FineTime MAL stored as long (picosecond resolution)

[CesarCoelho]

FineTime definition:
"The FineTime structure is used to store high-resolution absolute time attributes. It represents an absolute date and time to picosecond resolution."

According to the Java MAL API book (page 77):
MAL::Attribute = FineTime -> Wrapped Java type = long

An unsigned long can hold a maximum value of:
2^64 = 18446744073709551616 (picoseconds)

Which would correspond to the following maximum seconds:
18446744. 073 709 551 616 (seconds)

Which in days is:
18446744 sec = 5124 hours = 213.5 days

This means that with the current FineTime attribute picosecond resolution, one can only hold an absolute date and time on a range of 214 days!!

Suggested Solutions:
1 Store it as a 128 bit variable:
2^128 picoseconds = 1.079×10^19 years
(for comparison: Age of the universe = (13.798±0.037)×10^9 years)

2 Change the definition from picoseconds to nanoseconds:
2^64 nanoseconds = 584.9 years

Extra info (from ScienceDaily):
"The Galileo passive hydrogen masers will keep time with an accuracy of around one nanosecond (one one-thousand-millionth of a second) in 24 hours – equivalent to losing or gaining a second in 2.7 million years."

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Sam's Answer: "After discussing it here we think nanosecond resolution should be plenty. That would officially mean a change to the MAL Blue book but that won’t be happening for a while."