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Zephyr Porting Guide for AXON/EDM/PICO-IMX93

Applicable Platforms​

This guide applies to the following SOMs.

  • AXON-IMX93
  • EDM-IMX93
  • PICO-IMX93

Introduction​

This article documents a practical workflow for building and running Zephyr RTOS on the Cortex-M33 core of the NXP i.MX93 platform. It covers setting up a Zephyr workspace with west, building M33 targets , and booting the M33 firmware either by loading a binary from U-Boot or by using Linux remoteproc to start an ELF on the M33 core.

Part1: Set Up the Environment​

Follow these steps on Ubuntu to prepare the Zephyr workspace using the TechNexion fork for i.MX93 platforms.

1.1 Install System Packages​

sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y git cmake ninja-build gperf dfu-util device-tree-compiler \
  python3-venv python3-pip xz-utils file make gcc g++

1.2 Clone TechNexion Zephyr Fork​

mkdir -p ~/tn-zephyr-ws
cd ~/tn-zephyr-ws
git clone -b tn-v4.3-branch https://github.com/TechNexion/zephyr.git zephyr

1.3 Initialize Python venv and West​

python3 -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate
pip install -U pip west
west init -l zephyr
west update

1.4 Install Dependencies and SDK​

pip install -r zephyr/scripts/requirements.txt
cd zephyr
west zephyr-export
west sdk install

Part2: Build and Run hello_world example​

This section shows how to:

  • Build the Zephyr hello_world sample for the PICO-IMX93 Cortex-M33 core.
  • Identify the generated binary and ELF files.
  • Boot the M33 core from U-Boot using the generated image.

2.1 Build the hello_world application​

Use west build to compile the Zephyr hello_world sample for the PICO-IMX93 M33 target:

west build -p always -b pico_imx93/mimx9352/m33 samples/hello_world

After a successful build, Zephyr places output files under the build/zephyr/ directory and copy binary file to 1st FAT partition:

cp build/zephyr/zephyr.bin /media/username/boot/

2.2 Run hello_world example​

Choose to load bin with cortex-m33 support.

In u-boot prompt:

setenv m33image zephyr.bin
run m33boot

You should see the following output from debug console:

helloworld.png

Part3: Build and Run synchronization example​

3.1 Build the synchronization application​

Use west build to compile the Zephyr synchronization sample for the PICO-IMX93 M33 target:

west build -p always -b pico_imx93/mimx9352/m33 samples/synchronization

After a successful build, Zephyr places output files under the build/zephyr/ directory ; deploy zephyr.elf to /lib/firmware/ for Linux remoteproc loading and place zephyr.bin on the first FAT (BOOT) partition for U-Boot booting:

cp build/zephyr/zephyr.bin /media/username/boot/
cp build/zephyr/zephyr.elf /media/username/root/lib/firmware/

3.2 Run synchronization example​

1.Choose to load bin with cortex-m33 support.

In u-boot prompt:

setenv m33image zephyr.bin
run m33boot

You should see the following output from debug console:

synchronization.png

2.Choose to load elf with cortex-m33 support.

In u-boot prompt:

run prepare_mcore
boot

In Yocto prompt:

echo zephyr.elf > /sys/class/remoteproc/remoteproc0/firmware
echo start > /sys/class/remoteproc/remoteproc0/state

You should see the following output from debug console:

synchronizationelf.png

Part4: Build and Run openamp example​

4.1 Build the openamp application​

Use west build to compile the Zephyr openamp sample for the PICO-IMX93 M33 target:

west build -p always -b pico_imx93/mimx9352/m33 samples/subsys/ipc/openamp_rsc_table

After a successful build, Zephyr places output files under the build/zephyr/ directory ; deploy zephyr.elf to /lib/firmware/ for Linux remoteproc loading and place zephyr.bin on the first FAT (BOOT) partition for U-Boot booting:

cp build/zephyr/zephyr_openamp_rsc_table.bin /media/username/boot/
cp build/zephyr/zephyr_openamp_rsc_table.elf /media/username/root/lib/firmware/

4.2 Run openamp example​

1.Choose to load bin with cortex-m33 support.

In u-boot prompt:

setenv m33image zephyr_openamp_rsc_table.bin
run m33boot

In Yocto prompt:

dmesg | grep rpmsg
echo "Hello Zephyr" >/dev/ttyRPMSG1

You should see the following output from debug console:

openampbin.png

2.Choose to load elf with cortex-m33 support.

In u-boot prompt:

run prepare_mcore
boot

In Yocto prompt:

cat /sys/class/remoteproc/remoteproc0/state
echo zephyr_openamp_rsc_table.elf > /sys/class/remoteproc/remoteproc0/firmware
echo start > /sys/class/remoteproc/remoteproc0/state

dmesg | grep rpmsg
echo "Hello Zephyr" >/dev/ttyRPMSG1

You should see the following output from debug console:

openampelf.png

Reference​