Process Description and Control
Process Description and Control
Process Description
Description
and
and Control
Control
Getting into The OS……….
Major Requirements of an
Operating System
• Interleave the execution of several
processes to maximize processor
utilization while providing reasonable
response time
• Allocate resources to processes
• Support interprocess communication
and user creation of processes
Process
• Also called a task
• Execution of an individual program
• Can be interrupted
– By other processes
– For debugging
• Can be traced
– list the sequence of instructions that execute
Process A
Dispatcher
Dispatcher
Process A
Process B
Dispatcher
Dispatcher
Process C
Process C
Two-State Process
Model
• Process may be in one of two states
– Running
– Not-running
Not-Running Process in a
Queue
Process Creation
• Examples of Process Creation
– Submission of a batch job
– User logs on
– Created to provide a service such as
printing
– Process creates another process
–…
Process Termination
• Batch job issues Halt instruction
• System or User Kills process
• User logs off
• Application terminates itself
• Error and fault conditions
Reasons for Process
Termination
• Normal completion
• Time limit exceeded
• Memory unavailable
• Bounds violation
• Protection error
– example write to read-only file
• Arithmetic error
• Time overrun
– process waited longer than a specified maximum for an
event
Reasons for Process
Termination
• I/O failure
• Invalid instruction
– happens when try to execute data
• Privileged instruction
• Data or System misuse
• Operating system intervention
– such as when deadlock occurs
• Parent terminates so child processes terminate
• Parent request
Processes
• Not-running
– ready to execute
• Blocked
– waiting for I/O
• Dispatcher cannot just select the
process that has been in the queue the
longest because it may be blocked
A Five-State Model
• Running
• Ready
• Blocked
• New
• Exit
Using Two Queues
Suspended Processes
• Processor is faster than I/O so all processes
could be waiting for I/O
• Swap these processes to disk to free up more
memory
• Blocked state becomes suspend state when
swapped to disk
• Two new states
– Blocked, suspend
– Ready, suspend
One Suspend State
Two Suspend States
Reasons for Process
Suspension
Operating System
Control Structures
• Information about the current status
of each process and resource
• Tables are constructed for each
entity the operating system manages
Memory Tables
• Allocation of main memory to processes
• Allocation of secondary memory to
processes
• Protection attributes for access to
shared memory regions
• Information needed to manage virtual
memory
I/O Tables
• I/O device is available or assigned
• Status of I/O operation
• Location in main memory being used
as the source or destination of the
I/O transfer
File Tables
• Existence of files
• Location on secondary memory
• Current Status
• Attributes
• Sometimes this information is
maintained by a file-management system
Process Table
• Where process is located
• Attributes necessary for its
management
– Process ID
– Process state
– Location in memory
Process Location
• Process includes set of programs to be executed
– Data locations for local and global variables
– Any defined constants
– Stack
• Process control block
– Collection of attributes
• Process image
– Collection of program, data, stack, and attributes
Process Control Block
• Process identification
– Identifiers
• Numeric identifiers that may be stored with
the process control block include
• Identifier of this process
• Identifier of the process that created this
process (parent process)
• User identifier
Process Control Block
• Processor State Information
– User-Visible Registers
• A user-visible register is one that may be
referenced by means of the machine
language that the processor executes.
Typically, there are from 8 to 32 of these
registers, although some RISC
implementations have over 100.
Process Control Block
• Processor State Information
– Control and Status Registers
These are a variety of processor registers that are
employed to control the operation of the processor. These
include
• •Program counter: Contains the address of the next
instruction to be fetched
• •Condition codes: Result of the most recent arithmetic or
logical operation (e.g., sign, zero, carry, equal, overflow)
•Status information: Includes interrupt enabled/disabled
flags, execution mode
Process Control Block
• Processor State Information
– Stack Pointers
• Each process has one or more last-in-first-
out (LIFO) system stacks associated with it.
