Announcing NetClock® v2.3 at APCO East: New Reliability Enhancements for Synchronizing the PSAP
5.2.2005

Spectracom Corporation today announced reliability enhancements to its GPS-based NetClock product, which is used by thousands of 911 Public Safety centers and First Responders to synchronize dispatch and other vital systems. Spectracom will be exhibiting May 2-3 in booth #40 at the Association of Public Safety Communications Officials International, 2005 East Coast Regional Conference, in Greensboro, NC.

The potential issues of using the Global Positioning System (GPS) to support critical operations were identified in December 2004, when the Bush Administration announced the “U.S. Space-Based Positioning, Navigation, and Timing Policy”. Stating that GPS could be turned off temporarily for Homeland Defense or other reasons, the policy requires that GPS users must have back-up provisions.

With v2.3, available Q3 2005, NetClock Model 9183 users can choose from three oscillators, each of which provides holdover to keep the local time standard on time in the case when the GPS system is turned off, or if the user’s antenna is out of service. Another new system reliability feature in NetClock v2.3 is an optional dial-out modem that serves as a backup to GPS. With the modem option on, and the NetClock operating on its local oscillator such as Rubidium, NetClock v2.3 detects the leap second change from National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) via dialup, so that all devices relying on NetClock for time synchronization also pick up the leap second change at the same time.

The National Emergency Number Association (NENA) standard NENA-04-002 calls for NetClock to have continuous accuracy of .1 seconds relative to Universal Time Coordinated (UTC) when locked to GPS. Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) equipment synchronized by NetClock must have a continuous accuracy of ± .25 seconds. A NetClock with its standard oscillator (TCXO) exceeds this requirement. However, in the unlikely event that the GPS signal is turned off for days or weeks, the time stamps recorded in equipment logs would begin to drift away from UTC. This inaccuracy in records could present a problem when correlating PSAP records both internally, and with other agencies, such as cell phone records ANI/ALI phone records, physical security video, or Federal law enforcement records. For this standard, the NetClock’s TCXO provides up to one day of holdover, while the oven-stabilized crystal oscillator (OCXO) option provides weeks of holdover, and the Rubidium option provides months of holdover. Holdover times vary based on the time reference, the NetClock oscillator, and the timing outputs used, such as Ethernet/NTP or IRIG.

“When you are in a court of law reviewing a caller’s voice recording against the subsequent CAD and radio dispatch of a first responder, knowing that all the records were synchronized to a traceable time reference, even if the event took place during a disaster, is essential,” states Glenn Burdett, Spectracom product marketing manager. ”NetClock v2.3 continues to strengthen our third-generation NetClock product introduced in June of 2004. And, to support an important Public Safety trend, this NetClock platform already delivers industry-leading security features, such as SSL, to protect against inside and outside security threats.”

Spectracom also offers these security features in its Ethernet Time Server Model 9188, which functions as a timing node to allow a separate, secure LAN to be synchronized. The Model 9188 is often used to synchronize the radio or ANI/ALI switch, which are on separate networks.

NetClock products meet both the NENA Master Clock and the emergency service communication standards. NetClock products are used by more than 3,000 public safety agencies throughout the U.S. Organizations such as 911 Dispatch, Police, Fire Rescue and EMS Departments. Applications include synchronization of Voice Recorders, Radio Consoles, CAD, ANI/ALI, Computer Networks and Digital/Analog Clocks.