Summer
2005

Operating Systems Principles
(half-course, 4VL + 2PR)

VL:   Mon, 11:15-12:45, RUD 26, 1.303,  Prof. J.-P. Redlich
  Wed,  09:30-11:00, RUD 26, 1.303,  Prof. J.-P. Redlich
PR:  Mon, 09:30-11:00,  RUD 25, 3.325,  Dipl.-Inf. A. Zubow


Computer Science Department
Systems Architecture Group

Prüfungen  (jeweils 30 Minuten, mündlich, ohne Vorbereitungszeit):

 
Abstract: An operating system (OS) is the software responsible for controlling and managing hardware and basic system operations, as well as running application software such as word processing programs and Web browsers. In general, the operating system is the first layer of software loaded into computer memory when it starts up. All other software that gets loaded after it depends on the operating system to provide various common core services, such as disk access, memory management, task scheduling, and user interfaces. As operating systems evolve, ever more services are expected to be common core. These days, an OS may be required to provide network and Internet connectivity and also to protect the computer's other software from damage by malicious programs, such as viruses. Operating systems in widespread use on personal computers (PC) have consolidated into two families: the Microsoft Windows family and the Unix-like family. Mainframe computers and embedded systems use a variety of different operating systems, many with no direct connection to Windows or Unix.

Building Operating Systems is much about studying existing systems, knowing common problems, knowing what other people did, and figuring out if their ideas can be applied to a given problem in a useful way. These long-lasting principles - as opposed to specific details of today's systems/software - is what we will look at in this half course.

 
Synopsis:
  • Half-Course, Praktische Informatik, Hauptstudium.
  • Offered regularly, at least once every two years, usually in spring.
  • 2 lectures per week, 2h each, over one semester (4SWS VL).
  • 1 lab (Praktikum) per week, 2h each, over one semester (2SWS PR).

Credits and grading:

  • There will be a few, short, unannounced, closed-book quizzes to verify your existence and to test your understanding. These will be worth 40 percent of the final grade.
  • An announced final examination will be given at he end of the semester. It will cover all of the relevant readings and material presented and discussed in class. It will be worth 60 percent of the course grade.
  • To qualify for the final examination, you have to complete all lab assignments to the satisfaction of the teaching assistant (70% = 35 points).
  • Regular class attendance is expected; frequent absences are grounds for a failing grade regardless of other performance. You may be missing up to 1 lecture per semester without prior and reasonable excuse. 'prior' means notification by email before the end of business the day before the lecture. 'reasonable' means sickness or study-related events that require your attendance.
  • Lectures begin on time. Students arriving more than 10 minutes late will not be admitted to the lecture and will be counted as 'missing' that day.

Prerequisites:

  • Successful completion of PI-1.
  • At least one semester attendance of  the 'Development Tools and System Administration in Unix' half-course.
Syllabus - Lecture:

Part I. Basics

  • Computer Systems - Overview
    • What's inside a computer?
    • Processor, memory, command execution
    • Memory hierarchy
    • Interrupts
    • IO architecture (very brief)
       
  • Operating Systems - Overview
    • What is an Operating System?
    • Mainframe, Desktop, Multiprocessor, Distributed, Clustered, Real-Time, Handheld Systems
    • Grid Systems (Utility Computing)
       
  • Prominent Examples
    • Microsoft Windows
    • Unix (Linux, BSD, Solaris)
    • Historical perspective (people behind the technology)
       
  • Operating System Structure
    • System Components
    • System Services
    • System Calls
    • Kernels: Monolithic Kernels, Microkernel, Exokernels
       
  • Virtual Machines
    • Java Virtual Machine (JVM)
    • Microsoft .NET execution environment
    • VmWare

Part II. Process Management

  • Processes
    • What is a process?
    • Process States
    • Process Control
    • Process Scheduling
    • Inter-Process Communication
       
  • Threads
    • Multithreading Models
    • SMP (symmetric multi processor)
    • Pthreads (POSIX)
    • Solaris 2 Threads
    • Windows 2000 Threads
    • Linux Threads
    • Java Threads
       
  • CPU Scheduling
    • What is a Scheduler?
    • Scheduling Algorithms
    • Scheduling on single-processor machines
    • Scheduling on multi-processor machines
    • Realtime-scheduling
       
  • Concurrency & Synchronization
    • Mutual exclusion
    • Semaphore
    • Monitor
       
  • Deadlocks & Starvation
    • What is a Deadlock?
    • Deadlock prevention
    • Deadlock avoidance
    • Deadlock detection

Part III. Storage

  • Memory Management
    • Continuous memory allocation
    • Swapping
    • Paging
    • Segmentation
       
  • Virtual Memory
    • Demand paging
    • Hardware support
       

Syllabus - Lab (Praktikum, 70% = 35 points required):

Regular Lab (for students registered in Goya)

Advanced Lab (for selected students only)

     Offered as an alternative to the regular lab (see above).
     Details

Slides:

 

Further Readings:   (you may find good deals at http://buch.de/ or http://amazon.de)

  • Silberschatz, Galvin, Gagne. Operating System Concepts. 6th Edition. John Wiley & Sonns, 2003. ISBN 0-471-25060-0
  • William Stallings. Betriebssysteme – Prinzipien und Umsetzung. 4. Auflage. Prentice Hall, 2003. ISBN 3-8273-7030-2
  • Andrew Tanenbaum. Moderne Betriebssysteme. 2002. ISBN 3827370191
  • R. G. Herrtwich and G. Hommel. Kooperation und Konkurrenz - Nebenläufige, verteilte und echtzeitabhängige Programmsysteme. Springer-Verlag, 1989. ISBN 3-540-51701-4.
  • H. Kopetz. Real-Time Systems: Design Principles for Distributed Embedded Applications. Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1997. ISBN 0-7923-9894-7.
  • Joseph Pranevich, The Wonderful World of Linux 2.6.
    http://www.kniggit.net/wwol26.html (cached pdf)
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