UNIT I

1. Operating System
 A program that acts as an intermediary between a user of a computer and the computer
hardware
 Operating system goals:
o Execute user programs and make solving user problems easier
o Make the computer system convenient to use
o Use the computer hardware in an efficient manner
Operating System Definition:
 OS is a resource allocator
 Manages all resources
 Decides between conflicting requests for efficient and fair resource use
 OS is a control program
 Controls execution of programs to prevent errors and improper use of the
computer

Kernel - The one program running at all times on the computer

2. Computer System Structure

 Computer system can be divided into four components:
o Hardware – provides basic computing resources
 CPU, memory, I/O devices
o Operating system
 Controls and coordinates use of hardware among various applications and
users
o 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
o Users
 People, machines, other computers
Four Components of a Computer System

Bootstrap Program

 bootstrap program is loaded at power-up or reboot

o Typically stored in ROM or EPROM, generally known as firmware
o Initializes all aspects of system
o Loads operating system kernel and starts execution

3. Computer System Organization

 Computer-system operation
o One or more CPUs, device controllers connect through common bus providing
access to shared memory
o Concurrent execution of CPUs and devices competing for memory cycles

Computer-System Operation

 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
 CPU moves data from/to main memory to/from local buffers
 I/O is from the device to local buffer of controller
4. Interrupts

An interrupt is a signal to the processor emitted by hardware or software indicating an

event that needs immediate attention

Two types:

Hardware interrupts – raised by external hardware devices

Software interrupt – raised by user program

Eg:-Device controller informs CPU that it has finished its operation by causing an
interrupt

Common Functions of Interrupts

 Interrupt transfers control to the interrupt service routine through the interruptvector
 Interrupt vector contains the addresses of all the service routines
 Interrupt architecture must save the address of the interrupted instruction
 A trap or exception is a software-generated interrupt caused either by an error or a
user request
 An operating system is interrupt driven

Interrupt Handling

 The operating system preserves the state of the CPU by storing registers and the program
counter
 Determines which type of interrupt has occurred:
o Polling - CPU keeps on checking I/O devices at regular interval whether it needs
CPU service
o vectored interrupt system - the I/O device interrupts the CPU and tell CPU that it
need CPU service
 Separate segments of code determine what action should be taken for each type of
interrupt

Interrupt Timeline
5. I/O Structure
 After I/O starts, control returns to user program only upon I/O completion
o Wait instruction idles the CPU until the next interrupt
o Wait loop (contention for memory access)
o At most one I/O request is outstanding at a time, no simultaneous I/O processing
 After I/O starts, control returns to user program without waiting for I/O completion
o System call – request to the OS to allow user to wait for I/O completion
o Device-status table contains entry for each I/O device indicating its type,
address, and state
o OS indexes into I/O device table to determine device status and to modify table
entry to include interrupt
6. Storage Structure

Storage structures are divided into

 Main memory – only large storage media that the CPU can access directly
o Randomaccess
o Typically volatile
 Secondary storage – extension of main memory that provides large nonvolatile storage
capacity
 Hard disks – rigid metal or glass platters covered with magnetic recording material
o Disk surface is logically divided into tracks, which are subdivided into sectors
o The disk controller determines the logical interaction between the device and the
computer

 Solid-state disks – faster than hard disks, nonvolatile

Storage Hierarchy

 Storage systems organized in hierarchy

o Speed
o Cost
o Volatility
 Caching – copying information into faster storage system; main memory can be viewed
as a cache for secondary storage
 Device Driver for each device controller to manage I/O
o Provides uniform interface between controller and kernel

Caching

 Information in use copied from slower to faster storage temporarily

 Faster storage (cache) checked first to determine if information is there
o If it is, information used directly from the cache (fast)
o If not, data copied to cache and used there
 Cache smaller than storage being cached
o Cache management important design problem
o Cache size and replacement policy
7. Direct Memory Access
 Interrupt-driven I/O is fine for moving small amounts of data but can produce high
overhead when used for bulk data movement such as disk I/O.

 To solve this problem, direct memory access (DMA) is used.

 The device controller transfers an entire block of data directly to or from its own buffer
storage to memory, with no intervention by the CPU.

 Only one interrupt is generated per block, to tell the device driver that the operation has
completed, rather than the one interrupt per byte generated for low-speed devices.

 While the device controller is performing these operations, the CPU is available to
accomplish other work.

 Some high-end systems use switch rather than bus architecture. On these systems,
multiple components can talk to other components concurrently, rather than competing
for cycles on a shared bus. In this case, DMA is even more effective.

