Firmware is a low level program which lies between the hardware and OS and is used only when the particular hardware is initialized before OS is loaded and not after that.The firmware of a system board does the initialization of its hardware devices cpu /mem and then loads the OS boot loader to memory (In AIX this firmware is called ROS program which provides us the SMS menu)Apart of main system firmware, there are pieces of firmware inside the controller chips of adapters and some disks/tapes to initialize/control their operations called micro codes.System Microcode initializes the system hardware and controls the boot process enabling the system to boot up and operate correctly; it also provides the interface between the operating system software and the hardware. Adapter Microcode is the operating code of the adapter; it initializes the adapter when power is applied and it controls many of the ongoing operations executed by the adapter. Device Microcode (Similar to adapter microcode) provides these same functions for devices such as tape drives, disks etc.Firmwares in IBM eServer pSeries, and IBM System p5.These systems (and many other IBM systems) include a Service Processor, which contains System Firmware and other key System code. High-end systems also include "Bulk Power Controllers" (BPC) which each have a separate Service Processor. In addition, a System Power Control Network provides the interface to the BPCs or other power controllers.
The Flexible Service Processor (FSP) firmware provides diagnostics, initialization, configuration, run-time error detection, and correction.
The Power Hypervisor firmware (which is based on the pSeries hypervisor) provides Partitioning, VLAN, virtual I/O, and subprocessor partitioning support.
The Platform Firmware (PFW) supports the "Power Architecture Platform Requirements+" interface
The Bulk Power Control (BPC) firmware controls each bulk power unit in CEC and towers. This firmware is model dependent.
The System Power Control Network (SPCN) firmware interfaces with bulk power for power monitoring and control. In addition, many systems are likely to have a Hardware Management Console (indeed, it is a requirement for all systems which have Bulk Power Controllers). An HMC is required for Logical Partitioning (LPAR), Service Focal Point etc.The Hardware Management
Console (HMC) firmware provides platform configuration, management, and services.
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