Category: timing source

Using GPS as a source of Accurate Time

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The Global Positioning System (GPS) is an increasingly popular tool, used throughout the world as a source of wayfinding and navigation. However, there is much more to the GPS network than just satellite navigation as the transmissions broadcast by the GPS satellites can also be used as a highly accurate source of time.

GPS satellites are actually just orbiting clocks as each one contains atomic clocks that generate a time signal. It is the time signal that is broadcast by the GPS satellites that satellite navigation receivers in cars and planes use to work out distance and position.

Positioning is only possible because thee time signals are so accurate. Vehicle sat navs for instance use the signals from four orbiting satellites and triangulate the information to work out the position. However, if there is just one second inaccuracy with one of the time signals then the positing information could be thousands of miles out – proving useless.

It is testament to the accuracy of atomic clocks used to generate GPS signals that currently a GPS receiver can work out its position on earth to within five metres.

Because GPS satellites are so accurate, they make an ideal source of time to synchronise a computer network to. Strictly speaking GPS time differs from the international timescale UTC (coordinated Universal Time) as UTC has had additional leap seconds added to it to ensure parity with the earth’s rotation meaning it is exactly 18 seconds ahead of GPS but is easily converted by NTP the time synchronisation protocol (Network Time Protocol).

GPS time servers receive the GPS time signal via a GPS antenna which has to be placed on the roof to receive the line of sight transmissions. Once the GPS signal is received the NTP GPS time server will distribute the signal to all devices on the NTP network and corrects any drift on individual machines.

GPS time servers are dedicated easy to use devices and can ensure millisecond accuracy to UTC without any of the security risks involved in using an internet time source.

Using the WWVB Signal for Time Synchronization

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We all rely on the time to keep our days scheduled. Wristwatches, wall clocks and even the DVD player all tell us the time but on occasion, this is not accurate enough, especially when time needs to be synchronized.

There are many technologies that require extremely accurate precision between systems, from satellite navigation to many internet applications, accurate time is becoming increasingly important.

However, achieving precision is not always straight forward, especially in modern computer networks. While all computer systems have inbuilt clocks, these are not accurate time pieces but standard crystal oscillators, the same technology used in other electronic clocks.

The problem with relying on system clocks like this is that they are prone to drift and on a network consisting of hundreds or thousands of machines, if the clocks are drifting at a different rate – chaos can soon ensue. Emails are received before they are sent and time critical applications fail.

Atomic clocks are the most accurate time pieces around but these are large scale laboratory tools and are impractical (and highly expensive) to be used by computer networks.

However, physics laboratories like the North American NIST (National Institute of Standards and Time) do have atomic clocks which they broadcast time signals from. These time signals can be used by computer networks for the purpose of synchronization.

In North America, the NIST broadcasted time code is called WWVB and is transmitted out of Boulder, Colorado on long wave at 60Hz. The time code contains the year, day, hour, minute, second, and as it is a source of UTC, any leap seconds that are added to ensure parity with the rotation of the Earth.

Receiving the WWVB signal and using it to synchronize a computer network is simple to do. Radio reference network time servers can receive this broadcast throughout North America and by using the protocol NTP (Network Time Protocol).

A dedicated NTP time server that can receive the WWVB signal can synchronize hundreds and even thousands of different devices to the WWVB signal ensuring each one is to within a few milliseconds of UTC.

Atomic Clock Synchronization made easy with a NTP Time Server

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Atomic clocks are the ultimate in timekeeping devices. Their accuracy is incredible as an atomic clock will not drift by as much as a second within a million years, and when this is compared to the next best chronometers, such as electronic clock that can drift by a second in a week, an atomic clock is incredibly more precise.

Atomic clocks are used the world over and are the heart of many modern technologies making capable a multitude of applications that we take for granted. Internet trading, satellite navigation, air traffic control and international banking are all industries that rely heavily on

They also govern the world’s timescale, UTC (Coordinated Universal Time) which is kept true by a constellation of these clocks (although UTC has to be adjusted to accommodate the slowing of the Earth’s spin by adding leap seconds).

