Assessment Criteria (Marking Grid):

Research and Investigation 20%

Referencing 10%

Analysis 30%

Reflection 30%

Documentation 10%

Marking Criteria:

Distinction

Demonstrated comprehensive research with detailed evidence. High level of analysis

performed, exceptional and thorough knowledge and understanding displayed with regard to

facilities and services of the Operating System. Documentation presented in a professional

manner, without any spelling or grammar mistakes. Displayed evidence of critical appraisal.

Credit

Adequate research conducted with fair detail of evidence presented. Moderate level of

understanding, analysis and knowledge displayed. Good level of documentation presented.

Some level of reflection was evident in the documentation. Moderate level of critical

appraisal.

Pass

Low level research conducted. Some evidence of research displayed. Basic level of

understanding and knowledge analysis displayed. Satisfactory level of documentation.

Satisfactory or low level of reflection displayed. No level of critical appraisal demonstrated.

1

Abstract

This research was conducted on the investigation of process control management in Windows

8 operating system and Microprocessors that are found on various types of devices. The

researcher answers the first question of the first section about process control management

and later on the types of process control management such as Scheduling Mechanism, pre-

emptive and non-pre-emptive algorithms. The second section where the first question was

answered was about the significant trends in the making of microprocessors that changed the

performance of the microprocessors, and later moved on the why different designs of

microprocessors were made in order to suit the compatibility of various devices.

Contents

2

Assessment Criteria (Marking Grid):................................................................................................1

Abstract................................................................................................................................................2

Investigation on process control management...................................................................................4

Introduction.....................................................................................................................................4

Process Control Management.........................................................................................................5

Scheduling Mechanism, Pre-emptive and Non-pre-emptive algorithms.....................................5

Conclusion........................................................................................................................................7

Investigation on the Microprocessors found on various devices......................................................8

Introduction.....................................................................................................................................8

Major Trends affecting Microprocessor Performance.................................................................9

Microprocessor Design Goals.......................................................................................................11

Limitations/Extensions..................................................................................................................13

Conclusion......................................................................................................................................14

Referencing........................................................................................................................................15

Appendices.........................................................................................................................................16

FAQ................................................................................................................................................16

Section 1.....................................................................................................................................16

Section 2.....................................................................................................................................17

Gantt chart.....................................................................................................................................18

3

Investigation on process control management

Introduction

A little history about process control management, in the early computer systems it was only

possible to executed one process at a time. As compared to modern computers we are able to

run multiple processes at a time in a computer, the only reason to why this is possible is

because of time sharing. A process is basically a container that contains a set of instructions

which is that is executed by the processor in an orderly fashion.

In the topic of this document the researcher will be discussing what process management is

all about, firstly starting off with what a process is about, and then how to create a process

and also finalizing a process the way the OS handles the mechanisms of process management

not forgetting the problems faced with these and solutions that were used to overcome them.

The operating system that is researched here is Windows 8.

4

Process Control Management

What is a process or a thread actually? As stated in the introduction section, the researcher

described a process as a container that hold sets of instructions that are being executed by a

processor in an orderly fashion. A thread is basically the same thing as a process, but it’s

much more OS conceptual, it is interdependent unlike processes which are independent

(Stokes, 2011). And what that means is that threads are found in processes, there can be many

threads in a single process, and the address space for those kind of threads are the same, and

therefore they can share resources between other threads in the same process, as compared to

processes they can’t share the same resources to other processes. (Sahgal, n.d.). A process is

created when a program is executed by the user from the OS or from the boot loader in the

OS itself. Services and processes can also create new processes, they are referred to as the

“Parent” while the process which the parent create is called a “child”. (Shaun, 2009)

Scheduling Mechanism, Pre-emptive and Non-pre-emptive algorithms.

Scheduling is a mechanism whereby the processes or threads or any I/O devices are given

access to system resources such as processor time, the reason scheduling has been

implemented in computer system is to achieve a balance in the services that are running.

Scheduling algorithms has been used in modern systems to make it able to perform

multitasking. The windows platform has been using either pre-emptive or non-pre-emptive

algorithms for multitasking. (Sachdeva, 2011)

Pre-emptive multitasking is a method that shares processing time with all running processes,

and non-pre-emptive multitasking is an environment when a process gives up their CPU time

to other higher priority process. (PCmag, n.d.)

We know that prior to the Windows 8 operating system, windows OS’s have been using these

techniques. The release of the Windows 8 Operating System brought a lot amendments and

introduction compared to its preceding version. These are the lists of scheduling techniques

that windows 8 has introduced,

- First Come First Serve Scheduling.

- Shortest Time First Scheduling.

