secondary national timing resource (2)

Certichron’s vision of NSPD-39 proofing America:

The National Network of Time Service Centers

To be reviewed with USG Presentation to Carriers about the need to develop their own

independent instances of the US Time Standards to facilitate operations through periods

of PNT outage or malfunction from whatever cause.

Certichron’s disclosure of its having

“already deployed the solution” to this national service request

1. NATIONAL READINESS HAS BECOME A SERIOUS CONCERN FOR SECURITY AND

VALUING THE US ECONOMY ............................................................................................................... 3

2. SECONDARY NATIONAL TIMING RESOURCE ....................................................................... 3

2.1. EXPERTS AGREE: THE SOLUTION IS A PRIVATE NETWORK FOR TIME SERVICES ............................. 3 2.1.1. The massive proliferation of digital appliances...................................................................... 3 2.1.2. Loss of time-services could cause catastrophic damages....................................................... 3 2.1.3. The incremental value of establishing a secure side-by-side real-time service network ........ 4

3. CERTICHRON’S NATIONAL NETWORK – THE NATION’S ANSWER TO NSPD-39 OUTAGE

PREPAREDNESS. ........................................................................................................................................ 4

3.1. THE SECONDARY NATION-WIDE TIME SERVICE ASSET. ............................................................... 4 3.1.1. Carrier Neutrality ensured – everyone can connect!.............................................................. 4 3.1.2. Regionally available in nine (9) US sites and growing .......................................................... 5 3.1.3. Fail-over and meshing............................................................................................................ 6 3.1.4. Internet Site provisioning ....................................................................................................... 6 3.1.5. Addition of PTP Services to NJ2............................................................................................. 6

3.2. DHS CAN REPORT JOY HERE… THE SOLUTION IS ALREADY DEPLOYED ...................................... 7

4. PHILOSOPHY: NIST ITS – PACKAGED FOR AVAILABILITY AND MASS-

DEPLOYMENT ........................................................................................................................................... 7

4.1. CERTICHRON’S VISION: THE US TIMEBASE AVAILABLE EVERYWHERE ........................................ 7 4.1.1. Master Timekeepers are just that – production timekeepers are also just that. ..................... 7

4.2. SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT .................................................................................................. 8 4.2.1. 2 Parts: fracturing a national time-standard.......................................................................... 8 4.2.2. Sovereign Time-source is the key............................................................................................ 8 4.2.3. Externally operated services must meet and exceed Federal Standards ................................ 9

4.3. NIST INITIALLY – NOW TIME TO ADD USNO SERVICES TOO! ....................................................... 9 4.3.1. Adding a development platform for ‘remote National Time Standard Services’ .................... 9

4.4. REGIONALIZED, LOCAL ACCESS TO THE US TIME STANDARD IS ASSURED ................................... 9 4.4.1. Intelligence and LE benefits ................................................................................................. 10

5. PUBLIC USE AND ACCEPTANCE OF THE SERVICE............................................................ 10

5.1. CERTICHRON’S VISION IS THAT THE US TIMEBASE IS MORE THAT A TIMESCALE, IT’S A BRAND . 10 5.2. EXTENDING THE REGIONAL TIMING CENTERS: MORE ACCESS MODELS FOR US TIME ............... 11

5.2.1. Resolution and connection: Clients can select their own access and technology models .... 11 5.2.2. Carrier-Neutral Access at an unprecedented level............................................................... 11



5.3. REMOTE-SITE TYPES CAN BE SELECTED BASED ON LOCAL NEEDS............................................... 12 5.4. PRACTICES AND COMPLIANCE.................................................................................................... 12

5.4.1. GAO Yellow-book Compliant Operations Practice .............................................................. 12 5.4.2. NIST IT Compliant Operations Practice .............................................................................. 12 5.4.3. FISMA compliant Operations Practice ................................................................................ 12 5.4.4. OATS 7430 (FINRA)............................................................................................................. 13 5.4.5. DoD 8520 ............................................................................................................................. 13 5.4.6. DCID 1/x and 6/x.................................................................................................................. 13 5.4.7. x9x ........................................................................................................................................ 13

6. BUILDING A NATIONAL RESOURCE FOR DIGITAL SYNCHRONIZATION .................. 13

6.1. HOW?......................................................................................................................................... 13 6.1.1. Flatten out the access-policy – place ensembles everywhere ............................................... 13 6.1.2. Add data-capture peers inside the secured perimeter to create non-refutable timestamps .. 14 6.1.3. Capture everything – end to end........................................................................................... 14 6.1.4. Finally – use the Time Server for Content Branding and Timestamping too........................ 14

