RDK-B ARM System Ready

WIP

Introduction

RDKM team in collaboration with bringup RDK-B on ARM System Ready reference device and make it available for RDK-B community as a reference for RDK-B

Mandatory

QEMU
Raspberry pi 4
NXP

Yocto Build Instructions

NXP

rdkb-2025q4-kirkstone

$ mkdir rdkb-arm
$ cd rdkb-arm
$ repo init -u 'https://github.com/rdkcentral/meta-rdk-bsp-arm/' \
    -m "manifests/rdkb-bsp-arm.xml" \
    -b "main"
$ repo sync
$ source meta-rdk-bsp-arm/setup-environment
$ bitbake rdk-generic-broadband-image

rdk-next

$ mkdir rdkb-arm
$ cd rdkb-arm
$ repo init -u 'https://github.com/rdkcentral/meta-rdk-bsp-arm/' \
    -m "manifests/rdkb-bsp-arm.xml" \
    -b "develop"
$ repo sync
$ source meta-rdk-bsp-arm/setup-environment
$ bitbake rdk-generic-broadband-image

Cherry-pick below PRs to have support to WAN interface (erouter0), WebUI and SSH features.

https://github.com/rdkcentral/ethernet-agent/pull/40
https://github.com/rdkcentral/webui/pull/81
https://github.com/rdkcentral/meta-rdk-bsp-arm/pull/53
https://github.com/rdkcentral/meta-rdk-bsp-arm/pull/50

The default ARM build have been updated to support SSH.
PR: https://github.com/rdkcentral/utopia/pull/175

RPI

Build Instruction for RPI (rdk-next)

$ mkdir rdkb-arm
$ cd rdkb-arm
$ repo init -u 'https://github.com/rdkcentral/meta-rdk-bsp-arm/' \
    -m "manifests/rdkb-bsp-arm.xml" \
    -b "develop"
$ repo sync
$ MACHINE="raspberrypi64-rdk-broadband" source meta-rdk-bsp-arm/setup-environment
$ bitbake rdk-generic-broadband-image

Cherry-pick below PRs to have support to WAN interface (erouter0), WebUI and SSH features.

https://github.com/rdkcentral/ethernet-agent/pull/40
https://github.com/rdkcentral/webui/pull/81
https://github.com/rdkcentral/meta-rdk-bsp-arm/pull/53
https://github.com/rdkcentral/meta-rdk-bsp-arm/pull/50

The default ARM build have been updated to support SSH.
PR: https://github.com/rdkcentral/utopia/pull/175

QEMU

Build Instruction for QEMU(rdk-next)

$ mkdir rdkb-arm
$ cd rdkb-arm
$ repo init -u 'https://github.com/rdkcentral/meta-rdk-bsp-arm/' \
    -m "manifests/rdkb-bsp-arm.xml" \
    -b "develop"
$ repo sync

cherry-pick below PR to have support QEMU Machine conf.
https://github.com/rdkcentral/meta-rdk-bsp-arm/pull/50

$ MACHINE="armefi64-qemu-broadband" source meta-rdk-bsp-arm/setup-environment
$ bitbake rdk-generic-broadband-image

Cherry-pick below PRs to have support to WAN interface (erouter0), WebUI and SSH features.

https://github.com/rdkcentral/ethernet-agent/pull/40
https://github.com/rdkcentral/webui/pull/81
https://github.com/rdkcentral/meta-rdk-bsp-arm/pull/53


The default ARM build have been updated to support SSH.
PR: https://github.com/rdkcentral/utopia/pull/175

The default ARM build have been updated to include additional features such as erouter0, Captive Portal and WebUI support.

The required PRs to be cherry-picked

https://github.com/rdkcentral/ethernet-agent/pull/40
https://github.com/rdkcentral/webui/pull/81
https://github.com/rdkcentral/meta-rdk-bsp-arm/pull/53
https://github.com/rdkcentral/meta-rdk-bsp-arm/pull/50

The default ARM build have been updated to support SSH.

PR:
https://github.com/rdkcentral/utopia/pull/175

There are two types of build outputs:

The platform firmware, which abstracts the hardware platform in a standard manner (the SystemReady standards).
The operating system image, which includes the root filesystem, Linux kernel and boot manager.
Development images generated by this layer can be used across any machine which has a compatible platform firmware deployed.

The default armefi64-rdk-broadband machine type will generate an operating system image that will be bootable on platforms with SystemReady (EFI) compatible firmware and a platform firmware firmware which can be used with QEMU's arm64 virt machine type.

The following generated binaries (in build-armefi64-rdk-broadband/tmp/deploy/images/armefi64-rdk-broadband/) are relevant:

rdk-generic-broadband-image-armefi64-rdk-broadband.wic: Uncompressed operating system image (kernel + rootfs + boot manager)
This image can be booted on a board (or virtual machine) which already has SystemReady compatible firmware
rdk-generic-broadband-image-armefi64-rdk-broadband.wic.qcow2: QCOW2 operating system image, best to use with virtual machine programs
rdk-generic-broadband-image-armefi64-rdk-broadband.tar.gz: Compressed tar archive of the operating system image (including kernel). This is currently used for system upgrades.
u-boot-armefi64-rdk-broadband.bin (linked to u-boot.bin): Reference platform firmware (used with QEMU virt machine)

The generated disk (wic) images are intended for block storage devices, for example, eMMC, SD cards, USB or NVMe storage devices, or emulated types such as virtio-blk.

