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The hierarchical philosophy is that the functions of the operating system should

ID: 3558867 • Letter: T

Question

The hierarchical philosophy is that the functions of the operating system should be separated according to their complexity, their characteristic time scale, and their level of abstraction. Following this approach leads to an organization of the operating system into a series of layers. Each layer performs a related subset of the functions required of the operating system. It relies on the next lower layer to perform more primitive functions and to conceal the details of those functions. It provides services to the next higher layer. Ideally, the layers should be defined so that changes in one layer do not require changes in other layers. Thus we have decomposed one problem into a number of more manageable subproblems.

In general, lower layers deal with a far shorter time scale. Some parts of the OS must interact directly with the computer hardware, where events can have a time scale as brief as a few billionths of a second. At the other end of the spectrum, parts of the operating system communicate with the user, who issues commands at a much more leisurely pace, perhaps one every few seconds. The use of a set of layers conforms nicely to this environment.

Please discuss schemes for improving the efficiency of the I/O.

Explanation / Answer

The following are a few schemes that may be implemeted to improve the efficiency of the I/O: