firmware

[furm-wair] /ˈfɜrmˌwɛər/
noun, Computers.
1.
a microprogram stored in ROM, designed to implement a function that had previously been provided in software.
Origin
1965-70; firm1 + (soft)ware
Examples from the web for firmware
  • It seems more likely that language phoneme neurons are firmware children are born with to aid in the development of language.
  • In my experience as a firmware engineer, you've got the order of causes backwards.
  • The idea is to sign all the code that your computer runs to the boot firmware, so in theory no malware can run on the machine.
  • firmware is embedded software that controls hardware.
  • You'll need to roll your own malware to override the manufacturer's firmware.
  • Updating the carrier settings usually involves flashing the firmware, which takes a matter of seconds.
  • Even better, there will be scores of robots wanted by the police for having not paid the bill for their firmware.
  • The unauthorized firmware could impact the confidentially and integrity of the data sent to and received from the device.
  • The firmware upgrade is currently a factory only service.
  • There is the facility for the administrator to upgrade this firmware.
British Dictionary definitions for firmware

firmware

/ˈfɜːmˌwɛə/
noun
1.
(computing) a fixed form of software programmed into a read-only memory
Word Origin and History for firmware
n.

1968, from firm (adj.) + ending from software.

firmware in Technology


Software stored in read-only memory (ROM) or programmable ROM (PROM). Easier to change than hardware but harder than software stored on disk. Firmware is often responsible for the behaviour of a system when it is first switched on. A typical example would be a "monitor" program in a microcomputer which loads the full operating system from disk or from a network and then passes control to it.