Patent ID: 8095619

Claim:
An automation system, comprising a plurality of communicatively connected automation devices, wherein one of the automation devices serves as a domain controller, wherein the domain controller comprises a memory that holds centrally in the memory data required for operating the automation system and the automation devices, said data comprising configuration and runtime data to be shared by the automation devices, wherein the memory in the domain controller is divided into two memory areas; wherein the domain controller is configured such that a transfer data from a development system to the memory of the domain controller is first transferred to a memory area flagged as a free memory area without overwriting a memory area designated as an occupied memory area having data already present therein; wherein the domain controller is configured to implement a check of the transferred data to ensure consistency such that any inconsistency of the transferred data results in an error signal and the transferred data is discarded from the free memory area and the free memory area remains flagged as the free memory area, otherwise consistency is ensured, the data is enabled, and the free memory area containing the transferred data is now flagged as the occupied memory area and the previously occupied memory area is now flagged as the free memory area for subsequent overwriting; and wherein the domain controller is configured to centrally administer the data to be shared by the automation devices after ensuring consistency, wherein access by the automation devices is via an access layer that allows access to the data held by the domain controller in the occupied memory area.