C560 Lecture notes -- Dining Philosophers (CBThread Version)

  • James S. Plank.
  • CS560: Operating Systems
  • Directory: /home/plank/cs560/notes/CBThread_Dphil
  • Lecture notes: http://web.eecs.utk.edu/~jplank/plank/classes/cs560/560/notes/CBThread_Dphil/lecture.html
  • January, 2009

    Dining Philosophers

    The dining philosophers problem is a ``classical'' synchronization problem first posed by Edsger Dijkstra. Taken at face value, it is a pretty meaningless problem, but it is typical of many synchronization problems that you will see when allocating resources in operating systems.

    The book (again, chapter 6) has an excellent description of dining philosophers. I'll be a little more sketchy.

    The problem is defined as follows: There are 5 philosophers sitting at a round table. Between each adjacent pair of philosophers is a chopstick. In other words, there are five chopsticks. Each philosopher does two things: think and eat. The philosopher thinks for a while, and then stops thinking and becomes hungry. When the philosopher becomes hungry, he/she cannot eat until he/she owns the chopsticks to his/her left and right. When the philosopher is done eating he/she puts down the chopsticks and begins thinking again.

    Of course, the definition of this problem always leads me to ask a few questions:

    1. If these philosophers are so smart, shouldn't they be worried about communicable diseases?
    2. Why chopsticks? For some reason I envision philosophers liking soup.
    3. Evidently conversing isn't in here -- why do they need to be at the same table? I'm not sure if I'd enjoy having a philosopher philosophize while I'm eating. But then again, I'm not a philosopher.
    4. Shouldn't bathing be in the equation somewhere?

    The challenge in the dining philosophers problem is to design a protocol so that the philosophers do not deadlock (i.e. every philosopher has a chopstick), and so that no philosopher starves (i.e. when a philosopher is hungry, he/she eventually gets the chopsticks). Additionally, our protocol should try to be as efficient as possible -- in other words, we should try to minimize the time that philosophers spent waiting to eat.

    In case you're bored, here is that last paragraph in the inimitable words of professor Wolski: ``Since these are either unwashed, stubborn and deeply committed philosophers or unwashed, clueless, and basically helpless philosophers, there is a possibility for deadlock. In particular, if all philosophers simultaneously grab the chopstick on their left and then reach for the chopstick on their right (waiting until one is available) before eating, they will all starve. The challenge in the dining philosophers problem is to design a protocol so that the philosophers do not deadlock (i.e. the entire set of philosophers does not stop and wait indefinitely), and so that no philosopher starves (i.e. every philosopher eventually gets his/her hands on a pair of chopsticks).''


    Dining Philosophers Testbed with CBThreads

    What I've done is hack up a general driver for the dining philosophers problem using CBThreads, and then implemented several "solutions". Thus, it is structured like your labs. The main simulation is called with the following parameters:

    usage: dphil nphilosophers thinkavg eatavg sticktime interval duration seed verbose
    

    The parameteres are as follows:

    The driver is in dphil_skeleton.c and there is a header file in dphil.h. First, let's go over the header file:

    /* There is one simluation struct for the entire simulation */
    
    typedef struct {
      int nphil;            /* Simulation parameters */
      double thinkavg;
      double eatavg;
      double sticktime;
      double duration;
      double interval;
      int verbose;
      int *chopsticks_in_use;
      void *v;                    /* Information that you define */
      struct philosopher **p;  /* Philosophers */
    } Simulation;
    
    #define STARTING 0
    #define THINKING 1
    #define HUNGRY 2
    #define GOTSTICKS 3
    #define EATING 4
    #define SATED 5
    
    /* There is one Philosopher struct for each philosopher */
    
    typedef struct philosopher {
      int id;
      int state;
      Simulation *s;
      double thinktime;
      double eattime;
      double blocked_time;
      double last_event_time;
    } Philosopher;
    
    /* -------------------------------------------------------------- */
    /* These are implemented for you in dphil_skeleton.c */
    
    extern void philosopher(Philosopher *p);  
    extern void pick_up_stick(Philosopher *p, int stick, void (*func)());
    extern void put_down_stick(Philosopher *p, int stick, void (*func)());
    
    /* -------------------------------------------------------------- */
    /* You Implement These: */
    
    extern void initialize_simulation(Simulation *s);   
    extern void i_am_hungry(Philosopher *p);  
    extern void i_am_sated(Philosopher *p); 
    

    The driver is pretty straightforward. It reads the simulation parameters and creates a Philosopher struct for each philosopher. All the philosophers are available in the p array of the Simulation struct. Before forking any threads, it calls initialize_simulation() so that you can add any state that you want in the v field.

    Then it forks off the philosopher threads.

    The philosopher threads of course have to use continuations when they block, and what we do is always call philosopher() as our continuation. Philosopher() checks the state of the philosopher and does the correct thing. There are six states. Here is what philosopher() does in each:

    1. STARTING: Calculate a random thinking time, set the state to THINKING and sleep for that time (all sleeping is "fake").

    2. THINKING: Set the state to HUNGRY and call i_am_hungry(), which you define. I_am_hungry() is blocking. When it unblocks it should call philosopher(p), the philosopher's state should be GOTSTICKS, and the philosopher should have picked up the chopsticks using pick_up_stick().

    3. GOTSTICKS: Calculate a random eating time, set the state to EATING and sleep for that time (all sleeping is "fake").

    4. EATING: Set the state to SATED and call i_am_sated(), which you define. I_am_sated() is also blocking. When it unblocks it should call philosopher(p), the philosopher's state should be STARTING, and the philosopher should have put down the chopsticks using put_down_stick().
    Each Philosopher struct keeps statistics on how long the philosopher has been thinking, eating and blocked. These statistics are maintained in the procedures philosopher() and update_times(). They are straightforward and I won't explain them further.

    There are two other procedures defined in dphil_skeleton.c.


    What you define

    You define initialize_simulation(), i_am_hungry() and i_am_sated(). Their definitions are above, but I'll restate them:

    To be successful, your implementation will guarantee that two adjacent philosophers do not pick up the same chopstick. It should also have the following properties:


    Solution #1: The Null Solution

    The first solution is to have all three procedures do nothing. It is in dphil_1.c:

    void i_am_hungry(Philosopher *p)
    {
      return;
    }
    
    void i_am_sated(Philosopher *p)
    {
      return;
    }
    
    void initialize_simulation(Simulation *s)
    {
      return;
    }
    

    Of course it compiles, but it doesn't run correctly. Here's an example where the philosophers think and eat for an average of three seconds, and it takes one second to pick up and put down the chopsticks:

    UNIX> dphil_1 5 3 3 1 10 10 0 yes
         0.000: 000 Thinking for      1.025.
         0.000: 001 Thinking for      4.499.
         0.000: 002 Thinking for      0.578.
         0.000: 003 Thinking for      5.223.
         0.000: 004 Thinking for      3.464.
         0.578: 002 Hungry.
    Error: i_am_hungry(2) returned
    UNIX> 
    
    The first philosopher to call i_am_hungry() is philosopher 2, and since i_am_hungry() just returns, that is flagged as an error.

