If multiple CPUs are available, load sharing becomes possible—but scheduling problems become correspondingly more complex. Many possibilities have been tried; and as we saw with single processor CPU scheduling, there is no one best solution
Approaches to Multiple-Processor Scheduling
One approach to CPU scheduling in a multiprocessor system has all scheduling decisions, I/O processing, and other system activities handled by a single processor—the master server. The other processors execute only user code. This asymmetric multiprocessing is simple because only one processor accesses the system data structures, reducing the need for data sharing
#include <pthread.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#define NUM THREADS 5
int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
int i, scope;
pthread t tid[NUM THREADS];
pthread attr t attr;
/* get the default attributes */
pthread attr init(&attr);
/* first inquire on the current scope */
if (pthread attr getscope(&attr, &scope) != 0)
fprintf(stderr, "Unable to get scheduling scope\n");
else {
if (scope == PTHREAD SCOPE PROCESS)
printf("PTHREAD SCOPE PROCESS");
else if (scope == PTHREAD SCOPE SYSTEM)
printf("PTHREAD SCOPE SYSTEM");
else
fprintf(stderr, "Illegal scope value.\n");
}
/* set the scheduling algorithm to PCS or SCS */
pthread attr setscope(&attr, PTHREAD SCOPE SYSTEM);
/* create the threads */
for (i = 0; i < NUM THREADS; i++)
pthread create(&tid[i],&attr,runner,NULL);
/* now join on each thread */
for (i = 0; i < NUM THREADS; i++)
pthread join(tid[i], NULL);
}
/* Each thread will begin control in this function */
void *runner(void *param)
{
/* do some work ... */
pthread exit(0);
}
A second approach uses symmetric multiprocessing (SMP), where each processor is self-scheduling. All processes may be in a common ready queue, or each processor may have its own private queue of ready processes. Regardless, scheduling proceeds by having the scheduler for each processor examine the ready queue and select a process to execute. if we have multiple processors trying to access and update a common data structure, the scheduler must be programmed carefully. We must ensure that two separate processors do not choose to schedule the same process and that processes are not lost from the queue. Virtually all modern operating systems support SMP, including Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X. In the remainder of this section, we discuss issues concerning SMP systems
Processor Affinity
Consider what happens to cache memory when a process has been running on a specific processor. The data most recently accessed by the process populate the cache for the processor. As a result, successive memory accesses by the process are often satisfied in cache memory.
Now consider what happens if the process migrates to another processor. The contents of cache memory must be invalidated for the first processor, and the cache for the second processor must be repopulated. Because of the high cost of invalidating and repopulating caches, most SMP systems try to avoid migration of processes from one processor to another and instead attempt to keep a process running on the same processor. This is known as processor affinity—that is, a process has an affinity for the processor on which it is currently running
Load Balancing
On SMP systems, it is important to keep the workload balanced among all processors to fully utilize the benefits of having more than one processor Otherwise, one or more processors may sit idle while other processors have high workloads, along with lists of processes awaiting the CPU. Load balancing attempts to keep the workload evenly distributed across all processors in an SMP system.
It is important to note that load balancing is typically necessary only on systems where each processor has its own private queue of eligible processes to execute. On systems with a common run queue, load balancing is often unnecessary, because once a processor becomes idle, it immediately extracts a runnable process from the common run queue. It is also important to note, however, that in most contemporary operating systems supporting SMP, each processor does have a private queue of eligible processes
Multicore Processors
Traditionally, SMP systems have allowed several threads to run concurrently by providing multiple physical processors. However, a recent practice in computer hardware has been to place multiple processor cores on the same physical chip, resulting in a multicore processor. Each core maintains its architectural state and thus appears to the operating system to be a separate physical processor. SMP systems that use multicore processors are faster and consume less power than systems in which each processor has its own physical chip.