Operating System - Process Scheduling

Definition
The process scheduling is the activity of the process manager that handles the removal of the
running process from the CPU and the selection of another process on the basis of a particular
strategy.
Process scheduling is an essential part of a Multiprogramming operating systems. Such operating
systems allow more than one process to be loaded into the executable memory at a time and the
loaded process shares the CPU using time multiplexing.
Process Scheduling Queues
The OS maintains all PCBs in Process Scheduling Queues. The OS maintains a separate queue for
each of the process states and PCBs of all processes in the same execution state are placed in the
same queue. When the state of a process is changed, its PCB is unlinked from its current queue
and moved to its new state queue.
The Operating System maintains the following important process scheduling queues −
• Job queue − This queue keeps all the processes in the system.
• Ready queue − This queue keeps a set of all processes residing in main memory, ready
and waiting to execute. A new process is always put in this queue.
• Device queues − The processes which are blocked due to unavailability of an I/O device
constitute this queue.

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The OS can use different policies to manage each queue (FIFO, Round Robin, Priority, etc.). The
OS scheduler determines how to move processes between the ready and run queues which can
only have one entry per processor core on the system; in the above diagram, it has been merged
with the CPU.
Two-State Process Model
Two-state process model refers to running and non-running states which are described below −

S.N. State & Description

1 Running
When a new process is created, it enters into the system as in the running state.

2 Not Running
Processes that are not running are kept in queue, waiting for their turn to execute. Each entry in the
queue is a pointer to a particular process. Queue is implemented by using linked list. Use of dispatcher
is as follows. When a process is interrupted, that process is transferred in the waiting queue. If the
process has completed or aborted, the process is discarded. In either case, the dispatcher then selects
a process from the queue to execute.

Schedulers
A scheduler is a decision maker that selects the processes from one scheduling queue to another
or allocates CPU for execution.
Schedulers are of three types −
• Long-Term Scheduler
• Short-Term Scheduler
• Medium-Term Scheduler
Long Term Scheduler
It is also called a job scheduler. A long-term scheduler determines which programs are admitted
to the system for processing. It selects processes from the queue and loads them into memory for
execution. Process loads into the memory for CPU scheduling.
The primary objective of the job scheduler is to provide a balanced mix of jobs, such as I/O bound
and processor bound. It also controls the degree of multiprogramming. If the degree of

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multiprogramming is stable, then the average rate of process creation must be equal to the average
departure rate of processes leaving the system.
On some systems, the long-term scheduler may not be available or minimal. Time-sharing
operating systems have no long-term scheduler. When a process changes the state from new to
ready, then there is use of long-term scheduler.
Short Term Scheduler
It is also called as CPU scheduler. Its main objective is to increase system performance in
accordance with the chosen set of criteria. It is the change of ready state to running state of the
process. CPU scheduler selects a process among the processes that are ready to execute and
allocates CPU to one of them.
Short-term schedulers, also known as dispatchers, make the decision of which process to execute
next. Short-term schedulers are faster than long-term schedulers.
Medium Term Scheduler
Medium-term scheduling is a part of swapping. It removes the processes from the memory. It
reduces the degree of multiprogramming. The medium-term scheduler is in-charge of handling the
swapped out-processes.
A running process may become suspended if it makes an I/O request. A suspended processes
cannot make any progress towards completion. In this condition, to remove the process from
memory and make space for other processes, the suspended process is moved to the secondary
storage. This process is called swapping, and the process is said to be swapped out or rolled out.
Swapping may be necessary to improve the process mix.
Comparison among Scheduler

S.N. Long-Term Scheduler Short-Term Scheduler Medium-Term Scheduler

1 It is a job scheduler It is a CPU scheduler It is a process swapping

2 Speed is lesser than short term Speed is fastest among other Speed is in between both short
scheduler two and long term scheduler.

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 3 It controls the degree of It provides lesser control It reduces the degree of
multiprogramming over degree of multiprogramming.
multiprogramming

4 It is almost absent or minimal in It is also minimal in time It is a part of Time sharing

5 It selects processes from pool It selects those processes It can re-introduce the process
and loads them into memory for which are ready to execute into memory and execution can
execution be continued.

Context Switch
A context switch is the mechanism to store and restore the state or context of a CPU in Process
Control block so that a process execution can be resumed from the same point at a later time. Using
this technique, a context switcher enables multiple processes to share a single CPU. Context
switching is an essential part of a multitasking operating system features.
When the scheduler switches the CPU from executing one process to execute another, the state
from the current running process is stored into the process control block. After this, the state for
the process to run next is loaded from its own PCB and used to set the PC, registers, etc. At that
point, the second process can start executing.

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Context switches are computationally intensive since register and memory state must be saved and
restored. To avoid the amount of context switching time, some hardware systems employ two or
more sets of processor registers. When the process is switched, the following information is stored
for later use.
• Program Counter
• Scheduling information
• Base and limit register value
• Currently used register

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• Changed State
• I/O State information
• Accounting information
Cooperating Processes
The concurrent processes executing in the operating system may be either independent processes
or cooperating processes. A process is independent if it cannot affect or be affected by the other
processes executing in the system. On the other hand, a process is cooperating if it can affect or be
affected by the other processes executing in the system.
Advantages of process cooperation
i. Information sharing: Since several users may be interested in the same piece of information (for
instance, a shared file), we must provide an environment to allow concurrent access to these types
of resources.
ii. Computation speedup: If we want a particular task to run faster, we must break it into subtasks,
each of which will be executing in parallel with the others. Such a speedup can be achieved only
if the computer has multiple processing elements (such as CPUS or I/O channels).
iii. Modularity: We may want to construct the system in a modular fashion, dividing the system
functions into separate processes or threads
iv. Convenience: Even an individual user may have many tasks on which to work at one time. For
instance, a user may be editing, printing, and compiling in parallel. Concurrent execution of
cooperating processes requires mechanisms that allow processes to communicate with one another
and to synchronize their actions.

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