Process Synchronization

A comprehensive set of flashcards covering key concepts from the chapter on Process Synchronization in Operating System Concepts.

Cooperating Process

A process that can affect or be affected by other processes executing in the system.

Race Condition

A situation where several processes access and manipulate shared data concurrently, and the outcome depends on the particular order of their execution.

Critical Section

A segment of code in a process where shared variables are accessed, with the requirement that no two processes can be in their critical sections at the same time.

Mutual Exclusion

A requirement that if one process is executing in its critical section, no other process can be executing in its critical section.

Semaphore

A synchronization tool that provides sophisticated ways for processes to synchronize their activities using two operations, wait() and signal().

Producer-Consumer Problem

A problem where a producer process produces information consumed by a consumer process, requiring synchronization to ensure correct data handling.

Bounded-buffer

A buffer with a fixed size, where the consumer must wait if the buffer is empty and the producer must wait if the buffer is full.

Unbounded-buffer

A buffer with no practical limit on its size, allowing the producer to always produce new items.

Progress

A requirement that if no process is executing its critical section, only those processes that are not executing their remainder section can participate in selecting which will enter the critical section next.

Bounded Waiting

A requirement that limits the number of times that other processes can enter their critical sections after a process has requested to enter its critical section.

Peterson's Solution

A software-based solution for mutual exclusion among two processes using shared variables to control access to critical sections.

Shared Memory

Memory that can be accessed by multiple processes, allowing them to communicate and share data.

Buffer

A region of memory that temporarily holds data being transferred from one place to another.