A stack is used to store parameters and
calling addresses for procedure and system
calls. The stack pointer points to the top of
the stack.
Process Control Block
• Process Control Information
– Scheduling and State Information - This is information
that is needed by the operating system to perform its
scheduling function. Typical items of information:
• Process state: defines the readiness of the process to be
scheduled for execution (e.g., running, ready, waiting, halted).
• Priority: One or more fields may be used to describe the
scheduling priority of the process. In some systems, several
values are required (e.g., default, current, highest-allowable)
• Scheduling-related information: This will depend on the
scheduling algorithm used. Examples are the amount of time
that the process has been waiting and the amount of time that
the process executed the last time it was running.
• Event: Identity of event the process is awaiting before it
can be resumed
Process Control Block
• Process Control Information
– Data Structuring
• A process may be linked to other process in a
queue, ring, or some other structure. For example,
all processes in a waiting state for a particular
priority level may be linked in a queue. A process
may exhibit a parent-child (creator-created)
relationship with another process. The process
control block may contain pointers to other
processes to support these structures.
Process Control Block
• Process Control Information
– Interprocess Communication
• Various flags, signals, and messages may be associated with
communication between two independent processes. Some or
all of this information may be maintained in the process
control block.
– Process Privileges
• Processes are granted privileges in terms of the memory
that may be accessed and the types of instructions that
may be executed. In addition, privileges may apply to the
use of system utilities and services.
Process Control Block
• Process Control Information
– Memory Management
• This section may include pointers to segment and/or
page tables that describe the virtual memory
assigned to this process.
– Resource Ownership and Utilization
• Resources controlled by the process may be
indicated, such as opened files. A history of
utilization of the processor or other resources may
also be included; this information may be needed by
the scheduler.
Processor State
Information
• Contents of processor registers
– User-visible registers
– Control and status registers
– Stack pointers
• Program status word (PSW)
– contains status information
– Example: the EFLAGS register on Pentium
machines
Functions of OS
• Process Management
– Process creation and termination
– Process scheduling and dispatching
– Process switching
– Process synchronization and support for
interprocess communication
– Management of process control blocks
Functions of OS…
• Memory Management
– Allocation of address space to processes
– Swapping
– Page and segment management
• I/O Management
– Buffer management
– Allocation of I/O channels and devices to
processes
Functions of OS…
• Support Functions
– Interrupt handling
– Accounting
– Monitoring
Modes of Execution
• User mode
– Less-privileged mode
– User programs typically execute in this mode
• System mode, control mode, or kernel
mode
– More-privileged mode
– Kernel of the operating system
Process Creation
• Assign a unique process identifier
• Allocate space for the process
• Initialize process control block
• Set up appropriate linkages
– Ex: add new process to linked list used for
scheduling queue
• Create of expand other data structures
– Ex: maintain an accounting file
When to Switch a
Process
• Clock interrupt
– process has executed for the maximum
allowable time slice
• I/O interrupt
• Memory fault
– memory address is in virtual memory so
it must be brought into main memory
When to Switch a
Process…
• Trap
– error occurred
– may cause process to be moved to Exit
state
• Supervisor call
– such as file open
Change of Process State
• Save context of processor including
program counter and other registers
• Update the process control block of
the process that is currently running
• Move process control block to
appropriate queue - ready, blocked
• Select another process for execution
Change of Process
State…
• Update the process control block of
the process selected
• Update memory-management data
structures
• Restore context of the selected
process
Execution of the
Operating System
• Non-process Kernel
– execute kernel outside of any process
– operating system code is executed as a
separate entity that operates in
privileged mode
Execution of the
Operating System
• Execution Within User Processes
– operating system software within
context of a user process
– process executes in privileged mode
when executing operating system code
Execution of the
Operating System
• Process-Based Operating System
– major kernel functions are separate
processes
– Useful in multi-processor or multi-
computer environment
• Feeling Lost in The World……………
Or………….
Amit Bhatia
Cdac Noida