Syllabus: COP 5611 Operating Systems

General Information

• Place: LSB 010
  Times: TR 6:00 PM-7:15 PM
  
• Course URL: http://www.cs.fsu.edu/~xyuan/cop5611
• Instructor: Xin Yuan
  • Office hours: TR 2 PM-3 PM, or by e-mail and appointment
  • Office location: 206A LOV
  • e-mail: xyuan@cs.fsu.edu
• Grader: Amit Karwande
  • Office hours: TBD
  • Office: TBD
  • e-mail: karwande@cs.fsu.edu

Objectives

The objective of this course is for you to understand the challenges and solutions in the design and implementation of distributed operating systems, multiprocessor operating systems and database operating systems. In particular, in this course, you are expected to acquire and demonstrate the ability to:

• Apply to examples representative formal models relevant to operating systems, including models for resource allocation, synchronization, scheduling, communication, and clock synchronization
• Explain and apply correctness proof techniques appropriate to these formal models
• Explain and apply to examples some representative algorithms for solving typical problems encountered in distributed operating system implementations, such as clock synchronization, mutual exclusion, and agreement
• Carry from abstract description to a tested and documented working implementation of the above algorithms.

Prerequisites

• Proficient in C.
  • You will do UNIX socket programming (TCP/UDP) in this course. You will need to pick it up quickly if you have never used sockets before.
• Working knowledge of the UNIX programming environment
• COP 4610 or an equivalent level of maturity in understanding the principles of operating systems design and implementation
• CDA 3101 or an equivalent level of maturity in understanding the principles of computer hardware design and implementation.

Text

• Mukesh Singhal and Niranjan G. Shivaratri, Advanced Concepts in Operating Systems"
  ISBN 0-07-057572-X, McGraw Hill.

Other References

Lecture notes for the previous offering of this course is available in Dr. Baker's webpage. I will also suggest that you read the original articles describing some of the distributed algorithms covered in the text to get more detail and to appreciate the style of academic research papers in this area.

Homework, Exams, and Grading

The course grade will be based on the following work:

• 10% - individual homework assignments and random (open book) quizzes
• 20% - individual programming assignments (2 to 3 assignments)
• 20% - midterm exam no. 1
• 20% - midterm exam no. 2
• 30% - final exam

Grading of programming assignments will be primarily based on functionality and correctness. A program with bugs (even minor ones) that the developer does not notice will get AT MOST 70% of the perfect score. Late assignments will be accepted with 25 points penalty per day.

Final letter grade will be assigned based on relative performance. A student ranked in top 10% in the class will guarantee an A. A student ranked median (50%) in the class will most likely get a B+.

Since some of the system calls you will be making and the network traffic you will be generating can cause denial of service to other users of the system, you should only use program and linprog for the programming assignments. Failure to observe this restriction may result in loss of computer privileges.

Beware:
The successful completion of these assignments is a time consuming and demanding task! In particular, concurent programming is extremely difficult for inexperience programmers. Take into account two observations that come out of software engineering research:

• Even experienced professional software developers frequently underestimate the work needed to complete a project, with an error margin of 100% or more.
• Experienced professional software developers with the same amount of experience have been observed to differ by a factor of up to six (6) in their productivity.

Academic Honor Code

By turning in work for a grade in this course you are representing it as being entirely your own individual work. Unless otherwise specified in writing, all programming projects are individual projects. If any assignment permits teamwork, it will be explicitly stated so in the assignment, and then the work is required to be only the work of the people on the team.

What does ``individual work'' mean? An intelligent person searches publications (including the web) for information, ideas, and code. If you use information or ideas obtained from the work of another person you must at least give credit via comments in your code stating what you have used, where you obtained it, and who is the person to whom credit is due. (Beware: If an idea is patented the above is not enough; you should not use it at all without a license.) If you use any code written by another person you must first obtain permission from the author or copyright owner, then mark the beginning and end of the quoted code using appropriate comments, and include a comment giving where you found the code and the the name of the author or copyright holder. Failure to follow these rules will be considered a violation of the Academic Honor Code.

Accommodation for Disabilities

Students with disabilities needing academic accommodations should:

1. Register with and provide documentation to the Student Disability Resource Center (SDRC).
2. Bring a letter to the instructor from the SDRC `indicating you need academic accomodations. This should be done within the first week of class.

This syllabus and other class materials are available in alternative format upon request.

For more information about services available to FSU students with disabilities, contact the Assistant Dean of Students:

Student Disability Resource Center
08 Kellum Hall
Florida State University
Tallahassee, FL 32306-4066

e-mail: sdrc@admin.fsu.edu
phone: (850) 644-9566.