core/api/src/main/java/org/onosproject/store/service/LogicalClockService.java

/*
 * Copyright 2015-present Open Networking Laboratory
 *
 * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
 * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
 * You may obtain a copy of the License at
 *
 *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
 *
 * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
 * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
 * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
 * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 * limitations under the License.
 */
package org.onosproject.store.service;

import org.onosproject.store.Timestamp;

/**
 * Service that issues logical timestamps.
 * <p>
 * Logical timestamps are useful for establishing a total ordering of
 * arbitrary cluster wide events without relying on a fully synchronized
 * system clock (wall clock)
 */
public interface LogicalClockService {

    /**
     * Generates a new logical timestamp.
     *
     * @return timestamp
     */
    Timestamp getTimestamp();
}