Patent ID: 8559300

Claim:
A method for operating a redundant ringlike communications network that communicates bidirectionally between participants of an automation network, comprising the steps of: providing a communications network having two network rings; providing at least one primary participant, wherein said at least one primary participant is configured as a master, and wherein said at least one primary participant includes a data processing device and first and second network connections; providing at least two secondary participants, wherein said at least two secondary participants are configured as slaves, wherein the at least one primary participant and the at least two secondary participants are connected to one another redundantly via a bidirectional connection line, wherein the bidirectional control line is based on Ethernet technology or on fiber optic technology, wherein data transmission takes place using real-time, fieldbus protocols, wherein the at least one primary participant receives at an input the first network connection, and wherein data is conducted by means of the data connection to an output of the second network connection; during normal operation, communicating in real-time said at least two secondary participants directly with one another bypassing said at least one primary participant; solely in an event of a malfunction in a data transmission between two of the secondary participants, communicating in real-time said at least two secondary participants with one another via said at least one primary participant, wherein said at least one primary participant forwards data received at one of said input terminals connected with one of said two network rings to one of said output terminals connected with the same one of said two network rings via said data transmission device, wherein said forwarding by the primary participant includes forwarding by the primary participant all data sent by the at least two secondary participants; wherein said at least one primary participant and said at least two secondary participants are selected from the group consisting of electric controllers and electrical drive regulators.