Shape the target operating system
Configured a cross compiled Buildroot toolchain and built the ARM64 root filesystem and kernel layout from scratch, keeping the image small enough for iterative emulation.
CASE STUDY · 2026
Custom OS Architecture & Edge Inference Engine.
Build a purpose built ARM64 environment for edge inference.
A custom Buildroot Linux image for ARM64/QEMU, paired with a multithreaded C++ frame processing path and a software emulated MobileNet SSD inference pipeline.
01THE PROJECT
OVERVIEW
What it is
and who it helps.
This project builds a small custom operating environment around an ARM64 target. A cross compiled Buildroot toolchain produces the root filesystem and kernel layout, while an asynchronous C++ application ingests downsampled frames and sends them through a MobileNet SSD path running in QEMU software emulation.
ARM64Target architecture
QEMUSoftware emulation
MobileNet SSDEdge inference path
THE CHALLENGE
The work had to join a reliable target image with a useful inference path despite running under software emulation. Cross compilation also surfaced target multimedia dependencies and toolchain optimization settings that needed to be resolved before frames could move cleanly through the system.
HOW I APPROACHED IT
From the first
interaction to the edge cases.
Make the toolchain reproducible
Resolved cross compilation failures by configuring target multimedia dependencies and the toolchain optimization variables expected by the target image.
Stream frames without blocking the pipeline
Wrote an asynchronous, multithreaded C++ ingestion engine that reads downsampled frame buffers over custom network sockets.
Run inference at the edge
Integrated a MobileNet SSD neural network path in the emulated micro OS and exported the resulting detection boundaries for downstream use.
OUTCOME
A full edge path inside a custom OS.
The prototype brings a custom Linux image, asynchronous frame transport, and object detection inference into one ARM64/QEMU workflow. It makes the target system and its software path testable before moving to physical edge hardware.
02TOOLS USED
BUILT WITH