CSMC 412

Operating Systems
Prof. Ashok K Agrawala
Deadlocks

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 Deadlocks
• System Model
• Deadlock Characterization
• Methods for Handling Deadlocks
• Deadlock Prevention
• Deadlock Avoidance
• Deadlock Detection
• Recovery from Deadlock

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 Objectives
• To develop a description of deadlocks, which prevent
sets of concurrent processes from completing their tasks
• To present a number of different methods for preventing
or avoiding deadlocks in a computer system

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 System Model
• System consists of resources
• Resource types R1, R2, . . ., Rm
CPU cycles, memory space, I/O devices
• Each resource type Ri has Wi instances.
• Each process utilizes a resource as follows:
• request
• use
• release

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 Deadlock Example
/* thread one runs in this function */
void *do_work_one(void *param)
{

pthread_mutex_lock(&first_mutex);
pthread_mutex_lock(&second_mutex);
/** * Do some work */
pthread_mutex_unlock(&second_mutex);
pthread_mutex_unlock(&first_mutex);
pthread_exit(0);
}
/* thread two runs in this function */
void *do_work_two(void *param)
{

pthread_mutex_lock(&second_mutex);
pthread_mutex_lock(&first_mutex);
/** * Do some work */
pthread_mutex_unlock(&first_mutex);
pthread_mutex_unlock(&second_mutex);
pthread_exit(0);
}

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 /* thread one runs in this function */ /* thread two runs in this function */
void *do work one(void *param) void *do work two(void *param)
Livelock {
int done = 0;
{
int done = 0;
while (!done) {
while (!done) {
pthread mutex lock(&first mutex);
pthread mutex lock(&second mutex);
if (pthread mutex trylock(&second mutex)) {
/** if (pthread mutex trylock(&first mutex)) {

* Do some work /**

*/ * Do some work
pthread mutex unlock(&second mutex); */
pthread mutex unlock(&first mutex); pthread mutex unlock(&first mutex);
done = 1; pthread mutex unlock(&second mutex);
}
done = 1;
else
}
pthread mutex unlock(&first mutex);
else
}
pthread exit(0); pthread mutex unlock(&second mutex);

} }
pthread exit(0);
}
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 Deadlock Characterization
Deadlock can arise if four conditions hold simultaneously.

• Mutual exclusion: only one process at a time can use a resource

• Hold and wait: a process holding at least one resource is waiting
to acquire additional resources held by other processes
• No preemption: a resource can be released only voluntarily by
the process holding it, after that process has completed its task
• Circular wait: there exists a set {P0, P1, …, Pn} of waiting processes
such that P0 is waiting for a resource that is held by P1, P1 is
waiting for a resource that is held by P2, …, Pn–1 is waiting for a
resource that is held by Pn, and Pn is waiting for a resource that is
held by P0.
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 Resource-Allocation Graph
A set of vertices V and a set of edges E.

• V is partitioned into two types:

• P = {P1, P2, …, Pn}, the set consisting of all the processes in the system

• R = {R1, R2, …, Rm}, the set consisting of all resource types in the system

• request edge – directed edge Pi → Rj

• assignment edge – directed edge Rj → Pi

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 Resource-Allocation Graph (Cont.)
• Process

• Resource Type with 4 instances

• Pi requests instance of Rj
Pi
Rj

• Pi is holding an instance of Rj
Pi
Rj

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 Example of a Resource Allocation Graph

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 Resource Allocation Graph With A Deadlock

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 Graph With A Cycle But No Deadlock

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 Basic Facts
• If graph contains no cycles  no deadlock
• If graph contains a cycle 
• if only one instance per resource type, then deadlock
• if several instances per resource type, possibility of deadlock

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 Methods for Handling Deadlocks
• Ensure that the system will never enter a deadlock state:
• Deadlock prevention
• Deadlock avoidance
• Allow the system to enter a deadlock state and then recover
• Ignore the problem and pretend that deadlocks never occur in
the system; used by most operating systems, including UNIX

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 Deadlock Prevention
Restrain the ways request can be made

• Mutual Exclusion – not required for sharable resources (e.g., read-

only files); must hold for non-sharable resources
• Hold and Wait – must guarantee that whenever a process
requests a resource, it does not hold any other resources
• Require process to request and be allocated all its resources before it
begins execution, or allow process to request resources only when the
process has none allocated to it.
• Low resource utilization; starvation possible

