Chapter 1

Introduction
What is an Operating System?
• An operating system is a program that manages a
computer’s hardware.
• It also provides a basis for application programs and
acts as an intermediary between the computer user and
the computer hardware.
• As a manager, the operating system has two basic
functions:
 OS oversees all hardware resources and allocates
them to user and applications as needed.
 Performs many low-level tasks on behalf of users
and application programs.
 Types of OS
1. Mainframe Operating Systems: The operating systems for mainframes are
heavily oriented toward processing many jobs at once, most of which need
prodigious amounts of I/O. (e.g., OS/390).
2. Server Operating Systems: They run on servers, and allow the users to
share H/W and S/W resources. (e.g., Windows server).
3. Multiprocessor Operating Systems
4. Personal Computer Operating Systems
5. Handheld Computer Operating Systems
6. Embedded Operating Systems: run on the computers that control devices
that are not generally thought of as computers and which do not accept user-
installed software. Typical examples are microwave ovens and TV sets.
7. Sensor Node Operating Systems.
8. Real-Time Operating Systems.
9. Smart Card Operating Systems: The smallest operating systems run on
smart cards, which are credit card sized devices containing a CPU chip
The Modern Computer System

A computer system consists of hardware, system programs,

and application programs.
 Basic Elements of Computer System
• Four main structural elements:
1. Processor: Controls the operation of the computer and performs its data
processing functions. Often referred as CPU.
2. Main memory: Stores data and programs.
 Volatile: when the computer shut down, contents are lost.
 Real memory or primary memory.
3. I/O modules: Move data between computer and its external environment (e.g.,
disks).
4. System bus: Provides for communication among processors, main memory and
I/O modules.
 Memory Address Register (MAR): specifies the address in memory for the
next read or write.
 Memory Buffer Register (MBR): Contain the data to be written into or read
from memory.
 I/O Address Register (I/O AR): Specifies particular I/O device.
 I/O Buffer Register (I/O BR): used for exchange of data between I/O module
and the processor.
 Computer System Components
1. Hardware – provides basic computing resources (CPU, memory,
I/O devices).
2. Operating system – controls and coordinates the use of the hardware
among the various application programs for the various users.
3. Applications programs – define the ways in which the system
resources are used to solve the computing problems of the users
(compilers, database systems, video games, business programs).
4. Users (people, machines, other computers).
 Computer-System Operation
 When computer run it needs to have an initial program to run.
 This bootstrap program, is stored within the computer
hardware in read-only memory (ROM) or electrically erasable
programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), known by the
general term firmware.
 It initializes all aspects of the system, from CPU registers to
device controllers to memory contents.
 The bootstrap program must locate the operating-system
kernel and load it into memory.
 Once the kernel is loaded and executing, it can start providing
services to the system and its users.
 Once this phase is complete, the system is fully booted, and
the system waits for some event to occur.
 Interrupts
• If there are no processes to execute, no I/O devices to
service, and no users to whom to respond, an operating
system will sit quietly, waiting for something to happen.
• Events are almost always signaled by the occurrence of an
interrupt or a trap.
• A trap (or an exception) is a software-generated interrupt
caused either by an error (for example, division by zero or
invalid memory access) or by a specific request from a user
program that an operating-system service be performed.
• The occurrence of an event is usually signaled by an
interrupt from either the hardware or the software.
• Hardware may trigger an interrupt at any time by sending a
signal to the CPU, usually by way of the system bus.
 Interrupts
 Software may trigger an interrupt by executing a special
operation called a system call.
 When the CPU is interrupted, it stops what it is doing and
immediately transfers execution to a fixed location. The
fixed location (interrupt vector) usually contains the
starting address where the service routine for the
interrupt is located.
 The interrupt service routine executes; on completion, the
CPU resumes the interrupted computation.
 Interrupt architecture must save the address of the
interrupted Instruction.
 Thus, operating system is interrupt driven!
 Storage Structure
 Main memory – only large storage media that the CPU can
access directly. It is Random access and volatile!

 Secondary storage – extension of main memory that provides

large nonvolatile storage capacity.

 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.
 Storage Hierarchy
 The main differences among the various storage systems
lie in speed, cost, size, and volatility.

 The wide variety of storage systems can be organized in a

hierarchy (Figure) according to speed and cost.

 The higher levels are expensive, but they are fast.

 As we move down the hierarchy, the cost per bit generally

decreases, whereas the access time generally increases.
Storage-device hierarchy.
 Caching
• Caching is an important principle of computer systems.
• 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.
• Because caches have limited size, cache management is an
important design problem.
 OS Concepts- Processes
 Process is a running program, for each process there is address
space, which is a list of memory locations. Also, associated
with each process is a set of resources.

 A process is fundamentally a container that holds all the

information needed to run a program.

 Example: video editing program to convert a one-hour video to

a certain format

 Gone off to surf the Web. Meanwhile, a Background process

that wakes up periodically to check for incoming e-mail may
have started running.
 OS Concepts- Processes
 Three active processes: the video editor, the Web browser, and the
e-mail receiver.

 Periodically, the operating system decides to stop running one

process and start running another; for example, because the first
one has used up more than its share of CPU time in the past second.

 When a process is suspended temporarily, it must later be restarted

in exactly the same state it had when it was stopped.

 This means that all information about the process must be explicitly
saved somewhere during the suspension.
 OS Concepts- Processes
 For example, the process may have several files open for
reading at once.

 Associated with each of these files is a pointer giving the

current position (i.e., the number of the byte or record to be
read next). When a process is temporarily suspended, all
these pointers must be saved so that a read call executed after
the process is restarted will read the proper data.

 In many operating systems, all the information about each

process, other than the contents of its own address space, is
stored in an operating system table called the process table.
 OS Concepts- Processes

 A process tree. Process A created two child processes, B and C.

Process B created three child processes, D, E, and F.
 Address Space
 Each computer has RAM to store executing programs.
 In a very simple OS, only one program at a time is in
memory.
 More sophisticated OS allow multiple programs to be in
RAM.
 A multiprogramming system with three jobs in memory.
 Operating System Structure
 Six different structures of OS that have been tried.
 Monolithic Systems, Layered Systems, Microkernels, Client-
Server Model, Virtual Machines, Exokernels.
 Multiprogramming 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.
 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.
Layered Systems

A simple structuring model