Masterclock and Cyber Sciences Sync up to Simplify Timing

ST. CHARLES, Mo., April 12, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Masterclock, a provider of precision timing solutions for mission critical environments, today announced a strategic alliance with Cyber Sciences, a manufacturer of high-quality specialty products for monitoring and control of electrical distribution systems, to promote a simplified means of deploying the IEEE 1588 defined Precision Time Protocol (PTP) across traditional network infrastructure to achieve improved timing accuracies without the addition of special PTP-aware Ethernet switches.  Eliminating this requirement greatly reduces costs and simplifies the system hierarchy while still providing the user with superior timing accuracies relative to traditional Network Time Protocol (NTP).

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160411/353704

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160411/353705LOGO

"PTP offers users a means to greatly improve timing accuracies over a network and has a vast array of applications across a variety of industries," explained Masterclock CEO John Clark.  "Our goal was to find ways to simplify the application of the protocol and allow users to take advantage of the increase in accuracy over existing network topology without the costly constraints of replacing existing network infrastructure in order to achieve it."

The PTP protocol was designed to work by using special Ethernet hardware for precise time-stamping of the Ethernet frame send and receive times and includes a very precise mechanism to correct for delays introduced along the network path.   By mapping delays and compensating network latencies, accuracies of better than 1 microsecond (1 µs) can be achieved over a specially engineered network. 

Many users desire higher accuracies over their Ethernet network but don't need a strict 1 µs timing resolution for their application.  Cyber Sciences realized this gap in current PTP deployment and proposed a simple PTP (SPTP) solution using the 1588 Default Profile with the aim of achieving 100 µs over standard Ethernet infrastructure.

"SPTP makes PTP relevant for commercial/industrial power systems, including data centers, hospitals, and microgrids," explained Robert Kennedy, Vice President of Cyber Sciences.  "In addition, this extends the benefits of hi-res time synchronization to a much broader market, including those previously forced to compromise to keep costs low.  Like an airliner's black box recorder, event recorders tell you exactly what happened and when.  Unlike the airliner example, this data is used repeatedly: to diagnose root cause, verify control schemes operate as designed, and identify slow breakers before they increase arc flash hazard."

The alliance announcement followed a successful interoperability test between Masterclock's GMR5000 GPS-Synced PTP Grandmaster clock and the CyTime^TM SER-3200 Sequence of Events Recorder from Cyber Sciences. The GMR5000 is designed to provide an accurate, legally-traceable time reference across a variety of platforms including PTP and many other formats.  The SER-3200 records state changes of 32 high-speed digital inputs, time-stamping events to 1 ms, and is typically installed in 480 volt (ANSI/UL) or 380 volt (IEC) switchgear and switchboards.

The alliance will expand upon the successful interoperability testing to apply the combined expertise of the two organizations to promote more efficient adoption of PTP capabilities across a variety of industries.  Masterclock will be adding the SER series of event recorders to their portfolio of timing products with the expectation of further expanding the portfolio through partnerships with other providers of complementary equipment with a desire to provide simpler solutions for their clients.

For more information, visit http://www.masterclock.com/cyber-sciences

Press Contact: Shauna AuBuchon, Business Development Coordinator, (636) 724-3666, Email

SOURCE Masterclock, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.masterclock.com