A fault tolerant transmission system for industrial control systems comprising: a programmable logic device comprising: a first serial port configured to be communicatively coupled to a first serial link, wherein the first serial port is configured to receive a first transmission signal from the first serial link; a second serial port configured to be communicatively coupled to a second serial link, wherein the second serial port is configured to receive a second transmission signal from the second serial link, wherein the first serial link and the second serial link are disposed in parallel with each other and are configured to communicate over a first single conduit, and the first communication signal and the second communication signal are representative of identical information; and a circuitry configured to: detect a fault in the first serial link, the second serial link, or both by comparing the first communication signal and the second communication signal; if a fault is detected, determine whether the transmission system can continue operation despite the fault; and characterized in detecting the fault by comparing the first communication signal and the second communication signal for bit by bit agreement, encoded sequence numbers with an expected sequence number stored in the programmable logic device, encoded timing data with a stored timing data in the programmable logic device, a sender identification with an expected sender identification stored in the programmable logic device, and encoded error check data with a result from an error check technique performed on the first communication signal or the second communication signal; wherein the circuitry is configured to determine whether the transmission system can continue based at least in part on a status of the serial links, a nature of the information transmitted in the communication signals, and optionally in addition on a nature of a system utilizing the transmissions system, whether the error is correctable in real-time, a history of previous errors, or any combination thereof. a first serial port configured to be communicatively coupled to a first serial link, wherein the first serial port is configured to receive a first transmission signal from the first serial link; a second serial port configured to be communicatively coupled to a second serial link, wherein the second serial port is configured to receive a second transmission signal from the second serial link, wherein the first serial link and the second serial link are disposed in parallel with each other and are configured to communicate over a first single conduit, and the first communication signal and the second communication signal are representative of identical information; and a circuitry configured to: detect a fault in the first serial link, the second serial link, or both by comparing the first communication signal and the second communication signal; if a fault is detected, determine whether the transmission system can continue operation despite the fault; and characterized in detecting the fault by comparing the first communication signal and the second communication signal for bit by bit agreement, encoded sequence numbers with an expected sequence number stored in the programmable logic device, encoded timing data with a stored timing data in the programmable logic device, a sender identification with an expected sender identification stored in the programmable logic device, and encoded error check data with a result from an error check technique performed on the first communication signal or the second communication signal; wherein the circuitry is configured to determine whether the transmission system can continue based at least in part on a status of the serial links, a nature of the information transmitted in the communication signals, and optionally in addition on a nature of a system utilizing the transmissions system, whether the error is correctable in real-time, a history of previous errors, or any combination thereof. detect a fault in the first serial link, the second serial link, or both by comparing the first communication signal and the second communication signal; if a fault is detected, determine whether the transmission system can continue operation despite the fault; and characterized in detecting the fault by comparing the first communication signal and the second communication signal for bit by bit agreement, encoded sequence numbers with an expected sequence number stored in the programmable logic device, encoded timing data with a stored timing data in the programmable logic device, a sender identification with an expected sender identification stored in the programmable logic device, and encoded error check data with a result from an error check technique performed on the first communication signal or the second communication signal; wherein the circuitry is configured to determine whether the transmission system can continue based at least in part on a status of the serial links, a nature of the information transmitted in the communication signals, and optionally in addition on a nature of a system utilizing the transmissions system, whether the error is correctable in real-time, a history of previous errors, or any combination thereof.