4,6 The Native API

Table 4,11 Kernel-Mode Routine Prefixes (continued)

Prefix

Kernel-Mode Component

Description

Hal

Hardware abstraction layer

Insulates the operating system and drivers from

the hardware

Hvl

Hypervisor library routines

Kernel support for virtual machine operation

Invb

System initialization routines

Bootstrap video routines

Init

System initialization routines

Controls hov� the operating system starts up

Inter¬

locked

Atomic operation facilities

Implements thread-safe variable manipulation

lo

Input/output manager

Controls communication with kernel-mode

drivers

Kd

Kernel debugger facilities

Reports on, and manipulates, the state of the

kernel debugger

Ke

The kernel proper

Implements low-level thread scheduling and

synchronization

Ki

Internai kernei routines

Routines that support interrupt handling and spin

locks

Ldr

Image ioading facilities

Support the loading of executables into memory

Lpc

Locai procedure call facilities

An IPC mechanism for local software compo¬

nents

Lsa

Local security authentication

Manages user account rights

Mm

Memory manager

Implements the system's virtual address space

NIs

Native language support

Kernel support for multilingual environments

Nt

Native API calls

System call interface (the internal version)

Ob

Object manager

Implements an object model that covers all

system resources

Pew

Performance counter routines

Routines that allow performance data to be

collected

Pf

Logical prefetcher

Optimizes load time for applications

Po

Power manager

Handles the creation and propagation of power

events

Pp

Plug-and-play manager

Supports dynamically loading drivers for new

hardware

Ps

Process and thread manager

Provides higher-level process/thread services

Rtl

Runtime library

General support routines for other kernel

components

Parti I 171