Implementation of locks, Operating System

Assignment Help:

How could we implement locks? No matter how we choose to implement them, we must have some hardware support. One possibility for implementing locks on a uniprocessor machine is is to disable interrupts when testing/setting locks. With interrupts disabled on a single processor machine, the processor cannot switch processes, and so we can guarantee that only the active process will have access to the shared data. Another option would be to make use of atomic operations, such as test and set. This type of operation (which usually corresponds to a single atomic assembly instruction) behaves as if it used the following C function, atomically:

int test_and_set(int x) // let x be strictly either 0 or 1.
{
if (x) { return 1; } else { x=1; return 0; }
}

All this needs to be implemented atomically, in hardware. Using this type of atomic operation, one could implement thread lock(l) simply as while test_and_set(l) {

; // do nothing
} // spinlock version of thread_lock()
and thread unlock(l) simply as
l = 0; // we need this to be an atomic clear (or assign) instruction

The assembly instruction test and set can bemade to be atomic acrossmultiple processors. An equivalent option would be an atomic compare and swap assembly instruction. These low-level hardware solutions are then built up into high-level functions, either built into the languages, or in libraries. In general, do not implement your own locking functions, but rather use functions from a tested library. Getting things right can be tricky, and your own solution is also likely to be non-portable.


Related Discussions:- Implementation of locks

Allocating new pages, Processes have valid and invalid entries on their pag...

Processes have valid and invalid entries on their page tables. The valid entries all point to some where "real" (e.g. a physical page, or some portion of disk in case of non-reside

Prepare a short note on the standard linux file system, Problem: a) Pre...

Problem: a) Prepare a short note on the standard Linux File System. b) Prepare a short note on the RPM Package Management Tool. c) Briefly explain the two types of login

Explain the spawnvp function used in the netware, Explain the Spawnvp Funct...

Explain the Spawnvp Function used in the netware Spawnvp(flags, execNmae, argv)   This function executes  similarly to spawnlp( ) except that parameters are passed as a v

Assembly, Write a program that will input two numbers from the keyboard and...

Write a program that will input two numbers from the keyboard and execute each of the signed and unsigned multiply and divide instructions. For each instruction, the program shoul

Estimate the continued transfer rate of drive, Q. The term "fast wide SCSI...

Q. The term "fast wide SCSI-II" signifies a SCSI bus that operates at a data rate of 20 megabytes per second when it moves a packet of bytes among the host and a device. Presume t

Define server processing with queues, Define Server Processing with Queues ...

Define Server Processing with Queues The efficient server processing of client request is essential for optimized client- server applications. This process is greatly enhanced

Server thread, Extend task 1 so that the requests are issued by the clients...

Extend task 1 so that the requests are issued by the clients instead of the server. The server now do not use the "all_requests.dat" file. Instead every client thread reads from

How many disks can be used effectively by one fast wide bus, Q. More than ...

Q. More than one disk drive is able to be attached to a SCSI bus. Especially a fast wide SCSI-II bus can be connected to at most 15 disk drives. Remember that this bus has a bandw

Write Your Message!

Captcha
Free Assignment Quote

Assured A++ Grade

Get guaranteed satisfaction & time on delivery in every assignment order you paid with us! We ensure premium quality solution document along with free turntin report!

All rights reserved! Copyrights ©2019-2020 ExpertsMind IT Educational Pvt Ltd