Unrepeated White Rabbit Time Synchronisation Over a 300 km Optical Fibre Link

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Authors: Ben Amies-King, Marco Lucamarini
Cited by: 0

Abstract

White Rabbit (WR) technology provides a commercially-available off-the-shelf solution for time synchronisation, with sub-nanosecond accuracy and picosecond-level precision, over optical fibre links typically spanning tens of kilometres. Such high-performance time dissemination can support a variety of applications, including position, navigation and timing (PNT), financial transactions, metrology, as well as entanglement and quantum key distribution (QKD). Demonstrations of WR over significantly longer distances remain few and far between, particularly in scenarios where intermediate amplification is unavailable, such as stretches of long-haul underwater fibre. In this work, we report the longest unrepeated deployment of WR to date, achieving time synchronisation over a 300km (51.34 dB) single-span optical fibre link, even in highly asymmetric configurations, with 99.86% uptime, whilst maintaining picosecond-level precision. This was achieved through careful selection and optimisation of the components deployed at the link's end points. By leveraging standard telecom fibre and off-the-shelf hardware, our results pave the way for a scalable and standardised timing backbone for large-scale quantum networks, offering a practical route towards time distribution in future heterogeneous quantum communication systems.

Fields of Study & Subjects

Network Time Synchronization Technologies Advanced Frequency and Time Standards Advancements in PLL and VCO Technologies

Publication details

Journal / source
Journal of Lightwave Technology
Volume
44
Issue
14
Pages
5903–5909
Publication date
25 May 2026
Language
EN