Implementing a high resolution monotonic system clock

An application implementing a high resolution monotonic system clock is provided. A kernel increments a value called a generation number. The generation number is used to determine what state the high and low resolution time values are in. The kernel next stores a low resolution time value. Then, if a time adjustment is occurring, the kernel updates the high resolution time value by updating the origin date. The kernel then increments the generation number a second time. The providing application receives a request for time from another application. The providing application determines a first value for the generation number and compares a low resolution time value and high resolution time value and determines the maximum value of the two. The providing application then gets a second value for the generation number and compares the second value of the generation number to the first value of the generation number. If the two values of the generation number are the same, the providing application returns the maximum value to the requesting application.