5.2: Process Synchronization

Last updated
Save as PDF

Page ID: 47598

\( \newcommand{\vecs}[1]{\overset { \scriptstyle \rightharpoonup} {\mathbf{#1}} } \) \( \newcommand{\vecd}[1]{\overset{-\!-\!\rightharpoonup}{\vphantom{a}\smash {#1}}} \)\(\newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\) \( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\) \( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\) \( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\) \( \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \(\newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\) \( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\) \( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\) \( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\) \( \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\)\(\newcommand{\AA}{\unicode[.8,0]{x212B}}\)

Introduction of Process Synchronization

When we discuss the concept of synchronization, processes are categorized as one of the following two types:

Independent Process : Execution of one process does not affects the execution of other processes.
Cooperative Process : Execution of one process affects the execution of other processes.

Process synchronization problems are most likely when dealing with cooperative processes because the process resources are shared between the multiple processes/threads.

Race Condition

When more than one processes is executing the same code, accessing the same memory segment or a shared variable there is the possibility that the output or the value of the shared variable is incorrect. This can happen when multiple processes are attempting to alter a memory location, this can create a race condition - where multiple processes have accessed the current value at a memory location, each process has changed that value, and now they need to write the new back...BUT...each process has a different new value. So, which one is correct? Which one is going to be the new value.

Operating system need to have a process to manage these shared components/memory segments. This is called synchronization, and is a critical concept in operating system.

Usually race conditions occur inside what is known as a critical section of the code. Race conditions can be avoided if the critical section is treated as an atomic instruction, that is an operation that run completely independently of any other processes, making use of software locks or atomic variables which will prevent race conditions. We will take a look at this concept below.

Critical Section Problem

In concurrent programming, concurrent accesses to shared resources can lead to unexpected or erroneous behavior, so parts of the program where the shared resource is accessed need to be protected in ways that avoid the concurrent access. This protected section is the critical section or critical region. It cannot be executed by more than one process at a time. Typically, the critical section accesses a shared resource, such as a data structure, a peripheral device, or a network connection, that would not operate correctly in the context of multiple concurrent accesses.

Different codes or processes may consist of the same variable or other resources that need to be read or written but whose results depend on the order in which the actions occur. For example, if a variable x is to be read by process A, and process B has to write to the same variable x at the same time, process A might get either the old or new value of x.

The following example is VERY simple - sometimes the critical section can be more than a single line of code.

Process A:

// Process A
.
.
b = x + 5;               // instruction executes at time = Tx, meaning some unknown time
.

Process B:

// Process B
.
.
x = 3 + z;               // instruction executes at time = Tx, meaning some unknown time
.

In cases like these, a critical section is important. In the above case, if A needs to read the updated value of x, executing Process A and Process B at the same time may not give required results. To prevent this, variable x is protected by a critical section. First, B gets the access to the section. Once B finishes writing the value, A gets the access to the critical section and variable x can be read.

By carefully controlling which variables are modified inside and outside the critical section, concurrent access to the shared variable are prevented. A critical section is typically used when a multi-threaded program must update multiple related variables without a separate thread making conflicting changes to that data. In a related situation, a critical section may be used to ensure that a shared resource, for example, a printer, can only be accessed by one process at a time.

Any solution to the critical section problem must satisfy three requirements:

Mutual Exclusion
Exclusive access of each process to the shared memory. Only one process can be in it's critical section at any given time.
Progress
If no process is in its critical section, and if one or more threads want to execute their critical section then any one of these threads must be allowed to get into its critical section.
Bounded Waiting
After a process makes a request for getting into its critical section, there is a limit for how many other processes can get into their critical section, before this process's request is granted. So after the limit is reached, system must grant the process permission to get into its critical section. The purpose of this condition is to make sure that every process gets the chance to actually enter its critical section so that no process starves forever.

Adapted from:
"Critical section" by Multiple Contributors, Wikipedia is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0