Chapter 7: Deadlocks

Operating System Concepts – 9th Edition Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne ©2013
 System Model
● System consists of resources like files, memory space,
I/O devices
● A process requests resources; if the resources are not
available at that time, the process enters a waiting
state. Sometimes, a waiting process is never again able
to change state, because the resources it has
requested are held by other waiting processes. This
situation is called a deadlock
● Each process
utilizes a resource as follows:
● request
● use
● release
Operating System Concepts – 9th Edition 7.2 Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne ©2013
 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.

Operating System Concepts – 9th Edition 7.3 Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne ©2013
 1
2

4
3

Operating System Concepts – 9th Edition 7.4 Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne ©2013
 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

Operating System Concepts – 9th Edition 7.5 Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne ©2013
 Resource-Allocation Graph (Cont.)
● Process

● Resource Type with 4 instances

● Pi requests instance of Rj
P
i
Rj
● Pi is holding an instance of Rj

P
i
Rj

Operating System Concepts – 9th Edition 7.6 Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne ©2013
Operating System Concepts – 9th Edition 7.7 Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne ©2013
 Example of a Resource Allocation Graph

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 Resource Allocation Graph With A Deadlock

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 Graph With A Cycle But No Deadlock

Operating System Concepts – 9th Edition 7.10 Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne ©2013
 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

Operating System Concepts – 9th Edition 7.11 Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne ©2013
 Solve this (Home Work)

● Construct a resource allocation graph for the following

scenario: At time ‘t’ process P1 requests for a resource X ,
process ‘P2’ requests for resource Y. Both resources are
available and they are allocated to requesting processes. At
time t1 where t1>t both the processes are still holding the
resource , however process P1 requests for resource Y which
is held by P2, process P2 requests resource X which is held by
P1. Will there be a deadlock? If there is a deadlock discuss
four necessary conditions for deadlock, else justify there is no
deadlock

Operating System Concepts – 9th Edition 7.12 Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne ©2013
 Methods for Handling Deadlocks

● Ensure that the system will never enter a

deadlock state:
● Deadlock prevention
● Deadlock avoidance
● Deadlock Detection & Recovery

Operating System Concepts – 9th Edition 7.13 Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne ©2013
 Deadlock Prevention
❑ Restriction on process the ways request made
❑Process will try to break one of these condition

● Mutual Exclusion –
● Hold and Wait –
● No Preemption –
● Circular Wait –

Operating System Concepts – 9th Edition 7.14 Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne ©2013
 Deadlock Avoidance

❑ There is no restriction on process the way process made

request to resource
❑ Requires that the system has some additional a priori
information available

Operating System Concepts – 9th Edition 7.15 Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne ©2013
 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.

Operating System Concepts – 9th Edition 7.16 Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne ©2013
 Safe, Unsafe, Deadlock State

Operating System Concepts – 9th Edition 7.17 Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne ©2013
 Avoidance Algorithms

● Single instance of a resource type

● Use a resource-allocation graph

● Multiple instances of a resource type

● Use the banker’s algorithm

Operating System Concepts – 9th Edition 7.18 Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne ©2013
 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]

Operating System Concepts – 9th Edition 7.19 Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne ©2013
 Safety Algorithm
This algorithm find weather system is in safe state or not
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

Operating System Concepts – 9th Edition 7.20 Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne ©2013
 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

Operating System Concepts – 9th Edition 7.21 Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne ©2013
 Example of Banker’s Algorithm

● 5 processes P0 through P4;

3 resource types:
A (10 instances), B (5 instances), and C (7 instances)
● Snapshot at time T0:
Allocation Max Available
ABC ABC ABC
P0 010 753 332
P1 2 0 0 322
P2 3 0 2 902
P3 2 1 1 222
P4 0 0 2 433

Operating System Concepts – 9th Edition 7.22 Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne ©2013
 Example (Cont.)
● The content of the matrix Need is defined to be Max – Allocation

Need
ABC
P0 7 4 3
P1 1 2 2
P2 6 0 0
P3 0 1 1
P4 4 3 1

● The system is in a safe state since the sequence < P1, P3, P4, P2, P0> satisfies
safety criteria

Operating System Concepts – 9th Edition 7.23 Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne ©2013
 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?

Operating System Concepts – 9th Edition 7.24 Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne ©2013
 Deadlock Detection

● Allow system to enter deadlock state

● Detection algorithm

● Recovery scheme

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 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

Operating System Concepts – 9th Edition 7.26 Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne ©2013
 Resource-Allocation Graph and Wait-for Graph

Resource-Allocation Graph Corresponding wait-for graph

Operating System Concepts – 9th Edition 7.27 Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne ©2013
 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.

Operating System Concepts – 9th Edition 7.28 Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne ©2013
 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

Operating System Concepts – 9th Edition 7.29 Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne ©2013
 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

Operating System Concepts – 9th Edition 7.30 Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne ©2013
 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

Operating System Concepts – 9th Edition 7.31 Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne ©2013
 Example (Cont.)

● P2 requests an additional instance of type C

Request
ABC
P0 0 0 0
P1 2 0 2
P2 0 0 1
P3 1 0 0
P4 0 0 2

● 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

Operating System Concepts – 9th Edition 7.32 Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne ©2013
 ● A particular system use deadlock detection
approach. At time t0 system state is
Allocation Request Available
ABC D ABC ABC
P0 4 0 31 000 000
P1 0 0 202
P2 303 000
P3 211 100
P4 002 002

Operating System Concepts – 9th Edition 7.33 Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne ©2013
 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?
4 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.

Operating System Concepts – 9th Edition 7.34 Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne ©2013
 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?

Operating System Concepts – 9th Edition 7.35 Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne ©2013
 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

Operating System Concepts – 9th Edition 7.36 Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne ©2013
 End of Chapter 7

Operating System Concepts – 9th Edition Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne ©2013