Stratum 1 NTP server using USB GPS

The main question is: How to feed GPS time to ntpd?

Please realize that connecting a consumer-grade (designed for location, not for time keeping) GPS unit over USB serial does not have the accuracy of “proper” GPS synchronization due to significant and inconsistent delays in the serial line itself, as well as in the USB system. Your notion of time will likely be delayed by tens of milliseconds if not hundreds of milliseconds. Any such-configured NTP server certainly can serve as a backup for local timekeeping when Internet connectivity is not available, but should never be advertised on the Internet as a Stratum 1 clock.

Proper GPS synchronization uses a PPS output (or similar) from the device, fed directly into an interrupt-generating line, for example a GPIO or parallel port. A GPSDO (GPS Disciplined Oscillator) is typically used which locks a temperature-compensated oscillator to the GPS time and provides a stable, reliable reference.

Below you find examples for some devices users have successfully got to run with LEDE. Depending on your special USB GPS dongle, you have to follow the one or the other instruction. If you get some other GPS device to work, please add a short howto to this page.

• Source: https://forum.openwrt.org/t/lede-as-stratum-1-ntp-server-using-usb-gps/1997
• Source: https://forum.openwrt.org/viewtopic.php?id=61161
  
• See also ntpd

VK-172 is a widely available USB GPS dongle (as of 03/2017: amazon, ebay, banggood, aliexpress, …), which is easy to handle in OpenWrt/LEDE.

USBID: 1546:01a7 U-Blox AG

1. Install the following packages:
   • kmod-usb-acm # for vk-172 gps dongle
   • gpsd # supports various nmea/binary gps protocols
   • gpsd-clients # some clients for testing (cgps, gpspipe, …)
   • ntpd # real ntpd to replace busybox
   • ntp-utils # ntpq needed for testing ntp
2. Plug in your USB GPS dongle
3. Check for presence of /dev/ttyACM0
   

   ls -l /dev/ttyACM0

4. Edit /etc/config/gpsd and set device to /dev/ttyACM0
   

   config gpsd core
       option device           "/dev/ttyACM0"
       option port             "2947"
       option listen_globally  "false"
       option enabled          "true"

   Set listen_globally to true to enable remote access to gpsd. If remote access is not desired, set to false.

5. edit /etc/init.d/ntpd and add the marked lines ¹⁾:

   [...]
           emit "\n# No limits for local monitoring"
           emit "restrict 127.0.0.1"
           emit "restrict -6 ::1\n"
   
           emit "\n# GPS"                                <--- add this line
           emit "server 127.127.28.0 minpoll 4 prefer"   <--- add this line
           emit "fudge 127.127.28.0 refid GPS\n"         <--- add this line
   [...]

6. Disable sysntpd
   

   /etc/init.d/sysntpd stop
   /etc/init.d/sysntpd disable

7. Restart ntpd + gpsd
   

   killall -9 gpsd ntpd
   /etc/init.d/gpsd start && sleep 2 && /etc/init.d/ntpd start

8. Check gps function
   

   cgps -s -u m
   gpspipe -v -r /dev/ttyACM0

9. Check ntp function
   

   ntpq -p

See also

• http://man.cx/xgps
• http://man.cx/gpsd(1) (cgps, xgps manpage)
• http://manpages.ubuntu.com/manpages/trusty/man1/gps.1.html
• http://www.catb.org/gpsd/troubleshooting.html

Source: https://forum.openwrt.org/t/lede-as-stratum-1-ntp-server-using-usb-gps/1997

Globalsat BU-353 USB GPS receiver originally used the SiRF Star III chipset, now also available with the SiRF Star IV chipset which offers enhanced performance (BU-353-S4 variant). Both versions use the Prolific PL2303 serial/USB chipset. This howto was tested with the original version. It is a high-quality device, readily available (Ebay etc.) for around $30.

USBID: 067B:2303

1. Install the following packages:
   

   opkg update
   opkg install kmod-usb-core kmod-usb2 kmod-usb-serial-pl2303
   opkg install ntpd ntp-utils ntpdate

2. Insert USB device, check for presence of: /dev/ttyUSB0
3. Edit /etc/init.d/ntpd, add:
   

   ln -sf /dev/ttyUSB0 /dev/gps0

4. Edit /etc/ntp.conf, uncomment:
   

   server 127.127.20.0 minpoll 4 prefer
   fudge 127.127.20.0 flag3 1 flag2 0

5. Stop and disable Busybox ntpd service:
   

   /etc/init.d/sysntpd stop
   /etc/init.d/sysntpd disable

6. Start and enable ISC ntpd service:
   

   /etc/init.d/ntpd start
   /etc/init.d/ntpd enable

7. Check proper function:
   

   root@c-fw:~# ntpq -p
        remote           refid      st t when poll reach   delay   offset  jitter
   ==============================================================================
   *GPS_NMEA(0)     .GPS.            0 l    5   16  377    0.000    2.541   5.297

This is just the basic setup, further work may be needed to tailor it for a specific environment, security considerations etc. etc.