The Reach and Impact of the Remote Frequency and Time Calibration Program at NIST

Abstract

For more than three decades, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has offered and provided remote frequency and time calibration services that continuously measure and calibrate a customer’s primary frequency and/or time standard. These services differ from the typical calibration model in at least two important respects. The first is that the device under test remains at the customer’s facility. NIST provides equipment to the customer that calibrates the device, records the measurements, and returns the results to NIST via a network connection. The second is that the measurements are continuous, with new results recorded 24 hours per day, 7 days a week. This allows customer to continuously establish traceability to the International System (SI) through UTC(NIST), the national standard for frequency and time, without ever disturbing or transporting their standard. In addition, the reported measurement uncertainties offered by these services are small enough to meet the requirements of nearly any potential customer. The NIST services not only help support calibration and metrology laboratories, but also benefit a wide variety of organizations in both the public and private sectors; including the U.S. military, U.S. government agencies and research laboratories, defense contractors, the aerospace industry, the energy industry, telecommunications providers, electronics and instrument manufacturers, and financial markets and stock exchanges. This paper describes the reach and impact of the NIST remote frequency and time calibration services. It does so by looking at the history of the services, how they work, their calibration and measurement capabilities, their quality management system, and the metrological requirements of the customers that they serve.