08 - Operating System Support
08 - Operating System Support
Efficiency
Allowing better use of computer resources
Early Systems
Late 1940s to mid 1950s No Operating System Programs interact directly with hardware Two main problems:
Scheduling Setup time
Timer
To prevent a job monopolizing the system
Privileged instructions
Only executed by Monitor e.g. I/O
Interrupts
Allows for relinquishing and regaining control
Single Program
Utilization
Scheduling
Key to multi-programming Long term Medium term Short term I/O
PCB Diagram
Scheduling Example
Process Scheduling
Memory Management
Uni-program
Memory split into two One for Operating System (monitor) One for currently executing program
Multi-program
User part is sub-divided and shared among active processes
Swapping
Problem: I/O is so slow compared with CPU that even in multi-programming system, CPU can be idle most of the time Solutions:
Increase main memory
Expensive Leads to larger programs
Swapping
What is Swapping?
Long term queue of processes stored on disk Processes swapped in as space becomes available As a process completes it is moved out of main memory If none of the processes in memory are ready (i.e. all I/O blocked)
Swap out a blocked process to intermediate queue Swap in a ready process or a new process But swapping is an I/O process
Use of Swapping
Partitioning
Splitting memory into sections to allocate to processes (including Operating System) Fixed-sized partitions
May not be equal size Process is fitted into smallest hole that will take it (best fit) Some wasted memory Leads to variable sized partitions
Fixed Partitioning
When all processes are blocked, swap out a process and bring in another New process may be smaller than swapped out process Another hole
Relocation
No guarantee that process will load into the same place in memory Instructions contain addresses
Locations of data Addresses for instructions (branching)
Logical address - relative to beginning of program Physical address - actual location in memory (this time) Automatic conversion using base address
Paging
Split memory into equal sized, small chunks -page frames Split programs (processes) into equal sized small chunks - pages Allocate the required number page frames to a process Operating System maintains list of free frames A process does not require contiguous page frames Use page table to keep track
Virtual Memory
Demand paging
Do not require all pages of a process in memory Bring in pages as required
Page fault
Required page is not in memory Operating System must swap in required page May need to swap out a page to make space Select page to throw out based on recent history
Thrashing
Too many processes in too little memory Operating System spends all its time swapping Little or no real work is done Disk light is on all the time Solutions
Good page replacement algorithms Reduce number of processes running Fit more memory
Bonus
We do not need all of a process in memory for it to run We can swap in pages as required So - we can now run processes that are bigger than total memory available! Main memory is called real memory User/programmer sees much bigger memory - virtual memory
TLB Operation
Segmentation
Paging is not (usually) visible to the programmer Segmentation is visible to the programmer Usually different segments allocated to program and data May be a number of program and data segments
Advantages of Segmentation
Simplifies handling of growing data structures Allows programs to be altered and recompiled independently, without relinking and re-loading Lends itself to sharing among processes Lends itself to protection Some systems combine segmentation with paging
Pentium II
Hardware for segmentation and paging Unsegmented unpaged
virtual address = physical address Low complexity High performance
Unsegmented paged
Memory viewed as paged linear address space Protection and management via paging Berkeley UNIX
Segmented unpaged
Collection of local address spaces Protection to single byte level Translation table needed is on chip when segment is in memory
Segmented paged
Segmentation used to define logical memory partitions subject to access control Paging manages allocation of memory within partitions Unix System V
Pentium II Segmentation
Each virtual address is 16-bit segment and 32-bit offset 2 bits of segment are protection mechanism 14 bits specify segment Unsegmented virtual memory 232 = 4Gbytes Segmented 246=64 terabytes
Can be larger depends on which process is active Half (8K segments of 4Gbytes) is global Half is local and distinct for each process
Pentium II Protection
Protection bits give 4 levels of privilege
0 most protected, 3 least Use of levels software dependent Usually level 3 for applications, level 1 for O/S and level 0 for kernel (level 2 not used) Level 2 may be used for apps that have internal security e.g. database Some instructions only work in level 0
Pentium II Paging
Segmentation may be disabled
In which case linear address space is used
Use TLB holding 32 page table entries Two page sizes available 4k or 4M
Data exchanged between processor and main memory via cache Logical cache organization
On cache miss, ARM supplies address directly to cache as well as TLB
Large pages
Small pages
Sections and supersections allow mapping of large region of memory with single TLB entry Additional access control mechanisms Two level translation table held in main memory
Small pages use 1KB subpages Large pages use 16KB subpages
MMU
First-level table holds section and supersection translations, and pointers to second-level tables Second-level tables: Hold both large and small page translations Translates virtual to physical addresses Derives and checks access permission After TLB miss Section-mapped access only requires first-level fetch Page-mapped access requires second-level fetch
ARM Virtual Memory Address Translation for Small Pages Single L1 page table
4K 32-bit entries Each L1 entry points to L2 page table
Similar procedure for large pages Sections and supersection only use L1 page table
Cacheable (C) bit Can memory region be mapped through cache? Domain not Global (nG) Shared (S) SBZ
Collection of memory regions Access control can be applied on the basis of domain Translation marked as global (0), or process specific (1)? Translation is for not-shared (0), or shared (1) memory? Should be zero
Together with B and C bits, control accesses to caches How write buffer is used If memory region is shareable
Must be kept coherent
Bits [1:0] = 00
Virtual addresses unmapped Attempts to access generate translation fault
Bits [1:0] = 01
Physical address of L2 page table which specifies how associated virtual address range is mapped
L2 Table Small and Large Pages For memory structured into pages L1 page entry bits [31:10] point to a L2 page table Small pages
L2 entry holds 20-bit pointer to base address of 4-KB page in main memory
Large pages
Virtual address includes 12-bit index to L1 table and an 8-bit index to L2 table 64-KB large pages have 16 bit page index portion Four-bit overlap between page index field and L2 table index field Page table entries in L2 page table replicated 16 times L2 page table reduced from 256 entries to 16 if all refer to large pages L2 page can service mixed large and small pages
Sections
L1 entry Bits [31:20] hold 12-bit pointer to 1-MB section
For supersections
L1 bits [31:24] hold 8-bit pointer to base of the 16-MB section
Access Control
Region of memory can be designated as no access, read only, or read/write Region can be designated privileged access (operating Systems) only Domain
Clients
Collection of sections and/or pages with particular access permissions 16 Multiple processes can use same translation tables while maintaining some protection from each other Page table entry and TLB entry contain domain field Two-bit field in the Domain Access Control Register controls access to each domain Whole memory areas can be swapped very efficiently Must observe permissions of individual sections and/or pages in domain Control domain behavior
Managers
Programs can be
Sections and pages in domain access Bypass access permissions for table entries in domain
Required Reading
Stallings chapter 8 Stallings, W. [2004] Operating Systems, Pearson Loads of Web sites on Operating Systems