Advanced Computer Systems

About

Catalog Description

Aim

For students to have deeper understanding of the operating system concepts and for them to be able to explore what is currently new in the field of Advanced Computer Systems.

This course will be delivered F2F. Thus, for most part, as a student enrolled in this course you will be attending classes on the scheduled time in the scheduled classroom. In the event of changes in the alert levels, our classes will be conducted asynchronously through the UP mail and Google® Classroom. Beyond class hours, we intend to communicate with you regularly through email.

Objectives

At the end of this course the student should be able to:

1. discuss the different concepts basic to operating systems;
2. explain how some basic services of operating systems operate;
3. discuss how an operating system schedule processes;
4. discuss the different memory management schemes;
5. discuss the different file systems that have been implemented so far;
6. discuss problems encountered in resource management;
7. discuss the different methods of handling concurrent processes;
8. discuss the different networks in existence;
9. clearly define a distributed system;
10. discuss the different types of parallel systems; and
11. discuss the different protocols under TCP/IP.

Topics

1. Definition and History
2. Operating System Concepts
3. Processor Management
4. Memory Management
5. File and Disk Management
6. Resource Management
7. Concurrent Processes
8. Networks
9. Distributed Systems
10. Parallel Systems
11. The Internet

Course Requirements

• Paper Presentation. You are tasked with looking for a published paper to develop a Paper Presentation. The paper to be presented will need to be about Advanced Computer Systems and will be submitted for approval. Once the paper is approved you will be preparing and presenting the paper to the class. The presentation will be graded and the papers will be compiled for the use of the class.
• Reaction Papers. Once all paper presentations have been submitted, you will need to make Reaction Papers for each of the other paper presentations in the list besides the one you submitted. This is to be submitted on the last day of classes (Nov 27).
• Two Exams. The two exams are comprehensive in nature and must be taken as another class requirement. One will be taken on Oct 5-9 while the other one will be taken on Nov 23-27. This is to be F2F in our designated schedule and room.
• Quizzes. You may be given a quiz to be answered after the lecture session. Each quiz will be related to the topics discussed in that session.

Evaluation/Grading

Paper Presentation	20%
Reaction Papers	25%
Two Exams	40%
Quizzes	5%
Programming	10%
Total	100%

The following grading scale will be used to convert the overall performance scores to the final grade.

0	54	5.00
55	59	3.00
60	64	2.75
65	69	2.50
70	74	2.25
75	79	2.00
80	84	1.75
85	89	1.50
90	94	1.25
95	100	1.00

Note: Based on UP OVPAA Memorandum 2022-127 on University Policies for AY 2022-2023, the No-Fail Policy is now lifted.

Policies

• Cheating of any form will automatically incur a grade of 5.0 and will be subject to university discipline.
• At the end of this semester,
  • You'll receive a grade of 5.0 if you did not submit anything or have a failing standing.
  • You'll receive a grade of incomplete (INC), if you have a passing standing but missing a major requirement (i.e. exam or paper presentation). If you do get an INC, you'll have one year to complete the requirements.
  • You'll receive a numerical grade if you have a passing standing and have no missing major requirements (exam or paper presentation).
• You are allowed only up to 3 absences. The 4th absence will incur a grade of 5.0 if majority (3 out of 4) of the absences is unexcused. Otherwise, you will incur a grade of DRP. If the absence is excused (not yet reaching the maximum absences), the missing quiz (if there is one) will be dropped from the total number of expected quiz scores. (based on Article 348 of the University Code)
• Students are required to contact their instructor within three (3) working days after the release of standings. If the student does not approach their instructor, it implies that they agree with their standing.

Schedule

Week	Date	Topic	OSBC
	Aug 3-7, 2026	INTRODUCTION AND REGISTRATION
1	Aug 10-14, 2026	Definition and History What is an Operating System? Evolution of Operating Systems Operating Systems Structure	Chapter 1
2	Aug 17-21, 2026	Operating System Concepts The Kernel Command Language Interpreters Processes Interrupts Device Drivers System Calls Multiprogramming Batch Processing Systems Time Sharing Systems	Chapter 2
3	Aug 24-28, 2026	Processor Management CPU Schedulers Processes Dispatchers Scheduling Algorithms	Chapter 3
	Aug 31-Sep 4, 2026	(No class: Holiday)
4	Sep 7-11, 2026	Memory Management Address Binding Types Swapping Strategies Memory Protection Design considerations in Memory Managers Virtual Memory Management Memory Allocation Strategies	Chapter 4
5	Sep 14-18, 2026	File and Disk Management File Systems Directories Operations Protection Allocation Methods Disk Organization Disk Scheduling	Chapter 5
6	Sep 21-25, 2026	Resource Management Types of Resources Deadlocks Policies for dealing with Deadlocks	Chapter 6
	Sep 28-Oct 2, 2026	(No class: Family Day)
7	Oct 5-9, 2026	FIRST LONG EXAM
8	Oct 12-16, 2026	Concurrent Processes Forms of Concurrency Solutions Dining Philosopher's Problem	Chapter 7
9	Oct 19-23, 2026	Networks Computer Networks Network Topologies Networking Media Networking Protocols	Chapter 8
	Oct 26-30, 2026	READING BREAK
10	Nov 2-6, 2026	Distributed Systems Hardware of a Distributed System Distributed Operating System Communication Synchronization Process Management Distributed File Systems	Chapter 9
11	Nov 9-13, 2026	Parallel Systems Definition Concepts Shared-Memory Systems Message Passing Systems Distributed Shared-Memory Systems	Chapter 10
12	Nov 16-20, 2026	The Internet History TCP/IP Protocol Architecture Delivering Data in the Internet Other known protocols for data transfer	Chapter 11
13	Nov 23-27, 2026	SECOND LONG EXAM
	Nov 27, 2026	END OF CLASSES (Reaction Papers Due)

Resources

Textbook

• [OSBC] Albacea, E. A. (2002). Operating Systems: Basic Concepts (3rd Ed), JPVA Publication.
• [MCKD] Hermocilla, J. A. C. (2026). Mastering C for kernel development. Retrieved from https://jachermocilla.org/publications/books/mckd/ (Licensed under CC BY 4.0)