American Megatrends to Present Firmware and Diagnostic Support for EFI at WinHEC.Business Editors & High Tech Writers ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 26, 2002 Editorial Summary -- AMI presents EFI See UEFI. EFI - Extensible Firmware Interface (Extensible Firmware Interface (specification) Extensible Firmware Interface - (EFI) A specification originating from Intel Corporation, defining the interface between an operating system and platform firmware, and aiming to reduce OS dependence on details of the firmware implementation. EFI Home. ) compliant BIOS and utilities at WinHEC, Seattle, April 16-18, 2002 -- Products offered include AMIBIOS8, Enterprise64 firmware, AMIDiag for EFI and other utilities -- EFI can be integrated into AMIBIOS8 projects using a simple expansion module American Megatrends Inc. (AMI), a leader in storage and computing innovations worldwide, presents a number of Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI) products at WinHEC 2002 (April 16-18, Washington State Convention and Trade Center The Washington State Convention and Trade Center is a convention center located next to and over Interstate 5 in downtown Seattle, Washington, adjacent to Freeway Park. Planning for its construction began in 1982; construction began in 1985, and the center opened on June 18, 1988. ). EFI support is available with AMIBIOS AMIBIOS American Megatrends, Incorporated, Basic Input/Output System 8(TM), Enterprise64(TM), AMIDiag(R) and other software utility product lines. AMI will be presenting a talk and demo on EFI for 32-bit platforms at WinHEC (http://www.microsoft.com/winhec). AMI will also share a demo space at the Microsoft Corporate Booth on the conference exhibit floor, where our representative can give further information and details to the attendees. The EFI (Extensible Firmware Interface) specification defines a set of interfaces and structures for platform firmware on next-generation computer systems. EFI is intended for both Intel(R) Itanium(TM) Processor Family platforms and traditional 32-bit systems. Intel has proposed EFI as an evolutionary path from the current legacy "PC-AT PC-AT Personal Computer, Advanced Technology " style firmware interface to a new standard for firmware development. EFI "isolates" the operating system from the platform, simplifying software development when new hardware is introduced. Ultimately, the purpose of EFI is to accelerate the introduction of new platforms by simplifying the supporting firmware layer. AMI offers EFI support in a number of its products. AMIBIOS8, a leading edge solution for 32-bit based BIOS development, offers EFI firmware support. AMIBIOS8 uses snap-in expansion modules, called "eModules," to facilitate new technologies. The EFI eModule can be added to any AMIBIOS8 solution. "The AMIBIOS8 modular architecture easily supports new technology to benefit the OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) The rebranding of equipment and selling it. The term initially referred to the company that made the products (the "original" manufacturer), but eventually became widely used to refer to the organization that buys the products and and ODM (Original Design Manufacturer) A contract manufacturer that uses its own designs and intellectual property (IP). See contract manufacturer. ," said Bill Clark, AMI Strategic Accounts Manager. "AMI's implementation of EFI on 32-bit platforms is designed to facilitate the transition from the legacy PC interface to a fully compliant EFI platform. Our EFI module operates side-by-side with the legacy BIOS," added Brian Richardson, BIOS Sales Engineer. The EFI pre-OS environment offers an optional shell environment, similar to the DOS prompt, ideal for launching utility programs before the main operating system loads. Enterprise64, AMI's firmware offering for platforms based on the Intel Itanium Processor Family, is compliant with EFI 1.1. Adopted by several leading OEMs worldwide, Enterprise64 includes an integrated EFI shell that provides a pre-boot environment for hardware diagnostics and system configuration. Enterprise64's feature set includes support for multiple CPU CPU in full central processing unit Principal component of a digital computer, composed of a control unit, an instruction-decoding unit, and an arithmetic-logic unit. nodes, multiple I/O (Input/Output) The transfer of data between the CPU and a peripheral device. Every transfer is an output from one device and an input to another. See PC input/output. I/O - Input/Output nodes, dynamic reconfiguration, Machine Check Abort (MCA MCA in full Music Corporation of America Entertainment conglomerate. It was founded in Chicago in 1924 by Jules Stein as a talent agency. In the 1960s it bought Decca Records and Universal Pictures, and today it produces films, music, and television shows. ), INIT and Platform Management Interrupt (PMI See Private Mortgage Insurance. ) support, and dynamic error detection and recovery. American Megatrends, Inc. introduced the first PC software diagnostic package for EFI, AMIDiag for EFI, offering a broad testing package for both 32-bit and Itanium-based platforms. AMIDiag for EFI tests all the system components, from processors, memories and storage devices to network, video and other peripherals. With AMIDiag for EFI, motherboard manufacturers are not required to pay an operating system license to test their motherboards. AMIDiag test results can be sent remotely, thus greatly easing the task of servicing computers. AMI's support for EFI extends beyond firmware and diagnostics. AMI provides an EFI-based AMIBIOS Flash Utility, allowing BIOS upgrades from the EFI shell. The AMI Debug utility, normally used for troubleshooting during BIOS development, offers future support for source-level debugging of EFI applications. About AMI Founded in 1985, American Megatrends Inc. (AMI) has dedicated its resources to providing OEMs, resellers and systems integrators with leading edge computer technologies. Privately held, AMI is best known for its AMIBIOS, but it also supplies state-of-the-art hardware, software and utilities to over 55 percent of today's high-tech manufacturers. AMI offers high-density motherboards, disk subsystems and innovative storage solutions and is a voting member of the Storage Networking Industry Association An association of producers and consumers of storage networking products, whose goal is to further storage networking technology and applications. The Storage Networking Industry Association, or SNIA (SNIA (Storage Networking Industry Association, San Francisco, CA, www.snia.org) An organization devoted to the advancement of mission critical storage systems. Founded in 1997, its goal is to determine the standards that must be developed to allow hosts and storage systems to interact via ). Headquartered in Atlanta, AMI has locations in the U.S. and throughout the world including Chennai, Munich, Seoul, Taipei and Tokyo to better serve its customers. For more information on AMI products and services, call 1-800-U-BUY-AMI or visit www.ami.com. Statement of Liability:(c)2002 American Megatrends Inc. Product specifications are subject to change without notice. Intel and Itanium are trademarks or registered trademarks of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries in the United States and other countries. AMIBIOS, AMIDiag and AMIBOS8 are trademarks or registered trademarks of American MegaTrends, Inc. Other products mentioned may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies. All rights reserved. No warranties are made, either express or implied, with regard to the contents of this work, its merchantability mer·chant·a·ble adj. Suitable for buying and selling; marketable. mer  chant·a·bil or fitness for a
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