firmware

Hello, All!

    Could you please clarify the definition of 'firmware' term?
    I always thought it's only bootloader, but recently I've found it's much
more deeper, so I'd like to understand more clearly this.

With best regards, Roman Mashak.  E-mail: mrv@tusur.ru

>    Could you please clarify the definition of 'firmware' term?
> 

I think firmware came to be a term for software that was programmed into
non-volatile memory. It's software, yet it's part of the hardware too. Not
soft, not hard = firm.  :-)

Hello, Gary!
You wrote  on 01 Jul 2004 07:35:21 GMT:

 ??>>    Could you please clarify the definition of 'firmware' term?
 ??>>
 GK> I think firmware came to be a term for software that was programmed
 GK> into non-volatile memory. It's software, yet it's part of the hardware
    Can you please make an example for me except bootloader?
 GK> too. Not soft, not hard = firm.  :-)
    What languages are usually used for developing? How is firmware
debugged, are there any simulators/emulators ?

With best regards, Roman Mashak.  E-mail: mrv@tusur.ru

"Roman Mashak" <mrv@tusur.ru> wrote in news:cc0ht7$qaf$1@mpeks.tomsk.su:

> Hello, Gary!
> You wrote  on 01 Jul 2004 07:35:21 GMT:
> 
>  ??>>    Could you please clarify the definition of 'firmware' term?
>  ??>>
>  GK> I think firmware came to be a term for software that was programmed
>  GK> into non-volatile memory. It's software, yet it's part of the
>  hardware 
>     Can you please make an example for me except bootloader?
>  GK> too. Not soft, not hard = firm.  :-)
>     What languages are usually used for developing? How is firmware
> debugged, are there any simulators/emulators ?

Asm, C, C++, Forth, Verilog, VHDL, etc. Some feel that firmware is only
that which is use for FPGAs others include software stored in FLASH (or
ROM of some sort). There are many many simulators and emulators for all
sorts of CPUs and FPGAs. 

-- 
- Mark ->
--

Roman Mashak <mrv@tusur.ru> wrote:
> Hello, All!

>     Could you please clarify the definition of 'firmware' term?
>     I always thought it's only bootloader, but recently I've found it's much
> more deeper, so I'd like to understand more clearly this.

I don't think the term has any single undisputed meaning.  It all
depends on the context.  The meaning ranges from pretty much the
entire field "embedded software" to only the bootloader part of that.

In a plain vanilla desktop PC, it's customary to consider the program
run by the controllers of harddrive, optical (CD/DVD), advanced SCSI
or network controller and the motherboard BIOS as "firmware".  From
that point of view, pretty much all programming fitting the topic of
this newsgroup is firmware.

-- 
Hans-Bernhard Broeker (broeker@physik.rwth-aachen.de)
Even if all the snow were burnt, ashes would remain.

Roman Mashak wrote:

> Hello, Gary!
> You wrote  on 01 Jul 2004 07:35:21 GMT:
> 
>  ??>>    Could you please clarify the definition of 'firmware' term?
>  ??>>
>  GK> I think firmware came to be a term for software that was programmed
>  GK> into non-volatile memory. It's software, yet it's part of the
>  hardware
>     Can you please make an example for me except bootloader?
>  GK> too. Not soft, not hard = firm.  :-)
>     What languages are usually used for developing? How is firmware
> debugged, are there any simulators/emulators ?
As pointed out by Gary, It is just software burn in non-volatile memory. So
whatever you use to develop/debug software can be used.

> 
> With best regards, Roman Mashak.  E-mail: mrv@tusur.ru

vax, 3900
-- 
http://www.geocities.com/mscpscsi

Roman Mashak wrote:

> Hello, All!
> 
>     Could you please clarify the definition of 'firmware' term?
>     I always thought it's only bootloader, but recently I've found it's much
> more deeper, so I'd like to understand more clearly this.
> 
> With best regards, Roman Mashak.  E-mail: mrv@tusur.ru
> 
> 

Some hardware devices include 'firmware' (in ROM) which is 
discovered by the boot code during POST (Power On and Self Test) and 
that ROM/firmware is then made available to device drivers and 
sometimes IS the device driver. - RM