computer science

OpenBIOS

OpenBIOS is a computer science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand OpenBIOS rather than just read about it. In short: OpenBIOS is a project aiming to provide free and open source implementations of Open Firmware. It is also the name of such an implementation.

Key takeaways

OpenBIOS belongs to computer science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect OpenBIOS to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of OpenBIOS from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

OpenBIOS is a project aiming to provide free and open source implementations of Open Firmware. It is also the name of such an implementation. Most of the implementations provided by OpenBIOS rely on additional lower-level firmware for hardware initialization, such as coreboot or Das U-Boot.

Provided implementations

Open Firmware Open Firmware implements the IEEE 1275-1994 standard. Open Firmware was released by the company Firmworks. The principal architect of Open Firmware, Mitch Bradley, is chairman of the Open Firmware Working Group and president and founder of Firmworks. The OLPC XO-1 laptop uses the Open Firmware implementation. It supports the x86, PowerPC, and ARM architectures, and is released under the terms of a BSD style license.

SmartFirmware SmartFirmware includes a C to FCode compiler. It is made by CodeGen, Inc. It is written in ANSI C and supports the x86, PowerPC, SPARC, ARM, MIPS architectures.

OpenBOOT OpenBOOT was released by Sun Microsystems. It supports the sun4v architecture.

OpenBIOS OpenBIOS is portable and licensed under the GPL. It is produced by the OpenBIOS project.

SLOF Slimline Open Firmware is produced by IBM, and is released under a BSD style license. It supports the PowerPC architecture.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with OpenBIOS

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what OpenBIOS claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In computer science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to OpenBIOS before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about OpenBIOS ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of OpenBIOS

In research: OpenBIOS appears in computer science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses OpenBIOS in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: OpenBIOS is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Custom firmware, Firmware, Free BIOS implementations, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for OpenBIOS outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study OpenBIOS in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what OpenBIOS means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain OpenBIOS out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is OpenBIOS in simple terms?

OpenBIOS is a project aiming to provide free and open source implementations of Open Firmware. It is also the name of such an implementation.

Why does OpenBIOS matter?

Because it connects several computer science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study OpenBIOS?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on OpenBIOS.