  Precise time synchronization is expected to play a key role in emerging
distributed and real-time applications such as the smart grid and Internet of
Things (IoT) based applications. The Precision Time Protocol (PTP) is currently
viewed as one of the main synchronization solutions over a packet-switched
network, which supports microsecond synchronization accuracy. In this paper, we
present a PTP simulation model for OMNeT++ INET, which allows to investigate
the synchronization accuracy under different network configurations and
conditions. To show some illustrative simulation results using the developed
module, we investigate on the network load fluctuations and their impacts on
the PTP performance by considering a network with class-based
quality-of-service (QoS) support. The simulation results show that the network
load significantly affects the network delay symmetry, and investigate a new
technique called class probing to improve the PTP accuracy and mitigate the
load fluctuation effects.
