Submit: Turn in your source code using the turnin command on the lab machines. Please turn in only the files system/create.c, system/ctxsw.S, and system/testcases.c .

Work should be completed in pairs. Be certain to include both names in the comment block at the top of all source code files. It would be courteous to confirm with your partner when submitting the assignment.

Preparation

First, make a copy of your Project 4 directory:
    cp -R xinu-hw4 xinu-hw5
Then, untar the new project files on top of it:
    tar xvzf ~brylow/os/Projects/xinu-hw5.tgz

New files:

system/initialize.c		Updated initialization for Project 5.
system/main.c		A "main program" for testing scheduling.
system/queue.c		An implementation of the queue data structure.
system/create.c		A partial function for creating a new process.
system/ctxsw.S		An incomplete assembly routine for switching process contexts.
system/ready.c		An complete function for adding a process to the ready queue.
include/proc.h		Process table declarations and constants.
include/queue.h		Process queue entries.
include/kernel.h		Definitions of XINU standard function prototypes such as kprintf().
include/xinu.h		Includes all necessary XINU header files.
include/stddef.h		Various standard XINU type definitions.
compile/Makefile		Updated rules for compiling XINU.

The create() and ctxsw() functions are incomplete and must be filled in. The major locations are marked with "// TODO... ." File system/testcases.c contains code to test your create() and ctxsw() with three processes, each of which prints a process ID and then yields. Once your creation and context switch functions are working, you will see these three processes take turns running on multiple cores.

Some Assembly Required

An operating system's context switch function typically must be written in assembly language because the low level manipulations it performs are not modeled well in higher-level languages. If you have not worked in ARM assembly language before, there are many helpful resources available online. Despite its low-level nature, a context switch does not require complex instructions. Our context switch can be completed using only arithmetic opcodes, and the load (ldr), store (str), and move (mov) opcodes.

Please refer to ARM Information Center for a useful explanation of general ARM syntax.

Note: The Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+ is equipped with a ARM Cortex A-53 processor, which implements the ARMv8-A instruction set. While it is 64-bit-capable, XINU uses its 32-bit instruction set for simplicity.

Testing

The default test case provided with the tarball is necessary, but not sufficient. Just because it switches between a handful of identical processes does not guarantee correctness. In embedded systems, details matter. (A LOT!) Students in previous terms have found that subtle bugs in this phase of the term project were responsible for nightmares weeks and months down the line. Test your code thoroughly:

• Processes can be passed an arbitrary number of parameters upon creation;
• Processes should terminate cleanly upon exit;
• Stack pointers and activation records should align properly and have known contents at critical check points.
• ready(pid_typ pid, bool resch, uint core) is at your disposal for running your processes. For testing, at first, it is recommened to ready processes only on core 0.

You have a working I/O driver, and a kprintf() function for formatted output. Use these to explore every aspect of the operating system structures you are building.

Questions on this project

Photos from 2017:

Photos from the projected screen differ markedly because I am adjusting them to be as readable as I can. I am experimenting/learning image "enhancement" techniques (using Gimp). I am not trying for a photo-realistic image of the screen. Any suggestions you have for making these photos more useful to you are welcome.

Photos from 2012: