Beyond Hardware Description: Using Device Tree for System-Level Configuration in Zephyr RTOS

Zephyr RTOS separates system configuration into multiple layers, primarily using Kconfig for feature selection and Device Tree for hardware description. Real world embedded product needs more like deployment specific parameters such as communication endpoints, timing constants, and board-specific behavioural settings. Today, these parameters are inconsistently handled across Kconfig symbols, Device Tree overlays, and application code, leading to duplication and reduced portability.

This talk looks at the boundary between Kconfig and Device Tree, and at how system configuration gets fragmented in Zephyr applications today. We introduce the idea of using Device Tree for static “system configuration nodes” representing logical or virtual system components such as service endpoints and application parameters. The goal is not to replace existing mechanisms, but to evaluate some common system configuration can also be handled in a more structured way using Device Tree.

Understand how Zephyr separates configuration using Kconfig and Device Tree
Learn why real projects still end up scattering configuration across code, Kconfig, and overlays
Learn a cleaner way to structure configuration for better portability across boards