American Megatrends, a member of the Unified EFI Forum (UEFI), will attendthe UEFI 2.0 testing workshop held at the Intel Dupont Optimization LabFacility, in Dupont, Washington. Plugfests are held periodically to verifythe interoperability of new hardware and firmware from member companies ofthe UEFI group. AMI will test the latest version of its new generationfirmware, Aptio® 4.5. Based on the Intel® Platform Innovation Frameworkfor EFI PEI and DXE core, Aptio® enables desktop, mobile, server orembedded platforms. AMI supports UEFI 2.0 Specification as well as nativeX64 technology (x86-32 & x64 UEFI bindings).

Participants in the test event will include UEFI members who are Add-inCard Vendors, Operating System Vendors, Independent Software Vendors,Independent BIOS Vendors and Original Equipment / Design Manufacturers (OEM/ ODM) platform Vendors.

AMI will verify the compatibility of its EFI firmware platform, Aptio, andits integration with Vista 64 (Windows Server Longhorn) on a variety ofhardware platforms and Host Bus Adapters. Aptio will be tested with avariety of Platforms from AMD, ATI, Intel, Nvidia, and other hardware andcomponent vendors to verify full cross-platform interoperability.

"AMI is ready to serve mobile, desktop and server vendors with a robust EFIimplementation of Aptio that adds value to the Framework PEI and DXE coreto offer all the stability required to support the next technology wave incomputing," said Stefano Righi, AMI Software Development Director. "Aptio4.5 with UEFI 2.0 and native X64 is ready to enable the next generation ofOperating Systems, opening new possibilities to end-users and designersalike."

AMI representatives will also hold face-to-face meetings with other membersof the consortium to contribute defining future evolutions of the UEFIstandard.

The Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) is an alliance betweenseveral leading technology companies including AMD, American Megatrends,IBM, Intel, Microsoft, Dell, HP, Phoenix Technologies, and Insyde Software.The non-profit corporation will assume responsibility for the developmentand promotion of the EFI specification, a pre-boot interface originallydeveloped by Intel that is intended to replace the traditional PC BIOS.

Intel MPG and other silicon providers have selected Aptio to power thereference boards shipped to OEMs and ODMs. Incorporating 20 yearsexperience in BIOS and firmware development, AMI's Aptio goes beyond BIOSlimitations. The firmware delivers all the benefits of the EFI model in afirmware package that simplifies portability, thanks to its enhancedarchitecture and rich development tools. Written in C, a language widelyknown by software engineers, Aptio is highly modular and portable acrossvarious platforms. Aptio's driver model delivers higher flexibility thanBIOS and provides opportunity for utilities and applications for thepre-boot environment.

The structure of Aptio 4.5 architecture provides ease of porting anddevelopment. Features include:

--  Porting Template--  Board, Chipset and Core functional directories--  Table-based initialization--  CSP library    

The Porting Template provides a standard porting environment that presentssimilar functionality and look and feel across various implementations,with documented porting steps. Easy to adopt and maintain, the templateshortens engineers' learning curve and allows faster incorporation ofmodifications and new functionality.

Aptio has only three levels of functional directories: Board, Chipset andCore. The same organization is repeated across all sub-components. With asmaller number of directories, code footprint is reduced and maintenance iseasier.

This firmware organization has been applied to AMIBIOS8, another AMI BIOSproduct that has received great customer success.

About AMI

Founded in 1985, American Megatrends Inc. (AMI), best known for AMIBIOS,supplies state-of-the-art hardware, software and utilities to today'shigh-tech manufacturers. AMI, focused on IP Storage Area Networks (IP-SAN),Network Attached Storage (NAS) and Storage Management, also offers remoteserver management, KVM over IP, IPMI 2.0 firmware and high-densitymotherboards. AMI is a member of the Storage Networking IndustryAssociation (SNIA) and an Associate Member with the Intel® CommunicationsAlliance, a community of communications and embedded developers andsolution providers. Headquartered in Atlanta, AMI has locations in theU.S., China, Germany, India, Japan, Korea and Taiwan to better serve itscustomers.