COS 318: Operating Systems Synchronization: Mutual Exclusion

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

COS 318: Operating Systems Synchronization: Mutual Exclusion “Too Many Cookies” ProBlem u Roommates Lance and James want a Bag of cookies in the room COS 318: Operating Systems at all times, but don’t’ want to Buy too many cookies u They Buy cookies independently, using the following sequence Synchronization: Mutual l Look in cabinet: Out of cookies Exclusion l Leave for Wawa to buy cookies l Arrive at Wawa Jaswinder Pal Singh and a FaBulous Course Staff l Buy a bag of cookies Computer Science Department l Arrive home and put cookies in cabinet Princeton University (http://www.cs.princeton.edu/courses/cos318/) 2 “Too Many Cookies” ProBlem Using A Note? James Lance James and Lance’s Cookie Optimization Algorithm: 15:00 Look in caBinet: out of cookies 15:05 Leave for Wawa if (noCookies) { // check if roommate left a note if (noNote) { 15:10 Arrive at Wawa Look in caBinet: out of cookies leave note; // let them know you went to Wawa 15:15 Buy a bag of cookies Leave for Wawa buy cookies; remove note; 15:20 Arrive home; put cookies away Arrive at Wawa } 15:25 Buy a bag of cookies } Arrive home; put cookies away u Any issue with this approach? u Oh No! Too many cookies. 3 4 1 Using A Note? Why Solution #1 Does Not Work James Lance James Lance 3:00 if (noCookies) { if (noCookies) { if (noCookies) { if (noNote) { if (noNote) { if (noNote) { 3:05 leave note; leave note; 3:10 if (noCookies) { buy cookies; buy cookies; 3:15 if (noNote) { remove note; remove note; 3:20 leave Note; leave Note; } } 3:25 buy cookies; buy cookies; } } 3:30 remove Note } } remove Note} } u Any issue with this approach? Threads can get context-switched at any time Too many cookies! 5 PossiBle Solution #2: Leave Note First PossiBle Solution #3: One Spin-waits u ProBlem was that threads checked once and moved on James Lance l So have one of them spin-wait on the note James Lance leave noteA leave noteB if (noNoteB) { if (noNoteA) { leave noteA leave noteB if (noCookies) { if(noCookies){ while (noteB) if (noNoteA) { buy cookies buy cookies do nothing; if (noCookies) { } } if (noCookies) buy cookies } } buy cookies; } remove noteA remove noteB remove noteA } remove noteB Didn’t buy cookies u Would this fix the proBlem? Didn’t buy u Yes, But complicated, different code for different threads, u Does this method work? cookies busy waiting wasteful, and not fair 7 8 2 Threads Example: Shared Counter ProBlem with Shared Counters u Google gets millions of hits a day. Uses multiple threads (on multiple processors) to speed things up. u One possiBle result: lost update! u Simple shared state error: each thread increments a hits = 0 shared counter to track the number of hits today: T2 time T1 … read hits (0) hits = hits + 1; read hits (0) … hits = 0 + 1 hits = 0 + 1 u What happens when two threads execute this code hits = 1 concurrently? ProBlem with Shared Counters Race Conditions u Race condition: accesses to shared state that can lead u Another possiBle result: everything works! to a timing dependent error hits = 0 l Whether it happens depends on how threads are scheduled T2 u Difficult to avoid Because: time T1 l Must make sure all possible schedules are safe. read hits (0) l NumBer of possiBle schedule permutations is huge. hits = 0 + 1 l One or more of them may Be “Bad” read hits (1) l They are intermittent hits = 1 + 1 l Timing dependent => small changes can hide or reveal Bug hits = 2 • Adding a print statement • Running on a different machine u Another possible result: everything works u This is called a “race condition” 3 It’s Actually Even Worse Preventing Race Conditions: Atomicity u Compilers reorder instruction issue within a thread u Atomic unit = instruction sequence guaranteed to l To optimize register usage and hence run code faster execute indivisibly (also called a “critical section”). • If two threads execute the same atomic unit at the same time, one u Hardware reorders instruction execution/completion thread will execute the whole sequence before the other begins l E.g. write Buffers, etc hits = 0 u All done to optimize execution speed T2 time T1 u But they don’t know aBout multiple threads and issues hits = hits + 1 across them hits = hits + 1 hits = 2 u How to make multiple instrs seem like an atomic one? 13 Providing Atomicity Preventing Race