Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!seismo!sundc!pitstop!sun!decwrl!decvax!ucbvax!a.cs.okstate.EDU!ks From: ks@a.cs.okstate.EDU ("Kurt F. Sauer") Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: TelCo Time Standards Message-ID: <2751@okstate.UUCP> Date: Mon, 26-Oct-87 00:13:04 EST Article-I.D.: okstate.2751 Posted: Mon Oct 26 00:13:04 1987 Date-Received: Wed, 28-Oct-87 19:44:22 EST References: Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU Reply-To: "Kurt F. Sauer" Organization: Decision Studies Group, Inc., Box 701401, Tulsa OK 74170-1401 Lines: 20 Approved: telecom@xx.lcs.mit.edu Summary: Asks the question "Where are the standards located, and do propagation delays cause any undue problems?" Readers of Telecom: Cesium-based and other atomic timekeeping standards aren't prohibitively expensive today--although synchronization and phase-shift remain serious problems. Where, physically, are the time standards for the networks kept? For example, (though I have forgotten the name of the town for the moment) AT&T Communications, Inc. maintains a time standard in central Missouri. I have pictures of it--it's unimpressive...just a fancy clock with no direct indication of the time of day (sigh). If the other carriers have their own clocks, where are they? And does AT&T maintain other (backup or auxiliary) network clocks elsewhere? Net- works aren't like power grids in their ability to sink or swim instantly based on synchronization; it's a finer art. Kurt F. Sauer Tulsa, OK