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 Deadlock Prevention (Cont.)
• No Preemption –
• If a process that is holding some resources requests another resource that
cannot be immediately allocated to it, then all resources currently being held
are released
• Preempted resources are added to the list of resources for which the process
is waiting
• Process will be restarted only when it can regain its old resources, as well as
the new ones that it is requesting
• Circular Wait – impose a total ordering of all resource types, and
require that each process requests resources in an increasing order of
enumeration

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 Deadlock Avoidance
Requires that the system has some additional a priori information available

• Simplest and most useful model requires that each process declare the
maximum number of resources of each type that it may need
• The deadlock-avoidance algorithm dynamically examines the resource-
allocation state to ensure that there can never be a circular-wait
condition
• Resource-allocation state is defined by the number of available and
allocated resources, and the maximum demands of the processes

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 Safe State
• When a process requests an available resource, system must decide if
immediate allocation leaves the system in a safe state
• System is in safe state if there exists a sequence <P1, P2, …, Pn> of ALL
the processes in the systems such that for each Pi, the resources that Pi
can still request can be satisfied by currently available resources +
resources held by all the Pj, with j < I
• That is:
• If Pi resource needs are not immediately available, then Pi can wait until all Pj
have finished
• When Pj is finished, Pi can obtain needed resources, execute, return allocated
resources, and terminate
• When Pi terminates, Pi +1 can obtain its needed resources, and so on

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 Basic Facts

• If a system is in safe state  no deadlocks

• If a system is in unsafe state  possibility of deadlock

• Avoidance  ensure that a system will never enter an unsafe state.

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 Safe, Unsafe, Deadlock State

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 Avoidance Algorithms

• Single instance of a resource type

• Use a resource-allocation graph

• Multiple instances of a resource type

• Use the banker’s algorithm

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 Resource-Allocation Graph Scheme
• Claim edge Pi → Rj indicated that process Pj may request resource Rj;
represented by a dashed line
• Claim edge converts to request edge when a process requests a
resource
• Request edge converted to an assignment edge when the resource
is allocated to the process
• When a resource is released by a process, assignment edge
reconverts to a claim edge
• Resources must be claimed a priori in the system

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 Resource-Allocation Graph

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 Unsafe State In Resource-Allocation Graph

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 Resource-Allocation Graph Algorithm

• Suppose that process Pi requests a resource Rj

• The request can be granted only if converting the request edge
to an assignment edge does not result in the formation of a
cycle in the resource allocation graph

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 Banker’s Algorithm
• Multiple instances

• Each process must a priori claim maximum use

• When a process requests a resource, it may have to wait

• When a process gets all its resources it must return them in a

finite amount of time

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 Data Structures for the Banker’s Algorithm
Let n = number of processes, and m = number of resources types.

• Available: Vector of length m. If available [j] = k, there are k instances of

resource type Rj available
• Max: n x m matrix. If Max [i,j] = k, then process Pi may request at most k
instances of resource type Rj
• Allocation: n x m matrix. If Allocation[i,j] = k then Pi is currently
allocated k instances of Rj
• Need: n x m matrix. If Need[i,j] = k, then Pi may need k more instances of
Rj to complete its task
Need [i,j] = Max[i,j] – Allocation [i,j]

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 Safety Algorithm
1. Let Work and Finish be vectors of length m and n, respectively.
Initialize:
Work = Available
Finish [i] = false for i = 0, 1, …, n- 1

2. Find an i such that both:

(a) Finish [i] = false
(b) Needi  Work
If no such i exists, go to step 4

3. Work = Work + Allocationi

Finish[i] = true
go to step 2
4. If Finish [i] == true for all i, then the system is in a safe state

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 Resource-Request Algorithm for Process Pi

Requesti = request vector for process Pi. If Requesti [j] = k then process
Pi wants k instances of resource type Rj
1. If Requesti  Needi go to step 2. Otherwise, raise error condition, since process
has exceeded its maximum claim
2. If Requesti  Available, go to step 3. Otherwise Pi must wait, since resources
are not available
3. Pretend to allocate requested resources to Pi by modifying the state as follows:
Available = Available – Requesti;
Allocationi = Allocationi + Requesti;
Needi = Needi – Requesti;
If safe  the resources are allocated to Pi
If unsafe  Pi must wait, and the old resource-allocation state is restored

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 Example of Banker’s Algorithm

• 5 processes P0 through P4;