- Round Robin Scheduling

5

1) First come first serve scheduling:

Meaning process are executed in the same order in the way they exist, queue and the

long term scheduler are responsible for their execution in queue form. The researcher

gives an example of this technique, let consider there are three processes and the time

taken for the burst of data from each one of the process is 3, 5, and 2 millisecond’s

and that is the accordance of the burst. Even though the last process which has the

smallest amount of data burst which is 2 millisecond’s this technique follows the

order of the burst therefore it is only executed after the first and second process has

been executed. The disadvantage of this technique is that it effects the execution time

of smaller programs, if there are any large program that come before them. This is

better known as convey effect (Sachdeva, 2011).

2) Shortest time first scheduling:

This mechanism of scheduling groups several running processes starting with the

lowest running time. So all currently running programs are arranged in increasing

order of their execution time so all smaller processes are executed first. For example

if we take the same example of processes previously mentioned, the way the OS

would schedule the processes in the order of 2, 3 and 5 milliseconds respectively.

Unfortunately this process causes starvation effect of the larger programs, meaning

they will have to wait much longer to be executed until all the smaller process has

been executed (Sachdeva, 2011).

3) Round Robin scheduling:

Round robin scheduling removes the starvation and convey effect up to a point, by

allocating equal time slots to each process. As an example consider five processes 1,

2, 3, 4, 5 the operating system provides equal time quantum so it gets the same time

slot for its execution. It should be noted that this scheduling is very unique because

the operating system makes a decision of selecting different techniques by

considering the full utilization of system CPU as its primary goal (Sachdeva, 2011).

6

After comparing, the researcher found that scheduling was the best due to the round robin

scheduling method. This is because round robin is able to avoid starvation and convey effects

where pre-emptive and non-pre-emptive are not able to do so. Not only that, but out of the

many types of scheduling method it stands out because it is able to intelligently allocate

resources to processes that need them equally by choosing and adapting different types of

scheduling to the processes that it handles.

Conclusion

Process control management regardless of what operating system is important for a complex

machine such as a computer. The computers in this era are made to multi task and therefore

it’s important that while doing so there is no corruption or fault and that the performance of

the computer is not deterred. The evolvement of process controlling from the previous

Windows’s to the current Windows 8 OS has been quite a journey that never seems to end.

There is of course more room to make changes and improve on, but what Windows 8 has

achieved is remarkable in how it manages all the processes that actually happens.

7

Investigation on the Microprocessors found on various devices.

Introduction

So what is a microprocessor? It is better known as the CPU or the Central Processing Unit. It

can be found nowadays in many devices. It has commonly been regarded as the brain of

electronic devices. Multiple microprocessors that work together are better known as the

hearts of high – end digital devices, such as datacentres and super-computers. A brief history

on microprocessors, the first of its kind was introduced by Intel and it was the Intel 4004, it

was not very powerful because it was used to perform simple mathematical operations. It was

only 60 years ago that computers were considered rare because the public was not able to get

hold of them, due to the cost. Computers were only found in homes thanks to the

microprocessor and it was in late ‘80’s. The modern microprocessor can perform extremely

sophisticated operations in wide areas, and they take very less space compared to when they

used to and delivers a more superior performance than ever. (Intel, n.d.)

8

Major Trends affecting Microprocessor Performance

There are many trends that has affected the microprocessor’s performances, this topic

discusses on why and how these trends have done so.

Software Portability

This trend actually changed the architecture of a microprocessor, because prior to this,

microprocessors only were compatible to a specific binary. This implements the just

in time compilation technique, where with this new architecture the processor is able

to execute codes much efficiently without the worry the increasing the load required

to support old binaries. (Laynetworks, n.d.)

Pipelining

In the attempt of reaching higher performance, an instruction can be broken down in

many parts of a pipeline and then be performed parallel with multiple instructions.

Pipelining actually helps to make sure that each part of the broken instruction has

equal work to do so that the time cycle for every part is the same. A typical pipeline

design has these stages, first a fetch stage where the instruction is fetched from an

address and then it enters the execution stage to be executed, and then a final write

back stage where the result is stored. (Klauser, 2001)

Branch Prediction

Branch prediction is a technique whereby the branches are predicted as they move, so

their movements are speculated to actually find out where the next branch might go.

