TIME SYNCHRONIZATION IN A SATELLITE NETWORK

摘要

A remote device comprising a remote clock oscillator with relatively low precision, a receiver that receives time packets transmitted periodically from the hub device via the satellite, each time packet including a hub real time clock (RTC) value and a hub network clock reference (NCR) value, a remote RTC counter that represents a remote RTC value at the remote, a remote NCR counter that represents a remote NCR value at the remote, and processing circuitry that extracts the hub RTC value and the hub NCR value from a current time packet, compares contents of the current time packet with contents of a previously received time packet, and adjusts the remote RTC counter based on the result of the comparison to synchronize the remote RTC value at the remote with the hub RTC value.

主权项

1. A hub device for performing time synchronization in a satellite network, the satellite network including the hub device, a remote device and a satellite, the hub device comprising:
a hub real time clock (RTC) counter that is time synchronized to a master clock; a hub network clock reference (NCR) counter that is continuously driven by a hub clock oscillator having a relatively high precision; processing circuitry that periodically generates a time packet, the time packet including a hub RTC value of the hub RTC counter and a hub NCR value of the hub NCR counter; and a transmitter that transmits, via the satellite, the generated time packet to the remote device to synchronize a remote RTC counter with the hub RTC counter based on the hub RTC value and the hub NCR value in the generated time packet.