    Solution #2: Just try to grab those sticks

    The second solution, in dphil_2.c simply has each philosopher just try to grab the chopsticks. Since pick_up_sticks() and put_down_sticks() are blocking, this needs to be continuation based, and to do that, I add a second state for each philosopher. This is in the array my_states, which is held in s->v. So, initialize_simulation() allocates the array and sets all states to BEGIN. Then i_am_hungry() works according to the states:

    I_am_sated() works analogously.

    #define BEGIN 0
    #define GOT_STICK_1 1
    #define GOT_STICK_2 2
    
    typedef struct {
      int *my_pstates;
    } MyPhil;
    
    void initialize_simulation(Simulation *s)
    {
      MyPhil *m;
      int i;
    
      m = talloc(MyPhil, 1);
      m->my_pstates = talloc(int, s->nphil);
      for (i = 0; i < s->nphil; i++) {
        m->my_pstates[i] = BEGIN;
      }
      s->v = (void *) m;
      return;
    }
    void i_am_hungry(Philosopher *p)
    {
      MyPhil *m;
      int s1, s2;
    
      m = (MyPhil *) p->s->v;
      s1 = p->id;
      s2 = (p->id+1)%p->s->nphil;
    
      if (m->my_pstates[p->id] == BEGIN) {
        m->my_pstates[p->id] = GOT_STICK_1;
        pick_up_stick(p, s1, i_am_hungry);
    
      } else if (m->my_pstates[p->id] == GOT_STICK_1) {
        m->my_pstates[p->id] = GOT_STICK_2;
        pick_up_stick(p, s2, i_am_hungry);
    
      } else {
        p->state = GOTSTICKS;
        philosopher(p);
        cbthread_exit();
      }
    }
    
    void i_am_sated(Philosopher *p)
    {
      MyPhil *m;
      int s1, s2;
    
      m = (MyPhil *) p->s->v;
      s1 = p->id;
      s2 = (p->id+1)%p->s->nphil;
    
      if (m->my_pstates[p->id] == GOT_STICK_2) {
        m->my_pstates[p->id] = GOT_STICK_1;
        put_down_stick(p, s1, i_am_sated);
    
      } else if (m->my_pstates[p->id] == GOT_STICK_1) {
        m->my_pstates[p->id] = BEGIN;
        put_down_stick(p, s2, i_am_sated);
    
      } else {
        p->state = STARTING;
        philosopher(p);
        cbthread_exit();
      }
    }
    

    When we run this on the parameters above, it works for a little bit before failing:

    UNIX> dphil_2 5 3 3 1 10 10 0 yes
         0.000: 000 Thinking for      1.025.
         0.000: 001 Thinking for      4.499.
         0.000: 002 Thinking for      0.578.
         0.000: 003 Thinking for      5.223.
         0.000: 004 Thinking for      3.464.
         0.578: 002 Hungry.
         0.578: 002 Picking up stick 002
         1.025: 000 Hungry.
         1.025: 000 Picking up stick 000
         1.578: 002 Picking up stick 003
         2.025: 000 Picking up stick 001
         2.578: 002 Eating for        4.715.
         3.025: 000 Eating for        4.153.
         3.464: 004 Hungry.
         3.464: 004 Picking up stick 004
         4.464: 004 Picking up stick 000
    Error: pick_up_stick(0) called on a stick in use.
    UNIX> 
    
    Philosopher's 0 and 2 are the first to wake up, and they successfull pick up their chopsticks and start eating. By luck, philosopher 4 is the next to wake up, and he picks up stick 4, which is the only stick available. However, when he tries to pick up stick 0, we get an error.

    Although this solution is a bad one, there are times when it will work. For example, make the think times big and the eat/stick times small:

    UNIX> dphil_2 4 50 1 1 200 200 0 no
       200.000:  Thinktime:    181.086    Eattime:      4.414    Blocked_time:     14.500
    Philosopher 000: Think:    179.226  Eat:      4.774   Blocked:     16.000
    Philosopher 001: Think:    183.570  Eat:      4.430   Blocked:     12.000
    Philosopher 002: Think:    182.215  Eat:      3.785   Blocked:     14.000
    Philosopher 003: Think:    179.335  Eat:      4.665   Blocked:     16.000
    UNIX> 
    
    By chance, we don't have any adjacent philosophers wanting to eat at the same time. If we extend the duration, there is a failure between the 200th and the 300th second:
    UNIX> dphil_2 4 50 1 1 100 20000 0 no
       100.000:  Thinktime:     92.142    Eattime:      1.858    Blocked_time:      6.000
       200.000:  Thinktime:    181.086    Eattime:      4.414    Blocked_time:     14.500
    Error: pick_up_stick(1) called on a stick in use.
    UNIX> 
    

    Solution #3: Protect solution 2 with semaphores

    The obvious way to implement mutual exclusion is with a semaphore initialized to one. dphil_3.c does this by adding a semaphore to every chopstick, and now the philosophers must call P() before calling pick_up_stick() and V() after calling put_down_stick(). Yes, continuations make this a pain, but by structuring the code around the philosopher's my_state, it's pretty straighforward. I'm only showing initialize_simulation() and i_am_hungry():

    #define BEGIN 0
    #define GOT_STICK_1 1
    #define GOT_STICK_2 2
    #define GOT_SEM_1 3
    #define GOT_SEM_2 4
    
    typedef struct {
      cbthread_gsem *sems;
      int *my_pstates;
    } MyPhil;
    
    void initialize_simulation(Simulation *s)
    {
      MyPhil *m;
      int i;
    
      m = talloc(MyPhil, 1);
      m->my_pstates = talloc(int, s->nphil);
      m->sems = talloc(cbthread_gsem, s->nphil);
    
      for (i = 0; i < s->nphil; i++) {
        m->sems[i] = cbthread_make_gsem(1);
        m->my_pstates[i] = BEGIN;
      }
    
      s->v = (void *) m;
      return;
    }
    
    void i_am_hungry(Philosopher *p)
    {
      MyPhil *m;
      int s1, s2;
    
      m = (MyPhil *) p->s->v;
      s1 = p->id;
      s2 = (p->id+1)%p->s->nphil;
    
      if (m->my_pstates[p->id] == BEGIN) {
        m->my_pstates[p->id] = GOT_SEM_1;
        cbthread_gsem_P(m->sems[s1], i_am_hungry, p);
    
