Intel Extensible Firmware Interface, Specification

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Glossary
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Boot Services Time
The period of time between platform initialization and the call to
ExitBootServices()
. During this time, EFI drivers and applications are loaded
iteratively and the system boots from an ordered list of EFI OS loaders.
BPB
See BIOS Parameter Block .
CIM
See Common Information Model .
Cluster
A collection of disk sectors. Clusters are the basic storage units for disk files. See File
Allocation Table .
Coherency Domain
The global set of resources that is visible to at least one processor in a platform.
Common Information Model (CIM)
An object-oriented schema defined by the DMTF . CIM is an information model that
provides a common way to describe and share management information enterprise-wide.
Console I/O Protocol
A protocol that is used during boot services to handle input and output of text-based
information intended for the system administrator. It has two parts, a
Simple Input
Protocol that is used to obtain input from the ConsoleIn device and a Simple Text
Output Protocol that is used to control text-based output devices. The Console I/O
Protocol is also known as the EFI Console I/O Protocol .
ConsoleIn
The device handle that corresponds to the device used for user input in the boot services
environment. Typically the system keyboard.
ConsoleOut
The device handle that corresponds to the device used to display messages to the user
from the boot services environment. Typically a display screen.
Desktop Management Interface (DMI)
A platform management information framework, built by the DMTF and designed to
provide manageability for desktop and server computing platforms by providing an
interface that is: (1) independent of any specific desktop operating system, network
operating system, network protocol, management protocol, processor, or hardware
platform; (2) easy for vendors to implement; and (3) easily mapped to higher-level
protocols.