Skip to main content

A Fault Tolerant Clock Synchronization Algorithm for Systems with Low-Precision Oscillators

  • Conference paper
  • First Online:
Dependable Computing — EDCC-3 (EDCC 1999)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNCS,volume 1667))

Included in the following conference series:

Abstract

In this paper we present a new fault tolerant clock synchronization algorithm, the Fault Tolerant Daisy Chain algorithm. It is intended for internal clock synchronization of systems using a broadcast bus with Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) communication, or other systems where clock readings are broadcast at regular intervals. The algorithm allows synchronization after each clock reading and is therefore tolerant to oscillators with large drift rates. Clock hardware is simplified since it is not necessary to store the collected clock readings until the next synchronization, nor is it necessary to schedule synchronization events. Theoretical bounds on clock skew are derived assuming non-Byzantine and Byzantine faults and compared with three different convergence synchronization algorithms. A simulated fault injection study is also presented, where the proposed algorithm was found to tolerate transient faults better than the theoretically best among the convergence algorithms, particularly at high drift rates.

This work was supported by grant form the Volvo Research Foundation

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  1. B. Wittenmark, Nilsson, J, Törngren, M, “Timing problems in real-time control systems,” presented at 1995 American Control Conference, Seattle, Washington, 1995.

    Google Scholar 

  2. H. Lonn and R. Snedsbol, “Synchronisation in safety-critical distributed control Systems,” presented at IEEE International Conference on Algorithms and Architectures for Parallel Processing, ICA3PP, Brisbane, Australia, 1995.

    Google Scholar 

  3. O. Babaglou and R. Drummond, “(Almost) No Cost Clock Synchronization,” presented at 17th Fault-Tolerant Computing Symposium, FTCS-17, Pittsburgh, PA, USA, 1987.

    Google Scholar 

  4. L. Lamport, R. Shostac, and M. Pease, “The Byzantine Generals Problem,” ACM Transacctions on Programming Languages and Systems, vol. 4, pp. 382–401, 1982.

    Article  MATH  Google Scholar 

  5. H. Kopetz and W. Ochsenreiter, “Clock Synchronization in Distributed Real Time Svstems,” IEEE Trans. Computers., vol. 36, pp. 933–940, 1987.

    Article  MATH  Google Scholar 

  6. L. Lamport and P. M. Melliar-Smith, “Synchronizing Clocks in the Presence of Faults,” Journal of the ACM, vol. 32, pp. 52–78, 1985.

    Article  MATH  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  7. J. Lyndelius and N. Lynch, “A New Fault Tolerant Algorithm for Clock Synchronisation,” Information and Computation, vol. 77, pp. 1–36, 1988.

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  8. H. Lonn, “Initial Synchronization of TDMA Communication in Distributed Real-Time Systems,” In: 19th IEEE International Conference on Distributed Computing Systems (ICDCS’99), Austin, Texas, USA, 1999.

    Google Scholar 

  9. H. Lonn, “A Simulation Model of the DACAPO protocol,” Department of Computer Engineering, Chalmers University, Gothenburg, Technical Report 99-1, 1999.

    Google Scholar 

  10. H. Lonn, “The Fault Tolerant Daisy Chain Clock Synchronization Algorithm,” Department of Computer Engineering, Chalmers University, Gothenburg, Technical Report 99-2, 1999.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 1999 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this paper

Cite this paper

Lonn, H. (1999). A Fault Tolerant Clock Synchronization Algorithm for Systems with Low-Precision Oscillators. In: Hlavička, J., Maehle, E., Pataricza, A. (eds) Dependable Computing — EDCC-3. EDCC 1999. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 1667. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-48254-7_8

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-48254-7_8

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-66483-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-48254-3

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics