ARM Included in Latest UEFI Specification

May 7, 2009

What: The newest revision of the Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) Specification now includes the ARM® architecture. UEFI improves the hardware-software interface by standardizing the boot procedure between the Operating System and a target processor. Specification 2.3 incorporates the necessary modifications required to help enable original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to standardize the boot procedure on hardware platforms based on the ARM processor.

The UEFI Forum, which ARM joined in April 2008, is a non-profit collaborative trade organization formed as an industry-wide effort to modernize the boot process. The forum develops, manages and promotes the UEFI specification. It is an evolving specification driven by contributions and support from member companies. The UEFI specification details an interface that helps hand off control of the low level system from a pre-boot environment to an Operating System. UEFI provides a clean interface between Operating System and platform firmware at boot time, and supports an architecture-independent mechanism for initializing add-in cards.                                                            

Who:

ARM designs the technology that lies at the heart of advanced digital products, from wireless, networking and consumer entertainment solutions to imaging, automotive, security and storage devices. ARM’s comprehensive product offering includes 32-bit RISC microprocessors, graphics processors, video engines, enabling software, cell libraries, embedded memories, high-speed connectivity products, peripherals and development tools. Combined with comprehensive design services, training, support and maintenance, and the company’s broad Partner community, they provide a total system solution that offers a fast, reliable path to market for leading electronics companies. More information on ARM is available at http://www.arm.com.

UEFI – to obtain more information on UEFI, the UEFI Specification, and the UEFI Forum visit http://www.uefi.org.