A production device may use flash (NOR or NAND) devices for storing the system level firmware.

Additional files like Image (Linux kernel Image file), linuxaa64.efi.stub (Kernel EFI stub), systemd-bootaa64.efi (systemd-boot executable) and u-boot-initial-env-armefi64-rdk-broadband (U-Boot "Factory" environment) are also generated by the Yocto build process. These are not needed for normal development and deployment activities.

It is intended that the rdk-generic-broadband-image-armefi64-rdk-broadband.wic is a universal operating system image that will boot on as many real and virtual machines as possible.

(For example, you can write the .wic file onto a USB drive, and move the USB drive between different boards without making any changes)

Where possible, the same Linux kernel, firmware (U-Boot) and other relevant component versions will be used, with a strong preference for "mainline" versions.

Configuring multiconfig for multiple target builds

It is possible to use BitBake's "multiconfig" feature to setup the same build folder for multiple targets at once.

Doing so will save you time and disk space, as most packages between machines defined in this layer are shared.

If you specify MACHINE=all, the setup-environment script will do the necessary setup:

$ MACHINE="all" source meta-rdk-bsp-arm/setup-environment

You can then run the build cycle for each target:

Multiconfig (rdk-next)

$ MACHINE="all" source meta-rdk-bsp-arm/setup-environment
$ bitbake mc:generic:rdk-generic-broadband-image && \
  bitbake mc:raspberrypi:rdk-generic-broadband-image

(Due to the way RDK-B components are built, it is not possible to do a "parallel" build for two targets at once, however, you will 
still save a significant amount of time and disk space by using multiconfig builds sequentially)

Build images for each target will be available in tmp/deploy:

$ ls build-armefi64-rdk-broadband/tmp/deploy/images/
armefi64-rdk-broadband
raspberrypi64-rdk-broadband
armefi64-qemu-broadband.

Running the generated image on QEMU

Direct QEMU invocation

You can use the generated wic.qcow2 and u-boot.bin to invoke QEMU directly. This allows you to customize your QEMU setup for your own environment and requirements.

On virtualization capable Arm64 hosts you can use KVM for near-native performance.

You can invoke QEMU like this:

QEMU invocation

# Create a fresh virtual switch wan feed and LAN clients
sudo ip link add name br-wan-test type bridge
sudo ip link add name br-lan-test type bridge

# Assign both an IPv4 address 
sudo ip addr add <VIRTUAL_WAN_IP>/24 dev br-wan-test # ex: sudo ip addr add 192.168.50.1/24 dev br-wan-test
sudo ip addr add 10.0.0.254/24 dev br-lan-test


# Turn on the virtual switch
sudo ip link set br-wan-test up
sudo ip link set br-lan-test up


#If you are using USB-to-Ethernet adapter to connect LAN clinets
#check interfae name bu using ip link ex; enx000e0987b9ec
sudo ip addr flush dev <interface_name> 


# Physically link your USB adapter into LAN virtual switch
sudo ip link set <interface_name> master br-lan-test
sudo ip link set <interface_name> up

sudo mkdir -p /etc/qemu
echo -e "allow br-wan-test\nallow br-lan-test" | sudo tee /etc/qemu/bridge.conf > /dev/null
sudo chmod 4755 /usr/lib/qemu/qemu-bridge-helper


#Enable Host Routing, NAT
sudo sysctl -w net.ipv4.ip_forward=1
sudo iptables -t nat -F
sudo iptables -t nat -A POSTROUTING -o <your_host_internet_card> -j MASQUERADE
sudo iptables -F FORWARD
sudo iptables -A FORWARD -j ACCEPT




# Start Virtual WAN DHCP Engine
sudo dnsmasq --interface=br-wan-test \
             --dhcp-range=<START_IP>,<END_IP>,<SUBNET_MASK>,12h \
             --dhcp-option=option:router,<GATEWAY_IP> \
             --dhcp-option=option:dns-server,8.8.8.8 \
             --port=0 &


ex:
sudo dnsmasq --interface=br-wan-test \
             --dhcp-range=192.168.50.10,192.168.50.50,255.255.255.0,12h \
             --dhcp-option=option:router,192.168.50.1 \
             --dhcp-option=option:dns-server,8.8.8.8 \
             --port=0 &


# It can be helpful to create a snapshot to quickly revert
# any changes that are made
qemu-img create -f qcow2 -b rdk-generic-broadband-image-armefi64-rdk-broadband.wic.qcow2 -F qcow2 rdk.snapshot.qcow2

# And resize that snapshot to allow space for upgrades
qemu-img resize rdk.snapshot.qcow2 10G
DISK=${DISK:-rdk.snapshot.qcow2}

