TimeProvider® 4500 Series—Most Advanced Grandmaster Platform for High Accuracy, High-Speed Networking and High Capacity
Watch our video tutorial that introduces the TimeProvider 4500 grandmaster, a hardware timekeeping platform that provides high-speed network interfaces up to 25 Gbps and enables precise time accuracy of less than one nanosecond.
Learn About Our TimeProvider 4500 Series
Operators of critical infrastructure in the 5G telecommunications, utilities and transportation markets need to upgrade their networks continuously with technology that can deliver higher processing speeds and highly accurate time that is not dependent on GPS. They need a terrestrial alternative to GPS that distributes precise time over distances reaching 1,000 kilometers and delivers increased accuracy.
Our TimeProvider 4500 (TP4500) series is the world’s first IEEE® 1588 PTP Grandmaster with high-speed network interfaces that support up to 25 Gbps Ethernet (GbE) and the flexibility to choose from 1 GbE, 10 GbE or 25 GbE options. This innovative hardware platform also enables the highest time accuracy below one nano second.
Key Features
- Latest generation of synthesizer to enable the system to move into the picosecond realm
- Latest generation of PolarFire® SoC FPGAs for increased performance
- Increased IEEE 1588 scalability to 2,000 PTP clients at 128 packets per second
- Embedded BlueSky® GNSS firewall for anti-jamming, anti-spoofing protection
- Supports Precision Time Protocol (PTP), Network Time Protocol (NTP) and SyncE
- Meets Primary Reference Time Clock (PRTC) Class A, Class B and enhanced PRTC (ePRTC) requirements and exceeds Class D for multi-domain boundary clocks
- Reliable, fanless passive thermal operation
- Redundancy via two software mechanism choices using two units, either in active/standby mode or in active/active mode
- Patented, enhanced Assisted Partial Timing Support (APTS) with Automatic Asymmetry Compensation (AAC)
- Strong security and performance monitoring
- Support for industry-specific profiles for power and Time Sensitive Network (TSN) markets
- Synchronization Supply Unit (SSU) operation mode to filter legacy signals inputs, such as E1/T1, for jitter and wander
- Zero Trust security Grandmaster with strong differentiated timing security
Product Highlights
The TimeProvider 4500 series offers the flexibility to connect to various generations of network elements to protect earlier investments in hardware. An operator can connect the TP4500 to any combination of 1 GbE, 10 GbE and 25 GbE network devices. As network equipment is being upgraded to support a minimum of 10 Gbps, and in some cases up to 100 Gbps, the TP4500 provides the necessary high-speed bandwidth to support the requirements of the latest systems.
The TimeProvider 4500 can support up to 2,000 PTP clients. Its hardware platform enables higher IEEE 1588 scalability to support thousands of clients. Operators may not always need high capacity when using 5G mmWave technology at the edge of the network. However, C-band 5G deployments require a balance of range and capacity to be able to serve thousands of gNodeB base stations. Depending on the specific sites, the TP4500 could serve either very few or many gNodeB base stations and provide a cost-effective solution regardless of scale.
Offering extremely high time accuracy, the TimeProvider 4500 is an excellent alternative solution to GNSS. It provides a cost-effective terrestrial option that can leverage existing optical network deployments to transfer highly accurate time over a long distance, without the need for GPS installations at each node.
The TP4500 is a key product that enables the virtual PRTC (vPRTC) architecture along with the BlueSky firewall, the TimeCesium®, the TimePictra® and the TP4100.
As a follow-on product to the TP4100, the advanced TP4500 hardware platform adds new capabilities while it supports all its predecessor’s features, allowing you to benefit from any prior investments in the TP4100 firmware.
In the virtual Primary Reference Time Clock (vPRTC) architecture, to minimize the dependency on GNSS, receivers are only required in the core enhanced Primary Reference Timing Clock (ePRTC) sites where they can be protected and monitored to shield the network from the risk of GNSS jamming or spoofing threats.
The TP4500 is also capable of getting its time reference from national metrology labs.
The vPRTC architecture ensures redundancy via bi-directional east and west timing flows to local source clocks in aggregation sites with 100 ns of accuracy.
