Overview 


We are excited to introduce RDK7, the first release of the newly restructured RDK stack that features a modular, three-layered design. This architectural enhancement represents a foundational shift aimed at improving development agility, portability, security, and ecosystem scalability.

This release includes the initial implementations of:

  • Vendor Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL): Clean interface to hardware drivers and chipset integrations
  • Core RDK Layer: Refactored middleware and services, optimized for stability and performance
  • Application Layer: Isolated app runtime supporting independent development and deployment

This modular design empowers independent development and testing across layers, streamlines integration across multiple hardware platforms, and enables faster innovation cycles.


Please review the detailed change logs and migration guidelines included below. We welcome community feedback as we continue to evolve the stack in alignment with open standards and industry needs.


In this page:

Architecture Overview: 

A quick architecture overview of RDK7, to help associate the capabilities with the software stack, is given below



For a deep dive to the architectural changes please refer RDK7 Architecture

Build system Overview: 


Compared to previous releases, RDK7 follows a layered build approach. The build setup is now divided into a set of independent Stack layer projects, each comprising components that are developed separately and delivered as binary packages(ipk). These stack layers are then assembled into the final image using the Image Assembler tool. The build setup maintains a Reference OSS layer, which serves as a reference Yocto distribution layer( which also includes CVE patches ), a vendor layer that contains the vendor specific code, an RDK middleware layer that contains the core RDK middleware components, and finally an application layer that contains the applications.




The build system introduced in RDK7 is comprehensively covered in the technical session held during the RDK Tech Summit in May 2025




The session video linked below provides a technical overview of the layered build architecture designed for comprehensive RDK-E builds. This architecture is intended for future RDK releases and does not directly correspond to the current RDK7 release. The video is included as a supplementary technical resource to aid understanding of the build process.



Access restrictions

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Platforms Supported 

For details of how to get the source code, test coverage & test report and known issues in each platform, please click the hyper link. If you do not have an account, please signup at https://wiki.rdkcentral.com/signup.action . If you are logged in but not able to view the page, please contact support@rdkcentral.com

PlatformTypeSOCOEM

Raspberry Pi 4

Generic Reference deviceBroadcomRaspberry Pi Foundation

IP STB BCM 72126

SOC Reference deviceBroadcomNA

IP STB AH 212

SOC Reference deviceAmlogicNA

IP TV AT 301

SOC Reference deviceAmlogicNA

IP STB 1319 Hank

SOC Reference deviceRealtekNA


New Features 


CategorySub -categoryVersion details
AVPlayerGstreamer, AAMP
AV Pipeline RIALTO
Application Support / PrerequisitesContainerOCI Runtime + Dobby
Firebolt ImplementationRipple
DRMPlayReady 4.4, Widevine v16
ConnectivityEthernet & Wi-Fi
BluetoothBluetooth Bluez 
Remote Control
CastingDIAL, Wi-Fi Direct (Miracast)
Peripherals/PortsHDMI, USB, Optical
FrameworkThunderThunder 4.4
BrowserWPE Webkit 2.38
Interfaces /IPCApplication InterfacesFirebolt
Hardware / SOC interfacesRDK HAL
Inter Process CommunicationIARM, RBUS, DBUS
Protocol - Device Management TR69hostif
AV Driver interface V4l2
Graphics and RenderingGraphics & RenderingOpenGL 3.2
CompositionWesteros  / ESSOS, Wayland
Build & PlatformKernelACK 5.15 64-bit Kernel
SOC SDKRealtek BSP  v1.2
Amlogic BSP 6.16
BCM SDK 25.1
SiliconBroadcom, Amlogic, Realtek
Build FrameworkYocto 4.0 (Kirkstone)
Logging support (Debugging)RDK Logger
Firmware Upgrade
ApplicationsNative Apps / Runtimes

YouTube Cobalt 25

Amazon AVPK6

Application Management / Composition RDKShell
Application BundleLISA
App checkpoint/restore MemCR
Access ControlAppArmor
Casting
Secure Time Manager
Device managementDevice ManagementWeb PA, XConf, Telemetry
Debugging

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