Pulsar Based Alternative Timing Source for Grid Synchronization and Operation

The need for timing sources that are alternatives to GPS has been under consideration for years. The reliance of power systems instrumentation and control systems on GPS timing serves as the basis for the study reported in this paper. The issues associated with grid timing requirements are reviewed...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:IEEE access 2020-01, Vol.8 (1), p.1-1
Main Authors: Yin, He, Liu, Yilu, Fuhr, Peter, Morales, Marissa, Morganti, Margaret, Monday, William, Richards, Jason, Rooke, Sterling
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Amplifier design
Block diagrams
Clocks
Control equipment
ENGINEERING
Global Positioning System
GPS alternative timing
Hardware
Millisecond rotation pulsars
Neutron stars
Phasor measurement units
power system monitoring
Power system stability
Pulsars
Radio astronomy
Signal generators
Signal processing
Software
Stellar rotation
Synchronism
Synchronization
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The need for timing sources that are alternatives to GPS has been under consideration for years. The reliance of power systems instrumentation and control systems on GPS timing serves as the basis for the study reported in this paper. The issues associated with grid timing requirements are reviewed within the context of a GPS-based clock source. Of principle investigation is the possibility of using millisecond rotation neutron stars, pulsars, as the alternative time source. A design of an instrument (referred to as a pulsar based timing instrument, PBTI) that would use stable and accurate pulsar signals for grid timing is presented. The described PBTI design has been logically separated into software and hardware segments. Flexible signal processing is performed in software which will transfer the raw pulse data from the pulsars into a pulse per second (PPS) signal which can be directly utilized in the power system components and applications. The hardware aspects of the PBTI design concentrate on the antenna requirements, with specific concern associated with the required size and pointing/tracking needs, back-end, filters, amplifiers, and signal generator design. An overall block diagram and the detailed descriptions of both the software and hardware designs are presented. Finally, the potential future applications and problems of the pulsar based timing instrument are discussed.
ISSN:2169-3536
2169-3536
DOI:10.1109/ACCESS.2020.3015202