timecorresponding

Timecorresponding is a descriptor used to refer to the relationship between events or data points that are aligned in time across two or more sequences, streams, or reference frames. A pair of samples is timecorresponding if they are captured at the same time, or within a specified tolerance, and thus can be directly compared or fused.

In practice, timecorresponding data underpins time synchronization, time alignment, and data fusion. It is important in multi-sensor systems where signals from different modalities (for example, video and audio, lidar and camera, or ECG and PPG) must be analyzed together. By identifying timecorresponding points, analysts can compute offsets, fuse measurements, or perform cross-modal correlation.

Techniques used to establish or verify timecorrespondence include clock synchronization protocols such as NTP or IEEE 1588 Precision Time Protocol, time stamping at capture, interpolation or resampling to a common time axis, and cross-correlation to estimate delays. In cases where time distortion is non-linear, methods such as dynamic time warping can be used to map time indices between sequences to timecorresponding points.

In data analysis and research, timecorresponding points enable accurate estimation of relationships, derivatives, or trends across datasets. The term is descriptive and not widely standardized; it is often described as time-aligned, time-synchronized, or time-mapped data depending on the context.