20. ACPI Machine Language (AML) Specification¶

This chapter formally defines the ACPI Machine Language (AML), which is the virtual machine language for ACPI control methods on an ACPI-compatible OS. ACPI control methods can be written directly in AML, but people usually write them in ASL and then compile to AML.

AML is the language processed by the ACPI AML interpreter. It is primarily a declarative language. It’s best not to think of it as a stream of code, but rather as a set of declarations that the ACPI AML interpreter will compile into the ACPI Namespace at definition block load time. For example, notice that DefByte allocates an anonymous integer variable with a byte-size initial value in ACPI namespace, and passes in an initial value. The byte in the AML stream that defines the initial value is not the address of the variable’s storage location.

An OEM or platform firmware vendor needs to write ASL and be able to single-step AML for debugging. (Debuggers and other ACPI control method language tools are expected to be AML-level tools, not source-level tools.) An ASL translator implementer must understand how to read ASL and generate AML. An AML interpreter author must understand how to execute AML.

AML and ASL are different languages, though they are closely related.

All ACPI-compatible operating systems must support AML. A given user can define some arbitrary source language (to replace ASL) and write a tool to translate it to AML. However, the ACPI group will support a single translator for a single language, ASL.

20.1. Notation Conventions¶

The notation conventions in the table below help the reader to interpret the AML formal grammar.

Table 20.1 **AML Grammar Notation Conventions**¶
Notation Convention	Description	Example
0xdd	Refers to a byte value expressed as 2 hexadecimal digits.	0x21
Number in bold.	Denotes the encoding of the AML term.
Term => Evaluated Type	Shows the resulting type of the evaluation of Term.
Single quotes (‘ ‘)	Indicate constant characters.	‘A’ => 0x41
Term := Term Term …	The term to the left of := can be expanded into the sequence of terms on the right.	aterm := bterm cterm means that aterm can be expanded into the two-term sequence of bterm followed by cterm.
Term Term Term …	Terms separated from each other by spaces form an ordered list.
Angle brackets (< > )	used to group items.	<a b> \| <c d> means either a b or c d.
Bar symbol ( \| )	Separates alternatives.	aterm := bterm \| [cterm dterm] means the following constructs are possible: bterm cterm dterm aterm := [bterm \| cterm] dterm means the following constructs are possible: bterm dterm cterm dterm
Dash character ( - )	Indicates a range.	1-9 means a single digit in the range 1 to 9 inclusive.
Parenthesized term following another term.	The parenthesized term is the repeat count of the previous term.	aterm(3) means aterm aterm aterm. bterm(n) means n number of bterms.

20.2. AML Grammar Definition¶

This section defines the byte values that make up an AML byte stream.

The AML encoding can be categorized into the following groups:

Table and Table Header encoding

Name objects encoding

Data objects encoding

Package length encoding

Term objects encoding

Miscellaneous objects encoding

20.2.1. Table and Table Header Encoding¶

AMLCode
:= DefBlockHeader TermList

DefBlockHeader :=
TableSignature TableLength SpecCompliance CheckSum OemID OemTableID OemRevision CreatorID CreatorRevision

TableSignature :=
DWordData // As defined in section 5.2.3.

TableLength :=
DWordData // Length of the table in bytes including the block header.

SpecCompliance :=
ByteData // The revision of the structure.

CheckSum :=
ByteData // Byte checksum of the entire table.

OemID :=

ByteData(6) // OEM ID of up to 6 characters. If the OEM ID is shorter than 6 characters,

it can be terminated with a NULL character.

OemTableID :=

ByteData(8) // OEM Table ID of up to 8 characters. If the OEM Table ID is shorter than 8 characters,

it can be terminated with a NULL character.

OemRevision :=
DWordData // OEM Table Revision.

CreatorID :=
DWordData // Vendor ID of the ASL compiler.

CreatorRevision :=
DWordData // Revision of the ASL compiler.

20.2.2. Name Objects Encoding¶

LeadNameChar := ‘A’-‘Z’ | ‘_’

DigitChar := ‘0’ - ‘9’

NameChar := DigitChar | LeadNameChar

RootChar := ‘'

ParentPrefixChar := ‘^’

‘A’-‘Z’ := 0x41 - 0x5A

‘_’ := 0x5F

‘0’-‘9’ := 0x30 - 0x39

‘' := 0x5C

‘^’ := 0x5E

NameSeg :=

<leadnamechar namechar namechar namechar>

// Notice that NameSegs shorter than 4 characters are filled with trailing underscores (‘_’s).

