ADVA introduced the industry’s first ePRC optical cesium atomic clock for protecting synchronization networks from costly and dangerous interruptions to satellite signals.
The Oscilloquartz OSA 3350 ePRC+ leverages optical-pumping techniques and is the first cesium clock on the market with built-in SNMP support. When used with enhanced primary reference time clocks (ePRTCs), the OSA 3350 ePRC+ delivers holdover for 14 days with an accumulated error of up to 35 nanoseconds. This far exceeds the ITU-T ePRC G.811.1 standard that requires an accumulated error under 70 nanoseconds. The OSA 3350 ePRC+ also delivers optimum stability for over 10 years, which is 100% longer than the lifespan of high-performance magnetic cesium clocks.
ADVA said its innovation in the design of atomic clocks comes at a critical time when GNSS outages caused by jamming and spoofing attacks are on the rise. Long GNSS disruptions can cause severe network outages and so the OSA 3350 ePRC+ offers vital backup for mission-critical infrastructures that depend on satellite-based timing, such as mobile networks and power utilities. The OSA 3350 ePRC+ also meets the stringent performance demands as well as the cost points needed for mobile networks transitioning to 5G.
“Our OSA 3350 ePRC+ is a truly unique achievement and its importance to the industry can’t be overstated. It arrives at a crucial time with operators seeking an efficient way to deliver highly accurate, ultra-stable frequency and phase synchronization with significantly longer lifetime than existing cesium clocks. Now they can mitigate GNSS vulnerabilities by harnessing market-leading holdover performance for the most robust backup available,” said Gil Biran, general manager, Oscilloquartz, ADVA. “Creating a viable commercial optical atomic clock has been a key mission for a long time. By achieving it, we’re making sure that communication service providers never again have to compromise between performance and lifetime. And, with a frequency stability that outperforms current ITU-T ePRC G.811.1 standards, our OSA 3350 ePRC+ provides the safety net needed for 5G networks.”
