Chapter 3: Processes

Operating System Concepts Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne ©2018

 Chapter 3: Processes

Process Concept
Process Scheduling

Operations on Processes
Inter-Process Communication (IPC)
IPC in Shared-Memory Systems

IPC in Message-Passing Systems

Examples of IPC Systems
Communication in Client-Server Systems

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 Objectives

Identify the separate components of a process and illustrate how they

are represented and scheduled in an operating system.
Describe how processes are created and terminated in an operating
system, including developing programs using the appropriate system
calls that perform these operations.
Describe and contrast inter-process communication using shared
memory and message passing.
Design programs that uses pipes and POSIX shared memory to
perform inter-process communication.
Describe client-server communication using sockets and remote
procedure calls.

Design kernel modules that interact with the Linux operating system.

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 Process Concept

An operating system executes a variety of programs that run as

processes
Process – a program in execution; process execution must progress
in sequential fashion
Multiple parts
The program code, also called text section

Current activity including program counter, and processor registers

Stack containing temporary data

 Function parameters, return addresses, local variables

Data section containing global variables

Heap containing memory dynamically allocated during run time

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 Process Concept (Cont.)

Program is passive entity stored on disk (e.g., executable file)

Process is active entity
Program becomes process when executable file loaded into memory

Execution of program started via GUI mouse clicks, command line

entry of its name, etc.
One program can be several processes
E.g., Consider multiple users executing the same program

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 Process in Memory

(memory limits of a process)

#size <pid>

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 Memory Layout of a C Program

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 Process State

As a process executes, it changes state

New – The process is being created

Running – Instructions are being executed

Waiting – The process is waiting for some event to occur

Ready – The process is waiting to be assigned to a processor

Terminated – The process has finished execution

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 Diagram of Process State

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 Process Control Block (PCB)

Process Control Block (PCB) – Information associated with

each process, also called Task Control Block (TCB), includes:
Process state – running, waiting, etc.

Process number – identity of the process

Program counter – location of instruction to next execute

CPU registers – contents of all process-centric registers

CPU scheduling info – priorities, scheduling queue pointers

Memory-management information – memory allocated to the

process

Accounting information – CPU used, clock time elapsed

since start, time limits

I/O status information – I/O devices allocated to process, list of

open files

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 Threads

So far, process has a single thread of execution

Consider having multiple program counters per process
Multiple locations can execute at once
 Multiple threads of control –> threads

Must then have storage for thread details

Multiple program counters in PCB

(Explore in detail in Chapter 4)

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 Process Representation in Linux

Represented by the C structure task_struct

pid t_pid; /* process identifier */
long state; /* state of the process */
unsigned int time_slice /* scheduling information */
struct task_struct *parent; /* this process’s parent */
struct list_head children; /* this process’s children */
struct files_struct *files; /* list of open files */
struct mm_struct *mm; /* address space of this process */

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 Process Scheduling

Maximize CPU use ⇢ quickly switch processes onto CPU core

Process scheduler selects among available (ready) processes for
next execution on CPU core

Maintains scheduling queues of processes

Ready queue – set of all processes residing in main memory, ready and
waiting to execute

Wait queues – set of processes waiting for an event (e.g., I/O)

Processes migrate among the various queues

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 Ready and Wait Queues

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 Representation of Process Scheduling

new process

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 CPU Switch from Process to Process

A context switch
occurs when the
CPU switches
from one process
to another.

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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
via a context switch
Context of a process represented in the PCB
Context-switch time is overhead, the system does no useful work
while switching
The more complex the OS and the PCB, the longer the context switch

Time dependent on hardware support

Some hardware provides multiple sets of registers per CPU, multiple
contexts loaded at once

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 Multitasking in Mobile Systems

Some mobile systems (e.g., early version of iOS) allow only one
process to run, others suspended
Due to screen real estate, user interface limits iOS provides for a
Single foreground process – controlled via user interface

Multiple background processes – in memory, running, but not on the

display, and with limits

Limits include single, short task, receiving notification of events, specific

long-running tasks like audio playback

Android runs foreground and background, with fewer limits

Background process uses a service to perform tasks

Service can keep running even if background process is suspended

Service has no user interface, small memory use

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 Operations on Processes

System must provide mechanisms for:

process creation

process termination

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 Process Creation

Parent process create children processes, which, in turn create other

processes, forming a tree of processes
Process identified and managed via a Process Identifier (pid)

Resource sharing options

Parent and children share all resources

Children share subset of parent’s resources

Parent and child share no resources

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 Process Creation (Cont.)

