Internet DRAFT - draft-marlow-tictoc-computer-clock-accuracy

draft-marlow-tictoc-computer-clock-accuracy



                                                                  D. Marlow,
     TICTOC                                                S. Knickerbocker,
     Internet Draft                                              T. Plunkett
     Intended status: Informational                                  NSWC-DD
     Expires: April 28, 2012                                October 28, 2011




            Network Time Mechanisms for Improving Computer Clock Accuracy
                 draft-marlow-tictoc-computer-clock-accuracy-01.txt


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     Abstract

        This draft describes network time synchronization mechanisms that
        may enable increased accuracy, beyond that possible with the current
        Network Time Protocol version 4 standard, to the time of computer
        clocks. The mechanisms considered are those that will provide
        improved estimates as to when a packet is put on the network,
        transferred across a network, or taken from the network. Potential
        standardization actions will be considered for the mechanisms
        considered, though no such actions are recommended at this time.

     Table of Contents

        1. Introduction...................................................2
           1.1. Motivation for Increased Performance......................3
           1.2. NTP/PTP Commonality and Differences.......................4
           1.3. Performance and Security Threat/Network Error Tradeoff....4
        2. Use Case Targeted..............................................5
           2.1. Emerging Need for NTP and PTP Commonality.................5
        3. Approach.......................................................6
        4. Mechanisms Considered..........................................6
           4.1. NTP Interleaved Modes.....................................6
              4.1.1. Standardization Considerations.......................7
           4.2. Use of IEEE 1588 PTP and 802.1AS Mechanisms in the
           Underlying Network Service (e.g., Network Interface Controller
           [NIC]).........................................................7
              4.2.1. Standardization Considerations.......................7
           4.3. Use of IEEE 1588 PTP to Synchronize Computer Clocks.......7
              4.3.1. Standardization Considerations.......................8
        5. Initial Experimentation........................................8
           5.1. Naval Surface Warfare Center, Dahlgren Division (NSWCDD),
           Experimentation................................................8
           5.2. Future Metrics and Benchmarks Standard....................9
        6. Analysis of Results...........................................10
           6.1. Analysis of Initial NSWCDD Experimentation...............10
           6.2. Analysis of Published Results............................10
        7. Future Experimentation........................................11
        8. Security Considerations.......................................12
        9. Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) Considerations.....12
        10. Conclusions..................................................12
        11. Informative References.......................................13
        12. Acknowledgments..............................................13


     1. Introduction

        The IETF Timing over IP Connection and Transfer of Clock (TICTOC)
        Working Group was formed to investigate emerging needs to distribute
        highly accurate time and frequency information over Internet
        Protocol (IP) and Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) Packet

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        Switched Networks (PSNs). In this draft, new mechanisms beyond those
        identified in the Network Time Protocol version 4 (NTPv4) standard
        (i.e., Request for Comment 5905) are considered to provide increased
        time synchronization accuracy for computer (i.e., operating system)
        clocks' time and frequency. The mechanisms considered are those that
        will provide improved estimates as to when a packet is put on the
        network, transferred across a network, or taken from the network.
        This draft identifies a set of mechanisms that are candidates for
        experimentation. Standardization considerations will be described
        for the mechanisms identified.

        In this draft, the authors examine methods for improving NTPv4 time
        synchronization performance. The authors are requesting comments and
        contributions on the mechanisms described and on additional
        mechanisms that should be considered. It is hoped that discussions
        within the IETF TICTOC Working Group will motivate experimentation
        that will lead to standardization actions to enable better accuracy
        to those utilizing a future Network Time Protocol (NTP)
        specification.

     1.1. Motivation for Increased Performance

        There are two reasons to improve upon the time synchronization
        performance that is currently available from the NTP. Not only is
        the increased performance needed for existing product designs that
        would make use of the added performance if it were available, but it
        is expected that new uses will be identified that are not even
        possible until performance is improved. This is similar to how
        network speeds are increased every several years, and the uses for
        the increased network bandwidth soon follow.

