Patent ID: 7031329

Claim:
A method of synchronizing nodes of a telecommunication network in which a master node is coupled to a Primary Reference Clock (PRC) and a plurality of slave nodes are arranged to synchronize their internal clocks to the PRC using data received on incoming data links, the method comprising: propagating Synchronization Status Messages through the network from the master node, said propagating step including: in each given slave node through which a Message passes, modifying the Message by incorporating into the Message, an identity of the given slave node, thereby generating in each Message, a path and path length which has been followed by the Message; and in slave nodes that are not neighboring nodes of the master node, delaying a predefined time period after receiving a Message before transmitting the modified message to a next slave node in the network; in each slave node that receives a Message, registering the path or path length of the received message as an attribute for the incoming data link on which the Message was received; and if multiple Messages are received on different incoming data links in a given slave node, selecting by the given slave node, an incoming data link having an attribute indicating the shortest path length from the master node as the link on which to synchronize.