Key Benefits

• Precision time synchronization to the Linux application (“Last-mile solution”)
• Improves timestamp accuracy on all Linux transactions (near zero latency, monotonic)
• All CPUs synchronized for distributed applications in industrial, defense and processing management of real-time events over wide areas is drastically improved

Key Features

• Kernel-level PTP (IEEE-1588) and NTP time client
• Fastest calls to read time, no delays
• Improves local system clock stability and performance
• Leverages high performance time synchronization hardware
• Requires no kernel modification or application
• Improves existing NTP infrastructure with point-to-point optimized NTP server/client
• Support for most standard Linux distributions out-of-the-box
• Special configurations and modifi cations available
• Easy back-out reduces risk

Precision Time Transfer to the Application

As synchronization protocols and hardware improve, and accuracy requirements get tighter, latencies due to normal mechanisms in the computer/server/OS are signifi cant. TimeKeeper™ efficiently transfers time deterministically with low latency, without any configuration or modifications to the kernel or applications. Combining TimeKeeper Linux synchronization software with Spectracom synchronization hardware solves the “lastmile” problem to provide superior clock and time-stamp accuracy from the traceable time source all the way through to the time-stamp call in the Linux environment.

Fault Tolerant

TimeKeeper works with standard network time synchronization protocols NTP or PTP (IEEE-1588), or both. In addition to receiving time from NTP servers and PTP masters, it can use other sources including local hardware clocks via PCI express cards, or in a self-disciplining mode. It can periodically evaluate the quality of a variety of sources and select a new one if necessary. Alerts are configurable for change-of-state, out of tolerance, and other messages via SNMP.

Supports Existing NTP Infrastructure

For NTP performance improvement, TimeKeeper NTP Server is an enhancement to the standard NTP protocol to greatly improve NTP performance in a local area network when the client needs fast and precise synchronization.

TimeKeeper vs. Standard LINUX Time

TimeKeeper	Linux
Does not leave the processor to compute time	Goes “off-chip” to access precision timing resources introducing inaccuracy and delay
Maintains a smooth and continuous software clock rate and computes corrected time on every call	Only coarse time adjustment, at every timer tick, time is added or subtracted, creating discontinuities and time jumps
No OS overhead allows 10x faster calls to read time	Switch to OS opens the opportunity to reschedule and delay the application
Time never goes backward	Time not guaranteed to be monotonic

Configurations

• TimeKeeper PTP Client
• TimeKeeper NTP Client
• TimeKeeper PTP/NTP Client
• TimeKeeper NTP Server

Operating Systems (64-bit unless noted)

• Fedora 12
• RedHat Enterprise 4 (32-bit/64-bit)
• RedHat Enterprise 5 (32-bit/64-bit)
• RedHat Enterprise 6
• SuSE Linux Enterprise 11
• Ubuntu Linux 10.04

Datasheets

TimeKeeper Linux PTP/NTP Software Datasheet