        The current methods for achieving an increase in time
        synchronization performance involve use of a technology separate
        from the existing computer network (e.g., Inter-Range
        Instrumentation Group technology) or use of a technology like
        Precision Time Protocol (PTP), which is defined in the Institute of
        Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 1588, "Precision Clock
        Synchronization Protocol for Networked Measurement and Control
        Systems." With PTP, the computer applications must interface with
        the installed PTP hardware in order to read time from its
        oscillator. There is a lot of resiliency built into NTP, which does
        not exist in the PTP protocol. It is unknown what happens to the
        time provided by the PTP hardware when a network switch in the
        network path to the time source is temporarily unavailable (i.e.,
        the network switch gets rebooted). It would be beneficial to have
        the resiliency of the NTP algorithms be paired with the highly
        accurate PTP hardware-based time distribution.




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     1.2. NTP/PTP Commonality and Differences

        NTP and PTP are both packet-based protocols for exchanging time with
        a time server over a computer network. Both protocols are used to
        determine the offset between two independent clocks. Both use
        embedded algorithms to construct a shortest path spanning tree for
        obtaining time from a master time source through intermediary time
        sources to time clients. Both assume network paths are symmetric and
        both have their own methods for addressing network delays that are
        not symmetric. NTP uses its algorithms to determine which of several
        consecutive time measurements are most accurate and uses that
        measurement. PTP makes use of hardware means of measuring delays as
        packets traverse intermediate network devices and corrects its
        received time information based upon those measured delays. Both
        have similar authentication provisions based on cryptographic
        message digests. [1, page 306]

        NTP is engineered to synchronize computer clocks in an extended
        network, while PTP is engineered to synchronize device clocks in a
        segmented LAN [Local Area Network]. [1] Because PTP has the ability
        to measure actual packet delays and to correct for them, PTP can
        provide the most accurate measurement of clock offset between two
        clocks. PTP does not define the method for synchronizing that clock
        once the highly accurate time measurements have been obtained. PTP
        is normally used to synchronize a relatively high-quality hardware
        clock located on an interface card and does not synchronize the
        operating system clock. NTP, on the other hand, possesses the
        ability to synchronize the commodity-quality system clock based on
        received clock offset measurements. NTP is normally utilized where
        relatively long update intervals are required to minimize network
        load, while PTP is normally utilized on a high-speed LAN with no
        such requirement and operates with update intervals on the order of
        2 seconds. On a LAN with reduced phase noise and shorter update
        intervals, PTP can provide far better performance than NTP, even if
        using the same commodity oscillator. [1, page 306] The NTP
        algorithms have a lot of resiliency so that operating system clocks
        stay stable despite the conditions on the network.

     1.3. Performance and Security Threat/Network Error Tradeoff

        Through discussions in the TICTOC Working Group, it has been pointed
        out that one of the differences between NTP and PTP are security
        threats and network errors that each is designed to work around.
        While PTP has few capabilities to work in the presence of security
        threats and network errors, NTP has been designed to work "in the
        wild." The inherent resiliency built into the NTP protocol
        contributes directly to its security, by handling security threats
        via the detection of duplicate, unsynchronized, or bogus packets.
        Thus PTP needs private isolated network interconnections, while NTP
        can run on the Internet in the presence of major threats (e.g., man-

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        in-the-middle attacks). In an e-mail to the TICTOC working group on
        June 8, 2011, Dr. David L. Mills wrote "... a primary motivation for
        the NTP interleaved design was protection from network errors and
        intruder attack. The detailed analysis and simulation are designed
        to demonstrate resistance to common corruptions such as dropped or
        duplicate packets and possible bogus attacks. The NTP design
        includes a four-level security model, the lower two levels might be
        considered for a PTP application. This is one of the most important
        difference(s) between the PTP and NTP protocol designs; however, the
        NTP design might be considered overkill in a sheltered, isolated
        Ethernet network." [2]

