Question

Time duration required for the scheduling dispatcher to stop one process and start another is known as:

a) Process latency
b) Dispatch latency
c) Execution latency
d) Interrupt latency

Answer 1

b) Dispatch latency The time taken by the scheduling dispatcher to stop one process and start another is referred to as dispatch latency.

Step-by-step explanation:

The time duration required for the scheduling dispatcher to stop one process and start another is known as dispatch latency. Dispatch latency is a measure of the time taken by the scheduler to switch the CPU from the context of one process to another.

This involves saving the state of the currently running process and loading the state of the next process to run, which can include various tasks like updating the process control block, memory management and updating necessary registers.

In computing, dispatch latency is crucial as it affects the overall system performance, especially in systems that require high-frequency context switching. The lower the dispatch latency, the faster a system can switch between processes, improving the efficiency of multitasking environments.