Chapter 1: Introduction: Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne ©2013 Operating System Concepts - 9 Edit9on

Chapter 1: Introduction
Operating System Concepts – 9th Edit9on Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne ©2013
What is an Operating System?
 A program that acts as an intermediary between a user of a

computer and the computer hardware
 Operating system goals:
 Execute user programs and make solving user problems
easier
 Make the computer system convenient to use
 Use the computer hardware in an efficient manner
Operating System Concepts – 9th Edition 1.2 Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne ©2013
Computer System Structure
 Computer system can be divided into four components:

 Hardware – provides basic computing resources
 CPU, memory, I/O devices
 Operating system
 Controls and coordinates use of hardware among various
applications and users
 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
Four Components of a Computer System
What Operating Systems Do
 Depends on the point of view

 Users want convenience, ease of use and good performance
 Don’t care about resource utilization
 But shared computer such as mainframe or minicomputer must
keep all users happy
 Users of dedicate systems such as workstations have dedicated
resources but frequently use shared resources from servers
 Handheld computers are resource poor, optimized for usability
and battery life
 Some computers have little or no user interface, such as
embedded computers in devices and automobiles
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
Operating System Definition (Cont.)
 No universally accepted definition

 “Everything a vendor ships when you order an operating
system” is a good approximation
 But varies wildly
 “The one program running at all times on the computer” is
the kernel.
 Everything else is either
 a system program (ships with the operating system) , or
 an application program.
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
Computer System Organization
 Computer-system operation
 One or more CPUs, device controllers connect through common
bus providing access to shared memory
 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
 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

generally, through the interrupt vector, which 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:
 polling
 vectored interrupt system
 Separate segments of code determine what action should
be taken for each type of interrupt
Interrupt Timeline
I/O Structure
 After I/O starts, control returns to user program only upon I/O
completion
 Wait instruction idles the CPU until the next interrupt
 Wait loop (contention for memory access)
 At most one I/O request is outstanding at a time, no
simultaneous I/O processing
Storage Structure
 Main memory – only large storage media that the CPU can access
directly
 Random access
 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
 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, nonvolatile
 Various technologies
 Becoming more popular
Storage Hierarchy
 Storage systems organized in hierarchy

 Speed
 Cost
 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
 Provides uniform interface between controller and
kernel
Storage-Device Hierarchy
Caching
 Important principle, performed at many levels in a computer

(in hardware, operating system, software)
 Information in use copied from slower to faster storage
temporarily
 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 smaller than storage being cached
 Cache management important design problem
 Cache size and replacement policy
Direct Memory Access Structure
 Used for high-speed I/O devices able to transmit

information at close to memory speeds
 Device controller transfers blocks of data from buffer
storage directly to main memory without CPU
intervention
 Only one interrupt is generated per block, rather than
the one interrupt per byte
How a Modern Computer Works
A von Neumann architecture
Computer-System Architecture
 Most systems use a single general-purpose processor

 Most systems have special-purpose processors as well
 Multiprocessors systems growing in use and importance
 Also known as parallel systems, tightly-coupled systems
 Advantages include:
1. Increased throughput
2. Economy of scale
3. Increased reliability – graceful degradation or fault tolerance
 Two types:
1. Asymmetric Multiprocessing – each processor is assigned a
specie task.
2. Symmetric Multiprocessing – each processor performs all tasks
Symmetric Multiprocessing Architecture
A Dual-Core Design
 Multi-chip and multicore
 Systems containing all chips
 Chassis containing multiple separate systems
Operating System Structure
 Multiprogramming (Batch system) needed for efficiency
 Single user cannot keep CPU and I/O devices busy at all times
 Multiprogramming organizes jobs (code and data) so CPU always has one
to execute
 A subset of total jobs in system is kept in memory
 One job selected and run via job scheduling
 When it has to wait (for I/O for example), OS switches to another job
 Timesharing (multitasking) is logical extension in which CPU switches jobs

so frequently that users can interact with each job while it is running, creating
interactive computing
 Response time should be < 1 second
 Each user has at least one program executing in memory process
 If several jobs ready to run at the same time  CPU 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
Memory Layout for Multiprogrammed System
Operating-System Operations
 Interrupt driven (hardware and software)
 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 include infinite loop, processes
modifying each other or the operating system
Operating-System Operations (cont.)
 Dual-mode operation allows OS to protect itself and other system

components
 User mode and kernel mode
 Mode bit provided by hardware
 Provides ability to distinguish when system is running user
code or kernel code
 Some instructions designated as privileged, only
executable in kernel mode
System call changes mode to kernel, return from call resets

it to user
 Increasingly CPUs support multi-mode operations
 i.e. virtual machine manager (VMM) mode for guest VMs
Transition from User to Kernel Mode
 Timer to prevent infinite loop / process hogging resources
 Timer is set to interrupt the computer after some time period
 Keep 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 control or terminate
program that exceeds allotted time
Performance of Various Levels of Storage
Movement between levels of storage hierarchy can be explicit or implicit
Migration of data “A” from Disk to Register
 Multitasking environments must be careful to use most recent

value, no matter where it is stored in the storage hierarchy
 Multiprocessor environment must provide cache coherency in

hardware such that all CPUs have the most recent value in their
cache
 Distributed environment situation even more complex
 Several copies of a datum can exist
 Various solutions covered in Chapter 17
I/O Subsystem
 One purpose of OS is to hide peculiarities of hardware devices
from the user
 I/O subsystem responsible for
 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)
 General device-driver interface
 Drivers for specific hardware devices
Kernel Data Structures
n Many similar to standard programming data structures

n Singly linked list
n Doubly linked list
n Circular linked list
Kernel Data Structures
 Binary search tree

left <= right
 Search performance is O(n)
 Balanced binary search tree is O(lg n)
End of Chapter 1
Operating System Concepts – 9th Edit9on Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne ©2013

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Chapter 1: Introduction

 A program that acts as an intermediary between a user of a

 Computer system can be divided into four components:

 Depends on the point of view

 No universally accepted definition

 Bootstrap program is loaded at power-up or reboot

 I/O devices and the CPU can execute concurrently

 Interrupt transfers control to the interrupt service routine

 The operating system preserves the state of the CPU by

 Storage systems organized in hierarchy

 Important principle, performed at many levels in a computer

 Used for high-speed I/O devices able to transmit

A von Neumann architecture

 Most systems use a single general-purpose processor

 Timesharing (multitasking) is logical extension in which CPU switches jobs

 Dual-mode operation allows OS to protect itself and other system

Movement between levels of storage hierarchy can be explicit or implicit

 Multitasking environments must be careful to use most recent

 Multiprocessor environment must provide cache coherency in

n Many similar to standard programming data structures

n Doubly linked list

n Circular linked list

 Binary search tree

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