Goal

The goal is to gather use cases and requirements for time synchronization in data centers.

By gathering requirements from multiple large data center operators, the group can determine if features are needed in timing standards. If so, the group can produce a white paper to assist with creation of new projects in those timing standards.

The group connects experts in two industries: data centers, and timing.

Use cases include any application that requires time sync to a specified performance, including software applications (like AI), but also topics like energy savings. Requirements include performance for frequency, performance for time-of-day, whether Ethernet is used or direct signaling (1PPS), Ethernet topology, assumptions for Ethernet switches, and so on. Use cases can include the interconnection between multiple data centers.
Large data center operators, aka hyperscalers. Engineers involved in architecting large data centers are in the best position to describe use cases and requirements, even if it is an educated guess. Timing experts can help to guide discussion, and can educate on existing standards and ongoing projects. Commercial sales pitches by hardware vendors are not needed.
IEEE 1588 (PTP) and IEEE P1588.1 (Client Server PTP) are assumed to be the focus of discussion. Discussion of other timing standards is welcomed, including NTP, GNSS, and 1PPS. ITU-T standards specify profiles of PTP, as well as performance requirements and testing.

Presentations

The current focus of the group is presentations, held as online Zoom calls.

Select Meetings and Events in the menu to view upcoming calls as well as past presentations. No membership is needed in order to attend a presentation.

If you are interested in giving a presentation, contact the Officiers listed below.

Officers

Organization

This group is organized under the IEEE Standards Association (SA) Industry Connection (IC) program. For more information on the program, select Industry Connections Program Page in the right pane.

For specific information on this Timing in Data Ceters (TDC) IC, select Activity Initiation Document (ICAID) in the right pane. That document describes the TDC IC, and section 7.3 (Procedures) provides a link to formal policies and procedures. Participants in this TDC IC are required to read, understand, and comply with those policies and procedures.

The Time Appliances Project (TAP) of the Open Compute Project (OCP) has been tracking the Goal of this TDC IC for years, and that work will continue in OCP-TAP. Therefore, this TDC IC operates in close coordination with OCP-TAP.

Presentations in this TDC IC are held as joint Zoom calls with OCP-TAP. OCP-TAP covers more topics than this TDC IC, so the joint calls are a subset of overall OCP-TAP calls. OCP has a policy that subject-matter presentations are recorded and posted on YouTube. The IEEE IC program has a concern that public recording can discourage open and honest discussion (even subconsciously), and IEEE IC policy prohibits recording of such discussions. In order to conform to both policies, joint TDC IC / OCP-TAP calls will record the presentation of slides (including questions along the way), but recording will be stopped prior to open Q&A discussion after the presentation. Participants are notified of these policies prior to the start of every joint call.

Agendas and Minutes will be posted in the page named Agenda and Minutes in the menu above. If you do not see a specific Agenda document for a presentation, the agenda is the presentation alone, with no other topics. If you do not see a specific Minutes document for a presentation, the minutes were “The slides were presented, and discussed afterward. No decisions were made.” If any decisons or other topics occur in a call, a formal Minutes document will be posted.

The TDC IC maintains a formal roster of members. If you would like to become a member, select the Participation Form in the right pane, and submit the form. When you become a member, you will be able to login to the TDC IC’s iMeet workspace (linked in right pane). IEEE IC policy states that work on output documents (e.g., white papers) occurs as members-only (outside of public view), and the iMeet workspace is used for that work. When the TDC IC begins work on a white paper, the iMeet workspace will be used to hold drafts of the white paper, and to resolve comments on those drafts. In the event that formal voting is needed to resolve disagreements on the draft, members will vote in iMeet. Once the white paper is published, it will be available publicly on this site.

Note: Since the TDC IC is not working on a white paper at this time, the iMeet workspace is mostly empty and silent.

Mailing Lists

  • Members:  [email protected]
    • Members of TDC IC (with iMeet access) are automatically subscribed to this mailing list. The archive of the mailing list can be viewed in iMeet.
  • Officers: [email protected]
    • Send an email to this address as a shorthand to reach the Officers listed above.