NSF Award
2303726
Significant areas of current research and development, as well as existing operational systems, rely on high-accuracy, sub-nanosecond, distributed timing solutions. White Rabbit is a solution, developed by CERN for use in the Large Hadron Collider, as an open-source hardware, firmware, and software system that enables sub-nanosecond synchronization via ethernet networking. White Rabbit has since grown in its use and application in many areas of high-energy physics, fusion research, and quantum networking as examples. High accuracy timing solutions are also increasingly critical to large distributed databases, deterministic time-sensitive telecommunications, and cyber-physical systems in areas such as advanced manufacturing. The pathway to enable an Open Source Ecosystem, titled herein as the Open-Source Precision, High Accuracy and Security Environment For Time Verification, Calibration, and Interoperability, coordinates with related industry forums, international standards, and other stakeholders through a steering committee to help direct and shape the growing community to encourage further onboarding, developer engagement, and provide a path for end-user feedback to be addressed. <br/><br/>The principal focus of this effort is the growth of the White Rabbit open-source ecosystem, enabling the community with access to resources to validate, measure, and calibrate their systems. The work establishes and expands best practices in validating open-source high-accuracy timing solutions such as White Rabbit, and where possible, develop open-source solutions, e.g. for automation of calibration processes. The effort fosters accelerated deployment of solutions while maintaining end-user confidence in the open-source solutions to grow their adoption. The work enables the open source community with the resources and process to integrate new and updated open-source hardware and perform continuous integration testing of their open-source firmware and software updates. Resources are remotely accessible to the global members who will help shape the direction and growth of the ecosystem.<br/><br/>This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