NameString := <rootchar namepath> | <prefixpath namepath>

PrefixPath := Nothing | <’^’ prefixpath>

NamePath := NameSeg | DualNamePath | MultiNamePath | NullName

DualNamePath := DualNamePrefix NameSeg NameSeg

DualNamePrefix := 0x2E

MultiNamePath := MultiNamePrefix SegCount NameSeg(SegCount)

MultiNamePrefix := 0x2F

SegCount := ByteData

// SegCount can be from 1 to 255. For example: MultiNamePrefix(35) is

// encoded as 0x2f 0x23 and followed by 35 NameSegs. So, the total

// encoding length will be 1 + 1 + 35*4 = 142. Notice that:

// DualNamePrefix NameSeg NameSeg has a smaller encoding than the

// encoding of: MultiNamePrefix(2) NameSeg NameSeg

SimpleName := NameString | ArgObj | LocalObj

SuperName := SimpleName | DebugObj | ReferenceTypeOpcode

NullName := 0x00

Target := SuperName | NullName

20.2.3. Data Objects Encoding¶

ComputationalData := ByteConst | WordConst | DWordConst | QWordConst | String | ConstObj | RevisionOp | DefBuffer

DataObject := ComputationalData | DefPackage | DefVarPackage

DataRefObject := DataObject | ObjectReference

ByteConst := BytePrefix ByteData

BytePrefix := 0x0A

WordConst := WordPrefix WordData

WordPrefix := 0x0B

DWordConst := DWordPrefix DWordData

DWordPrefix := 0x0C

QWordConst := QWordPrefix QWordData

QWordPrefix := 0x0E

String := StringPrefix AsciiCharList NullChar

StringPrefix := 0x0D

ConstObj := ZeroOp | OneOp | OnesOp

ByteList := Nothing | <bytedata bytelist>

ByteData := 0x00 - 0xFF

WordData := ByteData[0:7] ByteData[8:15]
// 0x0000-0xFFFF

DWordData := WordData[0:15] WordData[16:31]
// 0x00000000-0xFFFFFFFF

QWordData := DWordData[0:31] DWordData[32:63]
// 0x0000000000000000-0xFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF

AsciiCharList := Nothing | <asciichar asciicharlist>

AsciiChar := 0x01 - 0x7F

NullChar := 0x00

ZeroOp := 0x00

OneOp := 0x01

OnesOp := 0xFF

RevisionOp := ExtOpPrefix 0x30

ExtOpPrefix := 0x5B

20.2.4. Package Length Encoding¶

PkgLength :=

PkgLeadByte |

<pkgleadbyte bytedata> |

<pkgleadbyte bytedata bytedata> |

<pkgleadbyte bytedata bytedata bytedata>

PkgLeadByte :=

<bit 7-6: bytedata count that follows (0-3)>

<bit 5-4: only used if pkglength < 63>

<bit 3-0: least significant package length nybble>

Note

The high 2 bits of the first byte reveal how many follow bytes are in the PkgLength. If the PkgLength has only one byte, bit 0 through 5 are used to encode the package length (in other words, values 0-63). If the package length value is more than 63, more than one byte must be used for the encoding in which case bit 4 and 5 of the PkgLeadByte are reserved and must be zero. If the multiple bytes encoding is used, bits 0-3 of the PkgLeadByte become the least significant 4 bits of the resulting package length value. The next ByteData will become the next least significant 8 bits of the resulting value and so on, up to 3 ByteData bytes. Thus, the maximum package length is 2*28.

20.2.5. Term Objects Encoding¶

Object := NameSpaceModifierObj | NamedObj

TermObj := Object | StatementOpcode | ExpressionOpcode

TermList := Nothing | <termobj termlist>

TermArg := ExpressionOpcode | DataObject | ArgObj | LocalObj

MethodInvocation := NameString TermArgList

TermArgList := Nothing | <termarg termarglist>

20.2.5.1. Namespace Modifier Objects Encoding¶

NameSpaceModifierObj := DefAlias | DefName | DefScope

DefAlias := AliasOp NameString NameString

AliasOp := 0x06

DefName := NameOp NameString DataRefObject

NameOp := 0x08

DefScope := ScopeOp PkgLength NameString TermList

ScopeOp := 0x10

20.2.5.2. Named Objects Encoding¶

NamedObj :=
DefBankField | DefCreateBitField | DefCreateByteField | DefCreateDWordField | DefCreateField | DefCreateQWordField | DefCreateWordField | DefDataRegion | DefExternal | DefOpRegion | DefPowerRes | DefThermalZone

DefBankField :=
BankFieldOp PkgLength NameString NameString BankValue FieldFlags FieldList

