All of the timing signals, triggers, and clocks are based off of a common time reference. Examples of time references are global positioning system (GPS), IRIG-B, 802.1, and IEEE 1588.

In the absence of trustworthy timestamps, distributed systems have long had to rely on clockless designs, which adds an extra level of complexity to building complex systems.

References [1] A microsecond-level alternative clock source for power grid synchronization network leveraging pulsar-based timekeeping technique. Measurement (2025).

Maxim Integrated Products’ DS3102 clock timing IC monitors and generates clocks for Sonet/SDH, synchronous Ethernet (Sync-E), PDH, and wireless systems. It’s designed for full carrier-class ...

When two pendulum clocks are on the same wall, they'll sync up. Scientists just figured out why.

In the absence of trustworthy timestamps, distributed systems have long had to rely on clockless designs, which adds an extra level of complexity to building complex systems.

You'd think that synchronizing the clocks across a fleet of modern servers is a solved problem, but it's actually quite a hard challenge to solve, especially if you want to get to nanosecond accuracy.

You'd think that synchronizing the clocks across a fleet of modern servers is a solved problem, but it's actually quite a hard challenge to solve, especially if you want to get to nanosecond accuracy.