Cristian's algorithm (introduced by Flaviu Cristian in 1989) is a method for clock synchronization which can be used in many fields of distributive computer science but is primarily used in low-latency intranets. Cristian observed that this simple algorithm is probabilistic, in that it only achieves synchronization if the round-trip time (RTT) of the request is short compared to required accuracy. It also suffers in implementations using a single server, making it unsuitable for many distributive applications where redundancy may be crucial.
Video Cristian's algorithm
The algorithm
Cristian's algorithm works between a process P, and a time server S -- connected to a source of UTC (Coordinated Universal Time). Put simply:
- P requests the time from S
- After receiving the request from P, S prepares a response and appends the time T from its own clock.
- P then sets its time to be T + RTT/2
This method assumes that the RTT is split equally between request and response, which may not always be the case but is a reasonable assumption on a LAN connection.
Further accuracy can be gained by making multiple requests to S and using the response with the shortest RTT.
We can estimate the accuracy of the system as follows. Let min be the minimum time to transmit a message one-way. The earliest point at which S could have placed the time T, was min after P sent its request. Therefore, the time at S, when the message by P is received, is in the range (T + min) to (T + RTT - min). The width of this range is (RTT - 2*min). This gives an accuracy of (RTT/2 - min).
Maps Cristian's algorithm
References
See also
- Allan variance
- Clock synchronization
- International Atomic Time
- ntpd, OpenNTPD and Ntpdate
- NTP pool, a collection of worldwide computers that provide a highly accurate time via the Network Time Protocol
- NTP server misuse and abuse
- Synchronization
- Time server
Other time synchronization protocols:
- Berkeley algorithm
- DAYTIME protocol, older time synchronization protocol using TCP or UDP port 13
- ICMP Timestamp and ICMP Timestamp Reply, older time synchronization protocol using ICMP
- Precision Time Protocol
- TIME protocol, older time synchronization protocol using TCP or UDP port 37
Source of the article : Wikipedia