BankFieldOp :=
ExtOpPrefix 0x87

BankValue :=
TermArg => Integer

FieldFlags :=

ByteData // bit 0-3: AccessType

// 0 AnyAcc

// 1 ByteAcc

// 2 WordAcc

// 3 DWordAcc

// 4 QWordAcc

// 5 BufferAcc

// 6 Reserved

// 7-15 Reserved

// bit 4: LockRule

// 0 NoLock

// 1 Lock

// bit 5-6: UpdateRule

// 0 Preserve

// 1 WriteAsOnes

// 2 WriteAsZeros

// bit 7: Reserved (must be 0)

FieldList := Nothing | <fieldelement fieldlist>

NamedField := NameSeg PkgLength

ReservedField := 0x00 PkgLength

AccessField :=
0x01 AccessType AccessAttrib

AccessType :=: ByteData // Bits 0:3 - Same as AccessType bits of FieldFlags.

// Bits 4:5 - Reserved

// Bits 7:6 - 0 = AccessAttrib = Normal Access Attributes

// 1 = AccessAttrib = AttribBytes (x)

// 2 = AccessAttrib = AttribRawBytes (x)

// 3 = AccessAttrib = AttribRawProcessBytes (x)

//

// x’ is encoded as bits 0:7 of the AccessAttrib byte.

AccessAttrib :=

ByteData // If AccessType is BufferAcc for the SMB or

// GPIO OpRegions, AccessAttrib can be one of

// the following values:

// 0x02 AttribQuick

// 0x04 AttribSendReceive

// 0x06 AttribByte

// 0x08 AttribWord

// 0x0A AttribBlock

// 0x0C Attrib ProcessCall

// 0x0D AttribBlockProcessCall

ConnectField :=
<0x02 NameString> | <0x02 BufferData

DefCreateBitField :=
CreateBitFieldOp SourceBuff BitIndex NameString

CreateBitFieldOp := 0x8D

SourceBuff :=
TermArg => Buffer

BitIndex :=
TermArg => Integer

DefCreateByteField :=
CreateByteFieldOp SourceBuff ByteIndex NameString

CreateByteFieldOp := 0x8C

ByteIndex :=
TermArg => Integer

DefCreateDWordField :=
CreateDWordFieldOp SourceBuff ByteIndex NameString

CreateDWordFieldOp := 0x8A

DefCreateField :=
CreateFieldOp SourceBuff BitIndex NumBits NameString

CreateFieldOp :=
ExtOpPrefix 0x13

NumBits :=
TermArg => Integer

DefCreateQWordField :=
CreateQWordFieldOp SourceBuff ByteIndex NameString

CreateQWordFieldOp := 0x8F

DefCreateWordField := CreateWordFieldOp SourceBuff ByteIndex NameString

CreateWordFieldOp := 0x8B

DefDataRegion := DataRegionOp NameString TermArg TermArg TermArg

DataRegionOp := ExOpPrefix 0x88

DefDevice := DeviceOp PkgLength NameString TermList

DeviceOp := ExtOpPrefix 0x82

DefEvent := EventOp NameString

EventOp := ExtOpPrefix 0x02

DefExternal := ExternalOp NameString ObjectType ArgumentCount

ExternalOp := 0x15

ObjectType := ByteData

ArgumentCount := ByteData (0 - 7)

DefField := FieldOp PkgLength NameString FieldFlags FieldList

FieldOp := ExtOpPrefix 0x81

DefIndexField := IndexFieldOp PkgLength NameString NameString FieldFlags FieldList

IndexFieldOp := ExtOpPrefix 0x86

DefMethod := MethodOp PkgLength NameString MethodFlags TermList

MethodOp := 0x14

MethodFlags :=

ByteData // bit 0-2: ArgCount (0-7)

// bit 3: SerializeFlag

// 0 NotSerialized

// 1 Serialized

// bit 4-7: SyncLevel (0x00-0x0f)

DefMutex := MutexOp NameString SyncFlags

MutexOp := ExtOpPrefix 0x01

SyncFlags := ByteData // bits 0-3: SyncLevel (0x00-0x0f), bits 4-7: Reserved (must be 0)

DefOpRegion := OpRegionOp NameString RegionSpace RegionOffset RegionLen

OpRegionOp := ExtOpPrefix 0x80

RegionSpace :=

ByteData // 0x00 SystemMemory

// 0x01 SystemIO

// 0x02 PCI_Config

// 0x03 EmbeddedControl

// 0x04 SMBus

// 0x05 System CMOS

// 0x06 PciBarTarget

// 0x07 IPMI

// 0x08 GeneralPurposeIO

// 0x09 GenericSerialBus

// 0x0A PCC

// 0x80-0xFF: OEM Defined

RegionOffset := TermArg => Integer

RegionLen := TermArg => Integer

DefPowerRes := PowerResOp PkgLength NameString SystemLevel ResourceOrder TermList

