[time-nuts] Using a frequency synthesizer replacement for motherboard oscillator

David I. Emery die at dieconsulting.com
Sat Dec 1 02:19:16 UTC 2012


On Fri, Nov 30, 2012 at 04:24:38PM -0600, shalimr9 at gmail.com wrote:
> I am not sure that a precision clock will help if the cpu is busy and skips clock cycles. I believe this is one of the problems with general purpose OSes like Windows.
> 
> I believe the better boards like the Soekis use hardware dividers to alleviate the cpu busy problem.
> 
> Didier

	For what it is worth, for many generations now all major CPUs
have had kernel software readable nanosecond level time of day time
stamping counters that are clocked from the incoming clock to the CPU
chip and run continuously and steadily without skipped or added ticks
whatever the CPU is doing.   And in addition to these time stamping
counters, most all CPU chip sets also include "real time clock"
interrupts which again are  driven off of continuously counting counters
referenced to the clock input to the CPU and can be programmed to
interrupt ever n ticks of the master clock - regardless of CPU activity.

	Obviously while servicing the real time clock interrupts is
usually a very high priority, depending on how the OS works and what
privileges real time priority apps have occasionally a real time
interrupt can be serviced so slowly that another one happens before it
is cleared.   Some OS real time clock handlers attempt to spot these
cases and adjust their idea of time to compensate.

	Any OS based PLL driven by time stamping 1 PPS timing interrupts
WILL see some jitter in its time stamps due to bus and internal CPU
latencies and use of interrupt off intervals to protect against race
conditions. This noise is unavoidable and does depend on CPU load and
even  how fast the CPU clocks are set to run at any instant (modern CPUS
dynamically adjust clock rate in various areas of their logic to
conserve power and reduce heat).

	So for a very fine control a hardware based 1PPS event time
stamper will provide greater accuracy and less jitter, especially if it
is driven by a high accuracy external clock source locked to some time
reference.

	But of course it IS  useful to clock the CPU with an accurate
clock as that then means the internal CPU time stamp counter and real
time tick interrupt is ticking at a known rate - starting from some
epoch that can be eventually calibrated over time - and multiple 1 PPS
ticks - within a few ns or so of 1 PPS GPS or other similar time.

	If the CPU clock is unstable and wanders around with time,
temperature, power and fan activity it then becomes necessary - as the
timing 1PPS PLLs built into many modern kernels do - to try to measure
its frequency error and drift and estimate the error phase between it
and true time. If the CPU clock  is locked to a reference, this is not
as hard a thing to do as the only relative unknown is when exactly the
zero epoch on the counter occurred.


-- 
  Dave Emery N1PRE/AE, die at dieconsulting.com  DIE Consulting, Weston, Mass 02493
"An empty zombie mind with a forlorn barely readable weatherbeaten
'For Rent' sign still vainly flapping outside on the weed encrusted pole - in 
celebration of what could have been, but wasn't and is not to be now either."




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