LSL freestanding functions

double lsl_local_clock()

Obtain a local system time stamp in seconds.

The resolution is better than a millisecond. This reading can be used to assign time stamps to samples as they are being acquired. If the “age” of a sample is known at a particular time (e.g., from USB transmission delays), it can be used as an offset to lsl_local_clock() to obtain a better estimate of when a sample was actually captured. See lsl_push_sample() for a use case.

Here we talk about lsl_time_correction_ex():

double lsl_time_correction_ex(lsl_inlet in, double *remote_time, double *uncertainty, double timeout, int32_t *ec)

Retrieve an estimated time correction offset for the given stream.

The first call to this function takes several milliseconds until a reliable first estimate is obtained. Subsequent calls are instantaneous (and rely on periodic background updates).

On a well-behaved network, the precision of these estimates should be below 1 ms (empirically it is within +/-0.2 ms).

To get a measure of whether the network is well-behaved, use lsl_time_correction_ex and check uncertainty (which maps to round-trip-time). 0.2 ms is typical of wired networks.

2 ms is typical of wireless networks. The number can be much higher on poor networks.

Return

The time correction estimate. This is the number that needs to be added to a time stamp that was remotely generated via lsl_local_clock() to map it into the local clock domain of this machine.

Parameters

  • in: The lsl_inlet object to act on.

  • timeout: Timeout to acquire the first time-correction estimate. Use LSL_FOREVER to defuse the timeout.

  • [out] ec: Error code: if nonzero, can be either lsl_timeout_error (if the timeout has expired) or lsl_lost_error (if the stream source has been lost).

Parameters

  • remote_time: The current time of the remote computer that was used to generate this time_correction. If desired, the client can fit time_correction vs remote_time to improve the real-time time_correction further.

  • uncertainty: The maximum uncertainty of the given time correction.

And here we list some other functions:

int32_t lsl_library_version()

Version of the liblsl library.

The major version is library_version() / 100; The minor version is library_version() % 100;

const char *lsl_library_info()

Get a string containing library information.

The format of the string shouldn’t be used for anything important except giving a debugging person a good idea which exact library version is used.

int32_t lsl_protocol_version()

Protocol version.

The major version is protocol_version() / 100; The minor version is protocol_version() % 100;

Clients with different minor versions are protocol-compatible with each other while clients with different major versions will refuse to work together.