Jisc and the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) have joined forces to deliver precise time services to institutions over Janet, the UK’s national research and education network.
They are integrating Janet with the NPLTime Access service, which offers users a time signal over fibre optic links that are traceable to coordinated universal time (UTC).
Jisc – which provides edtech services for higher education and research bodies – said this will remove the need to use the global navigation satellite system (GNSS) and provide the most accurate and resilient time service possible.
It said that GNSS can be susceptible to jamming or solar interference.
The organisation described NPLTime Access as a highly resilient terrestrial time synchronisation service referenced to a group of commercial atomic clocks, operated by NPL, that have been providing the reference for precise timekeeping in the UK for over 30 years
It said the integration will extend and strengthen the existing Jisc network time service, which currently synchronises the computer clock times of managed devices connected to an institution’s IP network to within a few milliseconds of UTC time.
This is intended to support the needs of the sector with future accuracy requirements narrowing to just microseconds.
Ultra-precision
“The faster, more complex and more integrated our members’ network infrastructures become, the more they rely on ultra-precise timing,” said Ben Chapman, head of architecture and engineering at Jisc.
“The UK research sector must also manage amplifying volumes of data, making synchronised time signals increasingly vital to ensure accuracy. This agreement with NPL enables us to explore how embedding NPLTime Access into the backbone of the Janet Network can benefit UK universities and research institutions.
“Our aim is to provide Jisc members with the most accurate time services possible to support production network services and research in areas as diverse as seismologic measurement, radio astronomy, CCTV and electricity distribution – all of which rely on the most precise timing possible to ensure the accuracy of their data.”
System-of-systems
Elena Parsons, strategic business development manager for NPL’s commercial timing services commented: “NPL’s collaboration with Jisc, delivering UTC(NPL) traceable time across UK academia, offers a synchronisation capability through trusted timestamps, and is a significant step toward realising a system-of-systems approach to national resiliency for time.
“We are looking forward to the closer engagement to support UK R&D, innovation and skills development.”
Jisc said the move will also improve cyber resilience by enabling security teams to manage and protect their networks more efficiently.
