Firmware

Firmware is a computer software that contains the instructions for how the device interacts with the rest of the computer hardware. It can store fundamental device functionalities, like BIOS of PC and may offer hardware abstraction services to higher-level software, like operating systems. Firmware is considered "semi-permanent" since it does not change unless it is updated by a firmware updater.

Examples

•  Home and personal-use products:
  • Washing machine timer and control systems
  • A television remote control
• In computers:
  
  • On Itanium computers, Intel-based Macs, and many later PCs, the (U)EFI-compliant firmware is utilised.
  • Firmware for a hard disc drive, a solid-state drive, or an optical disc drive
  • Open Firmware, which is used in Sun Microsystems and Oracle Corporation's SPARC-based computers, Apple's PowerPC-based computers, and Genesi ARCS-based computers, as well as machines from Silicon Graphics.
  • POST, hardware init + Plug and Play auto-configuration of peripherals, kernel, etc.) Kickstart was used in the Amiga range of computers.
  • RTAS (Run-Time Abstraction Services) is a programming language that is used in IBM systems.
• In routers, switches, and firewalls:
  • LibreCMC is a completely free software router based on the Linux-libre kernel.
  • OpenWrt is a Linux-based open-source firewall and router distribution.
  • m0n0wall is a FreeBSD proprietary firmware-based embedded firewall.