      } else if (m->my_pstates[p->id] == GOT_SEM_1) {
        m->my_pstates[p->id] = GOT_STICK_1;
        pick_up_stick(p, s1, i_am_hungry);
    
      } else if (m->my_pstates[p->id] == GOT_STICK_1) {
        m->my_pstates[p->id] = GOT_SEM_2;
        cbthread_gsem_P(m->sems[s2], i_am_hungry, p);
    
      } else if (m->my_pstates[p->id] == GOT_SEM_2) {
        m->my_pstates[p->id] = GOT_STICK_2;
        pick_up_stick(p, s2, i_am_hungry);
    
      } else {
        p->state = GOTSTICKS;
        philosopher(p);
        cbthread_exit();
      }
    }
    

    When we run this on our given example, it works fine:

    UNIX> dphil_3 5 3 3 1 10 10 0 yes
         0.000: 000 Thinking for      1.025.
         0.000: 001 Thinking for      4.499.
         0.000: 002 Thinking for      0.578.
         0.000: 003 Thinking for      5.223.
         0.000: 004 Thinking for      3.464.
         0.578: 002 Hungry.
         0.578: 002 Picking up stick 002
         1.025: 000 Hungry.
         1.025: 000 Picking up stick 000
         1.578: 002 Picking up stick 003
         2.025: 000 Picking up stick 001
         2.578: 002 Eating for        4.715.
         3.025: 000 Eating for        4.153.
         3.464: 004 Hungry.
         3.464: 004 Picking up stick 004
         4.499: 001 Hungry.                      Note, philosopher's 4 and 1 are blocked here.
         5.223: 003 Hungry.                      And now philosopher 3.
         7.178: 000 Sated.
         7.178: 000 Putting down stick 000
         7.293: 002 Sated.
         7.293: 002 Putting down stick 002
         8.178: 000 Putting down stick 001       Now that pilosopher 0 has put down stick 0,
         8.178: 004 Picking up stick 000         Philosopher 4 can pick it up.
         8.293: 002 Putting down stick 003
         9.178: 004 Eating for        2.213.
         9.178: 000 Thinking for      5.243.
         9.178: 001 Picking up stick 001
         9.293: 002 Thinking for      4.471.
         9.293: 003 Picking up stick 003
        10.000:  Thinktime:      3.264    Eattime:      1.938    Blocked_time:      4.798
    Philosopher 000: Think:      1.847  Eat:      4.153   Blocked:      4.000
    Philosopher 001: Think:      4.499  Eat:      0.000   Blocked:      5.501
    Philosopher 002: Think:      1.285  Eat:      4.715   Blocked:      4.000
    Philosopher 003: Think:      5.223  Eat:      0.000   Blocked:      4.777
    Philosopher 004: Think:      3.464  Eat:      0.822   Blocked:      5.714
    UNIX> 
    
    We can extend the simulation out, and it works. Is the blocked time good? We'll see later that it's not.
    UNIX> dphil_3 5 3 3 1 10000 10000 0 no
     10000.000:  Thinktime:   1215.537    Eattime:   1199.599    Blocked_time:   7584.864
    Philosopher 000: Think:   1213.645  Eat:   1199.705   Blocked:   7586.651
    Philosopher 001: Think:   1272.240  Eat:   1225.338   Blocked:   7502.422
    Philosopher 002: Think:   1216.960  Eat:   1202.474   Blocked:   7580.566
    Philosopher 003: Think:   1221.017  Eat:   1177.727   Blocked:   7601.256
    Philosopher 004: Think:   1153.821  Eat:   1192.751   Blocked:   7653.428
    UNIX> 
    
    Worse yet, this solution can deadlock. It doesn't here by chance, but a different seed does:
    UNIX> dphil_3 5 3 3 1 10000 10000 21 yes
         0.000: 000 Thinking for      2.746.
         0.000: 001 Thinking for      3.278.
         0.000: 002 Thinking for      3.622.
         0.000: 003 Thinking for      3.878.
         0.000: 004 Thinking for      1.975.
         1.975: 004 Hungry.
         1.975: 004 Picking up stick 004
         2.746: 000 Hungry.
         2.746: 000 Picking up stick 000
         3.278: 001 Hungry.
         3.278: 001 Picking up stick 001
         3.622: 002 Hungry.
         3.622: 002 Picking up stick 002
         3.878: 003 Hungry.
         3.878: 003 Picking up stick 003
     10000.000:  Thinktime:      3.100    Eattime:      0.000    Blocked_time:   9996.900
    Philosopher 000: Think:      2.746  Eat:      0.000   Blocked:   9997.254
    Philosopher 001: Think:      3.278  Eat:      0.000   Blocked:   9996.722
    Philosopher 002: Think:      3.622  Eat:      0.000   Blocked:   9996.378
    Philosopher 003: Think:      3.878  Eat:      0.000   Blocked:   9996.122
    Philosopher 004: Think:      1.975  Eat:      0.000   Blocked:   9998.025
    UNIX> 
    
    Whoops. Stubborn, starving, stupid philosophers.....

    Solution #4: Asymmetry

    One way to fix this problem is with asymmetry -- don't have every philosopher start with his or her left chopstick. A simple way to implement this is to have even numbered philosonphers start with chopstick p->pid and odd ones start with (p->pid+1)%p->s->nphil. In this way, you do not have circular waiting. The proof is fairly simple: With the exception of philospher zero, suppose a philosopher holds one chopstick but can't get the other. This means that the philosopher holding the other chopstick must be eating, and when that philosopher is done, the chopstick will be available. You can make similar proof about philosopher zero.

    We implement this in dphil_4.c. The only change to the code is in the beginning of i_am_hungry():

    void i_am_hungry(Philosopher *p)
    {
      MyPhil *m;
      int s1, s2;
    
      m = (MyPhil *) p->s->v;
      s1 = (p->id%2 == 0) ? p->id : (p->id+1)%p->s->nphil;
      s2 = (p->id%2 == 1) ? p->id : (p->id+1)%p->s->nphil;
    
      ...
    
