CPU scheduling deals with the problem of deciding which of the processes in the ready queue is to be allocated the CPU. There are many different CPU-scheduling algorithms.
First-Come, First-Served Scheduling
By far the simplest CPU-scheduling algorithm is the first-come, first-served (FCFS) scheduling algorithm. With this scheme, the process that requests the CPU first is allocated the CPU first. The implementation of the FCFS policy is easily managed with a FIFO queue. When a process enters the ready queue, its PCB is linked onto the tail of the queue. When the CPU is free, it is allocated to the process at the head of the queue. The running process is then removed from the queue. The code for FCFS scheduling is simple to write and understand
Shortest-Job-First Scheduling
A different approach to CPU scheduling is the shortest-job-first(SJF) scheduling algorithm. This algorithm associates with each process the length of the process’s next CPU burst. When the CPU is available, it is assigned to the process that has the smallest next CPU burst. If the next CPU bursts of two processes are the same, FCFS scheduling is used to break the tie.
Note that a more appropriate term for this scheduling method would be the shortest-next CPU-burst algorithm, because scheduling depends on the length of the next CPU burst of a process, rather than its total length. We use the term SJF because most people and textbooks use this term to refer to this type of scheduling
Priority Scheduling
The SJF algorithm is a special case of the general priority-scheduling algorithm. A priority is associated with each process, and the CPUis allocated to the process with the highest priority. Equal-priority processes are scheduled in FCFS order. An SJF algorithm is simply a priority algorithm where the priority (p) is the inverse of the (predicted) next CPU burst. The larger the CPU burst, the lower the priority, and vice versa
Round-Robin Scheduling
The round-robin (RR) scheduling algorithm is designed especially for time sharing systems. It is similar to FCFS scheduling, but preemption is added to enable the system to switch between processes. A small unit of time, called a time quantum or time slice, is defined. A time quantum is generally from 10 to 100 milliseconds in length. The ready queue is treated as a circular queue The CPU scheduler goes around the ready queue, allocating the CPU to each process for a time interval of up to 1 time quantum.
To implement RR scheduling, we again treat the ready queue as a FIFO queue of processes. New processes are added to the tail of the ready queue. The CPU scheduler picks the first process from the ready queue, sets a timer to interrupt after 1 time quantum, and dispatches the process
One of two things will then happen. The process may have a CPU burst of less than 1 time quantum. In this case, the process itself will release the CPU voluntarily. The scheduler will then proceed to the next process in the ready queue. If the CPU burst of the currently running process is longer than 1 time quantum, the timer will go off and will cause an interrupt to the operating system. A context switch will be executed, and the process will be put at the tail of the ready queue. The CPU scheduler will then select the next process in the ready queue.