Chapter 4 – Threads

TRUE/FALSE QUESTIONS:

T F 1) The OS performs a protection function to prevent unwanted interference

between processes with respect to resources.

T F 2) Windows process design is driven by the need to provide support for a

variety of OS environments.

T F 3) The unit of dispatching is usually referred to as a process or task.

T F 4) In a multithreaded environment there are separate stacks for each thread,

as well as a separate control block for each thread.

T F 5) It takes less time to terminate a process than a thread.

T F 6) If there is an application or function that should be implemented as a set of

related units of execution, it is far more efficient to do so as a collection of
separate processes rather than a collection of threads.

T F 7) An example of an application that could make use of threads is a file server.

T F 8) Termination of a process does not terminate all threads within that process.

T F 9) If a process is swapped out, all of its threads are necessarily swapped out
because they all share the address space of the process.

T F 10) On a uniprocessor, multiprogramming does not enable the interleaving

of multiple threads within multiple processes.

T F 11) Any alteration of a resource by one thread affects the environment of the
other threads in the same process.

T F 12) In a pure ULT facility, all of the work of thread management is done by
the application, and the kernel is not aware of the existence of threads.

T F 13) As a default, the kernel dispatcher uses the policy of hard affinity in
assigning threads to processors.

T F 14) Windows is an example of a kernel-level thread approach.

T F 15) The potential performance benefits of a multicore organization depend on

the ability to effectively exploit the parallel resources available to the application.
MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS:

1) The traditional approach of a single thread of execution per process, in which the concept of
a thread is not recognized, is referred to as a __________ .

A) task B) resource

C) single-threaded approach D) lightweight process

2) The idea of having a many-to-many relationship between threads and processes has been
explored in the experimental operating system _________ .

A) VISTA B) TRIX

C) SOLARIS D) LEOPARD

3) In a multithreaded environment, a __________ is defined as the unit of resource allocation and

a unit of protection.

A) strand B) process

C) string D) trace

4) The principal disadvantage of the _________ approach is that the transfer of control from one
thread to another within the same process requires a mode switch to the kernel.

A) KLT B) LWP

C) VAX D) ULT

5) _________ is a good example of an OS using a combined ULT/KLT approach.

A) TRIX B) Windows

C) LINUX D) Solaris

6) A _________ is a single execution path with an execution stack, processor state, and scheduling
information.

A) domain B) strand

C) thread D) message
7) __________ are characterized by the presence of many single-threaded processes.

A) Multiprocess applications B) Java applications

C) Multiinstance applications D) Multithreaded native applications

8) A __________ is a dispatchable unit of work that executes sequentially and is interruptible

so that the processor can turn to another thread.

A) port B) process

C) token D) thread

9) A __________ is an entity corresponding to a user job or application that owns resources

such as memory and open files.

A) task B) process

C) thread D) token

10) A ________ is a user-created unit of execution within a process.

A) Kernel B) KLT

C) lightweight process D) ULT

11) A Windows process must contain at least _________ thread(s) to execute.

A) four B) three

C) two D) one

12) A thread enters the _________ state, after waiting, if it is ready to run but the
resources are not available.

A) Terminated B) Standby

C) Transition D) Waiting
 13) The _________ are the fundamental entities that can be scheduled and dispatched
to run on one of the system processors.

A) Processes B) Kernel threads

C) LWPs D) ULTs

14) The __________ state is when the thread has terminated.

A) ZOMBIE B) FREE

C) STOP D) SLEEP

15) The blocked state in which the process is waiting for an event, such as the end of
an I/O operation, the availability of a resource, or a signal from another process,
is the _________ state.

A) Times and timers B) Uninterruptible

C) Stopped D) Interruptible

SHORT ANSWER QUESTIONS:

1) The __________ is the collection of program, data, stack, and attributes defined in
the process control block.

2) __________ refers to the ability of an OS to support multiple, concurrent paths of

execution within a single process.

3) The key states for a thread are: Running, _________, and Blocked.

4) There are four basic thread operations associated with a change in thread state:
Block, Unblock, Finish, and _________ .

5) There are two broad categories of thread implementation: user-level threads (ULTs) and ________.

6) A way to overcome the problem of blocking threads is to use a technology referred to

as __________ , which converts a blocking system call into a nonblocking system call.

7) A __________ is a static entity, consisting of an address space and ports through which
messages may be sent and received.

8) Windows makes use of two types of process-related objects: processes and _________ .
9) The __________ Windows Process Object Attribute describes who created an object,
who can gain access to or use the object, and who is denied access to the object.

10) The six states of a Windows thread are: Ready, Standby, Running, Waiting, Transition,
and _________ .

11) Most operating systems contain two fundamental forms of concurrent activity:
processes and _________ .

12) A process or task in Linux is represented by a __________ data structure.

13) The Clouds operating system implements the concept of a thread as primarily an
entity that can move among address spaces which represents the __________
Thread-to-Process relationship.

14) It is necessary to __________ the activities of various threads so they do not interfere
with each other or corrupt data structures.

15) The basic form of communication between processes or threads in a microkernel

operating system is _________ .