CSCD 315

INTRODUCTION TO OPERATING
SYSTEM

Session 11 – Input/Output (I/O) SYSTEMS

Lecturer: Mr. Benjamin S.K. Wiredu, Computer science department

Contact Information: 0248177400

College of Education
School of Continuing and Distance Education
2016/2017
 Session Overview
• In this session we will discuss the wide variety of input
and output devices from different manufacturers with
different features and characteristics.

• For example, some are:

– serial (USB) and
– others are parallel,
– some are for videos
– and text and
– others are for audio.
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 The Effect
• This presents the operating system with a challenge
as to how to facilitate communication between the
CPU and I/O devices to ensure efficiency of the
computer system.

Slide 3
 GROUP DISCUSSIONS
• Within your group, List the I/O devices you can
expect to be connected to a modern computer
system
• Discuss the features and characteristics of the
devices you have listed above.
• Explain the “I/O problem”
• Explain TWO approaches used by an O/s of your
choice to manage the I/O problem.
• What is an I/O buffer?

Slide 4
 Session Eleven Outline
The key topics to be covered in the session are as follows :
11.1 I/O device and I/O categories.
11.2 I/O communication problem.
11.3 How operating system manages the I/O problems.
11.4 I/O controllers and I/O buffers.

Slide 5
 Reading List
• Read Chapter 11 of Recommended Text – Williams
stalling, Operating Systems, 6th Edition page 490

Slide 6
Topic One

11.1 I/O DEVICE AND I/O

CATEGORIES
Slide 7
 I/O SYSTEMS
• Management of I/O devices is a very important part of the operating
system function - so important and so varied that entire I/O subsystems
are devoted to its operation.
• Consider the range of devices on a modern computer, from
– mice, keyboards, disk drives, display adapters, USB devices, network
connections, audio I/O, printers, special devices for the handicapped, and many
special-purpose peripherals. )
• I/O Subsystems must contend with two ( conflicting? ) trends:
– (1) The gravitation towards standard interfaces for a wide range of devices,
making it easier to add newly developed devices to existing systems, and
– (2) the development of entirely new types of devices, for which the existing
standard interfaces are not always easy to apply.
• Device drivers are modules that can be plugged into an OS to handle a
particular device or category of similar devices.
Slide 8
 What is an I/O device
• I/O devices are external devices that engage in Input and
Output communication with computer systems.
• I/O devices are grouped into three main categories:
– Human readable I/O devices: examples include printers,
terminals, video displays, keyboards and mouse. These devices
communicate with the computer user.
– Machine readable: examples are disk drivers, USB drivers and
sensors. These devices communicate with electronic equipment.
– Communication: examples include modems and digital line
drivers. These devices communicate with remote devices.

Slide 9
Topic Two

11.2 I/O COMMUNICATION

PROBLEM
Slide 10
 I/O Communication Problem
• Efficiency: I/O operations usually forms bottleneck in a
computing system. Most I/O devices are extremely slow as
compared to memory and processor. In order to maximize
the operations of I/O devices, techniques such as
multiprogramming and swapping is used.
• Generality: because of the diversity of I/O device
characteristics, it becomes difficult for the operating system
to manage the I/O devices and Operations.

Slide 11
Topic Three

11.3 HOW THE OPERATING SYSTEM

MANAGES I/O PROBLEMS
Slide 12
 How the operating system manages I/O

• Scheduling: the operating system deals with the problem

of bottleneck by employing the various scheduling
algorithms to swap processes between I/O devices and main
memory.
• Also, the operating system manages I/O problem of
generality by hiding most of the details of device I/O in
lower-level routines so that user processes and upper levels
of the operating system see devices in terms of general
functions, such as read, write, open, close.
• Disk cache: Another method is the use of disk cache. When
an I/O request is made, the operating system checks if the
sector requested from is in disk cache if not it brings the
process into cache memory so that it maySlidebe
13
referenced.
Topic Four

11.4 METHODS OF ORGANIZING I/O

SYSTEM
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 Methods of organizing I/O system
• There are 3 main methods.
1. Programmed I/O: this is where the processor issues an I/O
command on behalf of a process to an I/O module, that
process then waits for the completion of the operation
before proceeding.
2. Interrupt-driven I/O: if the processor issues an I/O
command for a process and the resources needed for a
process is not readily available, the process is blocked and
the OS schedules another process to execute.
3. Direct memory access: this a module that controls the
exchange of data from memory and I/O devices.
Slide 15
 I/O buffers
• I/O buffers: to avoid inefficiencies, bottlenecks and
overheads of I/O communication to CPU, it is
important to perform transfer of inputs and output
of a request being made in advance.

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 References
• https://www.cs.uic.edu/~
jbell/CourseNotes/OperatingSystems/13_IOSystems.ht
ml
• https://www.tutorialspoint.com//
computer_fundamentals/computer_operating_system.htm

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