6.2. CARRIER-NEUTRAL PARTNERSHIPS ........................................................................................... 14 6.2.1. Typical Carrier Demarc ....................................................................................................... 14 6.2.2. This relationship is a network peering relationship and is identical to all other peering

relationships they have ....................................................................................................................... 15 6.2.3. The same service is available to Data Center and Enterprise-type customers as well......... 15

6.3. WHAT USES ............................................................................................................................... 15 6.3.1. Synchronization of Medium-Performance Computing Systems (Network Services)............. 15 6.3.2. Synchronization of High-Performance Computing Systems (CV-GPS)................................ 15 6.3.3. Synchronization of High-Performance Laboratory Grade services (TWSTT)...................... 15

7. TARGET GOALS............................................................................................................................. 16

7.1. NSPD-39: SYSTEMIC IMMUNITY AND RESILIENCE OF THE NATIONAL RESOURCE ..................... 16 7.1.1. Expand existing network....................................................................................................... 16

7.2. PRECISION TIME TRANSFER TEST-BED; DC LABORATORY ......................................................... 16 7.2.1. 1500 Eckington is first proposed site.................................................................................... 16 7.2.2. Ultra precise Time Transfer – a test-bed.............................................................................. 16 7.2.3. PTP Infrastructure test-bed .................................................................................................. 16 7.2.4. Test-bed Summary ................................................................................................................ 17

7.3. CROSS-CARRIER PARTICIPATION PRACTICES ............................................................................. 17 7.3.1. Create standards for the carriers and their participation .................................................... 17 7.3.2. Test out local distribution model for PTP services as a production service (operate the

Beltway USNO PTP distribution hub) ................................................................................................ 17

8. WHY DO IT THIS WAY? ............................................................................................................... 17

8.1. THE SPECIFIC NSPD-39 OUTAGE GOAL(S).................................................................................. 18 8.2. THERE ARE A NUMBER OF OTHER OPTIONS ................................................................................. 18 8.3. CERTICHRON ALREADY THOUGHT THIS THROUGH...................................................................... 19

8.3.1. Our method is tested by years of public use today................................................................ 19



1. National Readiness has become a serious concern for security and valuing the US Economy

The USG to Carriers Brief is more than a request to the Carriers to build a secondary

time distribution network it is actually two separate requests, one to build out a

production time distribution network, and a second to provide a test-bed for dark-fiber

time-service distribution for the USNO and NIST to experiment with.

This document addresses the first requirement, that of creating a national resource for

surviving a national or regional PNT outage. The second request, that being for the

development of that test bed is the subject of the already presented “DC Test Laboratory”

proposal with DHS.

2. Secondary National Timing Resource In response to the USG (PNT.GOV and DHS) presentation on a Secondary National

Timing Authority Resource, Certichron would like to tell the US Department of

Homeland Security that key parts of the National “Industry Resource” already exists, and

has been formally rolled out by Certichron and its US Time Server entity with NIST

specifically to meet the PNT outage issues now faced in the DHS program.

2.1. Experts Agree: the solution is a private network for time services

DHS and PNT.GOV as well as all of the key industry experts agree “that the ONLY way

to protect America from damage from PNT outage in any form is to create a secondary

distribution network which cannot be compromised”.

2.1.1. The massive proliferation of digital appliances

The proliferation of digital appliances into all aspects of life has made time-location

synchronization a real gating issue. Why? Because the T aspect of PNT is now so heavily

relied on in all aspects of everything digital today, this one key resource needs to be built

out and made reliably available in the interest of true National Security.

2.1.2. Loss of time-services could cause catastrophic damages

The loss of the availability of reliable time data actually stops many commercial practices

and processes and makes others be either slowed down or performed with direct human

oversight. So there is both control and direct financial damage from a PNT outage where

there is no other local time resource available.



2.1.3. The incremental value of establishing a secure side-by-side real-time service network

There is an incremental value of establishing a side-by-side network as a secure

communications channel for telemetry and other control information and this network

forms the basis of such a potential.

Clients of Certichron’s secure time services have just that, a secure network allowing

them to cross file documents and other controlled matters which need packet level

logging and event timestamping for.

