Hardware PTP Timestamping on Windows 10

[albertsim]

Hi,

I'm currently using PTP functionality on Windows. So far I've noticed the "PTP Hardware Timestamp" on Intel I219-V Ethernet Controller in Device Manager, but this option is not available on some PCI-E based Ethernet adapter, e.g. i350-t4 and CT Desktop Adapter.My questions are:

1. Is there a list which controller have PTP Hardware Timestamp already implemented in Windows driver?

2. When will PTP Hardware Timestamp be added on windows driver for i350 or another PCI-E based Ethernet adapter?

Thank you in advance,

Albert

[Caguicla_Intel]

Hello Albert,

Thank you for posting in Intel Ethernet Communities. 

Before we further check your questions, please provide the exact Operating System that you used/intend to use.

Awaiting to your reply. 

We will follow up after 3 business days in case we don't hear from you. 

Best regards,

Crisselle C.

Intel® Customer Support

[albertsim]

Hallo Crisselle,

the OS is Windows 10 Pro 64 bit version 21H2 Build 19044.1348 as of today.

Best regards,

Albert

[Caguicla_Intel]

Hello Albert,

Appreciate your swift response. 

Please allow us to further check your request. We will give you an update as soon as possible but no later than 2-3 business days. 

Hoping for your kind patience. 

Best regards,

Crisselle C.

Intel® Customer Support

[Caguicla_Intel]

Hello Albert,

Thank you for the patience on this matter. 

Please see below information for the feedback from our higher level support. 

Windows do not offer support for IEEE 1588 on Ethernet controllers and an application will need to communicate directly with the hardware to use IEEE 1588.

See IEEE1588 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

https://www.intel.com/content/dam/www/public/us/en/documents/faqs/ieee1588-faq.pdf

6. I just want time stamps for Ethernet traffic. Will a device that supports PTP work?

12. What operating systems support PTP?

15. Do Intel software device drivers support PTP?

For Intel® Ethernet Server Adapter I350, please refer to product brief. Supports IEEE 1588 and go to Ethernet features on page 3

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/products/docs/network-io/ethernet/10-25-40-gigabit-adapters/ethernet-i350-server-adapter-brief.html 

Unfortunately, the CT Desktop Adapter does not support IEEE 1588.

Intel® Gigabit CT Desktop Adapter Product Brief

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/products/docs/network-io/ethernet/10-25-40-gigabit-adapters/gigabit-ct-desktop-adapter-brief.html

If you wish to know other Intel Adapters that supports IEEE 1588, you may find their Product Briefs on this link.

https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark.html#@EthernetProducts

Open the link where you can find all the Ethernet Adapters> Choose the specific Ethernet Adapter model>Look for "Supplemental Information", choose "Product Brief"

Feel free to let us know if you have questions or clarification on this request. 

Awaiting to hear from you. 

We will follow up after 3 business days in case we don't receive a response.

Best regards,

Crisselle C.

Intel® Customer Support

[albertsim]

Hallo Crisselle,

thank you for the answer. Actually Windows 10 does support IEEE 1588 PTP since Version 1909. The FAQ was dated back on 2011 so it is not up to date. We can see in device manager that Intel already support PTP in Windows driver (screenshot attached) and mentioned in the latest (v26.6) Adapter User Guide for Intel® Ethernet Adapters (page 46).

After testing several adapters in device manager, I found that the option "PTP Hardware Timestamp" and "Software Timestamp" was available on I217-V and I219-V, but it was not available on I350.

Is there a list of adapter that support PTP and already implemented on Windows 10 driver? So the next time I buy an adapter or motherboard I can guarantee that the driver for the embedded Ethernet controller support PTP in Windows 10.

I350 has PTP support but only on Linux. The "PTP Hardware Timestamp" option isn't available on Windows 10 driver. Is there a plan to implement it later?

Thank you for your assistance.

Best regards,

Albert

[Caguicla_Intel]

Hello Albert,

You're welcome. Appreciate your effort in sending us a reply. 