Conditions: Atomicity u Have hardware provide Better primitives than atomic u Counter proBlem load and store. Acquire(lock); u Build higher-level programming aBstractions on this new hits = hits + 1;) Critical section hardware support. Release(lock); u Example: locks Acquire --- wait until lock is free, then graB it Release --- unlock/release the lock, waking up a waiter if any These must Be atomic operations --- if two threads are waiting for the lock, and both see it is free, only one graBs it 17 4 Preventing Race Conditions: Atomicity Rules for Using Locks u Cookies proBlem u Lock is initially free u Always acquire Before accessing shared data structure Acquire(lock); if (noCookies) Critical section u Always release after finishing with shared data buy cookies; l Only the lock holder can release Release(lock); u Don’t access shared data without lock DesiraBle Properties: 1. At most one holder, or thread in critical section, at a time (safety) 2. If no one is holding the lock, an acquire gets the lock (progress) 3. If all lock holders finish and there are no higher priority waiters, waiter eventually gets the lock (progress) 18 Some Definitions Implementing Mutual Exclusion (Locks) u Sychronization: What makes a good solution? l Ensuring proper cooperation among threads l Mutual exclusion, event synchronization u Only one process/thread inside a critical section at a time u Mutual exclusion: u No assumptions need to be made about CPU speeds l Ensuring that only one thread does a particular thing at a time. One thread u A process/thread inside a critical section should not Be doing it excludes another from doing it at the same time. blocked by any process outside the critical section u Critical section: l Piece of code that only one thread can “Be in” at a given time. Only one u No one waits forever thread at a time will be allowed to get into the section of code. u Lock: prevents someone from doing something u Should work for multiprocessors l Lock before entering critical section, before accessing shared data l Unlock when leaving, after done accessing shared data u Should allow same code for all processes/threads l Wait if locked u Event synchronization: l Making sure an event in one thread does not happen Before/after an event in another thread 24 5 Simple Lock VariaBles Prevent Context Switches in Critical Section Acquire(lock) { Release(lock) { u On a uniprocessor, operations are atomic as long as a while (lock.value == 1) lock.value = 0; context switch doesn’t occur ; } lock.value = 1; u Context switches are caused either By actions the } thread takes (e.g. traps etc) or by external interrupts u Thread 1: Thread 2: The former can Be controlled Acquire(lock) { while (lock.value == 1) ; u DisaBle interrupts during certain portions of code? {context switch) Acquire(lock) { l Delay the handling of external events while (lock.value == 1) ; {context switch) lock.value = 1; } {context switch) lock.value = 1; } 25 26 Why EnaBle or DisaBle Interrupts DisaBling Interrupts for Critical Section? u Interrupts are important l Process I/O requests (e.g. keyBoard) Acquire(): disable interrupts Acquire() l Implement preemptive CPU scheduling Release(): enable interrupts critical section? u DisaBling interrupts can Be helpful Release() l Introduce uninterruptiBle code regions l Think sequentially most of the time l Delay handling of external events Issues: DisableInt() l Critical sections can Be arBitrarily long . Uninterruptible . region . EnableInt() 30 31 6 “DisaBle Interrupts” to Implement Mutex Fix “DisaBle Forever” problem? Acquire(lock) { Release(lock) { Acquire(lock) { Release(lock) { disable interrupts; disable interrupts; disable interrupts; disable interrupts; while (lock.value != 0) lock.value = 0; while (lock.value != 0){ lock.value = 0; ; enable interrupts; enable interrupts; enable interrupts; lock.value = 1; } disable interrupts; } enable interrupts; } } lock.value = 1; enable interrupts; u Don’t let acquire Be interrupted Before sets lock.value to 1 } l This was the proBlem when interrupts weren’t disaBled u EnaBle interrupts during spin loop u Don’t disaBle interrupts for entire critical section u DisaBle interrupts only when accessing lock.value u Issues: l Cannot Be interrupted after loop and Before setting value l May disaBle interrupts forever Issues: l Consume a lot of CPU cycles doing enable and disable 32 33 Another