Timingpræcision

Timingpræcision, literally “timing precision” in Danish, refers to the degree to which events or signals occur at their intended times relative to a reference clock. It covers both the accuracy of an event time and the consistency with which that timing is reproduced across devices or measurements.

Key concepts include accuracy (bias relative to the true time), precision (repeatability), and stability over time. Common metrics are jitter (short-term timing fluctuations), phase noise, and long-term deviations such as Allan deviation. In distributed systems, timing precision also depends on clock skew and fixed and variable delays in networks or processing.

Techniques to improve timing precision include using high-stability oscillators (OCXOs, rubidium, or cesium standards), disciplined clocks, and robust clock distribution networks. Time synchronization protocols such as IEEE 1588 Precision Time Protocol (PTP) or White Rabbit provide sub-nanosecond to sub-microsecond alignment. Time stamping, calibration, temperature compensation, and shielding against electromagnetic interference help reduce drift.

Applications span telecommunications, data centers, financial trading systems, industrial automation, audio-visual synchronization, scientific experiments, and autonomous transport. Challenges include environmental variation, aging of components, network jitter and latency, and measurement noise; ongoing research seeks tighter integration of GNSS timing with packet-based networks and time-aware architecture design.