Os scheduling – part 2
SMP5: Scheduler with SignalsIn the last MP, we built a simulated OS process scheduler. The scheduler canhold only a certain number of processes (workers) at one time. Once the processhas been accepted into the scheduler, the scheduler decides in what order theprocesses execute. We implemented two scheduling algorithms: FIFO and RoundRobin.In this MP, we are to simulate a time-sharing system by using signals andtimers. We will only implement the Round Robin algorithm. Instead of usingiterations to model the concept of “time slices” (as in the last MP), we useinterval timers. The scheduler is installed with an interval timer. The timerstarts ticking when the scheduler picks a thread to use the CPU which in turnsignals the thread when its time slice is finished thus allowing the schedulerto pick another thread and so on. When a thread has completely finished its workit leaves the scheduler to allow a waiting thread to enter. Please note that inthis MP, only the timer and scheduler send signals. The threads passively handlethe signals without signaling back to the scheduler.The program takes a number of arguments. Arg1 determines the number of jobs(threads in our implementation) created; arg2 specifies the queue size of thescheduler. Arg3 through argN gives the duration (the required time slices tocomplete a job) of each job. Hence if we create 2 jobs, we should supply arg3and arg4 for the required duration. You can assume that the autograder willalways supply the correct number of arguments and hence you do not have todetect invalid input.Here is an example of program output, once the program is complete:% scheduler 3 2 3 2 3Main: running 3 workers with queue size 2 for quanta:3 2 3Main: detaching worker thread 3075926960.Main: detaching worker thread 3065437104.Main: detaching worker thread 3054947248.Main: waiting for scheduler 3086416816.Scheduler: waiting for workers.Thread 3075926960: in scheduler queue.Thread 3075926960: suspending.Thread 3065437104: in scheduler queue.Thread 3065437104: suspending.Scheduler: scheduling.Scheduler: resuming 3075926960.Thread 3075926960: resuming.Scheduler: suspending 3075926960.Scheduler: scheduling.Scheduler: resuming 3065437104.Thread 3065437104: resuming.Thread 3075926960: suspending.Scheduler: suspending 3065437104.Scheduler: scheduling.Scheduler: resuming 3075926960.Thread 3075926960: resuming.Thread 3065437104: suspending.Scheduler: suspending 3075926960.Scheduler: scheduling.Scheduler: resuming 3065437104.Thread 3065437104: resuming.Thread 3075926960: suspending.Scheduler: suspending 3065437104.Thread 3065437104: leaving scheduler queue.Scheduler: scheduling.Scheduler: resuming 3075926960.Thread 3075926960: resuming.Thread 3065437104: terminating.Thread 3054947248: in scheduler queue.Thread 3054947248: suspending.Scheduler: suspending 3075926960.Thread 3075926960: leaving scheduler queue.Scheduler: scheduling.Scheduler: resuming 3054947248.Thread 3054947248: resuming.Thread 3075926960: terminating.Scheduler: suspending 3054947248.Scheduler: scheduling.Scheduler: resuming 3054947248.Thread 3054947248: suspending.Thread 3054947248: resuming.Scheduler: suspending 3054947248.Scheduler: scheduling.Scheduler: resuming 3054947248.Thread 3054947248: suspending.Thread 3054947248: resuming.Scheduler: suspending 3054947248.Thread 3054947248: leaving scheduler queue.Thread 3054947248: terminating.The total wait time is 12.062254 seconds.The total run time is 7.958618 seconds.The average wait time is 4.020751 seconds.The average run time is 2.652873 seconds.The goal of this MP is to help you understand (1) how signals and timers work,and (2) how to evaluate the performance of your program. You will firstimplement the time-sharing system using timers and signals. Then, you willevaluate the overall performance of your program by keeping track of how longeach thread is idle, running, etc.The program will use these four signals:SIGALRM: sent by the timer to the scheduler, to indicate another timequantum has passed.SIGUSR1: sent by the scheduler to a worker, to tell it to suspend.SIGUSR2: sent by the scheduler to a suspended worker, to tell it to resume.SIGTERM: sent by the scheduler to a worker, to tell it to cancel.You will need to set up the appropriate handlers and masks for these signals.You will use these functions:clock_gettimepthread_sigmaskpthread_killsigactionsigaddsetsigemptysetsigwaittimer_settimetimer_createAlso, make sure you understand how the POSIX:TMR interval timer works.There are two ways you can test your code. You can run the built-in gradingtests by running “scheduler -test -f0 rr”. This runs 5 tests, each of which canbe run individually. You can also test you program with specific parameters byrunning “scheduler -test gen …” where the ellipsis contains the parameters youwould pass to scheduler.Programming===========Part I: Modify the scheduler code (scheduler.c)———————————————–We use the scheduler thread to setup the timer and handle the scheduling for thesystem. The scheduler handles the SIGALRM events that come from the timer, andsends out signals to the worker threads.Step 1.Modify the code in init_sched_queue() function