What is Process Control Block (PCB)?
Process Control Block is a data structure that contains information of the
process related to it. The process control block is also known as a task control
block, entry of the process table, etc.
It is very important for process management as the data structuring for
processes is done in terms of the PCB. It also defines the current state of
the operating system.
Structure of the Process Control Block
The process control stores many data items that are needed for efficient process
management. Some of these data items are explained with the help of the given
diagram −
The following are the data items −
Process State
This specifies the process state i.e. new, ready, running, waiting or terminated.
Process Number
This shows the number of the particular process.
Program Counter
This contains the address of the next instruction that needs to be executed in
the process.
Registers
This specifies the registers that are used by the process. They may
include accumulators, index registers, stack pointers, general purpose
registers etc.
List of Open Files
These are the different files that are associated with the process
CPU Scheduling Information
The process priority, pointers to scheduling queues etc. is the CPU
scheduling information that is contained in the PCB. This may also include any
other scheduling parameters.
Memory Management Information
The memory management information includes the page tables or the segment
tables depending on the memory system used. It also contains the value of the
base registers, limit registers etc.
I/O Status Information
This information includes the list of I/O devices used by the process, the list of
files etc.
Accounting information
The time limits, account numbers, amount of CPU used, process numbers etc.
are all a part of the PCB accounting information.
Location of the Process Control Block
The process control block is kept in a memory area that is protected from the
normal user access. This is done because it contains important process
information. Some of the operating systems place the PCB at the beginning of
the kernel stack for the process as it is a safe location.