3. Certichron’s National Network – the Nation’s answer to NSPD-39 outage preparedness.

Back to solving the GPS outage problems facing PNT and DHS, and that’s where our

existing deployment comes into play.

3.1. The Secondary Nation-wide Time Service Asset.

Certichron stepped to the plate here and provides access with an actual SLA and carrier-

neutral access policies. We did this about six years ago as part of a national security we

ran internally (which we funded) as a national development initiative to expand the

footprint of the US National Time Server program. We also wanted to change some of

the rules around the program to allow a more secure and audited access model as well as

more centralized placements.

Additionally we also wanted to create what we call political timescales that is

jurisdictional merged timescales of two or more organizations or countries. For instance

we have US and Canadian time merged in NYC as a physical implementation of the

NORAMET treaty and Interoperability Agreement in place between the Lab Managers.

NIST nor USNO could not do this by themselves because of the split 15 USC 260 caused

with 15 USC 271 and 272 but a commercial player could simply walk in and say “we

want to start dropping NIST Time Servers everywhere OK?” to the ITS program and by

selecting the hosting data centers properly, place them in strategic locations for proper

access in key areas.

3.1.1. Carrier Neutrality ensured – everyone can connect!

Functionally, Certichron operates a specialty mini Telco-hotel for the specific distribution

of the time-standard. It’s a specialty networking model similar to the Low-Latency Fiber

specialty market.

How other carriers use the services is that they land connection points in the hosting sites

and take their own internal NTP and PTP from NIST and USNO traceable sources

directly. This model allows massive scalability of a direct connection model without

overloading NIST or USNO with per-instance support requests. It properly isolates the



laboratory as what it is, keeper of the master instance of the standard, and the certifier of

the fractal components of the larger production standard.

When the servers become loaded to a specific level NIST provides additional server

resources to increase that sites capabilities.

Additionally where warranted we deploy NIST ITS resources in pairs to ensure

availability and local site fault tolerance. This also increased the reliability of the

localized access model and provides a two or more pronged fail-test resource for

verifying the veracity of the SLA.

3.1.2. Regionally available in nine (9) US sites and growing

As a proof of concept we chose the single most important areas of the US to deploy for

ensuring economic stability through continued access to the US Timebase.

In this deployment we have NIST Time Servers with phone (ACTS) and internet based

access control service practices in place as fail-over and local access resources in New

York City, Weehawken and Bridgewater NJ, Hatfield PA, Chicago IL, Atlanta GA, Las

Vegas NV, Los Angeles and San Jose CA and can and do provide both public (free

access) and private connection service models therein.



3.1.3. Fail-over and meshing

Each service center is intended to balance the adjacent center in allowing a two point

connection model for service assurance. Additionally there are regional fail-over

relationships to fully mesh the dependency and access model for all types of

requirement’s

3.1.4. Internet Site provisioning

The Internet sites NIST Servers are complemented with two or four local hard-wired

peers with local heartbeats of their own. They provide an actual S-1 Ensemble with

localized two-layer S1 Seeding for the Time-Trust Chain’s root.

This allows NIST UTC to be massively replicated in S1 form as a peripheral to the actual

NIST S1 Root schism (aka fractal slice of the US national time standard).

3.1.5. Addition of PTP Services to NJ2

Additionally the Weehwaken site is providing a new PTP access service model with a

medium performance time standard service (CommonView GPS Management) which is

directly derived from the NIST ITS and NIST TMAS services therein providing a

complete carrier-neutral access service for the NE/DC corridor itself.

Our NYC/Weehawken and Bridgewater NJ + Hatfield PA service sites provide a full set

of coverage centers for NSPD39 Outage Services.



3.2. DHS can report JOY here… The solution is already deployed

So, DHS can report to WH and DoD that there is a reliable access paradigm and Carrier-

Neutral distribution for the NIST UTC part of the National PNT Time Service mandate

for Congress as well.

Further that through its affiliate program industry partners will be supplying any agency

needing it with access and support operations plans for prolonged or permanent use of its

time services as a replacement for GPS (PNT) services.

4. Philosophy: NIST ITS – Packaged for availability and mass-deployment

Certichron’s centers are unlike any other type of NIST ITS deployments for two reasons,

each one of them is inside a Data Center which places it 10 (ten) or more hops closer to

its Internet users, and through its regional placement, it allows clients to land points of

presence at the perimeter of this service center for their own high-bandwidth and non-

shared channels into US Time Standards.

