OS Memory Management Quiz and Flashcards: Questions and Answers

What is the purpose of the base and limit registers in memory management?

What is the primary function of cache storage in the storage hierarchy?

What are the main functions of main memory in a computer system?

What is the purpose of address binding in memory management?

What is the purpose of protection of memory in a computer system?

What is the term for the condition that occurs when concurrent access to shared data may result in data inconsistency?

In the context of process synchronization, what is used to ensure the orderly execution of cooperating processes?

In the given example, what is the term used for the portion of the code that needs to be executed as an atomic action and not be interrupted by other processes?

What would be the value of the counter variable if both threads (t1 and t2) concurrently call the getIncrement method once, assuming the initial value of the counter was 0?

At the CPU level, what are the three operations involved in performing the 'counter++' operation?

Memory Management

The base and limit registers define the boundaries of a process's memory space, preventing it from accessing memory outside its allocated area.

Storage Hierarchy

Cache storage acts as a buffer between main memory and the CPU, storing frequently accessed data to improve access speed and reduce latency.

Main Memory

Main memory temporarily stores data and program instructions the CPU uses to execute tasks.
Its primary functions include:
- Storing data temporarily while it's being processed
- Holding program instructions for execution

Address Binding

Address binding translates symbolic addresses used in a program into physical memory addresses during program execution.

Memory Protection

Memory protection ensures that each process runs in its own allocated memory space, preventing one process from accessing or altering another process's memory.

Process Synchronization

The condition where concurrent access to shared data may result in data inconsistency is called a "race condition."
In process synchronization, "mutex" (mutual exclusion) is used to ensure the orderly execution of cooperating processes by preventing simultaneous access to shared resources.
A "critical section" is the portion of code that needs to be executed as an atomic action, without interruption from other processes.

Multithreading

If both threads (t1 and t2) concurrently call the getIncrement method once, assuming the initial value of the counter was 0, the final value of the counter variable would be indeterminate due to the non-atomic nature of the increment operation.

CPU Architecture

The 'counter++' operation involves three CPU operations:
- Load: retrieving the current value of the counter
- Increment: adding 1 to the current value
- Store: storing the updated value back into memory

Test your knowledge of memory management in operating systems with this quiz covering general concepts, getting programs/data into memory, memory allocation methods, paging, and segmentation.