All questions of Process Management for Computer Science Engineering (CSE) Exam

The purpose here is neither the deadlock should occur nor the binary semaphores be assigned value greater 

than one.

A leads to deadlock

B can increase value of semaphores b/w 1 to n

D may increase the value of semaphore R and S to  2 in some cases

Let us talk about the operation P(). It stores the value of s in x, then it fetches the old value of x, stores it in y and sets x as 1. The while loop of a process will continue forever if some other process doesn't execute V() and sets the value of s as 0. If context switching is disabled in P, the while loop will run forever as no other process will be able to execute V().

CPU  get highest bandwidth in transparent DMA and polling. but it asked for I/O bandwidth not cpu bandwidth so option (A) is wrong.

In case of Cycle stealing, in each cycle time device send data then wait again after few CPU cycle it sends to memory . So option (B) is wrong.

In case of Polling CPU takes the initiative so I/O bandwidth can not be high so option (D) is wrong .

Consider Block transfer, in each single block device send data so bandwidth ( means the amount of data ) must be high . This makes option (C) correct.

Processes can run in many ways, below is one of the cases in which x attains max value
Semaphore S is initialized to 2 Process W executes S=1, x=1 but it doesn't update the x variable.
Then process Y executes S=0, it decrements x, now x= -2 and signal semaphore S=1
Now process Z executes s=0, x=-4, signal semaphore S=1
Now process W updates x=1, S=2 Then process X executes X=2

So correct option is D

Threads share address space of Process. Virtually memory is concerned with processes not with Threads. A thread is a basic unit of CPU utilization, consisting of a program counter, a stack, and a set of registers, (and a thread ID.) As you can see, for a single thread of control - there is one program counter, and one sequence of instructions that can be carried out at any given time and for multi-threaded applications-there are multiple threads within a single process, each having their own program counter, stack and set of registers, but sharing common code, data, and certain structures such as open files.

Option (A): as you can see in the above diagram, NOT ONLY CPU Register but stack and code files, data files are also maintained. So, option (A) is not correct as it says OS maintains only CPU register state.
Option (B): according to option (B), OS does not maintain a separate stack for each thread. But as you can see in above diagram, for each thread, separate stack is maintained. So this option is also incorrect.
Option (C): according to option (C), the OS does not maintain virtual memory state. And It is correct as Os does not maintain any virtual memory state for individual thread.
Option (D): according to option (D), the OS maintains only scheduling and accounting information. But it is not correct as it contains other information like cpu registers stack, program counters, data files, code files are also maintained.

If we sum all levels of above tree for i = 0 to n-1, we get 2^n - 1. So there will be 2^n – 1 child processes. Also see this post for more details.

For P1 clock period = 1ns Let clock period for P2 be t.
Now consider following equation based on specification 7.5 ns = 12*t ns
We get t and inverse of t will be 1.6GHz

Time taken to switch between user and kernel models is less than the time taken to switch between two processes, so option 3 is the correct answer.

Mutual Exclusion: A way of making sure that if one process is using a shared modifiable data, the other processes will be excluded from doing the same thing. while one process executes the shared variable, all other processes desiring to do so at the same time moment should be kept waiting; when that process has finished executing the shared variable, one of the processes waiting; while that process has finished executing the shared variable, one of the processes waiting to do so should be allowed to proceed. In this fashion, each process executing the shared data (variables) excludes all others from doing so simultaneously. This is called Mutual Exclusion.
Progress Requirement: If no process is executing in its critical section and there exist some processes that wish to enter their critical section, then the selection of the processes that will enter the critical section next cannot be postponed indefinitely.
Solution: It can be easily observed that the Mutual Exclusion requirement is satisfied by the above solution, P1 can enter critical section only if S1 is not equal to S2, and P2 can enter critical section only if S1 is equal to S2. But here Progress Requirement is not satisfied. Suppose when s1=1 and s2=0 and process p1 is not interested to enter into critical section but p2 want to enter critical section. P2 is not able to enter critical section in this as only when p1 finishes execution, then only p2 can enter (then only s1 = s2 condition be satisfied). Progress will not be satisfied when any process which is not interested to enter into the critical section will not allow other interested process to enter into the critical section. 

