Modularization and Hierarchy In a Family of Operating Systems

The objective of the Family of Operating Systems project has been to investigate the feasibility of constructing systems which use identical or similar resources and share basic design decisions. The concepts of module, address space and hierarchy have been used with special care. Common to all family members is the virtual memory facility which controls dynamic address space transitions. Family members may differ in the facilities they provide in static address spaces. This report presents an overall description of the FAMOS system. Section 1 describes the basic ideas underlying the FAMSO system and Section 2 describes the implementation. A more detailed description is found in the official documentation of the FAMOS system. This documentation consists of a number of module documents. Each module document comprises two parts, an introductory description which specifies the function and dependency of a module and a type description which defines the representation and implementation of a module as static address space. Sponsored in part by Grant NSF-DCR74-24573.