Dhiman Deb Chowdhury - NextGen Network Synchronization

Overlooking the vast waterways of Surma plains in the northeastern part of the Bengal delta, I observed a natural phenomenon in my childhood that to date is vivid in my mind. As migratory birds flock over the waterways during the dawn and twilight, they appear to maintain a natural symmetry of forming a sign wave across the distant horizon. The waves of flocks are seemingly phase aligned.

We rarely think about this naturally occurring phenomenon when it comes to the design of network infrastructure, yet it is something de facto in how communication devices work in synchronicity. Whether a network is homogenous or heterogeneous, imperatives of synchronicity cannot be overlooked, nor can it be ignored. In every device in a network from computers to routers, an inherent synchronization is at work by design thanks to the advent of oscillators for local reference and NTP for distributed synchrony. For many of us, looking under the hood is not something we do often when it comes to designing the network. However, given the increased applications of time-sensitive transport in different industry verticals, synchrony and, for that matter, high precision synchronicity, can no longer be assumed or overlooked.

In some applications such as industrial automation, power utilities, and 5G transport, high-precision synchrony is a must, and without a proper sync plane design network will suffer significant performance issues. Whereas industrial automations are concerned such issues may lead in catastrophic failure resulting in safety hazards.

A detailed design book, resplendent with discussions on primary reference clock systems, GNSS devices, timing parameters, protocols, and overall sync plane design of nextgen networks, speaks volumes. In fact, each chapter could be extended to a book, yet the author made every attempt to furnish as many details as possible to provide a comprehensive purview of the subject in each chapter. It is, however, recommended that readers who are interested to learn further should study appropriate industry standards.

This book attempts to provide comprehensive, accurate, and timely information up to the date of publication. While many of the industry standards presented in the book are final, some may be in the process of approval, and thus, it is advisable for the readership to further explore those industry standards for their applicability. Please excuse some of the blatant assumptions that users are ready to implement some of the advanced technologieson rare occasions, it will take some time before they can be implemented. Please also excuse my personal biases, which may have crept into the text in a few sync planes examples. I simply presented some of the products best known to me to present the type of product that is used in those scenarios to design sync planes. This is by no means to promote any product or technologies.