Amotus builds and maintains the embedded operating system layer of connected products — board bring-up and BSPs, Yocto and Buildroot Linux distributions, FreeRTOS and Zephyr RTOS integration, QNX for safety-critical systems, and mainline Linux driver development. We engineer for long service life, secure boot, and updatability. Bilingual embedded team headquartered in Quebec City.
- 13+ years of embedded Linux & RTOS engineering
- Yocto · Buildroot · FreeRTOS · Zephyr · QNX
- BSP & board bring-up on Arm, RISC-V, x86
- EN / FR Quebec-based team
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When you need an embedded OS partner
You're bringing up new hardware
You have a custom board — a new SoC, a System-on-Module, a tricky power sequence — and you need it to boot reliably, with a clean BSP, device tree, and drivers for your peripherals. We do board bring-up from first power-on to a stable, reproducible image.
You need a maintainable, updatable Linux distribution
You're shipping a Linux product and want a build you can reproduce, secure, and update in the field for years — not a one-off SD-card image. We build a proper Yocto or Buildroot distribution with secure boot, A/B OTA, and a long-term maintenance strategy.
You're choosing or integrating an RTOS
You have a real-time, low-power, or safety constraint and need the right RTOS (FreeRTOS, Zephyr, QNX) integrated with your drivers, connectivity stack, and power management — done to engineering standards, not glued together.
Technologies & standards we work to
| Technology / standard | Scope |
|---|---|
| Yocto Project | Reproducible, production-grade embedded Linux distributions & layers |
| Buildroot | Lean, fast embedded Linux builds for simpler systems |
| FreeRTOS | Lightweight RTOS for microcontrollers |
| Zephyr | Scalable, connectivity-rich RTOS (Linux Foundation) |
| QNX | Commercial real-time OS for safety-critical systems |
| Ubuntu Core | Snap-based, transactionally-updated IoT Linux |
| Mainline Linux kernel | Upstream-aligned drivers & device trees, reduced vendor lock-in |
| U-Boot / secure boot | Bootloader, chain-of-trust, verified boot |
| MISRA C / IEC 62304 / IEC 61508 | Coding & functional-safety discipline where required |
Transparency note: we apply the engineering practices of standards such as IEC 62304 (medical) and IEC 61508 (functional safety) when a project requires them, and we produce auditable work products. Amotus does not hold corporate certificates to these standards; we integrate into the certified quality and safety systems of our clients.
Our embedded OS services
Board bring-up & BSP development
From first power-on to a stable image: bootloader (U-Boot), device tree, kernel configuration, peripheral drivers, and a reproducible build for your custom hardware or System-on-Module.
Deliverables: bring-up report, U-Boot & kernel configuration, device tree, driver sources, reproducible build recipe.
Yocto / Buildroot distributions
A production-grade Linux distribution: custom layers/recipes, license compliance (SPDX), image hardening, and a build pipeline your team can maintain — not a hand-assembled rootfs.
Deliverables: Yocto layers or Buildroot config, documented build, SBOM, license manifest, CI build pipeline.
RTOS integration (FreeRTOS / Zephyr / QNX)
The right RTOS for your real-time and power constraints, integrated with your drivers, connectivity (BLE, Thread, Wi-Fi, cellular), and power-management strategy.
Deliverables: RTOS port/integration, driver layer, connectivity stack, power-budget validation.
Mainline Linux driver development
Drivers written to upstream kernel standards, reducing vendor lock-in and easing future kernel upgrades — with upstreaming where it benefits you.
Deliverables: kernel drivers, device-tree bindings, documentation, upstream submission where applicable.
Secure boot & field updates (A/B OTA)
Chain-of-trust from bootloader to application, signed images, and a robust A/B (or delta) OTA mechanism with automatic rollback so a bad update never bricks a device.
Deliverables: secure-boot design, signing infrastructure, OTA mechanism, rollback strategy.
Long-term support & maintenance
CVE monitoring, kernel and package updates, and reproducible rebuilds so a product shipped today is still secure and buildable in five years.
Deliverables: maintenance plan, CVE-tracking process, periodic security rebuilds, version policy.
Our embedded OS methodology
- Requirements & OS selection — real-time, power, footprint, safety, and update needs drive Linux vs. RTOS and the specific distribution
- Bring-up & reproducible build — boot the hardware, establish a clean, version-controlled build
- Drivers & integration — peripherals, connectivity, power management, upstream-aligned where possible
- Security — secure boot, hardening, SBOM, signed OTA with rollback
- Validation — boot reliability, power, stress and field-condition testing
- Maintenance handoff — documented build, CI pipeline, long-term support plan
Project example — Linux BSP on an industrial System-on-Module
Project: a reproducible, secure, field-updatable embedded Linux platform for a connected industrial/medical-grade device, built on a commercial System-on-Module — the embedded-OS layer beneath Amotus hardware-to-cloud projects (including work on Variscite and NXP i.MX-based modules).
