Friday, October 23, 2009

IOS/AS

Independent Operating System / Application System
IOS/AS


  • All computers both old and new have allowed applications and the operating system to share resources. The computer you are using right now whether it is a Windows pc, Linux pc or a Mac are all sharing its resources with the OS. Everyone has atleast experience a moment where the system (Windows, Mac or Linux) becomes unresponsive due to an application be a virus or productivity application like Photoshop hogging the system’s resources thus, causing the system to hang or stall. This sharing of resources has been the design of computers since the inception of the personal computer and it has continued to this day. However, the design is flawed. As the dependence on computer grows so does the reliability but, the reliability of the any computer depends on the reliability of the operating system in addition to the hardware. Unfortunately, even to this day the operating system is still capable of being compromise both in integrity and stability with the sharing of system resources. Operating System (OS) speed; especially response time, has been very dependent on an ever increasing need for faster processors.
  • Depending on the manufacturer of the computer (different companies have varying levels of unnecessary applications), the first few months of usage is a dream. Everything is fast and responsive but overtime the computer gets slower and slower. In reality the computer is not getting slower but more applications are being installed and ran at the same time. The reason for this is due to the increase use of multi-tasking by users which in the end spur the need for multi-core processors. Most modern computers have atleast two CPU cores which allow for greater levels of multi-tasking but, as we get more CPU core us multi-task even more. The computer that I am typing this one has 38 processes running at the same time and some of these processes are for the Operating System. Unfortunately computers of today still share resources with the Operating System, so while having applications like Outlook, Explorer, Word, Excel among many other applications are running at the same time, you have the OS which while trying to manage resources to run these applications is also using the same resources to run itself. What tends to occur is that as more applications are executed or are being run at the same time the overall performance of the computer decreases and what makes it even more apparent is the Operating System not responding when you need it to close out any unnecessary programs.
  • This situation worsens by rogue programs like viruses and Trojans which not only hog resources but can manipulate and change the Operation System core files and inner workings. When this happens users are left with a sluggish machine that is unable to respond to users request and demands. This can be a very stressful and annoying situation in which all computer users have experienced.
  • A more modern and reliable design would be the splitting of the resources on the computer either virtually or physically by creating an Independent Operating System (IOS) and Application System (AS) that reside on one piece of hardware and would allow for greater efficiency and reliability of the entire system. The IOS directly controls the AS. It also has the ability to assign jobs to the Application System’s CPU in the same manner it does in a traditional system, however the work load on the AS does not affect the performance of the IOS because the IOS is running either on virtualized independent resources or physically independent hardware. This splitting of resources should not be confused with having two computers in which one computer controls the other but one system that contains two systems.

So in other words an IOS/AS computer would physically look identical to the system you are using right now however, it would work differently on the inside.





  • The IOS controls the AS while the AS communicates with the IOS. This communication is more of a messenger communication between the IOS and the AS in the same manner applications such as Firefox and Internet Explorer communicates with the OS. The IOS cannot be influence, manipulated or changed by entities that are being processed on the AS. What this simply means is that applications that are running on the AS have no access to the IOS resources. The IOS has its own and independent CPU, RAM, Storage and any other virtualized or physical resources to make it fully functional as an OS and the same applies to the Application System. However, the IOS resources are drastically inferior to that of the AS. The reason for this is that the only thing that would be running on the IOS is the OS itself and nothing else. Everything that is not part of the basic or extended OS functionalities would be delegated to the AS. The advantage of this is that both the IOS and the AS performance would not be compromised by each other which would make the OS and applications more and consistently responsive. This would be because the applications and programs would now have full access to the resources leading to better performance while running, iTunes, Internet Explorer, Outlook and the slew of applications that folks have running in the background. Another advantage is that malware such as viruses and Trojans cannot impede, destroy or affect the OS because it resides on the IOS which is inaccessible to programs on the AS.



  • All applications would be installed and ran on the AS under the supervision of the IOS. The IOS monitors the resources and applications running on the AS and has authority to regain control of the resources on the AS at anytime without restrictions. However, application running on the AS has no influence in any form over the IOS. In fact the IOS is invisible to the entities/applications that are being executed on the AS. The IOS is independent to the point that the system would start even with faulty hardware on the AS. For example, the IOS would boot independent of failed resources on the AS so that a bad CPU, RAM, HDD or Graphics Processor on the AS would not affect the functionality or the booting of the IOS or the system as a whole. The IOS would also be able to notify the user of failed resources. A system with IOS and an application free AS would be practically functionless. This would be due to the fact that anything outside of basic to extended OS functionalities would not be possible without the use of applications on the AS. What this means is that the IOS does not contain any applications such as an internet browser, music player, word processor etc. Any and all applications would need to be installed on the AS. So if a particular OS wants to install its default application it would need to store the apps on the IOS and install the applications on the AS in order for it to be functional to the user. Applications cannot be installed on the IOS even OS applications.
  • Another additional benefit of an IOS/AS is software compatibility. There are times where software failed to install because some part of the OS has been damaged by a rogue application. In an IOS/AS system the OS remains unchanged allowing apps to be near 100% compatible.

  • Outside of the hardware implementation of an IOS/AS system is the OS ability to purge the AS of application outside of user specification. In execution this would allow users to select programs that they would like to keep and EVERYTHING outside of the selection would be purge. This has the ability to easily remove malware and viruses that maybe affecting the AS performance. Another advantage is the users cannot inadvertently damage the OS because all user interactions would be on the AS in which data is dispensable and independent of the OS which resides on the IOS.

  • Independent Operating System (IOS) / Application System (AS) can be implemented in several ways. One method of implementation is a motherboard that supports IOS/AS specification and would allow users to install any OS that are within the IOS/AS specification so, that a user can install Windows, Mac OS or Linux on an IOS/AS computer. Another implementation is having AS motherboards with IOS expansion slots. This would allow users to buy an IOS with an OS of their choice already installed on the IOS whether it is Windows, Mac OS or Linux and all that is needed is for the user to install the IOS on an IOS compatible motherboard. In addition to that, systems with this configuration which as an OS problem only need to remove the IOS when a repair is needed instead of having to carry the entire system to your nearest PC repair boutique like Geek Squad. Consoles systems such as Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 future iteration can take advantage of IOS/AS configurations giving users a significantly more responsive interface when accessing the XMB on the Playstation or the Xbox Guide on the Xbox. In addition to that, games that crashes or freezes would no longer require a system reboot but just a game restart because the game would crash on the AS while the IOS would still be fully functional and accessible to the user.

  • Despite all of the benefits there are some downfalls to implementing an IOS/AS. One is that it would create additional cost because it requires additional hardware. And secondly it would require OS developers to support the feature which requires some degree of R&D. Independent of these down falls, IOS/AS would bring greater stability, performance and reliability those current systems.