    

    When we run it, we avoid the deadlock, and the blocktimes are lower:

    UNIX> dphil_4 5 3 3 1 10000 10000 0 no
     10000.000:  Thinktime:   1982.282    Eattime:   1961.880    Blocked_time:   6055.838
    Philosopher 000: Think:   2284.853  Eat:   2228.616   Blocked:   5486.531
    Philosopher 001: Think:   1935.129  Eat:   1932.797   Blocked:   6132.074
    Philosopher 002: Think:   1968.166  Eat:   1868.213   Blocked:   6163.622
    Philosopher 003: Think:   1881.379  Eat:   1953.592   Blocked:   6165.029
    Philosopher 004: Think:   1841.885  Eat:   1826.182   Blocked:   6331.933
    UNIX> dphil_4 5 3 3 1 10000 10000 21 no
     10000.000:  Thinktime:   1944.159    Eattime:   1975.124    Blocked_time:   6080.717
    Philosopher 000: Think:   2174.908  Eat:   2181.369   Blocked:   5643.723
    Philosopher 001: Think:   1892.307  Eat:   1949.243   Blocked:   6158.449
    Philosopher 002: Think:   1955.931  Eat:   1981.897   Blocked:   6062.171
    Philosopher 003: Think:   1799.752  Eat:   1849.228   Blocked:   6351.020
    Philosopher 004: Think:   1897.897  Eat:   1913.881   Blocked:   6188.223
    UNIX> 
    
    And if you look closely at each philosopher, you'll see that philosopher 0 is blocked less than the others. How does that scale when the table is bigger?
    UNIX> dphil_4 11 3 3 1 10000 10000 0 no
     10000.000:  Thinktime:   1972.399    Eattime:   1984.463    Blocked_time:   6043.138
    Philosopher 000: Think:   2173.933  Eat:   2269.385   Blocked:   5556.682
    Philosopher 001: Think:   1931.846  Eat:   2018.246   Blocked:   6049.909
    Philosopher 002: Think:   2014.558  Eat:   1981.562   Blocked:   6003.880
    Philosopher 003: Think:   1969.787  Eat:   2051.790   Blocked:   5978.423
    Philosopher 004: Think:   2005.238  Eat:   2016.456   Blocked:   5978.306
    Philosopher 005: Think:   2042.704  Eat:   1915.682   Blocked:   6041.613
    Philosopher 006: Think:   1986.464  Eat:   1911.700   Blocked:   6101.836
    Philosopher 007: Think:   2006.558  Eat:   1980.617   Blocked:   6012.825
    Philosopher 008: Think:   1972.216  Eat:   1962.954   Blocked:   6064.829
    Philosopher 009: Think:   1823.299  Eat:   1873.342   Blocked:   6303.359
    Philosopher 010: Think:   1769.784  Eat:   1847.361   Blocked:   6382.855
    UNIX> dphil_4 11 3 3 1 100000 100000 21 no
    100000.000:  Thinktime:  19829.429    Eattime:  19908.143    Blocked_time:  60262.429
    Philosopher 000: Think:  22670.207  Eat:  22307.138   Blocked:  55022.655
    Philosopher 001: Think:  20018.830  Eat:  20065.023   Blocked:  59916.146
    Philosopher 002: Think:  19751.059  Eat:  19853.586   Blocked:  60395.355
    Philosopher 003: Think:  19989.986  Eat:  19951.486   Blocked:  60058.528
    Philosopher 004: Think:  19712.115  Eat:  19902.039   Blocked:  60385.846
    Philosopher 005: Think:  20022.446  Eat:  20052.777   Blocked:  59924.778
    Philosopher 006: Think:  19688.739  Eat:  19900.370   Blocked:  60410.891
    Philosopher 007: Think:  19803.414  Eat:  20128.918   Blocked:  60067.668
    Philosopher 008: Think:  19832.591  Eat:  20018.772   Blocked:  60148.637
    Philosopher 009: Think:  18357.009  Eat:  18434.129   Blocked:  63208.862
    Philosopher 010: Think:  18277.321  Eat:  18375.330   Blocked:  63347.349
    UNIX> 
    
    Indeed, philosopher 0 is getting the best of all worlds -- she is blocked less, and therefore gets to eat more and think more. On the flip sides, philosohpers 9 and 10 seem to be getting a raw deal. It actually makes sense -- whenever philosopher 0 has to wait for a chopstick, it's because the adjacent philosopher is eating. Contrast that with philosopher 1. When that philosopher waits for chopstick 0, it may be the case that philosopher 0 is holding it and waiting for chopstick 10. That will translate to a longer wait time than philosopher 0's wait times.

    The asymmetry prevents the deadlock, but unfortunately, it also causes unfairness. This will of course go away with an even number of philosophers, but with an odd number, philosopher 0 gets an unfair advantage.

    Solution #5: The Book's Solution

    The book's solution prevents deadlock and is fair. The algorithm is simple: only pick up the chopsticks when both are available. To implement this (dphil_5.c), we add an extra array to our system -- one that says whether the chopsticks are free. We have the same semaphores, but now we assign them to philosophers rather than to chopsticks. When a philosopher is hungry, he/she checks this array, and if both chopsticks are free, the philosopher sets them both as used, and then goes through the activity of picking them up. If the chopsticks aren't free, the philosopher sets his/her state to blocked and waits on his/her semaphore. We'll see how the philosopher is awakened in a bit. Here's the code for i_am_hungry():

    typedef struct {
      cbthread_gsem *sems;
      int *sticks_free;
      int *my_pstates;
    } MyPhil;
    
    void i_am_hungry(Philosopher *p)
    {
      MyPhil *m;
      int s1, s2;
    
      m = (MyPhil *) p->s->v;
      s1 = p->id;
      s2 = (p->id + 1) % p->s->nphil;
    
      /* Block if you can't get both chopsticks */
      if (m->my_pstates[p->id] == BEGIN && (!m->sticks_free[s1] || !m->sticks_free[s2])) {
        m->my_pstates[p->id] = BLOCKED;
        cbthread_gsem_P(m->sems[p->id], i_am_hungry, p);
      }
      
      if (m->my_pstates[p->id] == BEGIN) {  /* If you can, then set them as used and pick them up */
        m->sticks_free[s1] = 0;
        m->sticks_free[s2] = 0;
        m->my_pstates[p->id] = GOT_STICK_1;
        pick_up_stick(p, s1, i_am_hungry);
    
      } else if (m->my_pstates[p->id] == GOT_STICK_1) {
        m->my_pstates[p->id] = GOT_STICK_2;
        pick_up_stick(p, s2, i_am_hungry);
    
      } else {
        p->state = GOTSTICKS;
        philosopher(p);
        cbthread_exit();
      }
    }
    