The reason this method is used is because it turns out that branches are highly

predictable and it has been successful in preventing pipeline bubbles after branch

instructions. This is based on probability, for example if a branch has a high frequent

number of being chosen, then the probability for the instruction to be on that branch is

highly likely. (Klauser, 2001)

9

Superscalar Execution

The problem with pipelined architectures are that they are scalar architectures so they

can only handle 1 instruction per cycle in every pipeline stage. Superscalar was

introduced where it enabled n – instructions to be fetched, executed and stored at the

same time. Even though this technique gives good performance but it has the same

disadvantage of a scalar architecture, because mispredicted branches can cause the

decrease on the average performance of the microprocessor. But because an

instruction cannot overtake its predecessors in this pipeline this design is often

regarded as in – order architectures. (Klauser, 2001)

32 – Bit and 64 – Bit

Somewhere 7 years ago, processors were only 32 – bit, meaning they only can address

at the maximum of 4GB of memory and not more than that. The problem with 32 – bit

is that every hardware in the computer uses an address and that is how the computer

knows what is in its system, and therefore it eats up part of the 4GB and leaves the

remaining physical memory to be used. To overcome this, the 64 – bit addressing

system was made, this brought many changes, first was that the addressing system can

now handle more than 4GB, and the other hardware address that use to eat up the

memory no longer do. What does this have to do with the processor? Simple, you

can’t have a 32 – bit processor running a 64 – bit program or operating system

(Sklavos, 2008).

Multi – Core

Processors used to only have single cores, a multi core does not mean multi

processors but many cores in a single processor. This uses the multi – threading to

process information. How do they work? Let’s take an example of a 2GHz Intel dual

core processor, it means that each core in the processor has 2GHz processing speed

each and not interpreted as 2GHz + 2GHz = 4GHz overall. This is because the

instructions are broken down and processed separately with 2GHz and then threaded

back after being processed. (Sklavos, 2008)

10

Microprocessor Design Goals

Many digital and analogue devices now days use microprocessors in their system.

Microprocessor has become such an important part of a human life that it has even been listed

as a basic human requirement. The reason is that because microprocessors are so well

integrated into our lives that we ourselves have become one with them. Going into focus what

this topic talks about is the how microprocessors have been designed differently to adapt to

the new and different types of devices we use every day.

Laptop

Laptops come in many varieties, there are laptops for business, home and gaming. Here the

researcher talks about generally a basic desirable design of a microprocessor for a laptop. The

mainstream laptop users normally uses their device to view emails, browse the web,

document editing, and low level gaming. So the basic desires of a processor doing these are

able to multi task. Another important factor is to make sure that the laptop consumes less

power and therefore it is important that the processor is able to function at its optimum

without taking too much of electricity.

Servers

Servers are powerhouses of information, they are required to function at almost any time, so

it’s necessary for the servers to be able to function 24/7 for the rest of their lifetime. In order

for them to be able to run without any breakdowns, the processor need to be able to withstand

the accumulated heat. Therefore these processors are designed to have excellent cooling

systems, and high heat tolerance so that they don’t breakdown easily due to heat.

11

Desktops

Compared to laptops desktops are primarily used now days for gaming, so here in this case

processors which are designed for desktops aren’t designed to save power but instead use

more power to give the best performance out. With performance comes the disadvantage of

heat, and therefore risks losing performance and also unexpected breakdowns. To overcome

this problem the microprocessors are well designed to stand heat and able to support cooling.

These processors normally come with a heat zinc that dissipates the heat out of the system,

through the cooling fans. This makes sure the user gets to enjoy high performance constantly.

Embedded Systems

Embedded systems are systems that are a compilation of microprocessors and other electrical

components that work together to complete a certain task. The embedded system that mostly

are out there are function dedicated. The microprocessors in these system can actually range

from a low complexity to high complexity design depending on what the system is for. But

the design of these microprocessor is made so that it is cheap, easy to program and it does not

need cooling devices or the necessity of multi-tasking.

12

Limitations/Extensions

Section 1:

The windows 8 operating system is a new software in the market. Therefore finding

information about how process management control is done in the OS is very hard and

concrete information was scarce. Therefore analysis on how previous Windows is built on

(kernel) the researcher concluded that the windows 8 was also built on the same kernel

Windows NT, therefore should have all the same process control techniques that the other

OS’s might have had.

Section 2:

Design goals for each devices was purely analysis on the characteristics that how each

devices work. For example we know that laptop was made for portability therefore it needs to

save energy, and as the processor plays a main role in that, the design of the processor should

be able to run efficiently without consuming a lot of energy. This can actually be related to

Intel processors, the researcher again express biasedness because Intel is the only one who is

able to give a clear picture on its power saving technology.

13

Conclusion

It is certain that life today would not be possible without microprocessors. It has become a

part of our lives. The journey of the designs and trends of microprocessors that revolted on

the needs of the advancement of devices paved the way for new technologies and innovative

processor designs. Only 30 years ago processors were only capable of simple task, where else

now, a single processor contains the power to do the job of hundreds of people. Processors or

microprocessors nowadays are largely found in devices like in laptops, mobile, serves and

embedded systems. The primary design of each processor is to suite the functionality and

efficiency in each devices. Without proper design, the processor and device would not be able

to function to its optimum capability.

