Project

CS 5500 Advanced Operating Systems

Programming Project

Please refer to the syllabus for the academic honesty policy. Your project is

expected to be an individual effort. It is also expected to be neat and clearly

organized. You must submit the softcopy of your original source codes

and PowerPoint slides that explain your program by the specified due

date and time. You can find the link for your submission on the Blackboard.

This project is due: June 18, 2021, 11:59 PM

Total points: 40

(+5 extra points if submitted by June 11, 2020, 11:59 PM)

A university computer science department has a teaching assistant (TA) who helps

undergraduate students with their programming assignments. The TA’s office is rather

small and has room for only one desk with a chair and computer. There are three chairs in

the hallway outside the office where students can sit and wait if the TA is currently

helping another student. When there are no students who need help, the TA sits at the

desk and takes a nap. If a student arrives and finds the TA sleeping, the student must

awaken the TA to ask for help. If a student arrives and finds the TA currently helping

another student, the student sits on one of the chairs in the hallway and waits. If no chairs

are available, the student will come back at a later time. Using threads, implement a

solution that coordinates the activities of the TA and the students. Details for this

assignment are provided below.

The Students and the TA

Using threads (Section 4.4), begin by creating n students. Each will run as a separate

thread. The TA will run as a separate thread as well. Student threads will seek help from

the TA. If the TA is available, they will obtain help. Otherwise, they will either sit on a

chair in the hallway or, if no chairs are available, will seek help at a later time (random

period of time). If a student arrives and notices that the TA is sleeping, the student must

notify the TA using a semaphore. When the TA finishes helping a student, the TA must

check to see if there are students waiting for help in the hallway. If so, the TA must help

each of these students in turn. If no students are present, the TA may return to napping.

Simulating the TA providing help to a student is to have the appropriate threads sleep for

a random period of time.