Highly Accurate Timestamping for Ethernet-Based Clock Synchronization

It is not only for test and measurement of great importance to synchronize clocks of networked devices to timely coordinate data acquisition. In this context the seek for high accuracy in Ethernet-based clock synchronization has been significantly supported by enhancements to the Network Time Protoc...

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Main Authors: Patrick Loschmidt, Reinhard Exel, Georg Gaderer
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2012-01-01
Series:Journal of Computer Networks and Communications
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2012/152071
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author Patrick Loschmidt
Reinhard Exel
Georg Gaderer
author_facet Patrick Loschmidt
Reinhard Exel
Georg Gaderer
author_sort Patrick Loschmidt
collection DOAJ
description It is not only for test and measurement of great importance to synchronize clocks of networked devices to timely coordinate data acquisition. In this context the seek for high accuracy in Ethernet-based clock synchronization has been significantly supported by enhancements to the Network Time Protocol (NTP) and the introduction of the Precision Time Protocol (PTP). The latter was even applied to instrumentation and measurement applications through the introduction of LXI. These protocols are usually implemented in software; however, the synchronization accuracy can only substantially be improved by hardware which supports drawing of precise event timestamps. Especially, the quality of the timestamps for ingress and egress synchronization packets has a major influence on the achievable performance of a distributed measurement or control system. This paper analyzes the influence of jitter sources remaining despite hardware support and proposes enhanced methods for up to now unmatched timestamping accuracy in Ethernet-based synchronization protocols. The methods shown in this paper reach sub-nanosecond accuracy, which is proven in theory and practice.
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spelling doaj-art-cded9a42ce644e349fd2d0d986140a8b2025-08-20T02:20:02ZengWileyJournal of Computer Networks and Communications2090-71412090-715X2012-01-01201210.1155/2012/152071152071Highly Accurate Timestamping for Ethernet-Based Clock SynchronizationPatrick Loschmidt0Reinhard Exel1Georg Gaderer2Institute for Integrated Sensor Systems, Austrian Academy of Sciences, 2700 Wiener Neustadt, AustriaInstitute for Integrated Sensor Systems, Austrian Academy of Sciences, 2700 Wiener Neustadt, AustriaInstitute for Integrated Sensor Systems, Austrian Academy of Sciences, 2700 Wiener Neustadt, AustriaIt is not only for test and measurement of great importance to synchronize clocks of networked devices to timely coordinate data acquisition. In this context the seek for high accuracy in Ethernet-based clock synchronization has been significantly supported by enhancements to the Network Time Protocol (NTP) and the introduction of the Precision Time Protocol (PTP). The latter was even applied to instrumentation and measurement applications through the introduction of LXI. These protocols are usually implemented in software; however, the synchronization accuracy can only substantially be improved by hardware which supports drawing of precise event timestamps. Especially, the quality of the timestamps for ingress and egress synchronization packets has a major influence on the achievable performance of a distributed measurement or control system. This paper analyzes the influence of jitter sources remaining despite hardware support and proposes enhanced methods for up to now unmatched timestamping accuracy in Ethernet-based synchronization protocols. The methods shown in this paper reach sub-nanosecond accuracy, which is proven in theory and practice.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2012/152071
spellingShingle Patrick Loschmidt
Reinhard Exel
Georg Gaderer
Highly Accurate Timestamping for Ethernet-Based Clock Synchronization
Journal of Computer Networks and Communications
title Highly Accurate Timestamping for Ethernet-Based Clock Synchronization
title_full Highly Accurate Timestamping for Ethernet-Based Clock Synchronization
title_fullStr Highly Accurate Timestamping for Ethernet-Based Clock Synchronization
title_full_unstemmed Highly Accurate Timestamping for Ethernet-Based Clock Synchronization
title_short Highly Accurate Timestamping for Ethernet-Based Clock Synchronization
title_sort highly accurate timestamping for ethernet based clock synchronization
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2012/152071
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AT reinhardexel highlyaccuratetimestampingforethernetbasedclocksynchronization
AT georggaderer highlyaccuratetimestampingforethernetbasedclocksynchronization