Desktop Editions & Real-Time Kernel Options
Choose between lightweight GUI environments for field work, tiling window managers for multi-spectrum monitoring, or headless server profiles for CI/CD test automation.
XFCE4 Telecom Edition
Ultra-responsive, low memory footprint (< 600MB RAM at idle), tailored with custom dark cyber themes, quick launcher panel for SDR tools, and one-click spectrum capture toggles.
- ✓ Ideal for field laptops & toughbooks
- ✓ Pre-configured Wireshark dark theme
- ✓ GPU hardware acceleration support
i3 / Sway Tiling WM
Optimized for multi-monitor spectrum analysis operations. Automatically arranges SDR waterfalls, Open5GS core logs, and SigPloit terminals in dynamic grid layouts.
- ✓ Multi-monitor workspace management
- ✓ Keyboard-driven terminal workflows
- ✓ Built-in status bar with SDR USB stats
Headless Lab Server
Stripped-down CLI base designed for automated telecommunications testbeds, cloud AMIs, and remote SDR base station servers with low latency socket forwarding.
- ✓ Minimal memory footprint (< 150MB RAM)
- ✓ Native Docker / Kubernetes daemon
- ✓ Web-based remote dashboard
Why TelcoChisel Uses a Dedicated `PREEMPT_RT` Kernel
Standard desktop Linux kernels suffer from non-deterministic scheduling latency spikes (20ms+), which cause disastrous USB 3.0 buffer underruns (`U` / `O` errors) when processing high-bandwidth 5G NR I/Q streams.
Standard Generic Linux Kernel
- ❌ Unpredictable thread scheduling latencies (up to 50ms)
- ❌ Frequent USB/PCIe buffer overruns during 100MHz 5G capture
- ❌ Dropped cellular frames causing false attach failures
TelcoChisel `PREEMPT_RT` Telecom Kernel
- ✓ Guaranteed deterministic scheduling (< 10µs latency)
- ✓ Dedicated real-time high-priority threads for UHD & SDR drivers
- ✓ Locked DMA memory buffers eliminating frame dropouts