Student: Will Hall
Faculty: Dr. John Shovic, Dr. Mary Everett
Project Type: FAFSA Work Study Research (transitioning to EPAF-funded Research)
Institution: University of Idaho – Coeur d’Alene, Center for Intelligent Industrial Robotics (CIIR)
The project measures latency and jitter in Zero-Trust environments and evaluates Precision Time Protocol (PTP) and Network Time Protocol (NTP) performance in industrial control system (ICS) and operational technology (OT) contexts.
The project began with baseline latency and jitter analysis across isolated and Zero-Trust networks (NILE platform) and is now expanding into secure, low-cost time synchronization for electrical and industrial systems under the Energy Institute.
| Phase | Title | Description | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Raspberry Pi Time Sync | Establishes LAN latency and jitter baselines under NILE Zero Trust configurations. Uses Raspberry Pi 4B nodes, Chrony, and iperf3 for precise measurement. | Baseline complete |
| 02 | Infrastructure Timing Pivot | Builds on Phase 1 results by integrating micro-PLCs (Arduino Opta) for cyber-physical synchronization studies. Focus: PTP, GPS-independent timing, and secure overlays (Tailscale, WireGuard). | In development |
| DEVLOG | Research Logbook | Daily/weekly development notes, test results, and progress summaries for both phases. | Ongoing |
latency-jitter-ztn/
│
├── 01_RPI_time_sync/ # Phase 1 – NILE baseline testing
│ ├── 01_analysis/ # Data summaries, graphs, notebooks
│ ├── 02_data/baseline/ # Raw latency/jitter logs
│ ├── 03_docs/ # Setup notes, diagrams, test plans
│ └── 04_scripts/ # Automation scripts for tests
│
├── 02_infrastructure_timing/ # Phase 2 – Energy Institute pivot
│ ├── 00_Charter.md # Scope and objectives
│ ├── 01_Existing_Infrastructure_Map.md
│ ├── 02_Pivot_Proposal.md
│ ├── 03_Integration_Plan.md
│ ├── 04_Experiment_Design.md
│ ├── 05_Reporting_Plan.md
│ └── /experiments, /hardware # Data and implementation (planned)
│
├── DEVLOG/ # Research journal entries
├── README.md # This file
└── LICENSE # MIT license
- Goal: Establishes baseline LAN latency and jitter using synchronized clocks on Raspberry Pi 4B nodes to validate deterministic Ethernet behavior and data acquisition consistency.
- Hardware: Raspberry Pi 4B nodes on isolated switch.
- Software: Chrony, iperf3, ping, shell/Python automation.
- Deliverables:
- Baseline jitter dataset and analysis notebooks.
- Repeatable testing framework for Zero Trust comparison.
- Academic poster for NILE and CIIR Showcase 2025.
- Goal: Expands to cyber-physical systems by integrating micro-PLCs for hardware-in-loop timing tests, comparing PTP and NTP accuracy under encrypted overlays.
- Hardware: Raspberry Pi 4B + Arduino Opta (micro PLC).
- Software: PTP (IEEE 1588), Chrony, WireGuard/Tailscale overlays.
- Deliverables:
- Experimental report on PTP vs Chrony precision.
- Prototype hybrid RPi–PLC testbed.
- Poster and paper submission for Energy Institute Showcase 2026.
- Baseline (Phase 1): Measure network jitter across air-gapped and NILE Zero Trust configurations.
- Infrastructure Integration (Phase 2): Couple network data with physical control timing.
- Secure Overlay: Test how encryption layers affect precision.
- Compare NTP vs PTP performance under identical network conditions to quantify trade-offs in accuracy and resource load.
- Resilient PNT Analysis: Explore GPS-denied synchronization and trustworthiness of timing sources.
- Reporting: Document, visualize, and publish results for academic and industry audiences.
- Baseline data collection complete.
- Pivot phase mapping (Energy Institute collaboration).
- Integration and PTP testing scheduled.
MIT License — open for academic and research reuse with attribution.
William Hall
Research Assistant – UI CS Lab CDA
📧 hall4024@vandals.uidaho.edu 🔗 github.com/tank208