Renesas simplifies 5G with industry’s first IEEE 1588 synchronization software

Renesas Electronics Corporation, a supplier of advanced semiconductor solutions, has introduced the Precision Time Protocol (PTP) Clock Manager — the industry’s first Linux-based clock management software, providing an easy-to-use and accessible timing synchronization solution for telecom networks. This includes 4G, 5G, and the open-radio access network (O-RAN), with front and back-haul systems.

The new IEEE 1588 Renesas PTP Clock Manager includes APIs to connect Renesas timing ICs with any network processor via the Linux standard PTP stack, offering broad access to PTP synchronization without the need for time-intensive customization.

This timestamp unit (TSU)-agnostic approach provides customers access to their processor/clock combination of choice and eliminates the need to create their own APIs, allowing them greater design flexibility while reducing development costs. When used with Renesas clock solutions, the PTP Clock Manager is provided under a “no fees” license.

“Timing precision becomes more critical as carriers migrate to 5G networks. The open-source Linux environment offers the flexibility to create IEEE 1588-aware systems with a TSU and clock combination of choice for optimal timing performance,” said Bobby Matinpour, VP, Data Center Business Division at Renesas. “Providing PTP synchronization alongside a suite of best-in-class timing solutions without license fees reshapes the network system development landscape. We are excited to continue driving innovation that fosters and enables new vendors to succeed, consistent with initiatives like O-RAN.”

The new Linux-based PTP Clock Manager also works with Renesas’ ClockMatrix 8A3400x family of high-performance, precision, multi-channel timing devices and IEEE 1588-compliant 82P339xx devices to simplify the integration of telecom PTP solutions.

“We are collaborating closely with Renesas to develop joint reference designs that help to simplify and accelerate the time to market for our customers,” said Gilles Garcia, senior director of Marketing, Wired and Wireless Group, Xilinx, Inc. “5G networks demand high accuracy 1588 PTP for time and phase synchronization. Renesas’ PTP Clock Manager is an important enabler for our Versal AI Core Series VCK190 and Zynq UltraScale+ RFSoC ZCU216 evaluation kits, along with Xilinx Ethernet Solutions.”

Features

Extremely effective packet delay variation (PDV) filter for IEEE 1588 networks
Linux kernel PHC subsystem supports Renesas ClockMatrix timing devices
Backward compatibility with Linux v3.0 or later
Reduces the impact of packet-delayed variations caused by random queuing delays
Enables worldwide compliance with ITU-T synchronization recommendations
Available as clear source code to simplify debugging

As the market leader in silicon timing, Renesas offers the only “one-stop-shop” for timing solutions, offering expertise and products from full-featured system solutions to simple clock building-block devices. The new PTP clock manager extends this comprehensive portfolio to include both silicon and software solutions to support a full range of clocking needs.