Not too long ago Phoenix Technologies revealed their intentions to develop a "next-generation BIOS" (basic input/output system) of sorts for motherboards, which they called "Core System Software" (CSS).

DigiTimes has had a chance to speak with Phoenix's senior VP of Corporate Marketing and Product Division, Timothy Eades, regarding their first CSS product - the "Phoenix cME TrustedCore NB".

According to Eades, the cME TrustedCore NB is primarily designed for high-end, high-performance notebook PCs though in the near future the cME TrustedCore family will extend to desktop, server and embedded systems.  It's designed as a "Device-Networked Architecture (d-NA)" type of firmware which, in their words, combines trust, manageability, connectivity and usability.

Amongst other features, the cME TrustedCore NB includes "Secure Flash" technology to protect motherboards, PCs and portable devices from denial of service attacks, or accidental damage to the core system software itself.  It will also provide support for the PCI Express interface.

Meanwhile, the "Embedded Crypto Engine" security feature prevents identity theft on a Windows-based PC, and prevents duplication of digital certificates for Windows clients and applications.  This appears to be in line with Phoenix's intentions to integrate greater software copyright control at both the hardware and OS level, as revealed earlier when they announced their joint-development collaboration with Microsoft (news).

Earlier this year Intel announced their own next-generation BIOS called the "Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI)".  One of the differences between EFI and Phoenix's CSS family is that the former employs high-level programming and requires OS support, while the latter supports open architecture standards.  According to Phoenix, their CSS firmware lineup will likely be able support EFI, though naturally they will wait until Intel makes their move before setting anything in stone.

So far, companies interested in actual cME products include IBM, Fujitsu-Siemens, Eurobridge, 4MBO, MasterCare, Samsung, Taiwan’s Asustek and Arima, and China’s Legend and Founder.

Read more regarding the cME TrustedCore NB and d-NA in DigiTimes' interview with Eades here.