You can configure our TP4500 clock in the following ways:
- As a gateway clock to serve timing flow toward 5G Remote Radio Heads (RRHs) as well as for various types of input and output flexibility
- As a high-performance boundary clock to deliver high accuracy over a secure optical network—meets Class D (5 ns) accuracy and is capable of an average 1 ns accuracy, meeting 15 ns accuracy for a chain of 15 boundary clocks
- In ePRTC operation mode to provide 30 ns accuracy at the source of timing chain (now capable of a 40-day holdover)
- In SSU operation mode, the TP4500 can filter the legacy inputs for jitter/wander
Product Benefits
High-Speed Connectivity
The high-speed ports available on the TP4500 eliminate the need for an expansion hardware module. You can choose between 1 GbE, 10 GbE or 25 GbE network interfaces on the base device.
To support future requirements, you can use a 100 GbE QSFP28 breakout cable to connect a 100 GbE port in a router or switch to a 25 GbE port on the TP4500.
You can add expansion modules to the base unit to provide additional Ethernet fanout capabilities.
High Accuracy and Stability
The TP4500’s 10 MHz and 1 PPS ports deliver high accuracy and low phase noise. The Time Deviation (TDEV) noise floor shows performance in single-digit picoseconds. The clock engine noise floor is clearly 10 times better than that of similar devices.
Holdover Performance Choice
Three types of oscillators are available with the TP4500. You can choose from an Oven-Controlled Crystal Oscillator (OCXO), a super OCXO or a Rubidium atomic clock to implement the desired holdover to ensure continued operation in case GNSS is down or compromised.
Resiliency
The platform’s dual-power input, fanless operation, support for multiband GNSS and patented active thermal compensation technology all contribute to creating a very resilient solution.
The accompanying software provides redundancy with fast switching from standby unit to active unit in case of device failure.
Security
Our TimeProvider 4500 clock supports industry standards for Authorization, Authentication and Accounting (AAA) such as TACACS+, Radius and Radius two-factor authentication. Our TP4100 clock also supports the IEEE 1588 2.1 2019 security standard. Enhanced security with password complexity requirements, support for Access Control Lists (ACL) and resolved CVE exposures.
Synchronization Management and Monitoring
The TP4500 is fully managed by our TimePictra® synchronization management system and via the Command Line Interface (CLI). A webGUI is also available for user friendly display of monitoring configuration and results.
enhanced Primary Reference Time Clock (ePRTC)
The ePRTC is enabled through a software license, so no additional hardware is needed. In ePRTC operation mode, the TP4500 meets ITU-T G.8272.1 30 ns time accuracy and can be combined with our TimeCesium® 4400/4500 or the high-performance 5071A cesium primary time and frequency standard to create a fully protected timescale.
Protection Against Jamming and Spoofing
The TimeProvider 4500 Grandmaster’s embedded BlueSky® technology option detects GPS jamming- and spoofing-related anomalies in real time to protect essential time and frequency outputs. Alarms are triggered when unexpected changes are detected and trust is compromised. The BlueSky technology detectors respond to protect the integrity of the TP4500’s time and frequency outputs.
Market-Specific Profiles
For power and utilities markets, the TimeProvider 4500 supports all PTP telecommunication profiles to be deployed on the communication network of the infrastructure. The TimeProvider 4500 also supports power profiles such as IEEE C37.238-2017, IEEE C37.238-2011 and IEC/IEEE 61850-9-3:2016 as well as Parallel Redundancy Protocol (PRP) for deployments at the substations.
For Time Sensitive Network (TSN) deployments such as 5G private networks, the TimeProvider 4500 supports the latest IEEE 802.1.AS-2020 standard.
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Documentation
- White Papers
- Data Sheets
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Title
|
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|---|---|
| Securing Critical Timing Infrastructure | Download |
| TimeProvider® 4100 ePRTC Performance Compliance Report | Download |
| TP4100 ePRTC Performance Report | Download |
| Virtual Primary Reference Timing Clock (vPRTC) White Paper | Download |
| The Enhanced Primary Reference Time Clock (ePRTC) as a Solution for GNSS Vulnerability | Download |
| 5G Services and Sync Importance | Download |
| Main 5G ITU-T Standards Application Note | Download |
| Five Best Practices for Deploying and Monitoring a Virtual Primary Reference Time Clock (vPRTC) Network | Download |
| Upgrading Your Central Office Primary Reference Clock (PRC) to a Primary Reference Time Clock (PRTC) | Download |
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