Patent · US Active

Physical hardware clock chaining

US11070304B1 · kind B1 · utility

13Cited by
37References
22Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateFeb 25, 2020
Grant dateJul 20, 2021
Priority date
Expiry dateFeb 25, 2040

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH04J3/0673
  • WIPO fieldTelecommunications
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

In one embodiment, a computer apparatus includes a first NIC including at least one network interface port to transfer data with a first packet-data network (PDN) including a master clock to provide a clock synchronization signal S1, a first physical hardware clock (PHC) to maintain a time value T1 responsively to S1, and a first clock controller to generate a clock synchronization signal S2 responsively to S1, S2 having a frequency set responsively to S1, and send S2 over a connection to a second NIC including at least one network interface port to transfer data with a second PDN, a second PHC, and a second clock controller to receive S2, update the second PHC with a time value T2 responsively to S2, send another clock synchronization signal to network nodes in the second PDN responsively to T2, the second NIC acting as a master clock in the second PDN.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.