Computer networks are often required to run synchronized to UTC. This synchronisation is vital in networks that conduct time sensitive transactions or require high levels of security.

A computer network without adequate time synchronization can cause many issues including:

Loss of data

  • Difficulties in identifying and logging errors
  • Increased risk of security breaches.
  • Unable to conduct time sensitive transactions

For these reasons many computer networks have to be synchronized to a source of UTC and kept as accurate as possible. And although atomic clocks are large bulky devices kept in the confines of physics laboratories, using them as a source of time is incredibly simple.

Network Time Protocol (NTP) is a software protocol designed solely for the synchronisation of networks and computer systems and by using a dedicated NTP server the time from an atomic clock can be received by the time server and distributed around the network using NTP.

NTP servers use radio frequencies and more commonly the GPS satellite signals to receive the atomic clock timing signals which is then spread throughout the network with NTP regularly adjusting each device to ensure it is as accurate as possible.

MSF Outages for 2010

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Users of the National Physical Laboratory’s (NPL) MSF time and frequency signal are probably aware that the signal is occasionally taken off-air for scheduled maintenance.

NPL have published there scheduled maintenance for 2010 where the signal will be temporarily taken off-air. Usually the scheduled downtimes lasts for less than four hours but users need to be aware that while NPL and VT Communications, who service the antenna, make every effort to ensure the transmitter is off for a brief amount of time as possible, there can be delays.

And while NPL like to ensure all users of the MSF signal have advanced warning of possible outages, emergency repairs and other issues may lead to unscheduled outages. Any user receiving problems receiving the MSF signal should check the NPL website in case of unscheduled maintenance before contacting your time server vendor.

The dates and times of the scheduled maintenance periods for 2010 are as follows:

* 11 March 2010 from 10:00 UTC to 14:00 UTC

* 10 June 2010 from 10:00 BST to 14:00 BST (UTC + 1 hr)

* 9 September 2010 from 10:00 BST to 14:00 BST (UTC + 1 hr)

* 9 December 2010 from 10:00 UTC to 14:00 UTC

As these scheduled outages should take no longer than four hours, users of MSF referenced time servers should not notice any drop off in accuracy of their network as their shouldn’t be enough time for any device to drift.

However, for those users concerned about accuracy or require a NTP time server (Network Time Server) that doesn’t succumb to regular outages, they may wish to consider investing in a GPS time server.

GPS time servers receive the time from the orbiting navigational satellites. As these are available anywhere on the globe and the signals are never down for outages they can provide a constant accurate time signal (GPS time is not the same as UTC but is easily converted by NTP as it is exactly 17 seconds behind due to leap seconds being added to UTC and not GPS).

Five Reasons why your Network needs a NTP Server

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Accurate timekeeping if quite often overlooked as a priority for network administrators yet many are risking both security and data loss by not ensuring their networks are synchronised as precisely as possible.

Computers do have their own hardware clocks but these are often just simple electronic oscillators such as exist in digital watches and unfortunately these system clocks are prone to drift, often by as much as several seconds in a week.

Running different machines on a network that have different times – even by only a few seconds – can cause havoc as so many computer tasks rely on time. Time, in the form of timestamps, is the only reference computers use to distinguish between different events and failure to accurately synchronize a network can lead to all sorts of untold problems.

Here are some of the major reasons why your network should be synchronised using Network Time Protocol, prefasbly with a NTP time server.

Data Backups – vital to safeguard data in any business or organization, a lack of synchronisation can lead to not only back ups failing but older versions of files replacing more modern versions.

Malicious Attacks – no matter how secure a network, somebody, somewhere will eventually gain access to your network but without accurate synchronisation it may become impossible to discover what compromises have taken place and it will also give any unauthorised users extra time inside a network to wreak havoc.