The following figure shows all components of a computer system

8. Computer-System Architecture

The following are types of computer system architecture

 Single processor
 Multiprocessor
 Dual-core / multicore
 Clustered system

i) Most systems use a single general-purpose processor

o Most systems have special-purpose processors as well
ii) Multiprocessors systems growing in use and importance
o Also known as parallel systems, tightly-coupled systems
o Such systems have two or more processors in close communication, sharing the computer
bus and sometimes the clock, memory, and peripheral devices.
o Multiprocessors appears in Servers currently used in Desktop.
o They appeared on mobile devices such as smart phones and tablet computers

Advantages
 Increased throughput
 By increasing the number of processors, we expect to get more work
done in less time.
 Economy of scale
 Multiprocessor systems can cost less than equivalent multiple single-
processor systems,because they can share peripherals, mass storage, and
power supplies.
 Increased reliability – graceful degradation or fault tolerance
 If we have ten processors and one fails, then each of the remaining nine
processors can pick up a share of the work of the failed processor. Thus,
the entire system runs only 10 percent slower, rather than failing
altogether.
o Two types:
 Asymmetric Multiprocessing
 Each processor is assigned a specie task.
 A boss processor controls the system; the other processors either look to
the boss for instruction or have predefined tasks.
 This scheme defines a boss–worker relationship.
 The boss processor schedules and allocates work to the worker
processors.
 Symmetric Multiprocessing
 Each processor performs all tasks
 SMP means that all processors are peers; no boss–worker relationship
exists between processors.
The following example shows the symmetric multiprocessing architecture

iii)Dual-Core Design
 In response to the need for more computing performance, single-CPU systems evolved
into multi-CPU systems.
 A more recent, in system design is to place multiple computing cores on a single chip.
Each core appears as a separate processor to the operating system.
 Whether the cores appear across CPU chips or within CPU chips, we call these systems
multicore or multiprocessor systems

iv) Clustered Systems

 Like multiprocessor systems, but multiple systems working together
o Usually sharing storage via a storage-area network (SAN)
o Provides a high-availability service which survives failures
 Asymmetric clustering has one machine in hot-standby mode
 Symmetric clustering has multiple nodes running applications,
monitoring each other
o Some clusters are for high-performance computing (HPC)
 Applications must be written to use parallelization
o Some have distributed lock manager (DLM) to avoid conflicting operations
The following diagram shows clustered system

9. Evolution of Operating system

1. Serial processing
2. Simple Batch Processing
3. Multi programmed Batch Processing
4. Time-sharing

Simple Batch Systems

Improve the utilization of computers

Jobs are submitted on cards or tape to an operator who batches jobs together sequentially

Monitor – program that controls the execution of the jobs – simple OS

Job Control Language (JCL) – interface to the monitor

 Hardware Features:
Memory Protection: do not allow the memory area containing the monitor to be
altered
Timer: prevents a job from monopolizing the system
Problems:
Bad utilization of CPU Time – the processor stays idle while I/O devices are in
use

Multiprogrammed Batch Systems

o More than one program resides in the main memory
o While a program A uses an I/O device, the processor does not stay idle,
instead it rums another program B

New Features:

Memory Management: - to have several jobs ready to run, they must be kept in
main memory

Job Scheduling : the processor must decide which program to run

 Time-Sharing Systems

 Multiprogramming Systems :
 Several Programs use the Computer System
 Time-Sharing systems :
 Several (human) users use the computer system interactively
 Characteristics:
 Using multiprogramming to handle multiple interactive jobs
 Processor’s time is shared among multiple users
 Multiple users simultaneously access the system through terminals

10. Operating System Services

 Operating systems provide an environment for execution of programs and services to

programs and users

 One set of operating-system services provides functions that are helpful to the user:

o User interface - Almost all operating systems have a user interface (UI).
 Varies between Command-Line (CLI), Graphics User Interface (GUI),
Batch
o Program execution - The system must be able to load a program into memory
and to run that program, end execution, either normally or abnormally (indicating
error)
o I/O operations - A running program may require I/O, which may involve a file
or an I/O device
o File-system manipulation- The file system is of particular interest. Programs
need to read and write files and directories, create and delete them, search them,
list file Information, permission management.
o Communications – Processes may exchange information, on the same computer
or between computers over a network
 Communications may be via shared memory or through message passing
o Error detection – OS needs to be constantly aware of possible errors
 May occur in the CPU and memory hardware, in I/O devices, in user
program
 For each type of error, OS should take the appropriate action to ensure
correct and consistent computing

o Resource allocation - When multiple users or multiple jobs running

concurrently, resources must be allocated to each of them

 Many types of resources - CPU cycles, main memory, file storage, I/O
devices.