4.1. Certichron’s vision: The US Timebase available everywhere

Certichron feels that commerce is tied to the same laws that paper based transactions

have been and that means certain human practices are to be honored. One of these is

actually tied to which source of time and whose authority you use to assert some event is

happening at. So this concept of fracturing the Timebase into two component parts

conceptually makes this easier to wrap your arms around.

4.1.1. Master Timekeepers are just that – production timekeepers are also just that.

Timekeeping of managing a master time instance is a physicist’s chore and role.

Managing a production time distribution network is a Data Systems Security Expert’s

role in creating and a Data Service Network Manager’s role in operating.

Production timekeeping is very different that master clock keeping because it’s much

more intensive and because of the sheer size of the effort. As such production

timekeeping infrastructures are used to properly isolate master standards they reference

and under whose digital authority as National Standards, issue their stamps and services.

Production systems managing time standard operations create a three-element or larger

array of time references and then certify them through the sovereignty of the operating

authority for the actual time-standard. These then form a local standard service which can

supply a three-voice time-cast or unicast service to select from.



NTP likewise is notorious for both security and logging problems, so this service center

addresses those issues too in its provisioning access to the National Time Standard

through a private or dark-fiber connection, or otherwise as a bolt-on perimeter access

service for any and all users.

4.2. Setting the record straight

Since we are talking about the national time standard there are a number of interesting

misconceptions about it and the general idea of a “National Time Standard” which are

largely tied to its origin in a physics laboratory.

But now mostly based on “that technology has allowed all of us in the first person to

reach out and hold that National standard in our hands”, that the reliance on a provable

source of time is emerging as a commercial trust element and emerging as a component

of ephemeral digital instances which carry a government’s authority.

Because of this, today time standards are more than just something that you compare

against, they are used to flow the power of law into a commercial or regulated e-process.

They represent the ability to flow and inject the sovereignty of the operating authority

into those digital workflows as a practical registration point or otherwise control aspect.

Both interesting possibilities in our evolving Digital Government and its interfacing and

operating with the people.

4.2.1. 2 Parts: fracturing a national time-standard

In today’s world and because of that ability to reach electronically into the actual master

standards lab there are two parts of the US Clock.

They are the National Reference Standards (those maintained in a laboratory whether

directly or remotely operated) and the Production Standards which are fractions or

fractal instances of the Reference Standard through some certification practice.

That’s it in a nutshell, a jurisdictional specific time context and the ability to rely on the

US Government’s full faith and credit in a digital manner is tied to this directly.

4.2.2. Sovereign Time-source is the key

“Sovereign Time-source is the key: In any model that properly builds a production

network of USG time services”. To accomplish that the regional source (the fractal root

slice of the Government’s legal time standard) must be owned and operated by USG in

both name and charter and be tied through a culpable chain of custody to the National

Timekeeper for that organization.

This simply is the application of a commerce-centric chain of custody rule and process to

time data, its delivery and its controls and all Certichron’s nice centers sport NIST ITS



and other NIST technology for the US’s timekeepers to provide local access to for the

public and private sector’s both.

4.2.3. Externally operated services must meet and exceed Federal Standards

To facilitate the controlled access to the US National Time Standard the regional system

has to be operated in a controlled context which meets or exceeds NIST’s own operating

controls and puts in place all the NIST ITL Software and Systems Control

recommendations for single and multi-time-service meshing and policy control.

Certichron’s nine regional centers do just this.

4.3. NIST initially – now time to add USNO services too!

To date in its proof-of-concept roll out and operations, Certichron has focused on NIST

ITS and expanding both the precision and deployment options of the NIST Time and

Frequency Lab’s Internet Time Servers, arguably the most legal source of public time

available in the US per 15 USC 271 and 272.

4.3.1. Adding a development platform for ‘remote National Time Standard Services’

Expanding these existing service centers and adding new scientific-research platforms is

covered under a separate document so is not addressed here. This document’s intent is to

disclose to DHS what exactly Certichron has done to date and how we plan to both

continue this effort and expand it with a massive industry-wide rollout.

4.4. Regionalized, local access to the US Time Standard is assured

The US master Time Keepers, one in the USNO and two others in NIST are the actual

parties charged with maintaining the US National Timebases (Military and Civilian

ones).

The regional access-points help ensure Carrier-Neutrality is achieved in a nation-wide

rollout of the ubiquitous time service.

