Module 3 : Deadlocks

Chapter 7: Deadlocks

• The Deadlock Problem

• System Model
• Deadlock Characterization
• Methods for Handling Deadlocks

• Deadlock Prevention
• Deadlock Avoidance
• Deadlock Detection
• Recovery from Deadlock
 Deadlock
● In a multiprogrammed environment, several processes
compete for a finite number of resources.
● A process requests resources and if the resources are not
available the process enters into waiting state.
● The waiting process is never again able to change state
because the resource it has requested are held by other waiting
processes. This situation is called a deadlock
 The Deadlock Problem
● A set of blocked processes each holding a resource and
waiting to acquire a resource held by another process in the
set.
● Example
○ System has 2 semaphores A and B
○ P1 and P2 each hold one semaphore and each needs
another one.
● Example
○ semaphores A and B, initialized to 1
P0 P1
wait (A); wait(B)
wait (B); wait(A)
 Bridge Crossing Example

• Traffic only in one direction

• Each section of a bridge can be viewed as a resource
• If a deadlock occurs, it can be resolved if one car backs up
(preempt resources and rollback)
• Several cars may have to be backed up if a deadlock occurs
• Starvation is possible
 System Model
• Resource types R1, R2, . . ., Rm
CPU cycles, memory space, I/O devices

• Each resource type Ri has Wi instances.

• Each process utilizes a resource as follows:
• request
• use
• release
 Deadlock Characterization
Deadlock can arise if four conditions hold simultaneously.

• Mutual exclusion: only one process at a time can use a resource

• Hold and wait: a process holding at least one resource is

waiting to acquire additional resources held by other processes

• No preemption: a resource can be released only voluntarily by

the process holding it

• Circular wait: there exists a set {P0, P1, …, Pn} of waiting

processes such that P0 is waiting for a resource that is held by P1,
P1 is waiting for a resource that is held by P2, …, Pn–1 is waiting
for a resource that is held by Pn, and Pn is waiting for a resource
that is held by P0.
 Resource-Allocation Graph
A set of vertices V and a set of edges E.

• V is partitioned into two types:

• P = {P1, P2, …, Pn}, the set consisting of all the processes in
the system

• R = {R1, R2, …, Rm}, the set consisting of all resource types in

the system

• request edge – directed edge Pi  Rj

• assignment edge – directed edge Rj  Pi

 Resource-Allocation Graph (Cont.)

• Process

• Resource Type with 4 instances

Pi
• Pi requests instance of Rj Rj

Pi
• Pi is holding an instance of Rj Rj
Example of a Resource Allocation Graph
Resource Allocation Graph With A Deadlock
Graph With A Cycle But No Deadlock
 Basic Facts
• If graph contains no cycles  no deadlock

• If graph contains a cycle 

• if only one instance per resource type, then
deadlock
• if several instances per resource type,
possibility of deadlock
 Methods for Handling Deadlocks
• Deadlock Prevention : Provides a set of methods to ensure that at least one
of the necessary conditions cannot hold. Ensures that the system never enter

• Deadlock Avoidance: OS given information about which resources a process

will request and use during its lifetime in advance. With this additional
knowledge, it decides resource allocated immediately or the process should
wait.
• To decide whether the current request can be satisfied or must be delayed, the
system consider the resources currently available, the resources currently
allocated to each process, and the future requests and releases of each process.
• Deadlock Recover : If a system does not employ either a deadlock-
prevention or a deadlock avoidance algorithm, then a deadlock situation may
arise. The system provide an algorithm to examine the state of the system to
determine whether a deadlock has occurred and an algorithm to recover from
the deadlock
 Deadlock Prevention
• Mutual Exclusion – not required for sharable resources; must
hold for non sharable resources
• Ex : printer cannot be simultaneously shared by several
processes.