# Boot
sudo qemu-system-aarch64 -nographic \
    -cpu cortex-a53 -machine virt \
    -bios u-boot.bin  \
    -smp 2 -m 1024  \
    -device virtio-rng-pci  \
    -hda "${DISK}"  \
    -netdev bridge,id=testwan,br=br-wan-test \
    -device virtio-net-pci,netdev=testwan,mac=52:54:00:2d:6e:99  \
    -netdev bridge,id=testlan,br=br-lan-test \
    -device virtio-net-pci,netdev=testlan,mac=52:54:00:2d:6e:98  \
    -device pci-serial

ARM Platform Patch Summary:

This section provides a summary of patches maintained for the ARM platform under meta-rdk-bsp-arm metalayer.

Component Name	No. of Patches	Status	PR If ANY
test-and-diagnostic	1	Ready for testing	https://github.com/rdkcentral/test-and-diagnostic/pull/203
utopia	12	Ready for testing	https://github.com/rdkcentral/utopia/pull/312
rdk-wifi-hal	4	FROZEN	https://github.com/rdkcentral/rdk-wifi-hal/pull/701
ccsp-common-library	9	Ready for testing	https://github.com/rdkcentral/common-library/pull/65
ccsp-eth-agent	4	Ready for testing	https://github.com/rdkcentral/ethernet-agent/pull/64
ccsp-one-wifi	2	Ready for testing	NA
unified-wifi-mesh	1	yet to
ccsp-p-and-m	3	Ready for testing	NA
ccsp-dhcp-mgr	1	Ready for testing	NA

ARM Platform – Feature Implementation Status

S.No	Features	Completed	In Review	In Progress	Not started	Features working in ARM system ready builds			Comments
S.No	Features	Completed	In Review	In Progress	Not started	Qemu	Raspberry pi 4	NXP	Comments
1	WAN					Yes	Yes	Yes
2	LAN					Yes	Yes	Yes
3	WiFi						No	Yes
4	IPv6						Yes	Yes
5	Cellular						No	Yes	Sim is on enabling state in RPI always.
6	RNDIS						Yes	Yes
7	WebPA						Yes	Yes
8	USP-PA(oktopus)						Yes	Yes	Observing delay in DMCLI responce in RPI.
9	Parental Control						Yes	Yes
10	Port Forwarding						Yes	Yes
11	Port Triggering						Yes	Yes
12	USB Detection						Yes	Yes
13	DAC						Yes	Yes
14	Log-Upload & Telemetry						Yes	Yes
15	Multiprofile						Yes	Yes
16	Selfheal
17	Test and Diagnostic
18	Log-Rotation						Yes	Yes
19	RFC
20	Telco-Voice
21	WPS
22	WebConfig						yes	yes
23	ACS
24	SNMP
25	Firmware Upgrade
26	eSDK
27	Populate-SDK

Note:
This list represents features that are either not yet supported or require additional integration and validation on the ARM platform.

list of PRs to be merged

default ssh support in ARM System Ready.

PR: https://github.com/rdkcentral/utopia/pull/175
issue: https://github.com/rdkcentral/meta-rdk-bsp-arm/issues/67

Bridge Mode support on ARM System Ready.

PR: https://github.com/rdkcentral/meta-rdk-bsp-arm/pull/63
issue: https://github.com/rdkcentral/meta-rdk-bsp-arm/issues/26

Known Issues:

On RPI (ARM) platform, WiFi interfaces are not created/visible.
Cellular feature support on RPI (ARM).
On RPI (ARM) delay on the DM's response.

RDK Resources

[RDK Preferred]

Code Management Facility

RDK Forums

[RDK Conferences]

RDK Support

Archives

Introduction

Mandatory

Yocto Build Instructions

NXP

RPI

QEMU

Configuring multiconfig for multiple target builds

Running the generated image on QEMU

Direct QEMU invocation

ARM Platform Patch Summary:

ARM Platform – Feature Implementation Status

Features working in ARM system ready builds

list of PRs to be merged

PR: https://github.com/rdkcentral/utopia/pull/175
issue: https://github.com/rdkcentral/meta-rdk-bsp-arm/issues/67

Known Issues:

RDK Resources

[*RDK Preferred*]

Code Management Facility

RDK Forums

[RDK Conferences]

RDK Support

Archives

RDK-B ARM System Ready

Introduction

Mandatory

Yocto Build Instructions

NXP

RPI

QEMU

Configuring multiconfig for multiple target builds

Running the generated image on QEMU

Direct QEMU invocation

ARM Platform Patch Summary:

ARM Platform – Feature Implementation Status

Features working in ARM system ready builds

list of PRs to be merged

PR: https://github.com/rdkcentral/utopia/pull/175 issue: https://github.com/rdkcentral/meta-rdk-bsp-arm/issues/67

Known Issues:

[RDK Preferred]

PR: https://github.com/rdkcentral/utopia/pull/175
issue: https://github.com/rdkcentral/meta-rdk-bsp-arm/issues/67