Patent ID: 7050420

Claim:
An apparatus for maintaining synchronization with a plurality of asynchronous communication links, the apparatus comprising: a first counter that generates a first local network clock; a second counter that generates a second local network clock; an offset controller coupled with the first counter and coupled with the second counter, the offset controller configured to load a current network clock value of a first network clock of a first communication link into the first counter, and to load a current network clock value of a second network clock of a second communication link into the second counter; and a drift controller coupled with the first counter and with the second counter, the drift controller configured to correct a drift between the first local network clock and the first network clock and to correct a drift between the second local network clock and the second network clock; wherein the first local network clock approximates the first network clock of the first communication link and the second local network clock approximates the second network clock of the second communication link.