[time-nuts] Divide by five ->Ensemble

Chris Albertson albertson.chris at gmail.com
Mon Nov 10 23:05:24 EST 2014


What you can do is to have a set of free-running oscillators, use them to
> build a ensemble paper-clock average, which when weighing them against the
> stability of the ensemble clock the individual stability will expose
> itself, and that ensemble clock will have some weighted frequency, and the
> individual clocks offset from that average frequency would be known, and
> momentary phases and prediction of those phases into the future can be
> done, and well deviations from that gives new info.


I like the term "paper clock".  I assume it means an oscillator that does
not physically exist but if it did would have the minimum weighted
difference relative to the set of physical clocks when measured over some
time span.

Your final ensemble time then would be the output of any oscillator plus a
data stream that gives difference between it and the paper clock.  Of
course the controller would select a good oscillator and try and discipline
it well but there will still be an error.

This is like what a GPS does when it outputs a sawtooth function.  The GPS
does it's best to put the PPS at theocracy time.  It can't get it perfect
but it can determine the error

-- 

Chris Albertson
Redondo Beach, California


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