Process Bus Timing Lab: a Windows PTP lab simulator and timing-health monitor for IEC 61850 FAT, SAT, analyzer validation, and Process Bus troubleshooting.
Process Bus Timing Lab helps substation automation engineers see whether PTPv2 Layer-2 timing traffic is visible, decodable, VLAN/QinQ-aware, and healthy enough for lab discussion before SV and GOOSE testing becomes guesswork.
Product website: https://masarray.github.io/PtpLabClock/
Download: https://github.com/masarray/PtpLabClock/releases
License: Apache-2.0
Safety boundary: this project is a lab simulator and diagnostic companion. It is not a certified PTP grandmaster, GPS clock, hardware-timestamped timing source, relay-acceptance reference, or replacement for IEC/IEEE 61850-9-3 compliant timing equipment.
The dashboard combines Clock Profile setup, Live Timing Flow counters, Scenario Player actions, VLAN settings, RAW self-test, and Timing Health diagnostics in one compact engineering workspace.
Guided demo of the main engineering workflow: live timing counters, scenario actions, timing-health diagnostics, and RAW NIC/VLAN setup.
In real Process Bus work, a relay, analyzer, or SV injector problem is often diagnosed too late because the timing layer is treated as invisible background infrastructure. Process Bus Timing Lab gives engineers a practical timing workspace for early-stage lab validation:
- Confirm whether PTP traffic is visible on the selected NIC.
- Validate analyzer decoding for Announce, Sync, Follow_Up, and Pdelay messages.
- Exercise untagged, VLAN-tagged, and QinQ PTP frame paths.
- Trigger controlled timing symptoms such as GM lost, missing Follow_Up, sequence jump, degraded clock, and stopped Pdelay.
- Export evidence packages for FAT/SAT notes, analyzer validation, and engineering discussion.
| Area | What it does |
|---|---|
| PTPv2 Layer-2 simulator | Builds synthetic Announce, Sync, Follow_Up, Pdelay_Req, Pdelay_Resp, and Pdelay_Resp_Follow_Up frames. |
| Timing monitor | Groups observed PTP by domain, source clock identity, message type, and basic health symptoms. |
| VLAN/QinQ validation | Builds and inspects untagged, IEEE 802.1Q VLAN, and stacked VLAN/QinQ PTP frames. |
| RAW NIC mode | Uses SharpPcap/Npcap in an isolated transport project for real adapter listing, filtering, RX capture, and lab TX. |
| Scenario player | Generates controlled lab conditions for analyzer diagnostics and training. |
| Evidence export | Produces concise PDF/ZIP session artifacts and protocol validation PCAP output. |
When a release tag is published, GitHub Actions creates direct portable EXE artifacts:
| Artifact | Use when |
|---|---|
PtpLabClock.App.win-x64.portable.exe |
You want the easiest Windows desktop app. |
PtpLabClock.Console.win-x64.portable.exe |
You want CLI validation, RAW self-test, scripting, or CI-style checks. |
PtpLabClock.App.win-x64.portable.zip |
You want EXE plus license, notices, and release notes in one folder. |
PtpLabClock.Console.win-x64.portable.zip |
You want the CLI package with supporting release files. |
Each release also includes checksums.txt, PtpLabClock.release-sbom.spdx.json, and ptp-validation.pcap.
Portable EXE files are not code-signed yet, so Windows SmartScreen may warn on first run. Verify the SHA256 hash from checksums.txt before running a downloaded executable.
Get-FileHash .\PtpLabClock.App.win-x64.portable.exe -Algorithm SHA256
Get-Content .\checksums.txtSee release verification and release provenance notes.
git clone https://github.com/masarray/PtpLabClock.git
cd PtpLabClock
dotnet restore .\PtpLabClock.sln
dotnet build .\PtpLabClock.sln -c Release
dotnet test .\PtpLabClock.sln -c Release
dotnet run --project .\src\PtpLabClock.Console -- --validate-protocol --domain 0Run the WPF app:
dotnet run --project .\src\PtpLabClock.AppRAW mode requires Npcap installed on Windows and may require Administrator privileges.
# List RAW adapters exposed by Npcap
dotnet run --project .\src\PtpLabClock.Console -- --list
# Untagged RAW self-test
dotnet run --project .\src\PtpLabClock.Console -- --raw-self-test --adapter-index 0 --domain 0
# VLAN-tagged RAW self-test
dotnet run --project .\src\PtpLabClock.Console -- --raw-self-test --adapter-index 0 --domain 0 --vlan --vlan-id 100 --vlan-pcp 4
# Start synthetic IEC 61850 lab profile traffic with VLAN tagging
dotnet run --project .\src\PtpLabClock.Console -- --adapter-index 0 --domain 0 --profile iec61850 --vlan --vlan-id 100 --vlan-pcp 4Recommended Wireshark display filter:
eth.type == 0x88f7 or ptp
Recommended capture filter for untagged, VLAN, and QinQ Layer-2 PTP:
ether proto 0x88f7 or (vlan and ether proto 0x88f7) or (vlan and vlan and ether proto 0x88f7)
If RAW mode does not start or packets are not visible, use the RAW troubleshooting playbook.
- IEC 61850 Process Bus engineers.
- FAT/SAT and commissioning engineers.
- Protection and automation test engineers.
- Developers validating SV, GOOSE, PTP, or Process Bus analyzers.
- Teams building lab workflows around ARSVIN / SV Injector and timing-health prechecks.
src/PtpLabClock.App WPF dashboard
src/PtpLabClock.Core Engine, scheduler, monitor, health, diagnostics
src/PtpLabClock.Protocol PTPv2 and Ethernet serialization/parsing
src/PtpLabClock.Pcap SharpPcap/Npcap RAW Layer-2 transport
src/PtpLabClock.Config JSON settings/profile helpers
src/PtpLabClock.Console CLI validation, monitor, RAW self-test
src/PtpLabClock.Reporting PDF/session evidence export
tests/ xUnit regression tests
.github/workflows CI, security, Pages, release automation
Start with the product website and repository docs:
- Product landing page
- Quick start
- Installation
- RAW NIC mode
- RAW NIC compatibility matrix
- RAW NIC troubleshooting playbook
- Protocol validation
- Golden PCAP fixtures
- Demo assets
- Release verification
- Release provenance and signing notes
- Passive monitor
- Timing health validation
- Wireshark validation
- Product readiness audit
- Limitations
- Development
- License: Apache-2.0.
- Security policy:
SECURITY.md. - Contribution guide:
CONTRIBUTING.md. - Third-party notices:
THIRD-PARTY-NOTICES.md. - Clean-room rule: do not copy incompatible or proprietary source code, UI assets, packet fixtures, or documentation text.
This project does not provide hardware timestamping, clock servo discipline, BMCA-complete grandmaster behavior, conformance certification, or relay-acceptance timing guarantees. Use certified PTP grandmaster equipment for protection, metering, and final commissioning workflows.