Program

Abstract:

In response to Executive Order 13905, the Time and Frequency Division of NIST initiated the Special Calibration Service to provide a connection between the clock ensembles that realize UTC(NIST) and financial and commercial users at various remote locations. The intent was to provide a service that would provide time signals that were transmitted by means of fiber circuits and would be independent of signals from the global navigation satellites. This method would ensure that the data would not be compromised by spoofing and jamming attacks against receivers that use timing data from GNSS satellites. This immunity is particularly important at locations where these attacks are becoming increasingly common. In collaboration with two third parties, Hoptroff and Equinix, we have implemented connections to commercial and financial users from our reference time scales in Boulder, Colorado and Gaithersburg, Maryland. The data provided to end-users is directly traceable to UTC(NIST) and satisfies the legal and regulatory requirements of financial and commercial users. We will discuss the details of the connections and the accuracy and stability of the time service. The collaborations with Hoptroff and with Equinix are not exclusive, and the service is open to other third parties.