diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index b827f4162..b9512afbc 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -132,6 +132,12 @@ IF(${CMAKE_SYSTEM_PROCESSOR} STREQUAL aarch64)
   SET(CLOCK aarch64)
 ENDIF(${CMAKE_SYSTEM_PROCESSOR} STREQUAL aarch64)
 
+IF(${CMAKE_SYSTEM_PROCESSOR} STREQUAL armv7l)
+  SET(VALID_ARCH YES)
+  SET(CMAKE_C_FLAGS "${CMAKE_C_FLAGS}")
+  ADD_DEFINITIONS(-D_GNU_SOURCE)
+  SET(CLOCK armv7l)
+ENDIF(${CMAKE_SYSTEM_PROCESSOR} STREQUAL armv7l)
 
 IF(VALID_ARCH)
   MESSAGE(STATUS "System architecture detected: ${CMAKE_SYSTEM_PROCESSOR}")
@@ -140,7 +146,7 @@ IF(VALID_ARCH)
 ELSE(VALID_ARCH)
   MESSAGE(FATAL_ERROR "System architecture not recognized!\n"
     "Found: ${CMAKE_SYSTEM_PROCESSOR}\n"
-    "Expected: i386 | x86_64 | ppc64 | ppc64le | aarch64")
+    "Expected: i386 | x86_64 | ppc64 | ppc64le | aarch64 | armv7l")
 ENDIF(VALID_ARCH)
 
 ## MPI
diff --git a/core/clock/armv7l.c b/core/clock/armv7l.c
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..95c9b612b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/clock/armv7l.c
@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+/*
+	This implementation of an ARM v7 clock reader utilizes the
+	Performance Monitoring Unit (PMU) on Cortex-A7 chips.
+	Unfortunately, access to the cycle counter from userspace
+	is disabled by default. A kernel module that enables access
+	from userspace is required or the system will fault.
+
+	An example kernel module that does just that can be found:
+	https://github.com/nmcglohon/armv7l-userspace-counter.git
+
+	More information can be found:
+	http://neocontra.blogspot.com/2013/05/user-mode-performance-counters-for.html
+ */
+
+#include <ross.h>
+
+#ifndef __GNUC__
+#  error gcc asm extensions required
+#endif
+#if ! (defined(__arm__))
+#  error only 32 bit arm platform supported
+#endif
+
+static const tw_optdef clock_opts [] =
+{
+	TWOPT_GROUP("ROSS Timing"),
+	TWOPT_STIME("clock-rate", g_tw_clock_rate, "CPU Clock Rate"),
+	TWOPT_END()
+};
+
+const tw_optdef *tw_clock_setup(void)
+{
+	return clock_opts;
+}
+
+
+void tw_clock_init(tw_pe * me)
+{
+	me->clock_time = 0;
+	me->clock_offset = tw_clock_read();
+}
+
+
+tw_clock tw_clock_now(tw_pe * me)
+{
+	me->clock_time = tw_clock_read() - me->clock_offset;
+	return me->clock_time;
+}
diff --git a/core/clock/armv7l.h b/core/clock/armv7l.h
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..65433b4cf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/clock/armv7l.h
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+/*
+	This implementation of an ARM v7 clock reader utilizes the
+	Performance Monitoring Unit (PMU) on Cortex-A7 chips.
+	Unfortunately, access to the cycle counter from userspace
+	is disabled by default. A kernel module that enables access
+	from userspace is required or the system will fault.
+
+	An example kernel module that does just that can be found:
+	https://github.com/nmcglohon/armv7l-userspace-counter.git
+
+	More information can be found:
+	http://neocontra.blogspot.com/2013/05/user-mode-performance-counters-for.html
+ */
+
+#ifndef INC_clock_armv7l
+#define INC_clock_armv7l
+
+typedef unsigned int tw_clock;
+
+static inline tw_clock  tw_clock_read(void)
+{
+	unsigned int result;
+#ifdef ROSS_timing
+	do {
+		__asm__ __volatile__ ("MRC p15, 0, %0, c9, c13, 0" : "=r"(result));
+	} while (__builtin_expect ((int) result == -1, 0));
+#endif
+
+	return result;
+}
+
+#endif
diff --git a/core/network-mpi.c b/core/network-mpi.c
index 306bffcd3..2169e6cf1 100644
--- a/core/network-mpi.c
+++ b/core/network-mpi.c
@@ -7,10 +7,15 @@ int custom_communicator = 0;
 /**
  * @struct act_q
  * @brief Keeps track of posted send or recv operations.
+ *
+ * This list structure is used *only* by the network mpi layer (this
+ * file). Within this file, two lists are used, for MPI Irecv and
+ * Isend requests. The MPI requests and statusus are linked with an
+ * event buffer through this struct.
  */
 struct act_q
 {
-  const char *name;
+  const char *name;         /**< name of the list, used in error printouts */
 
