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Time that holds when the satellites go quiet.

Power grids, telecom networks, financial markets and broadcasters depend on precise time, mostly from satellite navigation. Jamming, spoofing or a satellite fault can take it away. Reference clocks with holdover, monitoring of every timing source and time delivered over terrestrial networks keep critical systems on time.

Industry

Civil resilience

Measurements

4

Sources cited

4

1. Civil resilience · Timing integrity

   Hidden dependence on satellites

   Grids, telecom networks, markets and broadcasters all need precise time, and most take it from satellite navigation. Jamming near a port, spoofing that moves time silently or a satellite system fault can take it from every receiver at once. Governments ask operators to understand the dependence and plan for its loss.

2. What is measured

   Every source compared

   Timing receivers watch satellite signal quality and interference at each reference site. Reference clocks with holdover oscillators keep time independently, and precision time protocol clocks at substations and cell sites measure the time error that actually reaches the systems that use it.

   Instruments

   Timing receivers · Reference clocks · Network time error probes

3. The base node

   Trust decided at the site

   The node compares satellite time with the reference clock and terrestrial time each second. Sudden offsets and degraded signals mark jamming or spoofing; the clock is switched to holdover, the decision is logged, and the remaining time within limits is reported to the operator.

4. Radio and links

   Time over the network

   Time travels over the operator’s fibre with the precision time protocol, so delivery points do not depend on their own satellite receivers. Microwave carries time to sites without fibre, with its delay measured and corrected. Monitoring travels through a security gateway.

   Links

   Fibre · Microwave

5. How it works

   From jamming to holdover

   A vehicle with a jammer parks near a substation. The timing receiver’s signal quality collapses and its time jumps; the node rejects it, the reference clock holds, and substations keep receiving time over fibre. The operator sees the event, the remaining holdover and the location of the interference.

6. From order to operation · Order

   Map the timing dependence

   The scope maps every system that needs time, where its time comes from, how accurate it must be and what happens when it is lost. Nexus Observatory Inc. returns the reference sites, holdover design, monitoring and delivery over the network, and a price per site and per year.

   Plan a deployment

7. From order to operation · Survey

   Survey for interference

   Crews survey candidate reference sites for sky view, nearby roads and ports where jamming is common, secure rooms and power, and the network paths that will carry time. A spectrum scan records interference at each candidate. Findings shape the kit for each site before anything is built.

8. From order to operation · Permits

   Security and change control

   Reference sites are placed in secure rooms under the operator’s access rules, and connecting timing to production networks goes through change control. Interference found during the survey is reported to the spectrum regulator, and every approval is kept with the site record.

9. From order to operation · Build

   Build and characterise clocks

   Reference clocks are characterised in the shop for their holdover drift, receivers are tested against simulated jamming and spoofing, and nodes are enrolled with their identities. Every kit runs together for days so its behaviour is known before it ships.

   Open the Station Builder

10. From order to operation · Install

    Install antennas and clocks

    Crews mount antennas where they see the sky but not the road, install clocks, receivers and nodes in secure rooms, and connect time to the network’s precision time protocol chain. Cable delays are measured and recorded for each antenna. Crews follow the site safety plan throughout the work.

11. From order to operation · Commission

    Commission against a time laboratory

    Each node proves its identity. Time is compared with a traceable reference, holdover is tested by removing the antenna for a planned period, and time error is measured at delivery points along the network. Results are recorded for each site.

12. From order to operation · Operate

    Watch every source

    The operator sees every reference site, its sources, signal quality, interference events and time error at delivery points. When jamming appears, clocks hold and the view shows how long they will stay within limits. Every event is kept on record.

13. From order to operation · Maintain

    Retest holdover

    Holdover is retested on the agreed plan, oscillators are replaced as they age, software updates roll out in rings, and interference patterns are reviewed with the regulator. Every change, test and event is kept with the site record. Maintenance history stays with each site for its whole life.

    Book field services

14. Data products

    For operations, security and planners

    Network and grid operations receive time error across the network; security teams and spectrum regulators receive jamming and spoofing events; operations receive holdover time remaining during interference; resilience planners receive the timing dependence map, each tied to the site and time.

    See the data products

15. Evidence

    Time you can prove

    Reference clocks meet the primary reference clock recommendation, time is carried over the telecom timing profile of the precision time protocol, and the programme answers the government call to use satellite timing responsibly. Every comparison, holdover and interference event is logged and kept.

    Drawn against

    ITU-T G.8272 · ITU-T G.8275.1 · IEEE 1588 · Executive Order 13905

16. What you get

    Timing and positioning integrity

    PTP grandmasters with GNSS holdover, interference detection and timing monitoring for networks and instruments. Delivered as hardware + software and managed service, for carriers, utilities, financial infrastructure, observatories. Scale: National timing fabrics. Service levels are written as numbers you can measure on your own dashboard.

    Talk to sales

17. Next step

    Plan timing integrity with us

    Tell us the site, the measurements and the rules it answers to. We reply with a survey proposal, a design and a scope for timing integrity. An engineer replies with a survey proposal and a scope, and the plan grows from one site to the network you need, at your pace.

    Plan a deploymentOpen the Station BuilderOpen the Studio

01The place and its hazards

Where it runs, and what can go wrong.

Operating contextCritical infrastructure has grown dependent on satellite time. Governments have asked operators to understand that dependence and to use timing responsibly; primary reference clocks and telecom timing profiles are defined in international recommendations; and precision time is carried over networks by the precision time protocol.

Hazards

• Jamming near roads, ports and borders
• Spoofing that moves time without raising an alarm
• Satellite system faults affecting every receiver at once
• Clocks that drift silently after losing their reference
• Timing chains no one has mapped end to end

02What must be measured

What, where, how often, and under which rules.