o Accounting - To keep track of which users use how much and what kinds of
computer resources

o Protection and security - The owners of information stored in a multiuser or

networked computer system may want to control use of that information,
concurrent processes should not interfere with each other

 Protection involves ensuring that all access to system resources is

controlled

 Security of the system from outsiders requires user authentication,

extends to defending external I/O devices from invalid access attempts

View of Operating System Services

 11. System calls
 Programming interface to the services provided by the OS
 Typically written in a high-level language (C or C++)
 Mostly accessed by programs via a high-level Application Programming Interface
(API) rather than direct system call use
 Three most common APIs
a. Win32 API for Windows
b. POSIX API - UNIX, Linux, and Mac OS X)
c. Java API for the Java virtual machine (JVM)
System Call Implementation
 Typically, a number associated with each system call
o System-call interface maintains a table indexed according to these
numbers
 The system call interface invokes the intended system call in OS kernel and
returns status of the system call and any return values

API – System Call – OS Relationship

System Call Parameter Passing
 Three general methods used to pass parameters to the OS
o Simplest: pass the parameters in registers
 In some cases, may be more parameters than registers
o Parameters stored in a block, or table, in memory, and address of block passed
as a parameter in a register
 This approach taken by Linux and Solaris
o Parameters placed, or pushed, onto the stackby the program and poppedoff
the stack by the operating system
 Parameter Passing via Table
Types of System Calls
 Process control
o create process, terminate process
o end, abort
o load, execute
o get process attributes, set process attributes
o wait for time
o wait event, signal event
o allocate and free memory
Example: fork(),exit(),wait()
 File management
o create file, delete file
o open, close file
o read, write, reposition
o get and set file attributes
Example: open(),read(),write(),close()
 Device management
o request device, release device
o read, write, reposition
o get device attributes, set device attributes
o logically attach or detach devices
Example: ioctl(), read(), write()
 Information maintenance
o get time or date, set time or date
o get system data, set system data
o get and set process, file, or device attributes
Example: getpid(), sleep(), alarm()
 Communications
 o create, delete communication connection
o send, receive messages
 message passing and shared memory
o transfer status information
o attach and detach remote devices
Example:pipe(), shmget(), mmap()
 Protection
o Control access to resources
o Get and set permissions
o Allow and deny user access
Example: chmod(),umask(),chown()

Standard C Library Example

C program invoking printf() library call, which calls write() system call

System Programs

System programs provide a convenient environment for program development and

execution. They can be divided into:
 o File manipulation
o Create, delete, copy, rename, print, dump, list, and generally manipulate files
and directories
o Status information
o date, time, amount of available memory, disk space, number of users
o Others provide detailed performance, logging, and debugging information
o File modification
o Text editors to create and modify files
o Programming language support
o Compilers, assemblers, debuggers and interpreters sometimes provided
o Program loading and execution
o Loaders, Linkers
o Communications
o Provide the mechanism for creating virtual connections among processes,
users, and computer systems
o Allow users to send messages to one another’s screens, browse web pages,
send electronic-mail messages, log in remotely, transfer files from one
machine to another
o Background services
o Launch at boot time
o Some for system startup, then terminate
o Some from system boot to shutdown
o Provide facilities like disk checking, process scheduling, error logging,
printing
o Application programs
o Run by users
o Launched by command line, mouse click, finger poke

12. Operating System Structure

Two Goals
a. User goals – operating system should be convenient to use, easy to learn, reliable,
safe, and fast
b. System goals – operating system should be easy to design, implement, and
maintain, as well as flexible, reliable, error-free, and efficient
Various ways to structure ones
1. Simple structure – MS-DOS
2. More complex -- UNIX
3. Layered – an abstrcation
4. Microkernel -Mach
1. Simple Structure -- MS-DOS
  MS-DOS – written to provide the most functionality in the least space
o Not divided into modules
o its interfaces and levels of functionality are not well separated

Simple Structure -- MS-DOS

2. Simple Structure -- UNIX

 UNIX – limited by hardware functionality
 The UNIX OS consists of two separable parts
o Systems programs
o The kernel
 Consists of everything below the system-call interface and above
the physical hardware
 Provides the file system, CPU scheduling, memory management,
and other operating-system functions; a large number of functions
for one level
 Traditional UNIX System Structure
3. Layered Approach
 The operating system is divided into a number of layers (levels), each built on top
of lower layers.
 The bottom layer (layer 0), is the hardware; the highest (layer N) is the user
interface.
 With modularity, layers are selected such that each uses functions (operations)
and services of only lower-level layers

