System Calls and Their Execution

Flashcards reviewing key concepts about system calls, their operation, and related terminology.

System Call

A mechanism by which a user process requests services from the operating system.

Privileged Mode

A mode in which the operating system operates, allowing it to perform operations that user processes cannot.

Execution Context

The state of the execution environment, which changes when switching between user and kernel mode.

Kernel Mode

The mode of execution for the operating system where it has unrestricted access to hardware and system resources.

User Mode

The mode in which user processes run, with limited access to system resources for safety.

System Call Number

A unique identifier for each system call, used by the operating system to determine which service is requested.

Asynchronous System Calls

System calls where the process does not wait for the operation to complete, allowing for other processing to continue.

Synchronous Mode

A mode where the process waits until the system call is completed before continuing execution.

Arguments Passing

The process of providing necessary data to the system call, either directly or indirectly by specifying addresses.

Execution Location

The specific point in the user process's execution where control is transferred to the operating system for handling a system call.