NTP GPS Server Using Satellite Time Signals
The NTP GPS server is a dedicated device that uses the time signal from the GPS (Global Positioning System) network. GPS is now a common tool for motorists with satellite navigation devices fitted to most new cars. But GPS is far more than just an aid for positioning, at the very heart of the GPS network is the atomic clocks that are inside each GPS satellite.
The GPS system works by transmitting the time from these clocks along with the position and velocity of the satellite. A satellite navigation receiver will work out when it receives this time how long it took to arrive and therefore how far the signal travelled. Using three or more of these signals the satellite navigation device can work out exactly where it is.
GPS can only do this because of the atomic clocks that it uses to transmit the time signals. These time signals travel, like all radio signals, at the speed of light so an inaccuracy of just 1 millisecond (1/1000 of a second) could result in the satellite navigation being nearly 300 kilometres out.
Because these clocks have to be so accurate, they make an ideal source of time for a NTP time server. NTP (Network Time Protocol) is the software that distributes the time from the time server to the network. GPS time and UTC (Coordinated Universal Time) the civil timescale is not quite the same thing but are base don the same timescale so NTP has no trouble converting it. Using a dedicated NTP GPS server a network can be realistically synchronised to within a few milliseconds of UTC
The GPS clock is another term often given to a GPS time server. The GPS network consists of 21 active satellites (and a few spare) 10,000 miles in orbit above the Earth and each satellite circles the Earth twice a day. Designed for satellite navigation, A GPS receiver needs at least three satellites to maintain a position. However, in the case of a GPS clock just one satellite is required making it far easier to obtain a reliable signal.
Each satellite continuously transmits its own position and a time code. The time code is generated by an onboard atomic clock and is highly accurate, it has to be as this information is used by the GPS receiver to triangulate a position and if it was just half a second out the Sat Nav unit would be inaccurate by thousands of miles.
