An Adaptive Hybrid Control Algorithm for Sender-Receiver Clock Synchronization

Abstract: This paper presents an innovative hybrid systems approach to the sender-receiver synchronization of timers. Via the hybrid systems framework, we unite the traditional sender-receiver algorithm for clock synchronization with an online, adaptive strategy to achieve synchronization of the clock rates to exponentially synchronize a pair of clocks connected over a network. Following the conventions of the algorithm, clock measurements of the nodes are given at periodic time instants, and each node uses these measurements to achieve synchronization. For this purpose, we introduce a hybrid system model of a network with continuous and impulsive dynamics that captures the sender-receiver algorithm as a state-feedback controller to synchronize the network clocks. Moreover, we provide sufficient design conditions that ensure attractivity of the synchronization set.