Assessment of timing jitter in digital telecommunications transmission systems

The topics of jitter origin, accumulation and control are vitally important in digital systems and networks, and form an important part of the relevant performance specifications. The principal properties of jitter are summarised and the philosophy behind current international specifications explained. A review of measurement requirements and techniques for testing the jitter performance of digital transmission equipment is given, and the paper concludes with a brief consideration of jitter assessment in systems and networks of the future.