Exam OS - Ready!

Part I: Multiple-Choice Questions. (Circle only ONE choice)

(e) 1. Which is not the necessary condition of a deadlock?

a. Mutual exclusion
b. Hold and wait
c. No preemption
d. Circular wait
e. None of above

(e) 2. Which is not the method for handing deadlocks?

a. Deadlock Prevention
b. Deadlock Avoidance
c. Deadlock Detection and Recovery
d. Deadlock Ignorance
e. None of above

(b) 3. Which of the memory allocation schemes are subject to external

fragmentation?

a. Multiple Contiguous Fixed Partitions

b. Multiple Contiguous Variable Partitions
c. Paging
d. None of above

(a) 4. Which of the memory allocation schemes are subject to internal

fragmentation?

a. Multiple Contiguous Fixed Partitions

b. Multiple Contiguous Variable Partitions
c. Segmentation
d. None of above

(b) 5. A computer provides the user with virtual address space of 2^32
(2 to the power 32) bytes. Pages of size 4096 (4K or 2^12) bytes
are used for implementing virtual memory where the total physical
memory is equal to 2^18 bytes. If the hexadecimal virtual
address is 23456111, the page number in hexadecimal would be:

a. 3456
b. 23456
c. 56111
d. 4096

(c) 6. In paging system where page size is 2048 words, and the available
physical memory is equal to 2 ^ 17 = 128 K words, the length of the
physical address is equal to:

a. 16 bits b. 28 bits c. 17 bits d. None of the above

(c) 7. If normal memory access time is 100 nanoseconds and the cache search
time is 20 nanoseconds and all 80% of the page table entries are
found in the cache memory the paged memory access time is equal to:

a. 100 ns b. 120 ns c. 140 ns d. 200 ns

(b) 8. When inverted paging is used, there is/are:

 a. One global page table sorted by process id
b. One global page table sorted by the frame number
c. One global page table sorted by the virtual address
d. Page tables for each process sorted by the frame number

(b) 9. With paging, the internal fragmentation is possible when:

a. Page does not quite fit the frame

b. The last page of the job is less than maximum page size
c. The cache memory assigned to the page table entry is not
the same as normal memory assigned to the page table entry
d. There is no such thing as internal fragmentation with paging

(c) 10. If there are 64 segments, and the maximum segment size is 1024
words, the length of logical address is:

a. 12 bits b. 14 bits c. 16 bits d. 18 bits

(c) 11. Assume a page reference string for a process with m frames
(initially all empty). The page reference string has length p with
n distinct page numbers occurring in it. For any page replacement
algorithms, What is a lower bound on the number of page faults?

a. m
b. p
c. n
d. None of above

(b) 12. Assume a page reference string for a process with m frames
(initially all empty). The page reference string has length p with
n distinct page numbers occurring in it. For any page replacement
algorithms, What is an upper bound on the number of page faults?

a. m
b. p
c. n
d. None of above

(a) 13. Working set model is:

a. Used for finding the minimum number of frames necessary

for a job, so that jobs can run without "thrashing"
b. Used to find out the average number of frames a job will
need in order to run smoothly without causing thrashing
c. Used to determine whether page replacement is needed
d. None of the above.

(c) 14. The modified (dirty) bit is used for the purpose of:

a. Dynamic allocation of memory used by one process to another

b. Implementing FIFO page replacement algorithm
c. To reduce the average time required to service page faults
d. None of the above

(d) 15. Which is not the advantages of virtual memory?

a. Reduced I/O since only a portion of process may need to run

b. Support for higher degree of multiprogramming
c. Jobs (processes) not getting aborted for insufficient memory
 d. None of the above.

Part II: Questions and Answers

1. List the necessary conditions for a deadlock.

Ans:

o Mutual exclusion: Only one process at a time can use a resource.

o Hold and wait: A process holding at least one resource is waiting to
acquire additional resources held by other processes.
o No preemption: A resource can be released only voluntarily by the
process holding it, after that process has completed its task.
o Circular wait: There exists a set {P0, P1, ., P0} of waiting processes
such that P0 is waiting for a resource that is held by P1, P1 is waiting
for a resource that is held by P2,..., Pn-1 is waiting for a resource
that
is held by Pn, and P0 is waiting for a resource that is held by P0.

2. P is a set of processes. R is a set of resources. E is a set of

request or assignment edges. The sets P, R, and E are as follows:

P = {P1, P2, P3}

R = {R1, R2, R3}
E = {P1 -> R1, P2 -> R3, P3-> R2, R1 -> P2, R2 -> P2, R2 -> P1, R3 ->
P3}

R1 has one instance. R2 has two instances. R3 has one instance.

a. Draw the resource-allocation graph.

b. Is there any deadlock in this situation? Briefly Explain.

