Porting Android 15 to a Legacy Android 11-Based Industrial IoT Gateway

Project Overview

Our company, a leader in embedded systems integration, was approached by a client to upgrade their industrial IoT gateway from Android 11 to Android 15. The device powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 (SDM660) SoC—operates in rugged industrial environments for real-time data acquisition and control. The client needed Android 15 running reliably on legacy hardware while ensuring:

Modern, Secure Android Platform

Upgrade legacy Android 11 hardware to Android 15 with full CDD, SELinux enforcing, AVB 2.0, and Treble compliance.

Industrial-Grade Real-Time Performance

Ensure <100 ms system latency, stable industrial I/O, and reliable GPU/DSP performance on legacy SDM660 hardware.

Full Compatibility With Existing Apps & Drivers

Maintain seamless operation of proprietary industrial applications, RS-485 interfaces, and vendor-specific peripherals.

Business Challenges

As the client’s industrial demands grew, their Android 11 gateway faced mounting issues in app compatibility, security, and responsiveness. Migrating to Android 15 required solving deep platform level challenges including kernel upgrades, HAL modernization, SELinux enforcement, and bootloader limitations.

Kernel Migration Complexity

Porting from Linux 4.14 to 5.15 while retaining GPU, DSP, RS-485, and industrial sensor driver compatibility.

HAL Modernization for Treble

Migrating legacy HIDL HALs to AIDL to meet Android 15 VINTF & Treble standards without breaking customer apps.

SELinux Enforcement Requirements

Building new, fine-grained policies for modern services while preserving backward compatibility with legacy components.

Bootloader & Security Gaps

Updating an old boot chain to support AVB 2.0, vbmeta, and the new Android 15 boot image layout.

Performance & Power Constraints

Ensuring smooth UI, <10W power use, and low-latency industrial control on aging Snapdragon 660 hardware.

Silicon Signals’ Solution

Silicon Signals helped the customer modernize their legacy IoT gateways by porting them to Android 15 with full compliance, improved performance, and long-term maintainability.

Kernel Upgrade

Adopted Qualcomm’s CAF 5.15 kernel, ported RS-485 and sensor drivers, backported Adreno 512 fixes, applied PREEMPT_RT patches for low latency.

Bootloader Update

Upgraded to U-Boot 2023.04 with AVB 2.0, vbmeta partition support, and optimized boot sequence.

HAL Migration

Rewrote HIDL HALs (sensors, RS-485, connectivity) in AIDL; added compatibility shims for legacy apps.

SELinux Enforcement

Created fine-grained policies for new HALs, validated in permissive mode, then enabled enforcing mode.

App & Framework Updates

Refactored proprietary apps for API Level 35, replaced deprecated APIs, adjusted partition layout for Treble.

Performance Optimization

Configured LMKD thresholds, enabled 2GB ZRAM, tuned CPU governors, and deferred non-critical services to improve boot time.

Engineering Facts That Matter

Deep engineering rigor that ensures every client requirement is met with accuracy and efficiency.

App Compatibility Retention

0 %

Reduction in System Latency

0 %

Faster Boot Time

0 x

Let’s modernize your legacy Android systems with confidence.

Future-Ready Performance Starts Here

Tech Stack

Development

AOSP (android-15.0.0_r1), Qualcomm CAF kernel, Clang 17, GCC 11, NDK r26

Debugging

adb logcat, dmesg, tracefs, Systrace, Tombstones, audit2allow

Testing

CTS, VTS, bootchart, glmark2, Geekbench, stress-ng, power analyzers

Compliance Verification

vintf tools, hidl_test, sepolicy-analyze

Proven Outcomes

Modernizing Legacy Systems for Client Security, Performance & Long-Term Reliability.

Enhanced Security

AVB 2.0 & enforcing SELinux implemented, dramatically reducing the device's attack surface and risk.

Real-Time Control

Kernel PREEMPT_RT patch achieved the required $<100\text{ms}$ latency for industrial sensor processing.

Future-Proofing

Full VINTF/Treble compliance via AIDL migration ensures easier, faster OS updates in the future.

Legacy App Support

Proprietary industrial apps retained functionality using shims and API Level 35 targeting.

Resource Optimization

ZRAM and LMKD tuning reduced memory pressure on 4GB RAM, ensuring system stability.

Hardware Integration

Custom RS-485 AIDL HAL developed, fully integrating the critical industrial serial interface.

Let’s modernize your legacy Android systems together

If you're ready to upgrade aging Android platforms, enhance security, achieve Treble/SELinux compliance, and future-proof your industrial IoT products, this case study shows what’s possible when engineering excellence meets next-generation OS modernization.