Intel® IXP400 Software

Access-Layer Components:

20

Time Sync (IxTimeSyncAcc) API

This chapter describes the Intel® IXP400 Software v2.0’s “Time Sync (IxTimeSyncAcc) API” access-layer component.

The IxTimeSyncAcc access-layer component enables a client application, which implements the IEEE 1588* Precision Time Protocol (PTP) to configure the IEEE 1588 Hardware Assist block on the Intel® IXP46X Product Line of Network Processors.

20.1What’s New

This is a new component for software release 2.0.

20.2Introduction

The IEEE 1588 Precision Time Protocol (PTP) is used to synchronize independent clocks running in distributed network elements/nodes to a high degree of accuracy, in the microsecond to sub- microsecond range. There are three main elements involved in supporting IEEE 1588 on the IXP46X network processors:

IEEE 1588 Hardware Assist block, available on the IXP46X network processors. The hardware provides necessary features to allow timestamping of the IEEE 1588 PTP messages.

IxTimeSyncAcc Access-Layer component, running on the Intel XScale® Core. This software component provides the functionality required to enable the IEEE 1588 Hardware Assist block on various MII ports, set and receive timestamps, receive and transfer interrupt requests to client applications, and other functions.

A IEEE 1588 PTP client application that would use the other two components to implement and use PTP messages and timestamps according to the IEEE 1588 specifications.

Note: This client application is not provided as part of the IXP400 software.

These three elements are depicted in Figure 95.

Programmer’s Guide

IXP400 Software Version 2.0

April 2005

 

Document Number: 252539, Revision: 007

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Intel IXP400 manual Access-Layer Components Time Sync IxTimeSyncAcc API, What’s New