Embedded SystemsARM AssemblyHardwareC

Raspberry Pi Bare-Metal Programming

Low-level system programming on Raspberry Pi without an operating system, implementing drivers and hardware interfaces.

Overview

Bare-metal programming project for Raspberry Pi, implementing hardware drivers, interrupt handlers, and system initialization from scratch. Runs without any operating system.

Deep dive into hardware-software interaction and low-level system programming. Demonstrates understanding of computer architecture, memory management, and hardware interfaces.

Your Role

What I Built

Boot sequence and system initialization
GPIO driver implementation
UART driver for serial communication
Timer and interrupt handling

What I Owned End-to-End

Hardware register mapping and documentation
Memory layout and linker script configuration
Interrupt vector table setup
Testing and debugging without OS tools

Technical Highlights

Architecture Decisions

Direct hardware register manipulation
Memory-mapped I/O for peripheral access
Interrupt-driven I/O handling
No standard library dependencies

Algorithms / Protocols / Constraints

GPIO configuration and state management
UART baud rate calculation and configuration
Interrupt priority and masking
Circular buffer for UART receive

Tech Stack

CARM AssemblyGCC ToolchainQEMU

Results / Learnings

What Worked

Successfully booted Raspberry Pi without OS
Implemented working GPIO and UART drivers
Achieved deterministic timing with hardware timers

What I Learned

Deep understanding of hardware-software interface
Importance of memory layout and alignment
Challenges of debugging without OS support

Tradeoffs Considered

Chose direct hardware access over portability
Accepted manual memory management complexity
Prioritized learning over practical utility

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