   tw_event **event_list;    /**< list of event pointers in this queue */
   MPI_Request *req_list;    /**< list of MPI request handles */
@@ -27,8 +32,8 @@ static struct act_q posted_sends;
 static struct act_q posted_recvs;
 static tw_eventq outq;
 
-static unsigned int read_buffer = 16;
-static unsigned int send_buffer = 1024;
+static unsigned int read_buffer = 16;   /**< Number of Irecv's to buffer, length of posted_recvs queue */
+static unsigned int send_buffer = 1024; /**< Number of Isend's to buffer, length of posted_sends queue */
 static int world_size = 1;
 
 static const tw_optdef mpi_opts[] = {
@@ -85,20 +90,13 @@ tw_net_init(int *argc, char ***argv)
  * @param[in] name name of the queue
  */
 static void
-init_q(struct act_q *q, const char *name)
+init_q(struct act_q *q, const char *name, unsigned int size)
 {
-  unsigned int n;
-
-  if(q == &posted_sends)
-    n = send_buffer;
-  else
-    n = read_buffer;
-
   q->name = name;
-  q->event_list = (tw_event **) tw_calloc(TW_LOC, name, sizeof(*q->event_list), n);
-  q->req_list = (MPI_Request *) tw_calloc(TW_LOC, name, sizeof(*q->req_list), n);
-  q->idx_list = (int *) tw_calloc(TW_LOC, name, sizeof(*q->idx_list), n);
-  q->status_list = (MPI_Status *) tw_calloc(TW_LOC, name, sizeof(*q->status_list), n);
+  q->event_list = (tw_event **) tw_calloc(TW_LOC, name, sizeof(*q->event_list), size);
+  q->req_list = (MPI_Request *) tw_calloc(TW_LOC, name, sizeof(*q->req_list), size);
+  q->idx_list = (int *) tw_calloc(TW_LOC, name, sizeof(*q->idx_list), size);
+  q->status_list = (MPI_Status *) tw_calloc(TW_LOC, name, sizeof(*q->status_list), size);
 }
 
 unsigned int
@@ -140,13 +138,12 @@ tw_net_start(void)
     g_tw_pe->hash_t = NULL;
   }
 
-  if (send_buffer < 1)
-    tw_error(TW_LOC, "network send buffer must be >= 1");
-  if (read_buffer < 1)
-    tw_error(TW_LOC, "network read buffer must be >= 1");
+  // these values are command line options
+  if (send_buffer < 1) tw_error(TW_LOC, "network send buffer must be >= 1");
+  if (read_buffer < 1) tw_error(TW_LOC, "network read buffer must be >= 1");
 
-  init_q(&posted_sends, "MPI send queue");
-  init_q(&posted_recvs, "MPI recv queue");
+  init_q(&posted_sends, "MPI send queue", send_buffer);
+  init_q(&posted_recvs, "MPI recv queue", read_buffer);
 
   g_tw_net_device_size = read_buffer;
 
diff --git a/core/ross.h b/core/ross.h
index 3aa236d94..459cdc0d8 100644
--- a/core/ross.h
+++ b/core/ross.h
@@ -185,6 +185,9 @@ typedef uint64_t tw_lpid;
 #ifdef ROSS_CLOCK_aarch64
 #  include "clock/aarch64.h"
 #endif
+#ifdef ROSS_CLOCK_armv7l
+#  include "clock/armv7l.h"
+#endif
 