Implementation Atomic Operations u A thread executing an atomic instruction can’t Be Acquire(lock) { Release(lock) { disable interrupts; disable interrupts; preempted or interrupted while it’s doing it if (lock.value != 0) if (anyone in queue) { u Atomic operations on same memory value are serialized { Dequeue a thread; Enqueue me for lock; make it ready; l Even on multiprocessors! Yield(); } l Result is consistent with some sequential ordering of operations } lock.value = 0; lock.value = 1; enable interrupts; l Without atomic ops, simultaneous writes By different threads enable interrupts; } may produce a garBage value, or read that happens } simultaneously with a write may read garBage value Avoid Busy-waiting u Don’t usually require special privileges, can Be user level Issues l Interrupt based approaches don’t work for multiprocessors l Cannot allow user code to disaBle interrupts 34 35 7 Peterson’s Algorithm Atomic Read-Modify-Write
Recommended publications
  • Concurrent Objects and Linearizability Concurrent Computaton
    Concurrent Objects and Concurrent Computaton Linearizability memory Nir Shavit Subing for N. Lynch object Fall 2003 object © 2003 Herlihy and Shavit 2 Objectivism FIFO Queue: Enqueue Method • What is a concurrent object? q.enq( ) – How do we describe one? – How do we implement one? – How do we tell if we’re right? © 2003 Herlihy and Shavit 3 © 2003 Herlihy and Shavit 4 FIFO Queue: Dequeue Method Sequential Objects q.deq()/ • Each object has a state – Usually given by a set of fields – Queue example: sequence of items • Each object has a set of methods – Only way to manipulate state – Queue example: enq and deq methods © 2003 Herlihy and Shavit 5 © 2003 Herlihy and Shavit 6 1 Pre and PostConditions for Sequential Specifications Dequeue • If (precondition) – the object is in such-and-such a state • Precondition: – before you call the method, – Queue is non-empty • Then (postcondition) • Postcondition: – the method will return a particular value – Returns first item in queue – or throw a particular exception. • Postcondition: • and (postcondition, con’t) – Removes first item in queue – the object will be in some other state • You got a problem with that? – when the method returns, © 2003 Herlihy and Shavit 7 © 2003 Herlihy and Shavit 8 Pre and PostConditions for Why Sequential Specifications Dequeue Totally Rock • Precondition: • Documentation size linear in number –Queue is empty of methods • Postcondition: – Each method described in isolation – Throws Empty exception • Interactions among methods captured • Postcondition: by side-effects
    [Show full text]
  • Computer Science 322 Operating Systems Topic Notes: Process
    Computer Science 322 Operating Systems Mount Holyoke College Spring 2008 Topic Notes: Process Synchronization Cooperating Processes An Independent process is not affected by other running processes. Cooperating processes may affect each other, hopefully in some controlled way. Why cooperating processes? • information sharing • computational speedup • modularity or convenience It’s hard to find a computer system where processes do not cooperate. Consider the commands you type at the Unix command line. Your shell process and the process that executes your com- mand must cooperate. If you use a pipe to hook up two commands, you have even more process cooperation (See the shell lab later this semester). For the processes to cooperate, they must have a way to communicate with each other. Two com- mon methods: • shared variables – some segment of memory accessible to both processes • message passing – a process sends an explicit message that is received by another For now, we will consider shared-memory communication. We saw that threads, for example, share their global context, so that is one way to get two processes (threads) to share a variable. Producer-Consumer Problem The classic example for studying cooperating processes is the Producer-Consumer problem. Producer Consumer Buffer CS322 OperatingSystems Spring2008 One or more produces processes is “producing” data. This data is stored in a buffer to be “con- sumed” by one or more consumer processes. The buffer may be: • unbounded – We assume that the producer can continue producing items and storing them in the buffer at all times. However, the consumer must wait for an item to be inserted into the buffer before it can take one out for consumption.