PowerResOp := ExtOpPrefix 0x84

SystemLevel := ByteData

ResourceOrder := WordData

ProcID := ByteData

PblkAddr := DWordData

PblkLen := ByteData

DefThermalZone := ThermalZoneOp PkgLength NameString TermList

ThermalZoneOp := ExtOpPrefix 0x85

ExtendedAccessField := 0x03 AccessType ExtendedAccessAttrib AccessLength

ExtendedAccessAttrib :=
ByteData // 0x0B AttribBytes, 0x0E AttribRawBytes, 0x0F AttribRawProcess

FieldElement := NamedField | ReservedField | AccessField | ExtendedAccessField | ConnectField

20.2.5.3. Statement Opcodes Encoding¶

StatementOpcode :=
DefBreak | DefBreakPoint | DefContinue | DefFatal | DefIfElse | DefNoop | DefNotify | DefRelease | DefReset | DefReturn | DefSignal | DefSleep | DefStall | DefWhile

DefBreak := BreakOp

BreakOp := 0xA5

DefBreakPoint := BreakPointOp

BreakPointOp := 0xCC

DefContinue := ContinueOp

ContinueOp := 0x9F

DefElse := Nothing | <elseop pkglength termlist>

ElseOp := 0xA1

DefFatal := FatalOp FatalType FatalCode FatalArg

FatalOp := ExtOpPrefix 0x32

FatalType := ByteData

FatalCode := DWordData

FatalArg := TermArg => Integer

DefIfElse := IfOp PkgLength Predicate TermList DefElse

IfOp := 0xA0

Predicate := TermArg => Integer

DefNoop := NoopOp

NoopOp := 0xA3

DefNotify := NotifyOp NotifyObject NotifyValue

NotifyOp := 0x86

NotifyObject := SuperName => ThermalZone | Processor | Device

NotifyValue := TermArg => Integer

DefRelease := ReleaseOp MutexObject

ReleaseOp := ExtOpPrefix 0x27

MutexObject := SuperName

DefReset := ResetOp EventObject

ResetOp := ExtOpPrefix 0x26

EventObject := SuperName

DefReturn := ReturnOp ArgObject

ReturnOp := 0xA4

ArgObject := TermArg => DataRefObject

DefSignal := SignalOp EventObject

SignalOp := ExtOpPrefix 0x24

DefSleep := SleepOp MsecTime

SleepOp := ExtOpPrefix 0x22

MsecTime := TermArg => Integer

DefStall := StallOp UsecTime

StallOp := ExtOpPrefix 0x21

UsecTime := TermArg => ByteData

DefWhile := WhileOp PkgLength Predicate TermList

WhileOp := 0xA2

20.2.5.4. Expression Opcodes Encoding¶

ExpressionOpcode :=
DefAcquire | DefAdd | DefAnd | DefBuffer | DefConcat | DefConcatRes | DefCondRefOf | DefCopyObject | DefDecrement | DefDerefOf | DefDivide | DefFindSetLeftBit | DefFindSetRightBit | DefFromBCD | DefIncrement | DefIndex | DefLAnd | DefLEqual | DefLGreater | DefLGreaterEqual | DefLLess | DefLLessEqual | DefMid | DefLNot | DefLNotEqual | DefLoadTable | DefLOr | DefMatch | DefMod | DefMultiply | DefNAnd | DefNOr | DefNot | DefObjectType | DefOr | DefPackage | DefVarPackage | DefRefOf | DefShiftLeft | DefShiftRight | DefSizeOf | DefStore | DefSubtract | DefTimer | DefToBCD | DefToBuffer | DefToDecimalString | DefToHexString | DefToInteger | DefToString | DefWait | DefXOr | MethodInvocation

