Introduction to Operating

Systems

Lecture 1
Back to the future …
• Learn GNU/Linux safely
– Use a virtual machine
– Install VMware or Virtual Box
– YouTube step by step English guide
• By NetworkChuck
• Title : You need to learn Virtual Machines right now

OS 2
Last week
• Any sufficiently advanced technology is
indistinguishable from magic
– Arthur Clark, 1962
• Minority Report
– 2002 science fiction movie
– Operating system with hologram based interfaces
– At the time, seemed magical
– Nowadays, touch screen mobiles everywhere

OS 3
Last week : Course objective
• Deep understanding of Operating Systems
– OS are no longer magical

• An engineer can build for 10 pounds what any

fool can build for 10 million pounds
– Software engineer is an engineer
– Software engineers build programs

OS 4
Four Components of a Computer System

OS 5
 Computer System Components
• Hardware :
– CPU , Resources ( memory, I/O devices )
• Operating system :
– Controls and coordinates use of hardware among
various applications and users
• System and Application programs :
– define the ways in which the system resources are
used to solve the computing problems of the users
– Word processors, compilers, web browsers, database
systems, video games
• Users : people, machines, other computers
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 Computer Hardware
We can divide the parts that make up a computer
into three broad categories or subsystem: the central
processing unit (CPU), the main memory and the
input/output subsystem.

Computer hardware (subsystems) 7

 Main memory
• The only large storage media that the CPU can access directly
− Random access in the form of Dynamic Random-access
Memory (DRAM)
− Volatile : erased when the power is turned off
• Device controller
− Directly transfers data from I/O buffer to main memory
without CPU intervention
− Can transfer blocks of data rather than one byte
− Used for high-speed I/O devices able to transmit information at
close to memory speeds 8
 Central Processing Unit
The central processing unit (CPU) performs operations on
data. In most architectures it has three parts: an arithmetic
logic unit (ALU), a control unit and a set of registers, fast
storage locations.

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Example of Program Execution

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Example of Program Execution

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Example of Program Execution

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Example of Program Execution

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Example of Program Execution

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Example of Program Execution

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Example of Program Execution

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Example of Program Execution

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Example of Program Execution

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Example of Program Execution

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Example of Program Execution

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Example of Program Execution

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 Input/Output (I/O) Subsystem

• Each device has a controller

• Device Driver for each device controller to manage I/O
− Provides uniform interface
• Divided into two broad categories
– Storage devices store programs and data
– Non-storage devices allow a computer to
communicate with the outside world
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 Storage devices (1)
• Extension of the main memory
• Cheaper than main memory
• Can store large amounts of data
• Contents are nonvolatile (not erased when the power is
turned off)
• Sometimes referred to as auxiliary storage devices
• Categorize them as either magnetic or optical

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 Storage devices (2)
• Hard disks : rigid metal or glass platters covered with magnetic
recording material
− Disk surface is logically divided into tracks, which are
subdivided into sectors
− The disk controller determines the logical interaction between
the device and the computer
• Solid-state disks :
− faster than hard disks
− Various technologies
− Becoming more popular

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Storage devices hierarchy
 Storage devices hierarchy
• Caching : copying information into faster storage system
• The cache is smaller than storage being cached
− Main memory can be viewed as a cache for secondary
storage
• Faster storage (cache) checked first to determine if
information is there
− If it is, information used directly from the cache (fast)
− If not, data copied to cache and used there
• Cache management is very important for performance
− Cache size and replacement policy

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Connecting I/O devices to the buses

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 What is an Operating System?
• A program that acts as an intermediary between a
user of a computer and the computer hardware.
• User point of view : Makes the computer
system convenient to use.
• System point of view : Use the computer
hardware in an efficient manner.
• Application point of view : Provides a
convenient, feature rich, secure, and
consistent interface to use
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Layers of Computer System

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 Services Provided by the OS (1)
• Control Program execution
• Control Access to I/O devices
– Hide peculiarities of hardware devices from the user
• Control access to files
• Control System access
• Support communication between programs
– Shared Memory , Message Passing

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 Services Provided by the OS (2)
• Error detection and response
– Internal and external hardware errors
• Memory error
• Device failure
– Software errors
• Arithmetic overflow
• Access forbidden memory locations

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 Services Provided by the OS (3)
• Accounting
– Collect usage statistics
– Monitor performance
– Used to anticipate future enhancements
– Used for billing purposes

