Virtual Primary Reference Time Clock (vPRTC) for Power Stations

vPRTC Power Utilities

vPRTC is rapidly becoming the application needed for our clients who value their customers. Critical Infrastructure for power generation and distribution relies on the use of Position Navigation and Timing (PNT) services delivered by Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) for monitoring and control of power generation and distribution. Implementation of virtual Primary Reference Time Clocks is expanding. The modern smart grid is a highly distributed architecture that is dependent on accurate timing for coordination, protection and control systems. The smart virtual PRTC meets many requirements for those conditions.

Power utility operators also rely on timing services from GNSS for their secure and private network communications in addition to virtual PRTC. These networks deliver critical time information to the local network for event monitoring and logging while providing a high-accuracy common time base which is used to synchronize every device on the network. These networks are also able to deliver PNT information into the telecommunications backbone, allowing for accurate delivery of voice communication and telemetry data throughout the entire power utility’s wide area network.

Learn More About PNT Services for Power Stations

Virtual Primary Reference Time Clock (vPRTC) and GNSS

To support secure and private network communications, the Virtual Primary Reference Time Clock (vPRTC) is a highly secure and resilient network-based timing architecture that blends our secure GNSS firewall technology, high-precision atomic system clocks and a portfolio of trusted time solutions to meet the expanding needs of modern critical infrastructures such as those required by the power and utility industry.

The combination of GNSS visibility and the vPRTC architecture provides power utility operators with a dual-purpose solution for the use of PNT services as delivered by GNSS. It provides situational awareness about the health of GNSS reception by monitoring and evaluating key GNSS observables in real time to determine if there is risk in the use of PNT delivered by GNSS. It also offers a layer of protection that enables more responsible use of PNT services, including greater resiliency if live-sky delivery of PNT by GNSS is disrupted, degraded, or worse, becomes unavailable. Like a network firewall, this solution creates a dome of protection that strengthens the overall use of PNT services by GNSS for critical power utility infrastructures.

illustration of power station vPRTC

About Syncworks

Syncworks is a value-added reseller of network sync and timing equipment for critical infrastructure companies. SyncCare and Field Services ensure your network equipment is flawlessly executed and supported. Our warehouse is stocked with new Microchip products, as well as Symmetricom, Datum, Telecom Solutions, and Microsemi brands. 

Syncworks delivers the highest level of expertise to every project and offers a complete menu of network synchronization products and services. Our flagship product, the TimeProvider® 4100, is a gateway clock that accepts multiple inputs from Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS), Synchronous Ethernet (SynE), and 1588 PTP Grandmaster Clock and E1/T1 digital transmission links.  

As a Microchip Diamond Partner, we maintain the largest and most diversified stocking supply of Microchip network sync & timing products to meet our customers’ every need when it comes to sync and timing technology.  

For more information, contact sales@syncworks.com or call (904) 280-1234