APM: A Novel Two-Way Wireless Clock Synchronization Method Based on Accumulative Phase Measurements

Precise clock synchronization is critical for ensuring the real-time coordination of industrial processes as time-sensitive networking (TSN) requires. This article analyzes the difficulties in achieving high-precision clock synchronization in wireless communication systems and presents a novel two-way wireless clock synchronization method named accumulative phase measurement (APM), designed to utilize and compress the carrier phase of wireless signals to save channel resources while ensuring high-precision clock synchronization. Our method has been validated through simulations for 5G and wireless local area network (WLAN) systems, as well as software defined radio (SDR) experiments in both offices and factories. These evaluations demonstrate the superior performance of the method in achieving nanosecond synchronization accuracy, making it highly applicable for time-sensitive applications such as wireless industrial automation, wireless positioning, and distributed multiple antenna systems.