     2. Use Case Targeted

        The use case considered in this Internet-Draft is a dense
        concentration of computing elements connected by a network. A
        satellite-based time source (e.g., Global Positioning System [GPS])
        is used for synchronizing primary time servers. Secondary time
        servers and leaf computing elements are synchronized to the primary
        time servers over the network. In this use case, there are
        approximately 150 or so total computers where there are three to
        four levels of time servers. These time servers may have to
        communicate to each other through layer 2 and layer 3 network
        switches, which could be 10-20 different layer 2 subnetworks. All of
        the computers are connected together through gigabit or faster
        network connections. In this environment, there will be some groups
        of computers that will need to synchronize to each other to within a
        microsecond, while other groups of computers only have to be
        synchronized to each other to within a millisecond. In this use
        case, there is one interconnected time synchronization scheme where
        NTP, PTP, or a combination of both is used to meet all time
        synchronization needs. The use case presented here does not identify
        a defined set of security threats or network errors in which a
        network time synchronization mechanism is to be able to safely work;
        however, proposed network time synchronization solutions need to
        identify the tradeoff taken between the performance achievable and
        the security threats and network errors within which it is intended
        to work.

     2.1. Emerging Need for NTP and PTP Commonality

        Because of its accuracy capabilities, PTP is beginning to replace
        NTP as the base protocol for time clients in dense computing sites.
        This results in an implementation in which some hosts use PTP while
        others within the same building and sometimes within the same room
        use NTP. Over time, hosts are being changed from NTP to PTP. This
        leads to an emerging need to provide similar approaches for basic
        time service functions for operational ease of managing time
        distribution assets. Examples of functions where commonality is
        considered to be an emerging need include providing synchronization

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        of computer clock, providing management to time clients, and
        configuring timeservers. A standard means of synchronizing computer
        clocks for both protocols is of particular interest; there appears
        to be no value in using different methods when the hosts that both
        protocols are supporting are often working within the same system.

        In addition, there are highly accurate PTP time clients that could
        serve as highly accurate secondary timeservers for NTP time clients
        if this capability were supported in vendor products.

     3. Approach

        The approach taken by the authors includes determining what the
        current accuracy capabilities are with NTPv4 and investigating
        additional mechanisms that may provide improvements in accuracy. Any
        degradation in security capabilities and/or the ability to work
        through network errors needs to be assessed for any mechanism for
        which a standards action is pursued. Through experiments of those
        additional mechanisms, estimations of improvements can be
        calculated. Depending on the standardization difficulty and
        potential benefits offered, more than one standardization action may
        be recommended in the future.

     4. Mechanisms Considered

     4.1. NTP Interleaved Modes

        The NTP interleaved modes are an extension of the NTPv4 protocol,
        which is included in the current NTP distribution [1]. It utilizes
        Broadcast and Symmetric modes (client/server is not supported) and
        is designed to be backward compatible (i.e., not affecting NTP
        implementations that do not use the interleaved extensions). It also
        utilizes the same NTP packet format as the current standard NTPv4.
        Security and network robustness capabilities were a major design
        factor for NTP interleaved; thus, it is expected that an NTP
        interleaved configuration is at least as secure or resistant to
        network errors as any other NTP operational mode. NTP interleaved
        uses an IEEE 1588 PTP-like feature that provides a follow-up packet
        with a better estimate of when a previous NTP packet was sent on the
        network and a message exchange sequence to determine network mean
        path delay.

        This mechanism could be used by some of the primary time servers for
        synchronizing secondary (i.e., lower stratum) time servers and leaf
        computing elements, which have very accurate time synchronization
        requirements.

