HARDWARE TIME STAMPING AND REGISTRATION OF PACKETIZED DATA METHOD AND SYSTEM

摘要

A system (100) for time-stamping a data packet associated with a data network allows software applications running on non- deterministic systems to determine the precise time that packets were transmitted to or received from a physical network interface. The system (100) includes a network media interface device (102) coupled to a network medium (104) so as to facilitate packet transfer between the interface device (102) and the network medium (104). The media interface device (102) is also coupled to a media interface controller (106). The system (100) further includes a time-stamping circuit (110) for sampling a time code from the time source when the media interface device (102) transfers the data packet to or from the network medium (104) and for associating the time code with the received data packet so as to form a time-stamped packet.