Take closer look the below while loop.

while (Fetch_And_Add(L,1))
               L = 1; // A waiting process can be here just after
                       // the lock is released, and can make L = 1.

Consider a situation where a process has just released the lock and made L = 0. Let there be one more process waiting for the lock, means executing the AcquireLock() function. Just after the L was made 0, let the waiting processes executed the line L = 1. Now, the lock is available and L = 1. Since L is 1, the waiting process (and any other future coming processes) can not come out of the while loop. The above problem can be resolved by changing the AcuireLock() to following.

AcquireLock(L){
             while (Fetch_And_Add(L,1))
              { // Do Nothing }
}

The above solution is a simple test-and-set solution that makes sure that deadlock doesn’t occur, but it doesn’t use any queue to avoid starvation or to have FIFO order.

Suppose Xb = 0, then because of P(s): Pb(Xb) operation, Xb will be -1 and processs will get blocked as it will enter into waiting section. So, Xb will be one. Suppose s=2(means 2 process are accessing shared resource), taking Xb as 1,
first P(s): Pb(Xb) operation will make Xb as zero. s will be 1 and Then Vb(Xb) operation will be executed which will increase the count of Xb as one. Then same process will be repeated making Xb as one and s as zero.
Now suppose one more process comes, then Xb will be 1 but s will be -1 which will make this process go into loop (s <0) and will result into calling Vb(Xb) and Pb(Yb) operations. Vb(Xb) will result into Xb as 2 and Pb(Yb) will result into decrementing the value of Yb.

case 1: if Yb has value as 0, it will be -1 and it will go into waiting and will be blocked.total 2 process will access shared resource (according to counting semaphore, max 3 process can access shared resource) and value of s is -1 means only 1 process will be waiting for resources and just now, one process got blocked. So it is still true.
case 2: if Yb has value as 1, it will be 0. Total 3 process will access shared resource (according to counting semaphore, max 3 process can access shared resource) and value of s is -1 means only 1 process will be waiting for resources and but there is no process waiting for resources.So it is false.

Process P1 is the producer and process P2 is the consumer. 
Semaphore ‘full’ is initialized to '0'. This means there is no item in the buffer. Semaphore ‘empty’ is initialized to 'n'. This means there is space for n items in the buffer. 
In process P1, wait on semaphore 'empty' signifies that if there is no space in buffer then P1 can not produce more items. Signal on semaphore 'full' is to signify that one item has been added to the buffer. 
In process P2, wait on semaphore 'full' signifies that if the buffer is empty then consumer can’t not consume any item. Signal on semaphore 'empty' increments a space in the buffer after consumption of an item. 
 
Thus, option (D) is correct. 
 
Please comment below if you find anything wrong in the above post.

Let us talk about the operation P(). It stores the value of s in x, then it fetches the old value of x, stores it in y and sets x as 1. The while loop of a process will continue forever if some other process doesn’t execute V() and sets the value of s as 0. If context switching is disabled in P, the while loop will run forever as no other process will be able to execute V().

Whenever a process executes, it goes through several phases or states. These states have their functions.

New – in this state, process is being created

Running – instructions are being executed

Waiting:  the process is waiting for some event to occur such as i/o completion

Ready – The process is waiting to be assigned to a processor

Terminated – The process has finished execution.

Option A: In line L1 (p(Sy)) i.e. process p1 wants lock on Sy that is held by process p2 and line L3 (p(Sx)) p2 wants lock on Sx which held by p1. So here circular and wait condition exist means deadlock.

Option B : In line L1 (p(Sx)) i.e. process p1 wants lock on Sx that is held by process p2 and line L3 (p(Sy)) p2 wants lock on Sx which held by p1. So here circular and wait condition exist means deadlock.

Option C: In line L1 (p(Sx)) i.e. process p1 wants lock on Sx and line L3 (p(Sy)) p2 wants lock on Sx . But Sx and Sy can’t be released by its processes p1 and p2.

