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<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01//EN">
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<meta name="generator" content="HTML Tidy, see www.w3.org">
<title>Reference Clock Audio Drivers</title>
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<h3>Reference Clock Audio Drivers</h3>
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<img align="left" src="pic/radio2.jpg" alt="gif">
<p>Make a little noise here.<br clear="left">
</p>
<hr>
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<p>There are some applications in which the computer time can be
disciplined to an audio signal, rather than a serial timecode and
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communications port or special purpose bus peripheral. This is
useful in such cases where the audio signal is sent over a
telephone circuit, for example, or received directly from a
shortwave receiver. In such cases the audio signal can be connected
via an ordinary sound card or baseboard audio codec. The suite of
NTP reference clock drivers currently includes three drivers
suitable for these applications. They include a driver for the
Inter Range Instrumentation Group (IRIG) signals produced by most
radio clocks and timing devices, another for the Canadian
time/frequency radio station CHU and a third for the NIST
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time/frequency radio stations WWV and WWVH. The radio drivers are
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designed to work with ordinary inexpensive shortwave radios and may
be one of the least expensive ways to build a good primary time
server.</p>
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<p>All three drivers make ample use of sophisticated digital signal
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processing algorithms designed to efficiently extract timing
signals from noise and interference. The radio station drivers in
particular implement optimum linear demodulation and decoding
techniques, including maximum likelihood and soft-decision methods.
The documentation page for each driver contains an in-depth
discussion on the algorithms and performance expectations. In some
cases the algorithms are further analyzed, modelled and evaluated
in a technical report.</p>
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<p>Currently, the audio drivers are compatible with Sun operating
systems, including Solaris and SunOS, and the native audio codec
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interface supported by these systems. In fact, the interface is
quite generic and support for other systems, in particular the
various Unix generics, should not be difficult. Volunteers are
solicited.</p>
<p>The audio drivers include a number of common features designed
to groom input signals, suppress spikes and normalize signal
levels. An automatic gain control (AGC) feature provides protection
against overdriven or underdriven input signals. It is designed to
maintain adequate demodulator signal amplitude while avoiding
occasional noise spikes. In order to assure reliable operation, the
signal level must be in the range where the audio gain control is
effective. In general, this means the input signal level must be
such as to cause the AGC to set the gain somewhere in the middle of
the range from 0 to 255, as indicated in the timecode displayed by
the <tt>ntpq</tt> program.</p>
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<p>The drivers operate by disciplining a logical clock based on the
codec sample clock to the audio signal as received. This is done by
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stuffing or slipping samples as required to maintain exact
frequency to the order of 0.1 PPM. In order for the driver to
reliably lock on the audio signal, the sample clock frequency
tolerance must be less than 250 PPM (.025 percent) for the IRIG
driver and half that for the radio drivers. The largest error
observed so far is about 60 PPM, but it is possible some sound
cards or codecs may exceed that value.</p>
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<p>The drivers include provisions to select the input port and to
monitor the input signal. The <tt>fudge flag 2</tt> selects the
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microphone port if set to zero or the line-in port if set to one.
It does not seem useful to specify the compact disc player port.
The <tt>fudge flag 3</tt> enables the input signal monitor using
the previously selected output port and output gain. Both of these
flags can be set in the configuration file or remotely using the
<tt>ntpdc</tt> utility program.</p>
<h4>Shortwave Radio Drivers</h4>
<p>The WWV/H and CHU audio drivers require an external shortwave
radio with the radio output - speaker or headphone jack - connected
to either the microphone or line-in port on the computer. There is
some degree of art in setting up the radio and antenna and getting
the setup to work. While the drivers are highly sophisticated and
efficient in extracting timing signals from noise and interference,
it always helps to have as clear a signal as possible.</p>
<p>The most important factor affecting the radio signal is the
antenna. It need not be long - even 15 feet is enough if it is
located outside of a metal frame building, preferably on the roof,
and away from metallic objects. An ordinary CB whip mounted on a
PVC pipe and wooden X-frame on the roof should work well with most
portable radios, as they are optimized for small antennas.</p>
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<p>The radio need not be located near the computer; in fact, it
generally works better if the radio is outside the near field of
computers and other electromagnetic noisemakers. It can be in the
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elevator penthouse connected by house wiring, which can also be
used to power the radio. A couple of center-tapped audio
transformers will minimize noise pickup and provide phantom power
to the radio with return via the AC neutral wire.</p>
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<p>The WWV/H and CHU transmitters operate on several frequencies
simultaneously, so that in most parts of North America at least one
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frequency supports propagation to the receiver location at any
given hour. While both drivers support the ICOM CI-V radio
interface and can tune the radio automatically, computer-tunable
radios are expensive and probably not cost effective compared to a
GPS receiver. So, the radio frequency must usually be fixed and
chosen by compromise.</p>
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<p>Shortwave (3-30 MHz) radio propagation phenomena are well known
to shortwave enthusiasts. The phenomena generally obey the
following rules:</p>
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<ul>
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<li>The optimum frequency is higher in daytime than nighttime,
stays high longer on summer days and low longer on winter
nights.</li>
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<li>Transitions between daytime and nightime conditions generally
occur somewhat after sunrise and sunset at the midpoint of the path
from transmitter to receiver.</li>
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<li>Ambient noise (static) on the lower frequencies follows the
thunderstorm season, so is higher on summer afternoons and
evenings.</li>
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<li>The lower frequency bands are best for shorter distances, while
the higher bands are best for longer distances.</li>
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<li>The optimum frequencies are higher at the peak of the 11-year
sunspot cycle and lower at the trough. The current sunspot cycle
should peak in the first couple of years beginning the
century.</li>
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</ul>
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The best way to choose a frequency is to listen at various times
over the day and determine the best highest (daytime) and lowest
(nighttime) frequencies. Then, assuming one is available, choose
the highest frequency between these frequencies. This strategy
assumes that the high frequency is more problematic than the low,
that the low frequency probably comes with severe multipath and
static, and insures that probably twice a day the chosen frequency
will work. For instance, on the east coast the best compromise CHU
frequency is probably 7335 kHz and the best WWV frequency is
probably 15 MHz.
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<h4>Debugging Aids</h4>
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<p>The audio drivers include extensive debugging support to help
hook up the audio signals and monitor the driver operations. The
documentation page for each driver describes the various messages
that can be produced either in real-time or written to the <tt>
clockstats</tt> file for later analysis. Of particular help in
verifying signal connections and compatibility is a provision to
monitor the signal via headphones or speaker.</p>
<p>The drivers write a synthesized timecode to the <tt>
clockstats</tt> file each time the clock is set or verified and at
other times if verbose monitoring is enabled. The format includes
several fixed-length fields defining the Gregorian time to the
millisecond, together with additional variable-length fields
specific to each driver. The data include the intervals since the
clock was last set or verified, the audio gain and various state
variables and counters specific to each driver.</p>
<h4>Additional Information</h4>
<a href="refclock.htm">Reference Clock Drivers</a> <br>
<a href="driver7.htm">Radio CHU Audio Demodulator/Decoder</a> <br>
<a href="driver36.htm">Radio WWV/H Audio Demodulator/Decoder</a>
<br>
<a href="driver6.htm">IRIG Audio Decoder</a>
<hr>
<a href="index.htm"><img align="left" src="pic/home.gif" alt=
"gif"></a>
<address><a href="mailto:mills@udel.edu">David L. Mills
&lt;mills@udel.edu&gt;</a></address>
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