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 OS as virtual machine
• Present the user with the equivalent of an
extended machine or virtual machine that is
easier to program than the underlying hardware.
• The OS provides a variety of services that
programs can obtain through special instructions
called system calls.
• OS provides a uniform, abstract representation of
resources that can be requested and accessed by
application

OS 33
 Operating System Definition (1)
• Program executed like an ordinary software
• Kernel : the part running at all times
• Everything else is either
– System program (ships with the operating system,
but not part of the kernel)
– Application program : all programs not associated
with the operating system
• Nowadays usually includes middleware ( frameworks
that provide additional services to application
developers such as databases, multimedia and
graphics)
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 Operating System Definition (2)
• Resource allocator :
– Manages all resources
– Decides between conflicting requests for
efficient and fair resource use
• Controls execution of programs :
– Controls execution of programs to
prevent errors and improper use of the
computer
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 Computer Startup
• bootstrap program is loaded at
power-up or reboot
– Typically stored in ROM or EPROM
– Generally known as firmware
– Initializes all aspects of system
– Loads operating system kernel and
starts execution
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I/O Devices are Slow

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 Uniprogramming
• Processor must wait for I/O instruction to
complete before preceding

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 Memory Layout for
Multiprogrammed System
 Multiprogramming
• Efficient use of the CPU
• When one job needs to wait for I/O, the processor can
switch to the other job

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 Multiprogramming
• The OS preserves the state of the CPU by
storing registers and the program counter

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 Multitasking (Timesharing)
• Extension to multiprogramming
• Illusion that all jobs are running at once
– The OS switches jobs so frequently that users can
interact with each job while it is running, creating
interactive computing
– Response time should be < 1 second
– Several jobs competes for CPU time (Scheduling)
– If processes don’t fit in memory, swapping moves
them in and out to run
– Virtual memory allows execution of processes not
completely in memory (Paging)
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 Operating-System Operations (1)
• I/O devices and the CPU can execute
concurrently
• Each device controller is in charge of a
particular device type
• Each device controller has a local buffer
• Each device controller type has an
operating system device driver to
manage it
• CPU moves data from/to main memory
to/from local buffers
• I/O is from the device to local buffer of
controller
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 Operating-System Operations (2)
• An operating system is Interrupt driven
− Hardware interrupt by one of the
devices
− Software interrupt (exception or trap):
• Software error (e.g., division by zero)
• Request for operating system service
• Other process problems (infinite loop,
processes modifying each other or the
operating system)
• Separate segments of code determine
what action should be taken for each type
of interrupt
 Operating-System Operations (3)
• Interrupt transfers control to the interrupt

service routine generally, through the

interrupt vector, which contains the
addresses of all the service routines
 Interrupt Handling
• After I/O starts,
Two methods to
return the
control returns
to user program
− Synchronous :
Only upon I/O
completion
− Asynchronous :
Without waiting
for I/O
completion
 Interrupt Timeline
• The OS preserves the state of the CPU
by storing registers and the program
counter
 Dual-mode
• Allows OS to protect itself and other system
components
• User mode and kernel mode
− Depends on Mode bit value (provided by
hardware)
• Some instructions designated as privileged,
only executable in kernel mode
• How do we guarantee that user does not
explicitly set the mode bit to “kernel”?
− System call changes mode to “kernel”
− When it return from the call, it resets it to
“user”
 Timer
• Prevents infinite loop (or process hogging

resources)
• Set to interrupt the computer after some
period
• Keeps a counter that is decremented by the
physical clock
• Operating system set the counter (privileged
instruction)
• When counter zero generate an interrupt
• Set up before scheduling process to regain
 Exercise 1

CPU utilization = 9 %
 Question 1
• Describe the operating system's two modes of

operation.
• Answer :

− When the computer system is executing on

behalf of a user application, the system is in
user mode.
− However, when a user application requests a
service from the operating system via a
system call, it must transition from user to
kernel mode to fulfill the request.
 Question 2
• What is a bootstrap program, and where is it

stored?
• Answer :

− A bootstrap program is the initial program that

is run when the computer is powered up or
rebooted.
− It initializes all aspects of the system, from
CPU registers to device controllers to memory
contents.
− Typically, it is stored in read-only memory
 Question 3
• What is an interrupt?

• What is the purpose of an interrupt vector?

• Answer :
− Interrupts are signals emitted by hardware devices or
some software
− Generally, should be handled by processor immediately.
− The interrupt vector is a table of pointers to specific
interrupt-handling routines.
− Because there are a fixed number of interrupts, this
table allows for more efficient handling of the interrupts
than with a general-purpose, interrupt-processing
Question 4
Answer 4