This timestamp records the time an SMT frame was created at the sending station, and by rule must be greater than or equal to the value used in the station's previous message. An administrator can use it to detect out-of-order or stale SMT frames arriving from a station, since a timestamp that fails to increase indicates a clock or protocol anomaly. For example, if two consecutive SMT frames from the same station carry the same or a decreasing timestamp, the admin knows the station's message sequencing has broken down.