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A Yocto-Based Linux Kernel Environment for Configurable Kernel and performance benchmark testing using Docker

Author: Hammad Thair

Supervisors: Prof. Dr. Boris Koldehofe, Dr. Detlef Streitferdt

Format: Master's thesis, TU Ilmenau

For multi-core embedded platforms, analyzing performance in real-time conditions is a important challenge. NXP's boards are used in many areas, from automotive and industrial control to IoT and avionics. The NXP i.MX8 QuadMax Evk board, with its multi-core ARM Cortex architecture, GPU acceleration and real-time support enhancements, presents complex requirements that need to be addressed. Embedded Linux systems used in most areas, be it industrial automation or railroad communication systems, require careful configuration to match the hardware capabilities with the software requirements, including the required features and parameterization of the operating system developed for the embedded board. The board used in this work is the NXP i.MX8 QuadMax Evk board, a multi-core platform equipped with GPU acceleration and real-time processing capabilities. The goal is to create an environment for the nxp board that is capable of containing the necessary dependencies in the kernel required to properly run the benchmark and to execute and host the benchmark test containers for monitoring the nxp system performance and the front-end application. In this thesis, the performance of the NXP in the real-time environment is also investigated and studied by conducting benchmark tests to analyze the following performance metrics: CPU, memory and throughput. To achieve this goal, a custom embedded Linux operating system must be developed that provides a simple and structured way to achieve this goal. Furthermore, this study examines the deployment process on the NXP i.MX8 QuadMax Evk board and how such an approach can be developed and parameterized for a real-time kernel with built-in custom configurations. Finally, the architectural framework presented in this study includes the preparation of custom benchmark recipes, the organization of meta-layers and the configurations of the build process for the nxp Embedded Board.

Completed: 30.09.2025

References: https://bibliographie.tu-ilmenau.de/servlets/DozBibEntryServlet?mode=show&id=ilm_mods_00076172