Operating Systems

At the end of this course, students should be able to: 1. recognise operating system types and structure; 2. describe OS support for processes and threads; 3. recognize CPU scheduling, synchronization, and deadlocks; 4. resolve OS issues related to synchronization and failure for distributed systems; 5. explain OS support for virtual memory, disk scheduling, I/O, and file systems; 6. identify security and protection issues in computer systems; and 7. use C and Unix commands, examine behaviour and performance of Linux, and develop various system programs under Linux to make use of OS concepts related to process synchronization, shared memory, mailboxes, file systems, etc.

Fundamentals of operating systems design and implementation, history and evolution of operating systems, Types of operating systems; Operating system structures; Process management: processes, threads, CPU scheduling, process synchronization; Memory management and virtual memory; File systems; I/O systems; Security and protection; Distributed systems; Case studies. Lab work: Practical hands-on engagement to facilitate understanding of the material taught in the course. All the process, memory, file and directory management issues will be demonstrated under the LINUX operating system. Also UNIX commands will be briefly discussed. Alternatively, hands-on exposure may be through the use of operating systems developed for teaching, like TempOS, Nachos, Xinu or MiniOS. Another possibility is through programming exercises that implement and simulate algorithms taught. Simulation of CPU scheduling algorithms, producer-consumer problem, memory allocation algorithms, file organisation techniques, deadlock algorithms and disk scheduling algorithms. 400 Level