Chapter 1 : OS

Introduction

what is an operating system?

a program that acts as an intermediary between computer
hardware and a computer user
they are designed to be efficient, convenient or both

what do operating systems do?

first, it is important to understand that computer system
consists of 4 basic components

1. hardware : CPU, memory, I/O devices etc which provide the

basic computing resources for the system

2. application programs : word processors, spreadsheets,

compilers, web browsers etc which define the ways in which
these computing resources will be used to solve user’s
computing problems

3. operating system : intermediary program which controls and

coordinates the use of computing hardware among various
applications and users

4. users : people, machines and other computers

the function of OS depends on the pov - whether it is user

view or system view

user view
ONE COMPUTER

most users want convenience, ease of use and good

performance

Chapter 1 : OS Introduction 1
 they don’t care about resource utilisation

SHARED COMPUTERS

user sitting at a terminal connected to a mainframe or a

minicomputer

sharing of resources or information exchange

here OS is designed to maximise resource utilisation

WORKSTATIONS

users sit at workstations connected to networks of other

workstations and servers

these users have dedicated resources at their disposal but

also share resources such as networking and servers

their OS is designed to compromise between individual

usability and resource utilisation

HANDHELD COMPUTERS

standalone units for individual users

their OS is designed mainly keeping in mind individual

usability and performance per unit battery life

EMBEDDED COMPUTERS

they have little or no user view like in automobiles or

home devices

their OS is designed to run without user intervention

system view

OS acts in two ways

1. resource allocator :
* system has many resources that can solve a problem
* OS acts as manager of these resources
* when there are conflicting requests for resources, OS
decides how to allocate them to specific programs and
users to ensure that computer system operates
efficiently and fairly

Chapter 1 : OS Introduction 2
 2. control program :
* manages the execution of user programs to prevent
errors and improper use of the computer
* especially concerned with the operation and control of
I/O devices

redefining OS

no universally accepted definition of OS

it is the one program that is running at all times on the

computer - called the kernel

NOTE : there are two other types of programs - SYSTEM PROGRAMS

(associated with OS but not part of kernel) and APPLICATION
PROGRAMS (not associated with OS)

computer system operation

BOOTSTRAP PROGRAM

what is bootstrap program

for a computer to start running, it is powered up or

rebooted and needs to have an initial program to run. this
is called a bootstrap program

where is it stored

it is stored in ROM or EEPROM (firmware) within the

computer hardware

what does it do?

it initialises all aspects of system

how does it do this?

must know how to load OS and how to start executing the

system

Chapter 1 : OS Introduction 3
 for this, bootstrap program must locate and load into
memory the OS kernel

OS will start executing first process, “init” and then

waits for some event to occur

INTERRUPT

occurrence of event is signalled by “interrupt” from either

hardware or software

hardware triggers interrupt to CPU by the way of system bus

software triggers interrupt by executing special operation

called system call/monitor call

what happens when CPU is interrupted

when CPU is interrupted, it stops what it is doing and

transfers execution to a fixed location

fixed location contains starting address where service

routine for interrupt is located

interrupt service routine executes

on completion, CPU resumes the interrupted computation

functions of interrupt

interrupt must transfer control to the appropriate

interrupt service routine

straightforward method: invoke a generic routine to

examine the interrupt information

routine would call interrupt specific handler

but interrupts have to be handled quickly and only a

predefined number of interrupts is possible

better method: use a table of pointers to interrupt

routines - provides speed

Chapter 1 : OS Introduction 4
 interrupt routine will be called indirectly through
table with no intermediate routine needed

table of pointers is stored in low memory

these locations store addresses of interrupt service

routines for various devices

this array or INTERRUPT VECTOR of addresses is

indexed by a unique device number given by interrupt
request to provide the address of the interrupt
service routine for the interrupting device

OPERATING SYSTEM STRUCTURE

OS provides environment within which programs are executed

ability to multiprogram

MULTIPROGRAMMING

single program cannot keep either the CPU or I/O devices

busy at all times

single users have multiple programs running

MULTIPROGRAMMING - increases CPU utilisation by organising

jobs so that CPU always has one to execute

OS keeps several jobs in memory simultaneously

main memory is too small to accommodate all jobs so jobs

are kept on the disk in the job pool

pool consists of all processes residing on the disk

awaiting allocation of main memory

set of jobs in memory can be a subset of jobs in job pool

OS picks and begins to execute one of the jobs in the

memory

Chapter 1 : OS Introduction 5
 job may have to wait for some task such as I/O operation to
complete

provide for effective resource utilisation but do not

provide for user interaction with computer system

time sharing/ multitasking - logical extension of

multiprogramming
CPU executes multiple jobs by switching among them but
switches occur so frequently that users can interact with
each program while it is running

time sharing requires hands on/ interactive computer system

for direct communication between user and system
user gives instructions to OS or program directly using
input device and waits for immediate result on output
device
response time should be short

time shared OS allows many users to share computer

simultaneously
each action or command is short - only little CPU time is
needed for each user
system switches rapidly from one user to next, each user is
given the impression that entire system is dedicated to his
use only

time shared OS uses CPU scheduling and multiprogramming to

provide each user with a small portion of time shared
computer

each user has at least 1 separate program in memory

PROCESS - program loaded into memory and executing

Chapter 1 : OS Introduction 6