Each measurement names where it is taken, how often, and the public standard or regulation behind it. Numbers in the sources column open the cited source below.

03The observation stack

From one base unit to a network.

The same blocks at every scale: instruments and a base node, a site with its radio, a fleet run as one, and a network federated on the open protocol.

1. 01

   Base unit

   A timing point: a timing receiver, a reference clock with a holdover oscillator and a node that compares every source.

   Build a station →
2. 02

   Site

   A site: the timing point in a secure room, antennas placed against interference and time delivered over the operator’s network.

   Plan a site →
3. 03

   Fleet

   Every timing site of an operator monitored as one fleet, with one view of time error across the network.

   Managed offers →
4. 04

   Network

   Operators, time laboratories and regulators compare time across organisations and share interference reports through open standards.

   The open protocol →

• 01GNSS reference station (RTK)
• 02Edge node (Wedge)
• 03Zero-trust gateway
• 04Fibre terminal
• 05Point-to-point microwave
• 06Shelter

Radio and links

Fibre

Time travels over the operator’s fibre with the precision time protocol, independent of satellites at the delivery point.

Radio and links

Point-to-point microwave

Microwave carries time to sites without fibre, with its delay measured and corrected.

Edge computeThe node compares satellite time with the reference clock and terrestrial time, detects jamming and spoofing from signal quality and sudden offsets, switches the clock to holdover when the satellite source is untrusted, and logs every decision.

PowerTiming sites run from protected DC with batteries that outlast the holdover period, because a clock that loses power loses its time.

04How it works

From the instrument to the product.

One observation’s path, tier by tier, with the interface on every link and a bill of materials below; then how the one node grows to a site, a fleet and federated networks.

05From order to operation

Every step, from the first call to a running site.

The same crew and the same record carry the work from scope to maintenance.

1. 01 Order

   Map the timing dependence

   The scope maps every system that needs time, where its time comes from, how accurate it must be and what happens when it is lost. Nexus Observatory Inc. returns the reference sites, holdover design, monitoring and delivery over the network, and a price per site and per year. 1

2. 02 Survey

   Survey for interference

   Crews survey candidate reference sites for sky view, nearby roads and ports where jamming is common, secure rooms and power, and the network paths that will carry time. A spectrum scan records interference at each candidate. Findings shape the kit for each site before anything is built.

3. 03 Permits

   Security and change control

   Reference sites are placed in secure rooms under the operator’s access rules, and connecting timing to production networks goes through change control. Interference found during the survey is reported to the spectrum regulator, and every approval is kept with the site record.

4. 04 Build

   Build and characterise clocks

   Reference clocks are characterised in the shop for their holdover drift, receivers are tested against simulated jamming and spoofing, and nodes are enrolled with their identities. Every kit runs together for days so its behaviour is known before it ships. 2

5. 05 Install

   Install antennas and clocks

   Crews mount antennas where they see the sky but not the road, install clocks, receivers and nodes in secure rooms, and connect time to the network’s precision time protocol chain. Cable delays are measured and recorded for each antenna. Crews follow the site safety plan throughout the work. 4

6. 06 Commission

   Commission against a time laboratory

   Each node proves its identity. Time is compared with a traceable reference, holdover is tested by removing the antenna for a planned period, and time error is measured at delivery points along the network. Results are recorded for each site. 3

7. 07 Operate

   Watch every source

   The operator sees every reference site, its sources, signal quality, interference events and time error at delivery points. When jamming appears, clocks hold and the view shows how long they will stay within limits. Every event is kept on record. 1

8. 08 Maintain

   Retest holdover

   Holdover is retested on the agreed plan, oscillators are replaced as they age, software updates roll out in rings, and interference patterns are reviewed with the regulator. Every change, test and event is kept with the site record. Maintenance history stays with each site for its whole life. 2

06Data products and integration

What it delivers, to whom, and into which systems.

Data products

• Time error across the networkNetwork and grid operations
• Jamming and spoofing eventsSecurity teams and spectrum regulators
• Holdover time remainingOperations during interference
• Timing dependence mapResilience planners

Integration

• Network managementTiming alarms reach the operator’s network management system through its own interfaces.
• Grid controlSubstation clocks receive time over the network for protection and measurement.
• RegulatorInterference events are exported for reporting.

Exchanged through IEEE 1588 PTP, NTP with NTS, ITU-T G.8275.1.

07Questions buyers ask

Before you scope it.

What happens when satellites are jammed?

Clocks hold time and the view shows how long they stay within limits.

Can it detect spoofing?

Sudden offsets between independent sources raise an alarm.

Do we need new fibre?

No. Time travels over the existing network where it supports the protocol.

How long does holdover last?

It depends on the clock chosen, measured before installation.

08Resources

The sources behind this page.

Public standards, regulations and guidance, cited where they apply. Each applies only where its jurisdiction or scope does.

1. 1Executive Order 13905: Strengthening National Resilience Through Responsible Use of Positioning, Navigation, and Timing ServicesUnited States Federal Register · 2020
2. 2ITU-T G.8272: Timing characteristics of primary reference time clocksInternational Telecommunication Union
3. 3ITU-T G.8275.1: Precision time protocol telecom profile for phase/time synchronization with full timing support from the networkInternational Telecommunication Union
4. 4IEEE 1588: Standard for a Precision Clock Synchronization Protocol for Networked Measurement and Control SystemsIEEE Standards Association

09Related

Use cases and solutions.

10Civil resilience: specialized fields

Other fields of this industry.

Bring us the site.

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