Phoenix Technologies will ship on March 1 a firmware development tool for PC and embedded computing device designers wishing to incorporate Phoenix's “Core System Software” (CSS) technology. CSS extends and replaces traditional BIOS software, adding network awareness, data security and system management features, and more. CoreArchitect targets x86 for now, and produces firmware on which “any well-behaved OS” — Linux included — can boot and run.

Core System Software

In addition to CSS development tools, Phoenix will market CSS-based firmware products of its own based on intellectual property that it owns or will license from third party providers. However, the company considers CSS to be a generic, non-vendor-specific category of software that other BIOS vendors will embrace “as a way to deliver greater value differentiation in markets that have become increasingly price-competitive,” according to Phoenix VP of Marketing Michael Goldgof.

CSS firmware runs directly on top of the hardware, much like BIOS software, but with some additional twists. It can create “host protected areas” on local storage devices that the operating system remains unaware of. And, it can run special trusted CSS applications at the “pre-OS” level.

Unlike traditional BIOS software, which remains largely unused after the OS takes over, CSS services remain accessible during normal system operation. Goldgof notes, “We're not just looking at the device itself, but the application space, and the network space — and we're looking to authenticate various components of that.”

Security may be the area of greatest potential for CSS applications. While there's nothing to stop security threats from targeting CSS applications directly, Goldgof notes that most security threats in existence today target the OS level. Trusted CSS applications can be used to authenticate users and networks, digitally sign applications, and, “When your OS is down, we can launch some defenses in a pre-OS environment,” he says.

Other potential areas of interest in CSS applications include asset management and digital rights management (DRM). “DRM is one space where we are looking into partnering with applications providers,” notes Goldgof.

Phoenix first announced its CSS initiative in late November, of 2003.

CoreArchitect

CoreArchitect is based on Microsoft Visual Studio .NET 2003, with CSS code development, system analysis, and x86 optimizations added, according to Phoenix. It incorporates an “advanced developer interface” specifically designed for the development of CSS.

Among other capabilities, the toolsuite will help developers integrate network standards such as XML, HTML, and TCP/IP.

Initially, the suite supports x86 processors only, but Phoenix is considering possible future CSS ports to other processors commonly used in embedded devices.

The CoreArchitect suite includes:

• PhDebug — used to step through Core System Software source code, examine platform chipset registers, and more
• Amber Debug Module (ADM) — when used with PhDebug, this offers an inexpensive, easy-to-use alternative for bus monitoring, code stepping, and platform analysis
• BIOSscope — a set of ten Phoenix-created tools to make system analysis faster

“Phoenix is at the forefront of the industry movement to evolve device firmware functionality beyond the capabilities of traditional PC BIOS,” says Goldgof. “Our new Phoenix CoreArchitect is one critical ingredient in this industry evolution.”

Availability

General availability for developers will be March 1, 2004. Customers will be able to license Phoenix CoreArchitect on a one-time, per-seat basis.

This week, Phoenix will be demonstrating CoreArchitect at its Booth 344 at the Intel Developers Forum in San Francisco.

More details are available at the Phoenix Website.

 
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