Patent ID: 8675689

Claim:
A method of synchronizing a local estimation of global network time of a receiving node on a network to a global network time reference (GNT) of one of at least first and second sending nodes on the network comprising the steps of: transmitting from each first and second sending node a first precise time protocol synchronization message (PTP message) on a first channel and a second precise time protocol synchronization message (PTP message) on a second channel to the receiving node, each PTP message having time data related to the GNT set by the respective sending node; selecting one of the first and second PTP messages from each sending node and setting time data related to a local network time (LNT) by the receiving node corresponding to each selected PTP message; extracting the time data, including GNT and LNT values, for the sending node and the receiving node for each selected PTP message; determining a ratio of the LNT to GNT values, and an offset between LNT and GNT based on the time data and corresponding to each of the first and second sending nodes; comparing the determined ratios and offsets to a predetermined criterion; selecting one of the first and second sending nodes based on the comparison; and synchronizing the LNT to the GNT of the selected sending node.