Which is the right protocol for your application?

Information about NTP and PTP protocols.

Both, PTP and NTP provides time synchronization over a packet-based network. But not both protocols are dedicated to the same applications. It depends on the system's needs, which of the protocol is preferred.

NTP is the choice for all applications, for which a synchronization accuracy in the range of Milliseconds is sufficient. For those applications, NTP is the simplest and most economical solution. It is reliable, robust and simple to configure. NTP does not require any special configurations or equipment in the underlying network.

Typical NTP Applications are:

- Synchronization of clocks (e.g. Railway, Metro, Airport, School, Healthcare etc.)

- Logfiles

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PTP is needed where a higher level of precision is required. With PTP sub microsecond or even nanosecond accuracies are feasible. The key of PTP is hardware timestamping. Only if the timestamping happens close to the wire, it is possible to reach this high level of accuracy. The drawback of it is the need for dedicated hardware and an engineered network.

Typical PTP Applications are:

- Telecom – Synchronization of the base stations

- Traffic control - synchronization of different control equipment or different sites

- Broadcast – synchronization of audio and video equipment

- Energy – Synchronization of substations

- Banking – Synchronization for high speed trading

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How can Mobatime support?

MOBATIME provide NTP and PTP products, which offers highly precise interfaces such as PRC, PTP IEEE1588 V2, NTP, etc. with an advantage of precision in accuracy as well as traceability. Grandmasters and Time Server are equipped with crystal or atomic oscillators to provide time, pulse, phase & frequency solutions supporting synchronization using Global Navigation Satellite System for a mid or large infrastructure network.

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DISCLAIMER: The information is not generally valid. It is important to understand that there is no clear dividing line and that the application ultimately determines the choice of protocol.