COMPUTER SYSTEMS
STRUCTURES
CHAPTER 2: COMPUTER-SYSTEM STRUCTURES
Computer System Operation
I/O Structure
Operating System Concepts
Storage Structure
Storage Hierarchy
Hardware Protection
General System Architecture
COMPUTER-SYSTEM OPERATION
I/O devices and the CPU can execute concurrently.
Each device controller is in charge of a particular device
Operating System Concepts
type.
Each device controller has a local buffer.
CPU moves data from/to main memory to/from local
buffers
I/O is from the device to local buffer of controller.
Device controller informs CPU that it has finished its
operation by causing an interrupt.
COMMON FUNCTIONS OF INTERRUPTS
Interrupt transfers control to the interrupt service routine
generally, through the interrupt vector, which contains
Operating System Concepts
the addresses of all the service routines.
Interrupt architecture must save the address of the
interrupted instruction.
Incoming interrupts are disabled while another interrupt
is being processed to prevent a lost interrupt.
A trap is a software-generated interrupt caused either by
an error or a user request.
An operating system is interrupt driven.
I/O STRUCTURE
After I/O starts, control returns to user program only upon I/O
completion.
Wait instruction idles the CPU until the next interrupt
Wait loop (contention for memory access).
At most one I/O request is outstanding at a time, no simultaneous I/O
Operating System Concepts
processing.
After I/O starts, control returns to user program without waiting for
I/O completion.
System call – request to the operating system to allow user to wait for
I/O completion.
Device-status table contains entry for each I/O device indicating its
type, address, and state.
Operating system indexes into I/O device table to determine device
status and to modify table entry to include interrupt.
TWO I/O METHODS
Synchronous Asynchronous
Operating System Concepts
DIRECT MEMORY ACCESS STRUCTURE
Used for high-speed I/O devices able to transmit
information at close to memory speeds.
Operating System Concepts
Device controller transfers blocks of data from buffer
storage directly to main memory without CPU
intervention.
Only on interrupt is generated per block, rather than the
one interrupt per byte.
STORAGE STRUCTURE
Main memory – only large storage media that the CPU
can access directly.
Operating System Concepts
Secondary storage – extension of main memory that
provides large nonvolatile storage capacity.
Magnetic disks – rigid metal or glass platters covered
with magnetic recording material
Disk surface is logically divided into tracks, which are
subdivided into sectors.
The disk controller determines the logical interaction
between the device and the computer.
MOVING-HEAD DISK MECHANISM
Operating System Concepts
STORAGE HIERARCHY
Storage systems organized in hierarchy.
Speed
Operating System Concepts
Cost
Volatility
Caching – copying information into faster storage
system; main memory can be viewed as a last cache for
secondary storage.
TRADITIONAL STORAGE-DEVICE
HIERARCHY
Operating System Concepts
MODERN STORAGE DEVICE
HIERARCHY
Operating System Concepts
CACHING
Use of high-speed memory to hold recently-accessed
data.
Operating System Concepts
Requires a cache management policy.
Caching introduces another level in storage hierarchy.
This requires data that is simultaneously stored in more
than one level to be consistent.
MIGRATION OF A FROM DISK TO
REGISTER
Operating System Concepts
HARDWARE PROTECTION
Dual-Mode Operation
I/O Protection
Operating System Concepts
Memory Protection
CPU Protection
DUAL-MODE OPERATION
Sharing system resources requires operating system to
ensure that an incorrect program cannot cause other
Operating System Concepts
programs to execute incorrectly.
Provide hardware support to differentiate between at
least two modes of operations.
1. User mode – execution done on behalf of a user.
2. Monitor mode (also kernel mode or system mode) – execution
done on behalf of operating system.
DUAL-MODE OPERATION (CONT.)
Mode bit added to computer hardware to indicate the
current mode: monitor (0) or user (1).
Operating System Concepts
When an interrupt or fault occurs hardware switches to
monitor mode.
Interrupt/fault
monitor user
set user mode
Privileged instructions can be issued only in monitor mode.
I/O PROTECTION
All I/O instructions are privileged instructions.
Must ensure that a user program could never gain control
Operating System Concepts
of the computer in monitor mode (I.e., a user program
that, as part of its execution, stores a new address in the
interrupt vector).
MEMORY PROTECTION
Must provide memory protection at least for the interrupt
vector and the interrupt service routines.
Operating System Concepts
In order to have memory protection, add two registers
that determine the range of legal addresses a program
may access:
Base register – holds the smallest legal physical memory
address.
Limit register – contains the size of the range
Memory outside the defined range is protected.
HARDWARE PROTECTION
When executing in monitor mode, the operating system
has unrestricted access to both monitor and user’s
Operating System Concepts
memory.
The load instructions for the base and limit registers are
privileged instructions.
CPU PROTECTION
Timer – interrupts computer after specified period to
ensure operating system maintains control.
Operating System Concepts
Timeris decremented every clock tick.
When timer reaches the value 0, an interrupt occurs.
Timer commonly used to implement time sharing.
Time also used to compute the current time.
Load-timer is a privileged instruction.
