Dual and hybrid PTP modules

The IEEE 1588-2008 standard [1] introduces and specifies Boundary Clock (BC) and Transparent Clock (TC) concepts in order to address stringent time distribution requirements (e.g. 1 μs accuracy for the end application) across a communication network. Both concepts present different strengths and weaknesses which are generally used as arguments to oppose one against the other. This paper, on the contrary, is advocating for the implementation of both functionalities on the same network node with regards to the great commonalities and complementarities between them. Going further on this complementary approach, this contribution proposes a hybrid module aiming at combining different advantages offered respectively by BC and TC concepts.