The Certichron access centers provide users the ability to place their own router or point

of presence at the edge of the time service perimeter including shared or private access

channels depending on their needs and audit practices. This assures their ability to

provide distributed operations across the US on a uniform timebase and one which is

GPS-outage resistant.

This does more than virtualize the US Timebase and provide access, it provides a 100%

private access pathway, functionally a private time service networks, and that in the



longer run opens reporting and secondary channel commerce models to that same

hardwired transport.

4.4.1. Intelligence and LE benefits

Additionally, for the Intelligence corps in the US it also brings the US National

Infrastructure closer to key customers like Stock Exchanges and other International

Financial operations meaning that the longer term value of this potential NSPD-39

resource is far beyond a simple guaranteed synchronization channel and practice, its

about the potential to weave time through the world, US time to be exact, as a next

generation of intellectual weapon in our pursuit to secure and protect America in a

changing times.

5. Public use and acceptance of the service Certichron’s NIST Public Service access-policy provides a commercial entity’s support

of the NIST ITS Program formally. Today Certichron’s public service network forms 1/3

of the non dot-gov NIST ITS systems and is the only ITS systems sporting extra

technology or secured access paths.

Through this array of service centers Certichron has built a client-base for its free

services which numbers hundreds of millions of daily users in the US and adjacent

Canada and Mexico. In fact cities like Brampton Canada actually take their certifying

time setting from Certichron’s NYC and NJ1/NJ2 operations centers as part of their

NSPD-39 readiness too, so the services are already in wide-area adoption.

Additionally on our public access side we also see traffic from Europe and China as well

as MENA as well. In fact EMAE traffic accounts for about 7% of our total Internet

channel use load today but we see this increasing with the ability to place US Time

Standards in foreign countries as local reference points of the Digital US.

5.1. Certichron’s vision is that the US Timebase is more that a timescale, it’s a brand

Functionally, the US National Timebase, as backed by the full faith and credit of the US

Constitution is the most powerful component of the Digital Government on earth today. It

is accepted all over the world and depended on in the US and across the globe as a

reliable fixing of UTC in the US and its protectorates.

This is a very important driving force on why a secondary and independent national

network of access points to US National Time Services is so important. That’s because

the use of the US national timebase flows beyond synchronization of mechanical

processes, but forms the will of the digital people so to speak.



5.2. Extending the Regional Timing Centers: More access models for US Time

In extending its existing NIST ITS delivery models, Certichron is adding a set of

CommonView GPS management stations for NIST continuous operations making these

systems functionally “continuously monitored by a US National Standards Laboratory”

and in so doing creating a fractal instance of a time-scale traceable to the US National

Standard (per 15 USC 272). These further increases the reliable “credibility” of the time

base and with a GPS discipline practice also provides a better resource for 1PPS delivery

as well.

5.2.1. Resolution and connection: Clients can select their own access and technology models

Additionally for those clients needing Microsecond and mid-Nanosecond scale level

access, from our existing service framework, we offer clients the ability to also land PTP

services as part of the larger service offering in the same form as NTP services, that being

shared access or individual channel.

CommonView Management and 1PPS calibration

To accomplish this additional resolution after adding GPS Steering to the NIST ITS

resources, in key sites needing it we have begun adding the NIST TMAS service as a

secondary oversight and tighter management practice such that it increases the local time

accuracy and reliability to 15ns/30ps measurement window.

Adding TMAS CV Management to GPS based 1PPS management

Without adding a full TWSTT type management merged TMAS+ITS/1PPS practice this

offers the best time service model and one which can be replicated across the US as a

national response vector for PNT outages.

These service centers provide NIST UTC to an accuracy of the 50ns provided in the

TMAS control process meaning that this is more than satisfactory for 99% of all uses

today and for the foreseeable future including securities trading (now asking for 10uS to

100uS of resolution).

Layer-2 clients can see this in their NTP and PTP access services and are able to through

this erect and redistribute the services to their own internal and external clients.

5.2.2. Carrier-Neutral Access at an unprecedented level

As a carrier specializing in packaging a regional NSPD-39 solution Certichron’s access

model assures carrier neutrality. This system can provide through proper PTP services a



hub and spoke for hundreds of clients needing this access paradigm as well as NTP on a

massive scale (as in hundreds of millions of end-users) time data for any and all uses.

5.3. Remote-site types can be selected based on local needs

Based on security and use requirements the proper solution for GPS outage oversight is a

two level network of service centers which not only beat against their national standards

they are fractal instances of, but also with each other.