Ans:

a.
b. Consider the resource-allocation graph in Figure 8.2. Two cycles
exist in the system.

P1 -> R1 -> P2 -> R3 -> P3 -> R2 -> P1

P2 -> R3 -> P3 -> R2 -> P2

P1, P2, and P3 are deadlocked.

3. List methods for handling deadlocks.

Ans:

o Deadlock Ignorance: Ignore the problem and pretend that deadlocks never
occur in the system; used by most operating systems, including UNIX.
o Deadlock Detection and Recovery: Allow the system to enter a deadlock
state and then recover.
o Deadlock Avoidance: Avoid system to enter a deadlock state.
o Deadlock Prevention: Negate one of the four conditions necessary
to cause a deadlock.

4. a) What is the difference between a virtual (logical) address and a

physical address?
b) What is associative memory (translation look-aside buffer, TLB)?
 Why do some systems use associative memory in addition to page
tables?
c) Explain the difference between internal and external fragmentation.
d) What type of fragmentation occurs in simple paging systems? Explain.
e) What type occurs in systems that use pure segmentation? Explain.

Ans:

a) A logical address is an address generated by the CPU; also referred to

as
virtual address, whereas a physical address is an address seen by the
memory unit.

b) Associative memory is a special, small, fast-lookup hardware cache

which stores page tables.
Accessing page tables in memory is slow. Using associative memory can
reduce effective access time.

c) Internal fragmentation is the wasted memory (hole) that is internal to a

allocated memory partition. External fragmentation is the wasted memory
(hole) that is external to a allocated memory partitions.

d) Internal fragmentation occurs in simple paging systems.

Because each page has the fixed size, holes (unused memory) occur
within each page.

e) External fragmentation occurs in systems that use pure segmentation.

Because each segment has varied size to fit each program size, the
holes (unused memory) occur external to the allocated memory partition.

5. Consider a swapping system in which memory consists of the

following hole sizes in memory order: 10K, 4K, 20K, 15K, and 9K.
Which hole is taken for successive segment requests of:

(a) 8K (b) 12K (c) 10K

for first fit, best fit, and worst fit.

Ans:

First fit : (a) 10K (b) 20K (c) 15K

Next fit : (a) 10K (b) 20K (c) 15K
Best fit : (a) 9K (b) 15K (c) 10K
Worst fit : (a) 20K (b) 15K (c) leftover of 20K

6. Consider a swapping system in which memory consists of 500K

as shown below.

+---+-----+------+--------+--------+-----+--+
|xxx| P3 | xxxx | P5 | xxxxxx | P7 |xx|
+---+-----+------+--------+--------+-----+--+
0 50 160 240 320 420 480 500

Note that P3, P5, and P7 are processes in memory. Assume that process
P3 was just swapped into memory. Consider each of the four swapping
algorithms discussed in class: first fit, next fit, best fit and worst
fit, Complete the table showing where each of the processes will be
loaded.

Assume that new processes arrive in the order P8, P9, P10, and are of
 size 50K, 70K, and 45K, respectively.

If a process won't fit, write "out of memory" in the appropriate

slot, then indicate if compaction could be used to correct the
problem.

Ans:

First fit:

+---+-----+----+-+--------+---+----+-----+--+
|P8 | P3 | P9 |x| P5 |P10| xx | P7 |xx|
+---+-----+----+-+--------+---+----+-----+--+
0 50 160 230 240 320 365 420 480 500

Next fit (It fits in the memory it could fit next to the previous
assignment):

+---+-+-----+---+--+--------+----+--+-----+--+
|P10|x|P3 |P8 |xx| P5 | P9 | x| P7 |xx|
+---+-+-----+---+--+--------+----+--+-----+--+
0 45 50 160 210 240 320 390 420 480 500

* Note: In this case, first and next fits are same. But in many cases,
they could be different.

Best fit:

+---+-----+----+-+--------+---+----+-----+--+
|P8 | P3 | P9 |x| P5 |P10| xx | P7 |xx|
+---+-----+----+-+--------+---+----+-----+--+
0 50 160 230 240 320 365 420 480 500

Worst fit:

+---+-+-----+----+-+--------+---+----+-----+--+
|P10|x| P3 | P9 |x| P5 |P8 | xx | P7 |xx|
+---+-+-----+----+-+--------+---+----+-----+--+
0 45 50 160 230 240 320 370 420 480 500

7. Consider 16-bit machine where total addressable physical memory size

64K words (e.g. 2^16 = 65,538). If we would like to run processes
as big as 128K using 2K (2048-word) pages, how would logical address
look like (show page number and displacement fields in bits)?

Ans:

There 17 bits in logical address and 11 bits in each page.

So page number has 6 bits and page offset 11 bits.