 #include "tw-timing.h"
 #include "ross-types.h"
diff --git a/core/tw-eventq.h b/core/tw-eventq.h
index 6404a68fb..870041b8d 100644
--- a/core/tw-eventq.h
+++ b/core/tw-eventq.h
@@ -198,7 +198,6 @@ tw_eventq_alloc(tw_eventq * q, unsigned int cnt)
   g_tw_event_msg_sz = event_len;
 
   // compute number of events needed for the network.
-  g_tw_gvt_threshold = (int) ceil(g_tw_net_device_size / g_tw_event_msg_sz);
   g_tw_gvt_threshold = g_tw_net_device_size;
   g_tw_events_per_pe += g_tw_gvt_threshold;
   cnt += g_tw_gvt_threshold;
diff --git a/core/tw-opts.c b/core/tw-opts.c
index cf440d53a..5ea877c35 100644
--- a/core/tw-opts.c
+++ b/core/tw-opts.c
@@ -10,6 +10,11 @@ static int is_empty(const tw_optdef *def);
 static const tw_optdef *opt_groups[10];
 static unsigned int opt_index = 0;
 
+// internally set options registered with tw_opt_set
+#define I_ARGV_MAX 16
+static int    i_argc = 0;
+static char * i_argv[I_ARGV_MAX];
+
 void
 tw_opt_add(const tw_optdef *options)
 {
@@ -121,7 +126,7 @@ show_help(void)
 			cnt++;
 		}
 	}
-        
+
         // CMake used to pass options by command line flags
 	fprintf(stderr, "ROSS CMake Configuration Options:\n");
         fprintf(stderr, "  (See build-dir/core/config.h)\n");
@@ -130,7 +135,7 @@ show_help(void)
 void tw_opt_settings(FILE *outfile) {
     const tw_optdef **group = all_groups;
     unsigned cnt = 0;
-    
+
     for (; *group; group++){
         const tw_optdef *def = *group;
         for (; def->type; def++){
@@ -213,7 +218,7 @@ tw_opt_print(void)
 		const tw_optdef *def = *group;
 		for (; def->type; def++)
 		{
-			if (def->type == TWOPTTYPE_GROUP || 
+			if (def->type == TWOPTTYPE_GROUP ||
 				(def->name && 0 == strcmp(def->name, "help")))
 				continue;
 
@@ -415,6 +420,12 @@ tw_opt_parse(int *argc_p, char ***argv_p)
 	all_groups[i++] = basic;
 	all_groups[i] = NULL;
 
+        while (i_argc > 0) {
+            i_argc--;
+            const char *s = i_argv[i_argc];
+            match_opt(s);
+        }
+
 	while (argc > 1)
 	{
 		const char *s = argv[1];
@@ -436,3 +447,23 @@ tw_opt_parse(int *argc_p, char ***argv_p)
 	*argc_p = argc;
 	*argv_p = argv;
 }
+
+/**
+ * construct internal arguments to look like command line arguments
+ * these cannot be processed until ross is fully set up and tw_opt_parse is called (from tw_init)
+ */
+void tw_opt_set(const char *opt, const char *value) {
+    if (i_argc >= I_ARGV_MAX) {
+        tw_error(TW_LOC, "Too many internal options, increase I_ARGV_MAX.");
+    }
+
+    unsigned long len = strlen(opt) + strlen(value) + 4;
+    char * s = (char *)malloc(len*sizeof(char));
+    strcpy(s, "--");
+    strcat(s, opt);
+    strcat(s, "=");
+    strcat(s, value);
+
+    i_argv[i_argc] = s;
+    i_argc++;
+}
diff --git a/core/tw-opts.h b/core/tw-opts.h
index 5337d9c06..c81d0bd34 100644
--- a/core/tw-opts.h
+++ b/core/tw-opts.h
@@ -36,6 +36,8 @@ struct tw_optdef
 extern void tw_opt_parse(int *argc, char ***argv);
 /** Add an opt group */
 extern void tw_opt_add(const tw_optdef *options);
+/** Set an option at runtime. Command line take precedence */
+extern void tw_opt_set(const char *option, const char *value);
 /** Pretty-print the option descriptions (for --help) */
 extern void tw_opt_print(void);
 /** Pretty-print the option descriptions and current values */