Patent ID: 7848360

Claim:
A method for transmitting synchronization messages in a communication network, comprising: providing a communication network comprising a plurality of network nodes communicating with one another, one of the plurality of network nodes having an internal clock, which is timed at a node clock frequency assigned to the respective network node, the synchronization messages serving to synchronize the times of the internal clocks of the network nodes; sending the synchronization messages successively from a preceding network node to a subsequent network node as a function of a synchronization clock frequency predefined by a synchronization clock, the synchronization messages containing a pulse counter status of the synchronization clock; and detecting a change over time in the pulse ratio between the synchronization clock frequency and its node clock frequency at predefined time intervals based on the synchronization messages received in the past, wherein the detection is performed by the respective network node, wherein the respective network node approximates a pattern over time of the pulse ratio on the basis of the detected change over time in the pulse ratio by means of a function, and wherein the respective network node updates the pulse counter status of a received synchronization message to the pulse counter status on transmission of the synchronization message to the next network node on the basis of the approximated pattern over time of the pulse ratio.