Lecture 3 Process Management Operating-System Structures
Lecture 3 Process Management Operating-System Structures
System Components Operating System Services System Calls System Programs System Structure Virtual Memory Virtual Machines System Design and Implementation System Generation
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 is 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 and by whom. Decide which processes to load when memory space becomes available. Allocate and deallocate memory space as needed.
Secondary-Storage Management
Since main memory (primary storage) is volatile and too small to accommodate all data and programs permanently, the computer system must provide 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 is responsible for the following activities in connection with disk management:
Free space management Storage allocation Disk scheduling
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 is 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. Mapping files onto secondary storage. 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
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
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.
MS-DOS Execution
At System Start-up Running a Program
Communication Models
Msg Passing Shared Memory
System Programs
System programs provide a convenient environment for program development and execution. The 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.
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
Virtual Memory
Virtual memory is a memory management technique that is implemented using both hardware and software. It maps memory addresses used by a program, called virtual addresses, into physical addresses in computer memory. Main storage as seen by a process or task appears as a contiguous address space or collection of contiguous segments. The operating system manages virtual address spaces and the assignment of real memory to virtual memory. Address translation hardware in the CPU, often referred to as a memory management unit or MMU, automatically translates virtual addresses to physical addresses.
Virtual Machines
A virtual machine takes the layered approach to its logical conclusion. It treats hardware and the operating system kernel as though they were all hardware. A virtual machine provides an interface identical to the underlying bare hardware. The operating system creates the illusion of multiple processes, each executing on its own processor with its own (virtual) memory.
System Models
Non-virtual Machine Virtual Machine
The virtual-machine concept provides complete protection of system resources since each virtual machine is isolated from all other virtual machines. This isolation, however, permits no direct sharing of resources. A virtual-machine system is a perfect vehicle for operatingsystems research and development. System development is done on the virtual machine, instead of on a physical machine and so does not disrupt normal system operation. The virtual machine concept is difficult to implement due to the effort required to provide an exact duplicate to the underlying machine.
System Implementation
Traditionally written in assembly language, operating systems can now be written in higherlevel languages. Code written in a high-level language:
can be written faster. is more compact. is easier to understand and debug.
An operating system is far easier to port (move to some other hardware) if it is written in a highlevel language.