Deck 6: Concurrent Processes

Question 1

The WAIT and SIGNAL operations must be issued at the same time.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

For many computational purposes, serial processing is sufficient; it's easy to implement and fast enough for most users.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

The problem of masters and slaves arises when two types of processes need to access a shared resource such as a file or database.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

The common element in all synchronization schemes is to allow a process to finish work on a critical region of the program before other processes have access to it.

Question 5

Test-and-set is a single indivisible machine instruction known simply as TS and was introduced by IBM for its multiprocessing System 360/370 computers.

Question 6

The symmetric configuration is best implemented if the processors are all of the same type.

Question 7

Parallel processing is a situation in which two or more processors operate in unison.

Question 8

In a loosely coupled system, a job may move from one processor to another during execution.

Question 9

The master/slave configuration is an symmetric multiprocessing system.

Question 10

The success of process synchronization hinges on the capability of the operating system to make a resource available to other processes while it is being used by one of them.

Question 11

The classic problem of producers and consumers is one in which one process produces some data that another process consumes later.

Question 12

Multiprocessors were developed for high-end models of midrange and mainframe computers, where the operating system treated each additional CPU as an additional resource, so that each could be scheduled for work.

Question 13

In a master/slave system, the master processor is responsible for managing the entire system-all files, devices, memory, and processors.

Question 14

Multiprocessing can refer to one job using several processors to execute sets of instructions in parallel.

Question 15

In multiprocessing systems, the Processor Manager has to coordinate the activity of each processor, as well as synchronize cooperative interaction among the CPUs.

Question 16

In a symmetric configuration, processor scheduling is centralized.

Question 17

The loosely coupled configuration features several complete computer systems, each with its own memory, I/O devices, CPU, and operating system.

Question 18

A semaphore is a negative integer variable that is used as a binary signal.

Question 19

In parallel computations, mutual exclusion is achieved automatically because each operation is handled in order, one at a time.

Question 20

The only reason for multiprocessing is to increase computer power.

Question 21

Parallel processing is also called ____.

A) uniprocessing
B) multiprocessing
C) shared processing
D) divided processing

Question 22

Operations on semaphore s enforce the concept of ____, which is necessary to avoid having two operations attempt to execute at the same time.

A) mutual execution
B) mutex execution
C) signal exclusion
D) mutual exclusion

Question 23

Java was developed by Sun Microsystems, Inc., and released in 1995 as the first software platform that promised to allow programmers to code an application with the capability to run on any computer.

Question 24

Lock and key synchronization must take place within a single ____.

A) instruction
B) computer
C) processor
D) machine cycle

Question 25

The ____ configuration is the most difficult to implement.

A) master/slave
B) loosely coupled
C) symmetric
D) shared load

Question 26

A ____ of processing must be handled as a unit.

A) line
B) segment
C) critical region
D) semaphore

Question 27

Threads share the same resources as the process that created them.

Question 28

A problem with test-and-set is that when many processes are waiting to enter a critical region, ____ could occur because the processes gain access in an arbitrary fashion.

A) starvation
B) synchronization
C) deadlock
D) an error

Question 29

The ____ configuration features several complete computer systems, each with its own memory, I/O devices, CPU, and operating system.

A) loosely coupled
B) master processor
C) start/end
D) master/slave

Question 30

The need for algorithms to resolve conflicts between processors is called process ____.

A) communication
B) synchronization
C) processing
D) math

Question 31

When the costs of CPU hardware began to decline in the mid-____s, multiprocessor systems with dozens of CPUs found their way into business environments.

A) 1960
B) 1970
C) 1980
D) 1990

Question 32

In a symmetric configuration, processor scheduling is ____.

A) centralized
B) decentralized
C) multifaceted
D) balanced

Question 33

Multiplying two 3x3 matrices requires 45 operations when performed in parallel using three processors.

Question 34

Thread Information Blocks contain basic information about a thread such as its ID, state, and a pointer to the process that created it.

Question 35

Implied parallelism includes automatic detection by the compiler of instructions that can be performed in parallel.

Question 36

____ sets the process's process control block (PCB) to the blocked state and links it to the queue of processes waiting to enter this particular critical region.

A) TS
B) SIGNAL
C) WAIT
D) STOP

Question 37

When using a semaphore, a value of ____ indicates that a critical region is in use.

A) -100
B) 0
C) 100
D) 9999

Question 38

The two operations identified by Dijkstra to be performed on a semaphore are ____.

A) P and V
B) WAIT and SIGNAL
C) test and set
D) check and update

Question 39

____ semaphores are used in the producer and consumer problem.

A) One
B) Two
C) Three
D) Four

Question 40

The ____ configuration is an asymmetric multiprocessing system.

A) loosely coupled
B) master processors
C) start/end
D) master/slave

Question 41

Automatic detection by the compiler of instructions that can be performed in parallel is called ____.

A) automatic parallelism
B) array parallelism
C) explicit parallelism
D) implicit parallelism

Question 42

When a computer evaluates the expression A = 3 * B * C + 4 / (D + E) ** (F - G), in a sequential manner, ____ is evaluated as a first step.

A) F - G
B) 3 * B
C) C + 4
D) B * C

Question 43

Most current operating systems support the implementation of threads, or ____, which have become part of numerous application packages.

A) parallel processes
B) lightweight processes
C) heavyweight processes
D) semaphores

Question 44

With its sophisticated synchronization capabilities, Java supports multithreading at the ____ level.

A) language
B) machine
C) operating
D) operating system

Question 45

____ proposed a solution to the readers and writers problem that did not result in starvation for readers or writers.

A) Hoare
B) Courtois
C) Heymans
D) Parnas

Question 46

Each active thread in a process shares the ____ and the resources allocated to its process.

A) processor registers
B) program counter
C) data area
D) status

Question 47

Once a thread is in the ready state, the state it can enter next is ____.

A) BLOCKED
B) FINISHED
C) WAITING
D) RUNNING

Question 48

The source code of a Java program is first compiled into an intermediate language called Java ____, which are platform-independent.

A) beans
B) nibs
C) bits
D) bytecodes

Question 49

____ semaphores are used in the solution to the readers and writers problem that does not involve starvation.

A) Zero
B) One
C) Two
D) Three

Question 50

A thread transitions from RUNNING to ____ when it has to wait for an event outside its control to occur.

A) LOOPING
B) BLOCKED
C) WAITING
D) PENDING