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Chapter 1 | TBN Metrology Domain: Definitions & Scope
- One-line objective: Delimit the objects, inputs/outputs, and engineering boundaries of Time-Base Backbone Network (TBN) metrology; establish a unified publication convention—traceable to RefCond—with dual-form arrival-time handling and manifest key fields.
(All path integrals are taken along gamma(ell) with measure d ell.) - I. Scope & Objects
- Objects (systems & links under test)
- Nodes/links/switching equipment: local oscillators and distribution, optical/electrical spans, switching/queuing stages, measurement probes and front-ends.
- Propagation path: gamma(ell) = ⊕_{seg∈{fiber,fso,device}} gamma_seg(ell), with path length L_gamma = ( ∫_gamma 1 d ell ).
- Timebase & references: unified computed time tag tau_mono and publication time ts; local clock parameters offset/skew/J.
- Objects (measurands)
- Phase/frequency: phi(t), y(t) (instantaneous frequency deviation), phase-noise spectrum S_phi(f), frequency-noise spectrum S_y(f), Allan-family sigma_y(τ).
- Arrival time (dual forms in parallel): T_arr^{form1} = ( 1 / c_ref ) * ( ∫_{gamma} n_eff d ell ); T_arr^{form2} = ( ∫_{gamma} ( n_eff / c_ref ) d ell ); difference delta_form.
- Link/node metrics: lat_total = lat_prop + lat_ser + lat_sw + lat_q + lat_proc, plus SNR/RBW/ENBW, quantization noise, and trigger jitter.
- Inputs
- Observations & front-end: I/Q/pulses/timestamps; ADC/trigger/reference inputs; analysis window W=[ts-Δt, ts] and window function.
- Path/environment: n_eff(f,x), meteorology/TEC; device/span inventories with hash/id/validity.
- Synchronization/bases: PPS/Two-Way/ratio chains/loopback anchors; priors for offset/skew/J; RefCond sources (ephemerides/potential fields/media/instruments/timebase).
- Outputs
- Estimates & statistics: phi/y, S_phi/S_y/sigma_y, T_arr^{form1/2}, delta_form, lat_*.
- Corrections & reconciliation: corr_env(x; RefCond), reconciled T_arr*, and release thresholds/guardbands.
- Manifests: manifest.tbn.* (evidence/thresholds/uncertainty/signature).
- Out-of-scope boundaries
- Textbook derivations of fundamental constants/principles; higher-order RF/fiber/FSO propagation models are deferred to the Packets/PathCorrection/PathRedshift volumes; security policy and governance are handled in the companion Security volume.
- II. Terms & Variables
- Time–frequency & phase: f, omega=2*pi*f, phi(t), y(t) = (f(t)-f_ref)/f_ref, S_phi(f), S_y(f), sigma_y(τ).
- Path & media: gamma(ell), L_gamma, n_eff(f,x), n_phi(f), n_g(f) = n_phi - f * ( d n_phi / d f ).
- Arrival time & dual forms: T_arr^{form1}, T_arr^{form2}, delta_form, tol_Tarr, c_ref.
- Windowing & bandwidth: W=[ts-Δt,ts], RBW, ENBW, BW.
- Sync & clocks: offset, skew, J; refclk, PLL.
- Dimension exemplars: unit(T_arr) = "[T]", unit(S_phi) = "rad^2/Hz", unit(S_y) = "1/Hz", unit(sigma_y)= "1", unit(delta_form)="[T]".
- III. Postulates P501-*
- P501-1 (Dual-form parallelism): Any published arrival-time result must provide T_arr^{form1/form2} and delta_form in parallel, with the contract assertion delta_form ≤ tol_Tarr.
- P501-2 (Explicit measures): All integrals/averages/statistics must declare domain and measure: ( ∫_{gamma(ell)} · d ell ), ( ∫_{t∈W} · dt ), ( ∫_{f∈B} · df ).
- P501-3 (Dimensional compliance): Any field entering equations must pass check_dim( y - f(x) ); log↔linear conversions (dB↔linear, rad↔cycle) are persisted in scale.note.
- P501-4 (RefCond traceability): Reference conditions across path/environment/instruments/timebase are persisted as RefCond with hash/validity/coverage/Δt/Δx.
- P501-5 (Front-end coherence): Coherence of sampling/trigger/reference timebases must be recorded in the manifest; violations lead to rejection or degraded publication.
- IV. Minimal Equations S501-*
- Phase–frequency–statistics transforms
- S501-1: S_y(f) = (f/2π)^2 S_phi(f); sigma_y^2(τ) = 2 ∫_0^∞ S_y(f) |H_τ(f)|^2 df (where H_τ is the Allan filter).
- S501-2: y(t) = (1/2π f_ref) d phi/dt; CRLB (pure sinusoid + AWGN): var(f̂) ≥ 6 / ( (2π)^2 · SNR · T_obs^3 ) (calibration constants are persisted).
- Arrival-time dual forms & difference
- S501-3: T_arr^{form1} = ( 1 / c_ref ) ( ∫_{gamma} n_eff d ell ); T_arr^{form2} = ( ∫_{gamma} ( n_eff / c_ref ) d ell ).
