IEEE Standard for Boot (Initialization Configuration) Firmware: Instruction Set Architecture (ISA) Supplement for IEEE 1754

Firmware is the read-only-memory (ROM)-based software that controls a computer between the time it is turned on and the time the primary operating system takes control of the machine. Firmware's responsibilities include testing and initializing the hardware, determining the hardware configuration, loading (or booting) the operating system, and providing interactive debugging facilities in case of faulty hardware or software. The core requirements and practices specified by IEEE Std 1275-1994 must be supplemented by system-specific requirements to form a complete specification for the firmware for a particular system. This standard establishes such additional requirements pertaining to the instruction set architecture (ISA) defined by IEEE Std 1754- 1994: IEEE Standard for a 32-bit Microprocessor Architecture.