8. Consider a logical address space of 64 pages of 2048 words each, mapped

unto a physical memory of 32 frames.

a) How many bits are there in logical address?

b) How many bits are there in physical address?

Ans:

a) 64 (2^6) pages need 6 bits. 2048 (2^11) words need 11 bits.

 So there are 6 + 11 = 17 bits in logical address.

b) 32 (2^5) frames need 5 bits. 2048 (2^11) words need 11 bits.

So there are 5 + 11 = 16 bits in physical address.

5. Consider a system with an average page-fault service time of 25

milliseconds and a memory-access time of 100 nanoseconds. Let the
page-fault rate be p.

a. What is the effective access time?

b. What page fault rate is needed to have the effective access time of
less than 110 nanoseconds?

Ans:

a. 100 nanoseconds = 0.1 microsecond

25 milliseconds = 25000 microseconds
effective access time = (1 - p) * 0.1 + p * 25000 micro-second
= 0.1 + 24999.9 p micro-second

b. 0.11 > 0.1 + 24999.9 p

0.01 > 24999.9 p
p < 0.0000004

9. The overhead required to read an entry in a page table (including

the time to access associative memory) is 60 nanoseconds. To reduce
this overhead, the computer has an associative memory that can hold
16 entries and can be accessed in 10 nanoseconds.

a) Find a formula that expresses the effective access time as a

function of the hit ratio.
b) What hit ratio is needed to reduce the effective access time to
70 nanoseconds?

Ans:

a) Let E = associative memory lookup time

T = memory cycle time
p = hit ratio.

Effective Access Time (EAT)

= p * (E + T) + (1 - p) * (E + 2 * T)
= p * E + p * T + E + 2 * T - p * E - 2 * p * T
= (2 - p) * T + E

In this case, E + T = 60. E = 10. T = 50.

EAT = (2 - p) * 50 + 10 = 110 - 50 * p

b) 110 - 50 * p < 70
50 * p > 40
p > 80%

10. Under what circumstances do page faults occur? Describe the actions
taken by the operating system when a page fault occurs.

Ans:
 A page fault occurs when an access to a page that has not been brought
into main memory takes place. The operating system verifies the memory
access, aborting the program if it is invalid. If it is valid, a free
frame is located and I/O is requested to read the needed page into the
free frame. Upon completion of I/O, the process table and page table are
updated and the instruction is restarted.

11. Consider the following page-replacement algorithms. Rank these

algorithms on a five-point scale from 'bad' to 'perfect' according
to their page-fault rate. Separate those algorithms that suffer from
Belady's anomaly from those that do not.

a. LRU replacement
b. FIFO replacement
c. Optimal replacement
d. Second-chance replacement

Ans:

Rank Algorithm Suffer from Belady's anomaly

1 Optimal no
2 LRU no
3 Second-chance yes
4 FIFO yes

12. Suppose there are 16 virtual pages and 4 page frames. Determine
the number of page faults that will occur with the reference
string 1 2 3 4 2 1 5 6 2 1 2 3 7 6 3 2 1 2 3 6 if the page frames
are initially empty, using each of the following page replacement
algorithms: a. LRU b. FIFO c. Optimal.

Ans:

a. LRU - 10
b. FIFO - 14
c. Optimal - 8

13. What is the cause of thrashing? How does the system detect thrashing?
Once it detects thrashing, what can the system do to eliminate this
problem?

Ans:

Thrashing is caused by underallocation of the minimum number of pages read

quired by a process, forcing it to continuously page fault. The system can
detect thrashing by evaluating the level of CPU utilization as compared to
the level of multiprogramming. It can be eliminated by reducing the level
of multiprogramming.

14. Consider a demand-paged computer system where the degree of

multiprogramming is currently fixed at four. The system was recently
measured to determine utilization of CPU and the paging disk. The
results are one of the following alternatives. For each case, what
is happening? Can the degree of multiprogramming be increased to
increase the CPU utilization?
 a. CPU utilization 13 percent; disk utilization 97 percent
b. CPU utilization 87 percent; disk utilization 3 percent
c. CPU utilization 13 percent; disk utilization 3 percent

Ans:

a. Thrashing is occurring. Increasing the degree of multiprogramming

won't increase the CPU utilization.
b. CPU utilization is sufficiently high to leave things alone. Increasing
the degree of multiprogramming might cause trashing.
c. Increase the degree of multiprogramming will increase the CPU
utilization.

15. Consider the average process size is 128 KB and the number of page
entries is 8. What will be appropriate page size?

Ans:

s (process size) = 128K

e (number of page entries) = 8

p = square root of s * e = square root of (2(128K)(8))

= 1.4142 KB = 1448 Bytes

So the page size is 1k or 2k.