• Sharable resources, do not require exclusive access and so

cannot be involved in a deadlock.
• Read-only file : a sharable resource.
• If several processes attempt to open a read-only file at the
same time, they can be granted simultaneous access.
• A process never needs to wait for a sharable resource.
 Deadlock Prevention
• Hold and Wait – must guarantee that whenever a process
requests a resource, it does not hold any other resources
• Process to request and be allocated all its resources before it
begins execution
• To illustrate : consider a process that copies data from a DVD
drive to a file on disk, sorts the file, and then prints the results to
a printer.
• If all resources must be requested at the beginning of the process,
then the process must initially request the DVD drive, disk file,
and printer. It will hold the printer for its entire execution, even
though it needs the printer only at the end.
• Drawback : Low resource utilization;
• The resources may be allocated but unused for a long period.
 Deadlock Prevention
• Hold and Wait
• Allow process to request resources only when the process has
none
• The second method allows the process to request initially only
the DVD drive and disk file. It copies from the DVD drive to
the disk and then releases both the DVD drive and the disk file.
• The process must then again request the disk file and the
printer. After copying the disk file to the printer, it releases
these two resources and terminates.
• starvation possible
• A process that needs several resources may have to wait
indefinitely
 Deadlock Prevention (Cont.)
• No Preemption –
To ensure that this condition does not hold, the following protocol used.
• I Protocol : If a process that is holding some resources requests another resource that
cannot be immediately allocated to it, then all resources currently being held are
released
• Preempted resources are added to the list of resources for which the process is waiting
• Process will be restarted only when it can regain its old resources, as well as the new
ones that it is requesting
• II Protocol : If a process requests some resources, check whether they are available.
Allocate if available. If not, check whether they are allocated to some other process
that is waiting for additional resources.
• If so, preempt the desired resources from the waiting process and allocate them to the
requesting process.
• If the resources are neither available nor held by a waiting process, the requesting
process must wait.
• While it is waiting, some of its resources may be preempted, only if another process
requests them.
• A process can be restarted only when it is allocated the new resources it is requesting
and recovers any resources that were preempted while it was waiting.
 Deadlock Prevention (Cont.)
• Circular Wait – Impose total ordering of all resource types,
and require that each process requests resources in an
increasing order of enumeration
• To illustrate : let R = { R1, R2, ... , Rm} the set of resource
types.
• Assign a unique integer number to each resource type
• For example, if the set of resource types R includes tape
drives, disk drives, and printers, then the function F might be
defined as follows:
• F (tape drive) = 1
• F (disk drive) = 5
• F (printer) = 12
 Deadlock Prevention (Cont.)
• Circular Wait –
• Each process can request resources only in an increasing order of
enumeration. That is, a process can initially request any number of
instances of a resource type - Ri.
• Then the process can request instances of resource type Rj if and
only if F(Rj) > F(R;).
• Ex : process that wants to use the tape drive and printer at the same
time must first request the tape drive and then request the printer.
• Alternatively, requires that a process requesting an instance of
resource type Rj must release any resources Ri , if F(Ri) >= F(Rj).
• If several instances of the same resource type are needed, a single
request for all of them must be issued.
• If these two protocols are used, then the circular-wait condition
cannot hold.
 Deadlock Prevention (Cont.)
• Circular Wait –
• If these two protocols are used, then the circular-wait condition
cannot hold.
• Proof by contradiction
• Let the set of processes involved in the circular wait be { P0 , P1, ...
, Pn }, where Pi is waiting for a resource Ri, held by process Pi+l·
• so that Pn is waiting for a resource Rn held by P0.
• since process Pi+l is holding resource Ri while requesting resource
Ri+l, F(Ri) < F(Ri+1) for all i.
• But this condition means that F(Ro) < F(R1) < ... < F(Rn) < F (Ro).
• By transitivity, F(Ro) < F(Ro), which is impossible.
• Therefore, there can be no circular wait.
 Deadlock Avoidance
Requires the system has additional a priori information available

• each process declare the maximum number of resources of

each type that it may need

• The deadlock-avoidance algorithm dynamically examines the

resource-allocation state to ensure that there can never be a
circular-wait condition

• Resource-allocation state is defined by the number of

available and allocated resources, and the maximum demands
of the processes
 Safe State
• When a process requests an available resource, system must decide if
immediate allocation leaves the system in a safe state

• System is in safe state if there exists a sequence <P1, P2, …, Pn> such
that for each Pi, the resources that Pi request can be satisfied by
currently available resources + resources held by all the Pj
• That is:
• If Pi resource needs are not immediately available, then Pi can
wait until all Pj have finished
• When Pj is finished, Pi can obtain needed resources, execute,
return allocated resources, and terminate
• When Pi terminates, Pi +1 can obtain its needed resources, and so
on
 Basic Facts
• If a system is in safe state  no deadlocks

• If a system is in unsafe state  possibility of deadlock

• Avoidance  ensure that a system will never enter an

unsafe state.
Safe, Unsafe, Deadlock State
 Avoidance algorithms

• Single instance of a resource type

• Use a resource-allocation graph

• Multiple instances of a resource type

• Use the banker’s algorithm
 Resource-Allocation Graph Scheme

• Claim edge Pi ------ Rj : process Pj may request resource Rj;

represented by a dashed line

• Claim edge converts to request edge when a process requests a

resource

• Request edge converted to an assignment edge when the resource is

allocated to the process

• When a resource is released by a process, assignment edge

reconverts to a claim edge

• Resources must be claimed a priori in the system

Resource-Allocation Graph
Unsafe State In Resource-Allocation Graph
 Resource-Allocation Graph Algorithm

• Suppose that process Pi requests a resource Rj

• The request can be granted only if converting the request

edge to an assignment edge does not result in a cycle in
the resource allocation graph
 Banker’s Algorithm

• Multiple instances

• Each process must a priori claim maximum use

• When a process requests a resource it may have to wait

• When a process gets all its resources it must return them

in a finite amount of time
 Data Structures for the Banker’s Algorithm

Let n = number of processes, and m = number of resources types.

