An Improved Clock Model for Translating Timestamps


Author(s) Florian Buchholz
TR-Number JMU-INFOSEC-TR-2007-001
Abstract In this paper we address the problem of translating timestamps found on multiple computing systems to a common reference time. We describe results from experiments where we observed the clock of a simple computing system, and then present a computer clock model. The model we introduce addresses certain shortcomings of an earlier model by Stevens and offers an intuitive approach for describing computer clocks. The model provides explicit means to translate timestamps retrieved from computing systems to a common reference time, as well as an algorithm to iteratively build a device's clock description. A simple proof-of-concept implementation is also discussed briefly.
Sponsor Prof. Florian Buchholz
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