The use of fault-tolerant clock synchronization algorithms for time scales

Clock ensembles are at the core of many applications in which precise time or frequency is required. The widely used time scale algorithms need cumbersome modifications when clocks can be potentially faulty. Fault-tolerant clock synchronization algorithms from distributed systems allow to build time scales without the need of special detection systems for anomalous behavior of the clocks. We present a short overview of the general principles underlying these algorithms and their advantages and disadvantages when being used for time scales.