Execution options
Parent and children execute concurrently

Parent waits until children terminate

Address space
Child duplicate of parent

Child has a program loaded into it

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 A Tree of Processes in Linux

#pstree

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 Process Creation (Cont.)

UNIX examples
fork() system call creates new process

exec() system call used after a fork() to replace the process’

memory space with a new program

Parent process calls wait() waiting for the child to terminate

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 C Program Forking A Separate Process

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 Creating a Separate Process via Windows API

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 Process Termination

Process executes last statement and then asks the operating system
to delete it using the exit() system call.
Returns status data from child to parent (via wait())

Process’resources are deallocated by operating system

Parent may terminate the execution of children processes using the

abort() system call. Some reasons for doing so:
Child has exceeded allocated resources

Task assigned to child is no longer required

The parent is exiting and the operating systems does not allow a child to
continue if its parent terminates

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 Process Termination (Cont.)

Some operating systems do not allow child to exists if its parent has
terminated. If a process terminates, then all its children must also be
terminated.
Cascading termination: All children, grandchildren, etc. are terminated

The termination is initiated by the operating system

The parent process may wait for termination of a child process by

using the wait() system call. The call returns status information
and the pid of the terminated process
pid = wait(&status);

If no parent waiting (did not invoke wait()), process is a zombie

If parent terminated without invoking wait(), process is an orphan

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 Importance Hierarchy of Android Process

Mobile operating systems often have to terminate processes to

reclaim system resources such as memory. From most to least
important:
▲ Foreground process

▲ Visible process

▲ Service process

▲ Background process

▲ Empty process

Android will begin terminating processes that are least important.

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 Multiprocess Architecture – Chrome Browser

Many web browsers ran as a single process (some still do)

If one web site causes trouble, entire browser can hang or crash

Google Chrome Browser is multiprocess with 3 different types of

processes:
Browser process manages user interface, disk and network I/O

Renderer process renders web pages, deals with HTML, JavaScript. A

new renderer created for each website opened
 Runs in sandbox restricting disk and network I/O, minimizing effect of security
exploits

Plug-in process for each type of plug-in

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 Inter-Process Communication (IPC)

Processes within a system may be independent or cooperating

Independent process does not share data with any other processes
executing in the system

Cooperating process can affect or be affected by other processes,

including sharing data

Reasons for cooperating processes:

Information sharing

Computation speed-up

Modularity

Convenience

Cooperating processes need Inter-Process communication (IPC)

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 Communication Models

Two models of IPC

Shared memory Message passing
Shared memory

Message passing

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 Inter-Process Communication – Shared Memory

An area of memory shared among the processes that wish to

communicate
The communication is under the control of the users processes, not
the operating system.
Major issues is to provide mechanism that will allow the user
processes to synchronize their actions when they access shared
memory.

(Synchronization is discussed in great details in Chapters 6 & 7)

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 Producer-Consumer Problem

Producer-Consumer relationship
Paradigm for cooperating processes, producer process produces
information that is consumed by a consumer process
unbounded-buffer places no practical limit on the size of the buffer

bounded-buffer assumes that there is a fixed buffer size

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 Bounded-Buffer – Shared-Memory Solution

Shared data
#define BUFFER_SIZE 10

typedef struct {

. . .

} item;

item buffer[BUFFER_SIZE];

int in = 0;

int out = 0;

Solution is correct, but can only use BUFFER_SIZE-1 elements

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 Producer Process – Shared Memory

item next_produced;

while (true) {
/* produce an item in next produced */
while (((in + 1) % BUFFER_SIZE) == out)
; /* do nothing */
buffer[in] = next_produced;
in = (in + 1) % BUFFER_SIZE;

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 Consumer Process – Shared Memory

item next_consumed;

while (true) {
while (in == out)
; /* do nothing */
next_consumed = buffer[out];
out = (out + 1) % BUFFER_SIZE;

/* consume the item in next consumed */

}

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 Inter-Process Communication – Message Passing

Mechanism for processes to communicate and to synchronize their

actions
Message system – processes communicate with each other without
resorting to shared variables
IPC facility provides two operations:
send(message)

receive(message)

The message size is either fixed or variable

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 Message Passing (Cont.)

If processes P and Q wish to communicate, they need to:

Establish a communication link between them

Exchange messages via send/receive

Implementation issues:
How are links established?

Can a link be associated with more than two processes?

How many links can there be between every pair of communicating

processes?

