Re: A Suggestion For Abolishing the Leap Second

David Woolley wrote:
In article <1181017458.302921.71210@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
Quadibloc <jsavard@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:


Managing the Internet:
- A leap second means that millions of network router operators, in
addition to periodically referencing their clocks to time signals,
must also explicitly make an adjustment for the leap second at the
proper time to forestall problems.


I don't understand this one. Routers don't need accurate time in order
to route, and NTP is quite capable of signalling the leap seconds with no
operator intervention.


Nor do I understand it. The internet could go on working if no two clocks agreed to within a minute. This is NOT the case with frequencies however! The technology uses time division multiplexing which requires precise clocking in order to figure out which bit is which. This does not require absolute time; only delta time. The clock must tick exactly at the top of the microsecond but nobody cares if it's 6:00PM or 6:01PM.

.

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