NTP - Using an atomic clock receiver for synchronization

Atomic clocks are devices for measuring time more accurately developed by man. Modern atomic clocks are so accurate that even in 100 million years less than a second time would be lost.

This specification refers to an ideal server NTP (Network Time Protocol). NTP is a protocol widely used to synchronize computer networks through the Internet network (LAN).

This article explains how to synchronize a computer network using the NTP protocol to a source of atomic clock.

Atomic clocks are so accurate that the universal calendar has been developed called UTC (Coordinated Universal Time), which is based on the time told by atomic clocks. UTC is used throughout the world and is the same everywhere, allowing various computer networks to synchronize the time.

Unfortunately, atomic clocks are extremely expensive, extremely delicate and rather large pieces of material, so they are actually found in physics laboratories of large or highly technical pieces of equipment such as satellites.

Fortunately a dedicated NTP server can be synchronized to UTC time with an atomic clock as a reference source by one of us the time and frequency broadcasts national and GPS (Global Positioning System) network.

Many national physics laboratories such as NPL in the United Kingdom, Germany NPL and NIST in the United States, issued a UTC time reference to the long-wave radio. These signals can be captured by an NTP server using a radio receiver. Unfortunately, radio transmissions are not transmitted from all countries and signals are more.

Fortunately, the constellation of satellites that make up the Union Sports Network all have a GPS atomic clock on board. This signal is used by satellite navigation receivers to work on the site, but can also be used by a GPS NTP server as a source of synchronization.

Using a radio or reference NTP server GPS time server, synchronize in a few milliseconds of UTC is possible.