Blog

Introduction

Kernel Structures and System Calls

Operating systems turn ugly hardware into beautiful abstractions (arguable).

The Operating System as a Resource Manager

  • Top down view: Provide abstractions to application programs

  • Bottom up view: Manage pieces of complex systems (hardware and events)

  • Alternative view: Provide orderly, controlled allocation of resources

Two Main Tasks of OS

  • Provide programmers (and programs) a clean set of abstract resources and services to manipulate these resources

  • Manage the hardware resources

Resources and Services

Resources: Allocation, Protection, Reclamation and Virtualization

Services: Abstraction, Simplification, Convenience and Standardization

Operating System Short Explanation

OS (kernel) is really just a program that runs with special privileges to implement the features of allocation, protection, reclamation and virtualization and the services that are structured on top of it.

Booting Sequence

  • BIOS starts: checks how much RAM, keyboard, other basic devices

  • BIOS determines boot Device

  • The first sector in boot device is read into memory and executed to determine active partition

  • Secondary boot loader is loaded from that partition

  • This loaders loads the OS from the active partition and starts it.

OS Services

  • Program development

  • Program execution

  • Access I/O devices

  • Controlled access to files

  • System access

  • Error detection and response

  • Accounting

Operating System Jungle / Zoo

  • Mainframe operating systems

  • Server operating systems

  • Multiprocessor operating systems

  • Personal computer operating systems

  • Real-time operating systems

  • Embedded operating systems

  • Smart card operating systems

  • Cellphone/tablet operating systems

  • Sensor operating systems

Processors

Each CPU has a specific set of instructions, ISA (Instruction Set Architecture) largely epitomized in the assembler

  • RISC: Sparc, MIPS, PowerPC

  • CISC: x86, zSeries

All CPUs contain:

  • General registers: inside to hold key variables and temporary results

  • Special registers: visible to the programmer

    • Program counter contains the memory address of the next instruction to be fetched

    • Stack pointer points to the top of the current stack in memory

    • PSW (Program Status Word) contains the condition code bits which are set by comparison instructions, the CPU priority, the mode (user or kernel) and various other control bits

How Processors Work

Execute instructions in CPU cycles.

  • Fetch(from mem) → decode → execute

  • Program counter (PC)

  • Pipeline: fetch n+2 while decode n+1 while execute n

CPU Caches

Principle:

  • Data/Instruction that were recently used are “likely” used again in short period

  • Caching is principle used in “many” subsystems ( I/O, filesystems, … ) [ hardware and software]

Cache hit: no need to access memory

Cache miss: data obtained from mem, possibly update cache

Issues:

  • Operation MUST be correct

  • Cache management for Memory done in hardware

  • Data can be in read state in multiple caches but only in one cache when in write state

OS Major Components

  • Process and thread management

  • Resource management

    • CPU

    • Memory

    • Device (I/O)

  • File system

  • Bootstrapping

Process: a running program

A process includes:

  • Address space

  • Process table entries (state, registers): Open files, thread(s) state, resources field

A process tree:

  • A created two child processes, B and C

  • B created three child processes, D, E and F

     A
   /   \
   B    C
 / | \
 D E F

Address Space

  • Defines where sections of data and code are located in 32 or 64 address space.

  • Defines protection of such sections: ReadOnly, ReadWrite, Execute

  • Confined "private" addressing concept: requires form of address virtualization

CPU Execution Modes

Two modes of CPU:

  • Kernel mode (all instructions) aka privileged / supervisor mode

  • User mode (a subset of instructions) aka unprivileged / problem mode: limits (~excludes) user from accessing critical resources

How to switch between the two modes:

  • UserMode → KernelMode

    • Trap

    • Interrupt (also Kernel2Kernel)

    • Exception (also Kernel2Kernel)

  • KernelMode → UserMode

    • rfi (return from interrupt, also Kernel2Kernel)

Interrupt / Exception / Trap

  • Interrupts: asynchronously triggered by an event from a "device" (device needs attention)

  • Exceptions: synchronously triggered by a "fault condition" of an instruction condition

  • Traps (instruction, aka sc [system call], special kind of exception): synchronously triggered by "trap instruction" for syscall

They all end up in the so called "interrupt handler":

__entry is the ONLY means to enter into the operating system kernel. Either by

  • hw-interrupt

  • exception

  • trap

  • assembler code aka __entry in the kernel

  • from there the assembler identifies whether an interrupt, exception, or trap and jumps to their respective handlers.

  • Protected Hardware register is initialized in OS bootstrap with the address of __entry so the hardware knows where to jump to when an Interrupt or Trap or Exception is raised.

System Calls

  • Invoked via non-privileged instruction (trap / sc): Treated often like an interrupt, but its "somewhat" different

  • Synchronous transfer control from user to kernel

  • Side-effect of executing a trap in userspace is that an “exception” is raised and program execution continues at a prescribed instruction in the kernel see __entry -> syscall_handler

Service Requests from user to kernel (OS) = System Calls

  • Basic means to request services from the operating system kernel is to make system calls (which end up in a “trap / sc” event)

  • It’s a well architected and “secure” API between kernel and userspace

How are syscalls implemented

  • First one has to understand how arguments in any regular function call are passed.

  • For this a calling code convention is defined.

  • Typically arguments are passed through registers (sometimes as offsets on the stack)

  • Those registers can be modified by the function called, any other registers most be saved and restored by the callee function: Volatile register (args,stackptr) and non-volative registers (callee must save and restore)

  • Generally referred to as ABI: Application Binary Interface

  • Syscalls are simply an extension on this. All compilers need to agree on this or code will no cooperate/work.

User Side

syscall is implemented as assembler largely taking the arguments already in the right registers and TRAP-ing into the kernel.

Kernel Side

  • Kernel defines a table (using the compiler help)

  • On system trap, architecture automatically and immediately enters kernel mode and runs a small piece of assembler code that is stored at a machine register address set by the OS at boot time.

  • Said trap assembler code (aka interrupt handler) does the following:

    • Checks the syscall number in well known register (see ABI) to be in range

    • Assembler equivalent:

      • Change stack to kernel (more on this in a bit)

      • All arguments are already in right place thanks to the ABI and the compiler’s help -

      • call/jmp to syscall_table[registers.syscall_number]; // see ABI definition

      • After return from ^^^^, switch back from kernel stack to user stack and RFI (return from kernel mode).

Other Implicit/Explicit OS Services Examples

Services that can be provided at user level (because they only read unprotected data):

  • Read time of the day

Services that need to be provided at kernel level:

  • System calls: file open, close, read and write

  • Control the CPU so that users won’t stuck by running while ( 1 );

  • Protection:

    • Keep user programs from crashing OS

    • Keep user programs from crashing each other

Criteria to Evaluate OS

  • Portability

  • Security

  • Fairness

  • Robustness

  • Efficiency

  • Interfaces

Not all of these can be satisfied at the same time.

PreviousOverviewNextProcesses and Threads

Last updated