Articles: #real_time
Slay the Daemons on Embedded
4th October, 2026 13min
My name is Chris and I'm afraid of daemons. Well, not literally but I am engineering the firmware for an embedded, real-time device. And I chose to use Debian Linux with systemd. What I'm afraid of are background processes, daemons, performing actions I don't anticipate. This article explains how I create a linux image for my device with only a handful purposeful daemons.
Real-Time Application Development on Linux with PREEMPT RT
29th September, 2025 34min
While Linux is optimized for throughput and efficiency, real-time applications require bounded worst case latencies. However, with the merging of PREEMPT RT, mainline Linux converts to a real-time operating system (RTOS). Through presenting the application developer’s perspective and the changes PREEMPT RT introduces to the kernel, we review Linux’ real-time capabilities. Additionally, we investigate dynamic worst case execution time (WCET) analysis using a StarFive VisionFive 2 as a case study. Finally, we compare Linux to other RTOSes and argue that the lack of static WCET analysis is Linux’ main drawback for real-time applications.
Real-Time Linux on RISC-V
27th June, 2025 8min
Setting up Linux v6.12 on a StarFive VisionFive 2 with PREEMPT_RT. Also: How to setup your Linux laptop as a simple NAT router.