Accelerator Timing Systems Overview

Timing systems are crucial ingredients for the successful operation of any particle accelerator complex. They are used not only to synchronize different processes but also to time-stamp and ensure overall coherency of acquired data. We describe fundamental time and frequency figures of merit and methods to measure them, and continue with a description of current synchronization solutions for different applications, precisions and geographical coverage, and some examples. Finally, we describe new trends in timing technology and applications.