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Classical Problems of Synchronization in Operating Systems

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5 views

Classical Problems of Synchronization in Operating Systems

Uploaded by

kaj199592
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Classical Problems

of Synchronization
in Operating
Systems
Operating systems face a variety of synchronization challenges as they manage the
concurrent execution of multiple processes and threads. Understanding the
classical synchronization problems is crucial for developing robust and efficient OS
designs.
What is Synchronization?
1 Coordinating 2 Avoiding Data Corruption
Concurrent Processes
Proper synchronization prevents
Synchronization ensures that data from being corrupted when
multiple processes or threads can multiple processes try to modify
access shared resources without the same information
conflicts or race conditions. simultaneously.

3 Maintaining Consistency
Synchronization mechanisms help maintain the consistency and integrity of
the operating system by coordinating access to shared data.
Introduction to Classical Problems of
Synchronization
Dining Philosophers Bounded Buffer Readers-Writers

Preventing deadlocks when Ensuring that producers and Allowing concurrent read access
multiple processes compete for a consumers can safely share a while ensuring exclusive write
limited set of resources. fixed-size buffer without deadlocks access to shared data.
or race conditions.
Dining Philosophers Problem
Limited Resources Deadlock Potential
Each philosopher requires two forks If each philosopher picks up their
to eat, but there are only five forks left fork and then waits for the right
available. fork, a deadlock can occur.

Starvation Avoidance Fairness


Careful coordination is needed to The solution should ensure that all
ensure that no philosopher is philosophers have a fair chance to
starved of the resources they need access the resources they need.
to eat.
Bounded Buffer
We have two types of processes: producers and consumers. Producers generate data and
add it to a shared buffer, while consumers remove and process data from the buffer. The
challenge here is that the buffer has a fixed size, so producers and consumers need to be
synchronized to avoid issues.

Challenge:

Challenge is to ensure producers don't overflow the buffer (add data when it's full) and
consumers don't underflow the buffer (remove data when it's empty).

Solution:

The solution involves using semaphores and mutexes to manage the buffer.

• A full semaphore to keep track of how many items are in the buffer.
• Empty Semaphore: Ensures consumers don’t try to consume when the buffer is empty.
• A mutex lock to ensure only one producer or consumer accesses the buffer at any
given time."
Readers-Writers Problem
Problem statement:

This problem occurs when multiple processes need to access a shared resource, like a file or database. We have two types of processes
here: readers and writers. Readers can read from the resource at the same time without any issues. However, writers need exclusive
access to the resource to make sure the data isn’t corrupted while it’s being modified.

Challenges:

• The key challenge is ensuring that no reader or writer accesses the resource when a writer is writing.
• Another issue is starvation: if readers are always prioritized, writers might never get a chance to write. Likewise, if writers are
always prioritized, readers will be delayed.

Solution:

To solve this, we use synchronization techniques like semaphores or mutex locks.

In a readers-priority solution, multiple readers are allowed to access the resource simultaneously, but writers have to wait until all
readers are done.

In a writers-priority solution, we give writers exclusive access as soon as they request it.

Synchronization mechanisms help manage this by ensuring data consistency and fairness."
Synchronization Techniques
1 Locks and Mutexes 2 Semaphores
Mechanisms that allow only one Counting variables that control
process to access a shared access to shared resources and
resource at a time. coordinate the flow of processes.

3 Condition Variables 4 Monitors


Allow processes to wait for High-level synchronization
specific conditions to be met constructs that encapsulate data
before they can proceed. and the operations that can be
performed on it.
Challenges in Synchronization
Deadlocks
When two or more processes are blocked, each holding a resource
that another process is waiting for.

Starvation
When a process is indefinitely denied access to a shared resource,
preventing it from making progress.

Priority Inversion
When a high-priority process is blocked by a lower-priority process
that holds a shared resource.
Conclusion and Key Takeaways

Importance of Synchronization
Effective synchronization is crucial for the smooth and efficient operation of an operating system.

Synchronization Techniques
Understanding and applying the appropriate synchronization techniques is essential for solving
classical synchronization problems.

Ongoing Challenges
Synchronization challenges such as deadlocks, starvation, and priority inversion require
continued research and development.

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