Ultra accurate world timing services
The project aims at distributing ultra-accurate and traceable timing through optical fibres. The goal is to provide traceable, accurate and cost-effective timing information for the Galileo Time System and for customers requiring highly dependable distributed synchronization applications. The target customers include government authorities as European Galileo Agency (for the Galileo surface segment) and customers in Telecom, Smart-Grid, stock market (high frequency trading) and highly accurate positioning markets (conventionally dependent on satellite signals). The use of terrestrial timing distribution allows National Metrology Institutes (NMIs) in charge of Galileo Time Validation Facility to compare their clocks and steer to UTC, maximizing the traceability of Galileo System Time and enhancing its accuracy. In addition, this allows deploying a terrestrial time network for industrial applications, traceable with respect to UTC and Galileo, robust against satellite signal vulnerability problems and providing redundant time services for critical infrastructures. 

This is possible with the emergent White Rabbit (WR) solution which is a sub-nanosecond accurate timing technology originally born at CERN for scientific facilities. WR is an extension of the standard Ethernet based on time distribution standards. As an extension of Ethernet, it can be easily integrated with existing communication networks at negligible bandwidth cost and can distribute time and frequency signals with 100 ps accuracy over distances longer than 1000 Km. 

The purpose of this project is to confirm a business plan and develop in detail an appropriate strategy to penetrate the market. This includes a proper market analysis (existing markets and emergent applications), partnership strategies and concrete commercialization plan for those sectors. In phase 1, we will focus on exploring the specific characteristics of different potential customers and final application sectors.