Please read the following to learn more about process synchronization and semaphores: Process Synchronization Set 1

When a fork() system call is issued, a copy of all the pages corresponding to the parent process is created, loaded into a separate memory location by the OS for the child process. But this is not needed in certain cases. When the child is needed just to execute a command for the parent process, there is no need for copying the parent process’ pages, since exec replaces the address space of the process which invoked it with the command to be executed. In such cases, a technique called copy-on-write (COW) is used. With this technique, when a fork occurs, the parent process’s pages are not copied for the child process. Instead, the pages are shared between the child and the parent process. Whenever a process (parent or child) modifies a page, a separate copy of that particular page alone is made for that process (parent or child) which performed the modification. This process will then use the newly copied page rather than the shared one in all future references.

fork() returns 0 in child process and process ID of child process in parent process.

In Child (x), a = a + 5

In Parent (u), a = a – 5;

Child process will execute the if part and parent process will execute the else part. Assume that the initial value of a = 6. Then the value of a printed by the child process will be 11, and the value of a printed by the parent process in 1. Therefore u+10=x Now the second part. The answer is v = y.

We know that, the fork operation creates a separate address space for the child. But the child process has an exact copy of all the memory segments of the parent process. Hence the virtual addresses and the mapping (initially) will be the same for both parent process as well as child process.

PS: the virtual address is same but virtual addresses exist in different processes’ virtual address space and when we print &a, it’s actually printing the virtual address. Hence the answer is v = y.

Kernel level threads are managed by the OS, therefore, thread operations are implemented in the kernel code. Kernel level threads can also utilize multiprocessor systems by splitting threads on different processors. If one thread blocks it does not cause the entire process to block. Kernel level threads have disadvantages as well. They are slower than user level threads due to the management overhead. Kernel level context switch involves more steps than just saving some registers. Finally, they are not portable because the implementation is operating system dependent.
Option (A): Context switch time is longer for kernel level threads than for user level threads. True, As User level threads are managed by user and Kernel level threads are managed by OS. There are many overheads involved in Kernel level thread management, which are not present in User level thread management. So context switch time is longer for kernel level threads than for user level threads.
Option (B): User level threads do not need any hardware support True, as User level threads are managed by user and implemented by Libraries, User level threads do not need any hardware support.
Option (C): Related kernel level threads can be scheduled on different processors in a multi- processor system. This is true.
Option (D): Blocking one kernel level thread blocks all related threads. false, since kernel level threads are managed by operating system, if one thread blocks, it does not cause all threads or entire process to block. 

There are following ways that concurrent processes can follow.

There are 3 different possible values of B: 2, 3 and 4.

Each process goes through different states in its life cycle,

Bounded waiting :There exists a bound, or limit, on the number of times other processes are allowed to enter their critical sections after a process has made request to enter its critical section and before that request is granted. mutual exclusion prevents simultaneous access to a shared resource. This concept is used in concurrent programming with a critical section, a piece of code in which processes or threads access a shared resource. Solution: Two processes, P1 and P2, need to access a critical section of code. Here, wants1 and wants2 are shared variables, which are initialized to false. Now, when both wants1 and wants2 become true, both process p1 and p2 enter in while loop and waiting for each other to finish. This while loop run indefinitely which leads to deadlock. Now, Assume P1 is in critical section (it means wants1=true, wants2 can be anything, true or false). So this ensures that p2 won’t enter in critical section and vice versa. This satisfies the property of mutual exclusion. Here bounded waiting condition is also satisfied as there is a bound on the number of process which gets access to critical section after a process request access to it. 

It is possible that process_arrived becomes greater than 3. It will not be possible for process arrived to become 3 again, hence deadlock.

Step ‘2’ should not be executed when the process enters the barrier second time till other two processes have not completed their 7th step. This is to prevent variable process_arrived becoming greater than 3. 
So, when variable process_arrived becomes zero and variable process_left also becomes zero then the problem of deadlock will be resolved. 
Thus, at the beginning of the barrier the first process to enter the barrier waits until process_arrived becomes zero before proceeding to execute P(S). 
 