    [Show full text]
  • 4. Process Synchronization
    Lecture Notes for CS347: Operating Systems Mythili Vutukuru, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, IIT Bombay 4. Process Synchronization 4.1 Race conditions and Locks • Multiprogramming and concurrency bring in the problem of race conditions, where multiple processes executing concurrently on shared data may leave the shared data in an undesirable, inconsistent state due to concurrent execution. Note that race conditions can happen even on a single processor system, if processes are context switched out by the scheduler, or are inter- rupted otherwise, while updating shared data structures. • Consider a simple example of two threads of a process incrementing a shared variable. Now, if the increments happen in parallel, it is possible that the threads will overwrite each other’s result, and the counter will not be incremented twice as expected. That is, a line of code that increments a variable is not atomic, and can be executed concurrently by different threads. • Pieces of code that must be accessed in a mutually exclusive atomic manner by the contending threads are referred to as critical sections. Critical sections must be protected with locks to guarantee the property of mutual exclusion. The code to update a shared counter is a simple example of a critical section. Code that adds a new node to a linked list is another example. A critical section performs a certain operation on a shared data structure, that may temporar- ily leave the data structure in an inconsistent state in the middle of the operation. Therefore, in order to maintain consistency and preserve the invariants of shared data structures, critical sections must always execute in a mutually exclusive fashion.
    [Show full text]
  • The Critical Section Problem Problem Description
    The Critical Section Problem Problem Description Informally, a critical section is a code segment that accesses shared variables and has to be executed as an atomic action. The critical section problem refers to the problem of how to ensure that at most one process is executing its critical section at a given time. Important: Critical sections in different threads are not necessarily the same code segment! Concurrent Software Systems 2 1 Problem Description Formally, the following requirements should be satisfied: Mutual exclusion: When a thread is executing in its critical section, no other threads can be executing in their critical sections. Progress: If no thread is executing in its critical section, and if there are some threads that wish to enter their critical sections, then one of these threads will get into the critical section. Bounded waiting: After a thread makes a request to enter its critical section, there is a bound on the number of times that other threads are allowed to enter their critical sections, before the request is granted. Concurrent Software Systems 3 Problem Description In discussion of the critical section problem, we often assume that each thread is executing the following code. It is also assumed that (1) after a thread enters a critical section, it will eventually exit the critical section; (2) a thread may terminate in the non-critical section. while (true) { entry section critical section exit section non-critical section } Concurrent Software Systems 4 2 Solution 1 In this solution, lock is a global variable initialized to false. A thread sets lock to true to indicate that it is entering the critical section.
    [Show full text]
  • Rtos Implementation of Non-Linear System Using Multi Tasking, Scheduling and Critical Section
    Journal of Computer Science 10 (11): 2349-2357, 2014 ISSN: 1549-3636 © 2014 M. Sujitha et al ., This open access article is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) 3.0 license doi:10.3844/jcssp.2014.2349.2357 Published Online 10 (11) 2014 (http://www.thescipub.com/jcs.toc) RTOS IMPLEMENTATION OF NON-LINEAR SYSTEM USING MULTI TASKING, SCHEDULING AND CRITICAL SECTION 1Sujitha, M., 2V. Kannan and 3S. Ravi 1,3 Department of ECE, Dr. M.G.R. Educational and Research Institute University, Chennai, India 2Jeppiaar Institute of Technology, Kanchipuram, India Received 2014-04-21; Revised 2014-07-19; Accepted 2014-12-16 ABSTRACT RTOS based embedded systems are designed with priority based multiple tasks. Inter task communication and data corruptions are major constraints in multi-tasking RTOS system. This study we describe about the solution for these issues with an example Real-time Liquid level control system. Message queue and Mail box are used to perform inter task communication to improve the task execution time and performance of the system. Critical section scheduling is used to eliminate the data corruption. In this application process value monitoring is considered as critical. In critical section the interrupt disable time is the most important specification of a real time kernel. RTOS is used to keep the interrupt disable time to a minimum. The algorithm is studied with respect to task execution time and response of the interrupts. The study also presents the comparative analysis of the system with critical section and without critical section based on the performance metrics. Keywords: Critical Section, RTOS, Scheduling, Resource Sharing, Mailbox, Message Queue 1.
