Relative timestamp when real time clock is unavailable

摘要

An operating system or other software resident on an electronic processing device employs aggregated timestamps. In this way timestamps can be generated and compared to one another without the need for a real-time clock with a power backup. Aggregated time includes the last known time that the device synchronized its clock with a reference time available over a network. Aggregated time also includes a relative time value which in part accumulates using a session clock whenever the device is powered-up. When network time becomes available the operating system or other software will use this information to fix up the already generated aggregated timestamps. A comparison of timestamps will most of the time be resolved for stamps generated on the same device and will generally be resolved by comparing time frames when the timestamps being compared are generated by different devices.

主权项

1. An electronic processing device comprising:
a processor; a network interface configured to communicate with at least one external device; a system bus communicatively coupling the network interface and the processor; a session clock operably coupled to the processor, the session clock having circuitry that maintains chronological time when the electronic processing device is powered; computer readable media communicatively coupled to the processor, the computer readable media storing computer-executable instructions that include an operating system, which when executed by the processor, control operation of the electronic processing device; persistent memory operably coupled to the processor, the persistent memory storing at least one timestamp generated when a reference time was not available; timestamp logic coupled to the processor and configured to convert timestamps, generated when a reference time was not available, to time of day timestamps once a reference time is acquired via the network interface.