Synchronous execution of program instructions in a distributed data transmission network based on FPGA

The widespread use of synchronous data networks today is driving the rapid development of precision time synchronization systems such as PTP (IEEE 1588). This paper describes implementations that allow to perform synchronous execution of program instructions with subnanosecond accuracy on spatially separated devices. Such solutions make it possible to implement real-time applications based on synthesizable processors such as Nios II from Intel (Altera), MicroBlaze from Xilinx (AMD), SoC (System on a Chip) integrated into FPGA chips, or even classic processors. Using of a single time scale, which synchronized with subnanosecond accuracy on all devices in network is the basis for the synchronous execution of program instructions. This paper describes in detail how to integrate a single time scale into the instruction set of microprocessors, SoCs, and processors. Finally, potential applications and options for using a single time scale for synchronous execution of instructions are discussed.