Zephyr with Luka Mustafa

In this comprehensive episode, Luka Mustafa, founder and CEO of Irnas Product Development, provides an in-depth exploration of Zephyr RTOS and its transformative impact on embedded development. We dive deep into how Zephyr's Linux Foundation-backed ecosystem enables hardware-agnostic development, dramatically reducing the time spent on foundational code versus business-value features. Luka shares practical insights from five years of specializing in Zephyr development, demonstrating how projects can achieve remarkable portability - including running the same Bluetooth code on different chip architectures in just an hour, and even executing embedded applications natively on Linux for development purposes.

The discussion covers Zephyr's comprehensive testing framework (Twister), CI/CD integration capabilities, and the cultural shift required when moving from traditional bare-metal development to this modern RTOS approach. We explore real-world applications from low-power IoT devices consuming just 5 microamps to complex multi-core systems, while addressing the learning curve challenges and when Zephyr might not be the right choice. This episode is essential listening for embedded teams considering modernizing their development practices and leveraging community-driven software ecosystems.

Key Topics

• [03:15] Zephyr RTOS fundamentals and Linux Foundation ecosystem benefits
• [08:30] Hardware abstraction and device tree implementation for portable embedded code
• [12:45] Nordic Semiconductor strategic partnership and silicon vendor support landscape
• [18:20] Native POSIX development capabilities and cross-platform debugging strategies
• [25:10] Learning curve challenges: EE vs CS background adaptation to Zephyr development
• [32:40] Resource requirements and low-power implementation on constrained microcontrollers
• [38:15] Multi-vendor chip support: STMicroelectronics, NXP, and industry adoption trends
• [42:30] Safety-critical applications and ongoing certification processes
• [45:50] Organizational transformation strategies and cultural adaptation challenges
• [52:20] Zbus inter-process communication and modular development architecture
• [58:45] Twister testing framework and comprehensive CI/CD pipeline integration
• [65:30] Sample-driven development methodology and long-lived characterization tests
• [72:15] Production testing automation and shell interface utilization
• [78:40] Model-based development integration and requirements traceability
• [82:10] When not to use Zephyr: Arduino simplicity vs RTOS complexity trade-offs

Notable Quotes

"With Zephyr, porting a Bluetooth project from one chip architecture to another took an hour for an intern, compared to what would traditionally be months of effort." — Luka Mustafa

"How many times have you written a logging subsystem? If the answer is more than zero, then it shouldn't be the case. Someone needs to write it once, and every three years someone needs to rewrite it with a better idea." — Luka Mustafa

"The real benefit comes from doing things the Zephyr way in Zephyr, because then you are adopting all of the best practices of developing the code, using all of the subsystems to the maximum extent." — Luka Mustafa

"You want to make sure your team is spending time on things that make money for you, not on writing logging, for example." — Luka Mustafa

• Zephyr Project - Linux Foundation-backed RTOS project providing comprehensive embedded development ecosystem
• Twister Testing Framework - Zephyr's built-in testing framework for unit tests, hardware-in-the-loop, and CI/CD integration
• Zbus Inter-Process Communication - Advanced event bus system for modular embedded development and component decoupling
• iirnas - Open-source examples of Zephyr best practices and CI/CD pipeline implementations
• Carles Cufi's Talk - Detailed presentation on Nordic's strategic decision to support Zephyr RTOS

You can find Jeff at https://jeffgable.com.
You can find Luca at https://luca.engineer.

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Ryan Torvik and Luca have started the Embedded AI podcast, check it out at https://embeddedaipodcast.com/