Re: What is firmware
A firmware is an embedded software or microcode which is used to control various hardware platforms and reside in small memory area in ROM or Flash memory.
There is no strict or well-defined boundaries separate firmware from software, both are quite loose descriptive terms. However, firmware is typically involved with very basic low-level operations in a device, without which the device would be completely non-functional. Firmware is also a relative term, as most embedded devices contain firmware at more than one level. Subsystems such as LCD modules, flash chips, communication controllers etc, have their own (usually fixed) program code and/or microcode, regarded as "part of the hardware" by the higher-level firmware.