The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Dec. 07, 2010
Filed:
Sep. 04, 2008
Franz-josef Götz, Heideck, DE;
Chongning NA, München, DE;
Dragan Obradovic, Ottobrunn, DE;
Ruxandra Scheiterer, Geretsried, DE;
Günter Steindl, Poppenricht, DE;
Franz-Josef Götz, Heideck, DE;
Chongning Na, München, DE;
Dragan Obradovic, Ottobrunn, DE;
Ruxandra Scheiterer, Geretsried, DE;
Günter Steindl, Poppenricht, DE;
Siemens Aktiengesellschaft, Munich, DE;
Abstract
There is described a method for transmitting synchronization messages in a communication network, the communication network comprising a plurality of network nodes communicating with one another, each containing an internal clock, which is timed with a node clock frequency assigned to the respective network node. The synchronization messages transmitted in the communication network serve to synchronize the times of the internal clocks of the network nodes and contain the pulse counter status of a synchronization clock operating at a predefined synchronization clock frequency. The pulse counter status is estimated by each network node and updated in the synchronization message. Changes in the synchronization clock frequency are taken into account when estimating the pulse counter status. Precise determination of the pulse counter status is achieved with the aid of an approximation of the change over time in the pulse ratio between synchronization clock frequency and node clock frequency by means of a function, with the result that the pulse ratio on transmission of a new synchronization message can be predicted and a precise current pulse counter status can be determined on the basis of the predicted pulse ratio. The method is particularly suitable for use in a communication network of an industrial automation system, whose components communicate with one another for example according to the Profinet standard.