Thalwil ZH – Facebook intends to employ a solution made by u-blox from the Greater Zurich Area. The tech giant will use a u-blox receiver module for its timekeeping solution. This will help improve performance and reduce latencies.

Facebook plans to use a development made in Thalwil. According to a press release, the tech giant has chosen a product called ZED-F9T from u-blox. This is a receiver module for the global navigation satellite system (GNSS). Facebook will use this module for its Time Card timekeeping solution. This will reduce the computational overhead required when synchronizing the timing between different computers in a network.  By improving the synchronization of networked computers, Facebook’s Time Card can significantly speed up the performance of its data centers and distributed databases.

Facebook chooses u-blox solution
Facebook's solution accesses atomic clocks aboard dozens of orbiting GNSS satellites to ensure timing between different computers in a network. Generic image: Alexas_Photos/Pixabay

According to u-blox, Facebook has open-sourced the design of Time Card. These solutions can therefore easily be adopted by other industries requiring nanosecond-level timing, such as 5G cellular networks or smart power grids.

Founded over 20 years ago as a spin-off from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETH), u-blox has become a leader of technological innovation. Alongside its headquarters in Thalwil, the company has offices in other European countries, Asia and the USA.

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