An industrial system for controlling backplane communication, comprising: a cluster manager (CM) comprising a primary switch (PS) linked to a primary control module (PCM), at least one Input/Output, I/O, module (IOM) comprising a secondary switch (SS) linked to a secondary control module (SCM), a unidirectional communication line (UCL) linking the cluster manager (CM) to the at least one I/O module (IOM) through passive base plates (BP), wherein the cluster manager (CM) comprises a transmission port (TPC) and a reception port (RPC) on the unidirectional communication line and the at least one Input/Output module (IOM) comprises a reception port (RPM) on the unidirectional communication line, wherein the primary control module is configured to generate a pulse via the transmission port (TPC) on the unidirectional communication line, wherein, upon reception of the pulse, received simultaneously by the cluster manager and the at least one I/O module, the primary control module (PCM) is configured to create a primary timestamp from a primary clock of the primary switch and the secondary control module (SCM) is configured to create a secondary timestamp from a secondary clock of the secondary switch, wherein the primary control module (PCM) is configured to send a message via the transmission port (TPC) on the unidirectional communication line to the secondary control module, the message comprising the primary timestamp, wherein, upon reception of the message, the secondary control module (SCM) is configured to synchronize the secondary clock with the primary clock based on the received primary timestamp and secondary timestamp. a cluster manager (CM) comprising a primary switch (PS) linked to a primary control module (PCM), at least one Input/Output, I/O, module (IOM) comprising a secondary switch (SS) linked to a secondary control module (SCM), a unidirectional communication line (UCL) linking the cluster manager (CM) to the at least one I/O module (IOM) through passive base plates (BP), wherein the cluster manager (CM) comprises a transmission port (TPC) and a reception port (RPC) on the unidirectional communication line and the at least one Input/Output module (IOM) comprises a reception port (RPM) on the unidirectional communication line, wherein the primary control module is configured to generate a pulse via the transmission port (TPC) on the unidirectional communication line, wherein, upon reception of the pulse, received simultaneously by the cluster manager and the at least one I/O module, the primary control module (PCM) is configured to create a primary timestamp from a primary clock of the primary switch and the secondary control module (SCM) is configured to create a secondary timestamp from a secondary clock of the secondary switch, wherein the primary control module (PCM) is configured to send a message via the transmission port (TPC) on the unidirectional communication line to the secondary control module, the message comprising the primary timestamp, wherein, upon reception of the message, the secondary control module (SCM) is configured to synchronize the secondary clock with the primary clock based on the received primary timestamp and secondary timestamp. <EOS>