A method and apparatus for providing an operating system abstraction interface for a set-top television terminal used within a broadband environment. The interface defines an OS independent layer (102) that abstracts the services that are needed to implement the set-top firmware (104) in an OS independent manner. The present invention provides several constructs that are unique to the broadband environment. These include a synchronization feature (106), a block feature (108) and Inter-process naming tags that are provided such that the interface of the present invention may be adapted for both process based operating systems and non-process based operating systems. |