        Future experimentation may identify what gains are possible with
        this mechanism. Dr. David L. Mills pointed out in TICTOC Working
        Group discussions that the interleaved modes provide a major

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        performance benefit when large Protocol Data Units are used (e.g.,
        when NTP is used with the Autokey Protocol for time server
        authentication). [3]

     4.1.1. Standardization Considerations

        There are additional reasons beyond time accuracy improvements to
        standardize NTP interleaved modes of operation. As noted earlier,
        its operation with large Protocol Data Units may be reason enough to
        standardize the NTP interleaved modes. NTP interleaved modes also
        provide additional measurement parameters not available with other
        NTP modes. Follow-on IETF TICTOC Working Group discussions are
        needed to decide whether to initiate a standardization action to add
        interleaved options to the NTP standard.

     4.2. Use of IEEE 1588 PTP and 802.1AS Mechanisms in the Underlying
        Network Service (e.g., Network Interface Controller [NIC])

        The purpose of investigating this mechanism is to determine if using
        special capabilities in the underlying network service can improve
        the timestamp estimates when NTP packets are put on the network,
        transferred across networks, or taken from the network. It is
        apparent there are many new network integrated circuit devices as
        well as general purpose processors that perform IEEE 1588 PTP
        hardware time stamping to support emerging interactive multimedia
        services. Such integrated circuits are identifying IEEE 1588 PTP;
        however, they appear to be programmable, and it is possible that key
        NTP operations or encryption algorithms could be supported as well.
        This is an area where research and experimentation is needed.
        Identifying the security threats and network errors that can be
        handled is an important part of this research and experimentation.

     4.2.1. Standardization Considerations

        If the investigation of these mechanisms generates promising
        results, this may initiate a standardization proposal for additions
        to the NTPv4 standard to make use of these capabilities.
        Alternatively, a modification to the NTPv4 standard may be proposed,
        which would enable hardware assists to be incorporated into future
        NICs.

     4.3. Use of IEEE 1588 PTP to Synchronize Computer Clocks

        The purpose of investigating this mechanism is to determine the
        viability of using PTP to synchronize computing elements, which
        require very accurate synchronization. This mechanism considers
        bringing the PTP synchronization all the way to the computer clock
        through a standardized clock discipline algorithm. Computing
        elements synchronized by PTP are candidates to be time servers (by
        the use of NTP) for computing elements not synchronized by PTP.

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        Based on their respective strengths, the natural way to merge NTP
        and PTP would be to use PTP as the means of obtaining extremely
        accurate time information from across the network and to let the NTP
        algorithms use that time to keep local clocks synchronized.
        Tradeoffs between performance and security or network error handling
        capabilities are needed to fit each deployment environment
        considered.

     4.3.1. Standardization Considerations

        If the investigation of this mechanism generates promising results,
        it may initiate a standardization proposal to specify a PTP profile
        for use by NTP. It may be possible to replace the current NTP clock
        coordination services without affecting the NTP time management
        services or the clock access mechanisms used by each operating
        system. A variety of studies will be needed if this approach is to
        be pursued, including a study to determine if there are any issues
        for secondary time servers to run both NTP and PTP. If such issues
        are identified, standards activities may be needed in the IETF or in
        IEEE 1588. A study would be needed to identify the security threats
        and/or network errors that can be handled.

     5. Initial Experimentation

     5.1. Naval Surface Warfare Center, Dahlgren Division (NSWCDD),
        Experimentation

        Some preliminary experiments tested the new interleaved mode
        available in NTP v4.2.6. This mode mimics the operation of PTP
        defined by IEEE 1588 where an additional follow-up message is sent
        so that a more accurate transmission time can be used. In this
        experiment, seven workstations running Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5
        were used. These workstations are 3 years old and make use of two
        dual core processors. Since the GPS-based (i.e., stratum 1) time
        server does not currently have NTP v4.2.6 available, which supports
        the interleaved modes, one of the seven workstations was
        synchronized to the stratum 1 time server, which then served as the
        stratum 2 time server to the other six stratum 3 workstations. The
        stratum 2 server and four of the six other workstations were
        upgraded to use NTP v4.2.6, while the remaining two workstations
        were left running NTP v4.2.2 that was included with Red Hat
        Enterprise Linux 5.

