Highly scalable dissemination of traceable time to edge devices by distributed ledgers

计算机计时是一种无形的公用事业，它支撑着非常广泛的活动，例如为家庭供电，经营金融市场，物联网（IoT），健康，保险，运输甚至支付系统，包括大多数中央银行正在考虑的中央银行数字货币系统。许多应用，涉及数百万设备，需要准确的时间，可以完全和可验证地追溯到一个来源，如国家物理实验室。这个高度创新的项目将首次以极低的成本提供精确可追溯时间的大规模分布。它将大大扩展NPL的覆盖范围，将整合新的更高效的技术，如可追踪的散列分类账，并将有效地“民主化”时间，使其受益于任何行业和相关的边缘设备。与传统的区块链相比，交易记录和确认将异常快速，并避免了能源密集型和环境破坏性的工作量证明。我们对计时的依赖不能被低估，但我们有潜在的脆弱性，特别是当卫星计时信号供应中断时。根据政府消息来源，在极端情况下，英国经济可能每天损失10亿英镑。Hoptroff开创了低成本的网络时间同步解决方案。我们具有独特的优势，可以为失去GNSS连接的情况创建一个后备选择，一直到边缘，以提高关键国家基础设施的弹性和安全性。我们提出的解决方案是通过云部署的软件边界时钟软件方便访问UTC（NPL）。然后，每个软件边界时钟为成千上万的边缘设备提供本地扇出时间，并共同作为分布式哈希分类帐。需要开发和验证的三个组件是：1。通过NPL位于伦敦Telehouse的时间传播分界点E14到Hoptroff的授时网络建立对UTC（NPL）的可追溯性。开发PTP边界时钟和分类帐软件，将时间从本地云数据中心传播到边缘设备。该软件还将在哈希分类账中记录与边缘设备的通信，以不可变地记录边缘设备上的事件。开发即插即用的边缘设备api，安全地寻找时间交付网络并与之同步，完成从NPL到边缘设备的弹性不间断的比较链。我们计划证明两个示例api (Windows和Linux)，稍后扩展到Web (JavaScript)，移动（Swift/Android）和嵌入式电子（微控制器的C语言）。

Computer timing is an invisible utility which underpins a very wide range of activities such as getting power into homes operating financial markets the Internet of Things (IoT), health, insurance, transport and even payments systems, including the Central Bank Digital Currency systems being considered by most central banks. Many applications, covering millions of devices, require accurate time which is fully and verifiably traceable back to a source such as the National Physics Laboratory.This highly innovative project will deliver, for the first time, mass distribution of accurate traceable time at very low cost. It will significantly extend NPL's reach, will integrate new more efficient technologies such as traceable hash ledgers and will effectively "democratise" time, making its benefits available to any industry and associated edge devices. Transaction logging and confirmation will be exceptionally fast compared to traditional blockchain and avoids the Proof of Work that is so energy intensive and environmentally damaging.Our dependency on timing cannot be under-estimated, but we are potentially vulnerable, especially to disruptions to the satellite supply of timing signals. In the extreme, according to government sources, the UK economy could be £1 billion a day worse off. Hoptroff has pioneered low-cost networked time synchronisation solution. We are uniquely positioned to create a fallback option for loss of GNSS connectivity all the way to the Edge to increase the resilience and security of Critical National Infrastructure.Our proposed solution is to facilitate access to UTC(NPL) via cloud-deployed software boundary clock software. Each software boundary clock then provides local fanout of time to tens of thousands of edge devices and act together as a distributed hash ledger. The three components that need to be developed and proven are:1. Establishment of traceability to UTC(NPL) via NPL's time dissemination demarcation point at Telehouse, London E14 to Hoptroff's timing network.2. Development of PTP boundary clock & ledger software that disseminates time from local cloud data centres to edge devices. This software will also log communications to edge devices in a hash ledger to immutably record events on the edge devices.3. Development of plug-and-play edge device APIs that securely seek out the time delivery network and synchronize to it, completing the resilient unbroken chain of comparisons from NPL to edge devices. We plan to prove two example APIs (Windows and Linux), with later extension to Web (JavaScript), mobile (Swift/Android) and embedded electronics (C for microcontrollers).