The Design and Implementation of IEEE 1588v2 Clock Synchronization System by Generating Hardware Timestamps in MAC Layer

IEEE 1588 is a standard for a precision clock synchronization protocol for networked measurement and control systems. IEEE 1588 protocol can provide sub-microsecond accuracy. However, most synchronous systems generate timestamps using software-generated methods or proprietary chips. Thus, the accuracy and portability of synchronous systems cannot be balanced. Based on the analysis of IEEE 1588 standard and current Ethernet time synchronization scheme, this study presented a scheme using FPGA and ARM. In order to improve the universality and portability of synchronous system, this research adopted the method of generating hardware timestamps in Media Access Control(MAC) layer. Verified by experiment in Gigabit Ethernet environments, this design is correct and the marking accuracy is better than 20ns. The portability of synchronous system is improved on the premise of ensuring the accuracy of synchronization.