This secondary connection is facilitated through Internet based gateway connections and

local telecom + GPS Common-View Steering provided for the M-class service centers

(Medium delivery – 50ns).

TWSTT Options are available for ultra-precision links providing less than 1ns of timing

uncertainty but it is not expected that more than a few of the key sites will need this level

of time-granularity assurance making this same model good for roll-out in the UK and

Japan both.

5.4. Practices and Compliance

The use of the Certichron service model directly satisfies the following standards and

regulatory requirements as described in each compliance statement

5.4.1. GAO Yellow-book Compliant Operations Practice

The Certichron Operations for its time server systems meets or exceeds standards set in

the GAO Yellow Book (FISCAM) for our infrastructure and time server systems.

5.4.2. NIST IT Compliant Operations Practice

The Certichron Operations Practice and NIST Time Server audit practice are fully

compliant to the NIST Operating practices around its ITS time server systems. We

utilize SP800 compliant practices and have procedures and practices implemented to use

NIST certified practices as well as to track changes to those standards as well.

5.4.3. FISMA compliant Operations Practice

While not tied to FISMA itself in the supplying of time data, it is Certichron’s belief that

certain trust transactions should also be protected and so we have an operations and

contract model with our relying party’s which implements a FISMA constrained

relationship and in all instances, a commitment to proper and ethical uses or our time

service and time-attestation capabilities.



5.4.4. OATS 7430 (FINRA)

The Certichron Operations for its time server systems meets or exceeds standards set in

the OATS 7430 1 second/1ms traceability to UTC(NIST) rule under FINRA for our

infrastructure and time server systems.

5.4.5. DoD 8520

DoD’s 8520.xx families have various components that either rely on or leverage a time

management practice which forms a component of a trust practice for DoD information

collection and decision processing.

5.4.6. DCID 1/x and 6/x

Like DoD, CIA’s DCID 1/x and 6/x document families have various components that

either rely on or leverage a time management practice which forms a component of a

trust practice for Intelligence information collection and decision processing.

As such our infrastructure and practices where relevant are tempered by and directly

modeled from our made compliant to practices pursuant to the DCID standards.

5.4.7. x9x

The ANSI x9 (time data in digital signatures) works are all supported through the use of

our secured time service practices and delivery models. FDA devices which rely on x9

can gain their NSPD-39 compliance capability through the use of the Certichron Time-

As-Evidence service where offered and as such offer Doctors and processing labs the

ability to bundle turn-key capabilities for their new lab equipment and patient control

service tools.

6. Building a National Resource for Digital Synchronization

Almost sounds too good to be true… but its actually there and waiting for use today!

Carriers and End-Users alike can get regional access at any level of use they need.

6.1. How?

Certichron operates as a carrier-neutral provider of access to the NIST calibrated time

services we offer.

6.1.1. Flatten out the access-policy – place ensembles everywhere

In addition we looked at NTP and PTP service models from an evidence perspective and

policy control basis. What sets us aside is our offering of complete voting NTP



ensembles in a single site. Why this is important is that NTP requires a minimum of

three voices to vote properly. Our vision places all three instances of that ensemble of

clocks in a single site allowing a uniform network policy and control selection model to

be used for selecting the best source.

6.1.2. Add data-capture peers inside the secured perimeter to create non-refutable timestamps

Additionally in Certichron’s case, since all three are tied to NIST ITS master instances

over hardwired subletting, the evidence and practice model actually does implement a

fully provable chain-of-custody management practice for the time-data distribution.

6.1.3. Capture everything – end to end

The next two pieces of Certichron’s Time-As-Evidence Practices include packet

management and logging at the event and full network transport layers. This provides a

full snap-shot of each time-service event and creates a forensic evidence trail of the time-

service events.

6.1.4. Finally – use the Time Server for Content Branding and Timestamping too

Finally the NTP P1/P2 Content Timestamping practice is supported on all S2

infrastructures inside our perimeters making it possible finally to create inline evidence-

to-event content timestamps inside the sovereignty provided through the use of the US

National Time Standards in these local stations.

Today the service venue serves the greater Financial Districts in NYC, NJ and the

surrounding areas. Additionally Philadelphia and its related areas are also served through

two sites (Bridgewater NJ and Hatfield PA) making it also secured.

6.2. Carrier-Neutral Partnerships

Certichron’s operations models allow Carriers to ‘rent space for a cross connect and take

an independent channel or two to a set of local NIST UTC S1 and local S2 reference

servers through a ‘pipe’ they control the bandwidth on.

