Operating Systems

Process Scheduling
and Switching
 Processor Scheduling
• Maximize CPU use, quickly switch processes onto
CPU for time sharing.
• Process scheduler selects among available processes
for next execution on CPU.
• Maintains scheduling queues of processes:
– Job queue – set of all processes in the system.
– Ready queue – set of all processes residing in main memory,
ready and waiting to execute.
– Device queues – set of processes waiting for an I/O device.
• Processes migrate among the various queues.
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 Types of Schedulers

1. Long-term scheduler (jobs scheduler) –

selects which programs/processes should be
brought into the ready queue.
2. Medium-term scheduler (emergency
scheduler) – selects which job/process should
be swapped out if system is loaded.
3. Short-term scheduler (CPU scheduler) –
selects which process should be executed next
and allocates CPU.
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 Long-Term Scheduling

• Determines which programs are admitted to the

system for processing.
• Controls the degree of multiprogramming.
• If more processes are admitted:
– less likely that all processes will be blocked –
better CPU usage.
– each process has less fraction of the CPU.
• Long-term scheduler strives for good process
mix.
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 Short-Term Scheduling

• Determines which process is going to execute next

(also called CPU scheduling).
• The short term scheduler is also known as the
dispatcher (which is part of it).
• Is invoked on a event that may lead to choose
another process for execution:
– clock interrupts
– I/O interrupts
– operating system calls and traps
5 – signals
 Long/Short-Term Scheduling

Short-
term

Long-
term

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 Aspects of Schedulers
• Long-term scheduler is invoked very infrequently
(seconds, minutes)  (may be slow).
• The long-term scheduler controls the degree of
multiprogramming.
• Short-term scheduler is invoked very frequently
(milliseconds)  (must be fast).
• Processes can be described as either:
– I/O-bound process – spends more time doing I/O than
computations, many short CPU bursts.
– CPU-bound process – spends more time doing
computations; few very long CPU bursts.
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 Medium-Term Scheduling
• So far, all processes have to be (at least partly)
in main memory.
• Even with virtual memory, keeping too many
processes in main memory will deteriorate the
system’s performance.
• The OS may need to swap out some processes
to disk, and then later swap them back in.
• Swapping decisions based on the need to
manage multiprogramming.
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 Schematic View of Swapping

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 Dynamics of Swapping
• A process can be swapped temporarily out of memory to a
backing store, and then brought back into memory for
continued execution
• Backing store – fast disk large enough to accommodate copies
of all memory images for all users; must provide direct access
to these memory images.
• Roll out, roll in – swapping variant used for priority-based
scheduling algorithms; lower-priority process is swapped out so
higher-priority process can be loaded and executed.
• Major part of swap time is transfer time; total transfer time is
directly proportional to the amount of memory swapped.
• Modified versions of swapping are found on many systems (i.e.,
UNIX, Linux, and Windows).
• System maintains a ready queue of ready-to-run processes
which have memory images on disk
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 Swapping Example

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 Addition of Medium Term Scheduling

Medium-
term

Short-
term
Long-
term

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 Support for Swapping

• The OS may need to suspend some processes,

i.e., to swap them out to disk and then swap
them back in.
• We add 2 new states:
– Blocked Suspend: blocked processes which have
been swapped out to disk.
– Ready Suspend: ready processes which have been
swapped out to disk.

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 A Seven-state Process Model

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 New state transitions
• Blocked –> Blocked Suspend
– When all processes are blocked, the OS will make room to
bring a ready process in memory.
• Blocked Suspend –> Ready Suspend
– When the event for which it has been waiting occurs
(state info is available to OS).
• Ready Suspend –> Ready
– when no more ready processes in main memory.
• Ready –> Ready Suspend (unlikely)
– When there are no blocked processes and must free
memory for adequate performance.

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 Classification of Scheduling Activity

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 Another view of the 3 levels of scheduling

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 Queuing Diagram for Scheduling

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 Dispatcher (short-term scheduler)
• Is an OS program that moves the processor
from one process to another.
• It prevents a single process from monopolizing
processor time.
• It decides who goes next according to a
scheduling algorithm.
• The CPU will always execute instructions from
the dispatcher while switching from process A
to process B.
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 Process Scheduling Queues
• Process queue – set of all processes in the
system.
• Ready queue – set of processes residing in
main memory, ready and waiting to execute.
• Device queues – set of processes waiting for
an I/O device.
• Processes migrate among the various queues.

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 A Queuing Discipline

• When event n occurs, the corresponding process is

moved into the ready queue

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 Ready Queue and various I/O Device Queues

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 Process Switch

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 When to Switch a Process?
• A process switch may occur whenever the OS
has gained control of CPU. i.e., when:
– Supervisor Call
• explicit request by the program (example: file open) –
the process will probably be blocked.
– Trap
• an error resulted from the last instruction –
it may cause the process to be moved to terminated state.
– Interrupt
• the cause is external to the execution of the current
instruction – control is transferred to Interrupt Handler.
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 Reasons for Process Switch

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 Context Switch

• When CPU switches to another process, the

system must save the state of the old process
and load the saved state for the new process.
• This is called context switch.
• Context of a process represented in the PCB.
• The time it takes is dependent on hardware
support.
• Context-switch time is overhead; the system
does no useful work while switching.
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 Context switch between processes (1)

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 Context switch between processes (2)

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 Steps in Context Switch
• Save context of processor including program counter
and other registers.
• Update the PCB of the running process with its new
state and other associate information.
• Move PCB to appropriate queue – ready, blocked,
• Select another process for execution.
• Update PCB of the selected process.
• Restore CPU context from that of the selected process.

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 Example of Context Switch
p1 p2 p3 kernel I/O
}
scheduler
I/O request

device driver {
} scheduler

Time slice exceeded

} schedulerInterrupt
{
device driver
} scheduler
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 Mode Switch
• It may happen that an interrupt does not produce a
context switch.
• The control can just return to the interrupted program.
• Then only the processor state information needs to be
saved on stack.
• This is called mode switch (user to kernel mode when
going into Interrupt Handler).
• Less overhead: no need to update the PCB like for
context switch.

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