METAS contributes to the following objectives of the project:
Development of a strategy to distribute the Swiss primary frequency standard. The transition frequencies must be determined on an absolute scale by making comparison with the Cs-atom primary standard that is used for the definition of the second. Currently, such a standard is not available at ETH nor in Basel, nor in any Swiss research institution, but is maintained at the Federal Institute of Metrology (METAS, Wabern near Bern) in the Photonics, Time and Frequency Laboratory. Establishing a viable strategy for the broad distribution of the METAS primary frequency standard in Switzerland is urgent if the Swiss research institutions are to remain competitive with European research institutions in this field.
Development of the prototype of a distribution network for frequency standards connecting the Swiss Universities. A network for the distribution of the primary standard must be established at a reasonable cost that is compatible with the architecture of the Swiss optical-fibre networks available for telecommunication and internet. The expertise and access to the infrastructure is available from the foundation SWITCH, which provides network services to the Swiss universities and research community. Ideally, the existing network infrastructure of SWITCH is used to straightforwardly extend the distribution of the frequency standards to the whole research community and, in the middle term, to connect to the frequency-metrology networks of neighbouring countries.