The Wayback Machine - https://web.archive.org/web/20110821043030/http://www.intel.com:80/technology/framework/

Intel® Platform Innovation Framework for UEFI

Overview

The Intel® Platform Innovation Framework for UEFI, also referred to as the framework, is a product-strength firmware implementation that conforms to the Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) specification. The framework is a set of robust architectural interfaces, implemented in C, which has been designed to enable the firmware industry and our customers to accelerate the evolution of innovative, differentiated, platform designs. The framework is the Intel recommended implementation of the UEFI specification for platforms based on all members of the Intel® architecture family. Going forward, the framework specifications are migrating into the UEFI Platform Initialization (PI) specifications. The PI specification is available at the UEFI website.

Unlike the UEFI specification, which focuses only on programmatic interfaces for the interactions between the operating system and system firmware, the framework (and in the future, PI) is an all-new firmware implementation that has been designed to perform the full range of operations that are required to initialize the platform from power on through transfer of control to the operating system. The framework differs from previous generations of firmware infrastructure typically used on Intel architecture systems in the following ways:

  • It employs a purpose-built modular component design.
  • It uses high-level language coding wherever possible.
  • It is designed from the outset to support long-term growth of platform capabilities and innovation in the preboot environment.
  • It is designed to provide a single code base that is equally applicable to platforms based on all Intel architecture family members and that scales to fit the needs of everything from handheld devices to high-end servers.

Obtain the framework

The framework is not generally available directly from Intel. Instead, firmware vendors offer products and services based on the framework, for both Intel® and non-Intel silicon. To obtain framework based product, contact a firmware vendor.

Announced firmware vendors are:

Additional information

Training

Please contact your EFI provider (BIOS vendor) for local training in your geography. If you need to set up your own training, please contact us for material on training.

Related information

Extensible Firmware Interface

The Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) specification defines a model for the interface between operating systems and platform firmware.

Intel Press Books on UEFI

Industry group

Latest UEFI and Foundation Code for UEFI Implementations

3rd party UEFI hardware debuggers

Contact us

General feedback

Please use the link below for general website comments. Please make sure to include your name, company, and email address. Without this information, we cannot accept or use your feedback.

Specification feedback

Feedback on specifications and online help systems is encouraged.

Mailing list

Receive notices regarding specification updates and other important news.

back to top