        Interleaved mode was achieved by using the "xleave" option when
        either the broadcast mode or peer mode was used under NTP. The
        stratum 2 server was configured as a broadcast server, making use of
        the standard multicast address and using the xleave option. Two of
        the workstations running NTP v4.2.6 were configured as multicast
        clients so that the Interleaved Broadcast mode was utilized. The
        other two NTP v4.2.6 workstations were configured to synchronize to

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        the stratum 2 server using standard Client/Server (unicast) mode.
        The two workstations running NTP v4.2.2 were configured to be
        broadcast clients; however, they did not use interleaved mode since
        NTP v4.2.2 does not include interleaved support. All NTP polling
        intervals were configured to 16 seconds.

        Offset measurements were obtained between the six clients and the
        stratum 2 server using the "ntpdate" command with the "-q" option.
        Measurements were taken every minute over approximately 4 days.
        These workstations were not running any other major tasks, and NTP
        ran over a network with no discernable network load. All of the
        workstations were connected through the same Virtual LAN on the same
        network switch (i.e., no routers involved). All of the network
        connections were 100 Mbit/sec Ethernet.

        Some experiment results were obtained where the average and standard
        deviations of the absolute value of clock offset were measured. The
        worst-behaved NTP Interleaved Broadcast client was able to stay
        synchronized with an average clock offset of 9 microseconds with a
        standard deviation of 8 microseconds. The worst-behaved computer
        that synchronized using Client/Server mode was able to maintain an
        average clock offset of 11 microseconds with a standard deviation of
        10 microseconds. The worst-behaved Broadcast (without NTP
        interleaved) client stayed synchronized with an average clock offset
        of 49 microseconds and with a standard deviation of 58 microseconds.

        These results illustrate that NTP Interleaved Broadcast does provide
        results that are better than having every client poll the server via
        unicast. However, the result is not significantly better (e.g., not
        an order of magnitude better). Preliminary experiments with
        hardware-based PTP have been performed in the past where the average
        offsets between PTP NICs and the PTP Grandmaster clock are in the
        hundreds of nanoseconds with standard deviations in the tens of
        nanoseconds.

     5.2. Future Metrics and Benchmarks Standard

        One thing that would help to perform computer time synchronization
        experiments is a set of time-synchronization performance metrics; no
        standard or even a paper was found on this topic. Developing a
        standard to define time synchronization performance metrics would be
        beneficial by allowing different experimental efforts to be
        performed in a way that the results are comparable.

        An Internet-Draft addressing Benchmark Methodology for network time
        synchronization devices may be a good path to provide the needed
        metrics and guidance on experiments to be run. This benchmark
        methodology would be similar to those that the IETF Benchmarking
        Methodology Working Group has standardized for other areas. This
        document would include methodology specific to benchmarking the

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        performance of devices used for synchronizing time over a network.
        This document could define a model for time offset measurement,
        describe test setups, metrics to be collected, and background test
        environments. Specific benchmarks may vary between testing a single
        device and an entire system under test. The methodology could
        identify requirements for identifying test accuracy and for ensuring
        that measurements are independent of the devices being measured
        (e.g., that the measurement techniques are not profoundly influenced
        by the delay of the network upon which the measurement is made).

     6. Analysis of Results

     6.1. Analysis of Initial NSWCDD Experimentation

        In 2008, it was reported [4] that the synchronization of computer
        clocks using NTPv4 over a LAN can approach values on the order of
        ~145us (mean plus 3 sigma). This has been demonstrated in the
        laboratory and was achieved across a single stratum (e.g., stratum 1
        to stratum 2). Recently, using newer hardware and a newer NTP
        version, time synchronization values were measured on the order of
        ~40us (mean plus 3 sigma). The variation in the time synchronization
        comprises the majority of the 40us value. The results need to be
        analyzed in detail, but in a little over two years, the time
        synchronization of computer clocks over a LAN has improved; most
        likely due to hardware improvements and minor software enhancements.

