Clock synchronization is a problem from computer science and engineering which deals with the idea that internal clocks of several computers may differ. Even when initially set accurately, real clocks will differ after some amount of time due to clock drift, caused by clocks counting time at slightly different rates. There are several problems that occur as a repercussion of clock rate differences and several solutions, some being more appropriate than others in certain contexts.
In serial communication, some people use the term "clock synchronization" merely to discuss getting one metronome-like clock signal to pulse at the same frequency as another one – frequency synchronization and phase synchronization. Such "clock synchronization" is used in synchronization in telecommunications and automatic baud rate detection.
Famous quotes containing the word clock:
“What brought them there so far from their home,
Cuchulain that fought night long with the foam,
What says the Clock in the Great Clock Tower?
Niamh that rode on it; lad and lass
That sat so still and played at the chess?
What but heroic wantonness?”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)