Fall 2006Course NotesUNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA AT OMAHA Computer Science 8530 Advanced Operating Systems Fall 2006 Course Notes Class Meetings This class will meet each Tuesday and Thursday, from August 22, 2006 through December 7, 2006, from 12:00 PM to 1:15 PM in PKI 377, with the exception of October 17 (semester break) and November 23 (Thanksgiving vacation). Instructor The instructor for this class is Professor Stanley Wileman. His office is PKI 281E. His phone number is 554-3583, and the department’s telephone number is 554-2834. Electronic mail may be sent to [email protected]. Office hours are usually 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM Tuesday and Thursday, and 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM Wednesday. Other office hours are available, preferably by appointment. Check the instructor’s web site for any changes to this schedule. Prerequisites This course assumes students have a good understanding of basic operating system principles similar to that provided by a traditional introductory undergraduate operating systems course. In particular, the major functions of an operating system should be familiar, as should the basic algorithms and techniques used for implementing them. Concepts of concurrent programming, including processes, threads, and various mechanisms for interprocess communication should be familiar. In particular, it is expected that students will have familiarity with the API for a traditional UNIX/Linux operating system, including such things as input/output and process management. Course Organization This course has two major parts. In the first part of the semester, the source code for a small operating system, Tempo-vm, is examined in detail. While this system is not commercially viable, it does illustrate the implementation and problems associated with many major operating system concepts (e.g. interrupts, processes/threads, scheduling, memory management, process synchronization). Various assignments will be given that require modification of the system. The second part of the semester is an introduction to real-time programming and real-time systems. The basic fundamentals of real-time systems (i.e. how they differ from non-real-time systems) are covered. Building on basic understanding of the UNIX system API (actually, POSIX definitions of these), real-time extensions are covered in reasonable detail. An introduction to the development of reliable systems is provided, and simple techniques for improving system reliability are discussed. The fundamentals of real-time scheduling are covered, including such things as cyclic executives, rate monotonic and deadline monotonic scheduling, and various algorithms for solving the priority inversion problem. Several small real-time programming assignments are given, and a major real-time project (involving external hardware such as motors, sensors, and so forth) will be assigned. Textbook Text material for the first part of the course is provided by the instructor through the class web site (mentioned below). The text for the second part of the course may be provided through the class web site as well; reference materials for this part of the course Computer Science 8530 Course Notes, Page 1 Fall 2006will be announced later. On-line reference material for the QNX operating system is provided through the system’s web site, which can be accessed from the class web site. Web Sites The instructor’s web site is found at csalpha.unomaha.edu/~stanw. The web pages for the class will contain copies of material distributed in class, Adobe Acrobat versions of the Power Point class presentations, programming assignments, and other items of interest. The home page can be found at csalpha.unomaha.edu/~stanw/063/csci8530/index.html. Students are expected to refer to the web site frequently to obtain latest information about the class. Grading Grades will be based on multiple components: relatively small Tempo-vm assignments (15 percent), the Tempo-vm project (20 percent), the QNX project (30 percent), other smaller QNX programming assignments (15 percent), a midterm examination (10 percent), and a final examination (10 percent). Programming Assignments Programming assignments will vary significantly. Some (those involving Tempo-vm) will require the use of a Windows or Linux system, probably with the Cygwin and Bochs software installed (available in the PKI user rooms), while others will require the use of the QNX operating system. Details will be provided with each assignment. Projects There are two major projects associated with this course, one using the Tempo/32 system and the other using QNX. The Tempo-vm project can be completed using either a Windows platform (with Cygwin) or a Linux platform; the Bochs software is highly recommended. Cygwin and Bochs are both freely available on the Internet; details are given in the Tempo-vm distribution. The QNX project programming must be done on a QNX platform, and a networked server is provided for student use. Additional QNX machines are available in a PKI laboratory; scheduled student use of this room will be required. The QNX Neutrino system will be used to complete the programming components of the project and some of the assignments; details will be provided. Additionally, the QNX project may require the use of specialized external devices to be controlled in real time. There will be a limited number of these devices produced, and they will only be available in the PKI laboratory. Detailed instructions will be provided for those students who wish to attempt construction of their own copy of the external device. Computing Resources Accounts on the QNX server will be provided for use in completing the assignments for the course. You are expected to be aware of, and abide by, the policy for responsible use of university computers and information systems. It can be found at www.nebraska.edu/about/exec_memo16.pdf. Attendance Expectations No record will be kept of student attendance in this class, nor will attendance itself be a direct component of a grade. Attendance, however, is highly encouraged. Each student is responsible for all material covered during the lectures. The instructor will not repeat lecture material for students who do not attend. Professionalism It is assumed that you possess the potential and intent to become, or already are, a professional. Make your programming assignments and overall performance reflect that professionalism. "Program