        If this 40us synchronization can be maintained from stratum to
        stratum for all subsequent tiers in a well-engineered network with 3
        to 5 stratums, a maximum theoretical time synchronization offset on
        the order of 120-200us could be achieved. A 50 percent improvement
        in the variability of clock synchronization from stratum to stratum
        would reduce this number to less than 125us. This does not imply
        that stratum-to-stratum accuracy should not be improved. On the
        contrary, by working on the accuracy and variability together, all
        users of time synchronization will benefit. This needs to be
        accomplished without overloading the computer or the network.

        A 50 percent improvement appears to be a reasonable goal; however,
        if the stratum-to-stratum synchronization variability could be
        improved by an order of magnitude, it is reasonable to anticipate
        maximum theoretical time synchronization offsets of 50us or less in
        a well-behaved LAN and potentially in the hundreds of microseconds
        for a Wide Area Network.

     6.2. Analysis of Published Results

        In Dr. Mills' second edition of Computer Network Time
        Synchronization [1, pages 323-327], results are reported for two
        sample networks: a backroom LAN (a 100Mb/s switched Ethernet with
        very little traffic) and the campus LAN (a 100Mb/s switched Ethernet

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        with two very busy servers and NTP traffic volume of well over 1000
        packets per second). For the backroom LAN, the measured offset for
        two identical machines from the GPS server was ~20us (operating in
        Client/Server mode) while the offset between machines operating in
        Interleaved Symmetric mode was less than 5us with a round-trip delay
        of roughly 100us. These machines were also operating in Interleaved
        Broadcast mode to support a third machine on the network with time
        synchronization offset averaging 40us or less and a round-trip delay
        of roughly 200us. In the case of Interleaved Broadcast, the
        experiments we performed showed roughly a 10 microsecond offset
        while the backroom LAN in Dr. Mills' book was ~3x greater. This
        difference in offset could be caused by differences in the size of
        the Protocol Data Units (PDUs) sent (since the backroom LAN used
        Autokey for all interleaved operations), the clients' processing
        power, and the client and server operating systems.

        In the case of the campus LAN, one of dozens of subnets was used for
        testing purposes. This subnet contained two busy NTP servers and two
        test hosts dedicated to the experiment. The NTP servers were again
        synced with each other via Interleaved Symmetric mode while the test
        hosts were synced to one of the servers using the Client/Server mode
        and to each other using Interleaved Symmetric mode. The round-trip
        delay between the NTP servers was measured at roughly 600us and the
        offset for each was ~180us but of opposite sign, indicating an
        asymmetric path between machines. The test machines were able to
        maintain ~20us offset to the NTP server in Client/Server mode and
        less that 40us offset between each other with a round-trip delay on
        the order of 300us using Interleaved Symmetric mode. The heavy
        network traffic appears to have increased the round-trip delay by
        ~3x over the backroom LAN with roughly an 8x change in offset
        measurement. This emphasizes the need for standardized test methods
        that are necessary for estimating accurate improvements in network
        time synchronization.

     7. Future Experimentation

        While the results so far are good, further experiments are needed to
        draw conclusions. One concern is that the clock offsets are in the
        microsecond range. The use of ntpdate may not be a valid way to
        accurately measure clock offsets at this level since ntpdate makes
        measurements across the network and is susceptible to errors caused
        by variations in network delay. Further work is needed to ensure
        valid offset measurements. An out-of-band measurement technique,
        which is not affected by variations in network delay, needs to be
        investigated for use in future experiments.

        With the results published by Dr. Mills on the campus LAN, we now
        have information on Interleaved Symmetric when put under load both
        from a processor and network perspective, and Interleaved Broadcast
        when put under a network load. Additional experiments should be

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        performed to measure and characterize the resiliency of the NTP
        interleaved modes while under network and processor load and then
        make comparisons to the other time synchronization methods. The
        experiments that have been run up to now had the test workstations
        connected to the same network switch. Future experiments should be
        conducted to determine how performance is affected when a more
        complex network configuration is used.