6.2.1. Typical Carrier Demarc

A typical Carrier Demarcation includes their terminus router and switches with either

their own port into the Time Service subnet run in the regional timing service centers.

This would allow a Carrier a location-wide access model to the NIST UTC service in

PNT Outages and assure continued access for all COOP and DR activities.



6.2.2. This relationship is a network peering relationship and is identical to all other peering relationships they have

This is the same relationship they would have for cross connecting into any service at any

Co-location or Telco-Hotel so the model is flat and totally carrier neutral in form.

6.2.3. The same service is available to Data Center and Enterprise-type customers as well

The same relationship is also available to entities needing their own similar level of

survivability like Data Center operators and other IT providers making the service

actually cross-industry in form.

6.3. What Uses

Certichron’s centers were deployed specific to their largest use base and that

demographics specific need, that means to meet the NTP and in some cases PTP needs of

99.9% of all users.

In most other precision use cases we remain true to the core laboratory operations

guideline and metrological standards measurement practices so our system actually

allows the operations of remote instances of the US National Time Service laboratory in a

production instance sense.

6.3.1. Synchronization of Medium-Performance Computing Systems (Network Services)

The existing system provides local and regional access to NIST NTP based time services

either through Internet or local network connection.

6.3.2. Synchronization of High-Performance Computing Systems (CV-GPS)

The Weehawken and San Jose California Sites support PTP distribution of secure and

very accurate NTP or PTP services based on NIST TMAS type management service

additions to 1PPS conditioned (disciplined) NTP services. The result is a medium

accuracy deployment capability allowing down to 50ns of time uncertainty to be relied on

therein.

This control feature will be added for other sites including NYC and Chicago at our

earliest opportunities.

6.3.3. Synchronization of High-Performance Laboratory Grade services (TWSTT)

The new proposed USNO TWSTT deployment test case and PTP channel for the DC

Local Loop area will address this and is covered under that separate proposal.



7. Target Goals Certichron’s goals are to provide all parties needing access to a properly buffered time-

standard from the US National timekeeping laboratories for any and all uses.

7.1. NSPD-39: Systemic Immunity and Resilience of the National Resource

7.1.1. Expand existing network

Certichron’s goals include expanding its existing networks for NIST UTC service

availability and in adding USNO time-standards to a number of those sites as regional

medium performance time service venues.

7.2. Precision Time Transfer test-bed; DC Laboratory

The proposed Boulder to Colorado Springs fiber link will be a next step after completing

a shorter length one which will prove out the potential of the PTP over fiber connections

as well as providing a real-time feedback loop for a two-way satellite time transfer

(TWSTT) system.

7.2.1. 1500 Eckington is first proposed site

The first proposed site is the XM Xirius radio building 5.7 miles from USNO in

Washington proper.

The distance is sufficient to provide the necessary characteristics to test the link dynamics

and the costing of the link itself can be subsidized by allowing others who already access

USNO through the Internet or otherwise to access this clock-service through the local

distribution project as a “Test Case Distribution Project” participant.

Additionally the proximity to Federal Agencies in the DC provides a new NSPD-39

compliance tool to test acceptance of with Federal Agencies and other entities along the

beltway.

7.2.2. Ultra precise Time Transfer – a test-bed

The fiber link will give USNO a test bed local to DC and the NRL itself for not only

prototyping the longer-line connection from Boulder to Colorado Springs, but also in

putting together their operating protocols for managing these types of USNO

connections.

7.2.3. PTP Infrastructure test-bed

The larger systemic test-bed created by the link and remote test node facility also will

allow two side-by-side test-beds for local PTP Equipment Testing and an independent

sub-channel for operating a production instance of the USNO UTC time standard.



7.2.4. Test-bed Summary

These two project area will allow cross collaboration with vendors and technology

provides as well as operating a tier-2 connection service for both NTP and PTP services

to client’s needing NSPD-39 compliance along the beltway and surrounding areas.

7.3. Cross-Carrier Participation Practices

For NIST UTC access, Certichron’s existing framework provides a carrier-neutral access

model for NIST UTC and secondary timestamp services today.

7.3.1. Create standards for the carriers and their participation

Certichron’s intent is to work with carriers with regard to their use and practice models to

properly provide a reliable service and control infrastructure to the evidentiary time

services produced through the production time service infrastructure operated at the

regional timing centers.

