Operating Systems

AICT004-4-2 and Version VC1

Process Control Management

 Topic & Structure of the lesson

• Process and Thread Concepts

• Process States

• Process Scheduling

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 Learning Outcomes

• At the end of this lecture YOU should be able to:

- define the term process

- identify process states

- draw and explain process states using process

state diagrams

- describe how process scheduling works

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 Key Terms you must be able to use

If you have mastered this topic, you should be able to use

the following terms correctly in your assignments and
exams:

• process
• threads
• process control block
• process states
• concurrent processes

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 Process

• What is a process?

- it is a program in execution which progresses in a

sequential manner

- it is a unit of work with a unique process

identification

- requires resources like memory, CPU time and

files to complete its task

- resources are allocated when a process is created

or while in execution
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 Process (cont.)

• the operating system creates and deletes user and

system processes

• a process is active while a program is passive

• the operating system keeps track of processes

using a process table

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 Process State Diagram

new terminated
admitted exit

Interrupt / time out

ready
running

scheduler dispatch
I/O or event I/O or event wait
completion
blocked

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 Process States

• as a program executes, it changes states

• New
- a process has just been created

• Reasons for process creation

- new batch job
- interactive logon

• a NEW process now becomes READY

• Ready
- the process is waiting to be assigned to a processor
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 Process States (cont.)

• READY - RUNNING
- instructions are being executed
- a process is using the CPU
- the number of running processes will depend on the
number of processors the computer has

• A running process now can become BLOCKED, READY

or TERMINATED

• A RUNNING process becomes BLOCKED when :

- the process itself cannot execute because it is waiting
for an I/O operation to complete
- the process is waiting for some external event to happen
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 Process States (cont.)

• From BLOCKED the process then becomes READY when:

- an event which the process was waiting for occurs

• A RUNNING process becomes READY when:

- a process has reached its maximum allowable time for
uninterrupted execution

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 Process States (cont.)

• From RUNNING the process then TERMINATES when:

- a process has completed
- a process has been aborted

• Reasons for process termination

- normal completion
- invalid instruction
- memory unavailable

• Control is then returned to the operating system

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 Quick Review Questions

• For each of the following transitions between process

states indicate whether the transition is possible or not
possible?

ready running
ready new
blocked ready

• On a system with n number of CPU’s what is the

minimum number of processes that can be in the ready,
running and blocked state?

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 Process Control Block (PCB)

• Each process is represented in the operating system as

a process control block (PCB)

• a PCB:

- keeps track of each process

- contains information associated with a specific

process

- serves as a repository of any information that may

vary from process to process

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 Process Control Block Diagram

Pointer to parent process

Pointer area to child process
Process state
Program counter
Register save area
Memory limits
Priority information
Accounting information
Pointer to files and other
I/O resources
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 Process Control Block

• Process state – the process states; ready, running,

blocked, terminated

• Program counter – indicates the location for the next

instruction

• Priority information - CPU scheduling information

• Accounting information – statistics on CPU time, job and

process numbers

• I/O status – list of I/O devices which are allocated to

processes
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 Process Scheduling

• As processes enter the system, they are put on

the job queue

• A new process is put on the ready queue

• The process waits until it is selected for execution

or dispatched and given CPU resources

• Once CPU is allocated the process then runs:

- the process could issue an I/O request and be

placed on a device queue or I/O queue
- the process could create a new sub-process
- the process could be forcibly removed
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 Process Scheduling Diagram
ready queue CPU

I/O I/O queue I/O request

time slice
expired

child
fork a child
executes

interrupt wait for an

occurs interrupt

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 Types of processes

• Concurrent processes can be independent or

cooperating processes:

- independent processes are processes that do not

need to interact with other processes

- cooperating processes are processes that work with

each other, can affect or be affected by another
process

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 Types of processes (cont.)

• Why should an operating system allow for

cooperating processes?

- to allow information sharing

- to allow access to resources
- to increase computation speed

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 Threads

•a mini lightweight process that can execute independently

of other parts of the process

• two types of threads:

- user processes
- system processes

• creation of a new process (child) from the older one

(parent) is called spawning or forking

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 Quick Review Questions

• What is a process control block?

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 Follow Up Assignment

• Draw and explain the process state diagram

• What does a CPU do when there are no processes to

run

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 Summary of Main Teaching Points

• A process is a unit of work in execution which

requires resources.

• The state of a process changes as it executes.

• A process control block represents a process in the

operating system.

• Processes can execute concurrently or

independently from each other.

• A thread is an independent basic unit of CPU

utilization.
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 Question and Answer Session

Q&A

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 Next Session

CPU Scheduling

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