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Android Process Management Explained

Process management in Android operates similarly to other operating systems, using processes and process control blocks (PCBs) to manage processes. At its core, Android uses a special "Zygote" process that initializes when the system starts and forks to create new processes for applications. This improves performance by not needing to copy shared libraries for each new process, instead only copying memory if it is modified. The Zygote process and standard PCB-based process management provide the foundation for how Android handles and schedules application processes.

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Tedla Melekot
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284 views3 pages

Android Process Management Explained

Process management in Android operates similarly to other operating systems, using processes and process control blocks (PCBs) to manage processes. At its core, Android uses a special "Zygote" process that initializes when the system starts and forks to create new processes for applications. This improves performance by not needing to copy shared libraries for each new process, instead only copying memory if it is modified. The Zygote process and standard PCB-based process management provide the foundation for how Android handles and schedules application processes.

Uploaded by

Tedla Melekot
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Process Management Overview

Process management in a typical operating system involves many complex data


structures and algorithms, but doesn’t go much beyond the level managing the typical
process data structure. Android is similar in that at the base level the control structures
look the same. Similar to this:

Process Control Block(PCB) and Process Management

Process Management Overview

Process management in a typical operating system involves many complex data


structures and algorithms, but doesn’t go much beyond the level managing the typical
process data structure. Android is similar in that at the base level the control structures
look the same. Similar to this:

Process Control Block(PCB) and Process Management

Process Control Block

This data structure is managed by a standard process management, which is something


like this:
-

At base level android PCB is the same and PCB is managed by standard process
management

Process Management Zygote

Android at its core has a process they call the “Zygote”, which starts up at init. It gets it's
name from dictionary definition: "It is the initial cell formed when a new organism is
produced". This process is a “Warmed-up” process, which means it’s a process that’s
been initialized and has all the core libraries linked in. When you start an application,
the Zygote is forked, so now there are 2 VMs. The real speedup is achieved by NOT
copying the shared libraries. This memory will only be copied if the new process tries to
modify it. This means that all of the core libraries can exist in a single place because
they are read only.

One interesting thing you’ll notice in antivirus apps like Avast! For Android is that the
antivirus app uses a notification icon. If you try to disable the notification icon, Avast!
Will recommend against it. By having a visible notification icon, Avast! Makes itself
higher-priority app, preventing Android from considering it a background app and killing
it.

1. Miscellaneous accounting and status data – This field includes information


about the amount of CPU used, time constraints, jobs or process number, etc. The
process control block stores the register content also known as execution content
of the processor when it was blocked from running. This execution content
architecture enables the operating system to restore a process’s execution context
when the process returns to the running state. When the process makes a
transition from one state to another, the operating system updates its information in
the process’s PCB. The operating system maintains pointers to each process’s
PCB in a process table so that it can access the PCB quickly. 

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