    [Show full text]
  • Shared Memory Programming Models I
    Shared Memory Programming Models I Stefan Lang Interdisciplinary Center for Scientific Computing (IWR) University of Heidelberg INF 368, Room 532 D-69120 Heidelberg phone: 06221/54-8264 email: [email protected] WS 14/15 Stefan Lang (IWR) Simulation on High-Performance Computers WS14/15 1/45 Shared Memory Programming Models I Communication by shared memory Critical section Mutual exclusion: Petersons algorithm OpenMP Barriers – Synchronisation of all processes Semaphores Stefan Lang (IWR) Simulation on High-Performance Computers WS14/15 2/45 Critical Section What is a critical section? We consider the following situation: Application consists of P concurrent processes, these are thus executed simultaneously instructions executed by one process are subdivided into interconnected groups ◮ critical sections ◮ uncritical sections Critical section: Sequence of instructions, that perform a read or write access on a shared variable. Instructions of a critical section that may not be performed simultaneously by two or more processes. → it is said only a single process may reside within the critical section. Stefan Lang (IWR) Simulation on High-Performance Computers WS14/15 3/45 Mutual Exclusion I 2 Types of synchronization can be distinguished Conditional synchronisation Mutual exclusion Mutual exclusion consists of an entry protocol and an exit protocol: Programm (Introduction of mutual exclusion) parallel critical-section { process Π[int p ∈{0,..., P − 1}] { while (1) { entry protocol; critical section; exit protocol; uncritical section; } } } Stefan Lang (IWR) Simulation on High-Performance Computers WS14/15 4/45 Mutual Exclusion II The following criteria have to be matched: 1 Mutual exclusion. At most one process executed the critical section at a time.
    [Show full text]
  • The Mutual Exclusion Problem Part II: Statement and Solutions
    56b The Mutual Exclusion Problem Part II: Statement and Solutions L. Lamport1 Digital Equipment Corporation 6 October 1980 Revised: 1 February 1983 1 May 1984 27 February 1985 June 26, 2000 To appear in Journal of the ACM 1Most of this work was performed while the author was at SRI International, where it was supported in part by the National Science Foundation under grant number MCS-7816783. Abstract The theory developed in Part I is used to state the mutual exclusion problem and several additional fairness and failure-tolerance requirements. Four “dis- tributed” N-process solutions are given, ranging from a solution requiring only one communication bit per process that permits individual starvation, to one requiring about N! communication bits per process that satisfies every reasonable fairness and failure-tolerance requirement that we can conceive of. Contents 1 Introduction 3 2TheProblem 4 2.1 Basic Requirements ........................ 4 2.2 Fairness Requirements ...................... 6 2.3 Premature Termination ..................... 8 2.4 Failure ............................... 10 3 The Solutions 14 3.1 The Mutual Exclusion Protocol ................. 15 3.2 The One-Bit Solution ...................... 17 3.3 A Digression ........................... 21 3.4 The Three-Bit Algorithm .................... 22 3.5 FCFS Solutions .......................... 26 4Conclusion 32 1 List of Figures 1 The One-Bit Algorithm: Process i ............... 17 2 The Three-Bit Algorithm: Process i .............. 24 3TheN-Bit FCFS Algorithm: Process i............. 28 4TheN!-Bit FCFS Algorithm: Process i. ............ 31 2 1 Introduction This is the second part of a two-part paper on the mutual exclusion problem. In Part I [9], we described a formal model of concurrent systems and used it to define a primitive interprocess communication mechanism (communica- tion variables) that assumes no underlying mutual exclusion.
