A study of methods to synchronize different sensors between two smartphones

Sammanfattning: Obtaining data simultaneously from different sensors located on different mobile devices can be useful for applications such as sports and medicine. In order for the data from the different sensors to be combined for analysis, the mobile devices need to be time synchronized first. This paper presents an application that can be used to calculate the difference between the internal clocks of two android devices using a combination of the Cristian and Marzullo algorithms. Different methods to connect the devices over Wi-Fi as well as the internet are tested to determine the optimal method for clock synchronization. The paper also validates the synchronization by testing different sensors on two identical android smartphones. The results show that clock synchronization between two mobile devices can be achieved with a round-trip time of 2 milliseconds or less using Wi-Fi Direct. Validation of the synchronization shows that a delay of 7 milliseconds or less can be achieved between two sensors of the same type on two identical android smartphones. It also shows that the least achievable delay between sensors of different types is 16 milliseconds. The conclusion is that once two android smartphones’ clocks are synchronized, only data from sensors of the same type can be combined, with the exception of the camera sensor. Further testing with more robust equipment is needed in order to eliminate human error which could possibly yield more desirable results.