With its new SkyWire technology, which is integrated into the BlueSky Firewall 2200, Microchip Technology can measure, align, and verify time to within nanoseconds, even when clocks are located far apart.
Network clocks are the backbone of critical infrastructure operations, with the precise alignment of clocks becoming increasingly important for data centers, power utilities, wireless and wireline networks and financial institutions.
For critical infrastructure operators to deploy timing architectures with reliability and resiliency, their clocks and timing references must be measured and verified to an authoritative time source such as Coordinated Universal Time (UTC).
Geographically separated timing systems may be compared to one another and to the time scale systems set up at metrology labs in a matter of nanoseconds thanks to the BlueSky GNSS Firewall 2200 and SkyWire technology. Traditionally, only metrology labs and scientific institutions have measured clock alignment and traceability to this degree.
No matter where the clocks are located, Microchip’s technology allows important timing networks for transportation, public utilities, financial services, and air traffic control to align their clocks within nanoseconds, protecting their infrastructure.
The concept began as an addition to the Time Measurement and Analysis Service (TMAS), a service already provided by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and used by organizations that must uphold a precise local time standard. For high-volume clock deployments, the BlueSky GNSS Firewall 2200 with SkyWire technology offers a Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) solution that connects critical infrastructure operators to the NIST TMAS Data Service.
Using Microchip’s SkyWire technology capabilities in its TimePictra software suite, which offers features and functionality comparable to those offered by the NIST TMAS Data Service, countries worldwide can duplicate this solution.
With the help of the BlueSky GNSS Firewall 2200 with SkyWire technology and the TimePictra software suite, metrology labs, government organizations, and businesses throughout the world can have their own complete solution for traceable time measurement, alignment, and verification.
Microchip has more than 75 years of timing knowledge and provides a wide range of clock and timing products. From multi-rack national time scale systems to tiny plug-in timing server cards, the company offers a wide range of frequency and timing equipment. Microchip is a major contributor to the world’s time, and its timing solutions are reliable, robust, and trustworthy.
Leadership Comments
“To ensure timing systems are delivering to stringent accuracy requirements, it’s important to measure and verify in an independent manner relative to UTC as managed by national laboratories and traceable to the Bureau International Poids et Mesures (BIPM),” said Randy Brudzinski, corporate vice president of Microchip’s frequency and timing systems business unit. “With the new SkyWire technology solution, we’re making UTC more widely accessible so that large deployments of clocks can be independently measured and verified against each other across long distances.”
“At NIST, our goal is to enable the most accurate time to support our country’s infrastructure,” said, Andrew Novick, engineer at NIST. “Our TMAS Data Service in conjunction with commercial hardware, provides a scalable solution for anyone who needs traceable and accurate timing.”
For more information, visit Microchip’s Clock and Timing Systems web page.
Development Tools
The TimePictra® software suite provides customers with support to deploy BlueSky GNSS Firewalls at scale.
Pricing and Availability
The BlueSky Firewall 2200 with SkyWire technology is now available for purchase. For additional information and to purchase contact a Microchip sales representative or authorized worldwide distributor.
