NPLTime Certified® and NPLTime Access® services from the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) offer users a time signal that is traceable to Coordinated Universal Time UTC(NPL).
Contact us to find out more about our NPLTime Access® and NPLTime Certified® service offerings.
Providing all UK industry sectors access to a secure timing signal independent of GNSS.
An assured service with certification that provides end users in the finance sector with a timing capability that underpins traceable time-stamping, latency monitoring and synchronisation.
NPLTime® is offered with a one microsecond accuracy to UTC(NPL).
NPLTime® is directly traceable to UTC(NPL).
Fibre optic links eliminate GNSS vulnerabilities such as, jamming, spoofing, urban canyon effects and solar storms to ensure resilience and security.
NPLTime® is accessible through NPL service nodes and our resellers.
NPLTime® Services offer users a time signal over fibre optic links that is traceable to UTC(NPL), not dependent on GNSS.
Time is more crucial than ever to industry and society. Uses range from every day positioning tools such as satnavs, to playing a key role in industries such as transport, agriculture and other aspects of critical national infrastructure. The use of timing signals are also an integral part of new technologies such as 5G, smart cities, drones and CAVs. Currently most timing signals are derived from satellites.
The 2018 Blackett review highlighted the UK’s dependency on using satellite-derived timing. Requirements are also becoming more demanding, with some applications requiring uncertainties smaller than 1 microsecond and signals that are continuously available.
A precise, resilient and reliable timekeeping source, independent of GNSS, is vital to help prevent serious societal and industrial impact in the event of a cyber-attack, jamming or spoofing.
The NPLTime® digital portal provides an online data reporting service for users and resellers of the NPLTime services® for signal accuracy and availability.
Benefits include:
Digital portal reporting metrics
|
NPLTime Access® |
NPLTime Certified® |
Signal accuracy to UTC(NPL) at service nodes |
✓ |
✓ |
Signal availability at service nodes |
✓ |
✓ |
Signal performance at reseller end point devices |
x |
✓ |
Service event log |
x |
✓ |
Billing management for resellers |
x |
✓ |
Led by NPL, the UK’s first nationally distributed time infrastructure will improve security and resilience, communication, and implementation of new technologies, and pave the way for trusted time and frequency across the country.