Unified Extensible Firmware Interface

What does Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) mean?

Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) is a modernized and improved firmware interface standard used to Initialize hardware in a computer system. It acts as an intermediary between the operating system and the system hardware, providing a platform-independent and extensible environment for hardware initialization and management tasks.

UEFI is designed to address limitations in the traditional BIOS (Basic Input/Output System) architecture and offers significant advantages. Unlike BIOS, which is based on legacy 16-bit code, UEFI utilizes a 32-bit or 64-bit architecture, providing access to larger memory spaces and improved performance. Moreover, UEFI supports advanced features such as secure boot, graphical user interfaces (GUIs), and network connectivity.

Applications

UEFI plays a crucial role in contemporary computer systems, particularly in the following applications:

• Secure boot: UEFI provides secure boot capabilities to prevent unauthorized software from being loaded onto the system. This is achieved by verifying the digital signatures of boot components, ensuring that only trusted software is executed.

• Hardware initialization: UEFI is responsible for initializing and configuring hardware devices, such as memory, storage, and graphics adapters. It provides a consistent and standardized interface for hardware initialization, simplifying the boot process.

• Legacy device support: UEFI includes a compatibility support Module (CSM) that allows legacy BIOS-based devices to operate in a UEFI environment. This ensures backward compatibility and enables the utilization of existing hardware.

• Extensibility: UEFI is designed to be extensible, allowing system vendors to add Custom drivers and modules to accommodate specific hardware configurations or functionality requirements.

History

The development of UEFI can be traced back to the late 1990s when the Intel Corporation initiated the “Extensible Firmware Interface” (EFI) project. The goal was to create a modern firmware interface that addressed the limitations of legacy BIOS.

In December 2005, Intel transferred the EFI specification to the Unified EFI Forum, a collaborative organization consisting of major technology companies. The forum expanded and refined the specification, Renaming it to “Unified Extensible Firmware Interface” (UEFI).

UEFI was initially adopted by Apple Inc. in their Macintosh computers in 2006. By the mid-2010s, UEFI had gained widespread acceptance and became the industry standard for firmware interfaces in personal computers and servers.