“time-setting” Mode of Operation

The IEEE 1588 precision time protocol (PTP) time-setting mode of operation can be used to dramatically improve the quality of time-based systems that rely on a physical layer syntonization source in addition to PTP. Based on the standardized PTP protocol and common network frequency distribution techniques, the PTP time-setting mode of operation is capable of distributing time over packet-based facilities with little or no impact by network packet delay variation (PDV). In essence, the timing performance at a slave clock is directly related to the traceability, accuracy, and stability of physical layer packet-based systems (e.g., Synchronous Ethernet) or existing syntonization-based networks (e.g., SONET/SDH, DS1, or E1).