CS 736
Advanced Operating Systems
Spring 1997

Marvin Solomon
office: 7397 Computer Sciences
office hours: 9:00 TR
office phone: 263-2844
email address: solomon@cs.wisc.edu

News

Watch this space for the latest updates.
Last updated: Wed May 7 17:57:37 CDT 1997
May 7
The schedule of Project Presentations is now available.
April 22
The final exam will be Sunday, May 11, from 10:05 am to 12:05 in room 1325, Computer Sciences and Statistics.
April 9
A more readable version of Figure 5 from the Multics memory management paper is available.
April 3
The results of the midterm exam are available. Please read these carefully before you come to ask questions about grading on the exam.
March 14
Here is an example of a past midterm exam together with sample answers.
March 12, 1997
The midterm exam will be Wednesday, March 19, from 7 to 9 PM in room 1325, Computer Sciences and Statistics.
February 13, 1997
A list of suggested topics is available. Note that a written proposal is due March 4.

Contents


Summary

This course is intended to give you a broad exposure to advanced operating systems topics. I will assume that all students have had a good one-semester course on operating systems (CS 537 or the equivalent). We will cover the topics normally presented in such a course, but in considerably more detail: synchronization, interprocess communication, memory management, file systems, protection, security, and distributed systems.

Lecture Information

Lecture: 11:00 - 12:15 Tuesday and Thursday, 1263 Computer Sciences

Text

There is really no satisfactory textbook for a graduate level operating systems class, so we will use a selection of 27 ``classic'' papers as our text. The course will be structured around readings from journal articles and conference proceedings. You can purchase these readings at the DoIT (formerly MACC) documentation desk for about $20. The readings this semester are very similar, but not identical, to those of previous semesters. If you have a used copy, I can make available individual papers for you to copy.

During each class, we will discuss topics relevant to the current papers (about two papers per week). The lecture will not be a detail-by-detail review of the papers, but will instead be a discussion of major topics and themes using the papers a focal point. Active participation in discussion is strongly encouraged. If you are willing to participate actively and daily in class, you'll get a lot out of it. If you expect to sit quietly and listen for 15 weeks, you will get much less out of this class.

Grading

There will be two exams (a midterm and a final) and a project. Each will be worth about 1/3 of the total grade. The exams are designed to verify that you have carefully and thoroughly read all the readings.

Project

You will be required to complete a term project. A list of suggested topics will be provided, A list of suggested topics is available, but you are strongly encouraged to make up your own project. Projects may involve implementation of tools, experimental implementations of algorithms suggested in the research literature, measurement studies, or simulations. All projects must have an experimental component. Literature surveys or unvalidated design papers are not sufficient. Most projects will be done by two-person groups. Larger or smaller groups may be approved on a case-by-case basis.

You will write a term paper summarizing the results of your project. This paper must meet the standards of a research publication. It will be graded on the quality of the writing as well as the content. You will also make a short presentation about your project to the class. short presentation about your project to the class.

Project Presentations

Here is the schedule for project presenations. All presentations will be in room 2310, Computer Sciences and Statistics. Times are approximate.
10:50
11:10
11:30
11:50

solomon@cs.wisc.edu
Wed May 7 17:57:37 CDT 1997