3 resource types:
A (10 instances), B (5instances), and C (7 instances)
• Snapshot at time T0:
Allocation Max Available
ABC ABC ABC
P0 010 753 332
P1 2 0 0 322
P2 3 0 2 902
P3 2 1 1 222
P4 0 0 2 433

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Example Worked out

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Example (Cont.)
• The content of the matrix Need is defined to be Max – Allocation

Need
ABC
P0 743
P1 122
P2 600
P3 011
P4 431

• The system is in a safe state since the sequence < P1, P3, P4, P2, P0> satisfies
safety criteria

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 Example: P1 Request (1,0,2)
• Check that Request  Available (that is, (1,0,2)  (3,3,2)  true
Allocation Need Available
ABC ABC ABC
P0 0 1 0 743 230
P1 3 0 2 020
P2 3 0 2 600
P3 2 1 1 011
P4 0 0 2 431
• Executing safety algorithm shows that sequence < P1, P3, P4, P0,
P2> satisfies safety requirement
• Can request for (3,3,0) by P4 be granted?
• Can request for (0,2,0) by P0 be granted?

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 Deadlock Detection
• Allow system to enter deadlock state

• Detection algorithm

• Recovery scheme

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 Single Instance of Each Resource Type

• Maintain wait-for graph

• Nodes are processes
• Pi → Pj if Pi is waiting for Pj

• Periodically invoke an algorithm that searches for a cycle in the

graph. If there is a cycle, there exists a deadlock

• An algorithm to detect a cycle in a graph requires an order of n2

operations, where n is the number of vertices in the graph

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 Resource-Allocation Graph and Wait-for Graph

Resource-Allocation Graph Corresponding wait-for graph

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 Several Instances of a Resource Type

• Available: A vector of length m indicates the number of available

resources of each type
• Allocation: An n x m matrix defines the number of resources of each
type currently allocated to each process
• Request: An n x m matrix indicates the current request of each
process. If Request [i][j] = k, then process Pi is requesting k more
instances of resource type Rj.

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 Detection Algorithm
1. Let Work and Finish be vectors of length m and n, respectively
Initialize:
(a) Work = Available
(b) For i = 1,2, …, n, if Allocationi  0, then
Finish[i] = false; otherwise, Finish[i] = true

2. Find an index i such that both:

(a) Finish[i] == false
(b) Requesti  Work

If no such i exists, go to step 4

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 Detection Algorithm (Cont.)
3. Work = Work + Allocationi
Finish[i] = true
go to step 2

4. If Finish[i] == false, for some i, 1  i  n, then the system is in deadlock state.

Moreover, if Finish[i] == false, then Pi is deadlocked

Algorithm requires an order of O(m x n2) operations

to detect whether the system is in deadlocked state

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 Example of Detection Algorithm
• Five processes P0 through P4; three resource types
A (7 instances), B (2 instances), and C (6 instances)

• Snapshot at time T0:

Allocation Request Available
ABC ABC ABC
P0 010 000 000
P1 200 202
P2 303 000
P3 211 100
P4 002 002

• Sequence <P0, P2, P3, P1, P4> will result in Finish[i] = true for
all i
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 Example (Cont.)
• P2 requests an additional instance of type C
Request
ABC
P0 0 0 0
P1 2 0 2
P2 0 0 1
P3 1 0 0
P4 0 0 2
• State of system?
• Can reclaim resources held by process P0, but insufficient
resources to fulfill other processes; requests
• Deadlock exists, consisting of processes P1, P2, P3, and P4

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 Detection-Algorithm Usage
• When, and how often, to invoke depends on:
• How often a deadlock is likely to occur?
• How many processes will need to be rolled back?
• one for each disjoint cycle

• If detection algorithm is invoked arbitrarily, there may be

many cycles in the resource graph and so we would not be
able to tell which of the many deadlocked processes
“caused” the deadlock.

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 Recovery from Deadlock: Process Termination

• Abort all deadlocked processes

• Abort one process at a time until the deadlock cycle is eliminated

• In which order should we choose to abort?

1. Priority of the process
2. How long process has computed, and how much longer to completion
3. Resources the process has used
4. Resources process needs to complete
5. How many processes will need to be terminated
6. Is process interactive or batch?

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 Recovery from Deadlock: Resource Preemption

• Selecting a victim – minimize cost

• Rollback – return to some safe state, restart process for that state

• Starvation – same process may always be picked as victim,

include number of rollback in cost factor

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