Patent ID: 8281177

Claim:
A distributed control system in which a plurality of field controllers are connected through a control network, the system comprising: an internal control clock generator provided in each of the field controllers and generating a cyclic internal timer clock signal to define a control timing of the field controller, an internal time being represented by the internal clock signal; an output unit that outputs a cyclic network timer clock signal to the control network, a network time being represented by the network timer clock signal; and an adjustment unit provided in each of the field controllers and synchronizing the internal time with the network time while maintaining continuity of the internal time by detecting a time difference between the internal time and the network time based on a comparison result between a waveform of the internal timer clock signal of the field controller and a waveform of the network timer clock signal obtained through the control network and controlling a cycle of the internal timer clock signal such that the time difference is reduced, wherein if the time difference between the internal time and the network time is smaller than a threshold value, the adjustment unit changes the cycle of the internal timer clock signal so as to synchronize the internal time with the network time while maintaining the continuity of the internal time, and if the time difference is larger than the threshold value, the adjustment unit discontinuously switches the internal time to the network time.