Link This |
Email this |
Blog This |
Comments (0)
Keeping in sync with IEEE-1588
November 20, 2006
During the recent LXI Consortium PlugFest in Boston, six two-hour technical working sessions allowed members to continue their work in face-to-face settings. During one session, John Eidson (Agilent) presented an update on version 2.0 of the IEEE-1588 specification, which is expected to be adopted next year. John is Chair of both the IEEE-1588 standards committee and the LXI Timing and Synchronization working group.
Version 2 of the specification was motivated by the desire to support both new application areas, such as telecom and the power industry, and new requirements in existing application areas. Specification changes address the need for:
• greater accuracy,
• variable update rates,
• alternative topologies,
• rapid reconfiguration after network changes, and
• fault tolerance.
The potential for improved accuracy is of particular interest to the test and measurement community because accuracy and precision are its hallmarks. John described a prototype implementation that provided synchronization across the network to well below 100 ps, albeit with a carefully designed implementation.
The 1588 working group has expended great effort to accommodate the requirements listed above while minimizing the impact to vendors and users of equipment that complies with version 1 of the standard. However, gaining the advantages of version 2 will require changes.
The current version of the LXI specification (release 1.1) specifies that LXI class A and B devices must support IEEE-1588 version 1. John’s update to the LXI Consortium provided the background necessary for LXI Consortium members to begin the process of deciding if, or more likely when, to adopt version 2 of IEEE-1588. The consortium’s Technical Committee and the Timing and Synchronization working group will address this question and subsequent planning over the next few months.
For more information on IEEE-1588 visit http://ieee1588.nist.gov/. For more information on the LXI Consortium visit http://lxistandard.org.--Paul Franklin, Keithley Instruments, LXI Technical Committee Chair
Posted by Rick Nelson on November 20, 2006 | Comments (0)