    [Show full text]
  • Synchronization: Semaphores, Monitors, and Condition Variables
    Today’s Topics u Mutex Isn’t Enough COS 318: Operating Systems u Semaphores u Condition Variables Synchronization: Semaphores, u Monitors Monitors and Condition Variables u Barriers Jaswinder Pal Singh and a Fabulous Course Staff Computer Science Department Princeton University (http://www.cs.princeton.edu/courses/cos318/) 2 Revisit Mutex Producer-Consumer (Bounded Buffer) Problem u Mutex can solve the critical section problem Acquire( lock ); Producer: Consumer: while (1) { Critical section while (1) { produce an item remove an item from buffer Release( lock ); Insert item in buffer count--; u Use Mutex primitives to access shared data structures count++; consume an item E.g. shared “count” variable } } Acquire( lock ); count = 4 count++; Release( lock ); N = 12 u Are mutex primitives adequate to solve all problems? u Can we solve this problem with Mutex primitives? 3 4 1 Use Mutex, Block and Unblock Use Mutex, Block and Unblock Producer: Consumer: Producer: Consumer: while (1) { while (1) { while (1) { while (1) { produce an item if (!count) produce an item if (!count) if (count == N) Block(); if (count == N) {context switch} Block(); remove an item from buffer Block(); Block(); Insert item in buffer Acquire(lock); Insert item in buffer remove an item from buffer Acquire(lock); count--; Acquire(lock); Acquire(lock); count++; Release(lock); count++; count--; Release(lock); if (count == N-1) Release(lock); Release(lock); if (count == 1) count = 4 Unblock(Producer); if (count == 1) countcountcount = == 12 01 if (count == N-1) Unblock(Consumer);
    [Show full text]
  • Lock Implementation Goals • We Evaluate Lock Implementations Along Following Lines
    Fall 2017 :: CSE 306 Implementing Locks Nima Honarmand (Based on slides by Prof. Andrea Arpaci-Dusseau) Fall 2017 :: CSE 306 Lock Implementation Goals • We evaluate lock implementations along following lines • Correctness • Mutual exclusion: only one thread in critical section at a time • Progress (deadlock-free): if several simultaneous requests, must allow one to proceed • Bounded wait (starvation-free): must eventually allow each waiting thread to enter • Fairness: each thread waits for same amount of time • Also, threads acquire locks in the same order as requested • Performance: CPU time is used efficiently Fall 2017 :: CSE 306 Building Locks • Locks are variables in shared memory • Two main operations: acquire() and release() • Also called lock() and unlock() • To check if locked, read variable and check value • To acquire, write “locked” value to variable • Should only do this if already unlocked • If already locked, keep reading value until unlock observed • To release, write “unlocked” value to variable Fall 2017 :: CSE 306 First Implementation Attempt • Using normal load/store instructions Boolean lock = false; // shared variable Void acquire(Boolean *lock) { Final check of condition & write while (*lock) /* wait */ ; while to should happen atomically *lock = true; lock } Void release(Boolean *lock) { *lock = false; } • This does not work. Why? • Checking and writing of the lock value in acquire() need to happen atomically. Fall 2017 :: CSE 306 Solution: Use Atomic RMW Instructions • Atomic Instructions guarantee atomicity •
    [Show full text]
  • Thread Synchronization: Implementation
    Operating Systems Thread Synchronization: Implementation Thomas Ropars [email protected] 2020 1 References The content of these lectures is inspired by: • The lecture notes of Prof. Andr´eSchiper. • The lecture notes of Prof. David Mazi`eres. • Operating Systems: Three Easy Pieces by R. Arpaci-Dusseau and A. Arpaci-Dusseau Other references: • Modern Operating Systems by A. Tanenbaum • Operating System Concepts by A. Silberschatz et al. 2 Agenda Reminder Goals of the lecture Mutual exclusion: legacy solutions Atomic operations Spinlocks Sleeping locks About priorities 3 Agenda Reminder Goals of the lecture Mutual exclusion: legacy solutions Atomic operations Spinlocks Sleeping locks About priorities 4 Previous lecture Concurrent programming requires thread synchronization. The problem: Threads executing on a shared-memory (multi-)processor is an asynchronous system. • A thread can be preempted at any time. • Reading/writing a data in memory incurs unpredictable delays (data in L1 cache vs page fault). 5 Previous lecture Classical concurrent programming problems • Mutual exclusion • Producer-consumer Concepts related to concurrent programming • Critical section • Deadlock • Busy waiting Synchronization primitives • Locks • Condition variables • Semaphores 6 Agenda Reminder Goals of the lecture Mutual exclusion: legacy solutions Atomic operations Spinlocks Sleeping locks About priorities 7 High-level goals How to implement synchronization primitives? Answering this question is important to: • Better understand the semantic of the primitives • Learn about the interactions with the OS • Learn about the functioning of memory • Understand the trade-offs between different solutions 8 Content of the lecture Solutions to implement mutual exclusion • Peterson's algorithm • Spinlocks • Sleeping locks Basic mechanisms used for synchronization • Atomic operations (hardware) • Futex (OS) 9 Agenda Reminder Goals of the lecture Mutual exclusion: legacy solutions Atomic operations Spinlocks Sleeping locks About priorities 10 A shared counter (remember .
