Time Synchronization for Automotive Prototyping and Testing Platforms

Esraa Elelimy, Andrew Azmy

Abstract: In typical automotive prototyping and testing platforms, data streams between several heterogeneous components. Each of these components will usually have its own internal clock. However, these clocks will differ in their resolution, drift rate, and other properties. Furthermore, some components will provide unstamped data, especially when integrating automotive and non-automotive components such as digital applications and simulation tools. As a result, having a time synchronization and data stamping mechanism is indispensable to these platforms to accurately report when an event has occurred or when a sensor or an application has sent their data. In this paper, we present an abstracted time synchronization approach that facilitates synchronizing and time stamping data from diverse automotive and non-automotive elements, regardless of the component’s underlying communication protocol. Moreover, this approach can achieve high synchronization accuracy even when individual components are distributed over multiple networks.