Basic Input/Output System (BIOS) is the boot firmware a computer's microprocessor uses to get the system into an initialized state after it is powered on. It also manages data flow between the computer's Operating System (OS) and attached devices such as the hard disk, video adapter, keyboard, mouse, and printer.
The Extensible Firmware Interface Specification (EFI) is a public industry specification that describes an abstract programmatic interface between platform firmware and shrink-wrap operating systems or other custom application environments. EFI is intended to be applicable to all platforms designed around Intel® IA-32 and IA-64 processors. Thus, the EFI is applicable to a full range of hardware platforms from mobile systems to servers. At the same time the EFI allows maximum extensibility and customization abilities for OEMs to allow differentiation. In this, the purpose of the EFI is to define an evolutionary path from the traditional "PC-AT" style boot world into a legacy-API free environment.
The Intel® Platform Innovation Framework for EFI (referred to as "the Framework") is a new product-strength implementation of EFI. The Framework is a set of robust architectural interfaces, implemented in C, which has been designed to enable the BIOS industry and our customers to accelerate the evolution of innovative, differentiated, platform designs. The Framework is now Intel's recommended implementation of the EFI Specification for platforms based on all members of the Intel® Architecture (IA) family. The Framework differs from previous generations of firmware infrastructure typically used on IA systems in the following ways:
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It employs a purpose-built modular component design.
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It uses high-level language coding wherever possible.
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It is designed from the outset to support long-term growth of platform capabilities and innovation in the preboot environment.
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It is designed to provide a single code base that is equally applicable to platforms based on all IA family members and that scales to fit the needs of everything from handheld devices to high-end servers.
In December 2004, the central part of the Framework which is called “Foundation Code” has been released at
TianoCore.org
under an open source license with Collabnet* as the host to widen participation in its evolution. This creates much higher transparency though the complete firmware still needs to be provided by BIOS vendors. At the same time, an EFI Develop Kit (EDK) was bundled with the release to establish a robust environment for developing, testing and debugging source code for:
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Foundation Code
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EFI & DXE Drivers
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EFI Option ROMs
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EFI Applications
More information on EFI is available at:
http://www.intel.com/technology/efi
More information is available at:
http://www.intel.com/technology/framework
