Students enrolled in this course will receive a paper copy of
this information upon request
Course Description
3 credits
A study of operating systems, including those in multiprocessor and distributed environments. I/O programming, resource management (including processor and memory management), security and system performance evaluation.
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Textbook, Class Meetings, Method, Grading and Other Policies
No textbook is required for this course.
This semester, CMSC 602 will focus on management of the CPU as a
resource in
linux used in special environments.
This will entail the development of special-use scheduling algorithms.
This course will be almost exclusively an experience of peer-based
learning. There will be no formal lectures by the instructor.
Rather, each student will:
select a specific research topic (see below for examples), and perform graduate-level research on that topic. This research will entail at least:
understanding the standard linux scheduler
understanding the (sometimes non-intuitive)
characteristics of an alternative scheduler better suited for the
selected special environment
implementing an appropriate alternative scheduler (you will be provided with root access on a linux machine that you will likely have to share with one or two other class members --- scheduling use and availability would then be your responsibility)
appropriately testing the effectiveness of the
alternative scheduler
prepare and distribute (by email) to the class members
a complete and detailed written presentation of the research at
a level one would expect from a graduate student. This
written presentation will
also include five proposed test questions
closely related to the research. The written
presentation will not contain a set of
answers to these
questions.
at least one week after distributing the written
presentation,
present a discussion of this research during a
scheduled class meeting
present (to the instructor alone) a document containing
the above-mentioned test questions along with answers
read the information provided by other students in the
class,
additional background information as the student
deems appropriate, and actively participate in all class discussions.
Letter grades will be distributed according to a 10-point scale (90% and above, A; 80-89%, B; and so forth). Students should not expect a "curve."
Grades will be computed according to the following formula:
33% student research
33% test (a single test will be given, and its questions will
be drawn from the set of test questions proposed by
the students)
33% active class participation (to include: attendance, involvement in
discussion, quality of questions, etc.)
1% free, just because I'm a nice guy.
Examples (this is not an exhaustive list)
of the types of special environments for which a special-use
scheduler might be appropriate:
Real-time systems
High performance computing (including parallel processing)
The class will meet initially on the first day of class; otherwise,
the class will formally meet in the classroom during
scheduled class times, but only when a student is scheduled to present
his or her research.
Students are also encouraged to meet informally either during scheduled
class times or otherwise to discuss issues associated with their research. The
research work in this course is unpledged.
Before January 18th, each student is responsible for having a research topic approved by the instructor and scheduling the presentation of that research.
A list of available presentation dates will be posted on the course's
announcements page
soon after the semester starts. Students are encouraged to meet with the
instructor while in the process of deciding on a research topic. Prior
to their research presentation, students are
also encouraged to meet occasionally
with the instructor to discuss the then-current
state that research.
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