Precision Time Protocol Overview

Increase in bandwidth requirements on wireless backhaul networks and the need to reduce costs and to improve
exibility have triggered the need for a packetbased backhaul infrastructure. Traditional metro deployments do not
cater to the delivery of synchronization services, and this leaves operators with no other choice than to keep older
parallel infrastructure. Physical layerbased Synchronous Ethernet and packetbased Precision Time Protocol (PTP)
enable routers and switches to deliver synchronization services that meet the requirements of todays mobile
network, as well as future Long Term Evolution (LTE)based infrastructures. Physical layerbased technologies
function regardless of network load, whereas packetbased technologies require careful architecture and capacity
planning. For information about Synchronous Ethernet, see Synchronous Ethernet Overview.

PTP, also known as IEEE 1588v2, is a packetbased technology that enables the operator to deliver synchronization
services on packetbased mobile backhaul networks. IEEE 1588 PTP (Version 2) clock synchronization standard is a
highly precise protocol for time synchronization that synchronizes clocks in a distributed system. The time
synchronization is achieved through packets that are transmitted and received in a session between a master clock
and a slave clock.

The system clocks can be categorized based on the role of the node in the network. They are broadly categorized into
ordinary clocks and boundary clocks. The master clock and the slave clock are known as ordinary clocks. The
boundary clock can operate as either a master clock or a slave clock. The following list explains these clocks in detail:

Master clockAlso called the grandmaster clock, the master clock is located in the PTP server (also called master or master
node). The master clock transmits the messages to the PTP clients (also called slave node or boundary node). This allows the
clients to establish their relative time distance and oset from the master clock (which is the reference point) for phase
synchronization. Delivery mechanism to the clients is either unicast or multicast packets over Ethernet or UDP.
Slave clockLocated in the PTP client (also called slave or slave node), the slave clock performs clock and time recovery
operations based on the received and requested timestamps from the master clock.
Boundary clockThe boundary clock operates as a combination of the master and slave clocks. The boundary clock endpoint acts
as a slave clock to the master clock, and also acts as the master to all the slaves reporting to the boundary endpoint.

For more information about conguring PTP, see Conguring Precision Time Protocol and Example: Conguring
Precision Time Protocol.

Table1 summarizes the rst Junos OS release that supports PTP on various Juniper Networks devices:

Table 1: Precision Time Protocol Support

Junos OS
Juniper Networks Devices
Release

MX80 3D Universal Edge Routers with model number MX80P 12.2

MXMPC2E3DP (MPC2E P) on MX240, MX480, and MX960 routers 12.2

MXMPC2E3DP (MPC2E P) on MX2010 and MX2020 routers 12.3

MPC4E3D32XGESFPP on MX240, MX480, MX960, MX2010, MX2020 15.1R1

MPC4E3D2CGE8XGE on MX240, MX480, MX960, MX2010, MX2020 15.1R1

MPC3E3DNGQ on MX240, MX480, MX960, MX2010, MX2020 15.1R2

 Junos OS
Juniper Networks Devices
Release

MPC3E3DNG on MX240, MX480, MX960, MX2010, MX2020 15.1R2

Following enhanced MPCs support PTP (1588v2): 13.3R3

MPC5E40G10G on MX240, MX480, MX960, MX2010, and MX2020 routers

MPC5EQ40G10G on MX240, MX480, MX960, MX2010, and MX2020 routers
MPC5E100G10G on MX240, MX480, MX960, MX2010, and MX2020 routers
MPC5EQ100G10G on MX240, MX480, MX960, MX2010, and MX2020 routers
MX2KMPC6E on MX2010, and MX2020 routers

Ethernet Modular Interface Cards (MICs) on MX240, MX480, and MX960 routers 12.2

Ethernet Modular Interface Cards (MICs) on MX2010 and MX2020 routers 12.3

On MX240, MX480, MX960, MX2010, and MX2020 routers, the following Enhanced MPCs 12.3
(MPCEs) support PTP (1588v2) under express licensing only:

MPC1E (MXMPC1E3D)
MPC1E Q (MXMPC1E3DQ)
MPC2E (MXMPC2E3D)
MPC2E Q (MXMPC2E3DQ)
MPC2E EQ (MXMPC2E3DEQ)

For more information about obtaining a license, contact JTAC.

ACX Series Universal Access Routers 12.2

You can congure timestamping either at the physical layer or at the nonphysical layer on the 10Gigabit Ethernet and
100Gigabit Ethernet ports. Juniper Networks recommends that you congure timestamping at the physical layer if
the port supports IEEE 1588 timestamping, which is also known as PHY timestamping.

Note:

On 10Gigabit Ethernet ports, PHY timestamping and WANPHY framing are mutually exclusivethat is,
you cannot congure PHY timestamping on 10Gigabit Ethernet ports if you have congured WANPHY
framing mode on the port.
PHY timestamping is not supported on the enhanced MPCs MPC1E, MPC2E, and MPC4E. Only hardware
timestamping is supported on these MPCs. Therefore, a packet delay variation (also known as jitter) of up
to 1microsecond is observed on these MPCs for a very small percentage of packets occasionally.

When timestamping is congured at the nonphysical layer (also known as nonPHY timestamping) on the enhanced
MPCs MPC5E and MPC6E, there is an inherent path asymmetry between the PTP master and PTP slave. To make the
path delay symmetric, you must congure both portspecic and linecardspecic asymmetry values. Table2
summarizes the asymmetry values for MPC5E and MPC6E.

Table 2: Asymmetry Values for MPC5E and MPC6E

 MPC Asymmetry Value

MPC5E40G10G 1520

MPC5E100G10G (10G port) 1520

MPC5E100G10G (100G port) 1250

MX2KMPC6E 200

Table3 summarizes the asymmetry values for MPC5E and MPC6E based on PTP master and PTP slave roles:

Table 3: Asymmetry Values for MPC5E and MPC6E as PTP Slave and PTP Master

PTP Master

PTP Slave
MPC5E MPC5E100G10G (10 MPC5E100G10G (100 MX2K
40G10G Gigabit Ethernet port) Gigabit Ethernet port) MPC6E

MPC5E40G10G 0 0 1320

MPC5E100G10G (10 0 0 1320

Gigabit Ethernet port)

MPC5E100G10G (100 0
Gigabit Ethernet port)

MX2KMPC6E 1320 1320 0

For instance, if you use the 10Gigabit Ethernet port on MPC5E as a PTP slave to a PTP master with no path
symmetry, you can congure the asymmetry value by using the following command:

setprotocolsptpslaveinterfacesxe4/2/0.0unicasttransportipv4clocksource10.1.1.2local
ipaddress10.1.1.1asymmetry1520

If you use a 10Gigabit Ethernet port on MPC5E as a PTP slave to MPC6E, you must account for path symmetry in
both line cards. Therefore, in this example, you must congure the asymmetry value by using the following command:

setprotocolsptpslaveinterfacesxe4/2/0.0unicasttransportipv4clocksource10.1.1.2local
ipaddress10.1.1.1asymmetry1320

Note:

Unied inservice software upgrade (unied ISSU) is currently not supported when clock synchronization is
congured for PTP on the MICs and Enhanced MPCEs on MX240, MX480, MX960, MX2010, and MX2020
routers.
To switch between the PTP and Synchronous Ethernet modes, you must rst deactivate the conguration
for the current mode and then commit the conguration. Wait for a short period of 30 seconds, congure
 the new mode and its related parameters, and then commit the conguration.

Modied: 20160106