- Bradley Yuska, Team Lead
- Forrest Hargett, Communications Manager
- Chase Williams, Documents Manager
- David Wade, Software Lead
- Dante Musto, Financial Coordinator
- Abraham Payan, Morale Manager
Sponsored by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp.
In industries like automation and aviation, processes between systems in the connected network need to be on the same time with a low degree of error. Systems like radar in a jet are very time sensitive and require a high level of time precision with the subsystems it interacts with to give accurate readings of object locations. Therefore, minimal time differences, or high time precision, between subsystems is required to give the most accurate measurements. Currently, sub-microsecond precision is standard and single digit nano-second precision can be achieved at a costly rate. Current time synchronization solutions are limited by distance of communication and a nonflexible end to end connection of clocks. Our solution achieves sub-nanosecond precision reliably and adds redundant connections to allow flexibility of communication.
The aim of the Network Node Time Synchronization (NNTS) system is to keep subsystems in an aircraft at the same time in order to keep time sensitive processes running smoothly. This will be done by periodically synchronizing all nodes in the network with a master reference clock which is either assigned via a best master clock algorithm or manually. All nodes will be linked together with four twisted pairs and will initiate the system synchronization at a preset time, required to keep the necessary precision.
The main NNTS user is the aircraft on which it is installed. It is an essential component that guarantees time sensitive processes will be done in a timely manner and in chronological order, by ensuring all the sensors and peripherals are synched. Additional users include the proprietor Ball Aerospace and those who they market it towards. This system can benefit many other applications like industrial control and antenna tracking systems.
The NNTS system provides communication speeds one million times faster than MIL-STD-1553 serial bus communication standards. The network of nodes will automatically develop a hierarchical assignment of reference clocks from which to synchronize from. The network of nodes allows time synchronization precision to be independent of distance and reference clock assignment. The NNTS system serves as a proof of concept for robust network communication that can be implemented in multiple system applications.