    Now, when a philosopher puts down a chopstick, he/she checks to see if the adjacent philosopher is blocked and if so, sets the philosopher's state back to BEGIN and wakes him/her up. It may not be the case that the philosopher can get both sticks, but the philosopher will check that upon waking up:

    void i_am_sated(Philosopher *p)
    {
      MyPhil *m;
      int s1, s2;
      int before, after;
    
      m = (MyPhil *) p->s->v;
      s1 = p->id;
      s2 = (p->id+1)%p->s->nphil;
    
      if (m->my_pstates[p->id] == GOT_STICK_2) {  /* Put down first stick */
        m->my_pstates[p->id] = GOT_STICK_1;
        put_down_stick(p, s1, i_am_sated);
    
      } else if (m->my_pstates[p->id] == GOT_STICK_1) {  /* Check the philosopher that shares s1 */
        m->sticks_free[s1] = 1;
        before = (p->id + p->s->nphil - 1) % p->s->nphil;
        if (m->my_pstates[before] == BLOCKED) {
          cbthread_gsem_V(m->sems[before]);
          m->my_pstates[before] = BEGIN;
        }
        m->my_pstates[p->id] = BEGIN;       /* Put down s2 */
        put_down_stick(p, s2, i_am_sated);
    
      } else {
        m->sticks_free[s2] = 1;
        after = (p->id + 1) % p->s->nphil; /* Check the philosopher that shares s2 */
        if (m->my_pstates[after] == BLOCKED) {
          cbthread_gsem_V(m->sems[after]);
          m->my_pstates[after] = BEGIN;
        }
        p->state = STARTING;
        philosopher(p);
        cbthread_exit();
      }
    }
    

    You may wonder -- why do I set an adjacent philosopher's state to BEGIN when calling cbthread_gsem_V()? The answer is subtle -- suppose philosophers 0 and 2 both stop eating simultaneously, with philosopher 0 executing first. If philosopher 0 didn't set philosopher 1's state to BEGIN when calling cbthread_gsem_V(), then philosopher 2 would also call cbthread_gsem_V() before philosopher 1 wakes up. That's wouldn't be good.

    When we run it, we get a better blend: the philosophers eat more or less equally, and there's no deadlock:

    UNIX> dphil_5 5 3 3 1 10000 10000 0 no 
     10000.000:  Thinktime:   1835.950    Eattime:   1860.157    Blocked_time:   6303.893
    Philosopher 000: Think:   1801.795  Eat:   1848.406   Blocked:   6349.799
    Philosopher 001: Think:   1770.456  Eat:   1852.314   Blocked:   6377.231
    Philosopher 002: Think:   1818.896  Eat:   1855.503   Blocked:   6325.601
    Philosopher 003: Think:   1931.999  Eat:   1902.967   Blocked:   6165.034
    Philosopher 004: Think:   1856.605  Eat:   1841.595   Blocked:   6301.800
    UNIX> dphil_5 5 3 3 1 10000 10000 21 no
     10000.000:  Thinktime:   1836.099    Eattime:   1848.550    Blocked_time:   6315.351
    Philosopher 000: Think:   1829.247  Eat:   1885.716   Blocked:   6285.037
    Philosopher 001: Think:   1823.379  Eat:   1884.483   Blocked:   6292.138
    Philosopher 002: Think:   1882.628  Eat:   1782.620   Blocked:   6334.752
    Philosopher 003: Think:   1848.914  Eat:   1863.641   Blocked:   6287.445
    Philosopher 004: Think:   1796.327  Eat:   1826.290   Blocked:   6377.382
    UNIX> dphil_5 5 3 3 1 100000 100000 21 no | head -n 1
    100000.000:  Thinktime:  18461.891    Eattime:  18492.899    Blocked_time:  63045.210
    UNIX> 
    
    It doesn't perform as well as dphil_4 though. We'll discuss why later. It also has a very minor issue in that it can exhibit starvation. Consider the following sequence:
    1. Philosopher 0 is hungry and gets the chopsticks.
    2. Philosopher 4 is hungry and waits.
    3. Philosopher 2 is hungry and gets the chopsticks.
    4. Philosophers 1 and 3 are hungry and wait.
    5. Philosopher 2 is sated and puts down the chopsticks.
    6. Philosopher 3 now gets the chopsticks.
    7. Philosopher 0 is sated and puts down the chopsticks.
    8. Philosopher 1 now gets the chopsticks.
    9. Philosophers 0 and 2 are hungry and wait.
    10. Philosopher 1 is sated and puts down the chopsticks.
    11. Philosopher 0 now gets the chopsticks.
    12. Philosopher 3 is sated and puts down the chopsticks.
    13. Philosopher 2 now gets the chopsticks.
    14. Philosophers 1 and 3 are hungry and wait.
    15. Repeat from step 5
    The process is illustrated below. Note how philosopher 4 is never able to get the chopsticks because both are never available:

    In dphil_skeleton_skew.c, I've modified the driver so that all the philosophers but philosopher 0 think for an extra second, philosophers 1 and 2 eat for an extra second, and the rest eat for an extra three seconds. When you call it with zero values for the think, eat and stick times, you get the scenario pictured above, and philosopher 4 starves:

    UNIX> dphil_5_starve 5 0 0 0 5000 5000 0 no
      5000.000:  Thinktime:      0.800    Eattime:   1999.800    Blocked_time:   2999.400
    Philosopher 000: Think:      0.000  Eat:   3750.000   Blocked:   1250.000
    Philosopher 001: Think:      1.000  Eat:   1250.000   Blocked:   3749.000
    Philosopher 002: Think:      1.000  Eat:   1250.000   Blocked:   3749.000
    Philosopher 003: Think:      1.000  Eat:   3749.000   Blocked:   1250.000
    Philosopher 004: Think:      1.000  Eat:      0.000   Blocked:   4999.000
    UNIX> 
    

    Solution #6: Preventing Starvation

    One way to ensure no starvation is to enforce an ordering on when the philosophers eat. A naive implementation of this is to use a queue. When a philosopher wants to eat, he/she gets appended to the queue. Then a philosopher can only eat if he/she is at the front of the queue with the chopsticks free.

    The implementation is straightforward again -- I've added a Dllist and a stated called QUEUED. Moreover, I've implemented a procedure called test_philosopher() which philosophers may use to test whether they or adjacent philosophers can eat (in dphil_6.c):

    int test_philosopher(int pid, MyPhil *m, Simulation *s)
    {
      return (m->my_pstates[pid] == QUEUED &&
          m->q->flink->val.i == pid &&
          m->sticks_free[pid] &&
          m->sticks_free[(pid+1)%s->nphil]);
    }
    

    In i_am_hungry(), a philosopher first appends himself/herself to the queue (q), and then calls test_philosopher() to determine whether or not to block.