        The experiments conducted so far have provided data concerning
        various interleaved modes of operation in a few configurations;
        however, there is no thorough, systematic set of results that would
        help in deciding whether to run one NTP mode versus another in real
        systems. Still needed is guidance on when to use the various NTP
        mode options and what the advantages and disadvantages are in using
        the various modes. For example, when a time server is available that
        is directly connected to a satellite time receiver, what are the
        relative tradeoffs in using either Client/Server or Interleaved
        Broadcast with other clients? In both of Dr. Mills' experiments,
        Interleaved Symmetric mode was used to obtain additional measurement
        data, but can this mode be used to gain higher time accuracy among
        peers? A set of best-use scenarios would also be very helpful.

     8. Security Considerations

        Security aspects of the mechanisms described is a major concern and
        will need to be considered in more detail.

     9. Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) Considerations

        No IANA actions are required as a result of the publication of this
        document.

     10. Conclusions

        Results from our experiments and those described in Dr. Mills' book
        [1] indicate that an interleaved capability can provide a modest
        improvement to the time accuracy achieved with NTPv4. A stronger
        reason to standardize NTP interleaved may be to achieve better
        performance when large PDUs are used (e.g., providing server
        authentication). Initial results also indicate that interleaved
        modes will not provide accuracies in the range that PTP with
        hardware assists can; thus, the other two mechanisms described in
        this paper should be pursued using experimentation in parallel with
        any action to standardize NTP interleaved.

        It would be of benefit to the IETF TICTOC Working Group to
        standardize the performance metrics and/or benchmark methodology for
        use in describing the behavior and testing of devices for clock
        synchronization. Such a standard would enable better comparisons
        between considered mechanisms. In addition to the same definitions

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        of the metrics used, better agreement should be obtained in
        experiments being performed by different organizations.

        The authors are interested in contributions on the mechanisms
        described in this draft as well as on additional mechanisms that may
        improve the accuracy of computer clocks synchronized over a network.
        The authors request that other experimental results on mechanisms
        that can improve NTPv4 accuracy be shared. It is hoped that
        discussions on this topic in the IETF TICTOC Working Group will lead
        to standardization actions to enable better accuracy to those
        utilizing a future NTP specification.

     11. Informative References

        [1]  Mills, David, L., 2011, "Network Time Synchronization-the
              Network Time Protocol on Earth and in Space, Second Edition",
              CRC Press

        [2]   Mills, David, 8 June 2011, forwarded (by Karen O'Donoghue)
              email on the TICTOC (and NTP)Discussion Archive,
              http://www.ietf.org/mail-
              archive/web/tictoc/current/msg00945.html

        [3]   Mills, David, 10 June 2011, email on the TICTOC (and
              NTP)Discussion Archive, http://www.ietf.org/mail-
              archive/web/tictoc/current/msg00952.html

        [4]   O'Donoghue, K., Glass, M., and Plunkett, T. (2008). "Next
              Steps In Network Time Synchronization for Navy Shipboard
              Applications" [Electronic Version]. 40th Annual Precise Time
              and Time Interval (PTTI) Meeting, pp. 187-195.

     12. Acknowledgments

        The authors wish to thank Karen O'Donoghue (Internet Society) for
        her valuable comments.

        Approved for public release.  Distribution is unlimited.

        This document was prepared using 2-Word-v2.0.template.dot.


     Authors' Addresses

        David Marlow
        NSWCDD
        17214 Avenue B Suite 126
        Dahlgren, VA  22448-5147
        USA

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        Email: david.marlow@navy.mil

        Sterling Knickerbocker, PhD
        NSWCDD
        18372 Frontage Road, Suite 318
        Dahlgren, VA  22448
        USA
        Email: sterling.knickerbocker@navy.mil

        Timothy Plunkett
        NSWCDD
        17214 Avenue B Suite 126
        Dahlgren, VA  22448-5147
        USA
        Email: timothy.plunkett@navy.mil


































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