Zephyr is a small real-time operating system (RTOS) for connected, resource-constrained and embedded devices (with an emphasis on microcontrollers) supporting multiple architectures and released under the Apache License 2.0. Zephyr includes a kernel, and all components and libraries, device drivers, protocol stacks, file systems, and firmware updates, needed to develop full application software.

It is a connecting technology that spans the “low-level” and “high-level” components of an embedded software system. From Low-Level drivers, bootloaders, an RTOS kernel, networking APIs all the way to the build system and configuration tools, Zephyr contains of the pieces needed for a modern embedded project. Being able to connect the dots from hardware concept through booting the kernel can seem like a daunting task!

NXP has a new white paper titled, “From Hardware Concept to Zephyr Bring Up—The Road to Using the i.MX RT685 Crossover MCU with Zephyr.” This paper illuminates a path that will take you from the bare SOC through PCB design, board bring up and getting to the shell.  Eli Hughes, NXP Pro Support Engineer writes:

I specifically chose a specialized part, the NXP i.MX RT685, as it is an interesting SOC whose capabilities lie between the traditional MCU domain and the Applications Processor domain. Seeing an end-to-end flow on complex SoC will help build confidence that you can start from scratch and bring up a working system. The world needs true “Full Stack” engineers who can bridge multiple disciplines.

You can read the paper here.

And check out the video “Should I Care About Zephyr OS? – Real Experiences of an RTOS Expert” on the page here:

Join us for an insightful presentation by Eli Hughes, one of our NXP software experts, as he explains how the open-source Zephyr OS is more than “just an RTOS”. We’ll explore Zephyr’s inherent capabilities, along with a number of well-tested facilities that developers can leverage in their pursuit of IoT innovation while managing complexity.

In this session, we will investigate what Zephyr is, what it is not, and how it compares to other common RTOS solutions. Attendees will walk away with a better understanding of what problems Zephyr can solve, how it can accelerate their embedded projects, and be better informed for future discussions around embedded firmware architecture.