• Available: Vector of length m. If available [j] = k, there are k
instances of resource type Rj available

• Max: n x m matrix. If Max [i,j] = k, then process Pi may

request at most k instances of resource type Rj

• Allocation: n x m matrix. If Allocation[i,j] = k then Pi is

currently allocated k instances of Rj

• Need: n x m matrix. If Need[i,j] = k, then Pi may need k more

instances of Rj to complete its task

Need [i,j] = Max[i,j] – Allocation [i,j]

 Safety Algorithm
1. Let Work and Finish be vectors of length m and n,
respectively. Initialize:
Work = Available
Finish [i] = false for i = 0, 1, …, n- 1

2. Find an i such that both:

(a) Finish [i] = false
(b) Needi  Work
If no such i exists, go to step 4

3. Work = Work + Allocationi

Finish[i] = true
go to step 2

4. If Finish [i] == true for all i, then the system is in a safe state
 Resource-Request Algorithm for Process Pi

Request = request vector for process Pi.

If Requesti [j] = k then process Pi wants k instances of resource
type Rj
1. If Requesti  Needi go to step 2. Otherwise, raise error condition, since
process has exceeded its maximum claim
2. If Requesti  Available, go to step 3. Otherwise Pi must wait, since
resources are not available
3. Pretend to allocate requested resources to Pi by modifying the state as
follows:
Available = Available – Request;
Allocationi = Allocationi + Requesti;
Needi = Needi – Requesti;
 If safe  the resources are allocated to Pi
 If unsafe  Pi must wait, and the old resource-allocation state is restored
 Example of Banker’s Algorithm

• 5 processes P0 through P4;

3 resource types:
A (10 instances), B (5instances), and C (7 instances)
Snapshot at time T0:
Allocation Max Available
ABC ABC ABC
P0 010 753 332
P1 200 322
P2 302 902
P3 211 222
P4 002 433
 Example (Cont.)
• The content of the matrix Need is defined to be Max – Allocation

Need
ABC
P0 743
P1 122
P2 600
P3 011
P4 431

• The system is in a safe state since the sequence < P1, P3, P4, P2, P0>
satisfies safety criteria
 Example: P1 Request (1,0,2)

• Check that Request  Available (that is, (1,0,2)  (3,3,2)  true

Allocation Need Available
ABC ABC ABC
P0 010 743 230
P1 302 020
P2 302 600
P3 211 011
P4 002 431

• Executing safety algorithm shows that sequence < P1, P3, P4, P0, P2> satisfies
safety requirement

• Can request for (3,3,0) by P4 be granted?

• Can request for (0,2,0) by P0 be granted?

 Deadlock Detection

• Allow system to enter deadlock state

• Detection algorithm

• Recovery scheme
 Single Instance of Each Resource Type
• Maintain wait-for graph
• Nodes are processes
• Pi  Pj if Pi is waiting for Pj

• Periodically invoke an algorithm that searches for a cycle

in the graph. If there is a cycle, there exists a deadlock
 Resource-Allocation Graph and
Wait-for Graph

Resource-Allocation Graph
Corresponding wait-for graph
 Several Instances of a Resource Type

• Available: A vector of length m indicates the number of

available resources of each type.

• Allocation: An n x m matrix defines the number of

resources of each type currently allocated to each process.

• Request: An n x m matrix indicates the current request

of each process. If Request [i][j] = k, then process Pi is
requesting k more instances of resource type.Rj.
 Detection Algorithm

1. Let Work and Finish be vectors of length m and n,

respectively Initialize:
(a) Work = Available
(b) For i = 1,2, …, n, if Allocationi  0, then
Finish[i] = false; otherwise, Finish[i] = true

2. Find an index i such that both:

(a) Finish[i] == false
(b) Requesti  Work

If no such i exists, go to step 4

 Detection Algorithm (Cont.)

3. Work = Work + Allocationi

Finish[i] = true
go to step 2

4. If Finish[i] == false, for some i, 1  i  n, then the system is in

deadlock state. Moreover, if Finish[i] == false, then Pi is deadlocked
 Example of Detection Algorithm
• Five processes P0 through P4; three resource types
A (7 instances), B (2 instances), and C (6 instances)

• Snapshot at time T0:

Allocation Request Available
ABC ABC ABC
P0 010 000 000
P1 200 202
P2 303 000
P3 211 100
P4 002 002

• Sequence <P0, P2, P3, P1, P4> will result in Finish[i] = true for all i
 Example (Cont.)
• P2 requests an additional instance of type C
Request
ABC
P0 000
P1 202
P2 001
P3 100
P4 002

• State of system?
• Can reclaim resources held by process P0, but insufficient resources to fulfill other
processes; requests
• Deadlock exists, consisting of processes P1, P2, P3, and P4
 Recovery from Deadlock:
Process Termination

• Abort all deadlocked processes

• Abort one process at a time until the deadlock cycle is

eliminated

• In which order should we choose to abort?

• Priority of the process
• How long process has computed, and how much longer to completion
• Resources the process has used
• Resources process needs to complete
• How many processes will need to be terminated
• Is process interactive or batch?
 Recovery from Deadlock:
Resource Preemption

• Selecting a victim – minimize cost

• Rollback – return to some safe state, restart process for

that state

• Starvation – same process may always be picked as

victim, include number of rollback in cost factor
End of Chapter 7