CPU Scheduling

Basic Concepts
 Maximum CPU utilization obtained with multiprogramming
 CPU–I/O Burst Cycle – Process execution consists of a cycle
of CPU execution and I/O wait
 CPU burst distribution
Alternating Sequence of CPU And I/O Bursts
Histogram of CPU-burst
Times
CPU Scheduler

 Selects from among the processes in memory that

are ready to execute, and allocates the CPU to one
of them
 CPU scheduling decisions may take place when a
process:
1. Switches from running to waiting state
2. Switches from running to ready state
3. Switches from waiting to ready
4. Terminates
 Scheduling under 1 and 4 is nonpreemptive
 All other scheduling is preemptive
 Dispatcher
 Dispatcher module gives control of the CPU to the process
selected by the short-term scheduler; this involves:
 switching context
 switching to user mode
 jumping to the proper location in the user program to restart
that program
 Dispatch latency – time it takes for the dispatcher to stop
one process and start another running
 Scheduling Criteria
 CPU utilization – keep the CPU as busy as possible
 Throughput – # of processes that complete their
execution per time unit
 Turnaround time – amount of time to execute a
particular process
 Waiting time – amount of time a process has been
waiting in the ready queue
 Response time – amount of time it takes from when
a request was submitted until the first response is
produced, not output (for time-sharing
environment)
 Optimization Criteria
 Max CPU utilization
 Max throughput
 Min turnaround time
 Min waiting time
 Min response time
First-Come, First-Served (FCFS) Scheduling

Process Burst Time

P1 24
P2 3
P3 3
 Suppose that the processes arrive in the order: P1 , P2 , P3
The Gantt Chart for the schedule is:

P1 P2 P3

0 24 27 30

 Waiting time for P1 = 0; P2 = 24; P3 = 27

 Average waiting time: (0 + 24 + 27)/3 = 17
FCFS Scheduling (Cont.)

Suppose that the processes arrive in the order

P2 , P3 , P1
 The Gantt chart for the schedule is:
P2 P3 P1

0 3 6 30

 Waiting time for P1 = 6; P2 = 0; P3 = 3

 Average waiting time: (6 + 0 + 3)/3 = 3
 Much better than previous case
 Convoy effect short process behind long process
Shortest-Job-First (SJR)
Scheduling
 Associate with each process the length of its next
CPU burst. Use these lengths to schedule the
process with the shortest time
 Two schemes:
 nonpreemptive – once CPU given to the process it
cannot be preempted until completes its CPU burst
 preemptive – if a new process arrives with CPU burst
length less than remaining time of current executing
process, preempt. This scheme is know as the
Shortest-Remaining-Time-First (SRTF)
 SJF is optimal – gives minimum average waiting
time for a given set of processes
Example of Non-Preemptive
SJF
Process Arrival Time Burst Time
P1 0.0 7
P2 2.0 4
P3 4.0 1
P4 5.0 4
 SJF (non-preemptive)
P1 P3 P2 P4

0 3 7 8 12 16

 Average waiting time = (0 + 6 + 3 + 7)/4 = 4

Example of Preemptive SJF

Process Arrival Time Burst Time

P1 0.0 7
P2 2.0 4
P3 4.0 1
P4 5.0 4
 SJF (preemptive)
P1 P2 P3 P2 P4 P1

0 2 4 5 7 11 16

 Average waiting time = (9 + 1 + 0 +2)/4 = 3

Priority Scheduling

 A priority number (integer) is associated with each

process
 The CPU is allocated to the process with the highest
priority (smallest integer  highest priority)
 Preemptive
 nonpreemptive
 SJF is a priority scheduling where priority is the
predicted next CPU burst time
 Problem  Starvation – low priority processes may
never execute
 Solution  Aging – as time progresses increase the
priority of the process
 Round Robin (RR)
 Each process gets a small unit of CPU time (time
quantum), usually 10-100 milliseconds. After this time
has elapsed, the process is preempted and added to the
end of the ready queue.
 If there are n processes in the ready queue and the time
quantum is q, then each process gets 1/n of the CPU
time in chunks of at most q time units at once. No
process waits more than (n-1)q time units.
 Performance
 q large  FIFO
 q small  q must be large with respect to context switch,
otherwise overhead is too high
 Example of RR with Time Quantum = 20

Process Burst Time

P1 53
P2 17
P3 68
P4 24
 The Gantt chart is:

P1 P2 P3 P4 P1 P3 P4 P1 P3 P3

0 20 37 57 77 97 117 121 134 154 162

 Typically, higher average turnaround than SJF, but better

response
Time Quantum and Context Switch Time
Turnaround Time Varies With The Time Quantum
Multilevel Queue

 Ready queue is partitioned into separate queues:

foreground (interactive)
background (batch)
 Each queue has its own scheduling algorithm
 foreground – RR
 background – FCFS
 Scheduling must be done between the queues
 Fixed priority scheduling; (i.e., serve all from foreground then
from background). Possibility of starvation.
 Time slice – each queue gets a certain amount of CPU time
which it can schedule amongst its processes; i.e., 80% to
foreground in RR
 20% to background in FCFS
Multilevel Queue
Scheduling
 Multilevel Feedback Queue
 A process can move between the various queues; aging
can be implemented this way
 Multilevel-feedback-queue scheduler defined by the
following parameters:
 number of queues
 scheduling algorithms for each queue
 method used to determine when to upgrade a process
 method used to determine when to demote a process
 method used to determine which queue a process will enter
when that process needs service
Example of Multilevel Feedback Queue

 Three queues:
 Q0 – RR with time quantum 8 milliseconds
 Q1 – RR time quantum 16 milliseconds
 Q2 – FCFS
 Scheduling
 A new job enters queue Q0 which is served FCFS. When
it gains CPU, job receives 8 milliseconds. If it does not
finish in 8 milliseconds, job is moved to queue Q1.
 At Q1 job is again served FCFS and receives 16
additional milliseconds. If it still does not complete, it
is preempted and moved to queue Q2.
Multilevel Feedback
Queues
 Multiple-Processor
Scheduling
 CPU scheduling more complex when multiple
CPUs are available
 Homogeneous processors within a multiprocessor
 Load sharing
 Asymmetric multiprocessing – only one processor
accesses the system data structures, alleviating
the need for data sharing
 Real-Time Scheduling
 Hard real-time systems – required to complete
a critical task within a guaranteed amount of
time
 Soft real-time computing – requires that
critical processes receive priority over less
fortunate ones