Application targets for IEEE-1588 are systems typically found in laboratory or in product test, industrial
automation, motion control, power or telecommunications system installations and similar industrial
settings involving multiple sensors, actuators, instruments, and computer/controllers. Temporal, or
synchronization, requirements in these applications are typically met in one of three ways:
1. Message-based. In message-based timing the sensing of a datum, the setting of an actuator, or the
initiation of a control procedure is synchronized based on the event of receiving a command or
message. IEEE-488 instrument systems and many industrial control systems based on proprietarynetworks are good examples. In these systems precise control of communication latency andexecution timing is required for accurate system wide synchronization.