For industrial automation applications, the IEEE 1588 standard is becoming the main technology for precise time synchronization on Ethernet networks, providing accurate clock synchronization for distributed control nodes (overcomes one of the drawbacks of Ethernet networks).
The programmable 10/100/1000 Ethernet MAC along with IEEE 1588 integrates a standard IEEE 802.3 Ethernet MAC with a time-stamping module to support Ethernet applications. This requires precise timing references for incoming and outgoing frames to implement a distributed time synchronization protocol.
You can integrate the 10/100/1000 1588 MAC core in multiple applications from line card to switches and provides a 2.5-ns precision for frame stamping, event generation, or event capture. This megafunction is a fully validated IEEE 1588 MAC intellectual property (IP) core implemented on Altera Stratix II and Cyclone II devices.
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