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PART 2

Task 1. Learn the following words and word combinations:
Economic lifetime, persistent memory, fix bugs, flash memory, a
discrete semiconductor diode matrix, a core memory plane (core rope
memory), coin, a writable control store, on the boundary, extend,
ROM-resident, bootstrap loaders, a socketed ROM, non-functional or
"bricked".

Task 2. Create your own sentences using the above mentioned
words and phrases.

TEXT 2
FIRMWARE
In electronic systems and computing, firmware is the
combination of persistent memory and program code and data stored
in it. Typical examples of devices containing firmware are embedded
systems (such as traffic lights, consumer appliances, and digital
watches), computers, computer peripherals, mobile phones, and
digital cameras. The firmware contained in these devices provides
the control program for the device. Firmware is held in non-volatile
memory devices such as ROM, EPROM, or flash memory. Changing
the firmware of a device may rarely or never be done during its
economic lifetime; some firmware memory devices are permanently
installed and cannot be changed after manufacture. Common reasons
for updating firmware include fixing bugs or adding features to the
device. This may require physically changing ROM integrated
circuits, or reprogramming flash memory with a special procedure.
Firmware such as the ROM BIOS of a personal computer may
contain only elementary basic functions of a device and may only
provide services to higher-level software. Firmware such as the
program of an embedded system may be the only program that will
run on the system and provide all of its functions.

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