Patent ID: 8054860

Claim:
A method for synchronizing time in a time-division multiplexing (TDM) system, comprising: receiving, by a receiving module of a receiving apparatus, time synchronization information carried in an idle timeslot, wherein the idle timeslot is in a multiframe of an E1 signal or a T1 signal and the time synchronization information comprises a current absolute time and a phase deviation between an initial multiframe and the current absolute time; obtaining, by the receiving module of the receiving apparatus, the current absolute time and the phase deviation from the time synchronization information; sending, by the receiving module of the receiving apparatus, the time synchronization information carried in the idle timeslot to a time synchronizing module of the receiving apparatus; and synchronizing, by the time synchronizing module, time of the time synchronizing module according to the phase deviation and the current absolute time of the time synchronization information carried in the idle timeslot.