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. 2016 Oct 7:121:436-463.
doi: 10.6028/jres.121.023. eCollection 2016.

Accurate, Traceable, and Verifiable Time Synchronization for World Financial Markets

Michael A Lombardi  1 , Andrew N Novick  1 , George Neville-Neil  2 , Ben Cooke  3
Affiliations

Accurate, Traceable, and Verifiable Time Synchronization for World Financial Markets

Michael A Lombardi et al. J Res Natl Inst Stand Technol. .

Abstract

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), through a collaboration with Perseus, a global provider of telecommunication services, is providing accurate, traceable, and verifiable time synchronization to stock exchanges in the United States, Europe, and Asia. The paper describes why accurate time is necessary for fair and equitable financial markets and summarizes current and proposed future synchronization requirements in the financial sector. We discuss reference time sources and provide a technical overview of how NIST transfers time to data center hosted stock exchange. We also discuss how Perseus distributes NIST time to financial market customers and describes how the time is verified. Measurement data are presented, along with a discussion of measurement uncertainty.

Keywords: stock market; synchronization; time transfer; traceability.

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Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.
An OATS compliant clock used to time stamp financial transactions (courtesy of Amano).
Fig. 2.
Fig. 2.
The time difference between UTC and UTC(NIST) over a 10-year period (2006–2015).
Fig. 3.
Fig. 3.
A simple “one-way” time transfer system.
Fig. 4.
Fig. 4.
Common-view time transfer via satellite.
Fig. 5.
Fig. 5.
Common-clock calibration of a NISTDC prior to shipment.
Fig. 6.
Fig. 6.
NIST disciplined clock system.
Fig. 7.
Fig. 7.
Comparison of frequency stability of NISTDC to undisciplined rubidium clock, with respect to UTC(NIST).
Fig. 8.
Fig. 8.
Measurement configuration for direct comparison of a NISTDC to UTC(NIST).
Fig. 9.
Fig. 9.
Direct and Common-View Comparisons of a NISTDC at NIST prior to shipment.
Fig. 10.
Fig. 10.
Time stability of a NISTDC with respect to UTC(NIST).
Fig. 11.
Fig. 11.
Grid displaying the most recently measured time differences between NISTDCs and UTC(NIST).
Fig. 12.
Fig. 12.
The average daily time offsets between eight NISTDCs at Perseus data centers and UTC(NIST).
Fig. 13.
Fig. 13.
System for measuring the accuracy of received NTP time stamps.
Fig. 14.
Fig. 14.
Time differences between NTP time stamps transmitted via a LAN and UTC(NIST).
Fig. 15.
Fig. 15.
Time differences between NTP time stamps transmitted from a Perseus server in London and UTC(NIST) as measured in Boulder, Colorado.
Fig. 16.
Fig. 16.
Round trip delay via public Internet between NIST in Boulder, Colorado and Perseus NTP server in London.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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