GNS183PEX: GPS/GLONASS/Galileo/BeiDou Clock for Desktop and Server PCs (PCIe Low-Profile Board)

The GNS183PEX is a 72-channel satellite receiver & clock based on Meinberg's GNSS technology in a PCI Express low-profile card form factor. This PC clock has been developed from the ground up specifically for time & frequency applications. The GNS183PEX is designed to receiver the U.S. Global Positioning System (GPS), the European Galileo system, the Chinese BeiDou constellation, and the Russian GLONASS system, enabling accurate synchronization of your PC's clock and generation of high-precision, high-accuracy time & frequency signals anywhere in the world.

This PCI Express card is ideal for providing your server or workstation PC with high-accuracy time, allowing any existing PC to operate as a Stratum 1 NTP server - ideal when you lack space for a separate time server in your server rack.

Key Features Product Description Characteristics Downloads

Key Features

PCI Express Interface
2 time trigger inputs
Progr. Pulses (PPM, PPH, PPS, DCF77-SIM ...)
Memory Mapped I/O time reads for high access rates
RS-232 interface
IRIG-B/AFNOR time code outputs
Plug and Play
DCF77 simulation
Allows direct transmission routes of up to 150 m when using Ultraflex H2010 coaxial cable
Configurable time scale (UTC/local, GPS time, TAI)
Driver software for all popular operating systems
Possible usage in mobile applications
Previous Models - GNS183PEX:
GNS181PEX :: Low Profile GPS / GLONASS / Galileo / BeiDou Clock (PCI Express)
GLN180PEX :: Low Profile GPS / GLONASS Clock (PCI Express)

Product Description

The GNS183PEX features not only a BNC connector for amplitude-modulated timecode (TC AM) output, four status LEDs, but also a 9-pin D-Sub male connector with outputs for time signals generated by the GNS183PEX, including serial time strings and programmable signals (including pulse-per-second and pulse-per-minute signals).

The GNS183PEX is shipped with a standard slot bracket with recesses for the antenna BNC connector, the AM timecode output BNC connector (TC AM) and the four status LEDs. This bracket also features an integrated D-Sub 9 male connector for outputting serial time strings and programmable signals.

The GNS183PEX also includes a 'low-profile' slot bracket which can be used to replace the standard bracket for installation of the GPS183PEX in low-profile chassis form factors such as 1U rack servers. When using the low-profile bracket, the signals that would otherwise be output via the D-Sub connector are instead output via a box header mounted on the board itself.

Constellation Reception

The integrated GNSS receiver requires an external antenna. The GNS183PEX can be configured to process signals from the GPS, Galileo, BeiDou, and GLONASS constellations. These configuration options allow the user to specify if only one of these constellations or a combination of up to three of the systems should be used:

GPS
GLONASS
BeiDou
GPS + GLONASS
GPS + BeiDou
Galileo
GPS + Galileo
Galileo + GLONASS
Galileo + BeiDou
GPS + Galileo + GLONASS
GPS + Galileo + BeiDou

How It Works

The GNS183PEX PCI Express card is a relatively self-contained clock system, comprising a receiver, an oscillator, an output driver, and a custom FPGA-based processor that handles reference signal decoding, management I/O, and signal generation.

The PCI Express interface serves three primary purposes: communication of management data between the GPS183PEX card and the host PC, communication of time data from the card to the host PC to allow the host PC’s operating system to synchronize the time of the mainboard’s real-time clock, and delivery of the required power from the host PC’s power source to the card.

As such, as long as the PCI Express interface continues to supply the requisite power, the GPS183PEX’s internal firmware will continue to synchronize the clock to its reference source and generate output signals through the AM timecode output and 9-pin D-Sub connector regardless of the software running on the PC. As such, the GPS183PEX is capable of operating autonomously, ensuring signal output stability even in the event of software problems, OS failures, or soft reboots of the PC.

For synchronization, the GPS183PEX’s receiver determines its position using at least four visible GNSS satellites. This position is used to calculate an offset for the timing data received from the GNSS satellites. Once the GPS183PEX is successfully synchronized with a suitable reference, it generates a PPS (pulse-per-second) phase reference and a 10 MHz frequency reference.

Legacy interfaces like IRIG, PPS or serial time strings can be used to connect other equipment to the PCIe slot card and transfer the time base over dedicated cable connections to systems which cannot be synchronized via NTP or other network protocols.

Meinberg Driver Packages for PCI Express Receivers

The Windows driver package includes a time synchronization service which runs in the background and adjusts the Windows system time continuously and invisibly. This package also includes a monitor program to enable the user to check the status of the device and time adjustment service. If the monitor program is run with administrator rights, it can also be used to modify configurable parameters.

The Linux and FreeBSD driver packages include a kernel driver which allows the product to be used as a reference time source for the NTP daemon included in most Unix-like operating systems. This also allows the computer to be used as an NTP time server to provide accurate time to NTP clients on the network. Some command line tools can be used to modify configurable parameters and monitor the status of the clock in use.

Please contact Meinberg's Support Team for more information on using the card with other operating systems: techsupport@meinberg.de.

The device's serial port is not required for operation but can be used to update the card's firmware, or to provide another computer with the current time via a serial time string.

The GNS183PEX comes with a multitude of features to enable software developers to overcome the timing limitations of COTS operating systems like many Linux distributions or Windows. The powerful and highly functional Meinberg API delivers an easy-to-use and portable way of accessing all Meinberg bus-level timing devices, including USB time synchronization products.