14

Referencing

Intel, n.d. What is a Microprocessor?. [Online] Available at: http://download.intel.com/newsroom/kits/40thanniversary/pdfs/What_is_a_Microprocessor.pdf[Accessed 7 September 2014].

Klauser, v. A., 2001. Trends in High-Performance Microprocessor. [Online] Available at: http://homepages.uni-paderborn.de/plessl/lectures/2009-Codesign/articles/kl-01a.pdf[Accessed 8 September 2014].

Laynetworks, n.d. Trends in Microprocessor. [Online] Available at: http://www.laynetworks.com/trends%20in%20microprocessor.htm[Accessed 8 September 2014].

PCmag, n.d.. Encyclopedia. [Online] Available at: http://www.pcmag.com/encyclopedia/term/49632/preemptive-multitasking[Accessed 24 August 2014].

Sachdeva, C., 2011. Scheduling Techniques in Windows 8 process management. [Online] Available at: http://www.techulator.com/resources/4654-Scheduling-techniques-used-for-process-allocation.aspx[Accessed 24 August 2014].

Sahgal, V., n.d.. What is the difference between a thread and process?. [Online] Available at: http://www.programmerinterview.com/index.php/operating-systems/thread-vs-process/[Accessed 24 August 2014].

Shaun, 2009. Computer Science Source. [Online] Available at: http://computersciencesource.wordpress.com/2009/11/21/year-2-operating-systems-process-management/[Accessed 18 August 2014].

Sklavos, D., 2008. How It Works: Processors. [Online] Available at: www.notebookreview.com/news/how-it-works-processors/+&cd=3&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=my[Accessed 9 September 2014].

Stokes, J., 2011. Ask Ars: what is a CPU thread?. [Online] Available at: http://arstechnica.com/business/2011/04/ask-ars-what-is-a-cpu-thread/[Accessed 24 August 2014].

15

Appendices

FAQ

Section 1

1) What is a process or a thread?A process or a thread is a container that holds sets of instructions.

2) How is process or a thread created?A process or thread can be created by the OS, user or by a running process.

3) What is an interrupt?An interrupt can either be a hardware or software which sends a signal to alert the processor.

4) Why is process control management important in an operating system?Operating systems are capable of handling and running many programs at once, so in order to coop with this process control management is vital to maintain system balance.

5) Is the computer capable of working without the OS?Yes, but it will not be efficient in handling errors and multi-tasking and also the ease of using the computer.

6) Why does windows 8 use Process Control Management?Windows 8 is an advanced operating system that has many system utilities and many programs running at the same time, therefore it is important that it implements process control management.

7) Is scheduling important?Yes, without proper scheduling processes can go haywire and causes system instability. Not only that, but the OS will not be able to handle the processes efficiently.

8) What kind of algorithms does Windows 8 uses in its Process control techniques?The Windows 8 OS is built on the Windows NT kernel, so it uses the “first come first serve”, “shortest time”, and the “round robin” types of scheduling algorithms.

16

Section 2

1) What is the differences between a 64 and 32 bit microprocessor?The size of the registers in each microprocessors, a 32 bit microprocessor is only capable of having instructions with 32 bits as compared to a 64 bit microprocessor that has registers the size of 64 bit to handle instructions.

2) Why different types of designs of microprocessors were made?Different types of designs were made in order to achieve the optimum performance of a microprocessor for a suited device.

3) How does the different designs affect the performance of the microprocessors?Each design changes the performance and efficiency of a microprocessor, for example the superscalar design enables the processor to multi task but it consumes more power to run.

4) How does the devices effect the designs of the microprocessors?Each device is made for a purpose, so like embedded system that only has a single function the processor is made to accommodate to the requirements of the device working optimally to ensure the cost of production and other effects are reduced.

5) What are embedded systems?An embedded system is a system of electronic components working together to achieve a single task.

6) How does embedded system’s microprocessor differ from general purpose microprocessors?The embedded system’s microprocessor is built to only do a certain function, where else a general purpose microprocessor is built for computers that a capable of doing many things, like playing audio and video, browsing the internet and calculations.

7) How future designs and demands of today change the performance of the microprocessor?The design of the microprocessor is ever changing to suite to new technologies and advancement, in the future microprocessors might even be capable of running simultaneously with a partnering microprocessors on the same board, and the power consumption will be decreased where having a computer or device is much more cost effective than buying books.

17

Gantt chart

18

Appendix

References

Conclusion

Limitations/Extensions

Microprocessor

Process Contol Management

Introduction

Abstract

Research

0 2 4 6 8 10 12

Gantt Chart08-08-2014 16-09-2014 28-08-2014 02-09-2014 08-09-2014 13-09-2014