CPU Scheduling

Chapter 6
Outline

 Basic Concepts
 Scheduling Criteria
 Scheduling Algorithms
 Thread Scheduling
 Multiple-Processor Scheduling(opt)
 Operating Systems Examples(Linux)
 Algorithm Evaluation
Basic Concepts

 Maximum CPU utilization obtained with multiprogramming

 CPU–I/O Burst Cycle – Process execution consists of a cycle of CPU

execution and I/O wait

 CPU burst distribution

Alternating Sequence of CPU and I/O Bursts
Histogram of CPU-burst Times
CPU Scheduler

 Selects from among the processes in memory that are ready to execute, and allocates the CPU to one
of them

 CPU scheduling decisions may take place when a process:

1. Switches from running to waiting state
2. Switches from running to ready state
3. Switches from waiting to ready
4. Terminates

 Scheduling under 1 and 4 is non-preemptive

 All other scheduling is preemptive
Dispatcher

 Dispatcher module gives control of the CPU to the process selected by the short-term scheduler; this
involves:
 switching context
 switching to user mode
 jumping to the proper location in the user program to restart that program

 Dispatch latency – time it takes for the dispatcher to stop one process and start another running
Scheduling Criteria

 CPU utilization – keep the CPU as busy as

possible
 Throughput – # of processes that complete their  Maximize CPU utilization
execution per time unit
 Maximize throughput
 Turnaround time – amount of time to execute a
particular process  Minimize turnaround time
 Waiting time – amount of time a process has been  Minimize waiting time
waiting in the ready queue  Minimize response time
 Response time – amount of time it takes from when
a request was submitted until the first response is ready running
produced, not output (for time-sharing
environment)
waiting
Scheduling Algorithms
First-Come, First-Served (FCFS) Scheduling

Process Burst Time (ms)

P1 24
P2 3
P3 3
• Suppose that the processes arrive in the order: P1 , P2 , P3
The Gantt Chart for the schedule is:

P1 P2 P3

0 24 27 30

• Waiting time for P1 = 0; P2 = 24; P3 = 27

• Average waiting time: (0 + 24 + 27)/3 = 17 ms
FCFS Scheduling (Cont)

Suppose that the processes arrive in the order

P2 , P3 , P1
• The Gantt chart for the schedule is:

P2 P3 P1

0 3 6 30
• Waiting time for P1 = 6; P2 = 0; P3 = 3
• Average waiting time: (6 + 0 + 3)/3 = 3 ms
• Much better than previous case
• Convoy effect: short process behind long process
Shortest-Job-First (SJF) Scheduling

 Associate with each process the length of its next CPU

burst. Use these lengths to schedule the process with
the shortest time
 SJF is optimal – gives minimum average waiting time for
a given set of processes
– The difficulty is knowing the length of the next CPU
request
Example of SJF

Process Arrival Time Burst Time

P1 0.0 6
P2 0.0 8
P3 0.0 7
P4 0.0 3
• SJF scheduling chart

P4 P1 P3 P2

0 3 9 16 24
• Average waiting time = (3 + 16 + 9 + 0) / 4 = 7 ms
Determining Length of Next CPU Burst

• Can only estimate the length

• Can be done by using the length of previous CPU bursts, using
exponential averaging
Determining Length of Next CPU Burst
 Let tn denoted the length of the nth CPU burst.

 Assume the first CPU burst is Burst0 and its length is t0

 Let n+1 denote the predicted value for the next CPU burst

 Define  to be:
0 <=  <= 1

 Define n+1 as:

 =  t + (1 -  ) 
Prediction of the Length of the Next CPU
Burst
Example

 T0 = 10 ms
 Measured CPU bursts: t0 = 8ms, t1=16ms, t2=20ms, t3=10ms
 Assume  = ½
 T1= ½ x 8 + ½ x 10 = 9
 T2 = ½ x 16 + ½ x 9 = 12.5
 T3 = ½ x 20 + ½ x 12.5 = 16.25
 T4 = ½ x 10 + ½ x 16.25 = 13.125

 The next CPU burst is estimated to be 13.125 ms. After burst is

Shortest Remaining Job First (SRJF)

 Preemptive version of SJF

 While a job A is running, if a new job B comes whose length is

shorter than the remaining time of job A, then B preempts A and B is
started to run.
Shortest Remaining Job First (SRJF)

Process Arrival Time Burst Time

P1 0.0 8
P2 1.0 4
P3 2.0 9
P4 3.0 5
• SRJF scheduling chart
P1 P2 P4 P1 P3

0 1 5 10 17 26

Average waiting time = (9 + 0 + 2 + 15) / 4 = 6.5 ms

Priority Scheduling

 A priority number (integer) is associated with each process

 The CPU is allocated to the process with the highest priority (smallest integer  highest
priority)
 Preemptive (higher priority process preempts the running one)
 Non-preemptive
 SJF is a priority scheduling where priority is the predicted next CPU burst time

 Problem  Starvation – low priority processes may never execute

 Solution  Aging – as time progresses increase the priority of the process
Priority Scheduling
Round Robin (RR)

 Each process gets a small unit of CPU time (time quantum), usually 10-100 milliseconds. After this
time has elapsed, the process is preempted and added to the end of the ready queue.

 If there are n processes in the ready queue and the time quantum is q, then each process gets 1/n of the
CPU time in chunks of at most q time units at once. No process waits more than (n-1)q time units.

 Performance
 q large  FIFO
 q small  q must be large with respect to context switch, otherwise overhead is too high
Example of RR with Time Quantum = 4

Process Burst Time

P1 24
P2 3
P3 3

• The Gantt chart is:

P1 P2 P3 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1

0 4 7 10 14 18 22 26 30

• Typically, higher average turnaround than SJF, but better

response
Time Quantum and Context Switch Time
Turnaround Time Varies With The Time
Quantum
Multilevel Queue

 Ready queue is partitioned into separate queues:

foreground (interactive)
background (batch)
 Each queue has its own scheduling algorithm
 foreground – RR
 background – FCFS
 Scheduling must be done between the queues
 Fixed priority scheduling; (i.e., serve all from foreground then from background).
Possibility of starvation.
 Time slice – each queue gets a certain amount of CPU time which it can schedule amongst
its processes; i.e., 80% to foreground in RR; 20% to background in FCFS
Multilevel Queue Scheduling
Multilevel Feedback Queue

 A process can move between the various queues; aging can be implemented this way
 Multilevel-feedback-queue scheduler defined by the following parameters:
 number of queues
 scheduling algorithms for each queue
 method used to determine when to upgrade a process
 method used to determine when to demote a process
 method used to determine which queue a process will enter when that process needs service
Example of Multilevel Feedback Queue

 Three queues:
 Q0 – RR with time quantum 8 milliseconds
 Q1 – RR time quantum 16 milliseconds
 Q2 – FCFS
 Scheduling
 A new job enters queue Q0 which is served RR (q=8). When it gains CPU, job receives 8
milliseconds. If it does not finish in 8 milliseconds, job is moved to queue Q1.
 At Q1 job is again served RR and receives 16 additional milliseconds. If it still does not
complete, it is preempted and moved to queue Q2.
Multilevel Feedback Queues