Precision Time Protocol

IEEE1588v2

TICTOC BOF IETF Prague 2007

Ron Cohen
Resolute Networks
ronc@resolutenetworks.com
 Agenda
• Status
• PTPv1 overview
• PTPv2 major additions
• Transparent clocks
• PTP and TICTOC

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 The Precision Time Protocol (PTP)
• PTPv1 published in 2002
• Industries involved:
 v1: Industrial Automation, T&M, Military, Power Generation and
Distribution
 v2 : Audio-Visio Bridges (802.1AS), Telecom and Mobile
• Symposia in 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2006. 2007 in Vienna
• Products: Microprocessors, GPS Linked Clocks, Boundary Clocks,
NIC Cards, Protocol Stacks, RF Instrumentation, Aircraft Flight
Monitoring Instruments, etc.
• Information: http://ieee1588.nist.gov
• Version 2 PAR approved March 2005. Technical work
completed

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 PTPv1 objectives
• Sub-microsecond synchronization
• Intended for relatively localized systems
• Applicable to networks supporting multicast
• Simple, administration free installation
• Support heterogeneous systems of clocks with
varying precision, resolution and stability
• Minimal resource requirements on networks and
host components

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 Protocol overview
• Timing Protocol
 Align slaves to master time
 Measure delay between master and slave
 Measure per-link delay (v2)

• Synchronization Hierarchy ‘routing’ Protocol

 Automatic Best Master Clock Algorithm
 Determines the master-slave synchronization clock tree
hierarchy
• Management Protocol
 Configuration and performance monitoring

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PTP Master-Slave Hierarchy

*Clock symbols taken from ITU-T

SG15 ‘synchronization modeling
components – time’ contribution
#249 Geneva-2007 by Mike Gilson
of BT

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Timing Protocol Operation

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Precision using HW time-stamping

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 1-step and 2-step clocks
• 1-step clock updates accurate timestamp (t1) in
Sync message
• 2-step clock sends accurate timestamp (t1) in a
Follow_Up message
 Simplify design while avoiding queuing noise
 Ease integration of security extensions

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 PTPv2 major additions
• Synchronization accuracies better than 1 nanosecond
• Higher sampling/message rates
• Unicast communication
• Correction for asymmetry
• Transparent clocks
• Redundancy
• Configurable synchronization hierarchy
• Decouple sync messaging from hierarchy signaling
• Formal mechanisms for message extensions
• Mappings to UDP/IPv4&6, Ethernet w/o VLAN, (also
DeviceNet™, PROFINET, ControlNet™)
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Sync and Delay-Req formats

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End-to-End Transparent Clocks

E2E TCs cancel queuing and processing delays

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 Peer-to-Peer Transparent Clocks

P2P TCs cancel queuing, processing and propagation delays

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Peer Delay Measurement (Optional)

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 E2E TC Enabled PSN

Packet queuing and processing is removed

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 P2P TC Enabled PSN

Topology change does not effect slave performance

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 Comparison between switches
Boundary Clock E2E TC P2P TC
Clock Synchronized Syntonized Syntonized

Topology √ None √ None Homogenous*

limitations with 1:1 connection
each link
State • Per port state • Temporal • Per link state
maintained • Per unicast message state for • Temporal
contract state 2-step TCs message state
for 2-step TCs
Slave √ Hierarchical Master sees all √ Hierarchical
scalability slaves (multicast Sync)
Linear Control wander √ √
scalability accumulation
Topology Measure new delay Measure new delay √ Pre-compute link
change delays
*restriction can be relieved using P-delay over MPLS

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 PTP protocol extensions
• Define a profile that selects optional feature set,
default and range of values
• Define TLV extension to messages
• Define flag-fields to be carried in event messages
• Define alternate management scheme (SNMP)
• Define alternate synchronization hierarchy
selection (routing) algorithm
• Define additional transport mapping (PTP over
MPLS)
• Define alternate clock quality levels and attributes

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 PTP and TICTOC
Requirements Description
Services Frequency, Phase, Time and meta-Time services
Precision Nano-seconds accuracy demonstrated
Sub nano-seconds granularity

Incremental Add Transparent clocks or Boundary clocks to improve

performance if required in critical junctions
Performance Telecom grade performance has been demonstrated over
non-PTP-aware networks

Scalable Use of boundary clocks and/or transparent clocks to scale

and maintain performance limits

Robust to master Smart slaves synchronizing to two domains or two masters in

failures a single domain.
Alternate master takes over when master fails
Robust to P2P mechanism allows to pre-compute link-delays to
topology changes minimize effect of topology change

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 PTP and TICTOC
Derived Description
Requirements

HW friendly Correction field is scaled nano-seconds. All computations by

transparent clocks are performed on correction field

Correction field is in a fixed position from beginning of PTP

header
Single Timestamp in fixed position immediately after PTP
header for master and slave HW setting

Heterogonous 2-step clocks simplify master designs

design options 1-step transparent clocks do not need to maintain per
master-slave message states

Slave friendly Timescale (Timestamps) is continuous. Timestamps do not

‘jump’ or ‘miss’ one second when leap event occurs

Time-stamps do not roll over

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 Questions?

Ron Cohen
Resolute Networks
ronc@resoluteNetworks.com
NTP message format

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