Network Adapter Hardware Clock Time Sync
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing network adapters do not efficiently provide accurate and isolated time services to hosts in communication networks, leading to potential security vulnerabilities and dependency on host configurations, which can affect time synchronization accuracy and security.
Innovation Solution
A network adapter with a hardware clock and circuitry that receives time-protocol packets to align the clock with network time, making it available to hosts through a peripheral bus, while isolating the host from the time-synchronization protocol control plane, thus providing a secure and configuration-agnostic time service.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the host directly processes time-protocol packets and runs time-synchronization software, then time service functionality is achieved, but security vulnerabilities increase and system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the time-synchronization protocol processing functionality from the host system and relocates it to the network adapter. The network adapter now independently receives, processes, and responds to time-protocol packets (such as PTP packets), while the host only needs to access the synchronized time value through a simple peripheral bus interface. This extraction eliminates the host's dependency on complex time-service configurations and reduces security vulnerabilities by isolating protocol processing from the host operating system.
Solution Approach 2:
The network adapter acts as an intermediary device between the communication network and the host. It receives time-protocol packets from the network, processes them through its dedicated protocol stack, and provides the synchronized time value to the host via a simplified peripheral bus interface. This intermediary role shields the host from the complexity and security risks of direct protocol processing while maintaining accurate time synchronization.
2Measurement precision
If the host runs time-service consumer software, then time synchronization is achieved, but computational load on the host increases
Solution Approach 1:
The network adapter provides self-service by autonomously performing time-synchronization protocol processing. It receives time-protocol packets from the network, executes the protocol stack to calculate time offsets and synchronization corrections, and maintains an accurate hardware clock independently. The host system only needs to read the pre-synchronized time value through a simple peripheral bus interface, eliminating the need for the host to run computationally intensive time-service consumer software while maintaining high time synchronization accuracy.
3Ease of operation
If the network adapter provides time services through the host, then time information is made available, but security vulnerabilities and attack surfaces increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the time-service control plane functionality from the host and consolidates it within the network adapter. The network adapter independently handles all aspects of time-service operation including receiving time-protocol packets, processing the protocol stack, calculating synchronization corrections, and maintaining the hardware clock. The host interacts only through a simplified, read-only peripheral bus interface that provides time information without exposing security vulnerabilities. This extraction dramatically reduces the attack surface while maintaining ease of operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements a protective interface layer between the network adapter's time-service functionality and the host system. This interface, implemented through a peripheral bus device with a constrained command set, acts as a protective shell that allows the host to access synchronized time information while preventing direct access to the complex protocol processing mechanisms. This thin film interface maintains ease of operation while blocking security vulnerabilities and attack vectors.
Data Source
AI summary
A network adapter includes a network port for communicating with a communication network, a hardware clock, and circuitry. The circuitry is coupled to receive from the communication network, via the network port, one or more time-protocol packets that convey a network time used for synchronizing network devices in the communication network, to align the hardware clock to the network time conveyed in the time-protocol packets, and to make the network time available to one or more time-service consumers running in a host served by the network adapter.