Error logging – when faults occur, and they inevitably do, the system logs contain all the information to identify and correct problems. However, if the system logs are not synchronised it can sometimes be impossible to figure out what went wrong and when.

Online Trading – Buying and selling on the internet is now commonplace and in some businesses thousands of online transactions are conducted every second from seat reservation to buying of shares and a lack of accurate synchronisation can result in all sorts of errors in online trading such as items being bought or sold more than once.

Compliance and legality – Many industrial regulations systems require an auditable and accurate method of timing. A unsynchronised network will also be vulnerable to legal issues as the exact time an event is alleged to have taken place can not be proved.

Did you Remember the Leap Second this Year?

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When you counted down on New Year’s Eve to mark the beginning of the next year did you start at 10 or 11? Most revelers would have counted down from ten but they would have been premature this year as there was an extra second added to last year – the leap second.

Leap seconds are normally inserted once or twice a year (normally on New Year’s Eve and in June) to ensure the global timescale UTC (Coordinated Universal Time) coincides with the astronomical day.

Leap seconds have been used since UTC was first implemented and they are a direct result of our accuracy in timekeeping. The problem is that modern atomic clocks are far more accurate timekeeping devices than the earth itself. It was noticed when atomic clocks were first developed that the length of a day, once thought to be exactly 24 hours, varied.

The variations are caused by the Earth’s rotation which is affected by the moons gravity and tidal forces of the Earth, all of which minutely slow down the earth’s rotation.

This rotational slowing, while only minuscule, if it is not checked then the UTC day would soon drift into the astronomical night (albeit in several thousands of years).

The decision on whether a Leap Second is needed is the remit of the International Earth Rotation Service (IERS), however, Leap Seconds are not popular with everybody and they can cause potential problems when they are introduced.

UTC is used by NTP time servers (Network Time Protocol) as a time reference to synchronise computer networks and other technology and the disruption Leap seconds can cause is seen as not worth the hassle.

However, others, such as astronomers, say that failing to keep UTC in line with the astronomical day would make studying of the heavens nearly impossible.

The last leap second inserted before this one was in 2005 but there have been a total of 23 seconds added to UTC since 1972.

Rubidium Oscillators Additional Precision for NTP Serve (Part 1)

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Oscillators have been essential in the development of clocks and chronology. Oscillators are just electronic circuitry that produces a repetitive electronic signal. Often crystals such as quartz are used to stabilise the frequency of the oscillation,

Oscillators are the primary technology behind electronic clocks. Digital watches and battery powered analogue clock are all controlled by an oscillating circuit usually containing a quartz crystal.

And while electronic clocks are many times more accurate than a mechanical clock, a quartz oscillator will still drift by a second or two each week.

Atomic clocks of course are far more accurate. They still, however, use oscillators, most commonly caesium or rubidium but they do so in a hyper fine state often frozen in liquid nitrogen or helium. These clocks in comparison to electronic clocks will not drift by a second in even a million years (and with the more modern atomic clocks 100 million years).

To utilise this chronological accuracy a network time server that uses NTP (Network Time Protocol) can be used to synchronise complete computer networks. NTP servers use a time signal from either GPS or long wave radio that comes direct from an atomic clock (in the case of GPS the time is generated in a clock onboard the GPS satellite).

NTP servers continually check this source of time and then adjust the devices on a network to match that time. In between polls (receiving the time source) a standard oscillator is used by the time server to keep time. Normally these oscillators are quartz but because the time server is in regular communication with the atomic clock say every minute or two, then the normal drift of a quartz oscillator is not a problem as a few minutes between polls would not lead to any measurable drift.

To be continued…

Dealing with Time across the Globe

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No matter where we are in the world we all need to know the time at some point in the day but while each day lasts for the same amount of time no matter where you are on Earth the same timescale is not used globally.

The impracticality of Australians having to wake up at 17.00 or those in the US having to start work at 14.00 would rule out suing a single timescale, although the idea was discussed when the Greenwich was named the official prime meridian (where the dateline officially is) for the world some 125 years ago.

