Zephyr on the Big Core: Real-Time on the I.MX93 Cortex-A55 With Zephyr

The NXP i.MX93 almost always gets the same software answer: Linux on the Cortex-A55, an RTOS on the Cortex-M33. But what if you don't need Linux?

By Ryan Erickson

Published on November 11, 2026

Zephyr formally supports the i.MX93 A55 cores upstream (imx93_evk/mimx9352/a55 and /a55/smp), including GICv3 interrupts, PSCI power management, SMP, and the full peripheral set — Ethernet, CAN-FD, USB, MIPI-DSI, and more. Boot time drops, interrupt latency decreases, and memory footprint shrinks. And unlike other RTOS solutions, there are no per-unit royalties.

This session covers two things: first, a technical deep-dive into how Zephyr runs on an arm64 application core and looking at various peripherals and proving they work. Second, a live walkthrough of authoring a Zephyr BSP for the Ezurio Nitrogen93 SMARC — an i.MX93 SOM in the SMARC 2.2 form factor — covering DTS porting, pinctrl, driver enablement, and hardware validation.

Attendees leave with a clear framework for when Zephyr on Cortex-A beats Linux or a proprietary RTOS, and a practical template for porting any i.MX9x board to Zephyr.

Join us at future premier vendor-neutral open source conferences, where developers and technologists come together to collaborate, share knowledge, and explore the latest innovations and advancements in open source technology.

Learn more at https://events.linuxfoundation.org/