ReferenceTypeOpcode := DefRefOf | DefDerefOf | DefIndex | UserTermObj

DefAcquire := AcquireOp MutexObject Timeout

AcquireOp := ExtOpPrefix 0x23

Timeout := WordData

DefAdd := AddOp Operand Operand Target

AddOp := 0x72

Operand := TermArg => Integer

DefAnd := AndOp Operand Operand Target

AndOp := 0x7B

DefBuffer := BufferOp PkgLength BufferSize ByteList

BufferOp := 0x11

BufferSize := TermArg => Integer

DefConcat := ConcatOp Data Data Target

ConcatOp := 0x73

Data := TermArg => ComputationalData

DefConcatRes := ConcatResOp BufData BufData Target

ConcatResOp := 0x84

BufData := TermArg => Buffer

DefCondRefOf := CondRefOfOp SuperName Target

CondRefOfOp := ExtOpPrefix 0x12

DefCopyObject := CopyObjectOp TermArg SimpleName

CopyObjectOp := 0x9D

DefDecrement := DecrementOp SuperName

DecrementOp := 0x76

DefDerefOf := DerefOfOp ObjReference

DerefOfOp := 0x83

ObjReference := TermArg => ObjectReference | String

DefDivide := DivideOp Dividend Divisor Remainder Quotient

DivideOp := 0x78

Dividend := TermArg => Integer

Divisor := TermArg => Integer

Remainder := Target

Quotient := Target

DefFindSetLeftBit := FindSetLeftBitOp Operand Target

FindSetLeftBitOp := 0x81

DefFindSetRightBit := FindSetRightBitOp Operand Target

FindSetRightBitOp := 0x82

DefFromBCD := FromBCDOp BCDValue Target

FromBCDOp := ExtOpPrefix 0x28

BCDValue := TermArg => Integer

DefIncrement := IncrementOp SuperName

IncrementOp := 0x75

DefIndex := IndexOp BuffPkgStrObj IndexValue Target

IndexOp := 0x88

BuffPkgStrObj := TermArg => Buffer, Package, or String

IndexValue := TermArg => Integer

DefLAnd := LandOp Operand Operand

LandOp := 0x90

DefLEqual := LequalOp Operand Operand

LequalOp := 0x93

DefLGreater := LgreaterOp Operand Operand

LgreaterOp := 0x94

DefLGreaterEqual := LgreaterEqualOp Operand Operand

LgreaterEqualOp := LnotOp LlessOp

DefLLess := LlessOp Operand Operand

LlessOp := 0x95

DefLLessEqual := LlessEqualOp Operand Operand

LlessEqualOp := LnotOp LgreaterOp

DefLNot := LnotOp Operand

LnotOp := 0x92

DefLNotEqual := LnotEqualOp Operand Operand

LnotEqualOp := LnotOp LequalOp

DefLoad := LoadOp NameString Target

LoadOp := ExtOpPrefix 0x20

DefLoadTable := LoadTableOp TermArg TermArg TermArg TermArg TermArg TermArg

LoadTableOp := ExtOpPrefix 0x1F

DefLOr := LorOp Operand Operand

LorOp := 0x91

DefMatch := MatchOp SearchPkg MatchOpcode Operand MatchOpcode Operand StartIndex

MatchOp := 0x89

SearchPkg := TermArg => Package

MatchOpcode :=

ByteData // 0 MTR

// 1 MEQ

// 2 MLE

// 3 MLT

// 4 MGE

// 5 MGT

StartIndex := TermArg => Integer

DefMid := MidOp MidObj TermArg TermArg Target

MidOp := 0x9E

MidObj := TermArg => Buffer | String

DefMod := ModOp Dividend Divisor Target

ModOp := 0x85

DefMultiply := MultiplyOp Operand Operand Target

MultiplyOp := 0x77

DefNAnd := NandOp Operand Operand Target

NandOp := 0x7C

DefNOr := NorOp Operand Operand Target

NorOp := 0x7E

DefNot := NotOp Operand Target

NotOp := 0x80

DefObjectType := ObjectTypeOp <SimpleName | DebugObj | DefRefOf | DefDerefOf | DefIndex>

