North America’s Premier Timing & Sync Event
Calnex will once again sponsor North America’s leading event on Timing and Sync. The ATIS organised Workshop on Synchronization and Timing Systems (WSTS) will take place as an in-person event (March 13-16) in Vancouver, BC.
The Workshop on Synchronization and Timing Systems (WSTS), presented by ATIS, is a vendor-neutral technology workshop that will address evolving sync requirements, as well as the roll-out of new sync systems and standards, and how these affect industries and equipment manufacturers.
WSTS is managed by a Steering Committee composed of synchronization experts representing a cross section of users, manufacturers and professionals associated with synchronization in a variety of industries. The Committee sets the strategic priorities for the event and defines the main topics to be addressed each year.
WSTS represents pre-eminent experts in synchronization for telecom and related applications. Many of these experts participate in various standards bodies including ATIS, ITU, IEEE and IETF.
Accurate time synchronization is an essential driving force in the success of today’s most commonly used technologies. Telecom, Finance, Utilities, Broadcast, Transportation, IoT, and Defense are evolving with critical timing enablers in many of their systems.
Telecom continues to require tighter “sync” particularly for the operation of mobile wireless systems. 5G, driven by the demands of significantly greater spectral efficiency and the migration to small cells, is particularly sync-dependent. Next-generation E911 networks now have new, more stringent requirements for time synchronization.
Many other industries are finding either the need or the attraction to precision timing and synchronization. In the finance industry, markets are coming under tighter restrictions on time-stamping of trades. The power industry needs accurate reliable time for managing the grid. Smart Transportation Systems will need a number of types of precision timing to support a wide variety of systems and services. In the Internet of Things, many are forecasting an unprecedented growth of endpoints to the network that will require time-stamping in sensors and latency control. Defense systems require various kinds of timing to support actions and services in challenged environments.
Also, greater awareness is developing of GPS and GNSS vulnerability to intentional and unintentional interference. Today’s networks face challenges as they support both existing and emerging services that have a variety of sync needs: time, frequency and phase synchronization. Add to the mix that new standards for time synchronization are being developed in the ATIS, ITU, IEEE, IETF and other standards bodies.
Paper being presented by Calnex Solutions:
Synchronization in Fronthaul: Status, Challenges and Next Steps
The Radio Access split has been a hot topic for several years. This has been debated in various forums and standardization bodies (CPRI, IEEE 802.1, NGMN, Small cell forum, xRAN); O-RAN is now the main place working on its evolution. Over the years the relevant sync specifications have significantly evolved adding increasing detail. A key aspect is cooperation and alignment between the O-RAN sync group and the ITU-T sync expert group (Q13/15). Q13/15 itself has conducted important studies in the area of fronthaul in recent years and relevant recommendations (e.g., G.8271.1) have been updated addressing related aspects. An important topic recently discussed between O-RAN and ITU-T Q13/15 is packet sync security. This talk will go through the evolution of sync specifications applicable in fronthaul, with focus on ORAN and its cooperation with Q13/15. We will present status and future challenges.
For more information on WSTS 2023 click here.