Thus, option (B) is correct. 
 
Please comment below if you find anything wrong in the above post.

P(S) means wait on semaphore ’S’ and V(S) means signal on semaphore ‘S’. The definition of these functions are : 
Wait(S) {
       while (i <= 0) ;
       S-- ;
}

Signal(S) {
       S++ ;
}

 
Initially S = 1 and T = 0 to support mutual exclusion in process ‘P’ and ‘Q’. 
Since, S = 1 , process ‘P’ will be executed and function Wait(S) will decrement the value of ‘S’. So, S = 0 now. 
Simultaneously, in process ‘Q’ , T = 0 . Therefore, in process ‘Q’ control will be stuck in while loop till the time process ‘P’ prints ‘00’ and increments the value of ‘T’ by calling function V(T). 
While the control is in process ‘Q’, S = 0 and process ‘P’ will be stuck in while loop. Process ‘P’ will not execute till the time process ‘Q’ prints ‘11’ and makes S = 1 by calling function V(S). 
 
Thus, process 'P' and 'Q' will keep on repeating to give the output ‘00110011 …… ‘ . 
 
Please comment below if you find anything wrong in the above post.

P(S) means wait on semaphore ‘S’ and V(S) means signal on semaphore ‘S’. [sourcecode] Wait(S) { while (i <= 0) --S;} Signal(S) { S++; } [/sourcecode] Initially, we assume S = 1 and T = 0 to support mutual exclusion in process P and Q. Since S = 1, only process P will be executed and wait(S) will decrement the value of S. Therefore, S = 0. At the same instant, in process Q, value of T = 0. Therefore, in process Q, control will be stuck in while loop till the time process P prints 00 and increments the value of T by calling the function V(T). While the control is in process Q, semaphore S = 0 and process P would be stuck in while loop and would not execute till the time process Q prints 11 and makes the value of S = 1 by calling the function V(S). This whole process will repeat to give the output 00 11 00 11 … . 
 
Thus, B is the correct choice. 
 
Please comment below if you find anything wrong in the above post.

Background Explanation: A critical section in which the process may be changing common variables, updating table, writing a file and perform another function. The important problem is that if one process is executing in its critical section, no other process is to be allowed to execute in its critical section. Each process much request permission to enter its critical section. A semaphore is a tool for synchronization and it is used to remove the critical section problem which is that no two processes can run simultaneously together so to remove this two signal operations are used named as wait and signal which is used to remove the mutual exclusion of the critical section. as an unsigned one of the most important synchronization primitives, because you can build many other Decrementing the semaphore is called acquiring or locking it, incrementing is called releasing or unlocking.
Solution : Since initial value of semaphore is 2, two processes can enter critical section at a time- this is bad and we can see why. Say, X and Y be the processes.X increments x by 1 and Z decrements x by 2. Now, Z stores back and after this X stores back. So, final value of x is 1 and not -1 and two Signal operations make the semaphore value 2 again. So, now W and Z can also execute like this and the value of x can be 2 which is the maximum possible in any order of execution of the processes. (If the semaphore is initialized to 1, processed would execute correctly and we get the final value of x as -2.) Option (D) is the correct answer.
 Another Solution: Processes can run in many ways, below is one of the cases in which x attains max value Semaphore S is initialized to 2 Process W executes S=1, x=1 but it doesn't update the x variable. Then process Y executes S=0, it decrements x, now x= -2 and signal semaphore S=1 Now process Z executes s=0, x=-4, signal semaphore S=1 Now process W updates x=1, S=2 Then process X executes X=2 So correct option is D 
Another Solution: S is a counting semaphore initialized to 2 i.e., Two process can go inside a critical section protected by S. W, X read the variable, increment by 1 and write it back. Y, Z can read the variable, decrement by 2 and write it back. Whenever Y or Z runs the count gets decreased by 2. So, to have the maximum sum, we should copy the variable into one of the processes which increases the count, and at the same time the decrementing processed should run parallel, so that whatever they write back into memory can be overridden by incrementing process. So, in effect decrement would never happen. 