in scheduler.c to initialize thescheduler with a POSIX:TMR interval timer. Use CLOCK_REALTIME in timer_create().The timer will be stored in the global variable “timer”, which will be startedin scheduler_run() (see Step 4 below).Step 2.Implement setup_sig_handlers(). Use sigaction() to install signal handlers forSIGALRM, SIGUSR1, and SIGTERM. SIGALRM should trigger timer_handler(), SIGUSR1should trigger suspend_thread(), and SIGTERM should trigger cancel_thread().Notice no handler is installed for SIGUSR2; this signal will be handleddifferently, in step 8.Step 3.In the scheduler_run() function, start the timer. Use timer_settime(). Thetime quantum (1 second) is given in scheduler.h. The timer should go offrepeatedly at regular intervals defined by the timer quantum.In Round-Robin, whenever the timer goes off, the scheduler suspends thecurrently running thread, and tells the next thread to resume its operationsusing signals. These steps are listed in timer_handler(), which is called everytime the timer goes off. In this implementation, the timer handler makes use ofsuspend_worker() and resume_worker() to accomplush these steps.Step 4.Complete the suspend_worker() function. First, update the info->quanta value.This is the number of quanta that remain for this thread to execute. It isinitialized to the value passed on the command line, and decreases as the threadexecutes. If there is any more work for this worker to do, send it a signal tosuspend, and update the scheduler queue. Otherwise, cancel the thread.Step 5.Complete the cancel_worker() function by sending the appropriate signal to thethread, telling it to kill itself.Step 6.Complete the resume_worker() function by sending the appropriate signal to thethread, telling it to resume execution.Part II: Modify the worker code (worker.c)——————————————In this section, you will modify the worker code to correctly handle the signalsfrom the scheduler that you implemented in the previous section.You need to modify the thread functions so that it immediately suspends thethread, waiting for a resume signal from the scheduler. You will need to usesigwait() to force the thread to suspend itself and wait for a resume signal.You need also to implement a signal handler in worker.c to catch and handle thesuspend signals.Step 7.Modify start_worker() to (1) block SIGUSR2 and SIGALRM, and (2) unblock SIGUSR1and SIGTERM.Step 8.Implement suspend_thread(), the handler for the SIGUSR1 signal. Thethread should block until it receives a resume (SIGUSR2) signal.Part III: Modify the evaluation code (scheduler.c)————————————————–This program keeps track of run time, and wait time. Each thread saves thesetwo values regarding its own execution in its thread_info_t. Tracking thesevalues requires also knowing the last time the thread suspended or resumed.Therefore, these two values are also kept in thread_info_t. See scheduler.h.In this section, you will implement the functions that calculate run time andwait time. All code that does this will be in scheduler.c. When the programis done, it will collect all these values, and print out the total and averagewait time and run time. For your convenience, you are given a functiontime_difference() to compute the difference between two times in microseconds.Step 9.Modify create_workers() to initialize the various time variables.Step 10.Implement update_run_time(). This is called by suspend_worker().Step 11.Implement update_wait_time(). This is called by resume_worker().Questions==========Question 1.Why do we block SIGUSR2 and SIGALRM in worker.c? Why do we unblock SIGUSR1 andSIGTERM in worker.c?Question 2.We use sigwait() and sigaction() in our code. Explain the difference between thetwo. (Please explain from the aspect of thread behavior rather than syntax).Question 3.When we use POSIX:TMR interval timer, we are using relative time. What is thealternative? Explain the difference between the two.Question 4.Look at start_worker() in worker.c, a worker thread is executing within aninfinite loop at the end. When does a worker thread terminate?Question 5.When does the scheduler finish? Why does it not exit when the scheduler queueis empty?Question 6.After a thread is scheduled to run, is it still in the sched_queue? When is itremoved from the head of the queue? When is it removed from the queue completely?Question 7.We’ve removed all other condition variables in SMP4, and replaced them with atimer and signals. Why do we still use the semaphore queue_sem?Question 8.What’s the purpose of the global variable “completed” in scheduler.c? Why do wecompare “completed” with thread_count before we wait_for_queue() innext_worker()?Question 9.We only implemented Round Robin in this SMP. If we want to implement a FIFOscheduling algorithm and keep the modification as minimum, which function inscheduler.c is the one that you should modify? Briefly describe how you wouldmodify this function.Question 10.In this implementation, the scheduler only changes threads when the time quantumexpires. Briefly explain how you would use an additional signal to allow thescheduler to change threads in the middle of a time quantum. In what situationswould this be useful?
