The 13th International IEEE Symposium on Precision Clock Synchronization for Measurement, Control, and Communication (ISPCS) took place last month in Portland, Oregon. Here are the Top 5 things I learnt there:

1. IBM Mainframes will support and use PTP
   IBM’s Steve Guendert explained that with over 80% of global corporate data (banks, retail, healthcare, etc.) residing on mainframes, the recent statement from IBM to move towards supporting PTP timing was hugely significant. The story of applications driven by PTP is only really just beginning.

2. You can build a network with the best of all worlds
   DT’s Helmut Imlau presented their plans for a next-gen sync network expanding the use of new services and technologies like new sources of a time signal, cnPRTCs and High Accuracy/White Rabbit in conjunction with standards and recommendations already developed and deployed such as the ITU-T G.8275.1 model.

3. Security is everybody’s responsibility
   A ton of work has been going on to structure security as a prime consideration for the next revision of IEEE1588 but there is still a way to go. A number of different approaches were presented and rather than being disjointed, this is actually a sensible approach because there will be a host of applications for PTP timing with a host of different requirements so one size is unlikely to fit all.

4. Precision Time over WiFi is here
   11 years ago, I heard Kevin Stanton at Intel talk about 802.1AS over 802.11. This year his colleagues showed us some impressive results. Would I be prepared to control and run a precision cutting machine over WiFi? Probably not yet. But the ubiquity of WiFi means another door opens for PTP Everywhere.

5. It’s all relative
   I’d only been living in California for two and a half months but I was already feeling that Portland was too grey and cold for me. Scotland is a hazy, distant memory…

Anand Ram
VP Business Development