This work explores clock synchronization algorithms used to process timestamps from the IEEE 1588 precision time protocol (PTP). It focuses on the PTP-unaware network scenario, where the network nodes do not actively contribute to PTP's operation. This scenario typically imposes a harsh environment for accurate clock distribution, primarily due to the packet delay variation experienced by PTP packets. In this context, it is essential to process the noisy PTP measurements using algorithms and strategies that consider the underlying clock and packet delay models. This work surveys some attractive algorithms and introduces an open-source analysis library that combines several of them for better performance. It also provides an unprecedented comparison of the algorithms based on datasets acquired from a sophisticated testbed composed of field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs). The investigation provides insights regarding the synchronization performance under various scenarios of background traffic and oscillator stability. INDEX TERMS Clock synchronization, IEEE 1588, partial timing support, precision time protocol.

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Virtualization is a key feature in Cloud Radio Access Network (C-RAN). It can help to save costs since it allows the use of virtualized base stations instead of physically deployment in different areas. However, the creation and management of virtual base stations pools is not trivial and introduces new challenges to C-RAN deployment. This paper reports a method to orchestrate and manage a container-based C-RAN. We used several instances of the OpenAirInterface software running on Docker containers, and orchestrated them using Kubernetes. We demonstrate that using Kubernetes it is possible to dynamically scale remote radio heads (RRHs) and baseband units (BBUs) according to requirements of the network and parameters such as the server resources usage.

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