ObjectTypeOp := 0x8E

DefOr := OrOp Operand Operand Target

OrOp := 0x7D

DefPackage := PackageOp PkgLength NumElements PackageElementList

PackageOp := 0x12

DefVarPackage := VarPackageOp PkgLength VarNumElements PackageElementList

VarPackageOp := 0x13

NumElements := ByteData

VarNumElements := TermArg => Integer

PackageElementList := Nothing | <packageelement packageelementlist>

PackageElement := DataRefObject | NameString

DefRefOf := RefOfOp SuperName

RefOfOp := 0x71

DefShiftLeft := ShiftLeftOp Operand ShiftCount Target

ShiftLeftOp := 0x79

ShiftCount := TermArg => Integer

DefShiftRight := ShiftRightOp Operand ShiftCount Target

ShiftRightOp := 0x7A

DefSizeOf := SizeOfOp SuperName

SizeOfOp := 0x87

DefStore := StoreOp TermArg SuperName

StoreOp := 0x70

DefSubtract := SubtractOp Operand Operand Target

SubtractOp := 0x74

DefTimer := TimerOp

TimerOp := 0x5B 0x33

DefToBCD := ToBCDOp Operand Target

ToBCDOp := ExtOpPrefix 0x29

DefToBuffer := ToBufferOp Operand Target

ToBufferOp := 0x96

DefToDecimalString := ToDecimalStringOp Operand Target

ToDecimalStringOp := 0x97

DefToHexString := ToHexStringOp Operand Target

ToHexStringOp := 0x98

DefToInteger := ToIntegerOp Operand Target

ToIntegerOp := 0x99

DefToString := ToStringOp TermArg LengthArg Target

LengthArg := TermArg => Integer

ToStringOp := 0x9C

DefWait := WaitOp EventObject Operand

WaitOp := ExtOpPrefix 0x25

DefXOr := XorOp Operand Operand Target

XorOp := 0x7F

20.2.6. Miscellaneous Objects Encoding¶

Miscellaneous objects include:

Arg objects

Local objects

Debug objects

20.2.6.1. Arg Objects Encoding¶

ArgObj := Arg0Op | Arg1Op | Arg2Op | Arg3Op | Arg4Op | Arg5Op | Arg6Op

Arg0Op := 0x68

Arg1Op := 0x69

Arg2Op := 0x6A

Arg3Op := 0x6B

Arg4Op := 0x6C

Arg5Op := 0x6D

Arg6Op := 0x6E

20.2.6.2. Local Objects Encoding¶

LocalObj := Local0Op | Local1Op | Local2Op | Local3Op | Local4Op | Local5Op | Local6Op | Local7Op

Local0Op := 0x60

Local1Op := 0x61

Local2Op := 0x62

Local3Op := 0x63

Local4Op := 0x64

Local5Op := 0x65

Local6Op := 0x66

Local7Op := 0x67

20.2.6.3. Debug Objects Encoding¶

DebugObj := DebugOp

DebugOp := ExtOpPrefix 0x31

20.3. AML Byte Stream Byte Values¶

The following table lists all byte values that can be found in an AML byte stream, and the meaning of each byte value. This table is useful for debugging AML code.