In a process context switch, the state of the first process must be saved somehow, so that, when the scheduler gets back to the execution of the first process, it can restore this state and continue. 

The state of the process includes all the registers that the process may be using, especially the program counter, plus any other operating system specific data that may be necessary. 

A Translation lookaside buffer (TLB) is a CPU cache that memory management hardware uses to improve virtual address translation speed. A TLB has a fixed number of slots that contain page table entries, which map virtual addresses to physical addresses. On a context switch, some TLB entries can become invalid, since the virtual-to-physical mapping is different. The simplest strategy to deal with this is to completely flush the TLB. 

According to concept of thrashing,

Process control block: It is a data structure that is maintained by the Operating System for every process. A process state is a condition of the process at a specific instant of time. Every process is represented in the operating system by a process control block, which is also called a task control block.

Hence the correct answer is process control block.

A process state diagram for a pre-emptive scheduling is:

A process can move from running state to ready state on interrupt or when priority expires, that is, when it is pre-empted.

A ready process moves to running process when it is dispatched.

A blocked process that is in waiting state can never move directly to running state. It must go to ready queue first.

A blocked or waiting process can move to ready state.

Batch Operating System does not interact with the computer directly. There is an operator which takes similar jobs having the same requirement and group them into batches. It is the responsibility of the operator to sort jobs with similar needs.

Hence the correct answer is the Batch processing operating system.

Initially, there is no element in the buffer. 
Semaphore s = 1 and semaphore n = 0. 
We assume that initially control goes to the consumer when buffer is empty. 
semWait(s) decrements the value of semaphore ‘s’ . Now, s = 0 and semWait(n) decrements the value of semaphore ‘n’. Since, the value of semaphore ‘n’ becomes less than 0 , the control stucks in while loop of function semWait() and a deadlock arises. 
 
Thus, deadlock occurs if the consumer succeeds in acquiring semaphore s when the buffer is empty. 

It satisfies the mutual excluision : Process P0 and P1 could not have successfully executed their while statements at the same time as value of ‘turn’ can either be 0 or 1 but can’t be both at the same time. Lets say, when process P0 executing its while statements with the condition “turn == 1”, So this condition will persist as long as process P1 is executing its critical section. And when P1 comes out from its critical section it changes the value of ‘turn’ to 0 in exit section and because of that time P0 comes out from the its while loop and enters into its critical section. Therefore only one process is able to execute its critical section at a time.

Its also satisfies bounded waiting : It is limit on number of times that other process is allowed to enter its critical section after a process has made a request to enter its critical section and before that request is granted. Lets say, P0 wishes to enter into its critical section, it will definitely get a chance to enter into its critical section after at most one entry made by p1 as after executing its critical section it will set ‘turn’ to 0 (zero). And vice-versa (strict alteration).

Progess is not satisfied : Because of strict alternation no process can stop other process from entering into its critical section.

Option A can cause deadlock. Imagine a situation process X has acquired a, process Y has acquired b and process Z has acquired c and d. There is circular wait now. Option C can also cause deadlock. Imagine a situation process X has acquired b, process Y has acquired c and process Z has acquired a. There is circular wait now. Option D can also cause deadlock. Imagine a situation process X has acquired a and b, process Y has acquired c. X and Y circularly waiting for each other.
Consider option A) for example here all 3 processes are concurrent so X will get semaphore a, Y will get b and Z will get c, now X is blocked for b, Y is blocked for c, Z gets d and blocked for a. Thus it will lead to deadlock. Similarly one can figure out that for B) completion order is Z,X then Y. 

In a multiprogramming environment, the operating system determines which processes receive processor time and for how long. Process scheduling is the name for this function. For processor management, an operating system performs the following tasks:

Major Points

A process is the instance of a computer program that is being executed. It contains the program code and its activity. A process may be made up of multiple threads of execution that execute instructions concurrently.

Program in execution is called process. The process is an active entity.