Beyond Bios: Implementing the Unified Extensible Firmware Interface with Intel’s Framework

Beyond BIOS: Implementing the Unified Extensible Firmware Interface with Intel's Framework describes a set of robust architectural interfaces, implemented in C, that has been designed to enable the BIOS industry and Intel customers to accelerate the evolution of innovative, differentiated, computer platform designs. The Framework is Intel's recommended implementation of the Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI) specification for computer platforms based on the Intel® Architecture. The EFI specification is an industry standard that defines a new model for the interface between operating systems and computing platform firmware and provides a standard environment for booting an operating system and running pre-boot applications. Intended for BIOS developers, firmware designers, and software professionals, this book covers one of the most important new developments in computing platform evolution. Beyond BIOS: Implementing the Unified Extensible Firmware Interface with Intel's Framework provides the reader with solid examples of how to implement the EFI specification from booting a system based upon this technology to the constituent elements of building a platform with the Framework. Included is the rationale for design decisions, code fragments that implement the concepts, and samples from many different platforms. Each operating environment imposes different requirements on the system software. Operating system developers have learned that the successful support of a complex operating environment is the result of adaptation of existing basic software concepts to a new landscape. The reader of this book will learn how to use just such a strategy in turn to build pre-boot firmware and understand the new world of standards-based operating system booting.