Table 20.2 **AML Byte Stream Byte Values**¶
Encoding Value	Encoding Name	Encoding Group	Fixed List Arguments	Variable List Arguments
0x00	ZeroOp	Data Object	—	—
0x01	OneOp	Data Object	—	—
0x02-0x05	—	—	—	—
0x06	AliasOp	Term Object	NameString NameString	—
0x07	—	—	—	—
0x08	NameOp	Term Object	NameString DataRefObject	—
0x09	—	—	—	—
0x0A	BytePrefix	Data Object	ByteData	—
0x0B	WordPrefix	Data Object	WordData	—
0x0C	DWordPrefix	Data Object	DWordData	—
0x0D	StringPrefix	Data Object	AsciiCharList NullChar	—
0x0E	QWordPrefix	Data Object	QWordData	—
0x0F	—	—	—	—
0x10	ScopeOp	Term Object	NameString	TermList
0x11	BufferOp	Term Object	TermArg	ByteList
0x12	PackageOp	Term Object	ByteData	Package TermList
0x13	VarPackageOp	Term Object	TermArg	Package TermList
0x14	MethodOp	Term Object	NameString ByteData	TermList
0x15	ExternalOp	Name Object	NameString ByteData ByteData	—
0x16-0x2D	—	—	—	—
0x2E (‘.’)	DualNamePrefix	Name Object	NameSeg NameSeg	—
0x2F (‘/’)	MultiNamePrefix	Name Object	ByteData NameSeg(N)	—
0x30-0x39 (‘0’-‘9’)	DigitChar	Name Object	—	—
0x3A-0x40	—	—	—	—
0x41-0x5A (‘A’-‘Z’)	NameChar	Name Object	—	—
0x5B (‘[‘)	ExtOpPrefix	—	ByteData	—
0x5B 0x00	—	—	—	—
0x5B 0x01	MutexOp	Term Object	NameString ByteData	—
0x5B 0x02	EventOp	Term Object	NameString	—
0x5B 0x12	CondRefOfOp	Term Object	SuperName SuperName	—
0x5B 0x13	CreateFieldOp	Term Object	TermArg TermArg TermArg NameString	—
0x5B 0x1F	LoadTableOp	Term Object	TermArg TermArg TermArg TermArg TermArg TermArg	—
0x5B 0x20	LoadOp	Term Object	NameString SuperName	—
0x5B 0x21	StallOp	Term Object	TermArg	—
0x5B 0x22	SleepOp	Term Object	TermArg	—
0x5B 0x23	AcquireOp	Term Object	SuperName WordData	—
0x5B 0x24	SignalOp	Term Object	SuperName	—
0x5B 0x25	WaitOp	Term Object	SuperName TermArg	—
0x5B 0x26	ResetOp	Term Object	SuperName	—
0x5B 0x27	ReleaseOp	Term Object	SuperName	—
0x5B 0x28	FromBCDOp	Term Object	TermArg Target	—
0x5B 0x29	ToBCD	Term Object	TermArg Target	—
0x5B 0x2A	Reserved	—	—	—
0x5B 0x30	RevisionOp	Data Object	—	—
0x5B 0x31	DebugOp	Debug Object	—	—
0x5B 0x32	FatalOp	Term Object	ByteData DWordData TermArg	—
0x5B 0x33	TimerOp	Term Object	—	—
0x5B 0x80	OpRegionOp	Term Object	NameString ByteData TermArg TermArg	—
0x5B 0x81	FieldOp	Term Object	NameString ByteData	FieldList
0x5B 0x82	DeviceOp	Term Object	NameString	TermList
0x5B 0x83	Permanently Reserved	—	Use of this opcode for ProcessorOp was deprecated in ACPI 6.4, and is not to be reused.	—
0x5B 0x84	PowerResOp	Term Object	NameString ByteData WordData	TermList
0x5B 0x85	ThermalZoneOp	Term Object	NameString	TermList
0x5B 0x86	IndexFieldOp	Term Object	NameString NameString ByteData	FieldList
0x5B 0x87	BankFieldOp	Term Object	NameString NameString TermArg ByteData	FieldList
0x5B 0x88	DataRegionOp	Term Object	NameString TermArg TermArg TermArg	—
0x5B 0x80 - 0x5B 0xFF	—	—	—	—
0x5C (‘\’)	RootChar	Name Object	—	—
0x5D	—	—	—	—
0x5E (‘^’)	ParentPrefixChar	Name Object	—	—
0x5F(‘_’)	NameChar—	Name Object	—	—
0x60 (‘`’)	Local0Op	Local Object	—	—
0x61 (‘a’)	Local1Op	Local Object	—	—
0x62 (‘b’)	Local2Op	Local Object	—	—
0x63 (‘c’)	Local3Op	Local Object	—	—
0x64 (‘d’)	Local4Op	Local Object	—	—
0x65 (‘e’)	Local5Op	Local Object	—	—
0x66 (‘f’)	Local6Op	Local Object	—	—
0x67 (‘g’)	Local7Op	Local Object	—	—
0x68 (‘h’)	Arg0Op	Arg Object	—	—
0x69 (‘i’)	Arg1Op	Arg Object	—	—
0x6A (‘j’)	Arg2Op	Arg Object	—	—
0x6B (‘k’)	Arg3Op	Arg Object	—	—
0x6C (‘l’)	Arg4Op	Arg Object	—	—
0x6D (‘m’)	Arg5Op	Arg Object	—	—
0x6E (‘n’)	Arg6Op	Arg Object	—	—
0x6F	—	—	—	—
0x70	StoreOp	Term Object	TermArg SuperName	—
0x71	RefOfOp	Term Object	SuperName	—
0x72	AddOp	Term Object	TermArg TermArg Target	—
0x73	ConcatOp	Term Object	TermArg TermArg Target	—
0x74	SubtractOp	Term Object	TermArg TermArg Target	—
0x75	IncrementOp	Term Object	SuperName	—
0x76	DecrementOp	Term Object	SuperName	—
0x77	MultiplyOp	Term Object	TermArg TermArg Target	—
0x78	DivideOp	Term Object	TermArg TermArg Target Target	—
0x79	ShiftLeftOp	Term Object	TermArg TermArg Target	—
0x7A	ShiftRightOp	Term Object	TermArg TermArg Target	—
0x7B	AndOp	Term Object	TermArg TermArg Target	—
0x7C	NandOp	Term Object	TermArg TermArg Target	—
0x7D	OrOp	Term Object	TermArg TermArg Target	—
0x7E	NorOp	Term Object	TermArg TermArg Target	—
0x7F	XorOp	Term Object	TermArg TermArg Target	—
0x80	NotOp	Term Object	TermArg Target	—
0x81	FindSetLeftBitOp	Term Object	TermArg Target	—
0x82	FindSetRightBitOp	Term Object	TermArg Target	—
0x83	DerefOfOp	Term Object	TermArg	—
0x84	ConcatResOp	Term Object	TermArg TermArg Target	—
0x85	ModOp	Term Object	TermArg TermArg Target	—
0x86	NotifyOp	Term Object	SuperName TermArg	—
0x87	SizeOfOp	Term Object	SuperName	—
0x88	IndexOp	Term Object	TermArg TermArg Target	—
0x89	MatchOp	Term Object	TermArg ByteData TermArg ByteData TermArg TermArg	—
0x8A	CreateDWordFieldOp	Term Object	TermArg TermArg NameString	—
0x8B	CreateWordFieldOp	Term Object	TermArg TermArg NameString	—
0x8C	CreateByteFieldOp	Term Object	TermArg TermArg NameString	—
0x8D	CreateBitFieldOp	Term Object	TermArg TermArg NameString	—
0x8E	ObjectTypeOp	Term Object	SuperName	—
0x8F	CreateQWordFieldOp	Term Object	TermArg TermArg NameString	—
0x90	LandOp	Term Object	TermArg TermArg	—
0x91	LorOp	Term Object	TermArg TermArg	—
0x92	LnotOp	Term Object	TermArg	—
0x92 0x93	LNotEqualOp	Term Object	TermArg TermArg	—
0x92 0x94	LLessEqualOp	Term Object	TermArg TermArg	—
0x92 0x95	LGreaterEqualOp	Term Object	TermArg TermArg	—
0x93	LEqualOp	Term Object	TermArg TermArg	—
0x94	LGreaterOp	Term Object	TermArg TermArg	—
0x95	LLessOp	Term Object	TermArg TermArg	—
0x96	ToBufferOp	Term Object	TermArg Target	—
0x97	ToDecimalStringOp	Term Object	TermArg Target	—
0x98	ToHexStringOp	Term Object	TermArg Target	—
0x99	ToIntegerOp	Term Object	TermArg Target	—
0x9A-0x9B	—	—	—	—
0x9C	ToStringOp	Term Object	TermArg TermArg Target	—
0x9D	CopyObjectOp	Term Object	TermArg SimpleName	—
0x9E	MidOp	Term Object	TermArg TermArg TermArg Target	—
0x9F	ContinueOp	Term Object	—	—
0xA0	IfOp	Term Object	TermArg	TermList
0xA1	ElseOp	Term Object	—	TermList
0xA2	WhileOp	Term Object	TermArg	TermList
0xA3	NoopOp	Term Object	—	—
0xA4	ReturnOp	Term Object	TermArg	—
0xA5	BreakOp	Term Object	—	—
0xA6-0xCB	—	—	—	—
0xCC	BreakPointOp	Term Object	—	—
0xCD-0xFE	—	—	—	—
0xFF	OnesOp	Data Object	—	—

