Chapter 2: Computer-System

Structures

 Computer System Operation

 I/O Structure
 Storage Structure
 Storage Hierarchy
 Hardware Protection
 General System Architecture

Operating System Concepts 2.1 Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne 2002

 Computer-System Architecture

Operating System Concepts 2.2 Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne 2002

 Computer-System Operation

 I/O devices and the CPU can execute

concurrently.
 Each device controller is in charge of a
particular device type.
 Each device controller has a local buffer.
 CPU moves data from/to main memory to/from
local buffers
 I/O is from the device to local buffer of
controller.
 Device controller informs CPU that it has
finished its operation by causing an interrupt.

Operating System Concepts 2.3 Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne 2002

 Common Functions of Interrupts

 Interrupt transfers control to the interrupt

service routine generally, through the
interrupt vector, which contains the
addresses of all the service routines.
 Interrupt architecture must save the address
of the interrupted instruction.
 Incoming interrupts are disabled while
another interrupt is being processed to
prevent a lost interrupt.
 A trap is a software-generated interrupt
caused either by an error or a user request.
 An operating system is interrupt driven.

Operating System Concepts 2.4 Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne 2002

 Interrupt Handling

 The operating system preserves the state of

the CPU by storing registers and the program
counter.
 Determines which type of interrupt has
occurred:
 polling
 vectored interrupt system
 Separate segments of code determine what
action should be taken for each type of
interrupt

Operating System Concepts 2.5 Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne 2002

 Interrupt Time Line For a Single Process Doing
Output

Operating System Concepts 2.6 Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne 2002

 I/O Structure

 After I/O starts, control returns to user program

only upon I/O completion.
 Wait instruction idles the CPU until the next interrupt
 Wait loop (contention for memory access).
 At most one I/O request is outstanding at a time, no
simultaneous I/O processing.
 After I/O starts, control returns to user program
without waiting for I/O completion.
 System call – request to the operating system to
allow user to wait for I/O completion.
 Device-status table contains entry for each I/O
device indicating its type, address, and state.
 Operating system indexes into I/O device table to
determine device status and to modify table entry to
include interrupt.

Operating System Concepts 2.7 Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne 2002

 Two I/O Methods

Synchronous Asynchronous

Operating System Concepts 2.8 Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne 2002

 Device-Status Table

Operating System Concepts 2.9 Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne 2002

 Direct Memory Access Structure

 Used for high-speed I/O devices able to

transmit information at close to memory
speeds.
 Device controller transfers blocks of data
from buffer storage directly to main memory
without CPU intervention.
 Only on interrupt is generated per block,
rather than the one interrupt per byte.

Operating System Concepts 2.10 Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne 2002

 Storage Structure

 Main memory – only large storage media that

the CPU can access directly.
 Secondary storage – extension of main
memory that provides large nonvolatile
storage capacity.
 Magnetic disks – rigid metal or glass platters
covered with magnetic recording material
 Disk surface is logically divided into tracks,
which are subdivided into sectors.
 The disk controller determines the logical
interaction between the device and the
computer.

Operating System Concepts 2.11 Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne 2002

 Moving-Head Disk Mechanism

Operating System Concepts 2.12 Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne 2002

 Storage Hierarchy

 Storage systems organized in hierarchy.

 Speed
 Cost
 Volatility
 Caching – copying information into faster
storage system; main memory can be viewed
as a last cache for secondary storage.

Operating System Concepts 2.13 Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne 2002

 Storage-Device Hierarchy

Operating System Concepts 2.14 Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne 2002

 Caching

 Use of high-speed memory to hold recently-

accessed data.
 Requires a cache management policy.
 Caching introduces another level in storage
hierarchy. This requires data that is
simultaneously stored in more than one level
to be consistent.

Operating System Concepts 2.15 Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne 2002

 Migration of A From Disk to
Register

Operating System Concepts 2.16 Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne 2002

 Hardware Protection

 Dual-Mode Operation
 I/O Protection
 Memory Protection
 CPU Protection

Operating System Concepts 2.17 Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne 2002

 Dual-Mode Operation

 Sharing system resources requires operating

system to ensure that an incorrect program
cannot cause other programs to execute
incorrectly.
 Provide hardware support to differentiate
between at least two modes of operations.
1. User mode – execution done on behalf of a user.
2. Monitor mode (also kernel mode or system
mode) – execution done on behalf of operating
system.

Operating System Concepts 2.18 Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne 2002

 Dual-Mode Operation (Cont.)

 Mode bit added to computer hardware to indicate

the current mode: monitor (0) or user (1).
 When an interrupt or fault occurs hardware
switches to monitor mode.
Interrupt/fault

monitor user
set user mode

Privileged instructions can be issued only in

monitor mode.

Operating System Concepts 2.19 Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne 2002

 I/O Protection

 All I/O instructions are privileged instructions.

 Must ensure that a user program could never
gain control of the computer in monitor mode
(I.e., a user program that, as part of its
execution, stores a new address in the
interrupt vector).

Operating System Concepts 2.20 Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne 2002

 Use of A System Call to Perform
I/O

Operating System Concepts 2.21 Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne 2002

 Memory Protection

 Must provide memory protection at least for

the interrupt vector and the interrupt service
routines.
 In order to have memory protection, add two
registers that determine the range of legal
addresses a program may access:
 Base register – holds the smallest legal physical
memory address.
 Limit register – contains the size of the range
 Memory outside the defined range is
protected.

Operating System Concepts 2.22 Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne 2002

 Use of A Base and Limit
Register

Operating System Concepts 2.23 Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne 2002

 Hardware Address Protection

Operating System Concepts 2.24 Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne 2002

 Hardware Protection

 When executing in monitor mode, the

operating system has unrestricted access to
both monitor and user’s memory.
 The load instructions for the base and limit
registers are privileged instructions.

Operating System Concepts 2.25 Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne 2002

 CPU Protection

 Timer – interrupts computer after specified

period to ensure operating system maintains
control.
 Timer is decremented every clock tick.
 When timer reaches the value 0, an interrupt
occurs.
 Timer commonly used to implement time
sharing.
 Time also used to compute the current time.
 Load-timer is a privileged instruction.

Operating System Concepts 2.26 Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne 2002

 Network Structure

 Local Area Networks (LAN)

 Wide Area Networks (WAN)

Operating System Concepts 2.27 Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne 2002

 Local Area Network Structure

Operating System Concepts 2.28 Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne 2002

 Wide Area Network Structure

Operating System Concepts 2.29 Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne 2002