    In i_am_sated(), whenever a philosopher puts down a chopstick, he/she tests the adjacent philosopher to see if he/she can eat, and if so, calls cbthread_gsem_V() to wake that philosopher up:

    void i_am_hungry(Philosopher *p)
    {
      MyPhil *m;
      int s1, s2;
    
      m = (MyPhil *) p->s->v;
      s1 = p->id;
      s2 = (p->id + 1) % p->s->nphil;
    
      /* Put yourself on the queue initially */
    
      if (m->my_pstates[p->id] == BEGIN) {
        dll_append(m->q, new_jval_i(p->id));
        m->my_pstates[p->id] = QUEUED;
      }
    
      /* Get the chopsticks if it's your turn */
    
      if (test_philosopher(p->id, m, p->s)) {
        dll_delete_node(m->q->flink);
        m->sticks_free[s1] = 0;
        m->sticks_free[s2] = 0;
        m->my_pstates[p->id] = GOT_STICK_1;
        pick_up_stick(p, s1, i_am_hungry);
    
      /* Otherwise, block */
    
      } else if (m->my_pstates[p->id] == QUEUED) {
        cbthread_gsem_P(m->sems[p->id], i_am_hungry, p);
    
      /* Get the second stick, etc. */
    
      } else if (m->my_pstates[p->id] == GOT_STICK_1) {
        m->my_pstates[p->id] = GOT_STICK_2;
        pick_up_stick(p, s2, i_am_hungry);
    
      } else {
        p->state = GOTSTICKS;
        philosopher(p);
        cbthread_exit();
      }
    }
    
    void i_am_sated(Philosopher *p)
    {
      MyPhil *m;
      int s1, s2;
      int before, after;
    
      m = (MyPhil *) p->s->v;
      s1 = p->id;
      s2 = (p->id+1)%p->s->nphil;
    
      /* Put down the first stick. */
    
      if (m->my_pstates[p->id] == GOT_STICK_2) {
        m->my_pstates[p->id] = GOT_STICK_1;
        put_down_stick(p, s1, i_am_sated);
    
      /* First stick is down, test adjacent philosopher. */
    
      } else if (m->my_pstates[p->id] == GOT_STICK_1) {
        m->sticks_free[s1] = 1;
        before = (p->id + p->s->nphil - 1) % p->s->nphil;
        if (test_philosopher(before, m, p->s)) 
          cbthread_gsem_V(m->sems[before]);
        m->my_pstates[p->id] = BEGIN;
        put_down_stick(p, s2, i_am_sated);
    
      /* Second stick is down, test adjacent philosopher. */
    
      } else {
        m->sticks_free[s2] = 1;
        after = (p->id + 1) % p->s->nphil;
        if (test_philosopher(after, m, p->s)) 
          cbthread_gsem_V(m->sems[after]);
        p->state = STARTING;
        philosopher(p);
        cbthread_exit();
      }
    }
    

    When we run this, there's a problem -- everyone stalls. Let's take a look at when the seed is 4 because that's an easy example:

    UNIX> dphil_6 5 3 3 1 500 500 4 yes
         0.000: 000 Thinking for      3.924.
         0.000: 001 Thinking for      3.410.
         0.000: 002 Thinking for      0.301.
         0.000: 003 Thinking for      4.395.
         0.000: 004 Thinking for      3.180.
         0.301: 002 Hungry.
         0.301: 002 Picking up stick 002
         1.301: 002 Picking up stick 003
         2.301: 002 Eating for        3.898.   Philosopher 2 eating.
         3.180: 004 Hungry.
         3.180: 004 Picking up stick 004
         3.410: 001 Hungry.
         3.924: 000 Hungry.
         4.180: 004 Picking up stick 000
         4.395: 003 Hungry.
         5.180: 004 Eating for        4.043.   Philosophers 2 & 4 eating. Q = 1,0,3
         6.199: 002 Sated.
         6.199: 002 Putting down stick 002
         7.199: 002 Putting down stick 003     Philosopher 2 done.  1 can start
         7.199: 001 Picking up stick 001
         8.199: 001 Picking up stick 002
         8.199: 002 Thinking for      5.133.
         9.199: 001 Eating for        2.282.   Philosophers 1 & 4 eating. Q = 0,3
         9.223: 004 Sated.
         9.223: 004 Putting down stick 004     Philosopher 4 done.  0 can't start yet.
        10.223: 004 Putting down stick 000
        11.223: 004 Thinking for      1.379.
        11.481: 001 Sated.
        11.481: 001 Putting down stick 001     Philosopher 1 done.  0 can start.
        12.481: 001 Putting down stick 002
        12.481: 000 Picking up stick 000
        12.602: 004 Hungry.
        13.332: 002 Hungry.
        13.481: 000 Picking up stick 001
        13.481: 001 Thinking for      0.400.
        13.881: 001 Hungry.
        14.481: 000 Eating for        1.393.   Philosopher 0 eating. Q = 3,4,2,1
        15.874: 000 Sated.
        15.874: 000 Putting down stick 000     Philosopher 0 done.  Only checks 4 & 1, not 3.
        16.874: 000 Putting down stick 001
        17.874: 000 Thinking for      1.996.
        19.870: 000 Hungry.                    All philosophers on the queue.
       500.000:  Thinktime:      4.824    Eattime:      2.323    Blocked_time:    492.853
    Philosopher 000: Think:      5.920  Eat:      1.393   Blocked:    492.687
    Philosopher 001: Think:      3.810  Eat:      2.282   Blocked:    493.909
    Philosopher 002: Think:      5.434  Eat:      3.898   Blocked:    490.668
    Philosopher 003: Think:      4.395  Eat:      0.000   Blocked:    495.605
    Philosopher 004: Think:      4.559  Eat:      4.043   Blocked:    491.398
    UNIX> 
    
    The progression is pictured below. The important feature is that since the philosopher only check adjacent philosophers, you have a problem when the front of the queue is not an adjacent philosopher:

    Solution #7: Preventing Starvation A Little Better

    We can fix this easily by testing the front of the queue instead of testing adjacent philosophers. The fix is in dphil_7.c. First, we write a procedure that tests the front of the queue and wakes up the philosopher:

    void test_queue_front(MyPhil *m, Simulation *s)
    {
      if (dll_empty(m->q)) return;
      if (test_philosopher(m->q->flink->val.i, m, s)) 
        cbthread_gsem_V(m->sems[m->q->flink->val.i]);
    }
    

    Then we call that in i_am_sated() when we put down the chopsticks. It works much better now -- you can see that up until the end of the simulation, the philosophers are still eating:

    UNIX> dphil_7 5 3 3 1 10000 10000 4 yes | tail -n 10
      9997.746: 000 Putting down stick 001
      9998.746: 000 Thinking for      2.559.
      9998.746: 001 Picking up stick 001
      9999.746: 001 Picking up stick 002
     10000.000:  Thinktime:   1050.291    Eattime:   1064.865    Blocked_time:   7884.844
    Philosopher 000: Think:   1056.339  Eat:   1106.695   Blocked:   7836.965
    Philosopher 001: Think:   1027.252  Eat:   1051.870   Blocked:   7920.878
    Philosopher 002: Think:   1095.661  Eat:   1110.493   Blocked:   7793.846
    Philosopher 003: Think:    987.161  Eat:   1015.708   Blocked:   7997.131
    Philosopher 004: Think:   1085.040  Eat:   1039.560   Blocked:   7875.400
    UNIX> 
    
    Unfortunately, though, that blocked time is much higher than the previous solutions. One reason as that we're still not waking up philosophers optimally. Take a look at the following scenario:

    You see that when philosopher 0 finishes, she wakes up philosopher 1. However, philosopher 3 is on the queue with chopsticks available, and no one wakes him up. That's inefficient.

    Solution #8: Getting the central queue working correctly

    The fix is in dphil_8.c. That is to also check the queue right after a philosopher dequeues himself -- this is in am_i_hungry():

      if (test_philosopher(p->id, m, p->s)) {
        dll_delete_node(m->q->flink);
        m->sticks_free[s1] = 0;
        m->sticks_free[s2] = 0;
        m->my_pstates[p->id] = GOT_STICK_1;
        test_queue_front(m, p->s);
        pick_up_stick(p, s1, i_am_hungry);
    

    The result is less block time:

    UNIX> dphil_8 5 3 3 1 10000 10000 4 no | head -n 1
     10000.000:  Thinktime:   1353.271    Eattime:   1344.127    Blocked_time:   7302.602
    UNIX> 
    

    Solution #9: Central queues are inefficient

    When the table gets large, a central queue seems really inefficient, doesn't it? Suppose that the table size is 100, all philosophers are hungry, philosopher 0 is eating and philosopher 1 is at the head of the queue. Then there are 49 philosophers that can eat, but none will be able to until philosopher 0 is done.

    For example:

    UNIX> dphil_5 101 3 3 1 10000 10000 4 no | head -n 1
     10000.000:  Thinktime:   1875.589    Eattime:   1881.816    Blocked_time:   6242.595
    UNIX> dphil_8 101 3 3 1 10000 10000 4 no | head -n 1
     10000.000:  Thinktime:    484.010    Eattime:    485.673    Blocked_time:   9030.317
    UNIX> 
    
    That's a big diference, which will be further exacerbated when eat times become large:
    UNIX> dphil_5 101 3 30 1 10000 10000 4 no | head -n 1
     10000.000:  Thinktime:    384.886    Eattime:   3819.452    Blocked_time:   5795.662
    UNIX> dphil_8 101 3 30 1 10000 10000 4 no | head -n 1
     10000.000:  Thinktime:     82.794    Eattime:    791.296    Blocked_time:   9125.910
    UNIX> 
    
    So, can we prevent starvation without a central queue? Sure -- one way is to have each philosopher keep track of what time they became hungry. Then a philosopher can only eat when the chopsticks are available and neither neighbor has been hungry for a longer period of time.

    The code is in dphil_9.c. The only changes are that we've added a hunger_time array to MyPhil, and our test_philosopher() routine now tests adjacent philosophers instead of a central queue:

    typedef struct {
      cbthread_gsem *sems;
      int *sticks_free;
      int *my_pstates;
      double *hunger_time;
    } MyPhil;
    
    int test_philosopher(int pid, MyPhil *m, Simulation *s)
    {
      int before, after;
    
      /* If I'm not wanting the sticks, return false. */
      if (m->my_pstates[pid] != WANTING_STICKS) return 0;
    
      
      /* If the sticks aren't available, return false. */
      after = (pid + 1) % s->nphil;
      if (!m->sticks_free[pid] || !m->sticks_free[after]) return 0;
    
      /* If the philosopher after me has been waiting longer, return false. */
      if (m->my_pstates[after] == WANTING_STICKS && 
          m->hunger_time[pid] > m->hunger_time[after]) return 0;
    
      /* If the philosopher before me has been waiting longer, return false. */
      before = (pid + s->nphil - 1) % s->nphil;
      if (m->my_pstates[before] == WANTING_STICKS && 
          m->hunger_time[pid] > m->hunger_time[before]) return 0;
    
      /* Otherwise, all's good! */
      return 1;
    }
    

    We call test_philosopher() when a philosopher is first hungry, and on adjacent philosophers when we put down the sticks.

    Interestingly, at a five person table, it performs worse than the central queue:

    UNIX> dphil_8 5 3 3 1 10000 10000 4 no | head -n 1
     10000.000:  Thinktime:   1353.271    Eattime:   1344.127    Blocked_time:   7302.602
    UNIX> dphil_9 5 3 3 1 10000 10000 4 no | head -n 1
     10000.000:  Thinktime:   1193.014    Eattime:   1218.905    Blocked_time:   7588.081
    UNIX> 
    
    However, it does at a 101 person table, although it's still not as good as the non-starvation-preventing solution:
    UNIX> dphil_5 101 3 30 1 10000 10000 4 no | head -n 1
     10000.000:  Thinktime:    384.886    Eattime:   3819.452    Blocked_time:   5795.662
    UNIX> dphil_8 101 3 30 1 10000 10000 4 no | head -n 1
     10000.000:  Thinktime:     82.794    Eattime:    791.296    Blocked_time:   9125.910
    UNIX> dphil_9 101 3 30 1 10000 10000 4 no | head -n 1
     10000.000:  Thinktime:    301.133    Eattime:   3010.205    Blocked_time:   6688.663
    UNIX> 
    
    Why would it perform worse on a 5-person table? For a hint, take a look at the scenario below -- hunger times are next to the philosophers:

    That's no better than a central queue, is it? And with a table that small, you are very likely to have situations like the above.

    Solution #A: Loosening the hunger time requirement

    We can fix the above by loosening the restriction. How about we set a threshold, and you only block if the difference between your hunger time and your neighbor's is above that threshold. Then you still prevent starvation, but you won't have as much blocking.

