QWRTY
Lead Participant:
GMV NSL LIMITED
Abstract
White Rabbit (WR) is an emerging technology developed at CERN for GNSS-independent, Ethernet-based time distribution over optical fibre. WR provides affordable sub-nanosecond accuracy and few-picosecond precision, and thus is an ideal method to synchronise large and complex distributed systems.
The WR switch is the key component of the WR technology. The latest official version in production of the WR switch is v3.4\. CERN is currently completing the specification and prototyping of a new version of the switch (v4). A key feature of the new switch is the incorporation of an expansion board to provide further functionalities. The expansion board allows the development of attractive proprietary products white maintaining the open-hardware philosophy.
One application of the expansion board is to host a high-end clock that bypasses the inexpensive default oscillator on the WR main board. The purpose of an alternative high-end clock is the provision of extended _holdover_, which is the capacity of a clock to maintain accurate time when its source of sync is disrupted or temporarily unavailable. If for any reason the link to the master is broken the inexpensive internal clock of the slave switch accumulates time error rapidly. For some applications it is essential to maintain a bounded time error in holdover until the link is repaired. A widely adopted requirement (e.g., telecom) is not to exceed 1.5 microseconds after 24 hours. This is roughly three orders of magnitude better than the standard WR switch performance.
New miniaturized atomic clocks provide unprecedented stability levels at a reasonable cost, with low size and power consumption. Our proposed Rubidium chip scale atomic clock (CSAC) uses the Coherent Population Trap (CPT) method to obtain a very stable frequency. While common Rb oscillators detect the atomic transition with the help of a Rb discharge lamp (Rb lamp), our clock uses a laser to induce quantum transitions. A major advantage of the laser is a much lower power consumption. Additionally, the life cycle of a Rb lamp is very limited (typically around ten years) whereby the laser has a much longer life expectancy.
Our project offers a fully functional PNT product with advanced quantum-enabled features. For the first time a WR switch (v4) will be manufactured in the UK using national quantum clock technology and improving the holdover performance of the standard switch by several orders of magnitude.
GMV leads the project consortium with the participation of IQD and ZYXT Technology.
The WR switch is the key component of the WR technology. The latest official version in production of the WR switch is v3.4\. CERN is currently completing the specification and prototyping of a new version of the switch (v4). A key feature of the new switch is the incorporation of an expansion board to provide further functionalities. The expansion board allows the development of attractive proprietary products white maintaining the open-hardware philosophy.
One application of the expansion board is to host a high-end clock that bypasses the inexpensive default oscillator on the WR main board. The purpose of an alternative high-end clock is the provision of extended _holdover_, which is the capacity of a clock to maintain accurate time when its source of sync is disrupted or temporarily unavailable. If for any reason the link to the master is broken the inexpensive internal clock of the slave switch accumulates time error rapidly. For some applications it is essential to maintain a bounded time error in holdover until the link is repaired. A widely adopted requirement (e.g., telecom) is not to exceed 1.5 microseconds after 24 hours. This is roughly three orders of magnitude better than the standard WR switch performance.
New miniaturized atomic clocks provide unprecedented stability levels at a reasonable cost, with low size and power consumption. Our proposed Rubidium chip scale atomic clock (CSAC) uses the Coherent Population Trap (CPT) method to obtain a very stable frequency. While common Rb oscillators detect the atomic transition with the help of a Rb discharge lamp (Rb lamp), our clock uses a laser to induce quantum transitions. A major advantage of the laser is a much lower power consumption. Additionally, the life cycle of a Rb lamp is very limited (typically around ten years) whereby the laser has a much longer life expectancy.
Our project offers a fully functional PNT product with advanced quantum-enabled features. For the first time a WR switch (v4) will be manufactured in the UK using national quantum clock technology and improving the holdover performance of the standard switch by several orders of magnitude.
GMV leads the project consortium with the participation of IQD and ZYXT Technology.
Lead Participant | Project Cost | Grant Offer |
|---|---|---|
| GMV NSL LIMITED | £1,991,375 | £ 1,991,375 |
People |
ORCID iD |
| Daniel Chung Yoon (Project Manager) |