CSCI 405 – Operating Systems and Computer Architecture

Fall 2006

1.0           General Information

Class Time: Tuesday/Thursday 9:30 AM - 10:45 AM

Class Location: 316 Thompson

Instructor: Dr. Shankar M Banik

            Office: 222 Thompson

            Phone: 953-5039

            Email: shankar.banik@citadel.edu

Instructor Office Hours:

            Tuesday 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM

            Tuesday 6:30 PM – 7:00 PM

            Tuesday 8:30 PM – 9:00 PM

            Wednesday 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM

            Thursday 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM

2.0           Course Objectives

This course aims to

• present the essential services provided by an operating systems;

• discuss the data structures and algorithms used in modern operating systems to efficiently and reliably provide these services; and

• compare alternative implementations used in various commercial operating systems.

3.0           Course Outcomes

On completion of the course, the student should be able to

• demonstrate an understanding of the concepts of process control and scheduling, mutual exclusion, memory management, virtual memory, file management, and distributed processing;

• explain the mechanisms used to support protection and security of resources; and

• describe the specific services associated with networking and distributed operating systems.

4.0           Course Material

            Textbook:       Operating Systems Concepts,

                                    Silberschatz, Galvin & Gagne,

                                    John Wiley & Sons

                                    Seventh Edition

                                    ISBN 0-471-69466-5

5.0           Tentative List of Topics

• Overview: Introduction, Computer System Structure, Operating System Structure

• Process Management: Processes, Threads, CPU Scheduling, Process Synchronization, Deadlocks

• Memory Management: Main Memory, Virtual Memory

• Storage Management: File-System Interface, File-System Implementation, I/O Systems, Mass-Storage Structure

• Distributed Systems: Distributed Systems Structure, Distributed File Systems, Distributed Coordination

• Protection and Security

6.0           Required Work

·         Homework

      Homework will consist of problems and programming projects. Each homework should be turned in at the beginning of the class on the due date. The homework must be typed. Late and/or illegible work will not be accepted. For every 24 hours late, you will be deducted 10% of the grade of the homework.  Any homework that is more than 5 days late will not be evaluated. A homework that does not meet the specifications will receive an automatic deduction 50% of the grade.

·         Quizzes

      There will be approximately five to six quizzes. Quizzes will be held every two weeks and will be announced one week before the quiz date.

·         Midterm Examinations

    There will be two Midterm Exams during the semester. Tentative dates for the Midterm Examinations are Thursday, September 28 and Thursday, October 26 at Thompson 316 during the lecture class. Missing an examination without a previously approved excuse will result in a grade of zero for that examination. Makeup examinations are never available.

·         Comprehensive Final Examination

     The Final Examination is from 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM on Thursday, December 7. The Final Examination is comprehensive. No Final Examination can be given early, except as required by The Citadel Policy.

7.0           Course Policies

Class Attendance and Discussion: It is advised that students attend all lectures. Everyone in the class is expected to participate in the class discussion.

E-mail: Any announcement will be sent through email. Class emails are sent to your official email address using PANCHO. You are responsible for making sure that you are receiving class e-mails. It is your responsibility to have your official email account working properly and forwarding to the location where you read emails.

Grading: There are four components to the course grade. They are weighted as follows.

The grading scale will be no higher than the following. It may be lower at the discretion of the instructor.

Grading Policies

• If you have a question about the grading of a homework or a quiz, please see the instructor during his office hours. All disagreements about the grading of homeworks or quizzes must be brought to the attention of the instructor within one week of when the item was returned. 
• If there is a dispute about the grading of an examination problem, you may stay after the class the day the exams are returned to discuss it with the instructor. If you cannot stay at this time, return the paper to the instructor at the end of class and visit with the instructor during his office hours. ONCE AN EXAM HAS BEEN REMOVED FROM THE CLASSROOM AFTER IT HAS BEEN RETURNED, THE GRADE IS FINAL AND WILL NOT BE CHANGED, EVEN IF IT IS FOUND TO BE IN ERROR.

Disability

Any student in this course who has a disability that may prevent him or her from fully demonstrating his or her abilities should contact the instructor personally as soon as possible so that necessary accommodations can be made to ensure full participation and to facilitate educational opportunities.

Academic Misconduct

All work submitted for an individual grade, including homework and term project, should be the work of that single individual, and not their friends, nor their tutor.

It is your responsibility to be familiar with the policies mentioned in The Honor Manual of The Citadel. Ignorance of these policies is not an excuse for violating them.