7.3.2. Test out local distribution model for PTP services as a production service (operate the Beltway USNO PTP distribution hub)

The NRL and other Naval Operations have a need to test out the idea of a two-level

USNO distribution model for time-standard and ultra-precise time transport to Naval

sites. The field operations relative to time-on-target control services for field target and

CONOPS service models also clearly require these types of services, especially as they

pertain to mass-synchronization of remote instances of devices line new chip and solid-

state clock systems.

This facility would provide that test bed and allow these other activities to finally be

undertaken.

8. Why do it this way? The easiest of a large number of answers is money. It will cost less to put in place an

industry-wide access model for the US Timebase, one which will distribute it as an

ephemeral sovereign mark of the USA so to speak.

Why this is true is as follows:

1. The USNO and NIST are not equipped to set up and operate a nation-wide

commercial deployment service today nor is there budget identified or in place to

address this critical requirement meaning the NSPD-39 requirements are ‘hanging

in limbo without funding’.



2. The Laboratory’s operating model places the Laboratory at the center of the

world. The time service that remains in the lab should be that standard. The one

used in the field should be a production instance of that time standard, and should

constitute a fractal instance of the US National Time Standard, per 15 USC 272 at

the very least.

3. Ultra-precision time services are only needed for less than 1/10 of 1% of the users

or less. Most parties will need NTP access over reliable pathways and through the

Internet.

The Certichron method not only addresses the problem but solves most of it by simply

acknowledging that the service exists, that it can be cross connected into by anyone, and

that this makes absolutely open in form as a core-access path to the US National Time

Standard.

8.1. The specific NSPD-39 outage goal(s)

The specific NSPD-39 outage COOP goals are ‘that there be a replacement service for

PNT such that if there is an outage those clients who must depend on PNT based services

for their interaction and operational capabilities, have other resources they can depend on.

This means they (the relying parties) need to regionally get access to the US National

Timebase1 through some reliable and controllable channel, one which meets the relying

parties’ operational security requirements and their policies and practices are functional

with.

8.2. There are a number of other options

The other options are all built around ‘the carriers each taking a connection to the USNO’

and ‘NIST’ which oddly enough is a proposal from a paper I wrote for Datum in 1999 but

the costs of that would have to be covered somehow and with today’s budgetary concerns

this seems to be outside the realm of probability.

The costs of this would be millions per carrier and since each of them was using a roll-

your-own solution, it is likely that there performance and potential access models would

differ. This is especially true when you factor in PTP over fiber service models in

addition to the existing NTP services now in massive use across the US.

For true NSPD-39 it seems that the best compliance option would be a uniform access

paradigm. This would be put in place by the DC Data Center and PTP Laboratory service

for USNO and already existing in all Certichron NIST ITS hosting time service centers in

the US.

1 NIST or USNO depending on users.



8.3. Certichron already thought this through

Certichron’s founders looked at “attacks against the CI” we built simulations for in the

mid 1980s and realized that the key thing to the really-big-picture was going to come in

unifying the entire country onto a single digital heartbeat and with that convincing the

courts that they could actually create evidence capture and management templates which

would dictate the prosecution templates and their costs for virtually all aspects of

oversight, whether court or just internal agency.

We also realized that no one else really understood that, but what it means is that the first

Nation that ‘gets’ it will come to dominate the global commerce market with a set of

unified time stamps and financial instruments tied to specific clocks and chains of

custody therein.

Certichron’s belief is that USNO and NIST UTC needs to be put massively in place

through a reliable model, one which allows proper distribution of USNO and NIST ITS

services to their user base without any significant cost to or disruption of the USNO and

NIST Time keepers and their research. And finally that the best way to accomplish this

is through a combination of hub-and-spoke type distribution centers which each house a

fractal component of the US Production Time Standard and as such are capable of

representing the laboratory’s sovereign authority as that time provider.

How this all comes to be is that the US Government publishes a ticking instance in each

of the two national master clocks, and for the purpose of this concept, put away the idea

that time is about synchronization, time is actually about proof.

Being able to ‘testify on the hill’ that the system and its records are accurate and that the

testimony as to that autonomic system’s actions were proper and is in fact what is

represented is very powerful… This is our future and we need to drive the boat here and

now with the concept of Global NSPD-39 compliance.

8.3.1. Our method is tested by years of public use today.

We do somewhere between 250M and 300M timesettings per day, depending on day of

the week, and market activity.

secondary national timing resource (2)

Documents