Inter Process Communication
Baghdad University
Collage of Science
Computer Science Department
InterProcess Communication
Mechanisms
In
Linux
2009-2010
1.Introduction A modern Multiprogramming Operating Systems like Linux supports the creation and concurrent execution of multiple processes or threads. Some will act independently of others, but most will need to cooperate with each other.
There are several reasons for providing an environment that allows process cooperation[1]: • Information sharing. Since several users may be interested in the same piece of information (for instance, a shared file), we must provide an environment to allow concurrent access to such information. • Computation speedup. If we want a particular task to run faster, we must break it into subtasks, each of which will be executing in parallel with the others. Notice that such a speedup can be achieved only if the computer has multiple processing elements (such as CPUs or I/O channels). • Modularity. We may want to construct the system in a modular fashion, dividing the system functions into separate processes or threads. • Convenience. Even an individual user may work on many tasks at the same time. For instance, a user may be editing, printing, and compiling in parallel.
Cooperation between processes/threads includes making sure that processes/threads do not interfere with each other, i.e. they must synchronize their access to shared resources. And includes passing information between processes/threads, i.e. provide communication mechanism.
Process cooperation can be achieved by interprocess communication mechanisms.
2.InterProcess Communication InterProcess Communication, which in short is known as IPC, deals mainly with the techniques and mechanisms that facilitate communications between processes, these communications preferably in a well-structured way not using interrupts, because interrupts decrease system performance[2].
IPC was introduced in a development UNIX
Collage of Science
Computer Science Department
InterProcess Communication
Mechanisms
In
Linux
2009-2010
1.Introduction A modern Multiprogramming Operating Systems like Linux supports the creation and concurrent execution of multiple processes or threads. Some will act independently of others, but most will need to cooperate with each other.
There are several reasons for providing an environment that allows process cooperation[1]: • Information sharing. Since several users may be interested in the same piece of information (for instance, a shared file), we must provide an environment to allow concurrent access to such information. • Computation speedup. If we want a particular task to run faster, we must break it into subtasks, each of which will be executing in parallel with the others. Notice that such a speedup can be achieved only if the computer has multiple processing elements (such as CPUs or I/O channels). • Modularity. We may want to construct the system in a modular fashion, dividing the system functions into separate processes or threads. • Convenience. Even an individual user may work on many tasks at the same time. For instance, a user may be editing, printing, and compiling in parallel.
Cooperation between processes/threads includes making sure that processes/threads do not interfere with each other, i.e. they must synchronize their access to shared resources. And includes passing information between processes/threads, i.e. provide communication mechanism.
Process cooperation can be achieved by interprocess communication mechanisms.
2.InterProcess Communication InterProcess Communication, which in short is known as IPC, deals mainly with the techniques and mechanisms that facilitate communications between processes, these communications preferably in a well-structured way not using interrupts, because interrupts decrease system performance[2].
IPC was introduced in a development UNIX
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