    [Show full text]
  • A Method for Solving Synchronization Problems*
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Elsevier - Publisher Connector Science of Computer Programming 13 (1989/90) l-21 North-Holland A METHOD FOR SOLVING SYNCHRONIZATION PROBLEMS* Gregory R. ANDREWS Department of Computer Science, The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA Communicated by L. Lamport Received August 1988 Revised June 1989 Abstract. This paper presents a systematic method for solving synchronization problems. The method is based on viewing processes as invariant maintainers. First, a problem is defined and the desired synchronization property is specified by an invariant predicate over program variables. Second, the variables are initialized to make the invariant true and processes are annotated with atomic assignments so the variables satisfy their definition. Then, atomic assignments are guarded as needed so they are not executed until the resulting state will satisfy the invariant. Finally, the resulting atomic actions are implemented using basic synchronization mechanisms. The method is illustrated by solving three problems using semaphores. The solutions also illustrate three general programming paradigms: changing variables, split binary semaphores, and passing the baton. Additional synchronization problems and synchronization mechanisms are also discussed.’ 1. Introduction A concurrent program consists of processes (sequential programs) and shared objects. The processes execute in parallel, at least conceptually. They interact by using the shared objects to communicate with each other. Synchronization is the problem of controlling process interaction. Two types of synchronization arise in concurrent programs [3]. Mutual exclusion involves grouping actions into critical sections that are never interleaved during execution, thereby ensuring that inconsistent states of a given process are not visible to other processes.
    [Show full text]
  • CS5460: Operating Systems
    CS5460: Operating Systems Lecture 8: Critical Sections (Chapter 6) CS 5460: Operating Systems Synchronization When two (or more) processes (or threads) may have conflicting accesses to … – A memory location – A hardware device – A file or other OS-level resource … synchronization is required What makes two accesses conflict? Critical section is the most basic solution – What are some others? CS 5460: Operating Systems Critical Section Review Critical section: a section of code that only a single process / thread may be executing at a time Requirements: – Cannot allow multiple processes in critical section at the same time (mutual exclusion) – Ensure progress (lack of deadlock) – Ensure fairness (lack of livelock) Entry code (preamble) Need to ensure only one thread is Critical Section code; ever in this region of code at a time Exit code (postscript) CS 5460: Operating Systems Implementing Critical Sections Critical sections build on lower-level atomic operations – Loads – Stores – Disabling interrupts – Etc. Critical section implementation is a bit tricky on modern processors CS 5460: Operating Systems Lock Example Spinlock from multicore Linux 3.2 for ARM – Spinlocks busy wait instead of blocking – This is the most basic sync primitive used inside an OS Remember: Out-of-order memory models break algorithms like Peterson – We’re going to need help from the hardware ARM offers a powerful synchronization primitive 1. Issue a “load exclusive” to read a value from RAM and put the location into exclusive mode 2. Issue a matching
    [Show full text]