Intermittent NTP Time Download Failure

on Some China Networks

Application Note
80-NP749-1 A
June 24, 2014

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Contents

1 Introduction...................................................................................................... 5
1.1 Purpose.......................................................................................................................... 5
1.2 Scope............................................................................................................................. 5
1.3 Conventions .................................................................................................................. 5
1.4 References..................................................................................................................... 5
1.5 Technical assistance ...................................................................................................... 6
1.6 Acronyms ...................................................................................................................... 6

2 Software Update Description.......................................................................... 7

2.1 Problem description ...................................................................................................... 7
2.2 Change description ....................................................................................................... 7
2.3 Code change .................................................................................................................. 7
2.4 Side effects of the change ............................................................................................. 8

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 Contents

Tables
Table 1-1 Reference documents and standards ............................................................................................ 5

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Revision history

Revision Date Description

A Jun 2014 Initial release

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 1 1 Introduction

2 1.1 Purpose
3 An intermittent NTP time download issue has been observed with Android™ devices on some
4 networks in China, including the China Mobile Communications Corporation (CMCC) network.
5 Failure of NTP time download could block an IZat XTRA download request, which would cause
6 GNSS performance degradation on the UE side.
7 This document describes a workaround on the UE side to bypass the NTP time download issue
8 and minimize the impact on UE GNSS performance.

9 1.2 Scope
10 This document applies to Android-based devices launched in China markets.

11 1.3 Conventions
12 Function declarations, function names, type declarations, and code samples appear in a different
13 font, e.g., #include.
14 Code variables appear in angle brackets, e.g., <number>.
15 If you are viewing this document using a color monitor, or if you print this document to a color
16 printer, red boldface indicates code that is to be added, and blue strikethrough indicates code
17 that is to be replaced or removed.

18 1.4 References
19 Reference documents are listed in Table 1-1. Reference documents that are no longer applicable
20 are deleted from this table; therefore, reference numbers may not be sequential.

21 Table 1-1 Reference documents and standards

Ref. Document

Qualcomm Technologies
Q1 Application Note: Software Glossary for Customers CL93-V3077-1

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 Introduction

1 1.5 Technical assistance

2 For assistance or clarification on information in this document, submit a case to Qualcomm
3 Technologies, Inc. (QTI) at https://support.cdmatech.com/.
4 If you do not have access to the CDMATech Support website, register for access or send email to
5 support.cdmatech@qti.qualcomm.com.

6 1.6 Acronyms
7 For definitions of terms and abbreviations, see [Q1].

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 1 2 Software Update Description

2 2.1 Problem description

3 An intermittent NTP time download issue has been detected on Android devices when requesting
4 NTP time service from the default Android NTP server 2.android.pool.ntp.org while using the
5 CMCC network.
6 This NTP time download failure could cause previously downloaded IZat XTRA data to be
7 invalid or could block new IZat XTRA data download request initiation, because the validity of
8 the IZat XTRA file can be checked only when the UE has access to system time information.
9 Without NTP time information, the UE cannot take advantage of IZat XTRA data, resulting in an
10 increased need for GNSS navigation data demodulation over the air and longer times for making
11 a position fix compared with IZat XTRA data presented.

12 2.2 Change description

13 Starting from the Android ICS MR0 release, the NTP server address is specified in config.xml
14 and the NTP server provides NTP service to the whole Android OS, including IZat XTRA.
15 For OEMs in China, a workaround can be implemented on the Android framework to overlay
16 2.android.pool.ntp.org (the Google default) with a generic local NTP server instead.

17 2.3 Code change

18 If you are viewing this document using a color monitor, or if you print this document to a color
19 printer, red boldface indicates code that is to be added, and blue strikethrough indicates code
20 that is to be replaced or removed.
21 Change the server address as shown below.
22 File: frameworks/base/core/res/res/values/config.xml
23 Approximate line number: 1075

<!-- Remote server that can provide NTP responses. -->

<string translatable="false"
name="config_ntpServer">2.android.pool.ntp.org</string>
<string translatable="false"
name="config_ntpServer">asia.pool.ntp.org</string>

24 NOTE: asia.pool.ntp.org is a public NTP server, and it is able to provide NTP time to China customers.
25 An OEM could also specify other generic local NTP servers by changing the configuration file.

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 Software Update Description

1 2.4 Side effects of the change

2 Android devices can get the same NTP services from different NTP servers. No side effect of this
3 change is anticipated.
4

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