What is the capacity of a link?

Is the size of a message that the link can accommodate fixed or variable?

Is a link unidirectional or bi-directional?

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 Message Passing (Cont.)

Implementation of communication link

Physical
 Shared memory

 Hardware bus

 Network equipment

Logical
 Direct or indirect

 Synchronous or asynchronous

 Automatic or explicit buffering

 Network protocols

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 Direct Communication

Processes must name each other explicitly:

send (P, message) – send a message to process P

receive(Q, message) – receive a message from process Q

Properties of communication link

Links are established automatically

A link is associated with exactly one pair of communicating processes

Between each pair there exists exactly one link

The link may be unidirectional, but is usually bi-directional

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 Indirect Communication

Messages are directed and received from mailboxes (also referred to

as ports)
Each mailbox has a unique ID

Processes can communicate only if they share a mailbox

Properties of communication link

Link established only if processes share a common mailbox

A link may be associated with many processes

Each pair of processes may share several communication links

Link may be unidirectional or bi-directional

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 Indirect Communication (Cont.)

Operations
create a new mailbox (or port)

send and receive messages through mailbox

destroy a mailbox

Primitives are defined as:

send(A, message) – send a message to mailbox A

receive(A, message) – receive a message from mailbox A

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 Indirect Communication (Cont.)

Mailbox sharing
Example
 P1, P2, and P3 share mailbox A,

 P1 sends; P2 and P3 receive.

 Who gets the message?

Solutions
 Allow a link to be associated with at most two processes

 Allow only one process at a time to execute a receive operation

 Allow the system to select arbitrarily the receiver. Sender is notified who the
receiver was

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 Message Passing – Synchronization

Message passing may be either blocking or non-blocking

Blocking is considered synchronous
Blocking send – the sender is blocked until the message is received

Blocking receive – the receiver is blocked until a message is available

Non-blocking is considered asynchronous

Non-blocking send – the sender sends the message and continue

Non-blocking receive – the receiver receives:

 A valid message, or Null message

Different combinations possible

If both send and receive are blocking, we have a rendezvous

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 Producer – Message Passing

message next_produced;

while (true) {
/* produce an item in next_produced */

send(next_produced);
}

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 Consumer – Message Passing

message next_consumed;

while (true) {
receive(next_consumed)

/* consume the item in next_consumed */

}

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 Buffering

Queue of messages attached to the link.

Implemented in one of three ways
Zero capacity – no messages are queued on a link
 Sender must wait for receiver (rendezvous)

Bounded capacity – finite length of n messages

 Sender must wait if link full

Unbounded capacity – infinite length

 Sender never waits

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 Examples of IPC Systems - POSIX

POSIX Shared Memory

Process first creates shared memory segment

shm_fd = shm_open(name, O CREAT | O RDWR, 0666);

Also used to open an existing segment

Set the size of the object

ftruncate(shm_fd, 4096);

Use mmap() to memory-map a file pointer to the shared memory object

Reading and writing to shared memory is done by using the pointer

returned by mmap().

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 IPC POSIX Producer – Consumer

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 Examples of IPC Systems - Mach

Mach communication is message based

Even system calls are messages

Each task gets two ports at creation – Task Self port and Notify port

Messages are sent and received using the mach_msg() function

Ports needed for communication, created via mach_port_allocate()

Send and receive are flexible, for example four options if mailbox full:
 Wait indefinitely

 Wait at most n milliseconds

 Return immediately

 Temporarily cache a message

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 Mach Messages

#include<mach/mach.h>

struct message {
mach_msg_header_t header;
int data;
};

mach port t client;

mach port t server;

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 Mach Message Passing - Client

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 Mach Message Passing - Server

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 Examples of IPC Systems – Windows

Message-passing centric via advanced Local Procedure Call (LPC)

facility
Only works between processes on the same system

Uses ports (like mailboxes) to establish and maintain communication

channels

Communication works as follows:

 The client opens a handle to the subsystem’s connection port object

 The client sends a connection request

 The server creates two private communication ports and returns the handle to
one of them to the client

 The client and server use the corresponding port handle to send messages or
callbacks and to listen for replies

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 Local Procedure Calls in Windows

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 Pipes

Acts as a conduit allowing two processes to communicate

Issues:
Is communication unidirectional or bidirectional?

In the case of two-way communication, is it half or full-duplex?

Must there exist a relationship (e.g., parent-child) between the

communicating processes?

Can the pipes be used over a network?

