery from Deadlock
 System Model
System consists of resources
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
 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, …, Pn} 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, …, Pn–1
is waiting for a resource that is held by Pn, and Pn is waiting
for a resource that is held by P0.
 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 Pi → Rj

assignment edge – directed edge Rj → Pi

 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
Example of a Resource Allocation Graph
Resource Allocation Graph With A Deadlock
Graph With A Cycle But No Deadlock
 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
 Methods for Handling Deadlocks

Ensure that the system will never enter a deadlock

state:
Deadlock prevention
Deadlock avoidence
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
 Deadlock Prevention
Restrain the ways request can be made

Mutual Exclusion – not required for sharable resources

(e.g., read-only files); must hold for non-sharable 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
allocated to it.
Low resource utilization; starvation possible
 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
 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
 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 sequence <P1, P2, …, Pn>
of ALL the processes in the systems such that 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
That is:
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
 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.
Safe, Unsafe, Deadlock State
 Avoidance Algorithms

Single instance of a resource type

Use a resource-allocation graph

Multiple instances of a resource type

Use the banker’s algorithm
 Resource-Allocation Graph Scheme
Claim edge Pi → Rj indicated that process Pj may request
resource Rj; represented by a dashed line
Claim edge converts to request edge when a process requests
a resource
Request edge converted to an assignment edge when the
resource is allocated to the process
When a resource is released by a process, assignment edge
reconverts to a claim edge
Resources must be claimed a priori in the system
Resource-Allocation Graph
Unsafe State In Resource-Allocation Graph
 Resource-Allocation Graph Algorithm

Suppose that process Pi requests a resource Rj

The request can be granted only if converting the
request edge to an assignment edge does not result
in the formation of a cycle in the resource allocation
graph
 Banker’s 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
 Data Structures for the Banker’s 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] = Max[i,j] – Allocation [i,j]

 Safety Algorithm
1. Let Work and Finish be vectors of length m and n, respectively.
Initialize:
Work = Available
Finish [i] = false for i = 0, 1, …, n- 1

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
 Resource-Request Algorithm for Process Pi

Requesti = 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
 Example of Banker’s Algorithm

5 processes P0 through P4;

3 resource types:
A (10 instances), B (5instances), and C (7 instances)
Snapshot at time T0:
Allocation Max Available
ABC ABC ABC
P0 010 753 332
P1 200 322
P2 302 902
P3 211 222
P4 002 433
 Example (Cont.)
The content of the matrix Need is defined to be Max – Allocation

Need
ABC
P0 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
 Example: P1 Request (1,0,2)
Check that Request  Available (that is, (1,0,2)  (3,3,2)  true
Allocation Need Available
ABC ABC ABC
P0 010 743 230
P1 302 020
P2 302 600
P3 211 011
P4 002 431

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?

 Deadlock Detection

Allow system to enter deadlock state

Detection algorithm

Recovery scheme
 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. If there is a cycle, there exists a deadlock

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
Resource-Allocation Graph and Wait-for Graph

Resource-Allocation Graph Corresponding wait-for graph

 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 [i][j] = k, then process Pi is
requesting k more instances of resource type Rj.
 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

 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
 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 ABC ABC
P0 010 000 000
P1 200 202
P2 303 000
P3 211 100
P4 002 002

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

P2 requests an additional instance of type C

Request
ABC
P0 000
P1 202
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
 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.
 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?

1. Priority of the process
2. How long process has computed, and how much longer to
completion
3. Resources the process has used
4. Resources process needs to complete
5. How many processes will need to be terminated
6. Is process interactive or batch?
 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
End of Chapter 7