工程师 - UEFI介绍

Home | Unified Extensible Firmware Interface Forum (uefi.org)

Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI)

统一可扩展固件接口（UEFI）

What is Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI)?

统一可扩展固件接口（UEFI）是连接计算机固件和操作系统（OS）的软件程序规范。UEFI 预计将最终取代基本输入/输出系统（BIOS），但与之兼容。该规范最常用的发音是字母 U-E-F-I。

Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) is a specification for a software program that connects a computer's firmware to its operating system (OS). UEFI is expected to eventually replace basic input/output system (BIOS) but is compatible with it. The specification is most often pronounced by naming the letters U-E-F-I.

UEFI 通过安装在电脑主板上的特殊固件运行。与 BIOS 一样，UEFI 也是在生产时安装的，是启动计算机时运行的第一个程序。它检查哪些硬件组件已连接，唤醒这些组件，然后将它们交给操作系统。新规范解决了 BIOS 的几个限制，包括对硬盘分区大小的限制和 BIOS 执行任务所需的时间。

UEFI functions via special firmware installed on a computer's motherboard. Like BIOS, UEFI is installed at the time of manufacturing and is the first program that runs when booting a computer. It checks to see which hardware components are attached, wakes up the components and hands them over to the OS. The new specification addresses several limitations of BIOS, including restrictions on hard disk partition size and the amount of time BIOS takes to perform its tasks.

尽管英特尔公司（Intel Corp. ）已表示打算逐步取消较新个人电脑（PC）的 BIOS 支持，但大多数现代计算机系统都配备了支持传统 BIOS 和 UEFI 的设备。

Most modern computer systems are equipped to support traditional BIOS, as well as UEFI, although Intel Corp. has stated its intention to phase out BIOS support in newer personal computers (PCs).

What does UEFI do?

UEFI 定义了操作系统和平台固件通信的新方法，提供了一种轻量级 BIOS 替代方案，只使用启动操作系统启动过程所需的信息。此外，UEFI 还提供增强的计算机安全功能，并支持大多数现有的 BIOS 系统，具有向后兼容性。

UEFI defines a new method by which OSes and platform firmware communicate, providing a lightweight BIOS alternative that uses only the information needed to launch the OS boot process. In addition, UEFI provides enhanced computer security features and supports most existing BIOS systems with backward compatibility.

UEFI 包含平台相关的数据表以及操作系统加载器使用的启动和运行时服务调用。这些信息共同定义了支持 UEFI 的固件和硬件设备必须实现的接口和结构。UEFI 是可编程的，使原始设备制造商开发人员能够添加应用程序和驱动程序，并使 UEFI 发挥轻量级操作系统的作用。

UEFI contains platform-related data tables and boot and runtime service calls used by the OS loader. Taken together, this information defines the required interfaces and structures that must be implemented for firmware and hardware devices to support UEFI. UEFI is programmable, enabling original equipment manufacturer developers to add applications and drivers and UEFI to function as a lightweight OS.

一般来说，BIOS 被认为是早期计算机的残余，而 UEFI 则被认为是未来的潮流。不过，为了便于理解，一些信息技术用户将这两个程序统称为 UEFI BIOS，尽管它们之间存在着本质区别。

In general, BIOS is considered a vestige from earlier computing, whereas UEFI is regarded as the wave of the future. However, for ease of understanding, some information technology users refer to the processes collectively as UEFI BIOS, despite their substantial differences.

UEFI's evolution from EFI ( UEFI 从 EFI 演进而来 )

自 20 世纪 70 年代中期磁盘操作系统计算机问世以来，BIOS 就一直在使用。1981 年，IBM 成为第一家将 BIOS 集成到个人电脑中的厂商，此举促使 BIOS 被业界广泛采用。UEFI 的出现与现代应用工作负载所使用的硬盘密度的增加并行不悖。

BIOS has been in use since the advent of disk OS computers in the mid-1970s. In 1981, IBM was the first vendor to incorporate BIOS in PCs, a move that prompted broad industry adoption. The e