    This is in dphil_a.c, and is a two-line fix to test_philosopher(), where we use a threshold of eatavg * 5.

    int test_philosopher(int pid, MyPhil *m, Simulation *s)
    {
      int before, after;
    
      if (m->my_pstates[pid] != WANTING_STICKS) return 0;
      after = (pid + 1) % s->nphil;
      if (!m->sticks_free[pid] || !m->sticks_free[after]) return 0;
      if (m->my_pstates[after] == WANTING_STICKS && 
          m->hunger_time[pid] - s->eatavg * 10 > m->hunger_time[after]) return 0;
      before = (pid + s->nphil - 1) % s->nphil;
      if (m->my_pstates[before] == WANTING_STICKS && 
          m->hunger_time[pid] - s->eatavg * 10 > m->hunger_time[before]) return 0;
      return 1;
    }
    

    Now, the performance is back to the level of the solution which allows starvation:

    UNIX> dphil_a 5 3 3 1 10000 10000 4 no | head -n 1
     10000.000:  Thinktime:   1831.361    Eattime:   1838.134    Blocked_time:   6330.505
    UNIX> dphil_a 101 3 30 1 10000 10000 4 no | head -n 1
     10000.000:  Thinktime:    385.485    Eattime:   3806.771    Blocked_time:   5807.745
    UNIX> 
    
    

    Solution #B: One last inefficiency

    You'll note that solution 4 -- the unfair and asymmetric one -- significantly outperforms the others on the small table:
    UNIX> dphil_4 5 3 3 1 10000 10000 4 no | head -n 1
     10000.000:  Thinktime:   1996.924    Eattime:   1954.487    Blocked_time:   6048.589
    UNIX> 
    
    Why? The answer is that all of the solutions from #5 on don't start picking up chopsticks until both are available. Now, suppose your left chopstick is available and the philosopher on your right is putting down his left chopstick. You can improve matters by starting to pick up your left chopstick now instead of waiting until your right chopstick is available.

    This is done in dphil_b.c. It's a little tricky, because you have to worry about things that can happen when two philosophers wake up at the same time (which happens quite a bit as it turns out). I'm not going to put the code here, but I represent the state of each chopstick as FREE, USING, ALLOCATED or DROPPING. They are all pretty obvious except for ALLOCATED -- this means that you are picking up the other chopstick and this chopstick is not in use, but you are going to use it.

    Now test_philosopher() has more things to worry about -- if either of your sticks are USING or ALLOCATED, then you must block. If both sticks are DROPPING you also must block. Otherwise, you can pick up a stick. I return the number of free sticks:

    int test_philosopher(int pid, MyPhil *m, Simulation *s)
    {
      int before, after;
    
      if (m->my_pstates[pid] != WANTING_STICKS) return 0;
    
      after = (pid + 1) % s->nphil;
    
      if (m->my_pstates[after] == WANTING_STICKS && 
          m->hunger_time[pid] - s->eatavg * 10 > m->hunger_time[after]) return 0;
    
      before = (pid + s->nphil - 1) % s->nphil;
      if (m->my_pstates[before] == WANTING_STICKS && 
          m->hunger_time[pid] - s->eatavg * 10 > m->hunger_time[before]) return 0;
    
      if (m->stick_states[pid] == USING || m->stick_states[after] == USING) return 0;
      if (m->stick_states[pid] == ALLOCATED || m->stick_states[after] == ALLOCATED) return 0;
      if (m->stick_states[pid] == DROPPING && m->stick_states[after] == DROPPING) return 0;
      if (m->stick_states[pid] == DROPPING || m->stick_states[after] == DROPPING) return 1;
      return 2;
    }
    

    I'll leave it up to the interested student to figure out the rest of the code.

    Now, performance is the best of all solutions.

    UNIX> dphil_b 5 3 3 1 10000 10000 4 no | head -n 1
     10000.000:  Thinktime:   2080.247    Eattime:   2107.329    Blocked_time:   5812.424
    UNIX> dphil_b 101 3 30 1 10000 10000 4 no | head -n 1
     10000.000:  Thinktime:    390.507    Eattime:   3879.149    Blocked_time:   5730.344
    UNIX> 
    

    Solution #C: I can't help myself...

    You can make the last solution even more efficient if you are judicious about the order in which you put down your chopsticks. If putting down one chopstick will enable a philosopher to start picking up the other chopstick, then put that chopstick down first. This improves performance even more:
    UNIX> dphil_c 5 3 3 1 10000 10000 4 no | head -n 1
     10000.000:  Thinktime:   2144.681    Eattime:   2166.637    Blocked_time:   5688.682
    UNIX> dphil_c 101 3 30 1 10000 10000 4 no | head -n 1
     10000.000:  Thinktime:    389.649    Eattime:   3888.602    Blocked_time:   5721.750
    UNIX> 
    

    In Summary

    Here are some graphs to compare the various methodologies. The graphs that I present plot averages of ten runs with different seeds, where each duration is 100,000 seconds. I plot the percentage of time that each philosopher is blocked as a function of the table size (number of philosophers):

    Thinktime=3, Eattime=3, Sticktime=1
    Thinktime=3, Eattime=9, Sticktime=1

    These first two simulations are similar. Both represent states where there is always contention for the chopsticks. In each case, the greedy solution is the worst, as you get lots of philosophers holding a chopstick and waiting. The second worst algorithm is the central queue, which as noted above gets worse as the table gets bigger.

    The remainder of the algorithms don't appear to depend on the table size. In the first case, where the thinking and eating times are similar, the asymmetric algorithm works better than all but the last, because it doesn't make the philosophers wait until both chopstricks are free before picking a chopstick up.

    Below, we show some more examples:

    Thinktime=9, Eattime=3, Sticktime=1
    Thinktime=3, Eattime=3, Sticktime=0

    What's going on with the Greedy Solution when the table size is 5? Think about it before looking at the answer.

    What's happening is that in nine of the ten cases, the philosophers deadlock! In the first two sets of tests, they don't. Is that intuitive or counter-intuitive? I think the latter -- If you're thinking more, you're less likely to have contention and therefore you're less likely to deadlock.

    But that's not the case. In the first two examples, the philosophers are usually hungry or eating. When they're hungry, they are usually blocked waiting for adjacent philosophers to finish, and it is rare for adjacent philosophers to get hungry at the same time. In other words, the contention makes the philosophers eat in a rough pattern, and that pattern prevents deadlock.

    When the thinking time is larger, the philosophers are less likely to contend with each other, so they don't get into this pattern of alternating eating. Instead, each starts at a random time. If you choose these random times enough, you are more likely to get that combination where all the philosophers get hungry within a second of each other. Odd, but true. When there are 10 philosophers, that probability is simply too low.

    When we remove the sticktime from the equation, solutions 5, A and C all become equivalent.