LINUX KERNEL 2.

INTERNAL GUIDE: B.PADMAJA NAME: T.RAMNATH REDDY ROLL NO. : 10U51A1257 BRANCH: INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SECTION: B

ABSTRACT:
This thesis is a study of internal working and interfaces of Linux kernel version 2.6. It emphasizes differences towards kernel 2.4 and it tries to introduce this problems to reader knowledgable only in common principles of operating systems. The thesis starts with briefing of kernel subsystems and continues with deeper analysis of important issues like various locking, semaphores and other synchronization mechanisms, suitable data structures, interrupt handling, atomic operations, device driver model and memory allocation. Process management and new scheduler with support for multiprocessing and NUMA architectures and preemption are explored deeply. The core of the work is concluded with description of loadable kernel module creation together with an exemplar module.

INTRODUCTION:
linux (also known as GNU/Linux) is a computer operating system, like Microsoft Windows or Apple Mac OS. Unlike those two, however, Linux is built with a collaborative development model. The operating system and most of its software are created by volunteers and employees of companies, governments and organisations from all over the world. The operating system is free to use and everyone has the freedom to contribute to its development. This co-operative development model means that everyone can benefit. Because of this, we like to call it Free Software, or Socially Responsible Software. Closely related is the concept of Open Source Software. Together, Free and Open Source Software is collectively abbreviated as FOSS. This contrasts with the proprietary (or closed source) development model used by some software companies today.

Many of the principles behind FOSS are derived from the axiom of standing on the shoulders of giants, most famously used by Isaac Newton, which has guided scientific and industrial development for hundreds of years. Transparency of the code and development process means that it can be participated in and audited at all levels. Software is just another form of information, and people have the right to have full control over that information. In the same way that you are free to share cooking recipes with your neighbour, you should also have the freedom to share and change software. Linux has many other benefits, including speed, security and stability. It is renowned for its ability to run well on more modest hardware. Linux comes from the venerable UNIX family of operating systems, and so has been built from the ground-up with Internet-style networking and security in mind. Hence, viruses, worms, spyware and adware are basically a non-issue on Linux. Linux is a free open-source operating system based on UNIX. Linux was originally created by Linus Torvalds with the assistance of developers from around the globe. Linux is free to download, edit and distribute. Linux is a very powerful operating system and it is gradually becoming popular throughout the world.

HISTORY:
The Linux kernel project was started in 1991 by Linus Torvalds as a Minix-like Operating System for his 386. (Linus had originally wanted to name the project Freax, but the now-familiar name is the one that stuck.) The first official release of Linux 1.0 was in March 1994, but it supported only single-processor i386 machines. Just a year later, Linux 1.2 was released (March 1995) and was the first version with support for different hardware platforms (specifically: Alpha, Sparc, and Mips), but still only single-processor models. Linux 2.0 arrived in June of 1996 and also included support for a number of new architectures, but more importantly brought Linux into the world of multi-processor machines (SMP). After 2.0, subsequent major releases have been somewhat slower in coming (Linux 2.2 in January 1999 and 2.4 in January 2001), each revision expanding Linux's support for new hardware and system types as well as boosting scalability. (Linux 2.4 was also notable in being the release that really broke Linux into the

desktop space with kernel support for ISA Plug-and-Play, USB, PC Card support, and other additions.) Linux 2.6, released 12/17/03, stands not only to build on these features, but also to be another "major leap" with improved support for both significantly larger systems and significantly smaller ones (PDAs and other devices.)

FEATURES IN KERNEL 2.6

Scalability. Preemptible kernel. New scheduling algorithm Improved threading model Hyperthreading Module subsystem and device model System hardware support Block device support INPUT/OUTPUT support Audio and multimedia