Process Description And Control

Published: May 17, 2019

Last updated: May 17, 2019

Objectives

How are processes represented and controlled by the OS
Process states which characterize the behaviour of processes
Data structures used to manage processes
Ways in which the OS uses these data structures to control process execution

Operating System

Program that controls the execution of application programs.

Interface between applications and hardware.
Frequently relinquishes control and must depend on the processor to allow it to regain control – events driven

System Calls

Typically high-level language (C or C++)
Access of programs through API rather than direct system call use
3 common APIs are Win32, POSIX and Java API for JVM

Types of system calls

Process control
File management
Device management
Information maintenance
Communications

Key elements of an OS

Service call Handler (<- service call to process)
Interrupt Handler (<- interrupt from Process/IO)
Short-Term Scheduler (-> Pass Control to Process)
Long-Term, Short-Term and I/O Queues

System Call Implementation

Typically a number associated with each sys call - sys-call interface maintains table indexed accordingly
Call invoked by interface in OS kernel and returns status of the system call and any return values
Caller need no nothing about implementation of call

Shell Strategy

Read keyboard
Shell Process
Fork a process
Process to execute command
f3 read file

Process

Fundamental to the structure of operating systems

A process can be defined as:

A program in execution
An instance of a running program
The entity that can be assigned to, and executed on, a processor
Unit of activity characterized by a single sequential thread of execution, a current state and an associated set of system resources

Uniprogramming

Processor must wait for I/O instruction to complete before proceeding.

Multiprogramming

When one job needs to wait for I/O, the processor can switch to the other job.

Time Sharing Systems

Using multiprogramming to handle multiple interactive jobs
Multiple users simultaneously access system through terminal
Processor's time shared among multiple users
Timesharing (multitasking): CPU switches jobs so frequently that users can interact with each job while it is running, creating interactive computing - Response time < 1s - Each user has at least one program executing in memory -> process - If several jobs ready to run at the same time -> CPU Scheduling - To ensure orderly execution -> Synchronization and Communication - Virtual memory allows execution of processes not completely in memory - Also need mechanisms for Security and Protection

Process Management

The fundamental task
OS must... - Allocate resources to processes and protect the resources of each process from others - Interleave the execution of multiple processes - Enable proc. to share and exchange info - Enable sync. among processes

Process elements

Process can be uniquely charactized by a number of attributes:

Identifier
State
Priority
Program counter
Memory pointers
Context data
I/O status info
Accounting info

Process control block

Most important Data Structure in the OS

Process Tables

OS tables must be linked or cross-referenced.

Process Execution

Dispatcher is a small program which switches the processor from one process to another

Modes of Execution

User mode
- Less priviledge
- User programs typically execute in this mode
System (or kernel mode)
- More priviledges
- Kernel of the OS

Two-State Process Model

State of a process may be defined by the current activity of that process - Used to describe the behaviour that we would like each process to exhibit
Process may be running or not-running
Think of the queuing diagram

Five-State Process Model

Uses two queues 1. Admit 2. Ready Queue -> Dispatch 3. Process [-> release, -> timeout, -> event wait] 4. (if event wait ->) Blocked queue -> Event Occurs 5. (if release ->) exit

Multiple Blocked Queues

Multiple events queues - Event # wait -> Event # queue -> event # occurs

Switching Processes

What events trigger a process switch?
What must the OS do to the various data structures under its control to achieve a process switch?

When to switch

A process switch may occur any time that the OS has gained control from the currently running process. Possible events giving OS control are:

Mechanism	Cause	Use
Interrupt	External to exec of current instruction	Reaction to an asynchronous external event
Trap	Associated with exec of current instruction	Handling of an error or an exception condition
Supervisor call	Explicit request	Call to an operating system function

System Interrupts

Interrupt

Due to some sort of event external and independent of current running process - clock interrupt - I/O interrupt
Time slice - the max amount of time that a process can execute before being interrupted

Trap

An error or exception condition generated within the currently running process
OS determines if the condition is fatal - moved to the Exit state and a process switch occurs - action will depend on the nature of the error

Change of process state

Save context of processor
Update process control block (PCB) of the process currently in running state
Move PCB of process to appropraite queue
Select another process to exec
Update PCB of process selected
Update mem management data structures
Restore context of processor to that which existed at the time the selected process was last switched out

Process Creation

Once the OS decides to create a new process:

Assigned a unique process identifier to the new process
Allocates space for the process
Initializes the process control block
Sets the appropriate linkages
Creates or expands other data structures

Traditionally, OS created all processes - but it can be useful to let a running process create another

Known as process spawning - parent process is the original, creating process - child process is the new process
Parent process create children processes, which, in turn create other processes, forming a tree of processes
Generally process identified and managed via a process identifier pid
Resource sharing - Parent and child share resources - Child shares subset of parent's resource - Parent and child share no resources
Execution - Parent and children execute concurrently - Parent waits until children terminate

UNIX Process Creation

Process creation is by means of the kernel system call fork()

This causes the OS in Kernel Mode to do the following:

Allocate a slot in the process table for the new process.
Assign a unique process ID to the child process.
Copy of process image of the parent, with the exception of any shared memory.
Increment the counters for any files owned by the parent, to reflect that an additional process now also owns those files.
Assign the child process to the Ready state.
Returns the ID number of the child to the parent process, and a 0 value to the child process.

Post creation, the Kernel can do one of the following as part of the dispatcher routine:

Stay in the parent process
Transfer control to child
Transfer control to another process

int main() {
    pid_t pid;
    /* fork another process */
    pid = fork();

    if (pid < 0) { /* error occurred */
        fprintf(stderr, "Fork Failed");
        exit(-1);
    } else if (pid == 0) {
        /* child process */
        execlp("/bin/ls", "ls", NULL);
    } else {
        /* parent process */
        /* parent will wait for the child to complete */
        wait (NULL);
        printf ("Child Complete");
        exit(0);
    }
}

Process Termination

There must be some way that a process can indicate completion.

This indication may be:

A HALT instruction generating an interrupt alert to the OS.
A user action (e.g. log off, quitting an application)
A fault or error
Parent process terminating

Security Issues

An OS associates a set of priviledges with each process.

A key security issue in the design of any OS is to prevent anything (user or process) from gaining unauthorized priviledges on the system.

Summary

-The principal function of the OS is to create, manage, and terminate processes

The most fundamental concept in a modern OS is the process
Process control block contains all of the information that is required for the OS to manage the process, including its current state, resources allocated to it, priority, and other relevant data
The most important states are Ready, Running and Blocked – The running process is the one that is currently being executed by the processor – A blocked process is waiting for the completion of some event – A running process is interrupted either by an interrupt or by executing a supervisor call to the OS

Dennis O'Keeffe

@dennisokeeffe92

Melbourne, Australia

Hi, I am a professional Software Engineer. Formerly of Culture Amp, UsabilityHub, Present Company and NightGuru.

I am currently working on Visibuild.

Process Description And Control

Introduction

Process Description And Control

Objectives

Operating System

System Calls

Types of system calls

Key elements of an OS

System Call Implementation

Shell Strategy

Process

Uniprogramming

Multiprogramming

Time Sharing Systems

Process Management

Process elements

Process control block

Process Tables

Process Execution

Modes of Execution

Two-State Process Model

Five-State Process Model

Multiple Blocked Queues

Switching Processes

When to switch

System Interrupts

Interrupt

Trap

Change of process state

Process Creation

UNIX Process Creation

Process Termination

Security Issues

Summary

Dennis O'Keeffe

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