What we engineered:
- Yocto Linux BSP on an NXP i.MX 8 System-on-Module
- U-Boot secure boot with a verified chain-of-trust
- A/B OTA update with automatic rollback
- Reproducible CI build pipeline and SBOM for long-term maintenance
Tech stack: NXP i.MX 8 · Yocto · U-Boot · mainline-aligned kernel · TLS 1.3 · SWUpdate / RAUC-style A/B OTA
Most of our clients operate under confidentiality agreements, so project details on this site are kept at the technical level. We can discuss relevant, reference-checkable experience under NDA during a qualification call.
Typical embedded OS tech stack at Amotus
| Layer | Technologies commonly deployed |
|---|---|
| SoC / SoM | NXP i.MX RT & i.MX 8 · STM32MP1 · Variscite & Toradex modules · RISC-V |
| Linux build | Yocto Project · Buildroot · Ubuntu Core |
| RTOS | FreeRTOS · Zephyr · QNX (safety-critical) |
| Boot & security | U-Boot · secure/verified boot · OP-TEE · signed images |
| Update | A/B OTA · SWUpdate · RAUC · Mender-style flows |
| Languages | C · C++ · Rust · Python (tooling) |
| CI / quality | GitLab CI/CD · reproducible builds · SBOM (SPDX/CycloneDX) |
Frequently asked questions — embedded operating systems
How do you handle data security?
Security is a first-class design requirement, not an afterthought. We work to SOC 2 Type II–audited practices (Groupe Vectanor), with zero-trust architecture, mTLS between devices and cloud, encryption in transit and at rest, and data residency in the region you require on our multi-region Fundamentum platform (Canada, US, Europe, and more). Your data stays yours, with clear ownership and open export.
Yocto or Buildroot — which should I use?
Buildroot is simpler and faster to learn, ideal for smaller, relatively static systems where build speed and minimalism matter. Yocto is more complex but far more powerful for production: layered configuration, package management, license tracking, and long-term maintainability across product lines. For a single simple device, Buildroot may be enough; for a product family you'll maintain for years, Yocto usually wins. We help you pick rather than defaulting to one.
RTOS or embedded Linux?
Use an RTOS (FreeRTOS, Zephyr) when you have hard real-time deadlines, tight power budgets, or a microcontroller with limited RAM/flash. Use embedded Linux when you need a rich software stack — networking, a filesystem, complex applications, a GUI — and have a microprocessor to run it. Many products use both: an MCU running an RTOS alongside an MPU running Linux. We design the split around your constraints.
When does QNX make sense?
QNX is a commercial real-time OS with a strong safety pedigree (automotive, medical, industrial). It makes sense when you need hard real-time plus a certifiable, supported OS for a safety-critical system, and the licensing cost is justified by the safety and support requirements. For many products, Linux or an open RTOS is the better economic choice — we'll tell you which.
Why prefer a mainline-aligned kernel over the vendor BSP?
Vendor BSPs get you booting fast but often lag the upstream kernel and tie you to that vendor's release cadence. Aligning with mainline reduces lock-in, makes future kernel upgrades and security patches far easier, and improves long-term maintainability. We balance pragmatism (use the vendor BSP to start) with a path toward mainline where it pays off.
How do you handle field updates safely?
We use an A/B (dual-bank) update scheme with signed images and automatic rollback: the device boots the new image, and if it fails to come up healthy, it falls back to the known-good partition. Combined with secure boot, this means a bad or tampered update can't brick or compromise the device.
Can you maintain a product's OS for years after launch?
Yes. We set up reproducible builds, a CVE-monitoring process, and a maintenance plan so the same product can be rebuilt, patched, and re-shipped years later. Long service life is a first-class requirement in our embedded designs, not an afterthought.
How much does board bring-up cost?
A straightforward bring-up on a well-supported SoM is the lightest case; a custom board with a new SoC, tricky power, or many peripherals takes considerably more. Secure boot, OTA, and a hardened Yocto distribution are scoped on top. Your quote depends on the hardware and the target image.
Why Amotus for your embedded OS
- Full-stack hardware-to-cloud — we design the board, the OS, the firmware, and the cloud, so the OS layer fits the whole system
- Production-grade, not hobby builds — reproducible builds, secure boot, signed OTA, SBOM
- Long-life by design — maintainability and security patching planned from day one
- Mainline-aware — we reduce vendor lock-in and ease future upgrades
- Bilingual EN / FR — Quebec-based team, partnerships with module vendors including Variscite
Book a FREE 30-min qualification call — response within 48 h →
