..  SPDX-License-Identifier: BSD-3-Clause
    Copyright(c) 2010-2025 Intel Corporation.

Glossary
========

This glossary provides definitions for key terms and concepts used within DPDK. Understanding 
these terms will help in comprehending the functionality and architecture of DPDK.

.. glossary::

    BIOS (Basic Input/Output System)

        The firmware used to perform hardware initialization during the booting process and to provide runtime services for operating systems and programs.

    :ref:`Bifurcated Driver <bifurcated_driver>`

        A driver model that splits functionality between kernel and userspace, often used in high-performance networking.

    :ref:`Clang-LLVM <clang_llvm>`

        A compiler toolchain that includes the Clang C compiler and LLVM linker, used for building DPDK on Windows.

    :ref:`contigmem Module <loading_contigmem_module>`

        A module in FreeBSD that provides physically contiguous memory allocation used by DPDK.

    :ref:`DMA (Direct Memory Access) <direct_memory_access_dma>`

        A feature that allows hardware devices to access the main system memory directly, without involving the CPU.

    :ref:`EAL (Environment Abstraction Layer) <Environment_Abstraction_Layer>`

        The layer within DPDK that abstracts environmental specifics and provides a standard programming interface.

    :ref:`hugepages <memory_setup_reserving_hugepages>`

        Large memory pages used by the operating system to manage memory more efficiently, especially in high-performance applications like DPDK.

    IOMMU (Input-Output Memory Management Unit)

        A hardware component that translates device-visible virtual addresses to physical addresses, providing memory protection and isolation.

    :ref:`MinGW-w64 Toolchain <mingw_w64_toolchain>`

        A development environment for creating Windows applications, used as an option for compiling DPDK on Windows.

    NIC (Network Interface Card)

        A hardware component that connects a computer to a network.

    :ref:`nic_uio Module <nic_uio_module>`

        A UIO driver for network devices in FreeBSD, used by DPDK.

    NUMA (Non-Uniform Memory Access)

        A computer memory design used in multiprocessing where the memory access time depends on the memory location relative to the processor.

    PMD (POLL Mode Driver)

        A type of driver in DPDK that continuously polls for events rather than relying on interrupts, often used for high-performance networking.

    SoC (System on a Chip)

        An integrated circuit that integrates all components of a computer or other electronic system into a single chip.

    :ref:`UIO (Userspace I/O) <uio>`

        A Linux kernel module that enables user-space applications to access hardware devices directly.

    :ref:`VFIO (Virtual Function I/O) <device_setup_vfio>`

        A kernel driver that allows a virtual machine to access physical devices directly, used in DPDK for device assignment.

    :ref:`VFIO Platform <vfio_platform>`

        A framework in Linux that allows exposing direct device access to userspace, in a secure, IOMMU-protected way.