Ordinary pipes – cannot be accessed from outside the process that

created it. Typically, a parent process creates a pipe and uses it to
communicate with a child process that it created.
Named pipes – can be accessed without a parent-child relationship.

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 Ordinary Pipes

Ordinary Pipes allow communication in standard producer-consumer

style
Producer writes to one end (the write-end of the pipe)

Consumer reads from the other end (the read-end of the pipe)

Ordinary pipes are therefore unidirectional

Require parent-child relationship between communicating processes

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 Named Pipes

Named pipes are more powerful than ordinary pipes

Communication is bidirectional

No parent-child relationship is necessary between the communicating

processes
Several processes can use the named pipe for communication
Provided on both UNIX and Windows systems

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 Communications in Client-Server Systems

Sockets
A socket is defined as an endpoint for communication

It is a concatenation of IP address and port – a number included at start

of message packet to differentiate network services on a host
 E.g., The socket 161.25.19.8:1625 refers to port 1625 on host 161.25.19.8

Communication consists between a pair of sockets

All ports below 1024 are well known, used for standard services

Special IP address 127.0.0.1 (loopback) to refer to system on which

process is running

Remote Procedure Calls (RPC)

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 Socket Communication

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 Sockets in Java – Server

Three types of sockets

Connection-oriented
(TCP)

Connectionless
(UDP)

MulticastSocket
class– data can be
sent to multiple
recipients

Consider this “Date”

server in Java:

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 Sockets in Java – Client

The equivalent
“Date” client

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 Remote Procedure Calls

Remote Procedure Call (RPC) abstracts procedure calls between

processes on networked systems
Again uses ports for service differentiation

Stubs – proxies for the actual procedure on the server and client
sides
The client-side stub locates the server and marshals the parameters

The server-side stub receives this message, unpacks the marshalled

parameters, and performs the procedure on the server

On Windows, stub code compile from specification written in

Microsoft Interface Definition Language (MIDL)

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 Remote Procedure Calls (Cont.)

Data representation handled via External Data Representation

(XDR) format to account for different architectures
E.g., Big-endian (Motorola) and little-endian (Intel x86)

Remote communication has more failure scenarios than local

Messages can be delivered exactly once rather than at most once

OS typically provides a rendezvous (or matchmaker) service to

connect client and server

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 Execution of RPC

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 Summary

A process is a program in execution, and the status of the current

activity of a process is represented by the program counter, as well
as other registers.
The layout of a process in memory is represented by four different
sections: (1) text, (2) data, (3) heap, and (4) stack.
As a process executes, it changes state. There are four general
states of a process: (1) ready, (2) running, (3) waiting, and (4)
terminated.
A process control block (PCB) is the kernel data structure that
represents a process in an operating system.
The role of the process scheduler is to select an available process
to run on a CPU.

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 Summary (Cont.)

An operating system performs a context switch when it switches

from running one process to running another.
The fork() and CreateProcess() system calls are used to
create processes on UNIX and Windows systems, respectively.
When shared memory is used for communication between
processes, two (or more) processes share the same region of
memory. POSIX provides an API for shared memory.
Two processes may communicate by exchanging messages with one
another using message passing. The Mach operating system uses
message passing as its primary form of inter-process communication.
Windows provides a form of message passing as well.

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 Summary (Cont.)

A pipe provides a conduit for two processes to communicate. There

are two forms of pipes, ordinary and named. Ordinary pipes are
designed for communication between processes that have a parent-
child relationship. Named pipes are more general and allow several
processes to communicate.
UNIX systems provide ordinary pipes through the pipe() system
call. Ordinary pipes have a read end and a write end. A parent
process can, for example, send data to the pipe using its write end,
and the child process can read it from its read end. Named pipes in
UNIX are termed FIFOs.

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 Summary (Cont.)

Windows systems also provide two forms of pipes—anonymous and

named pipes. Anonymous pipes are similar to UNIX ordinary pipes.
They are unidirectional and employ parent-child relationships
between the communicating processes. Named pipes offer a richer
form of inter-process communication than the UNIX counterpart,
FIFOs.
Two common forms of client-server communication are sockets
and remote procedure calls (RPCs). Sockets allow two processes on
different machines to communicate over a network. RPCs abstract
the concept of function (procedure) calls in such a way that a function
can be invoked on another process that may reside on a separate
computer.

The Android operating system uses RPCs as a form of inter-process

communication using its binder framework.

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 End of Chapter 3

Operating System Concepts Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne ©2018