While the idea of a global timescale was rejected for the above reasons, it was later decided that 24 longitudinal lines would split the world up into different timezones. These would emanate from GMT around with those on the opposite side of the planet being +12 hours.

However, by the 1970’s a growth in global communications meant that a universal timescale was finally adopted and is still in much use today despite many people having never heard of it.

UTC, Coordinated Universal Time, is based on GMT (Greenwich Meantime) but is kept by a constellation of atomic clocks. It also accounts for variations in earth’s rotation with additional seconds known as ‘leap seconds’ added once of twice a year to counteract the slowing of the Earth’s spin caused by gravitational and tidal forces.

While most people have never heard of UTC or use it directly its influence on our lives in undeniable with computer networks all synchronised to UTC via NTP time servers (Network Time Protocol).

Without this synchronisation to a single timescale many of the technologies and applications we take for granted today would be impossible. Everything from global trading on stocks and shares to internet shopping, email and social networking are only made possible thanks to UTC and the NTP time server.

European Time Synchronisation with DCF-77

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The DCF 77 signal is a long wave transmission broadcast at 77 KHz from Frankfurt in Germany. DCF -77 is transmitted by Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt, the German national physics laboratory.

DCF-77 is an accurate source of UTC time and is generated by atomic clocks that ensure its precision. DCF-77 is a useful source of time that can be adopted all over Europe by technologies needing an accurate time reference.

Radio controlled clocks and network time servers receive the time signal and in the case of time servers distribute this time signal across a computer network. Most computer network use NTP to distribute the DCF 77 time signal.

There are advantages of using a signal like DCF for time synchronisation. DCF is long wave and is therefore susceptible to interference from other electrical devices but they can penetrate buildings that give the DCF signal an advantage over that other source of UTC time generally available – GPS (Global Positioning System) – which requires a open view of the sky to receive satellite transmissions.

Other long wave radio signals are available in other countries that are similar to DCF-77. In the UK the MSF -60 signal is broadcast by NPL (National Physical Laboratory) from Cumbria while in the USA, NIST (National Institute of Standards and Time) transmit the WVBB signal from Boulder, Colorado.

NTP time servers are an efficient method of receiving these long wave transmissions and then using the time code as a synchronisation source. NTP servers can receive DCF, MSF and WVBB as well as many of them also being able to receive the GPS signal too.

UTC What Time is it?

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From the early days of the industrial revolution, when railway lines and the telegraph spanned across time zones it became apparent that a global timescale was required that would allow the same time to be used no matter where you were in the world.

The first attempt at a global timescale was GMT – Greenwich Meantime. This was based on the Greenwich Meridian where the sun is directly above at 12 noon. GMT was chosen, primarily because of the influence of the British empire on the rest if the globe.

Other timescales had been developed such British Railway Time but GMT was the first time a truly global system of time was used throughout the world.

GMT remained as the global timescale through the first half of the twentieth century although people began referring to as UT (Universal Time).

However, when atomic clocks were developed in the middle of the twentieth century it soon became apparent that GMT was not accurate enough. A global timescale based on the time told by atomic clocks was desired to represent these new accurate chronometers.

International Atomic Time (TAI) was developed for this purpose but problems in using atomic clocks soon became apparent.

It was thought that the Earth’s revolution on its axis was an exact 24 hours. But thanks to atomic clocks it was discovered the Earth’s spin varies and since the 1970’s has been slowing. This slowing of the Earth’s rotation needed to be accounted for otherwise the discrepancies could build up and night would slowly drift in to day (albeit in many millennia).

Coordinated Universal Time was developed to counter this. Based on both TAI and GMT, UTC allows for the slowing of the Earth’s rotation by adding leap seconds every year or two (and sometimes twice a year).

UTC is now a truly global timescale and is adopted by nations and technologies across the globe. Computer networks are synchronised to UTC via network time servers and they use the protocol NTP to ensure accuracy.