Patent ID: 8204035

Claim:
A first computer node for operating in a system comprising a first network and a second network each having a local time base and comprising a plurality of computer nodes, the first computer node comprising: a synchronisation unit operable to: compare first network timing information indicative of a first local time base associated with the first network with second network timing information indicative of a second local time base associated with the second network and to determine a sign of the difference between the first network timing information and the second network timing information; in response to the difference between the first network timing information and the second network timing information exceeding a threshold, determine a first fixed code value based on a sign of the difference between the first network timing information and the second network timing information; and in response to the difference between the first network timing information and the second network timing information exceeding the threshold, communicate the first fixed code value to a second computer node to request a change in network timing information associated with the second computer node by a predetermined fixed step value sufficiently small to avoid loss of local synchronisation with the plurality of other computer nodes in the first network.