High-precision fiber-optic time transfer with an unlimited compensation range

Area of Science:

• Optical physics
• Metrology
• Telecommunications

Background:

• Precise time synchronization is critical for distributed systems.
• Existing fiber-optic time transfer methods face limitations in stability and delay compensation range.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce a novel fiber-optic time transfer system.
• To achieve high transfer stability and an unlimited compensation range for delay variations.
• To simplify the time transfer process by eliminating the need for demodulation.

Main Methods:

• A stable frequency signal is transmitted from a voltage-controlled oscillator to a remote site.
• A time signal is embedded by selecting one cycle per second using a tunable gate signal.
• The system leverages the stability and adjustment range of frequency transfer without requiring demodulation.

Main Results:

• Achieved a time deviation of 1.93 picoseconds (ps) at 1000-second averaging.
• Demonstrated high transfer stability.
• Provided an unlimited compensation range for delay variations.

Conclusions:

• The proposed system offers a simple, demodulation-free solution for high-precision time synchronization.
• It is suitable for scalable distributed applications requiring wide-range delay compensation.
• The system inherits the stability and adjustment capabilities of frequency transfer.