Please allow us to double check on this. We will give you an update as soon as possible but no later than 2-3 business days.

Thank you for your kind understanding. 

Best regards,

Crisselle C.

Intel Customer Support 

[Caguicla_Intel]

Hello Albert,

Good day!

We sincerely apologize for the delay on this matter as our engineering team is still thoroughly checking on this. Please give us more time to look into this. Rest assured that we will give you an update you as soon as possible but no later than 2-3 business days.

Thank you for your kind patience and cooperation. 

Best regards,

Crisselle C.

Intel Customer Support 

[Caguicla_Intel]

Hello Albert,

I hope you'll be having an amazing weekend!

We'd like to inform you that we are still actively working on this issue with our higher level Engineers. We apologize if this is taking longer than expected but rest assured that we are doing our best to sort this out as soon as possible. We will get back to you once we heard update from our engineers but no later than 2-3 business days.

Best regards,

Crisselle C.

Intel Customer Support

[Caguicla_Intel]

Hello Albert,

Good day!

Please be informed that we are still actively working on this issue for you. We are still waiting for our higher level Engineers' update on this request. Rest assured that we will give you an update as soon as we heard from them but no later than 2-3 business days. 

Thank you for your kind patience. 

Best regards,

Crisselle C.

Intel Customer Support

[Mike_Intel]

Hello Albert,

I hope this message finds you well.

We just want to provide an update that we are still waiting for our higher level Engineers' update on this request. Due to the complexity of the issue, please give us another 4 to5 working days to provide an update.  

Thank you for your kind patience. 

Best regards,

Michael L.

Intel® Customer Support

[Mike_Intel]

Hello Albert,

Thank you for patiently waiting for our update. Base on the update that we received, HW Timestamp is confirmed to be supported on e1r device I350. Please try using the ProSet ACU (Adapter Configuration Utility) to set this to "Enabled".

If you have questions, please let us know. In case we do not hear from you, we will make a follow up after 3 workings days. Thank you.

Best regards,

Michael L.

Intel® Customer Support

[Ossama-MOUSTAFA]

Hello @Mike_Intel. 

Do you know please if i350-T4V2 would be able to use hardware timestamp on windows ? 

Best regards. 

[Caguicla_Intel]

Hello Albert,

Good day!

This is just a follow up to check if you have read our previous message. If yes, please confirm and let us know if you have questions or clarifications so we can check on it. 

Awaiting to your reply. 

We will follow up after 3 business days in case we don't hear from you. 

Best regards,

Crisselle C.

Intel Customer Support 

[Achilles_Intel]

Hello albertsim,

Hope you are doing well.

We are following up on your inquiry for this thread. Since we haven't received any update from you for a few days, we will now close this thread. Feel free to post a new question in the forums if you additional inquiries as this thread will no longer be monitored.

Thank you and have a nice day.

Best regards,

Achilles M.

Intel Customer Support

[EternalStudent07]

Not to hijack the thread, but how does this relate to "RFC 1323 - TCP Extensions for High Performance"?

https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc1323

Both features mention Precision Time Protocol, and I'm familiar with the difference between ethernet vs. TCP/IP (one is hardware, the other is software run on top of the hardware).

I was surprised "PTP Hardware Timestamp" was disabled by default for my I217-V on Windows 10 with driver version 12.19.1.37 (latest I can find...package called it v27 drivers).  After some reading the only negative I could find was larger packet headers (20B of each 64KB packet turns into 32B or something), and possible vague issues without mentioning what they might look like.

I'd love to hear how to test this feature.  Or find a benefit from enabling it.  I'm just a home user poking around at the hardware I already have to see if I could get more out of it.

[Ossama-MOUSTAFA]

Hello @Achilles_Intel.

Do you know please if intel drivers have to ability to use hardware timestamp on windows ?

I try to use this : https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/api/iphlpapi/nf-iphlpapi-getinterfaceactivetimestampcapabilities 

with intel drivers, but I just get the error "ERROR_BAD_DRIVER".

I am trying this with network adapters i219-lm and i210. 

Kind regards.