- S501-4: delta_form = | T_arr^{form1} - T_arr^{form2} |, with release gate delta_form ≤ tol_Tarr.
- Link-latency decomposition & reconciliation
- S501-5: lat_total = lat_prop + lat_ser + lat_sw + lat_q + lat_proc;
reconciliation: T_arr* = T_arr^{form2} + ΔT_geom + ΔT_med + ΔT_inst + ΔT_proc + ΔT_sync. - Windowing & bandwidth
- S501-6: Spectral metrics use RBW/ENBW with window w(t); ENBW = ( ∫ w^2 / (∫ w)^2 ) Fs. Publication must record window_fn/RBW/ENBW.
- V. Metrology Flow M50-1 (Ready → Acquire → Model/Estimate → Check → Persist)
- Ready: Align tau_mono/ts; freeze RefCond and device/span inventories; set W, RBW/ENBW, and thresholds.
- Acquire: Collect I/Q/pulses/timestamps; record trigger/reference coherence and SNR; capture sync state offset/skew/J.
- Model/Estimate:
- Phase & frequency: phi/y/S_phi/S_y/sigma_y (Chs. 4–5).
- Arrival time: T_arr^{form1/form2}, lat_* decomposition (Ch. 6).
- Environment/path/instrument corrections corr_env(x; RefCond) (Chs. 7–8/companion volumes).
- Check: check_dim(*), evaluate delta_form, assess analytic vs. observed residuals; propagate u/U (Ch. 11).
- Persist:
manifest.tbn = {RefCond.hash, S_phi/S_y/sigma_y, T_arr_forms, lat_*, corr_env, u/U, contracts.*, signature}. - VI. Contracts & Assertions C50-1x (Suggested thresholds)
- C50-101 (Dual-form difference): delta_form_p95 ≤ tol_Tarr (suggest tol_Tarr = 1e-3·T_arr or link-specific).
- C50-102 (Window/bandwidth compliance): Persisted RBW/ENBW consistent with the recorded window; leakage/resolution gates met.
- C50-103 (SNR/CRLB): Estimators satisfy SNR ≥ SNR_min and T_obs ≥ T_min; otherwise reject or downgrade.
- C50-104 (Dimensions & freshness): check_dim(*) passes; age(RefCond) ≤ Δt_max, coverage ≥ cov_min.
- C50-105 (Front-end coherence): Trigger/reference-coherence metrics pass; otherwise no publication.
- VII. Implementation Bindings I50-1* (Interface prototypes, I/O, invariants)
- I50-11 acquire_timing(frontends, refs) -> {raw, meta}
- I50-12 estimate_phase_freq(raw, method) -> {phi, y, S_phi, S_y, sigma_y, meta}
- I50-13 measure_latency(link, probe) -> {T_arr_form1, T_arr_form2, delta_form}
- I50-14 compose_corr_env(sources, RefCond) -> {corr_env, meta}
- I50-15 assert_measurement_contracts(ds, rules) -> {report, pass}
- I50-16 emit_tbn_manifest(results, policy) -> {uri, status}
- Invariants: two_forms_present=true; check_dim(*) passes; method/RefCond/hash traceable; window/bandwidth/window function persisted.
- VIII. Cross-References
- PathCorrection/Packets/PathRedshift: path corrections, dispersion mapping, FSO/fiber propagation.
- TimeBase/Sync: tau_mono/ts/offset/skew/J and synchronization conventions.
- Instrument: loopback/two-way/peer calibrations.
- Methods.Cleaning: dual-form and contract-persistence conventions.
- IX. Quality & Risk Control
- SLIs/SLOs: delta_form_p95, sigma_y(τ) quantiles, S_phi@f thresholds, ΔT_obs_p95, age(source), coverage, hit/stale_ratio.
- Fallback strategies: high dual-form difference → unify on form2 and widen guardband; insufficient SNR → extend window/swap estimator; expired RefCond → downgrade/reject; trigger incoherence → reset/re-align.
- Audit: manifest signature chain, source hashes, replay scripts, and dual-environment recomputation.
- Summary
- This chapter fixes the domain-level baseline for TBN metrology: measurand set and I/O, dual-form rigor with dimensional checks, RefCond traceability, and manifest-based publication.
- It delivers an executable scaffold across P501/S501/M50-1/C50-1x/I50-1*, serving as the engineering anchor for this volume and for cross-volume alignment (paths/sync/instruments).
Copyright & License (CC BY 4.0)
Copyright: Unless otherwise noted, the copyright of “Energy Filament Theory” (text, charts, illustrations, symbols, and formulas) belongs to the author “Guanglin Tu”.
License: This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0). You may copy, redistribute, excerpt, adapt, and share for commercial or non‑commercial purposes with proper attribution.
Suggested attribution: Author: “Guanglin Tu”; Work: “Energy Filament Theory”; Source: energyfilament.org; License: CC BY 4.0.
First published: 2025-11-11|Current version:v5.1
License link:https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/