OPERATING SYSTEMS

(CS C372 & IS C362) (CS C372 & IS C362)

LECTURE 3: SYSTEM CALLS
General-System Architecture
Wh e need protection? Why we need protection?
In single task / programming environment
To protect OS fromincorrect program To protect OS from incorrect program
In multiprogramming / multitasking environment
To protect OS and other programs fromincorrect program To protect OS and other programs from incorrect program
Given the I/O instructions are privileged how Given the I/O instructions are privileged, how
does the user program perform I/O?
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Use of A System Call to Perform I/O
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How to communicate ?
How to communicate between two modes?
System calls have always been the means through
hi h k l i which user space programs can access kernel services.
(Typically written in a high-level language (C or C++)
System call is the only legal entry point to the kernel.
System call provides an abstract hardware interface for
user space
Application need not worry about type of disk, media and file Application need not worry about type of disk, media and file
system in use
System call ensures system stability and security.
Kernel can keep track of applications activity Kernel can keep track of applications activity
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System Calls
System call the method used by a process
to request action by the operating system. q y p g y
Usually takes the form of a trap to a specific
location in the interrupt vector.
Control passes through the interrupt vector to a
service routine in the OS, and the mode bit is set
to monitor mode to monitor mode.
The monitor mode verifies that the parameters are
correct and legal executes the request and correct and legal, executes the request, and
returns control to the instruction following the
system call.
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System Call
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System Calls
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System calls
System calls provide the interface between a running
program and the operating system.
It is the mechanismused by an application programto It is the mechanism used by an application program to
request service from the operating system.
Often use a special machine code instruction (i.e.
software interrupt) which causes the processor to software interrupt) which causes the processor to
transfer control to kernel code (change mode from user
mode to "supervisor mode").
The process fills the registers with the appropriate values The process fills the registers with the appropriate values
and calls a special instruction which jumps to a
previously defined location in the kernel
The destination location (in kernel) is readable by user The destination location (in kernel) is readable by user
processes, it is not writable by them.
Under Intel CPUs, this is done by means of interrupt
0 80 0x80.
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System Call
0x80 triggers a switch to kernel mode and the 0x80 triggers a switch to kernel mode and the
execution of exception vector 128 (system call
handler)
The location in the kernel a process can jump to is The location in the kernel a process can jump to is
System call handler function called
ENTRY(system_call).
ENTRY(system call) is architecture dependent & is ( y _ ) p &
available in
/usr/src/kernels/linux-2.6.34/arch/x86/kernel/entry_32.S
ENTRY(system call) ( y _ )
Reads the value of EAX
Saves all the registers
Checks the validity of the given systemcall number by Checks the validity of the given system call number by
comparing it to NR_syscalls.
If could not find, the function returns ENOSYS.
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Else dispatch execution to the proper kernel function by
System Call
p p p y
call *sys_call_table(,%eax,4) / call *sys_call_table(,%rax,8)
Each system call table entry is 32 / 64 bits y y
Kernel multiplies the given system call number by 4 to arrive
at its location in system call table (syscall_table_32.S)
syscall_table_32.S
/usr/src/kernels/linux-2.6.34/arch/x86/kernel/syscall_table_32.S
( ) f ENTRY(sys_call_table) is checked to see the address of
the kernel function to call.
sys ni syscall() is not implemented systemcall sys_ni_syscall() is not implemented system call
Returns ENOSYS (invalid system call)
J ump to the specified Kernel function p p
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System Call
After the completion of Kernel function the
control returns to ENTRY(system_call). This
kernel function calls kernel function calls
syscall_exit
syscall_exit_work
syscall_trace_leave
It does a few system checks and then return back
to the process in user space (or to a different p p (
process, if the process time ran out).
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System Call
Most of the system calls require one or more
parameter to be passed to them
Parameters are stored in registers EBX, ECX,
EDX, ESI and EDI (if the parameters are less than
i ) six)
If number of parameters are more than five (very
rare) a single register is used to hold a pointer to rare) a single register is used to hold a pointer to
user space where all parameters exists.
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System Call Parameter Passing
Three general methods used to pass parameters Three general methods used to pass parameters
to the OS
Simplest: pass the parameters in registers p p p g
In some cases, may be more parameters than
registers
Parameters stored in a block or table in memory Parameters stored in a block, or table, in memory,
and address of block passed as a parameter in a
register
This approach is taken by Linux and Solaris
Parameters placed, or pushed, onto the stack by the
programand popped off the stack by the operating program and popped off the stack by the operating
system
Block and stack methods do not limit the number or
length of parameters being passed
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Parameter Passing via Table
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fscanf system call execution
Call to read()
read() in C program read() in the C library () p g () y
read system call
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Invoking system call handler & executing system call
call read() read() wrapper system call() sys read() () () pp y _ () y _ ()
Application
C library
read() wrapper
User Space Kernel Space
System call handler sys_read()
User Space Kernel Space
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Each arrow in the figure represents a jump in Each arrow in the figure represents a jump in
CPU instruction flow, and each jump may
require flushing the prefetch queue and q g p q
possibly a ``cache miss'' event.
Transitions between user and kernel space Transitions between user and kernel space
are especially important(Context switch), as
they are the most expensive in processing y p p g
time and prefetch behavior.
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