Specifications
Product Family
Microchip TimeProvider 4100 series PTP grandmaster clock (three models, software-option upgradeable)
Form Factor
1 RU; 1.73 in (44 mm) height, 17.24 in (438 mm) width; fanless passive thermal design
PTP Profiles
Telecom 2008, ITU-T G.8265.1, G.8275.1, G.8275.2, IEC/IEEE 61850-9-3:2016, IEEE C37.238-2011, IEEE C37.238-2017
PTP Capability
IEEE 1588v2 grandmaster with dual master profile per port
TSN Profile
IEEE 802.1AS-2020 PTP grandmaster profile support for Time Sensitive Networks
Holdover
Maintains ITU-T G.8271.1 400 ns GMC holdover for up to 43 hours without GNSS
Oscillator Options
Mini OCXO, OCXO and Rubidium (Rb) — holdover performance scales with the oscillator fitted
ePRTC Performance
Enhanced Primary Reference Time Clock to ITU-T G.8272.1 at 30 ns time error
PRTC Classes
Primary Reference Time Clock Class A and Class B; Class C and D multidomain boundary clocks
GNSS
Multi-constellation GNSS — GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou, QZSS and Galileo, with SBAS support
SyncE
Synchronous Ethernet including enhanced ESMC and eEEC per G.8262.1
NTP
NTP reflector plus full NTP daemon with NTP MD5 authentication
Redundancy
Software-based 1+1 redundancy using two units with active/standby health monitoring of the active device
Cesium Input
Supports one or two cesium clock inputs for a traceable primary reference
PRP
Parallel Redundancy Protocol (IEC 62439-3) with a maximum of four PRP instances
Security
IEEE 1588 2.1 2019 security standard, password complexity requirements, access control lists, resolved CVE exposures
Management
Web UI and console configuration; SNMP for integration into existing NMS/DCIM
Overview
Distributed AI training and RDMA-based fabrics are phase-sensitive in a way that ordinary data centre networking is not. RoCE and collective-communication libraries assume the participating NICs and switches share a common time base; when that base drifts, throughput degrades and jobs slow down without an obvious error. The TimeProvider 4100 exists to supply that common base.
It is a carrier-grade IEEE 1588v2 grandmaster in a 1RU fanless chassis, supporting the full set of PTP profiles a modern fabric needs: the telecom profiles (G.8265.1 frequency, G.8275.1 and G.8275.2 phase), the power-utility and industrial profiles (C37.238, IEC/IEEE 61850-9-3), and the IEEE 802.1AS-2020 profile used by Time Sensitive Networking.
Holdover is where the models differentiate. The unit maintains the ITU-T G.8271.1 400 ns GMC holdover specification for up to 43 hours if GNSS is lost, and the oscillator fitted (mini OCXO, OCXO or Rubidium) sets how gracefully it degrades after that. For highest-grade deployments it operates as an ePRTC at 30 ns. GNSS covers GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou, QZSS and Galileo, and 1+1 redundancy is achieved by pairing two units with active/standby health monitoring.
Key Benefits
400 ns GMC holdover for up to 43 hours without GNSS. ePRTC at 30 ns with a cesium traceable input. All major PTP profiles in one unit with dual master profile per port. Multi-constellation GNSS plus SyncE and NTP in the same box. Fanless 1RU passive thermal design. 1+1 software redundancy via paired units.
Applications
AI training cluster time distribution; RoCEv2 and RDMA fabric synchronisation; 5G aggregation and fronthaul; power utility substation timing; TSN industrial networks; financial and broadcast time dissemination.
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