If you wish to have your own application communicate with the GNS183PEX, you can download the Meinberg Software Development Kit, which contains useful examples on how to use the Meinberg driver API. Of course, all of our drivers and the SDK are available to download free of charge from our website.

Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions regarding the use of the Meinberg API. We will be happy to assist you with the integration of the GNS183PEX card in your application.

Characteristics

Receiver Type	Combined GPS / Galileo / GLONASS / BeiDou receiver Number of channels: 72 Frequency band: L1 Standard Precision (GNSS)
Status Indicators	Status info by 4 LED light indicators (2mm light pipes) Init - blue: while the receiver passes through the initialization phase Nav Solved - green: positioning successfully Ant Fail - red: antenna faulty or not connected Fail - red: time is not synchronized
Type of Antenna	GNMANTv2: Dual-Band Multi-Frequency Antenna for GPS, Galileo, GLONASS and BeiDou reception
Synchronization Time	Max. 1 minute in normal operating conditions Max. 25 minutes (average 12 minutes) upon first initialization or in the absence of saved satellite data
Pulse Outputs	3 Programmable TTL outputs, per default configured as: Channel 0: Pulse per second (TTL, RS-232 level), pulse duration: 200 msec Channel 1: Pulse per minute (TTL), pulse duration: 200 msec Channel 2: DCF77 compatible pulses (TTL), pulse width: 100/200 msec
Accuracy of Pulse Outputs	Depends on oscillator option: < ±100ns (TCXO, OCXO LQ) < ±50ns (OCXO MQ, OCXO HQ) Standard: TCXO
Interface	Single serial RS-232 interface
Serial Time String Output	Baud Rate: 300, 600, 1200, 2400, 4800, 9600, 19200 baud Framing: 7N2, 7E1, 7E2, 8E1, 8N1, 8N2 Time Strings: Meinberg Standard (Default), Meinberg Capture, Meinberg GPS, SAT, NMEA RMC, NMEA GGA, NMEA ZDA, NMEA RMC GGA (RMC followed by GGA), NMEA GGA ZDA (GGA followed by ZDA), Uni Erlangen, Computime, Sysplex 1, SPA, RACAL, ION, ION Blanked, IRIG-J-1x, 6021, Freelance
Status Byte	Information about free-run state, Daylight Saving Time, DST pre-switch announcement, synchronization since last reset, GMT/UTC time, validity of the hardware clock data
DCLS Timecode Output	DCLS, TTL with 50 Ohm load (active high or active low)
AM Timecode Output	AM timecode sine-wave signal: 3Vpp (MARK), 1Vpp (SPACE) with 50 Ohm load
Supported Timecode Formats	IRIG B002: 100pps, DCLS signal, no carrier, BCD time-of-year IRIG B122: 100pps, AM sine wave signal, 1 kHz carrier, BCD time-of-year IRIG B003: 100pps, DCLS signal, no carrier, BCD time-of-year, SBS time-of-day IRIG B123: 100pps, AM sine wave signal, 1kHz carrier, BCD time-of-year, SBS time-of-day IRIG B006: 100 pps, DCLS Signal, no carrier, BCD time-of-year, year IRIG B126: 100 pps, AM sine wave signal, 1 kHz carrier frequency, BCD time-of-year, Year IRIG B007: 100 pps, DCLS Signal, no carrier, BCD time-of-year, year, SBS time-of-day IRIG B127: 100 pps, AM sine wave signal, 1 kHz carrier frequency, BCD time-of-year, year, SBS time-of-day IEEE1344: Code according to IEEE1344-1995, 100pps, AM sine-wave signal, 1kHz carrier, BCD time-of-year, SBS time-of-day, IEEE1344 expansion for date, time zone, daylight saving and leap second in Control Functions segment C37.118: Like IEEE1344 - with inverted sign bit for UTC offset AFNOR: Code according to NFS-87500, 100pps, AM sine-wave signal, 1kHz carrier, BCD time-of-year, complete date, SBS time-of-day
Electrical Connectors	SMA connector for antenna BNC female connector for modulated timecode 9 pin sub D male connector (with standard bracket)
PC Interface	Single-lane (x1) PCI Express (PCIe) Interface PCI Express r1.0a compatible
Backup Battery Type	Upon loss of power supply to card, the hardware clock runs independently using the on-board quartz oscillator. Almanac data remains stored in battery-backed RAM Life time of lithium battery min. 10 years
Board Type	Low-profile card (68.90 mm x 150 mm)
Supported Temperature	Operational: 0 - 50 °C (32 - 122 °F) Storage: -20 - 70 °C (-4 - 158 °F)
Supported Humidity	Max. 85 % at 30 °C (86 °F), non-condensing
Warranty	Three-year warranty
Options	Upgrade from TCXO oscillator to OCXO SQ or OCXO HQ for advanced holdover performance Refer to Oscillator Comparison Table for further details
RoHS Status of Product	This product is fully RoHS-compliant.
WEEE Status of Product	This product is handled as a B2B (Business to Business) category product. To ensure that the product is disposed of in a WEEE-compliant fashion, it can be returned to the manufacturer. Any transportation expenses for returning this product (at end-of-life) must be covered by the end user, while Meinberg will bear the costs for the waste disposal itself.