US Patent 11882178 Time synchronization in a real-time network

In order to synchronize the respective local network time of participants of a real-time network, wherein the participants are connected to one another via ports, the participants transmit, preferably cyclically, synchronization packets to connected participants, wherein one participant of the real-time network is designated as the synchronization master, and using the synchronization packets, the local network time of the other participants is synchronized with the local network time of the synchronization master.