ADVA intros ePRC optical cesium atomic clock

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.”