Design and implementation of a PTP clock infrastructure for the Linux kernel

Abstract

Many distributed systems need some sort of synchronization in order to achieve their objectives. The IEEE 1588 Precision Time Protocol (PTP) was designed to achieve synchronization among distributed clocks using a non-deterministic communication medium like Ethernet. Since Linux is becoming a leading operating system in areas like distributed measurement and control or industrial automation, we found it necessary to design and implement a PTP clock infrastructure within the Linux kernel. The paper explains the overall design goals, details the decisions taken, and highlights the resulting software architecture. The case study is based on the results achieved using the new infrastructure.