Non-synchronous Network Time Protocol-based Variant
Commonly a Mills-style Unix clock is implemented with leap second handling not synchronous with the change of the Unix time number. The time number initially decreases where a leap should have occurred, and then it leaps to the correct time 1 second after the leap. This makes implementation easier, and is described by Mills's paper. This is what happens across a positive leap second:
| TAI (1 January 1999) | UTC (31 December 1998 to 1 January 1999) | state | Unix clock |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999-01-01T00:00:29.75 | 1998-12-31T23:59:58.75 | TIME_INS | 915 148 798.75 |
| 1999-01-01T00:00:30.00 | 1998-12-31T23:59:59.00 | TIME_INS | 915 148 799.00 |
| 1999-01-01T00:00:30.25 | 1998-12-31T23:59:59.25 | TIME_INS | 915 148 799.25 |
| 1999-01-01T00:00:30.50 | 1998-12-31T23:59:59.50 | TIME_INS | 915 148 799.50 |
| 1999-01-01T00:00:30.75 | 1998-12-31T23:59:59.75 | TIME_INS | 915 148 799.75 |
| 1999-01-01T00:00:31.00 | 1998-12-31T23:59:60.00 | TIME_INS | 915 148 800.00 |
| 1999-01-01T00:00:31.25 | 1998-12-31T23:59:60.25 | TIME_OOP | 915 148 799.25 |
| 1999-01-01T00:00:31.50 | 1998-12-31T23:59:60.50 | TIME_OOP | 915 148 799.50 |
| 1999-01-01T00:00:31.75 | 1998-12-31T23:59:60.75 | TIME_OOP | 915 148 799.75 |
| 1999-01-01T00:00:32.00 | 1999-01-01T00:00:00.00 | TIME_OOP | 915 148 800.00 |
| 1999-01-01T00:00:32.25 | 1999-01-01T00:00:00.25 | TIME_WAIT | 915 148 800.25 |
| 1999-01-01T00:00:32.50 | 1999-01-01T00:00:00.50 | TIME_WAIT | 915 148 800.50 |
| 1999-01-01T00:00:32.75 | 1999-01-01T00:00:00.75 | TIME_WAIT | 915 148 800.75 |
| 1999-01-01T00:00:33.00 | 1999-01-01T00:00:01.00 | TIME_WAIT | 915 148 801.00 |
| 1999-01-01T00:00:33.25 | 1999-01-01T00:00:01.25 | TIME_WAIT | 915 148 801.25 |
This can be decoded properly by paying attention to the leap second state variable, which unambiguously indicates whether the leap has been performed yet. The state variable change is synchronous with the leap.
A similar situation arises with a negative leap second, where the second that is skipped is slightly too late. Very briefly the system shows a nominally impossible time number, but this can be detected by the TIME_DEL state and corrected.
In this type of system the Unix time number violates POSIX around both types of leap second. Collecting the leap second state variable along with the time number allows for unambiguous decoding, so the correct POSIX time number can be generated if desired, or the full UTC time can be stored in a more suitable format.
The decoding logic required to cope with this style of Unix clock would also correctly decode a hypothetical POSIX-conforming clock using the same interface. This would be achieved by indicating the TIME_INS state during the entirety of an inserted leap second, then indicating TIME_WAIT during the entirety of the following second while repeating the seconds count. This requires synchronous leap second handling. This is probably the best way to express UTC time in Unix clock form, via a Unix interface, when the underlying clock is fundamentally untroubled by leap seconds.
Read more about this topic: Unix Time, Definition, Encoding Time As A Number
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