Beyond a simple time display, an airport must deliver a reliable, accurate and highly secure time to all equipment present in the different airport terminals.
An exact time enables to coordinate operations across the airport network, to organise departures and arrivals, to anticipate delays, etc. A single time reference must be deployed across all devices on the IT network to achieve synchronisation (clocks, computers, check-in counters, video surveillance systems, and so on). To meet the need of high time reliability and ongoing availability of time information, airports equip their control tower and operations centre with high-precision time servers.
How to display an accurate and identical time on all equipment of an airport?
Connected to the existing computer network, both clocks and any other airport equipment synchronise with the time information distributed by a time server via the NTP protocol. Whether digital, LCD or analogue, all airport clocks guarantee a reliable, secure and continuous time display, regardless of where they are installed.
Installed in unlimited numbers across the airport, these NTP clocks are connected to the airport network cabling. They are known for their ease of installation and commissioning. With their built-in supervision function via the SNMP protocol, NTP clocks can report any failure, thus reducing maintenance costs and ensuring their continuous operation.
A time server for ensuring the smooth operation of airport main areas
By using a time server, an airport can deliver an exact and single time across all its terminals. It therefore displays an accurate and synchronised time information on all its equipment. It then allows:
- Broadcasting of identical time on all clocks of its structure: check-in counters, customs areas, lounges, duty-free shops, departure lounges
- Display of an exact time and automatic time update during time change (summer time - winter time)
- Synchronisation of operational systems dedicated to travels: clocks, passenger information systems
- Synchronisation of operational systems dedicated to personnel: customs scanners, luggage and passenger check-in systems, control systems
A time server guarantees efficient internal organisation of control centre equipment, by ensuring:
- Accurate and secure synchronisation of aircraft landing and take-off schedules
- Operational efficiency of ground personnel
- Accurate timestamping using monitoring systems: detailed traceability of events using log files
What are the benefits of using an NTP time server in an airport?
A time server supervises all equipment connected to the airport computer network. Its role is to:
- Retrieve the reference time signal from a satellite source by using a highly secure multi-constellation antenna with anti-spoofing and jamming functions.
- Deliver the secure reference time source to all equipment connected to the computer network. Unlike time sources available on the Internet opening a breach in the firewall, a time server helps minimising risks of cyberattacks
- Carry out reliable timestamping of each anomaly that occurred on the network in order to guarantee the right time to each equipment as well as continuous time availability of up to 99.999%
- The possibility to install a redundancy system to ensure ongoing time distribution, thus securing time information in the event of a cyberthreat
- Authenticate exact traceability of information for all equipment
- Choosing a Netsilon time server also means choosing to carry out a simple configuration with a user-friendly (graphic icons) and secure (https access) web interface, available in French, English, Spanish and German
Leader in synchronisation and time frequency solutions, Bodet Time supports many airport projects worldwide. Discover our Netsilon 9 and Netsilon 11 time servers dedicated to air transport as well as our range of clocks.
Do you need assistance for displaying and broadcasting a reliable, exact and synchronised time in an airport?