BeagleBone PRU or Linux GPIO: where should a precise pulse train be generated?

Specify the shortest pulse and maximum permitted jitter first. Ordinary userspace scheduling does not guarantee a process runs at every requested instant. Check whether a dedicated hardware peripheral can implement the waveform before building a software timing loop.

The PRU can handle suitable time-critical I/O independently of Linux, but its timing still depends on the actual program and accesses. Keep the tight loop and its resources deliberate, and confirm pin mux and electrical limits for the exact BeagleBone model.

Measure edge timing while Linux runs the expected background workload. Keep commands and status exchange separate from the pulse-generation deadline. Define a safe behavior if the host stops supplying data, so moving work to the PRU does not leave an uncontrolled stale output.