[v4,6/6] Section 6: Glossary
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-Glossary Introduction Formatting: Refined the introduction's formatting for clarity.
-Directive Implementation: Used .. glossary:: directive for structured term definitions.
-Term Definitions and Linking: Expanded definitions for terms like BIOS,
Bifurcated Driver, Clang-LLVM, etc., with reference tags and links to their respective
content pages.
Enhanced Navigation: Integrated hyperlinks for each term, directing to detailed information
on content pages.
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+.. 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.