20.4. AML Encoding of Names in the Namespace¶

Assume the following namespace exists:

\\
S0
  MEM
    SET
    GET
S1
  MEM
    SET
    GET
  CPU
    SET
    GET

Assume further that a definition block is loaded that creates a node \S0.CPU.SET, and loads a block using it as a root. Assume the loaded block contains the following names:

STP1
^GET
^^PCI0
^^PCI0.SBS
\\S2
\\S2.ISA.COM1
^^^S3
^^^S2.MEM
^^^S2.MEM.SET
Scope(\S0.CPU.SET.STP1) {
  XYZ
  ^ABC
  ^ABC.DEF
}

This will be encoded in AML as:

'STP1'
ParentPrefixChar 'GET_'
ParentPrefixChar ParentPrefixChar 'PCI0'
ParentPrefixChar ParentPrefixChar DualNamePrefix 'PCI0' 'SBS_'
RootChar 'S2__'
RootChar MultiNamePrefix 3 'S2__' 'ISA_' 'COM1'
ParentPrefixChar ParentPrefixChar ParentPrefixChar 'S3__'
ParentPrefixChar ParentPrefixChar ParentPrefixChar DualNamePrefix 'S2__' 'MEM_'
ParentPrefixChar ParentPrefixChar ParentPrefixChar MultiNamePrefix 3 'S2__' 'MEM_' 'SET_'

After the block is loaded, the namespace will look like this (names added to the namespace by the loading operation are shown in bold):

\\
  S0
    MEM
      SET
      GET
    CPU
      SET
        STP1
          XYZ
        ABC
          DEF
      GET
    PCI0
      SBS
  S1
    MEM
      SET
      GET
    CPU
      SET
      GET
  S2
    ISA
      COM1
    MEM
      SET
  S3