Kernel Objects

Kernel objects represent resources that are managed by the kernel, that userspace tasks may want to interact with through system calls.

Handles

Kernel objects are referenced from a userspace task using handles. From userspace, handles are opaque 32-bit integers, and are associated within the kernel to kernel objects through a per-task mapping.

A handle of value 0 is never associated with a kernel object, and can act as a sentinel value - various system calls use this value for various meanings.

Each handle is associated with a series of permissions that dictate what the owning userspace task can do with the corresponding object. Some permissions are relevant to all types of kernel object, while others have meanings specific to the type of object the handle is associated with.

Permissions (TODO: expand on these):

• Clone (create a new handle to the referenced kernel object)
• Destroy (destroy the handle, destroying the object if no other handle references it)
• Send (send the handle over a Channel to another task)

Address Space

TODO

Memory Object

TODO

Task

TODO

Channel

TODO

Event

TODO