White rabbit: Sub-nanosecond timing distribution over ethernet

White Rabbit (WR) is the project name for a ambiguous project that uses Ethernet as both, deterministic (synchronous) data transfer and timing network. The presented design aims for a general purpose, fieldbus like transmission system, which provides deterministic data and timing to approximately 1000 timing stations. The main advantage over conventional systems is the highly accurate timing (sub-nanosecond range) without restrictions on the traffic schedule and an upper bound for the delivery time of high priority messages. In addition, WR also automatically compensates for transmission delays in the fibre links, which are in the range of 10 km length. It takes advantage of the latest developments on synchronous Ethernet and IEEE 1588 to enable the distribution of accurate timing information to the nodes saving noticeable amounts of bandwidth.

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