round-robin
A {scheduling} {algorithm} in which processes are activated in a fixed cyclic order. Those which cannot proceed
because they are waiting for some event (e.g. termination of a
{child process} or an input/output operation) simply return
control to the scheduler. The virtue of round-robin
scheduling is its simplicity - only the processes themselves
need to know what they are waiting for or how to tell if it
has happened. However, if a process goes back to sleep just
before the event for which it is waiting occurs then the event
will not get handled until all the other processes have been
activated.
Compare {priority scheduling}.
(1996-02-10)