Multi-Network Precision Time Offsets for Seamless Switching
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Solution Overview
Problem
Differences in precision timing signals between communication networks cause communication errors and failures, especially for multi-network capable or reliant devices such as drones and autonomous vehicles, leading to issues like data transmission failures and delayed responses.
Innovation Solution
A method and system for generating chronographic reference signal offsets using a time agent that monitors precision timing signals from multiple networks, calculates differences, and adjusts application clocks of remote computing devices to synchronize across disparate networks.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional timeout recovery techniques are used to resynchronize between networks, then the system can recover from synchronization errors, but the recovery process causes delays of up to 1 second which can delay autonomous vehicle responses by 88 feet
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary synchronization actions by continuously monitoring and adjusting time offsets between networks before actual communication occurs. The time agent proactively calculates and applies offset adjustments based on predicted synchronization requirements, rather than waiting for errors to occur and then attempting recovery.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements feedback mechanisms where the time agent continuously monitors the actual time offsets between communication networks and adjusts the application clock accordingly. This closed-loop feedback ensures that synchronization errors are detected and corrected in real-time, preventing the delays associated with traditional timeout recovery techniques.
2Speed
If devices transition between communication networks without synchronizing chronographic reference signals, then network switching is faster, but data transmissions experience failures, dropped packets, or corruption
Solution Approach 1:
The time agent performs preliminary synchronization actions by calculating time offsets between networks before the device actually transitions between them. This allows the application clock to be pre-adjusted, ensuring that when network switching occurs, the chronographic reference signals are already aligned, preventing data transmission failures while maintaining fast transition speeds.
Solution Approach 2:
The time agent acts as an intermediary component that mediates between different communication networks with different time references. It monitors the time offsets between networks and adjusts the application clock to bridge the temporal gaps, enabling seamless transitions without data loss or corruption.
3Reliability
If precision timing signals are synchronized across multiple networks, then communication reliability is improved, but the system complexity increases due to the need for time offset calculation and application clock adjustment
Solution Approach 1:
The time agent serves as an intermediary component that centralizes the complexity of multi-network synchronization. Rather than requiring each device to independently manage complex time offset calculations across multiple networks, the time agent handles these computations and communicates the necessary adjustments to application clocks, simplifying the overall system architecture while maintaining high communication reliability.
Data Source
AI summary
Synchronization of precision timing signals maintained by multiple communication networks is described. A precision timing signal may be generated based on the change in state of a plurality of processors. Synchronization of the precision timing signals may be facilitated by a computing device monitoring at least two communication networks. The computing device may generate time offsets that are derived from the precision timing signals associated with each communication network. The time offsets may be communicated by the computing devices to remote devices communicatively coupled to the computing device via a first communication network.