AXI stands for Advanced eXtensible Interface, a high-performance bus interface used in integrated circuits. It is part of the AMBA (Advanced Microcontroller Bus Architecture) specification developed by ARM. AXI allows for efficient communication between different components in a system-on-chip (SoC), supporting multiple data transfers simultaneously. The AXI protocol features several key characteristics, including high bandwidth, low latency, and support for burst transactions. It is designed to improve the performance of microcontrollers and FPGAs (Field-Programmable Gate Arrays) by enabling faster data processing and reducing bottlenecks in data flow.