Layered Approach
4. Microkernel System Structure
o Moves as much from the kernel into user space
o Mach example of microkernel
 Mac OS X kernel (Darwin) partly based on Mach
 o Communication takes place between user modules using message passing
o Benefits:
 Easier to extend a microkernel
 Easier to port the operating system to new architectures
 More reliable (less code is running in kernel mode)
 More secure

Microkernel System Structure

5. Solaris Modular Approach

 Many modern operating systems implement loadablekernel modules
o Uses object-oriented approach
o Each core component is separate
o Each talks to the others over known interfaces
o Each is loadable as needed within the kernel
 Overall, similar to layers but with more flexible
o Linux, Solaris, etc
 Solaris Modular Approach
6. Hybrid Systems
 Most modern operating systems are actually not one pure model
o Hybrid combines multiple approaches to address performance, security,
usability needs
o Linux and Solaris - monolithic, plus modular for dynamic loading of
functionality
o Windows - monolithic, plus microkernel for different subsystem
personalities

 Apple Mac OS X hybrid, layered, Aqua UI plus Cocoa programming

environment
o Below is kernel consisting of Mach microkernel and BSD Unix parts, plus
I/O kit and dynamically loadable modules (called kernel extensions)
 Mac OS X Structure
7. iOS
 Apple mobile OS for iPhone, iPad
o Structured on Mac OS X, added functionality
o Cocoa Touch Objective-C API for developing apps
o Media services layer for graphics, audio, video
o Core services provides cloud computing, databases
o Core operating system, based on Mac OS X kernel

iOS

8. Android
 Developed by Open Handset Alliance (mostly Google)
o Open Source
 Similar stack to iOS
 Based on Linux kernel but modified
o Provides process, memory, device-driver management
o Adds power management
 Runtime environment includes core set of libraries and Dalvik virtual machine
o Apps developed in Java plus Android API
  Libraries include frameworks for
o web browser (webkit),
o database (SQLite),
o Multimedia and smaller libc

Android Architecture

[Link] System Generation

 Operating systems are designed to run on any of a class of machines; the system must be
configured for each specific computer site
 SYSGEN program obtains information concerning the specific configuration of the
hardware system
o Used to build system-specific compiled kernel or system-tuned

System Boot

 When power initialized on system, execution starts at a fixed memory location

o Firmware ROM used to hold initial boot code
 Operating system must be made available to hardware so hardware can start it
o Small piece of code – bootstrap loader, stored in ROM or EEPROM locates the
kernel, loads it into memory, and starts it
o Example : GRUB

15. Operating-System Operations

1. Process Management

 A process is a program in execution.

o Program is a passive entity, process is an active entity.

 Process needs resources to accomplish its task

o CPU, memory, I/O, files

o Initialization data

 Single-threaded process has one program counter specifying location of next

instruction to execute

o Process executes instructions sequentially, one at a time, until completion

 Multi-threaded process has one program counter per thread

Process Management Activities

 Creating and deleting both user and system processes

 Suspending and resuming processes
 process synchronization
 process communication
 deadlock handling
2. Memory Management
 To execute a program all (or part) of the instructions must be in memory
 All (or part) of the data that is needed by the program must be in memory.
 Memory management determines what is in memory and when

Memory management activities

o Keeping track of which parts of memory are currently being used and by
whom
o Deciding which processes (or parts thereof) and data to move into and out of
memory
o Allocating and deallocating memory space as needed
3. Storage Management
 OS provides uniform, logical view of information storage
o Abstracts physical properties to logical storage unit - file
o Each medium is controlled by device (i.e., disk drive, tape drive)
 properties include access speed, capacity, data-transfer rate, access
method (sequential or random)
4. File-System management
o Files usually organized into directories
 o Access control on most systems to determine who can access what

OS activities

 Creating and deleting files and directories

 Primitives to manipulate files and directories
 Mapping files onto secondary storage
 Backup files onto stable (non-volatile) storage media
5. Mass-Storage Management
 Usually disks used to store data that must be kept for a “long” period of time

OS activities

o Free-space management
o Storage allocation
o Disk scheduling
6. I/O Subsystem
 One purpose of OS is to hide peculiarities of hardware devices from the user
 I/O subsystem responsible for
o Memory management of I/O including
 buffering (storing data temporarily while it is being transferred),
 caching (storing parts of data in faster storage for performance),
 spooling (the overlapping of output of one job with input of other jobs)
o General device-driver interface
o Drivers for specific hardware devices
7. Protection and Security
Protection– any mechanism for controlling access of processes or users to resources
defined by the OS
Security – defense of the system against internal and external attacks
Huge range, including denial-of-service, worms, viruses, identity theft, theft of
service